56 Belvedere Sedan

[9 foot box]

   I’ve been driving past this car for years. I didn’t stop and look at the sign in the window, when it was for sale. I just wasn’t interested. I happened to see the owner that manages the pawn shop and liquor store downtown. I asked him what he was asking back when he had it for sale. Under 3K, I thought that it should have sold. Anyway here is the car. The tail lights are bleached, the chrome is perfect, and some rust showing under the paint on a real straight body. The car has 78,000 miles registered on the odometer. The flathead 6 has the wrong core plugs. I’m thinking that the engine may have been rebuilt. I would like to have a sedan that my friends can get in and out of easily. We are all in our 7th decade. It doesn’t have the PowerPack manifold. To me it’s about resurrecting old cars to be driven again, not sitting in a field deteriorating under the sun and weather. I think this P28-3 car deserves saving. Rick D.

Edited September 21, 2023 by 9 foot box
Spelling

[andyd]

O/k so its a 4dr, nothing wrong with that.........looks like a nice body, whats the underneath like, interior, etc..........I've seen a lot worse.....just did a quick USA ebay search for tailights & they range from a couple of pairs at $60 & $70 a pair up to some would be's asking $1500-1900 a pair.........I assume at that price they delivery, fit and polish them for the next 10years .......lol....andyd 

Edited September 21, 2023 by andyd
more info.

[Kilgore47]

That car looks good.  All the parts are there.  The chrome on the bumpers is in really good shape.  That would be a good deal for 3000.  And there is air in the tires.

 

[Curt Lee]

Any closer to me and I'd be making some kind of deal for that. Can't pass up a seemingly solid/complete original these days.

[Sam Buchanan]

Brings back good memories, I learned to drive in a '56 Savoy. Back then (the era of the '57 Chevy) I didn't consider the car to be particularly attractive but I now find it to be a car I would love to own....the design has passed the test of time.

[Curt Lee]

5 hours ago, Sam Buchanan said:

Brings back good memories, I learned to drive in a '56 Savoy. Back then (the era of the '57 Chevy) I didn't consider the car to be particularly attractive but I now find it to be a car I would love to own....the design has passed the test of time.

As a personal opinion; I find the Savoy much more attractive than the '57 Chevy. IMHO the '57 is simply too fussy looking (don't EVEN get me going on about the '58) compared to the "Forward Look" MoPars. Even the '57 Ford is too heavily sculptured in comparison. Luckily for us, the MoPars kinda got ignored when the muscle car builders went hunting.

[JerseyHarold]

Good looking car with a lot of potential.

 

My uncle had its twin until the late 1970's.

 

Bad Chad over on Youtube is currently working on one of these.  He's building new quarter panels from scratch...pretty interesting.

[Sniper]

14 minutes ago, JerseyHarold said:

Bad Chad over on Youtube

 

He'll ugly it up.  If there was ever a case of a car being on meth, Bad Chad was involved.

[Los_Control]

Just now, Sniper said:

If there was ever a case of a car being on meth, Bad Chad was involved.

I use to watch him .... I'm not sure why though .... Maybe just to see what he would do next?

 

I kinda did like the car he was building for his wife .... it looked good 50 feet away. I'm sure I would feel different seeing it in person.

 

I guess I was just fascinated at how everything he did was the perfect example of what you do not do ..... somehow in the end it works out for him though.

 

I get a kick out of other serious youtubers. Dennis Taylor racing, he built some kind of tricycle over a weekend with some crazy V8 engine in it .... just for fun.

He builds serious race cars .... on the interview about the tricycle ..... Weeeel .... I really pulled a bad chad on this build...

I hear it all the time from others ....  A emergency roadside repair? ..... Going to have to pull a bad chad here to get this home .... It is just becoming a common phrase over the internet.

[Sniper]

39 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

Going to have to pull a bad chad here to get this home

 

Rather MacGyver it

[Ivan_B]

The car looks interesting, definitely deserves an in person inspection. I guess prices in Montana are still rather conservative? I am used to seeing junk metal for these kind of money on both of the coasts ?

6 hours ago, Los_Control said:

I guess I was just fascinated at how everything he did was the perfect example of what you do not do

You guys are making me wonder who that noteworthy individual is. Should I look him up? ?

[Los_Control]

8 minutes ago, Ivan_B said:

You guys are making me wonder who that noteworthy individual is. Should I look him up? ?

LOL ... do so at your own risk 

 

He just has some really strange habits, while he may use templates sometimes .... Not sure he knows how to read a tape measure.

Well I need a piece of metal about this long and then cuts it out ....oops not right .... I'll just add some more to it.

He never works on a work bench or a work table .... everything he does is on the garage floor.

 

He has built some custom cars that he has won a trophy for at major shows ..... you would swear he had to be taking LSD to dream up such a creation.

I'm pretty sure in a interview he did admit to having a drug problem at a early age, but he has been clean now for many years, has a beautiful wife & successful now.

