My ""other " build 53 Chevy Panel

[OddRodsGarage]

Ok I have everything in the shop and ready for the snow to fly .. we all have projects and this is next in line but will work on this and the 66 build

[ http://ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30537]
This winter .It is not a rat but it could have been . Also if this is inappropriate for this site someone please let me know .

This has been 7 years in the making and I started it before I ever saw a rat....

I saw this on Blacksburg Va. Craigslist and knew it was "different" I hauled it 400 miles to Maryland and then 700 miles to Michigan ...

1953 Chevy one ton panel truck series 3805 ..Chevy supposedly made 6 of these before having to stop because of the Korean war .....

 

[sawzall]

That panel is great! of course it is right for this site, start a build thread as soon as possible
what are your plans for it?

 

[AZRodDave]

Not only unique, but cooler than cool! What a find.

 

[OddRodsGarage]

I am going to do a "speed build " on this one showing 6 years of work in the next couple of days .... I have paint on it now ...

It had a lot of rust and because at the time they made no panels for it .....so everything was hand made

 

[OddRodsGarage]

That panel is great! of course it is right for this site, start a build thread as soon as possible
what are your plans for it?

This will be a total restore . When I bought it ,it was 99.9% complete . I am going to sell it in one of the bigger auction next year and use the seed money to build Rats /customs...

 

[OddRodsGarage]

That panel is great! of course it is right for this site, start a build thread as soon as possible
what are your plans for it?

Not only unique, but cooler than cool! What a find.

I was going to ask how to use the multi quote button AZ but somehow my dumb arse did it by mistake ... Yea I thought it was unique and about a year later someone told me there were only 6 made , but I have seen no sign of the other 5 in searching the internet .

There are a lot of retired GM engineers living in northern Michigan and they have come to agreement it was most likely a prototype that GM was planning to compete with the Dodge humpback panels but scraped the project because of the war , people at the time did not know if it was going to be as bad WWII

 

[OddRodsGarage]

Like I said ..lot of rust

 

[AZRodDave]

Like I said ..lot of rust

Man, that is just nasty! But if it is 1 of 1, it should bring a LOT of money once you get it sorted. I guess since it was all "hand made," it can be done again!

 

[HotRods1]

that will be a hell of a project for you.

 

[OddRodsGarage]

that will be a hell of a project for you.

Well then what I need to do is get in there and start cutting ...

 

[OddRodsGarage]

I seem to have lost all my cut out pictures I will put in a plug for one heck of a metal bender . I cut out the back section of the first picture above and sent it to Ray Stanley in Massachusetts [ 413-477-6467]. As you can see there was not much to go on but not only did he send me back a piece that fit perfectly ..he also made the mirror piece to fit the other side , again it fit perfect . Ray Makes a lot of the special patch panel that you see in LMC etc. He now has the prototype pieces he made for me available there . remember this is a restoration and part of the reason I like ratrods is that fabrication can be done in house

 

[OddRodsGarage]

I could not turn that second picture to save my arse ....well anyway I thought I could use door bottoms for the run down the side but because the bottoms extend further underneath the body we went to plan b.

 

[Torchie]

Love it.
Not to hijack but I have a soft spot for the old panel trucks. My every day driver (As in 365) used to be the 50 GMC panel in the pics below.
Kind of the opposite of yours ORG as mine was mechanically heavily modified.
As far as I know they still dont make the panels that go under the rear doors.
My truck is still around Northern Michigan but sports Chevy front fenders,grill and hood now as the results of a serious accident.
Torchie.

 

[OddRodsGarage]

Once the metal was done ..time to cover it up some and pull the body and paint the frame

 

[OddRodsGarage]

I also painted the engine did some more body work and moved it in to the new /unfinished pole barn

 

[OddRodsGarage]

Love it.
Not to hijack but I have a soft spot for the old panel trucks. My every day driver (As in 365) used to be the 50 GMC panel in the pics below.
Kind of the opposite of yours ORG as mine was mechanically heavily modified.
As far as I know they still dont make the panels that go under the rear doors.
My truck is still around Northern Michigan but sports Chevy front fenders,grill and hood now as the results of a serious accident.
Torchie.

No problem tourchie that was a good looking , Ray Stanley has those panels and a lot of the after market places carry them Jim Carter , for one . There is a website just for Chevy trucks called Stovebolt but they can be a little stuffy on the new guys but there is a lot of info there

 

[OddRodsGarage]

this almost ready for paint ...

 

[OddRodsGarage]

and here is where I am ...hope to have this and the rat running by next spring

 

[Tripper]

ORG... my Chev panel had the same prob so instead of cuttin' all the rust out I put rust killer on the bad parts & used old license plates & then sprayed primer over them. [ddd

BoB

 

[OddRodsGarage]

and here is where I am ...hope to have this and the rat running by next spring

Well next ""spring" turned out to be 2 years later .... and who doesn't know how that is ...

Here is how it turned out and on to finish the 66 rat