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Bellgabs Automobile, Truck and Bike Thread

Started by Hog, November 13, 2017, 11:27:41 AM

Hog

I just saw that Dr MDMD had a sked me a question about the car that I had pictured in the Celkebrity death thread, so instead of clogging up the other thread, post all your experiences with cars/trucks and bikes here. Anything and everything, memories old and new are welcomed here.


Quote from: Hog on October 26, 2017, 02:55:19 AM
  Rolling into the local A&W in the '57 Chev with all the windows rolled down, hardtoppin' as they say, with Fats blasting away in the background.


Wow RIP Fats, your music will live forever at all the classic car shows I attend.


peace
Hog

Quote from: Dr. MD MD on November 08, 2017, 04:45:45 PM
Is that really yours, Hog? It looks like a perfect example of a 56/57? Bel Aire.  Drool :P
Mine looks exactly like that Doc, its a 1957 Chev Sports Coupe(2 door hardtop) in Tropical Turquoise.  I posted that pic as all my pics are FUBAR because of the Photobucket issue.  The only difference is that my car has is all turquoise while the pictured car has a White top IIRC.
The 57s are the ones with those specific fins.  If the car has a V8 engine and is a BellAir model, the Vee on the front of the hood will be present and will be Gold in colour.
My car was selected by GM for the 1996 Chevy Cavalier commercial which was shown as a 15 second spot during the Superbowl.
It was also selected from UK/Europe and North America for the 1997 Snap On Tools Calendar.

It's highest score out of 1000 possible points was 993, anything 970+ points receives a "Platinum Certificate".  While people who aren't into cars may think, well its not a perfect example missing 7 points, and it's not.  Though 100% factory original, with correct numbers matching engine trans etc(driveline) it is a "driven class" car.  When I say driven, it regularly got "longest drive" awards for the shows it attended.  I remember people would enter their cars in the driven class, then drive their truck/trailer to the local hotel and unload their "trailer queen", then drive it the 3 miles to the show.  It was very satisfying to take my car which had just had 1700 miles of freeway driving put on it, compete directly against a guy who is entering a trailer queen in my class, and I still beat him by 100 judged points.

Dad brought the car home form the Southern States, which are known for no rust, but interiors and all rubber/weatherstripping will be shot. But you are after the solid body.  A guy had started a frame off restoration and had the frame all nicely painted black on a chassis rotisserie(literally allows you to turn the car around like a BBQ rotisserie) he then put all the original body back on the car and sold it.  The engine was in the back seat, the transmission in the front seat, the body was in many different colours, but she was complete and all the numbers matched. That was 1991. Over the next couple of years, Dad and I worked on that car.  Mom and Dad would go on vacations to the USA and buy NOS parts(New Old Stock) NOS parts are parts that were made by the OEM(Original Equipment Manufacturer) suppliers for use by GM to build their cars on the assembly line.  Typically NOS parts are more difficult and certainly more expensive to buy, but they are preferable to a Remanufactured or "Re-pop" part which is a modern "copy" of the parts.  Ive got about 6 pairs of the stainless steel inserts that fill in the outside of the rear fins. Some are reproductions and some are NOS, only NOS parts are used on this car. Right down to the correct headlights and the correct "Tar-top" Delco 12 volt battery.  Obviously parts like the battery is reproduced as they went out of production about 50 years ago.  The outside parts are OEM and the reman company puts new lead plates and new acid in the original cases. Those tar top batteries are about US$300 each.
The tires on the car are reproduced by a company called Coker Tires.  Coker makes a perfect reproduction of the bias ply tires that came on the cars, 1957 went back to 14" rims while the 1956's used 15" rims. Chev was trying to give the 57s a lower profile look, so they went back to a 14" rim/tire. Anyhoo, the tires of the day were BF Goodrich bias ply tires. Anyone around back then will remember that bias ply tire make any car ride like a lumberwagon and have a bad propensity of following imperfections in the road surface.  After the judging body allowed for the change from requiring Bias Ply tires, to allowing for reproduction tires in the newer and much more safe Radial tire technology, Coker tire came out with the reproduction BF Goodrich "Silvertown" tires.



Prior to the sanctioning body changing the rules allowing for radial tire reproductions, the car would be deducted "X" amount of points for each tire that was NOT an original design bias ply tire.

