Another what would you do thread.

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AZRodDave

Well-known member
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Sep 28, 2014
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Location
Phoenix, AZ
This chassis (not the body, unfortunately) is coming to my place tomorrow:

54carchassis_zps6db9a353.jpg


It's a 1954 car chassis, 235/3 spd, running and driving except for the steering column and wiring which was cut to remove the body. Another stovebolt and 3 speed for the collection (they seem to multiply around here!). Wheels and tires included, no title.

So, what would you do with it? [S
 
All good ideas, keep 'em coming !!! :)

What first attracted my eye was the low dip in the middle and the raised rear end. More like the custom chassis people build and perfect to make something special, methinks. I'd been pondering a car chassis for that very reason, as the truck chassis are all tall and straight, so other than a channel or Z job, it's hard to get the body down low. With this, it should be easy! Some sort of chopped, dropped and raked body or cab or ... who knows!?! ;)

So, I went through my saved Rat Rod photos and most seem to be trucks or old car bodies. I have enough trucks already! Then off to craigslist and found a '39 Chevy car body, '46 Chevy car body, and a '50 BUICK that needs saving.

Yeah, I need a BIG lottery winner ... :D
 
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Send it to me (or buy my 54 chevy coupe now a convertible) for the body I got![;)
 
Uh oh ...

1946 Chevy 2 dr coupe down in Tucson for $500 - "complete body minus glass and deck lid." Seems to be sitting in the weeds. Wheelbase is within an inch.

00g0g_bGlzKNwv4yt_600x450.jpg


DANGEROUS !!! But could definitely do something with it on this chassis. In a couple years, that is... :eek: AND if I had the money. :eek:
 
Slow down grasshopper.:D You have the makings of your own personal junkyard now. Keep adding stuff and you'll never know which one to work on, if you do work on one. I know how it is, you see this or that, think "I can use that", get it home, then the reality sinks in, "What the heck was I thinking?". Just trying to save you some grief {and money}. :D
 
Bama, where were you a few years ago, when I could have used the 'slow down, grasshopper' advice. My dreams have exceeded my work speed so I have a backyard full of fading projects that keep being bumped back in the line up because of the latest 'find'. Anyway, you can't save me, Bama, but you maybe able to save some of the young guys. Good luck with that.
 
Juts personal experience there MM! Been there, done that, ended up selling everything cheap! I had 10 VW's at one point, sold all at one time. Had 4 Vega's to do V8's in, got rid of all them. Had a 36 Chrysler Royal coupe, a 36 Ford truck, a 1927 T, and a 48 Ford Deluxe coupe, sold them all for that "next find" that I didn't do anything with, either. So I can truly say I know how it goes. :( Didn't complete anything until I did the 74 Maverick, then 5 years later traded it for my current Lincoln which is still unfinished but drivable.

Sometimes it's hard to just say no, I have one, lets finish it first. :)
 
I think most of us has been there .. Ive got 6 projects sitting right now my latest was just and engine swap .. maybe 2 or 3 days to complete ,, well other stuff gets in the way ,,, but I will finish it here shortly but it does get pushed back.. the weather aint helping a lot .
 
Ahhhhhh to be young and full of energy....lol

I'd be in sensory overload by now.....Az you make me dizzy...LOL..
I know I'm old and slow.....but how are you keeping up with all this...??
I hope you've got a large storage area as It appears you're going to need it :eek:....LOL....Drive on son...drive on....[cl
 
The trick is to collect stuff that either A) you know you can use and B) can use to trade - sell - or part out to fund the core project(s) you are keeping for yourself. I do very well buying abandoned projects for cheap and parting out or selling them off to fund the stuff I want to build. Many times I stock up on stuff in the fall when it is cheap, resell in the spring when guys are motivated. [P
 
It's a long story, so bear with me ...

Yeah, I want to save them all !!! I "blame" craigslist and a new-found passion for old stuff after 14 years of playing with Miatas (and making money at it!). I had 29 of them in those 14 years and then burned out - too small, hard to get out of, hard to work on because everything is so jammed together, and seems to be a lot of sharp corners and clips that bite(!), lack of power, but great in the twisty bits! Like the old blues song says, "I have had my fun." At least with those...

