Another fenderless 53

[RAT IHC]

Nice sheet metal work! Those lights add a killer look! [cl

 

[tw7256]

I thought I would update on what I've been doing. I went swapping a couple weeks ago and found some great treasures. The Sunflower swap meet held in Park city Kansas is where I found this stuff. I finally found some head lights for the truck. I'm not sure what they are off of but they had the little turn signal pods on the top. I probally won't use them as one is hosed up. Picked these up for 60.00 smackers.

I also got these 15" x 10" slot mags for 95.00. I like them better than the 14" x 7.5" I aready had. Too bad I already bought new tires for the 14's. I might put them on the front.

I found 2 shifters while I was there. One was a B/M but after further investigation It turned out to be for a 4 speed Automatic. The other was a stock Cutlass shifter for 10.00 green stamps. The nice thing about it is that I already had the cable and bracket.

As I stated in a earlier post I made my front sheet metal into a tilt front end

I also put the engine in and raised it 2". That solved a whole bunch of problems I was having with ground clearance and other issues.

I hope to have the head lights installed and front hoop done soon. I also plan on a under structure for the hood and some struts from a hatch back car to help lift it. later!

 

[Snake Farm]

This thing just keeps getting better and better![cl[cl
Two big thumbs up on the tilt nose too!

 

[62ChevyII]

The flip front end worked out great!

 

[Tim...Ok]

nice call on the tilt front end, that came out great..love the truck

 

[tw7256]

Here are couple more photos. I was playing around with Photo bucket on this one how about Patine Purple?

I had to remove one of the bars in the grille. I moved it down and back. This got the front end to look sleeker because the front of the hood is lower. So anyway I put this expanded metal panel in it's place.

Later

 

[clamor]

Awesome!

I moved to Newton at the first of December & my friend got a job at the company that moved me here & he just rented a house in Park City.

I don't have eyes on the swap meets and shows around here, if you could drop me a line when you're heading to one, maybe we could meet up!

-Chaz

 

[tw7256]

The first weekend in feb. is the sunflower swap meet. Thats just south a bit of Newton at the Kansas pavilions. About 2 mile north of park city. There are smaller ones here and there. Welcome to Kansas

 

[tw7256]

I added a under structure to the tilt hood and grille. This stiffened it up quite a bit and makes it easier to open.

Also I fabricated this front hoop which is removable. This will support my radiator at the top and also my headlights. I'll have to tilt the radiator back about 20 degrees or so. Since I'm running a electric fan it will not be a problem.

Next I'll make the radiator tabs and the headlight supports.

later

 

[bob w]

It's coming together nicely.[cl I don't know why you need radiator tabe though. That piece of wire should do the job.

 

[Sam_Fear]

The tilt hood is classy.

 

[tw7256]

So no matter where I tried mounting the headlights I did not like them. They were in the way of the wheel or sticking up so high that they looked just plain goofy. I decided they are just too big! I thought they would look good but at almost 9" around they made my truck look bug eyed. Mounting them lower would of helped but then the tire would hit them in a sharp corner. So I gave up on them and resorted to a internet search on headlights. I found these for a reasonable price. They are only 5" around.

I got a pair of the on the way. I could of got chrome but why show off! I figure I can put these much lower and about where I want them.

 

[62ChevyII]

That is a bummer about the swapmeet headlights but those new ones look really nice!

 

[tw7256]

I finally made a little progress on the 53. This time of year it's hard to find any time with all the other stuff I need to do. I got the new headlights installed and like the look a lot better. It kind of looks like a big grasshopper now. Maybe I should paint it lime green.

I made some lightning bolt shaped mounts to go with the tail lights. I'll probably impale myself on them at some future point.

Got the radiator and fan installed.

This is somewhat of a failure, although it worked at first the fire wall will need to be re enforced some because it flexes down after every shutting of the hood until it wont latch. The remote cable worked pretty good though. It will take some more work.

later

 

[Sam_Fear]

Maybe you should try 2 set of headlights? One on top of the other. Maybe even stagger them a little - one farther back or to the side some. Play with that idea if you still have both sets. Might get rid of that bug look?

 

[tw7256]

I can live with what I got now for the headlights. I just need more time to work on it. I think I'll see what i can do for turn signals next.

 

[tw7256]

I dinked around with the front turn signals today as it was raining here in God's country and I had to work inside. I had a couple sets of these old truck clearance lights that were designed to be mounted on the roof. One set was really rusty and came off the 53. The other set are stainless and were on a International cab I cabbaged onto, excuse the pun. I used the lenses from the old set. I took the single element bulb receptacle out of the base and with 1" hole saw made a hole for some new sockets like I used on the back. These use the 1157 bulb that is dual element.

I had to add this sharks tooth piece onto the side of my grille and contour it some as to fit the clearance lights. it's a little hard to see in the photo.

I like the overall effect and think it looks aerodynamic. It kind of goes with the trucks theme somewhat.

I might work on the hood latch if the weather stays cruddy tomorrow. later

 

[tw7256]

I had to put the 53 back on the ground today to move it to make room for another car. Wow! It sure looks better on the ground than it does up on stands.

I posted this photo so that you could get an idea on the proportion with this old dude standing next to it.

 

[Z.Z.Rat]

Looks good on the ground but looks like a race truck sitting on the stands.

Are you putting tinted glass back in it?

 

[Sam_Fear]

Those turn signals turn out great!




...And your grandfather look like a nice man.