I remember wet sanding that car with 2000 grit paper.  The paint was so smooth it looked like there was a few layers of clear coat on it, when their wasn't.  Just so people understand 2000 grit "sandpaper".  It doesn't feel like sand paper anymore, it actually feels like a soft velvet.  There are actually 2000 pieces of "grit" bonded to the "paper".  And because the high spots of the paint that you are removing are so very fine, you must use a waterhose with the spigot set at a very light "trickle" so that those tiny paint particles flush out of the sandpaper instead of staying in it and binding it up.
Before painting my buddy would spray a very fine coat of reddish primer on the entire car. This would "mark" the high areas of the "orange peel" of the body work coats that are applied before the paint.  We would then go in and hand sand all that reddish primer off, which would leave an absolutely smooth surface.

Orange peel


Here is the Classic Chevy Internationals(CCI) points Certificates.
970-1000 points for a Platinum Certificate
949-969 points for a Gold Certificate
900-949 points for a Silver Certificate
850-899 for a Bronze Certificate

Well I has a whole shit load more, but somehow it was all lost.

peace
Hog

wr250

we had 4 of these roll into work one day. the people said they are 1950-51 citroens, less than 2000 were produced over the 2 year period worldwide, and they estimate less than 100 are in operable condition today worldwide, let alone in prime (other than the stickers, ugg) condition as shown here.
here are 4:






and no that is not primer gray, it is painted gray ,then clear coated (might be original color?) 

Dr. MD MD

Quote from: Hog on November 13, 2017, 11:27:41 AM
I just saw that Dr MDMD had a sked me a question about the car that I had pictured in the Celkebrity death thread, so instead of clogging up the other thread, post all your experiences with cars/trucks and bikes here. Anything and everything, memories old and new are welcomed here.

Mine looks exactly like that Doc, its a 1957 Chev Sports Coupe(2 door hardtop) in Tropical Turquoise.  I posted that pic as all my pics are FUBAR because of the Photobucket issue.  The only difference is that my car has is all turquoise while the pictured car has a White top IIRC.
The 57s are the ones with those specific fins.  If the car has a V8 engine and is a BellAir model, the Vee on the front of the hood will be present and will be Gold in colour.
My car was selected by GM for the 1996 Chevy Cavalier commercial which was shown as a 15 second spot during the Superbowl.
It was also selected from UK/Europe and North America for the 1997 Snap On Tools Calendar.

It's highest score out of 1000 possible points was 993, anything 970+ points receives a "Platinum Certificate".  While people who aren't into cars may think, well its not a perfect example missing 7 points, and it's not.  Though 100% factory original, with correct numbers matching engine trans etc(driveline) it is a "driven class" car.  When I say driven, it regularly got "longest drive" awards for the shows it attended.  I remember people would enter their cars in the driven class, then drive their truck/trailer to the local hotel and unload their "trailer queen", then drive it the 3 miles to the show.  It was very satisfying to take my car which had just had 1700 miles of freeway driving put on it, compete directly against a guy who is entering a trailer queen in my class, and I still beat him by 100 judged points.

Dad brought the car home form the Southern States, which are known for no rust, but interiors and all rubber/weatherstripping will be shot. But you are after the solid body.  A guy had started a frame off restoration and had the frame all nicely painted black on a chassis rotisserie(literally allows you to turn the car around like a BBQ rotisserie) he then put all the original body back on the car and sold it.  The engine was in the back seat, the transmission in the front seat, the body was in many different colours, but she was complete and all the numbers matched. That was 1991. Over the next couple of years, Dad and I worked on that car.  Mom and Dad would go on vacations to the USA and buy NOS parts(New Old Stock) NOS parts are parts that were made by the OEM(Original Equipment Manufacturer) suppliers for use by GM to build their cars on the assembly line.  Typically NOS parts are more difficult and certainly more expensive to buy, but they are preferable to a Remanufactured or "Re-pop" part which is a modern "copy" of the parts.  Ive got about 6 pairs of the stainless steel inserts that fill in the outside of the rear fins. Some are reproductions and some are NOS, only NOS parts are used on this car. Right down to the correct headlights and the correct "Tar-top" Delco 12 volt battery.  Obviously parts like the battery is reproduced as they went out of production about 50 years ago.  The outside parts are OEM and the reman company puts new lead plates and new acid in the original cases. Those tar top batteries are about US$300 each.
The tires on the car are reproduced by a company called Coker Tires.  Coker makes a perfect reproduction of the bias ply tires that came on the cars, 1957 went back to 14" rims while the 1956's used 15" rims. Chev was trying to give the 57s a lower profile look, so they went back to a 14" rim/tire. Anyhoo, the tires of the day were BF Goodrich bias ply tires. Anyone around back then will remember that bias ply tire make any car ride like a lumberwagon and have a bad propensity of following imperfections in the road surface.  After the judging body allowed for the change from requiring Bias Ply tires, to allowing for reproduction tires in the newer and much more safe Radial tire technology, Coker tire came out with the reproduction BF Goodrich "Silvertown" tires.



