1953 Chevy Bel Air Restomod

[Zippi]

9 hours ago, bamadon said:

Looks good. I really like 53/54 Chevys,

Thanks.  Yup, good looking body style.

9 hours ago, bluestringer said:

Looks sweet Bob. Nice work.

Thanks James.

[meechum68]

Beastly! 

 

[slusher]

Great looking stace looking forward to that to BBC in that Chevy!

[Zippi]

2 hours ago, meechum68 said:

Beastly! 

 

Yup, it's got that look.

1 hour ago, slusher said:

Great looking stace looking forward to that to BBC in that Chevy!

Thanks Carl.  I'm working on the engine now.

[Zippi]

I was bound and determined to shoehorn this 572 BBC with the Cross Air Intake that I printed into this build.  I had to remove the inner fenders and the battery but I think it's looking pretty good and the hood still closes and the engine is setting on the stock motor mounts.

Edited July 16 by Zippi

[ksnow]

Nice work. Fenders and batteries can be altered, that beast was mandatory.

[Zippi]

48 minutes ago, ksnow said:

Nice work. Fenders and batteries can be altered, that beast was mandatory.

Thanks.  I'm going to be like Devon Larret on this build, No Limits.

[Cool Hand]

Engine is looking the part Bob,  was thinking you would have to remove the inner fenders to shoe horn the 572. 😄

Having no inner fenders, you could use some 3D printed upper A-arms and shocks parts for visual interest.

Also could fit a smooth fire wall made from sheet styrene and install 3D printed brake booster.

 

[espo]

The induction setup looks like it was designed for this application. 

[Zippi]

15 minutes ago, Cool Hand said:

Engine is looking the part Bob,  was thinking you would have to remove the inner fenders to shoe horn the 572. 😄

Having no inner fenders, you could use some 3D printed upper A-arms and shocks parts for visual interest.

Also could fit a smooth fire wall made from sheet styrene and install 3D printed brake booster.

 

Thanks Luke.  Yup, inner fenders were diffenitlly in the way.  Adding sheet styrene to the engine bay is on my mind and PS / PB.

Edited July 16 by Zippi

[Zippi]

12 minutes ago, espo said:

The induction setup looks like it was designed for this application. 

It does set pretty nice in the business end.  When I did a trial fit with the transmission attached it put the engine a little down in the back so I will have to lower the engine a little.  

[Zippi]

I attached the headers this morning for a mock-up and that introduced more problems.  The headers were hitting the frame.  I have stripped the frame rails clean an have the needed clearance now.  This puts the engine a little lower but I think it still looks ok.  I also cut off the distributor on the cross air intake and replaced it with a little bit bigger one that is suitable for the wires to fit inside the holes.

 

Edited July 17 by Zippi

[SpikeSchumacher]

This is looking good, Bob! Just like on 1/1 builds, when you change/modify one thing, you need to change/modify two (or more) other things. 😉

[bluestringer]

Looking good Bob. 

[Zippi]

On 7/17/2025 at 10:41 AM, SpikeSchumacher said:

This is looking good, Bob! Just like on 1/1 builds, when you change/modify one thing, you need to change/modify two (or more) other things. 😉

I hear ya man.  It's the domino effect.

12 hours ago, bluestringer said:

Looking good Bob. 

Thanks James.

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

On 7/12/2025 at 10:39 AM, Zippi said:

Just got this one up on the bench the other day and I'm still scratching my head on trying to find chrome trim.  I printed out a set of 6 lug American Torque Thrust Wheels & tires as I like to be a little different.   If anyone has a link to the parts shown in the pic I'd be much obliged.  I'm pretty sure I'm going with black on this one.  

There is a Jada 1/24 scale diecast '53 that has all of these trim pieces.

[Zippi]

On 7/20/2025 at 9:22 AM, Perspect Scale Modelworks said:

There is a Jada 1/24 scale diecast '53 that has all of these trim pieces.

Thanks man.  Yup, this is the Jada Diecast that I'm getting my inspiration from.  

[Zippi]

Since I cut the inner fenders out it going to require a little sheet metal work.  A little putty and sanding should work out pretty good.  

Edited Monday at 04:51 PM by Zippi

[Zippi]

Started sanding on the firewall this morning and found out I had a low spot so I threw a little mud on it.  I'll let this set overnight and try it again in the morning.  I also cut removed as much of the stock exhaust as I could.  I'll do a little filling in and sanding and that should be good enough for the bottom of the chassis.  

[STU111]

G’day Bob. I’m a little late to this one, but man, this looks like it’s going to be wild when finished. I’m in. 👍🏻

[Zippi]

1 hour ago, STU111 said:

G’day Bob. I’m a little late to this one, but man, this looks like it’s going to be wild when finished. I’m in. 👍🏻

Morning Stu.  I'm trying to get all the bugs worked out right now.  I need to finish the engine bay area then get the body cleaned up and wait for a good day to throw some paint on it.  

[Zippi]

Not much going on fellow.  This Heat wave is a killer.  Very, very little bench time out in the garage with this heat.  I did get the firewall all smoothed out to my liking.  The extended forecast shows this Heat wave being around for a pretty good while.  

[Cool Hand]

Good job on the fire wall Bob.

 

44 minutes ago, Zippi said:

This Heat wave is a killer.  Very, very little bench time out in the garage with this heat. 

I would be happy to trade some weather, ive had enough of southern polar blasts that keep gusting through 🥶 

Thankfully my room out the garage/shed has heating and cooling so I can work on the models in comfort all year round.

Edited Friday at 02:35 PM by Cool Hand

[johnyrotten]

1 hour ago, Zippi said:

Not much going on fellow.  This Heat wave is a killer.  Very, very little bench time out in the garage with this heat.  I did get the firewall all smoothed out to my liking.  The extended forecast shows this Heat wave being around for a pretty good while.  

Shaping up ,Zippi. 👍👍

[Zippi]

5 hours ago, Cool Hand said:

Good job on the fire wall Bob.

 

I would be happy to trade some weather, ive had enough of southern polar blasts that keep gusting through 🥶 

Thankfully my room out the garage/shed has heating and cooling so I can work on the models in comfort all year round.

Man that must be nice out in your garage.  I have heat but no AC.