I'm 61 years old and I think turning 60 had something to do with getting out of the sports car thing. Going down the freeway at eye level with a semi truck's lug nuts was an epiphany! Also, they put a Costco in on my route to the freeway. The idiots pulling in and out in their SUVS talking on the cellphone don't really see a little "girly" car, or care, so it was a daily risk of life and limb, and still is! Don't seem to have that same problem in the crusty old Suburban, though. :D

Never married and no kids (and not gay!), so no one to tell me what to do. I had enough of that growing up, so maybe this is a second adolescent rebellion? I think it's my 5th childhood, or thereabouts. I'd been taking care of my folks the last few years, but Mom just went into a group home, and "the Boss" (Dad) and I have had it out a few times, so I'll still help out but I feel like I have my own life back again at last! Also semi-retired, so lots of time and energy. It's the money thing that slows me down, but that too shall pass. SSI kicks in in 5 months, and it ain't gonna be much, but will pay the rent and part of the bills. I live cheap, so I can get by with a meager income, and that's just fine with me.

I have a little seed money to get this hot rod/rat rod thing going. Sold my autocross car and might just sell the M3 which has been my dream car for 20 years. I've had it for 2 years and enjoy it, but if it needs to be sold, then so be it. Right now it is looking like a nice chunk of money I could use for parts and such, but I'd only sell it if I need to. It would sure be nice to have a full money jar! Then again, it might be dangerous! By now you all know how I am. LOL

Like many of you, I buy and sell stuff to get other stuff, and sometimes make a bit of a profit on it, more often not, but rarely lose money. I guess that is my "investment portfolio" = money in metal! Wish I had a big shop with a lift, but am glad that I have tools and the space to do things! Hopefully it works out somehow, because like the Miata thing, once the ball gets rollin', it keeps on keepin' on! "Train kep' a-rollin' all night long." BTW, I played music for 30 years, thus the frequent song quotes.

"Oh to be young and foolish." Well how about older and still foolish?! I don't really think that way (but then again, sometimes I just don't think at all!). I guess I have OCD when it comes to cars, but like Popeye says, "I am what I am and that's all what I am."

Right now I have 3 running and driving cars and 3 project trucks. This chassis is on its way, then the IH Scouts and that's going to be it for a while (maybe). Like most of you, I am in this for the joy of it, not the money. When something becomes a job, I am out of there. I did my 40 years already. And like the Miata thing, a hobby and passion can actually pay off once in a while, or at least provide funds for "the next one." And as long as the bills get paid, then I am happy! The rest is for play!

Don't drink or go out or go to movies and such, so any money I have goes into this sort of fun. Someone yesterday asked me what I do for a living, and I tell them I play with cars! No mortgage, no car payments, no alimony, no bank account; I'm off the grid in the big city. My "job," if you want to call it that, is now my joy - not a dreaded 9 to 5 M-F indentured servant to some jerk who plays golf. Been there, done that, wore out the t-shirt and used it for a shop rag!

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions and even the warning! I appreciate you all and the talents and passion found in the Builds and Foto collections. Hope this hasn't been too much information, but thought I should try and explain a bit. Not to get too sentimental about it, but ... I love you guys !!! [cl
 
Responses

shorten the frame and put one of the scout bodies on it.:D

That is very possible Stude! :)

Slow down grasshopper.:D You have the makings of your own personal junkyard now. Keep adding stuff and you'll never know which one to work on, if you do work on one. I know how it is, you see this or that, think "I can use that", get it home, then the reality sinks in, "What the heck was I thinking?". Just trying to save you some grief {and money}. :D

I appreciate that, thanks! One thing I am learning (as with the Miata stuff), it is a lot easier to go dig through a pile o' parts and find something you need rather than go to a parts store and buy over-priced Chinese parts! like jfg says, it's "inventory" of a sort, or possible income. I promise to try and keep it under control! Just cleared out the last of the Miata stuff, so have room, and yes, that is a temptation!

I say drop your 235 and trans in that '46 and be on the road.

I think it is only a body, e-man. But could plop it down on the '54 chassis and find a steering column and do some wiring, and BAM!!! On the road in rusty iron with a whiny old 3 spd. I'm good with that!

If the 39 is a 2 door I'd do that one

It was, and I can't seem to find it again. There will be others...

The trick is to collect stuff that either A) you know you can use and B) can use to trade - sell - or part out to fund the core project(s) you are keeping for yourself. I do very well buying abandoned projects for cheap and parting out or selling them off to fund the stuff I want to build. Many times I stock up on stuff in the fall when it is cheap, resell in the spring when guys are motivated. [P

Exactly !!!
 

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