1954 Chevy Dead Sled

Not sure what I'm going to do but I just don't feel this car. It's rougher than I thought. While I love customs and that's the type of cars I like building this old dude has had a bad life. The more I dig the worse it is. It's going to need rear springs where they heated them and bent the main leaf to get it lower. It's unsafe and they took it too far. You have to run air shocks so it doesn't drag. Hydros on the front and it was a hack job install. It's going to need springs, shocks and maybe lower control arms. Steering box is shot. The work that was done on body was really cool. Problem is I just don't like the work. Poor. Whoever did the custom touches should have kept his job at the cab stand.. The car could be made to be really cool but it would be a patch job. I hate bondo buckets. I have give it a ton of thought. To build this car where I would be comfortable selling it would cost more than what I could get out of it. I can patch it up and ship it but it will have my name on it. No one will know what work I did and what hack work was done before I got it. I'm wanting to get into more hi end builds and I don't want this car being around and everyone thinking I did the hack job part of it. This is a hard one. Maybe I'll mud it up and paint the shop name on it and park it in the woods next to the shop and plant flowers in it.    

This kind of saddens me! But for you to feel this way it must be bad. :-(

man thats an amazingly cool sled

911TAZZ wrote:This kind of saddens me!  But for you to feel this way it must be bad.  :-(

It is. I knew it was bad. I looked at it a year before I got it and wasn't sure then. After I got it there were small things I could see but after digging it's worse. The car was hit had in the back. I think that's why they changed the taillights around to those Studes. It hit so hard it even kinked the trunk. It was so full of Bondo you just really couldn't see everything until you started busting it out. Some parts of this car has 4" of Bondo on it. When I got the car Jeff kept telling me it would make a cool rat rod. He never made it out to be anything special. He had the car for 17 years I think it was. He never did any of this work you see. He has some really nice cars. I should have listened to him more. I thought he was down playing it a little. What he seen and what I seen were two different things. I didn't see a rat. I seen on old custom that could be brought back to it's glory. I hate to be wrong but Jeff was right. Don't get me wrong, it can be fixed. As I said it would take more money than I could sell it for when I'm done and the work involved is 2X the man hours to fix it as if I had another stock body 54 and did all the work they did myself. I'll stew on it for a while. I have some $ invested in it right now so it's not like I can eat it. I may end up patching it up and making an old beater out of it.

I hate hearing that, I dont know what kind of money you have in it or what you want out of it but I would hope there is some way to save it or at least part of it

Steve, I can feel for you on this. It always a shame and hurts the 'hot rod heart' when you make the choice to close the door on a project...regardless of how far gone it may be.    The bummer is that you have ough tied up into it that you cannot just make it disappear without a kick to the ol' pocketbook. And I agree about the work already done...if its shabby you don't want your name attached to it if you can help it.

I would plunk around here and there on it and keep a For Sale sign posted up in it. That way you just never know who may come along and buy it. Just keep it in running shape and go from there. And if you post it on CL just add the disclaimer that most of the custom work was done by someone else.

Later,

Lee

what would you need out of it?

Haven't really thought of a price yet. I don't have a lot of money in it but any money right now is a lot of money.
I think I was just venting more than anything. I normally have it figured out what to do but the car has been bugging me. It would be nothing to have the car on the road and driving it around in a month. I guess with all the work done to it I think it deserves more than just a patch job. Someone else may be fine with it. I'm just funny about what other may think when it come to my work. I don't want to build a super nice hi end car and have a slicked out paint job on it and someone say to his buddy " That's a car that Stewart built. Did you ever see that half done 54 he did? I bet that nice car is a pig with lipstick and rouge on it if it anything like that 54"

yeah I know what youre saying, I have had cars on back burners for years before because I woud rather just sit on them than bastardize them.

pepboys speedshop wrote:yeah I know what youre saying, I have had cars on back burners for years before because I woud rather just sit on them than bastardize them.

For me my '77 'vette project is along the same lines. I'd rather take my time and try to get it back together than rush some hack job out of it or even just blow it off and trash it. I see potential there and it's hard to ignore.

