Hi guys:
Since I'm not too far along yet with this build I figured I'd start a thread here from the beginning. I also have some pics of this on the tri-five forum and Hotrodders.com site.
I bought my '55 a few years back as a stalled race car project. It was nothing more than an empty shell with a rotted floor and a few parts bolted onto it. It sat as I finished up my '67 Firebird project and now that my 'bird is running I have slowly started on this one. My first task was to get the paperwork squared away, and then I tore out the rusty floors. I've since replaced the inner rockers, rebuilt some of the floor supports and reinstalled that. I also added some extensions onto the frame for future roll bar structure. I also replaced the rusty trunk floor, however, I only used smaller patch panels as I didn't see the benefit of paying more $$ for a full trunk floor when I'd be chopping half of it back out to make room for the wheel tubs that came with the car.
The previous owner chopped out the wheel wells with a plasma cutter and took out too much material, so I'll be making some flanges to fill in the gaps (you'll see that in the last pics). That'll be my next task and then onto the passenger side tub.
My goal with this build is to make a rough looking yet wallet friendly build. I spent way too much on my last car so I'd like to keep this one a little more reasonable. It'll be streetable, have a clutch pedal, run on pump gas, and scare prius owners. It'll probably more poser than full on race car. No idea on powerplant yet. The car came with some aftermarket leaf springs and traction bars, and I've located a front axle from a '57 chevy truck so it'll have a good stance, and I've already scored some 200s rims (same as the '55 from 2 lane blacktop).
Since I'm not too far along yet with this build I figured I'd start a thread here from the beginning. I also have some pics of this on the tri-five forum and Hotrodders.com site.
I bought my '55 a few years back as a stalled race car project. It was nothing more than an empty shell with a rotted floor and a few parts bolted onto it. It sat as I finished up my '67 Firebird project and now that my 'bird is running I have slowly started on this one. My first task was to get the paperwork squared away, and then I tore out the rusty floors. I've since replaced the inner rockers, rebuilt some of the floor supports and reinstalled that. I also added some extensions onto the frame for future roll bar structure. I also replaced the rusty trunk floor, however, I only used smaller patch panels as I didn't see the benefit of paying more $$ for a full trunk floor when I'd be chopping half of it back out to make room for the wheel tubs that came with the car.
The previous owner chopped out the wheel wells with a plasma cutter and took out too much material, so I'll be making some flanges to fill in the gaps (you'll see that in the last pics). That'll be my next task and then onto the passenger side tub.
My goal with this build is to make a rough looking yet wallet friendly build. I spent way too much on my last car so I'd like to keep this one a little more reasonable. It'll be streetable, have a clutch pedal, run on pump gas, and scare prius owners. It'll probably more poser than full on race car. No idea on powerplant yet. The car came with some aftermarket leaf springs and traction bars, and I've located a front axle from a '57 chevy truck so it'll have a good stance, and I've already scored some 200s rims (same as the '55 from 2 lane blacktop).