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53 Belair conv rust repair

1M views 6K replies 111 participants last post by  Eduramac 
#1 ·
I just brought home a 1953 Chevy convertible Monday that is 100% there. 100% there except for the bottom 6 inches that is. I have always built rusty cars no one else wanted but have tried to do a quality job of repairing them on a budget.

The key wordhere is budget. I admit to being frugal but friends all say I am cheap. Whatever, for me to be able to enjoy this hobby I must be able to build the car and have my money invested, not just spent

The cost of replacement floor pans, floor braces, inner rockers, outer rockers, lower quarter panels, tow boards, trunk pan, rear pan extension, tail pan, and rear splash apron is well over 3000 dollars. That is money that will buy front suspension, rear axle, and good buildable engine. Maybe even a complete parts car.

I have basic sheet metal tools but nothing exotic. Small 3' brake, Shrinker/stretcher jaws, home made slip roll, and a home made english wheel and 110v mig welder.

My purpose here is to show the new hot rodder who is apprehensive about what he can do what is possible with a little time and patience and not much money.

Below is the patient. She has stage four cancer but we are going to try to save her. If we don't who will? :mwink:








So far I have stripped the inside, removed the front fenders and adjusted the doors. If the body shifts or moves during the build process I want to know it before everything gets welded together. Frequently checking door gaps will let me make sure it has not moved.




Tomorrow I plan to cut the toe boards loose from the front floor brace and expose the brace. The first job will be to remove the brace and reproduce it.

I hope you guys follow along and feel free to comment share thoughts, opinions, etc.

 
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#3,580 ·
It looks damn nice to us but imagine John's grin. Ear to ear I bet :D

Its beautiful, John. Very nice. Hope you get to feeling like yourself all the way soon. Dadgum flu will drain a guy's want-to right fast. Can't wait to see that chassis bear some weight and feel some wind.
 
#3,583 ·
Still kind of weak but yes. I need to get busy. I did run up to Melvin's yesterday and sprayed some wasp nests in the dually so I can pull the motor here shortly.


John, the rolling chassis looks good. I must have missed it somewhere, but where did you get your wheels?

Dave
They are dual pattern early rallies from Speedway Dave. I have a new set of '53 Olds Fiesta wheel covers for the car. I just needed something with the correct offsets, inexpensive, and able to hold a hubcap. $49 bucks a piece with free shpping was hard to beat.

John
 
#3,585 ·
One of my shortcomings is failing to take care of details as I go and then having to work twice as hard later on to do them.

Now is the easy time to make the E-brake cable brackets and the fuel line bracket. It turned out to be knd of fun designing and building them though I have to admit it sure wasn't rocket science.

I thought I could use the OEM brackets for the 53 but nothing about them was "right" for the Ford cables.

I designed a very simple bracket I could make out of a little piece of 11 gauge.



Transferred the cardboard template to the 11 ga and rough cut it with my plasma cutter.



Clamped them together, ground the edges, and drilled them together so they would be identical.



Bent them, installed them, patted myself on the back and quit for supper.:mwink:





With luck tomorrow I will take them back off, paint them and maybe make the support bracket for the fuel line.....I had fun today. :thumbup:

John
 
#3,587 ·
BBC in 1953 Chevy Bel Air

I have not posted here for a couple of weeks. It did not seem important for me to post every ten minutes of work I have done but I have reached a big milestone.

The 454 BBC has been pulled from it's donor truck and cleaned up a little. One of my really dear friends donated a RH exhaust manifold that dumps down instead of back. The Muncie 4 speed is bolted to the motor and it is trial fitted into the chassis.

The sub frame in 49-54 Chevy is not an easy task but here is where the payoff lies.

John



There is about 1/4 inch clearance between the LH manifold and the Steering sector.



There is about 1/4 inch clearance between the RH manifold and the upper control arm.



Both manifolds drop cleanly past the frame rails.



Even the 4 speed shifter clears the X-member by about 3/16 of an inch.



To do this I have the engine sitting about 1 to 1 1/4 inches to the right. Clearances are tight considering the engine will move around some but I can gain a little clearance by moving the motor forward, raising it slightly or grinding a little here and there. To be honest I can not believe it fits this well WITHOUT ANY CHANGES YET!

