Budget 1953 Chevy "Josie"

Josie,
Well money was tight and my family was growing when I saw a blind ad on Craigslist, no pictures and no price, no kidding.
I called and was told I needed to see it before he would tell me what he wanted for it.
I told the seller, Sir if its a $10,000 car its not for me, he laughed and so no it wasn't, I asked if he could send me some pictures and he did, I called back still not knowing the price and asked what time he got up in the morning, he say 9:00am, I asked if I could come by then and he said sure, I looked over the pictures all night, hooked up the trailer, loaded the come-along, tires, tools, rope, anything I thought I might need and arrived on time ok I was way early so I waited around the corner till 9:00.

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He met me in the yard, He said he knew I would be on time, he lead me around to the back yard and there she was. I had searched for this make and model for several years. now I have her in my sights, she's not getting away this time. She didn't start she didn't roll, but I didn't care. A deal was struck and with title in hand we loaded her up, before leaving the seller through in a extra hood, trunk and back glass.

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We finally arrived at home together. Let the build begin!
I had a few plans but budget was going to be the deciding factor on a lot of the build.
I was able to get her running, points were way out and carb was filthy, she had no brakes or second gear, but she drove off the trailer under her own steam.

After taking measurements and some photos Tear down began, way down!


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A found a s-10 rear axle from a blazer used the leaf springs and shackles and raised the shackle mount into the frame instead of under it.

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Then it was onto the front end, using this

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A pinto front end for mock up, I installed a Paul Horton cross member then bolted on the M2 parts, by the end of this build you will see, I upgraded to all tubular control arms.

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Things were rolling right along, I decided to put airbags on it while I was at it ( why not right) also 11.5 Granada rotors and metric calipers

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so now its time to see if that engine I have been sitting on will fit.


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Well it fits the frame, everything else will need a little persuasion.
the body went back on to see just how much more room the caddy engine will need.

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This should do it.

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That's better.

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Looks nice and solid, you got a good one!

Now to check out that front clip.

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she fits with a little trimming.
The whole reason for the firewall recess was I wanted to run a mechanical fan.
Time to plumb the coolant/brakes ( s-10 Master cylinder and swing pedal assembly ) rewire the whole car.


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summit racing radiator with s-10 fan and shroud

The dash was rusted completely out

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I added 4inches to the trans tunnel to clear the turbo 400. and im still able to remove the access panel for the trans.

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I reused the factory column and wheel I removed the shifter and smoothed the dash


Gauges mounted in dash and tach on the column
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After wiring and topping off fluids it was time, to turn the key.

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Shes alive!

time to take her outside.
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she is far from road ready, but I had to drive her around the block a few times.
Oh and the money shot, you might have been waiting for.

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Now to go back over everything and get her road ready.

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And that's were we are today, still along way to go, but she is very sound, I have been driving her for almost a year now, I have a lot more plans in the future.

Godspeed
MrC.

Very cool! Thanks for posting pic's.

Thanks for the post
Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.
I'm no car builder, and she ain't no show car, but we have a lot of fun together.

Godspeed
MrC.

Just awesome - great mix of talent and ingenuity. That's what hot rods are all about. What an encouraging post!

Glenn

Not many have done that with a '53 SeeeeDan but you've got it going on, MrC. Thanks for the play by play, looking forward to additionala updates.
meller

Looks like my very first car! '53 Bel Air 2-door post... dark green! :-)~

Thanks for making the time to share your build with us! Very ccol... so what's are some of the other ideas you have?

Nice build! No rule says you have to have $40k in a project to enjoy it!

This is what hot rodding used to be. Spare parts, innovation, hard work. It's good to see it's still going on. My first car (c.a. 1959) was a 52 Chevy 2-door post. Just about everything we did back then was improvised.

Mate.... you have nailed it perfectly. I so like that car just like that and what a sleeper with that big Caddy in it. A real sleeper !!! I admire these " budget " builds more so then the high dollar cheque book type builds and proves to people that if one is prepared to search out secondhand bits one can build a car without spending the equivalent of a house mortgage to have a excellent Hot Rod. Thanks Mr C. for posting your build thread and I too look forward to the updates.

That is an awesome build, when I see progress pics like yours it gives me hope that one day, just maybe one day I will be done with mine. Just looking at the pics it is done perfect, I just love it. How long of a project was this?

I remember way back when picking up a neglected '30 A Tudor sitting in front of a repair shop, dragging a 454 out of a junked Caprice and a 9" Ford from a junkyard, chopping off the front suspension of a Mustang II, then running across an acquaintance of a friend who had a bellhousing adapter and a toploader for the BB Chevy. Somehow they all fit together in a pretty nice ride. My first street rod. Dang, those were the days. Keep up the good work.

Mr C. nice build. I love it just the way it is...

theres alot of good stuff going on there-backyard engineering-you got to love it!!
those last two photo's show it looking great.
way to go Mr C


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Nice build,Mr C.. A sneaky lil ol' sleeper,to be sure.. It's done,mate.. Get out there and scare a few people.. ;) ;)

Thanks everyone for all you positive reply's.
So far I have worked on her for just over a year to get her to be a solid driver, this winter I have a few plans.

New window gaskets front and rear
finish interior
Hop up the engine
maybe 3 link rear suspension w/ notch
After that, body mods and paint.

Godspeed
MrC.

MrC,

What a great thread, a man after my own heart.;):) As others have said, love that backyard ingenuity. Please keep this thread going.:cool: Maybe start a build log in this same section.:)

Jack.

Great write up and sweet work MrC! How nice does it ride using the air bags and using the leaf spring to retain the axle? I'm guessing that is just a main leaf with the others removed?

I have used air over springs many times, This is the first time were the bag is in front of the axle, I like it more than bag behind the axle, when the bag is behind you get a lot of pitch upward at the pinion (twist), in this setup with the bags in front of the axle they act as a traction bar keeping the rear planted, as they try to twist all the weight of the car is on the front side.

The reason I don't like bags on top of the axle is the amount of space you have to make for them and there mounts, I did not notch the frame on this car nor did I have to cut the trunk floor out.

I de-arched these springs (s-10 truck) and also keep the over load spring in place so the spring will sit flat but not de-arch, that's when they will break.

I have a truck arm setup I may install in the future, if I decide to go lower in the rear.

Godspeed
MrC.