55 Chevy 'post' build

[GregWeld]

Thanks Skip!

It's not a car that I'd build... but it is the car he wanted built. That only makes sense if you know the details and what he wanted out of the car. We spent about 2 years (beginning maybe 2004) talking about "the plan". Ricks plan was that he wanted to buy a car that he didn't have to paint. All he wanted was the body... but NO bodywork or paint. He figured and figured -- as a retired CFO would... and came up with his budget... 100 grand - including the cost of the donor. Sounds expensive until you actually start putting real numbers to paper.. AME chassis with the works - 18 grand - Motor/tranny new - 9000 ish -- etc - so we found this car in LA area for about 25g and did the road trip to fetch it.

He did not want a restoration -- he just wanted a "decent" body/paint - but on modern running gear -- with old skool interior etc...

I tried and tried and tried to talk them into stripping the car and doing a real inspection of bare metal - and then just doing a single stage urethane paint job... but no way jose.

SO in the end -- all the parts and pieces -- add up to a car that has a value of about 35 cents on the dollar.... because the body and trim that "looked okay" now don't look quite so good when you put it next to the new paint I put on the firewall and inner fender wells... etc --- and the more billet you put on it - the worse the trim looks etc. To me -- it's a lesson I've tried to save others from doing. Which is --- once you start -- you have to go all the way. Otherwise -- don't start. BUT -- always a big butt somewhere -- this is the car he designed and the car he wanted. Hydraulic clutch - 6 speed - AME chassis - great brakes - LS motor - all new wiring -- new rubber seals etc -- but it's on OLD paint - old trim - old window glass.... so to me it's half baked. A Ricks stainless steel tank underneath - right next to a bumper that needs to be re-chromed.

Since the body was on my rotisserie - stripped bare... there was nothing to slamming it in the trailer -- having it blasted - blocking it - and a quick spray... buff the trim and have the chrome done.... then it would be killer... but as it is -- he has $600 each chromed Budniks next to orange peel... LOL

Anyway -- I'm glad it's "done" and he's happy as a pig in pooh...

[fleetus macmullitz]

Greg,

I didn't know the full story behind it. Obviously quite an odyssey for both of you. I am so impressed by what you did for him.

Do you now devote full car attention to the '37?

[tones2SS]

Car looks great Greg. You're a good man!! You did a very good thing my man!
Glad to see your friend enjoys it!

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by compos mentis

Greg,

I didn't know the full story behind it. Obviously quite an odyssey for both of you. I am so impressed by what you did for him.

Do you now devote full car attention to the '37?

I will wait 'til about October to bring the 37 chassis down off the wall... and then it's BUILD ON!!

I now have to get with Jason R for some rendering work... we've been talking and doing a bit of planing. So yes - is the answer to your question. I'll start a build thread on that as soon as I have some "info" worth posting.

I'm turning 57 this month... and this build of the 55 wore me out... because it's not the same as building a car for yourself... you don't get the fun of making the decisions and doing what I call the "hunting and gathering" (half the fun of a build). And frankly the age is catching up with me... laying under the dash just isn't as easy as it used to be... so have really been thinking that the 37 should go down to Brizio... but we'll see how my hands feel when the monsoon season kicks in and I'm bored and looking for something to do.

[fleetus macmullitz]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I will wait 'til about October to bring the 37 chassis down off the wall... and then it's BUILD ON!!

I now have to get with Jason R for some rendering work... we've been talking and doing a bit of planing. So yes - is the answer to your question. I'll start a build thread on that as soon as I have some "info" worth posting.

I'm turning 57 this month... and this build of the 55 wore me out... because it's not the same as building a car for yourself... you don't get the fun of making the decisions and doing what I call the "hunting and gathering" (half the fun of a build). And frankly the age is catching up with me... laying under the dash just isn't as easy as it used to be... so have really been thinking that the 37 should go down to Brizio... but we'll see how my hands feel when the monsoon season kicks in and I'm bored and looking for something to do.

Greg,

Good points about the why the fun part was missing... until you finished it and saw Rick in it.

I'm very interested in how well the '55 performs; ride, handling, acceleration, comfort etc.

That is a tough choice re your '37.

Brizio build but boredom, or beat up body but livin' on the edge.

[GregWeld]

Skip...

Ricks smile when I took the car to him this Saturday was all the payment required.

Okay ---

The car drives NIMBLE... I loved it. It's a bone stock LS2 - Speartech harness and computer.. The 6 speed shifts "snick snick"... so well -- that I'm re-thinking the 700r4 in the 37... The clutch is butter smooth. I love the hydraulics! AME's chassis is SO FAR SUPERIOR to the Jim Meyer chassis I have -- I might as well have a stocker... and trust me when I tell ya - my Nomad drives like a new Corvette. The AME chassis uses bushings - where my chassis has Heim joints. II want bushings! LOL

While my Nomad is pretty high tech - it's still old skool (dart block - 8 stacks - but EFI etc). This car is bone stock LS -- I have him by 150 ft lbs of TQ and 100 HP... but that LS motor just purrs - starts instantly - idle is impeccable.. and it is right on the power band instantly. The 6 speed and 3:42 gears is a "nice" combo. I'd have stuff more gear back there - but Rick wanted to stick to the "it works perfect in my ZO6" theory (he has had a couple of those and loves 'em).

