Joined
·
669 Posts
I keep getting the "Our records indicate that you have never posted to our site before! Why not make your first post today by saying hello to our community in our Introductions forum."
I've been hanging around here for quite awhile without posting, so here goes........
My interest in cars started at about three years old. Mom has a pic of me standing on the bumper of dad's '52 Studebaker while he was tuning it. I bought my first car when I was 14 yrs old. An uncle of mine had inherited a 1957 sedan delivery with only 52,000 miles on it. Garage kept and dealer serviced. Got that car for $250. The year was 1968. A year later, just months before I'd get my drivers license, a guy showed up waving cash and I was young and dumb enough I sold it for $350. He put a V8 in and sold it for $800. That guy painted it and sold it for $2000. A learning experience.
At 16 I rebuilt my first engine (chevy). It was a real backyard build but turned out pretty good and I put a lot of miles on it. My love for things mechanical eventually lead to me becoming a Heavy Equipment Mechanic. Later I wrote the exams and have my Automotive certification as well. Working in this business hasn't dulled my interest. I still love playing with and working on cars.
About 1984 I helped my brother inlaw haul home a 1955 2dr hardtop, all in pieces. A bare body on a bare rolling chassis with boxes and boxes of parts. Two years later he had a couple of kids and a mortgage and was ready to sell. He sold me the car for what he paid, $2600. 1988 I bought a house. The car went way down on the list of priorities. I even tried to sell it once. Thankfully I had a bunch of jerks come to look at it. They drove me nuts and I took it off the market. Not much progress on it in 20 years.
Two years ago I finally had some time and money to spend on the old car, so I made a start. The plan is to do as much of this build myself as I possibly can... mechanical, body work, paint, and upholstery. I took the body off the frame this summer. My progress is slow but I do what I can when I have the time. Now that I'm getting my intro out of the way I'll do a post in the "Project update section".
My car was originally black with a red and beige interior, built in Van Nuys CA. It was also a powerpack car as the fuel line is outside the frame. The car had been hot rodded by a previous owner and over the years I collected original parts for it to return it to stock. I have to admit that for me, scouring swap meets for all the correct parts has been a lot of fun. Funny how things go though. Another brother inlaw recently built himself a '56 hdtp. After driving his car I've decided I want all the modern stuff.... disc brakes, AC, power windows, 700R4, and something under the hood with about 300 horses.
Well I'm sure half of you have given up on this read so I might as well get to the pictures....
Here's me working on a floor pan..... getting right into it......
![]()
Here's one showing more of my car.... (The door isn't from a '56 it's actually off a 1957 Canadian Pontiac.)
![]()
Looking forward to contributing a little to this site.
Thanks,
Ernie
I've been hanging around here for quite awhile without posting, so here goes........
My interest in cars started at about three years old. Mom has a pic of me standing on the bumper of dad's '52 Studebaker while he was tuning it. I bought my first car when I was 14 yrs old. An uncle of mine had inherited a 1957 sedan delivery with only 52,000 miles on it. Garage kept and dealer serviced. Got that car for $250. The year was 1968. A year later, just months before I'd get my drivers license, a guy showed up waving cash and I was young and dumb enough I sold it for $350. He put a V8 in and sold it for $800. That guy painted it and sold it for $2000. A learning experience.
At 16 I rebuilt my first engine (chevy). It was a real backyard build but turned out pretty good and I put a lot of miles on it. My love for things mechanical eventually lead to me becoming a Heavy Equipment Mechanic. Later I wrote the exams and have my Automotive certification as well. Working in this business hasn't dulled my interest. I still love playing with and working on cars.
About 1984 I helped my brother inlaw haul home a 1955 2dr hardtop, all in pieces. A bare body on a bare rolling chassis with boxes and boxes of parts. Two years later he had a couple of kids and a mortgage and was ready to sell. He sold me the car for what he paid, $2600. 1988 I bought a house. The car went way down on the list of priorities. I even tried to sell it once. Thankfully I had a bunch of jerks come to look at it. They drove me nuts and I took it off the market. Not much progress on it in 20 years.
Two years ago I finally had some time and money to spend on the old car, so I made a start. The plan is to do as much of this build myself as I possibly can... mechanical, body work, paint, and upholstery. I took the body off the frame this summer. My progress is slow but I do what I can when I have the time. Now that I'm getting my intro out of the way I'll do a post in the "Project update section".
My car was originally black with a red and beige interior, built in Van Nuys CA. It was also a powerpack car as the fuel line is outside the frame. The car had been hot rodded by a previous owner and over the years I collected original parts for it to return it to stock. I have to admit that for me, scouring swap meets for all the correct parts has been a lot of fun. Funny how things go though. Another brother inlaw recently built himself a '56 hdtp. After driving his car I've decided I want all the modern stuff.... disc brakes, AC, power windows, 700R4, and something under the hood with about 300 horses.
Well I'm sure half of you have given up on this read so I might as well get to the pictures....
Here's me working on a floor pan..... getting right into it......
Here's one showing more of my car.... (The door isn't from a '56 it's actually off a 1957 Canadian Pontiac.)
Looking forward to contributing a little to this site.
Thanks,
Ernie
