THE ROD & WHEELERS CLUB MEMBERS ARE ALWAYS WILLING TO GIVE THE YOUNGER GENERATION TECHNICAL ADVICE AND ENCOURAGEMENT.
The project shown below is what the older generation hot rodder hopes for. The younger generation getting involved in our hobby. The following shows the progress being made on a 1954 Chevy that is being fabricated into a 50's/60's style custom by a young guy named Alex Carlos. Alex is a buddy of Rod and Wheelers club member Dave Foley. This is a very cool project that everyone will enjoy following. Keep checking in to see how Alex is progressing.
Dave Foley's friend Alex is staying busy...to start he is deciding on how much to chop the top while he settles into his work space...his driveway & garage. It will look great when finished and painted. Dave has a lot of respect for Alex and his ability.
What follows is some background as told by Alex and Dave: (there is more cool stuff further down)
wow!! this is so neat!!! thank you for sharing this with me Dave, it makes me so happy to see people from your generation admire what I'm doing with my builds. Im just trying to fill your guys shoes (along with all the people from my generation tinkering with hot rods and customs., we know we never will, I mean you guys lived through this point in time, we just see pictures and listen to your stories and wish we were there, we try our hardest to recreate the past. I'm gonna do a little write up about my 54 so you can share with Ken and the other Rod and Wheelers. I'll send it to you either today or tomorrow. This weekends task will also include finishing up on modifying the exterior stainless on the 54 and replacing the roof skin ( I have a Buick skin that is very similar but have a little different crown so I think I'll give it a little different flow... I'm crazy I know.. its something no one will ever notice.. I'lI message you soon. gotta clean up my work station now and go home,
wow!! this is so neat!!! thank you for sharing this with me Dave, it makes me so happy to see people from your generation admire what I'm doing with my builds. Im just trying to fill your guys shoes (along with all the people from my generation tinkering with hot rods and customs., we know we never will, I mean you guys lived through this point in time, we just see pictures and listen to your stories and wish we were there, we try our hardest to recreate the past. I'm gonna do a little write up about my 54 so you can share with Ken and the other Rod and Wheelers. I'll send it to you either today or tomorrow. This weekends task will also include finishing up on modifying the exterior stainless on the 54 and replacing the roof skin ( I have a Buick skin that is very similar but have a little different crown so I think I'll give it a little different flow... I'm crazy I know.. its something no one will ever notice.. I'lI message you soon. gotta clean up my work station now and go home,
Hi Dave, well I did it, I started the chop. This is a practice run. I found really bad cancer on both a pillars. Someone put a spot light in at one point, then when they removed them they filled the holes with silicone, water was getting in and collecting in the a pillar. I have another donor roof, going to replace the entire roof. I like the chop, but think I'm gonna go 2 inches instead of 3. What do you think?
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Alex is making amazing headway.....even if you don't care for this style of car ( I do) ...you have to give a thumbs up for how and where he's getting this done....just as it was in the 50's and 60's for us old farts.....and I've seen some of his other finished projects...he does nice work.
Hi Dave. Here are the progress pictures, I finally got all 4 door tops cut down and installed, along with door garnish moldings. A friend of mine does custom glass work. He can cut curved glass by hand, he came over and gave me the green light to proceed. He actually said the chop and metal work is really good!! He should have no problems putting glass in it. That meant a lot. He does work for a lot of "professional custom " shops all over the country, and said my work is as good if not better than some of the cars he has worked on from those shops. I'm just a guy working in his driveway lol. I have a side by side comparisons to show you the flow of the car before and after the chop. Now I gotta start the metal finishing on the pillars, finish the roof and start extending the catwalk. That's the plan for this weekend
Hi Dave. Here are the progress pictures, I finally got all 4 door tops cut down and installed, along with door garnish moldings. A friend of mine does custom glass work. He can cut curved glass by hand, he came over and gave me the green light to proceed. He actually said the chop and metal work is really good!! He should have no problems putting glass in it. That meant a lot. He does work for a lot of "professional custom " shops all over the country, and said my work is as good if not better than some of the cars he has worked on from those shops. I'm just a guy working in his driveway lol. I have a side by side comparisons to show you the flow of the car before and after the chop. Now I gotta start the metal finishing on the pillars, finish the roof and start extending the catwalk. That's the plan for this weekend
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To get to know Alex a little better check out the following! I'm sure some of you guys can relate to this.
