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My first American car 55 Chevy 210 moredoor coming from Ca

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  moosehead 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi,
Don't know if this is the correct place for this but if anyone's interested I am waiting for my first american car a 55 Chevy more-door 210 from California is being loaded this week so in a month or so I will have another project to tidy up.

I always wanted a Tri Chevy ever since Real steel imported them in the late 70's early 80's but I couldn't get the money together for one, then as you do I was not well and feeling sorry for myself at home and surfing the net I decided I needed a pickup truck to tool around in until my Pop is finished which incidentally is going to take twice as long as I had hoped for (familiar to anyone)? I've seen some nice trucks done to all different levels of niceness so I started looking around but after looking at a few I thought they needed too much work and that would take too long to tidy to a decent driving standard for me.

I stopped looking as I was getting despondent about not having a vehicle to do some shows in next year as going as a punter when your mates have their vehicles in attendance knocks the edge off it for some reason.

Then I spotted the 55 and immediately knew I had to have it, I looked at it with the rose tinted glasses (as I don't drink) I couldn't blame anything else and thought yep MOT quick tidy up bit of interior (mexican blanket) and a service be out in it in a couple of weeks. :wanker:

The deal was done and by the time that happened I had made a list out of the things I wanted to clean up
350crate engine, new carb, inlet, hei dist, alternator, radiator, interior trim, carpets, seat belts, door seals, lowered spindles, disc, servo, adjustable shocks front and rear roll bars wheels and tyres, new brake lines, rear cyls, shoes, clean up prepare and paint bulkhead de-rust front wings and 2 x doors full respray, window rubbers etc etc

I thought maybe that isn't going to be too quick, so I know how I want it so it will be like a rolling resto for a lot of it and off for periods of time but hopefully operational at least for Wheels day next year with at least all the mechanical bits done.

I enclose a couple of pic's in case anyone is interested, if anyone on here feels like they want to offer any advice on best place to get insurance, parts or what combinations of things I may need then feel free to comment please as as far as these cars go I am an ignoramus. Or if anyone has any parts they need to punt at a reasonable price then I may be interested.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Many thanks John











This car made me do it.......... :shake: :finger:

 
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#2 ·
Great score!
John there are a great bunch of guys and ladies with Tri Chevy's in this country. Many have parts and a lot of experience gathered by working on their own cars over time. There is a UK TrI Chevy Group which is open to owners and useful for contact regarding meetings and parts exchanges etc. No politics, no ego's or committees just help when needed and a little organising occasionally. Are you on Facebook?

Looks like Mr Peppershaker has a lot to answer for!
 
#3 ·
No mate not on Facebook, will I need to get on Facebook? if I do, can I block all of the extraneous stuff that I have seen appear on other peoples Facebook? I'll nip on there and have a look at the TrI Chevy site.

Cheers John
 
#6 · (Edited)
What a good idea getting a tri Chevy is:tup: welcome to the club as Steve said no politics just nice friendly people look forward to seeing it on the road soon.

Mick

PS I'm not on Farcebook I seem to survive. or am I missing out ?
 
#7 ·
Congratulations on aquiring your first Tri Chevy. Best piece of advice i could give you is.............. don't be tempted to take it off the road and rip it apart or you will regret it and won't see it on the road for years, oh and it will empty you bank account!! Get it mot'd and roadworthy, then drive it while you restore it, a little at a time - life's too short. Get yourself on Facebook to speak to like minded obsessive people. Speak to Vince who set up the Facebook group. His comment to me after six months of driving his 57 - "Nige, when does the novelty wear off?" Trust me mate it never does. Nige.
 
#11 ·
Erm . . er . . . oh bugger ! Glad I could be of help & you like what I did to mine :D

Hey, congrats on buying the 55 John. :tup:

Now, a few very similar things here. I bought mine while off work with a broken elbow, I also had large rose tinted glasses & also thought a 6 month makover would do it. Took 6 years ! (dont mention bank balance !)

Like Nige said, dont take it all to bits at once, do it over time & enjoy driving it about while doing it. Get it on the road & get to as many Tri things as you can. You will have some great laughs, with a great group of people.

Keep us up to date when it lands John, be great to see your progress etc.

Steve
 
#12 · (Edited)
Unfortunatley mine will never be as nice as this one.....:yeahthat:

Cheers for all the replies chaps much appreciated, I hadn't looked on here for a few days as I have been trawling the net for Tri 5 bits "bugger" you can get zillions of bits for these, the must have list, is kin huge now :wanker: shouldn't have been looking so hard.

First I am going to MOT and register it, nip about in it to get a feel for it for a few miles, then I am to keep it as complete as I can not strip the whole thing down as that tends to get long and drawn out as some of you have said on here, but if not too rusty then most of it will be spanner work so I need to get a big pile of bits in place for when I start so I can thrash on it to make it a good driver and hopefully nice and reliable, won't be pretty on the outside but will give me plenty to smile about. I already have one major project with the Pop so I have to be careful and not get carried away with doin all the mods I like looking at on the stunning cars that people have built here. Mine will never be a show car but I want it to end up being nice and tidy looking and to be able to use it properly.

I have decided the first bit of budget should go on the chassis, suspension, brakes and engine. I intend to take the body off complete less the front sheet metal, jack the body up from the body mounts and roll the chassis out. Whip the engine and trans out and sandblast the chassis, while the chassis is away check out the floor and body mounts, from the pic's it looks fairly sound................. repair any rust areas and etch prime then seal and paint probably a neutral colour.

Then with the chassis, etch and paint the chassis in colour of choice, lowered rear springs, shocks panhard rod and top rear shock tube mount. Front suspension rebush all wishbone bushes with HD versions, new ball joints, lowered front springs and dropped spindles with a disc conversion, new adjustable shocks all round, instal front and rear sway bars.

Hopefully stick a crate 350 in it, with new carb, inlet, hei dist etc if I can get a deal on that lot, keep the 3 on a tree as it reminds me of my old MK1 Consuls I had years ago "in me yoof" when what I really wanted was a Tri Chevy.

Check steering box (manual version) for wear and free play/backlash, new master cylinder with servo unit and all new brake hoses and dual circuit system fitted with new rear cyls and shoes.

Put the body back on sort out any wiring problems re-upholster the seat and baring any hideous unforseen rustage to the main shell ready for some use, the next stage would be to sort the interior whilst I am driving and enjoying it, then gradual preparation for paint and then sticking it in colour.

Sort out the wheel and tyre combination for the right look, I was thinking about the Ansen slot mags? what do you think??? or would that not look right??? opinions greatly appreciated.

I have a goal in mind for getting it usable as I really would like to get it to Wheels Day next year............. ooops I've done it now. Sorry about the length of this post but thats about it.

Cheers John
 
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