My '55 Belair 2 Door Hardtop Build (sort of

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  • Troy
    Registered Member
    • Mar 2012
    • 671
    • 516
    • Antioch, Ca

    My '55 Belair 2 Door Hardtop Build (sort of

    Hey All Don't get too excited yet I'm just setting up and starting a build thread to fill in as I go. I'm just in the planning and ordering of parts stage. This build will take A LONG TIME as I don't have a ton of money. I also have to reconfigure my garage as my oldest son takes up a lot of space with his Outlaw Sprint Kart.


    The story of my '55 is that my father bought the car for me in '72 when I was 10 years old. He told me I could have it when I turned 16 and paid for one year of insurance. He also told me as well as my sister and two step brothers that he would buy our first tank of gas and put on a set of mag wheels and tires (what a dad)! I turned 16 paid for insurance and was off to the auto parts store for the first aftermarket parts for it, I put a 10" Cal Custom steering three spoke steering wheel on it. I soon learned the meaning of leverage!!!


    Before I went to Arizona for design school my dad and I painted it '67 Corvette Rally Red, it was sharp. While in Phoenix I rear ended an old lady turning into a parking lot and a drunk at a bar backed down the drivers side from just behind the door to the rear bumper so I need to replace the lower quarter.


    Anyway I've had it since, it moved from California to Central Oregon to Western Montana back to California then to Phoenix Arizona for school and back to California where I've settled with my family. I've promised the '55 to my oldest son Troy Jr., He can't wait. I wanted to paint it the original colors, Neptune Green and Shoreline Beige but he's color blind to green so it's Grabber Blue and Beige or White.


    I've been ordering parts for the build here's a list so far.


    Radiator - two row 1 1/4" tube aluminum

    Fan Shroud - Steel

    Front Disk Brakes - with 2 1/2" drop spindles

    Power Brake Booster, master cylinder, proportioning valve.

    2 inch Lowering blocks for the rear axle.

    Stewart Warner retro green stripe gauges.

    Corvette rally wheels 16" x 8"

    Steering wheel and adapter kit.

    Complete wiring harness.

    Complete new Moog suspension rebuild components

    Urethane body mount kit.

    I've figured out what Ciadella interior kit I'm going to order.

    The engine was recently rebuilt and detailed.

    New stereo - AM/FM CD with aux and bluetooth

    Stainless Mufflers (I will replace whole system with stainless)


    When Dad bought it for me 1972

    My-55-1972.jpg

    Me at 16 detailing engine compartment

    My-55-Chevy.jpg

    Fresh out of paint
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Troy; 07-11-2019, 06:56 PM.
  • carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)
    Registered Member
    • Jan 2011
    • 1857
    • 33
    • Culpeper, Va.

    #2
    good read, cool build. looks like a family heirloom in the making.
    ARMY NAM VET, very proud!

    56 210 4dr

    drive and enjoy them while you work on them, life is to short.

    Comment

    • Troy
      Registered Member
      • Mar 2012
      • 671
      • 516
      • Antioch, Ca

      #3
      Here's a few pics of my rebuilt 350. I was laying on the couch one day and my son Troy Jr. came in and threw a gasket set at me and said lets get that piece on S@$T running get off your a$$. So we tore it down rebuilt what needed rebuilt and put it in and took it to it's first car show!!!






      My new wheels!!

      Comment

      • WagonCrazy
        Registered Member
        • Mar 2012
        • 1879
        • 530
        • Santa Clarita, CA

        #4
        lets get that piece on S@$T running get off your a$$.
        Now THAT'S motivation!

        Glad to see you got it running again. Keep at it Troy...life is short.

        Have fun.
        1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
        1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

        Comment

        • 567chevys
          Administrator
          • Oct 2010
          • 2483
          • 3
          • Woodland Washington

          #5
          Nice to have a member post his Build here on the site ,

          Looks like fun


          Thanks Sid
          sigpic
          1955 2 DR Post
          1937 Chevy Coupe
          2023 Ford Super Duty F350 TREMOR
          2019 Corvette Z06
          1955 Chevy Nomad
          1935 Ford 2dr Slant back I have 4

          Comment

          • Troy
            Registered Member
            • Mar 2012
            • 671
            • 516
            • Antioch, Ca

            #6
            Well... I've almost finished swapping my garage around so things should start (slowly) in the next 2-3 weeks. I did do the first bit of work on my Chevy, I removed the trailer hitch my pops made for it in the early '70's.

