55 Chevy Kustom

[Kanada Kustoms]

I'm having trouble settling on a project that I can stick with.  So I'm starting yet another project. 

This one has been kicking around in my head for some time.  Hopefully I can stick with it for a while. 

I sometimes do sketches of cars and this is one of those cases.  I decided to build a model of it as I really like the sketch and plan to stick quite closely to it. 

This is more of an introduction to a new build, as not much has been accomplished yet. 

Below is a list of the inspiration for the build and what will be done to it.

Here's the sketch:

Tri-Five Chevies are really popular... And I'm a really big fan of the 55s.  But every example I've seen has been so careful to preserve the original lines or way to radical (Merlin Berg's being an exception, so outside the box... I think it is brilliant).

So here is what has been done in the sketch to try and improve upon a difficult design to improve upon, while trying not to lose what is characteristic of a 55 Chevy!

- Chopped 1 - 1 1/2 Inches (That Will Be Done Last As It Will Be A Delicate Thing Once Chopped)
- Sweetheart Dip Filled
- Sectioned 2 Inches Between Wheel Wells
- Wheel Lips, Rocker Flares & Front Fender Character Line Smoothed
- Front Wheel Wells Reshaped
- Custom Taillights Leaned Forward (More On This Later...)
- One Piece Trim From Front To Back
- Flush Fit Rear Skirts
- Custom Rear Bumper
- Custom Front Bumper With Integrated Bullets
- Grill Opening Angled Back 5 - 10˚ At The Bottom (Adjacent Sheet Metal Squared Up And Angled To Match)
- 57 Chevy Grill Bar, Modified, Over Expanded Metal
- 56 Senior Packard Headlight Bezels (More On This Later Too...)
- Lowered To The Ground On Wide White Wall Tires

This clay was definitely inspiration for my sketch and the coming build.  I wish they had done the integrated bullets in the bumper on the actual car.  That idea will be carried over to this build along with squaring up the sheet metal above the bullets and bellow the headlight bezels.  Also notice there is no rocker flare on this clay, another idea I am using:

I've wanted to do a build similar to this car for some time as I really like it.  Love the 56 Packard headlight bezels and wanted to incorporate them on a build.  I'll have to scratch build them of course.  I think stock bezels would be too wide at the base for the Chevy fenders, so I will be making 56 Packard STYLE headlight bezels modified to fit the 55 Chevy fenders.  The plan to fill the sweetheart dip on the Chevy is because I want the belt line to look like this car:

Long after I finished the sketch, I started thinking about using a 60 Mercury rear bumper taillight bezel portions and kustom taillights that I had on this build.  Can't remember if I decided this before or after I saw this AI image, but it is very similar to the idea I had.  I think it influenced me...

I'm starting with the Monogram 55 Chevy kit.  The body has fairly nice proportions.  Don't like that the body has indents on the sides for trim.  Will have to fill those holes:

Here's a before picture...  Lots of work to do:

I've sanded down the driver's side flares and character lines, next comes the section and filling of the sweetheart dip (I have a 55 Nomad donor body for that).  To be honest, I'm excited to see how the 60 Mercury taillights will look on it and may jump on that first!

Here's the 60 Mercury taillights and bumper.  They are a surprisingly good fit when held up to the rear of the Chevy.  The bezels will need a little sanding and shaping but they will work nicely:

That's it for now... Long post.  If you made it this far, I promise some actual kustomizing in the next post!

Thanks for looking!

Edited 12 hours ago by Kanada Kustoms

[stitchdup]

could you use the trim dip for the section?

[Kanada Kustoms]

5 minutes ago, stitchdup said:

could you use the trim dip for the section?

I could.  Wasn't planning on going up that high with the section job as it's just moving the lower sheet metal between the two wheel wells up a few inches then getting what's left at the bottom of the adjacent wheel wells brought up to match.  I'll see.  But there will still be some to fill though!

Edited 13 hours ago by Kanada Kustoms

[TarheelRick]

Not trying to put words in Stitchdup's mouth. But, if you glue the trim into those indents to fill them, then just a skin of filler and some sanding and they will be gone.

[espo]

Might even consider keeping the Mercury bumper and taillights in chrome for the rear. 

[NOBLNG]

I like your plan Jon! I will follow along.😎

[BK9300]

 

5 hours ago, Kanada Kustoms said:

Here's the sketch:

 

 

The front end of your drawing reminded me a bit of this car and article -

https://fuelcurve.com/brute-force-55-chevy/

Your listed modifications should result in another unique 55!

Edited 8 hours ago by BK9300

[Kanada Kustoms]

53 minutes ago, BK9300 said:

 

The front end of your drawing reminded me a bit of this car and article -

https://fuelcurve.com/brute-force-55-chevy/

Your listed modifications should result in another unique 55!

Thanks for posting that…  I’ve seen that car before.  

If I’m correct it has custom front fenders with the tops sloped down towards the front. I like the look, but always felt they should have sloped the rear fenders slightly to soften up the rear profile to work with the front. I like it all the same though.  Don’t plan on sloping the front fenders much on my build though, maybe just a bit in the headlight extensions for the Packard style bezels.  I did take a bit of creative license in the sketch and sloped the front and rear fenders slightly, not as much as the car you posted though, very slight, but don't think I'll be doing that on the build (at least it's not in the plans for now, I'll see if I get inspired to tackle that later on as I go!).  

Again, thanks for posting that up.   Great inspiration!

Edited 7 hours ago by Kanada Kustoms

[stitchdup]

If you need more ideas this is a great site

https://customrodder.forumactif.org/f5-kustom-leadsled-traditional-custom-cars