If you think I am a little excited, you would be right. :D:D:D

John
 
#3,592 ·
Thanks everybody. I appreciate it.



Lots of little things before I put the body back on.

Install brake lines and make bracket for the brake hose to rear axle.

Measure and buy shocks,

Build motor mounts (sitting on wooden blocks now).

Build Trans support.

I need to make an E Brake mechanism.

Motor and trans mounts are first priority. None of it is rocket science but it is time consuming and not my favorite part. I prefer the body and paint over the fabrication but it all has to be done.

John
 
#3,593 ·
I have the motor sitting where I think it needs to be and have made the spacers for the 69 Camaro safety mounts I have bought.

Before I put them in, I am going to make the transmission mount and then I can slip them all in at the same time..

The 69 Camaro mounts are designed to set the big block off to the right so I just needed to space them up 1 inch. I had some 1 x 1 1\2 rectangular tubing.




Then I cut some 3/8 black pipe to go inside just to be doubly sure the could not collapse when torqued down. I used an old 402 block I have to mock them up.





Check out how my clutch "Z" bar (cross shaft) lines up with the frame. Even if I have to shorten it, this is just going to well. :D:D

John

 
#3,595 ·
Thanks Mitch. The 454 block has the hole for the z-bar ball but puts it right at the steering shaft. Of course with both threaded holes being available I can make a bracket to put the ball anywhere I need it. Hopefully the bellhousing position is going to work well.

I am not going to make final welds or drill holes until I get the body on the frame and double check everything.

One issue I may be facing is the bell housing being wider than the recess in the body. It looks like I may have some metal work to do in that area. :confused:

Also, I will need to work out what steering column and what pedal assembly to use. I keep looking at pedal assemblies on Ebay but until the body is on the frame and the steering column positioned it is impossible to know for sure what I need.

John

PS I told the guys at the Sconic cruise tonight my thread was going to hit 500,000 views this week. One asked how many besides me.............:D:D:D
 
#3,596 ·
Hmm. I thought you had a Gen V block with no pivot ball hole.

Yep, using the 2 bellhousing bolts, you can make a bracket to move the ball forward.

First gen Camaro/Firebird or second gen X body column and hanging pedals might be a good fit for the car. I'll be watching what you do for my '54...;)

PS, I'm helping the "view" count.. :D
 
#3,597 ·
Thanks man!:thumbup:

I am thinking gen 1 Camaro myself. I have some odds and ends in the basement. Several brackets, some miscellaneous pedals etc. but, I like the look of the Camaro as well as the way they curve around the steering column. Of course that is specifically why I need to wait until I have the column positioned.

All in good time I guess. :)

John
 
#3,599 ·
I have a '67 Camaro pedal assembly and a steering column if you want to use them to mock up. I wouldn't need the mount bracket or brake pedal back, just the clutch pedal for my future conversion. I "think" I have 2 of the frame brackets to hold the z bar too. It is smaller than yours and bolts to the side of the frame. Should fit right on that Nova (X body) frame rail. Steering column is a 3 on the tree... very rare for a Camaro.
 
#3,600 ·
I would love to have the hanger bracket and brake pedal for mock up. If it works they reproduce the clutch pedal so returning it to you would not be a problem. Even if you kept the clutch pedal and sold me the rest it would be fine.

If the bake pedal, power booster, and steering column all clear, the clutch pedal is a non issue I suspect.

Since I have raised the engine, relative to the factory location, the z-bar location at the frame is going to require a custom bracket.

John
 
#3,601 ·
About the only thing I know about Hurst shifters is Linda Vaughn used to be really cute.

I started looking through Ebay for a shifter handle (stick) and realized I apparently have a pretty rare Hurst shifter. The best I can figure out, this shifter is an early to mid sixties OEM shifter with a factory built in handle. I always thought they were either bayonet style or bolt on sticks. If any of you guys are able to give me an education jump on in.

The fellow who sold me the trans and shifter told me his late brother in law had the trans rebuilt and had it ready to put it back in his 69 GTO when he passed away. It looks to me like this shifter would be correct for a 67 back.