I am honored by the kind words and positive feedback I've received on my 1954 Chevy kustom. More so by the fact you thought it was built some time in the 50s or 60s.. the reality is , the customizing began when I bought it in 2000. At that time I was 17 years old, a senior in high school and working after school in a local repair shop in Arizona. I grew up in a border town with Mexico. Everyone my age used to go to Mexico to party on weekends, but I never wanted any part of that. I was always in the garage tuning my 29 roadster pickup and street racing on the weekends. As much as I loved my roadster, it was more of a jalopy than a hot rod and I needed a better car. I wanted to build a gasser. So I began to look for a 1955 bel air. My dad knew of a complete and solid Chevy in an old barn at a friend of a friends house. We went to check it out.. not only was it the wrong year (1954) it had to many doors.. but the price was cheap enough to resell it for a profit so I bought it. 1st thing I did was cut the front coils and put lowering blocks in it. Next I spray painted the wheels red and shaved the door handles before painting the car flat black. Threw some Mexican blankets over the seats and it looked pretty good. I put a for sale sign on her and started driving it around.. it was much nicer to drive than my 1929 roadster. One night I went to a party with a friend, my friend wanted a ride to the liquor store to get more beer and I offered to take him. Several of the girls in the party asked if they could go with us because they have never gotten a ride in an old 50s car, that's when I realized, girls don't care if it's a 2 door, 4 door, 10 door haha. So I decided to keep it. I named the 54 Rosie, after my aunt whom was also born in 1954. Over the last 2 decades I've been improving her as my skills improved. I've always loved traditional styling and thought, if a 17 year old kid in the late 50s acquired their parents old 4 door sedan, how would he make it cool,so I slowly customized it a accordingly. It slowly became a radical kustom. Currently it has a 1956 bel air bumper, I shaved the bumper bolts, added an extra 16 teeth to the factory grille, 1956 olds headlights, a 1949 Chevy hood, with louvers and will eventually get peaked, 1953 Pontiac side trim flipped upside down and blended with the original 54 belair side trim, 1955 belair wheels well flairs grafted 3 inches lower to make the car look that much lower, the rear skirts have been molded in and extend to make flush mounted cruiser skirts, 1955 belair rear bumper also shaved the bumper bolts, 1955 Buick taillights, I just chopped the top 2.5 inches. I plan to swap the dashboard with a1955 Chevy and give it a Watson style paint job.
I am honored by the kind words and positive feedback I've received on my 1954 Chevy kustom. More so by the fact you thought it was built some time in the 50s or 60s.. the reality is , the customizing began when I bought it in 2000. At that time I was 17 years old, a senior in high school and working after school in a local repair shop in Arizona. I grew up in a border town with Mexico. Everyone my age used to go to Mexico to party on weekends, but I never wanted any part of that. I was always in the garage tuning my 29 roadster pickup and street racing on the weekends. As much as I loved my roadster, it was more of a jalopy than a hot rod and I needed a better car. I wanted to build a gasser. So I began to look for a 1955 bel air. My dad knew of a complete and solid Chevy in an old barn at a friend of a friends house. We went to check it out.. not only was it the wrong year (1954) it had to many doors.. but the price was cheap enough to resell it for a profit so I bought it. 1st thing I did was cut the front coils and put lowering blocks in it. Next I spray painted the wheels red and shaved the door handles before painting the car flat black. Threw some Mexican blankets over the seats and it looked pretty good. I put a for sale sign on her and started driving it around.. it was much nicer to drive than my 1929 roadster. One night I went to a party with a friend, my friend wanted a ride to the liquor store to get more beer and I offered to take him. Several of the girls in the party asked if they could go with us because they have never gotten a ride in an old 50s car, that's when I realized, girls don't care if it's a 2 door, 4 door, 10 door haha. So I decided to keep it. I named the 54 Rosie, after my aunt whom was also born in 1954. Over the last 2 decades I've been improving her as my skills improved. I've always loved traditional styling and thought, if a 17 year old kid in the late 50s acquired their parents old 4 door sedan, how would he make it cool,so I slowly customized it a accordingly. It slowly became a radical kustom. Currently it has a 1956 bel air bumper, I shaved the bumper bolts, added an extra 16 teeth to the factory grille, 1956 olds headlights, a 1949 Chevy hood, with louvers and will eventually get peaked, 1953 Pontiac side trim flipped upside down and blended with the original 54 belair side trim, 1955 belair wheels well flairs grafted 3 inches lower to make the car look that much lower, the rear skirts have been molded in and extend to make flush mounted cruiser skirts, 1955 belair rear bumper also shaved the bumper bolts, 1955 Buick taillights, I just chopped the top 2.5 inches. I plan to swap the dashboard with a1955 Chevy and give it a Watson style paint job.