Prior to the sanctioning body changing the rules allowing for radial tire reproductions, the car would be deducted "X" amount of points for each tire that was NOT an original design bias ply tire.

I remember wet sanding that car with 2000 grit paper.  The paint was so smooth it looked like there was a few layers of clear coat on it, when their wasn't.  Just so people understand 2000 grit "sandpaper".  It doesn't feel like sand paper anymore, it actually feels like a soft velvet.  There are actually 2000 pieces of "grit" bonded to the "paper".  And because the high spots of the paint that you are removing are so very fine, you must use a waterhose with the spigot set at a very light "trickle" so that those tiny paint particles flush out of the sandpaper instead of staying in it and binding it up.
Before painting my buddy would spray a very fine coat of reddish primer on the entire car. This would "mark" the high areas of the "orange peel" of the body work coats that are applied before the paint.  We would then go in and hand sand all that reddish primer off, which would leave an absolutely smooth surface.

Orange peel


Here is the Classic Chevy Internationals(CCI) points Certificates.
970-1000 points for a Platinum Certificate
949-969 points for a Gold Certificate
900-949 points for a Silver Certificate
850-899 for a Bronze Certificate

Well I has a whole shit load more, but somehow it was all lost.

peace
Hog

Cool! I always loved that model/year. I had a friend from Southern Ontario who did frame off restorations of classic cars. I lost touch with him years ago but the last thing I remember him working on was a 56' Chevy Nomad (black). It was always interesting watching him work or explaining what he was doing and why. So, do you have others or just the cherry Chevy?

albrecht

Bring back butterfly windows and lever operated floor vents. Why not? They were awesome and allows cooling off without severe wind, or worse, weird suction effects and wind/road noise from open windows, in hot times and/or before A/C can kick in a deal with the heated cabin. And in nice weather allows cooling and ventilation without being buffeted by high winds with an open window.

albrecht

Quote from: albrecht on November 19, 2017, 09:07:51 PM
Bring back butterfly windows and lever operated floor vents. Why not? They were awesome and allows cooling off without severe wind, or worse, weird suction effects and wind/road noise from open windows, in hot times and/or before A/C can kick in a deal with the heated cabin. And in nice weather allows cooling and ventilation without being buffeted by high winds with an open window.
and the foot switch the floor so you can switch to high-beams with your foot.

Rix Gins

Quote from: albrecht on November 19, 2017, 09:48:45 PM
and the foot switch the floor so you can switch to high-beams with your foot.

Remember the city horn and the country horn?
https://youtu.be/FZ7rBzXOXno

Hog

Quote from: Dr. MD MD on November 13, 2017, 09:57:04 PM
Cool! I always loved that model/year. I had a friend from Southern Ontario who did frame off restorations of classic cars. I lost touch with him years ago but the last thing I remember him working on was a 56' Chevy Nomad (black). It was always interesting watching him work or explaining what he was doing and why. So, do you have others or just the cherry Chevy?
thanks Doc, I have 2 currently, the 57 that I talked about, and another 57 that I got back after Dad passed away. This one was his back in the day and was the car that was well known back in the 60's around these parts.  It had the rear glass sheetmetalled in with a diamond cut out that was filled with glass. We therefore refer to this car as the "Diamondback".  It had a 50's truck straight front axle in it, so the front end sat up much higher than the back.  Dad had bought a cratye 365hp/327 for it rpo (L78 IIRC).  It was the same longblock as the 375hp fuelie 327s except it just had the more conventional high rise single quad intake with a 4 BBL on top.

