Thursday, January 27, 2011

Ken's Green '55 Chevy 2-Door Sedan


Sometime after I sold the white '58 Impala (see earlier post) around late 1964, early 1965, I got this green '55 2-door sedan. (I think I might have sold the Impala to the guy who owned this green 2-door and this car was part payment.) It was a six-cylinder, stick... a really basic car. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

It had been repainted mint-green by a previous owner, and the body was fairly straight, but suffered from some rust on the fenders over the headlights. I meant to do some body repairs and customizing on it so I took off the chrome from the hood and deck but never filled the holes. I removed all vertical bars from the grille except the center one (cheap & easy modification) and installed an extra set of headlights (wide-angle high beams, for night driving on rural country roads) behind the grille.

I installed '56 Buick tail light lenses in place of the originals and "baby moon" wheel covers.


One day, a friend of mine stopped by my house; Billy Squires worked for a wrecking yard part time. He had his tow truck outside with a '58 Olds engine hanging from the back of the truck. He said, "I brought you a present." He also brought along a set of heavy-duty front coil springs for my Chevy; I think they were from a station wagon.

I put the Olds engine and transmission (and the new coil springs) in place of the originals. Shortly after, I took this car on our honeymoon when I got married. We did "the clock" with it on a new highway that was just built up in the Poconos; it handled very well at that speed.

Interior was stock except for added gauges on either side of the radio (oil pressure, engine temperature, etc.) and a fire extinguisher mounted under the dash. Note the cheap upholstery and overspray by the door jamb. I sold the car before I even fixed the rust.

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