John

 
#3,603 ·
Just one more thing about the Hurst stick. According to a Pontiac site, the '64 was the only year that did not have the Hurst logo on the handle. That would date my shifter as a '64 GTO.

My goal for today was to make body pads in preporation of putting the body back on the frame. You can buy them but they are pretty pricey for the convertible and being as frugal as I am, I decided to make them. A buddy gave me some old conveyor belt rubber. I thought that should be really rugged and durable.





I was having so much fun I made 30 of them. I needed 24 I think.





I got out my chains and brackets in preperation for taking the body off the rotissorie tomorrow And test fitting it on the chassis......Fingers crossed.

John
 
#3,605 ·
I am going to be looking for the guy who just has to have that stick for his '64 Goat. I ordered the parts to convert the shifter to a bolt on stick. I want to preserve that 2315 stick for a guy who is trying to do a correct restoration.

My task for today was to get the body off the rotissorie and back swinging from the ceiling.



Now that I have done that, I hope tomorrow to drill out the spot welds and remove the front body mounts. I believe the smart thing will be to just make new ones from scratch and make sure I have proper clearance for the clutch linkage, steering column, etc, etc.

BTW, One of the guys at the Sconic tonight said he might have a 57 Chevy clutch/brake peddle assembly and Z-bar I could have. I would at least like to have one to use for mock up to see if it would work.

Even though the fabrication is not my cup of tea, I have really gotten excited about fitting all this together.

John


 
#3,610 ·
I dunno, I am a bit challenged at both I think.

I went by to see Barry Kives today at SPI. He is just a pleasure to be around. He kind of makes you thankful you love his products because you just want to do business with him. He had 2 guys on vacation and was working in the plant but still found time to make me feel important.... Thanks Barry.

Also, got the parts today to convert the Hurst shifter to a bolt on handle.

I have gotten one of the body mounts off (yesterday) and hopefully will get the other one off tomorrow an start letting the body down on the chassis.

Ain't life just plain good?

John







 
#3,611 ·
With the front body mounts out of the way I rolled the chassis under the body and lowered the body onto it. It is impossible to really visuallize how everything fits together until the body and chassis are actually joined together with the engine and drivetrain installed.



The allthread works well to lower the body but it sure is a slow process. I can't complain though. Time is the one thing that is free when you are doing it yourself. I would just as soon not have the blisters though.

They say being lucky is as good as being good. Which ever I am, the body sat down on the frame with about 3/8 of an inch of firewall clearance from the rh cylinder head.





If I had any concerns about the engine being too high they have been put to bed. That is the least of my worries.




I am going to go under the car and do a guick job of shimming the body just to make sure I don't have any surprises.

I would like to mock up the steering, clutch and brake pedals before I take it back off the frame. Also, the new front body mounts, and front fender and radiator supports need to be fabricated before it comes back off for body and paint.

Lots of work but I am getting back to the part I really enjoy.

John
 
#3,614 ·
It has an adapter plate for an Edelbrock Carb. The studs flop in the plate until you put a carb on. The plate is going away. I have a Q-jet I intend to run.

Is that body all the way down?

That engine looks too low. Is it me or does something not look right?
It does look low to me too. Remember, I took the kick up out of the sub frame but I also built spacers that raise the engine about 1 1/2 inches.

Her is another angle that may show a better perspective. Also, remember the car is still sitting up on 6 X 6's. I was afraid the engine was going to be too high just sitting in the chassis before I put the body on.:drunk:






I think after it has a carburator, air cleaner, A/C compressor and distributor cap it will look a lot higher...It better.. :D

John

One other thing I did today.....Compared Chevrolet orange to SPI orange. I have used nothing but SPI products on her so far. I may just continue that strategy.

 
#3,617 ·
I have to agree with John about perspective. When I built my 52 Chevy that 350 looked tiny sitting down in the engine bay. It was set at the correct angle and shaft height.

One thing I will mention is that the old Chevy of that era Pre 55 all had a long stroke 6 cylinder. That 6 was Tall. Now you install a v8 package it is about 1/3 shorter in height than that old monster 6 and it darn sure look lower in the engine compartment. I am thinking john is right on height wise cause that was about the same place on the firewall that my heads in my 52 were.

Looking good so far John. :thumbup::cool:
 
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