After Dad died the guy who owned it said, "If you get a truck and trailer, you can have your Dads old car back, and all the parts that are with it."  4 hours later it was in my driveway.

If you do a Google search for "Diamondback 57" you'll find at least 3 pics online.  IThese pics are actually images I took of real photos taken with a digi camera. There is a head on shot of a Turq. 57, in the middle of a road, with a stop sign in the background (07/13/2013 time stamp), that's a pic of the last 57 that Dad built. Its Clone#1.

Because I took images of photographs, the time/date stamp on the lower right of each pic is incorrect for the pic, that's when I "digitized" the photos.
Any Turquoise pic you see with the Ontario plate/tag "JM 57" is the actual 'cherry" 57.
There are also some pics of a 57 Chev 2 door hardtop on a trailer, with black primer, whitewall tires, no windows, on the back of a red Chev pickup, with the time stamp 05/04/2013. That's is Dads original Diamondback car, it is still as the pic looks still. A frame off resto that ran into issues.  Those are new original bias ply tires, NOS sheetmetal. Thousands spent on manpower and parts, just given back to my family, simply because my Dad was respected so much.


I've lost much of my PERSEC with this post, if anyone wants to visit, just say so. Please don't come unannounced, unless you have some sort of lead deficiency.  I'm a CAF vet who may or may not be twichy when surprised.

peace
Hog

Hog

Quote from: albrecht on November 19, 2017, 09:07:51 PM
Bring back butterfly windows and lever operated floor vents. Why not? They were awesome and allows cooling off without severe wind, or worse, weird suction effects and wind/road noise from open windows, in hot times and/or before A/C can kick in a deal with the heated cabin. And in nice weather allows cooling and ventilation without being buffeted by high winds with an open window.
Damn straight, my 73-87 GM trucks had those windows as well, they are a smokers dream.  In the 57 they are opened via a hand crank.  I don't smoke in that car though.

peace
Hog

Hog

I got off on a tangent about the B-body GM cars from the 90's, so instead of cluttering that post, I'll put it here.  These fullsize B-body cars are awesome.

Then GM went to the "round bodies", where GM pussied out and became worried about things like efficiency and fuel economy and aerodynamics(sarc).  But the newer roundbody B-bodies didnt look nice IMO.


The only thing that was nice about the new GM round body B-bodies was the 1994-1996 Impala SS which is pretty much an iron head 260hp/330kb ft torque version of the aluminum headed GEN 2 LT1 SBC Corvette engine that makes 300hp/330 lb/ft torque.  The 260hp iron headed LT1 engine in the Impalla SS and COP and Civilian 94-96 Caprices were awesome.  They were so good that many American police agencies would rebuild the cars by installing brand new engines, transmissions, and rearends and put them back into service.  They also had a 4.3 V8 option, yes 4.3 Vee eight) rpo L99 from 94-96.  Many non pursuit cop cars and federal travelling cars got this engine as it was better on fuel than the 260hp LT1.  Both cars used the same roller camshaft. The same 191º/196º duration at 0.050" lift 0.412"/0.428" lift on a 111ºLSA roller cam that was used in the 1996-2000 GMT400 trucks in the rpo L30 Vortec 305 and rpo L31 Vortec 350 engines and in the 1996-2002 fullsize GM vans again in the Vortec 305 and 350 engines.  GM got a LOT of use out of that cam design.

Simply beautiful, looks like there is some steamrollers on the back of this one. You could only get Black in 1994 6,303 built in Black.


Here is a 1995 in the 2nd of 3 colours(Dark Cherry Metallic that was available n 1995-1996)
In 1995- 9,858 Black,  7,134 Cherry, 4,442-Green, 21,434-Total for 1995



1996 in the 3r  of 3 available colours on theses cars Aspen Green Metallic.
19,085-Black, 12,180- Cherry,  10,676-Green  for 41,941 total SS's built for 1996.
3 Year Production Totals TOTAL Block=35,246, Cherry=19,314, Green=15,118
All colours 94-96=69,768


peace
Hog

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