Guys,
Chopped progress report from Alex ....he's a doer for sure.
Keep in mind...he's still working at a full time job.
Dave
Hi Dave, hope all is well with you and your family, here is my weekly progress report haha. I patched the roof and reinstalled the missing rain gutter section from the top. I also finished off the c pillars and extended the catwalk. What do you think?
Chopped progress report from Alex ....he's a doer for sure.
Keep in mind...he's still working at a full time job.
Dave
Hi Dave, hope all is well with you and your family, here is my weekly progress report haha. I patched the roof and reinstalled the missing rain gutter section from the top. I also finished off the c pillars and extended the catwalk. What do you think?
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Hello Dave, happy Monday.
It was a hot weekend, but I managed to get some work done. My very good friend Dave came over and helped me start cutting the stainless. He is a professional welder, he works for the city. We just tacked everything and hes going to tig it all back for me. I also managed to rework the vent windows. I had to make a metal template. Uses a torch and bent them to the new shape, I should be able to just polish them back since they are stainless. It was so stressful and tedious Haha. I took a quick picture of my garage in the middle of the job. Haha we had a mess. My work benches are full of things. As you can see it's just a normal garage. I don't have fancy tools or anything expensive. But I do my best with what I have.
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I didn't get as far as I had hoped Dave, but the new roof skin is tacked in and the stainless has been chopped and tacked. Just gotta clean it up before finishing it. The last picture is me goofing off with my buddy Dave. He’s such a talented welder. He has a union job and works for the city. I was goofing off pretending to stand over him with my arms crossed because I'm technically his boss and I don't allow union breaks and he’s working in terrible work conditions Haha. But as you can see. The stainless work is coming out beautifully. It actually looks stock.. just chopped
I didn't get as far as I had hoped Dave, but the new roof skin is tacked in and the stainless has been chopped and tacked. Just gotta clean it up before finishing it. The last picture is me goofing off with my buddy Dave. He’s such a talented welder. He has a union job and works for the city. I was goofing off pretending to stand over him with my arms crossed because I'm technically his boss and I don't allow union breaks and he’s working in terrible work conditions Haha. But as you can see. The stainless work is coming out beautifully. It actually looks stock.. just chopped
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Hi Dave, hope all is well, I haven't been getting as much as I'd like done.. but progress is progress. I finished the roof skin transplant and pancaked it very subtle. Looks great. Didn't lose the iconic roundness 50s cars had. I also roughly finished chopping all the inside window mouldings. The welds are gonna get cleaned up and eventually chromed. Here are a few pictures
Here it is Dave --- I cut out the 54 Chevy dash and swapped in a shorted 55 Chevy dash.. what do you think. I'm trying to make it work with the factory 1954 column, I like the external shift linkage vs the enclosed one on the 55 Chevy. I am planning on using a 1954 Corvette horn ring. I enclosed a picture of it mocked in. I've been saving that horn ring for about 12 years. My vision is slowly becoming a reality
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Sept 2020 Update:
Hello Dave, here are some progress pictures (8ea). I raised the wheel wells on my Chevy so I can drive low and not worry about the tires rubbing on the inside wheel wells. I ordered some trailer fenders and used those as new wheel wells. It was ALOT of cutting and measuring, then I bead rolled the floor and made little access panels just in case I ever have to service my fuel pump or sending unit. I still have to make the panels to seal off the trunk completely but its starting to look like a trunk again.
Hello Dave, here are some progress pictures (8ea). I raised the wheel wells on my Chevy so I can drive low and not worry about the tires rubbing on the inside wheel wells. I ordered some trailer fenders and used those as new wheel wells. It was ALOT of cutting and measuring, then I bead rolled the floor and made little access panels just in case I ever have to service my fuel pump or sending unit. I still have to make the panels to seal off the trunk completely but its starting to look like a trunk again.
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Hello Dave, productive weekend, I finished my trunk!!! I made some access panels to service the fuel pump and sending unit. I also made a panel that allows me to access the air bags, shocks and rear end through the trunk since the car is so low, . Do you recognize the bolts I used to open the access panel? They are valve cover hold downs for a y block valve cover. I have to do a little more work in the trunk before I cover it with under body coat and seam seal all the joints.