Later,

Lee

I think as hot rodders, we never look at what is, we always look at what could be. Where most people see a rusted pile, we see a shiny new hot rod. Every project I've ever bought was an easy fix that didn't need much, at least when I was talking myself into buying it. Then once the work begins, I often think "what have I gotten myself into" (I swear some have grown extra rust holes on the trailer on the ride home, for some reason they always look better while sitting in someone else's garage, carport of field.) I guess ours is the hobby of eternal optimism in the face of harsh reality. But than again I've always been good at buying high and selling low.   

Chris55 wrote:I think as hot rodders, we never look at what is, we always look at what could be. Where most people see a rusted pile, we see a shiny new hot rod. Every project I've ever bought was an easy fix that didn't need much, at least when I was talking myself into buying it. Then once the work begins, I often think "what have I gotten myself into" (I swear some have grown extra rust holes on the trailer on the ride home, for some reason they always look better while sitting in someone else's garage, carport of field.) I guess ours is the hobby of eternal  optimism in the face of harsh reality. But than again I've always been good at buying high and selling low.   

There is much truth to what you say, Chris. 'Eternal optimism' is indeed the mantra of many a gearhead. If it wasn't we'd never drag stuff home to save it...or use what's left to save another one we'd already drug home!  

Later,

Lee

If someone has something to trade for this let me know. I have thought about it and I'm not going to build this into a sled. If I can't find something to trade it to I'm going to make some crazy beater, jalopy out of it. Something so crazy no one besides myself would understand it. The artistic side of me is coming out thinking of this car and it's scary.

Ill trade ya a stereo louder than your nieghbors. Lol. I think you should do the metal work slap it on a s10 frame and drive it like ya stole it.

I don't have neighbors.

I wouldn't mind having that '54, I have unlimited time, but I don't have the available space in the garage.

I'd trade ya for that old S10 you have sitting there. You don't need that anymore. Your better half could use that space for decorations or Christmas light storage. The 54 could sit in the drive. Just think how happy she'd be.   

I wasn't trying too hard to get rid of the ol' 54 but it could have left without any concern from me. My direction has changed now. No more custom. I bought front axle from a 47 to 55 Chevy truck and it's going in this car. It's gasser time. I may even step it up and make it and altered but I'll have to look at the quarters a little more to see if I'm going to get that crazy with it. As soon as we get some warm weather the dog house, 6 banger & 2 speed and front suspension is coming out.

I lucked out on the axle. It has drums and EVERYTHING is new. It also came with a set of machined spindle to use disk and the steering arm I need for that conversion. Not sure what direction I'll go. I may stick with the drums just for the period correctness of it. I know disk are safer but I guess I'm old school baby!

Reb Stew wrote:I lucked out on the axle. It has drums and EVERYTHING is new. It also came with a set of machined spindle to use disk and the steering arm I need for that conversion. Not sure what direction I'll go. I may stick with the drums just for the period correctness of it. I know disk are safer but I guess I'm old school baby!

Yeah, better to be old school than safe. I ran my Ford off the end of the strip in Sidneyyears ago being old school. That was enough for me.

Can't be scared of everything Doug. If the drum brakes are set up right they will be fine. It's not like it's going to be running 10's in the quarter.

Does the '54 have a full pressure 235 by chance?

No, 1970ish 6 banger

Reb Stew wrote:Can't be scared of everything Doug. If the drum brakes are set up right they will be fine. It's not like it's going to be running 10's in the quarter.

That's not the thing, if your going to go to cruise ins with it and your behind one of these clowns in a late model with the big rims and monster brakes you can run out of real estate real quick. Those drum braakes just don't stop quick enough to keep ya from collecting someone in front of ya. I drive those old drum brakes every day in rush hour and at times it's a little hard on the blood pressure.

I know if you're going to use a SBC you're not going to be running in the 10's (Hahahaha), it's running on I75 that's the scary part.

No Small Block Chevy in this one. I know most of you will be happy to hear that.