In Chit Chat, chevynut asked "Why so few posts about your cars?". I decided to post this. I already posted it on another website, so if anyone has already seen it I apologize. I just wanted to make chevynut happy.
In 1985 my daily-driver ’57 wagon needed paint. The new cars about that time all had their exterior moldings painted black. I decided while I had my car apart that I would paint all my chrome and stainless black to be like the new cars. When I told my wife about my idea, she didn’t think it was a good idea. She said that ’57 Bel Airs had too much bright work and rather than being an asset to a new paint job, that much black would detract from the new paint. She said if it was a 150 then it might look OK.
I went to a Classic Chevy Convention in Dallas that year. I told everyone I was looking for a ’57 150 wagon body. I didn’t need a whole car; I would take my wagon apart and use it for parts.
One person told me he had a friend with a sedan delivery body. I called the guy and decided to go see it. I drove 155 miles to pick him up and then drive to the town where it was located. The car/truck was rough but restorable and the price was right. It had no hood, and no front suspension, just the bare frame in the front. We jacked it up, blocked it up and backed the trailer underneath. Then I drove another 155 miles back to his house and back home.
The next week, while driving my wagon, I had second thoughts about parting it out. It was dependable, ran good and really only needed new paint. I decided I couldn’t part out a complete, nearly original car.
So I parked the sedan delivery in a field for the next 27 years.
Over the years I bought several project cars and trucks to restore when I retired. Now I am semi-retired and I don’t have the energy or desire to do all those projects. I decided to sell most of the projects. I started by selling a Nomad in October of this year.
Then I put a set of old tires and wheels on the sedan delivery and pulled it out of the yard. I removed all the junk and parts stored in it and I vacuumed out all the leaves and mouse nests. Then I pressured washed it inside and out. It had sat in one place so long that it had moss growing on the north side.
Then I stepped back and looked at it seriously for the first time in 27 years. It is still a buildable car and it hasn’t changed much since I bought it. It needs a lot of parts, but the items specific to sedan deliveries are mostly there. The worst thing that makes it look so bad is the flaking layers of 5 different colors of paint applied over the years. I have always liked sedan deliveries because I learned to drive in my dad's '55 delivery. For a short time I thought again about parting out my wagon to build it, but again decided against it.
So I am not going to sell it at this time. I am going to store it inside. Who knows, maybe I really will build it sometime.
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