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Dave, I used the 392 hemi as a mock up block, it fits like a glove in the 54 Chevy engine bay. Now the steering is another issue, the column goes straight into the valve cover haha. But I think I can use a borgeson joint and reroute the shaft and it'll clear. I used the stock manifolds and they fit so nice and tight against the block.
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I got the motor mounts in, just gotta clean up the welds but that's gonna happen when I do all the final metal work, got all the brackets dialed in, for the power steering and ac compressor, (using a 2bbl carbs for esthetics just to try and get everything proportional. Replaced all bushings between the body and frame, gonna build the steering column next. But its getting there
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Hello Dave, here is a bit of progress I got done over the weekend, my good friend Dave came over and helped me graft a 49 Chevy hood and 54 Chevy hood together. Next we are going to round the hood corners , then weld the two halves together and peak the hood.
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Just wanted to share a few progress pictures.
I had to more the radiator forward for additional clearance. However that presented another problem. The original hood latch is quite bulky, and although I could fit a radiator between the original latch and core support, adding an air conditioning condenser would be extremely tight. I decided to change the hood latch. I bought an aftermarket vw style latch. The slim design is perfect. I made a mount and bracket for it. I was going to add gussets for additional strength but it is strong enough and didnt want to clutter up the engine bay with unnecessary gussets. I found a replacement radiator core since the original one was butchered up from the previous v8 swap. I did some research and found a very nice spal dual fan combo. The reason I went with a dual fan combo is aside from being more efficient in keeping the motor cool, I can get a tighter fit with dual electric fan. The water pump pulley fits between the electric fan motors and the electric fans and shroud combo fit perfectly in the radiator core "after some minor trimming. For the radiator I used an aftermarket cross flow radiator for a 55 Chevy belair. The reason I chose a crossflow is the shape of the radiator to be honest. By using a radiator that is wider and shorter I would not have any clearance issues with the hood since the radiator is moved forward close to 4 inches. I fabbed up some mounting brackets and the radiator and fan fit nice and tight, in addition I now have plenty of room between the hood latch and radiator to fit an air conditioning condenser.
I had to more the radiator forward for additional clearance. However that presented another problem. The original hood latch is quite bulky, and although I could fit a radiator between the original latch and core support, adding an air conditioning condenser would be extremely tight. I decided to change the hood latch. I bought an aftermarket vw style latch. The slim design is perfect. I made a mount and bracket for it. I was going to add gussets for additional strength but it is strong enough and didnt want to clutter up the engine bay with unnecessary gussets. I found a replacement radiator core since the original one was butchered up from the previous v8 swap. I did some research and found a very nice spal dual fan combo. The reason I went with a dual fan combo is aside from being more efficient in keeping the motor cool, I can get a tighter fit with dual electric fan. The water pump pulley fits between the electric fan motors and the electric fans and shroud combo fit perfectly in the radiator core "after some minor trimming. For the radiator I used an aftermarket cross flow radiator for a 55 Chevy belair. The reason I chose a crossflow is the shape of the radiator to be honest. By using a radiator that is wider and shorter I would not have any clearance issues with the hood since the radiator is moved forward close to 4 inches. I fabbed up some mounting brackets and the radiator and fan fit nice and tight, in addition I now have plenty of room between the hood latch and radiator to fit an air conditioning condenser.
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I changed the headlight bezels with 1956 olds bezels. This presented it's own challenges. Peaking the top of the fender to match the headlights peak is an obvious thing to do. However I think the flow of the car is lost. I'm gonna have a peak on the hood, the fenders, the factor seam on 53/54 chevys on the side of the fenders, the Pontiac side moulding and the 55 Chevy wheel wells. Its just cluttered. Sonia decided to do away with the factory seam on the side of the fender and relocate it to the top. By grafting it in, I'll kill 2 birds with 1 stone, i no longer have to make a peak and i get to shave 1 body line and clean up the fender.. here are some pictures.
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This weekend I got a few hours in on the 54. I have a 1956 Chevy front bumper that I shaved and made into a 1 piece several years ago. Although the 56 bumper has a similar shape to the 54 the original splash panel doesn't follow the bumper correctly. After making new bumper brackets, I built a frame that would follow the 56 bumper and made a new splash panel. Its roughed in for now. I will blend it in and when finished have more of a factory look.
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