            Here's the hitch


            I found these while cleaning, I got them in the early '70's, my grama was the local Avon lady in Brownsburg Indiana. Also they are the same color as my '55 originally was??
            Attached Files
            Last edited by Troy; 07-27-2019, 05:44 PM.

            Comment

            • BamaNomad
              Registered Member
              • Nov 2016
              • 3881
              • 3217
              • Rocket City, USA (Huntsville, AL area)

              #7
              I love the original color (green and beige)... Are you going with that scheme? or a custom color?

              Comment

              • royk
                Registered Member
                • May 2014
                • 47
                • 2171
                • Grainfield, Ks

                #8
                I have one of those avon bottles that my grandmother gave me when they came out.

                Comment

                • Troy
                  Registered Member
                  • Mar 2012
                  • 671
                  • 516
                  • Antioch, Ca

                  #9
                  Originally posted by BamaNomad
                  I love the original color (green and beige)... Are you going with that scheme? or a custom color?
                  Bama, I wanted to stick w/ original colors but spaying metallic paint scares me, also my oldest son who will inherit it is color blind to green I'm leaning toward Grabber Blue & White my second choice is Hugger Orange & White. We'll see how it goes.

                  ps sorry I couldn't flip the pictures for some reason.

                  Comment

                  • BamaNomad
                    Registered Member
                    • Nov 2016
                    • 3881
                    • 3217
                    • Rocket City, USA (Huntsville, AL area)

                    #10
                    The metallics in the '55 colors were very fine metallics... which I don't think would cause you much problem at all, and if you are afraid of spraying metallics in a single stage, then try it with two stage (base / clear), which everyone says is best for metallics. If you don't want to spray it the original green, there are *other* great non-metallic colors available in the '55 chevy pallette...

                    Comment

                    • Troy
                      Registered Member
                      • Mar 2012
                      • 671
                      • 516
                      • Antioch, Ca

                      #11
                      OK nothing new to report but I'm wondering why my images are not showing up, I don't know if I put them in correctly can anyone help?

                      The next thing is...

                      While I'm working on my '55 I'm going to ask questions for things I don't know.

                      1. As I'm working though stripping paint off of body parts and panels I plan on painting them with 2K epoxy primer. I've read that after ~7 days the primer is unable to make a chemical adhesion to new paints, primers, and fillers. I read that it requires sanding to add teeth to it. Is this true.

                      2. How long does the 2K last ie does it start to rust or degrade over time.

                      3. Do you do body work (filler) over the 2K primer?
                      Last edited by Troy; 08-07-2019, 02:50 PM.

                      Comment

                      • Tabasco
                        Registered Member
                        • May 2012
                        • 366
                        • 615
                        • Poolville, Texas

                        #12
                        I had problems posting pics here. Then I resized them to a smaller size and they work just fine now.

                        I thought 2k primer and epoxy primer were two different things. I am not familiar with "2k epoxy primer".

                        I use SPI epoxy primer on bare metal. It keeps the metal from rusting. During the first week you can put body filler, 2k primer and more epoxy over it. After one week you need to sand it before putting anything over it.

                        My understanding is that 2k primer does not prevent rust and you can not do body filler over it. That is why I put epoxy primer over bare metal first.

                        SPI website has a lot of info and has helped me a lot. https://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/
                        Last edited by Tabasco; 08-07-2019, 04:30 AM.

                        Comment

                        • chevynut
                          Registered Member
                          • Nov 2011
                          • 11030
                          • 115
                          • Fort Collins, CO

                          #13
                          "2K" refers to any 2-part primer, including urethanes and epoxies. So epoxy primer is "2K".
                          56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


                          Other vehicles:

                          56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
                          56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
                          57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
                          1962 327/340HP Corvette
                          1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
                          2001 Porsche Boxster S
                          2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
                          2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

                          Comment

                          • Troy
                            Registered Member
                            • Mar 2012
                            • 671
                            • 516
                            • Antioch, Ca

                            #14
                            Thank you guy's oops I'm in California... Thank You persons!!!

                            Also I'm unable to edit my posts after a reply has been made, is there a secret way to do it?

                            Comment

                            • BamaNomad
                              Registered Member
                              • Nov 2016
                              • 3881
                              • 3217
                              • Rocket City, USA (Huntsville, AL area)

                              #15
                              Go back to YOUR post; you can edit it, but of course not the responses that follow after...

                              Comment

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