1955 Bel Air Muscle car restoration, auto restoration, classic cars, Chicago, Indiana

1955 Bel Air

Melvin Archie's Bel Air had been very poorly restored in the early 90's. By 2007, it was in need of a proper restoration.

After blasting removed the paint and Bondo, it was obvious that the earlier restoration was not a good one.

In fact, it was a classic case of "How not to restore a car"! The blasting company had never seen so much Bondo in a car!

This is the car after the first restoration. It's unfortunate that it was not done properly and had to be done again.

1955 bel aire ii.png

Pieces of metal were tack welded or riveted in place, never cut out and seam welded.

1955 bel aire iii.png

New metal always overlapped old metal.

1955 bel aire.png

Notice the Band-Aid shaped metal patch tack welded in place. We estimated over 300 lbs of Bondo were used to cover over the patches!

1955 bel aire iv.png

The frame was severely rusted so a new Art Morrison Tri 5 frame was ordered. It will make the '55 handle like a Corvette.

The frame comes unpainted so it went out to be powder coated.

1955 bel air vi.png

This is the last shot before we start on the sheetmetal.

1955 bel air frame.png

This is the new floorpan, trunk pan and all new rear body panels being welded in place.

1955 chevy c.png

The deteriorated rear end was cut off the car.

1955 chevy b.png

This was taken after the body was dropped on the new floor and rear end assembly.

1955 chevy e.png

It's ready for the new quarters to be installed.

1955 bel air quarters installed.png

The quarters have been installed and the body has been mounted on the rotisserie ready for further processing.