Thread: 1956 survivor

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I thought I'd show some pics of my brother in law's 56 Chevy survivor. I may have some rust repairs to do on this in the future, but I think he really enjoys driving it just the way it is...untouched.

This car was left to him by his uncle who bought the car new in Dec of 1955. It stayed primarily on the farm, and was kept out of the weather in a shed. Where it does show some battle scars and has some rust damage from over the years, it is neat to see a car left largely untouched.







Are these mirrors an original Chevy item? Dealer installed? My bil did say he had a receipt where his uncle had taken the car back for dealer installed back up lights, not sure on these, though.





Farmer repaired eyebrows using aluminum flashing and paint purchased at the dealer..



Original wheels with the factory pin stripe...



This is one of the nicest fitting doors I have ever seen on a tri five...





Having performed some of the tri five roof repairs, it's nice to see one in this pristine condition, still in factory paint. Looks like having been in the shade of a shed has protected the car from the extreme temperature changes that causes the condensation inside the roof skin.





More farm repairs.... heater control knob..



...and here's the original mileage on this 6 cylinder car...

Those are dealer installed I believe. My 57 had one on the left door more or less under the wing window. The cancer appears in the normal places and the left rear quarter at the tail light shouldn't be too much of a problem and the eyebrows also shouldn't be that much of a problem either. All in all a real nice 56

Very nice Robert, your brother got a good deal on that one… they make all the parts to make that baby like new… good luck..

Originally Posted by parkwood

Very nice Robert, they make all the parts to make that baby like new..

Robert will just whip'em up in his spare time! And it'll come out better'n factory!

Wow, under 50K miles in almost 58 years!! Think he'll ever decide to let you start working magic on it, or will it continue to "survive" until he passes it on to another generation?

He's got a 67 short bed fleetside that will likely get restored first. We looked at the doors for it yesterday. He does have an NOS driver's door but the originals just need some lower corner repair, so the NOS piece will probably be saved for another project.

On the 56, he has mentioned doing some rust repairs and spot repairing the paint. I think he wants to keep it as original as possible, including the original 6 cylinder..

I've had a few Tri 5s, and any two door of any year would always be welcome in our garage...............but a '56 210 is right at the top of the list. Since it's already a stick that would make it even easier to live with. That heater switch is a hoot!

Congrats to your B.I.L. - - - as many have mentioned, there are lots of good parts available in the Tri-Chevy dept so lack of $$$ and elbow grease should be his only barriers. Please keep us updated on this one, OK? and thanks for sharing.
Em

Wow and got to agree with you about the door fit, absolutely perfect. Interesting subject really for bodymen to notice as I was reading on another forum that the general opinion was that older cars had uneven and wide door gaps and when people took the trouble to align and improve the fitment of their doors on their rods, it took away from the overall finish. I remember restoring a 1919 Dodge Tourer and the door gaps were darn close and perfect so it certainly wasn't an old car thing at all. Very nice car too.

Ok, had some requests so here's some pics of the engine bay...











The radiator had been recored and does still sport the Harrison logo on the tank.

That is a keeper there Robert, vacuum wipers? I thought they were electric, or was that an option? I did a '56 nomad and it had electric, maybe aftermarket?
I love the 6cyl, clean that valvecover up and it'll look great.
Great car.

OJ, yes vacuum wipers. With the radio delete, dog dish caps, and three on the tree, no frills here. I don't know if electric were available then...

Wow, that is such an awesome car for sitting in a barn for such a long time! Every one I've seen around here needs rust repair before a guy could drive it. He got a very nice score!

Had a friend with a car almost exactly like this one and on a rainy night going up a steep hill - well let's just say it was difficult at best to keep the windshield clean. Now coming down - that was a different story as the wipers flapped to beat the band. As I recall, he did upgrade to an aftermarket electric wiper motor from JC Whitney!!

Electrics became standard equipment in '57. I think they might have been optional in '55 - '56, seems the motor from a '57 could replace the vacuum motor with only the wiring needing to be added, motors fit the same.