He made a couple of mistakes when ordering the chassis - which I'll now have to correct. AME recommends 550# springs up front... Rick wanted a "softer/cruiser" ride so ordered 450's.... it needs 550'. I can't raise the front end - the coil overs just squeeze the coil until it goes into coil bind... and the height stays exactly the same! You don't discover this until all the "stuff" is on the car -- and you start to adjust stance etc.

The combo over all - is pure sweetness. The tires are fat -- without ruining the drivability on todays highways....

[fleetus macmullitz]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Skip...

Ricks smile when I took the car to him this Saturday was all the payment required.

Okay ---

The car drives NIMBLE... I loved it. It's a bone stock LS2 - Speartech harness and computer.. The 6 speed shifts "snick snick"... so well -- that I'm re-thinking the 700r4 in the 37... The clutch is butter smooth. I love the hydraulics! AME's chassis is SO FAR SUPERIOR to the Jim Meyer chassis I have -- I might as well have a stocker... and trust me when I tell ya - my Nomad drives like a new Corvette. The AME chassis uses bushings - where my chassis has Heim joints. II want bushings! LOL

While my Nomad is pretty high tech - it's still old skool (dart block - 8 stacks - but EFI etc). This car is bone stock LS -- I have him by 150 ft lbs of TQ and 100 HP... but that LS motor just purrs - starts instantly - idle is impeccable.. and it is right on the power band instantly. The 6 speed and 3:42 gears is a "nice" combo. I'd have stuff more gear back there - but Rick wanted to stick to the "it works perfect in my ZO6" theory (he has had a couple of those and loves 'em).

He made a couple of mistakes when ordering the chassis - which I'll now have to correct. AME recommends 550# springs up front... Rick wanted a "softer/cruiser" ride so ordered 450's.... it needs 550'. I can't raise the front end - the coil overs just squeeze the coil until it goes into coil bind... and the height stays exactly the same! You don't discover this until all the "stuff" is on the car -- and you start to adjust stance etc.

The combo over all - is pure sweetness. The tires are fat -- without ruining the drivability on todays highways....

Thanks Greg.

All that info about what works and what doesn't is obviously very helpful for us tri-fivers.

In this world of tricked out, subbed up F-bodies , I really liked reading this...

"The car drives NIMBLE.... I loved it."

It seems from how Rick's 6 speed performs it could add a lot of fun in your '37.

I had no idea your Nomad drove like a new Vette...and to think AME far exceeds it ..wow.

So between Ironworks, Roadster Shop, AME, SRIII Motorsports and others I don't recall for the moment...choosing a chassis is now the toughest choice a tri-fiver has to make IMO.


I liked it better when wheels and paint were.

[GregWeld]

When I did my chassis -- there were no choices. Art bent the frame rails for my chassis... Jim Meyer and Paul Newman Creations were the "choices" at that time. I've had my chassis a long time... I'm one of the early adopter types in the tri five world around here. Everything has gone well past when I did my car. Now - I'd do a Roadster shop or AME chassis -- big inch LSx -- paddle shifted auto or 6 speed.

Re: Driving like a new vette. The heim joint suspension has ZERO slop... The rear is 4 bar with a pan hard. I'm running Strange coil overs... and fairly fat tires (255's F and 275's R)... big front and rear roll bars etc. Car drives great - until you climb behind the wheel of a newer chassis (AME et al). Then mine seems not quite as trick. I'd trade the heim joint front end for some "wubba" in there.

The new frames with the exhaust ports running thru is super neat... I built the SS exhaust for this car from scratch -- and loved the routing and the "up tight and out of sight" exhaust this car has. The new stuff is triangulated rear - so less "crap" in the way etc.

Comparing a WAGON to a 2 door is unfair -- but in a road race I'd run him down in the straights and he'd waste me in the twisties.

Snicking through the gears of these Tremecs.... that's just fun buddy... beats an automatic any day of the week. I'm doing it in the 37 -- just made that decision. DONE.

[96z28ss]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I'm turning 57 this month... and this build of the 55 wore me out... because it's not the same as building a car for yourself... you don't get the fun of making the decisions and doing what I call the "hunting and gathering" (half the fun of a build). And frankly the age is catching up with me... laying under the dash just isn't as easy as it used to be... so have really been thinking that the 37 should go down to Brizio... but we'll see how my hands feel when the monsoon season kicks in and I'm bored and looking for something to do.

Build the 37 yourself. Its true your getting older but getting out in the shop and working on cars and accomplishing something in the end, keeps you young. You may get sore here and there, but it keeps you strong and healthy.

Also your a great human being for helping out a friend like you did. Alot of people just wouldn't have done that, even if they had the capability to do it.
You are scoring major brownie points with the man above.

[youthpastor]

Originally Posted by 96z28ss

Build the 37 yourself. Its true your getting older but getting out in the shop and working on cars and accomplishing something in the end, keeps you young. You may get sore here and there, but it keeps you strong and healthy.

Also your a great human being for helping out a friend like you did. Alot of people just wouldn't have done that, even if they had the capability to do it.
You are scoring major brownie points with the man above.

Yep...That 55 turned out great..have someone esle build your 37???? with that shop and tools!! you're right- wait till you get back from SEMA and it's 45 and raining- every day