Ace-Garageguy Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 (edited) Got a sad little monogram '53 Cnevy that someone had started hacking on and then gave up. Rocker panels, engine bay and rear quarter bottoms cut off with a pair of dykes or a hacksaw. Got to thinking about what I could possibly do with it, and the recent work on the '50 Olds led me to look at later Olds body styles. The '54 was almost the '55 design, but still showing some earlier influence. Decided to see what kind of Olds-look custom the little hacked Chevy might possibly become.....Raised the hood a tad, used the headlight eyebrows from a '57, an unknown front bumper, the Olds grille insert from the old AMT bumper pack, and the top of the custom grille from a monogram '53 Chevy kit and came up with a distinctly Olds-like front end...... With the rockers gone, and some wheels mocked up, the front fender is distinctly Caddy like. So, having an old metal promo Cad bumper as a guide (which I'm saving to restore the promo), I started playing around with a cobbled-up Caddy-look front end made from bits. Again, the bumperettes with Dagmars are from a vintage AMT bumper pack. The hood is the custom one from an AMT '49 or '50 Ford, as will be the grille shell, and the lower bumper is Chevelle. Some fiddling produced a reasonably Cadillac look..... Since this thing will be a custom, I'm not too concerned with exact scale correctness, but more about getting the flavor of the car that it represents. A little more fiddling and I think I'll have the '54 Caddy nose pretty colse..... Edited August 27, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy
Geno Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Can't wait to see where this goes. Very interesting indeed.
Trans Am Erik Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Lookin good so far. I'll be watching this one progress. On a side note: I NEED one of those hoods for the Merc. THAT'S the look I am needing to make that nose more angular. The hood that is on it is a modified 49 Ford hood so I know that one will fit the current opening!
BKcustoms Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Interesting, I can't wait to see how this turns out!
sbk Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Forget the dagmars, this is the look! If you don't use it I will! Cut about 1.5 scale inches off of the front the the hood & it'll fit.
Bartster Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Pretty cool, Bill. The 1st bumper appears to be '58 lmpala unit ? I like both looks. I'll keep watching to see where this goes. Bart.
Chuck Most Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Sweet- I already like it! About all that's missing is a little Buick influence... though a three-carb Nailhead under the hood would fix that one little issue quite nicely indeed.
DrKerry Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Forget the dagmars, this is the look! If you don't use it I will! Cut about 1.5 scale inches off of the front the the hood & it'll fit. ditto that, I like this one too.
Hollywood Jim Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 (edited) 54 Chebies are one of my favorites. I love the look your going for !!! Now I wanna build one ! YES, use the dagmars.............. . . Edited December 9, 2012 by Hollywood Jim
Lunajammer Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 You have more fabulous starts than anyone I know and this is no exception. I'd sure like to see your injured reserve stash.
ChevyCoupe41 Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 This looks very cool so far! I must have to say don't use dagmars because that first version looks perfect. I have couple of these Chevys and one of those will be custom and this gave me lots of ideas and inspiration. Cant wait to see more.
James2 Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Forget the dagmars, this is the look! If you don't use it I will! Cut about 1.5 scale inches off of the front the the hood & it'll fit. Yea, that's the look right there!
DumpyDan Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 I agree with Steve, this is the way to go if it was one of use anyway.............Keep going, looking forward to more. Or Steve will just do it anyway.
72 Charger Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 (edited) Ive got to get one of those bummper packs where do you get them from? Edited December 9, 2012 by Doobie
Ace-Garageguy Posted December 9, 2012 Author Posted December 9, 2012 Thanks for all the interest and feedback. I like the Olds-look front end best myself, so the first one will take off from there. The Caddy-look front end was an experiment to see if I could hit a look for a takeoff point on something similar to this...... ....or this..... Ive got to get one of those bummper packs where do you get them from? Here ya' go...... http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-AMT-PARTS-PACK-3005-GRILLES-BUMPERS-NEW-IN-UNOPENED-GOOD-BOX-/321035722535?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item4abf385f27
surfjunke Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Love what you have going with this so far. Really like the Olds front end treatment.
Bartster Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 Glad you're going with th Olds look. I secretly favored that one. Looking again, l can't help wondering how it would look with a '61 lmpala front bumper instead of the '58 ? Seems like it would be more streamlined, lower & showcase the Olds insert more ? Just a thought. Bart
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