But everything he does walk, talk, work .... he does it at least twice as fast as he should.

While he has a decent paint booth and uses quality paint materials for a final paint job .... I would suspect some areas of his cars have over 1" thick of bondo in them .... to him that is a custom car.

 

He can be entertaining to watch ..... many people do ..... I'm just afraid some of his work might rub off on me so I had to swear off watching anymore.

 

 

[Curt Lee]

Youtubers run the gamut from entertaining and actually quite talented (Vice Grip Garage) who are genuinely enthusiasts with interest (Jonathan W and UTG) to some really hard-to-watch dummies with no charisma (gotta be able to hold the audience's attention) to those guys who are reading verbatim right of wikipedia about everything they're showing you. There's a flood of "Will it start" videos that have shown up in the last few months that are actually painful to watch.

[Ivan_B]

21 minutes ago, Curt Lee said:

There's a flood of "Will it start" videos that have shown up in the last few months that are actually painful to watch.

Oh, how I find those inappropriate, so much... But many lay people actually seem to like them, probably because these tend to re-iterate some of the common-wisdom stereotypes, etc. People like to receive information that is congruent with the information they already have

[Los_Control]

Ok class, lets learn the proper way to apply body filler today  

 

He builds some wild stuff, I swear he must be using drugs to even imagine what he builds.

Some people really like watching him .... I can only take so much of it myself.

 

 

 

[Ivan_B]

Oh, that's the guy? I've seen that green blob advertised on the tube... "Glazing" with body filler, i believe, is the "professional" term they use ?

[andyd]

O/k.........I'll play the dummy.......what is THAT POS?.........lol.........a 36 Ford Coupe being carnally molested by late 30's GM brand?..............a fine example of just because you can, doesn't mean you should........andyd

[Plymouthy Adams]

I'm more concerned about the missing lugnuts....

[Los_Control]

The way Chad described the fiberglass on the seams .... it is a good deal to have it. The reason he gave for not sanding it down before mud is it takes time .... is a extra step.

You become a faster builder if you simply eliminate that step ..... ? ..... Holy crap, at least knock the high peaks off of it!

 

His welding fabrication is about the same .... instead of butt welding sheet metal, will just overlay it with metal and weld it in ..... makes him a faster builder.

Since he is going to flood the whole vehicle with bondo anyways it just does not matter.

 

I might watch once in awhile, just to see what he will do next ..... I really am trying to learn some of this myself and I do not want to learn from him.

Same time he does get the job done ..... To each their own.

[Sam Buchanan]

I still really like the '56......I think that is what this thread is about..............   

[Curt Lee]

Me too; I'd rock that '56 as-is as long as it could manage it. Even buy me a Dobbs fedora to wear while driving it.

[Los_Control]

There is no question the 56 looks awesome ..... really depends how the under side looks.

On 9/21/2023 at 1:10 AM, 9 foot box said:

I asked him what he was asking back when he had it for sale. Under 3K, I thought that it should have sold. Anyway here is the car.

Back when it was for sale???? Does this mean it is no longer for sale?

 

The car was either pampered it's whole life in a garage before being sent to a field .... or it has had some sort of older restoration done.

I'm guessing it has been repainted at least once, because of the core plugs there is a good chance the motor has been rebuilt at some point.

Looks like it has a 12 volt battery .... I wonder if the original wire harness has been patched up? Or possibly a complete rewiring already done?

I wonder what transmission it has in it, Is it in working condition?

There are a lot of questions about the things the photos do not show. It would take a visit in person to determine if the floors are rusted out, frame rusted in 1/2.

Motor locked up ....

 

Under $3k ..... does that mean you could offer them $2500 and walk away with it? .... I paid $2k for my beat up truck and it needs everything.

If the rest of the car checks out as nice as the photos .... I think a person would be foolish not to pick it up for the price asked ..... even if it was just to clean it up and driving then sell it to double your money. ..... I'm a truck & van guy not really interested in driving cars .... I would pick up that car so my wife could drive it.

 

[Sam Buchanan]

12v was standard in the '56.

[9 foot box]

   Well it’s mine now. From the paper work in the glove box it was sold new in Oakland,CA. The owners moved to Las Vegas in the 70’s and the next owner bought it in the early 80’s. He had the engine rebuilt in Feb. of 87 and the transmission rebuilt and new rear mounts in April 87. A complete brake job was also done in April. This was all in Vegas. It was still registered in Nevada in 97. I think it sat in the Nevada sun for fifteen years and came to Montana and needed a new head gasket in 2012 and was registered here with the 56 Fin plates. It starts and runs well, with no blow by or exhaust smoke. I spent the afternoon vacuuming the interior and trunk. I’ll take the bench seat out pull the carpet and jute padding, then I can see what the floor looks like. Rick D.

 

[andyd]

9Foot.........I think you good a great deal, even came with the Owners handbook?........you done good.....congratulations.........andyd.