DD Speed Shops’ winter project: the ’57 Chevy Bel Air is going under the knife.
Step 1 is to eliminate a couple of doors…
Part 2 ~ 2 Door Swap Completed In a Week
In one long week, I managed to get the 1957 Chevy Bel Air roughed into a 2 door sedan. The first video showed most of the technical stuff behind the swap. This video is just the conclusion to show the car. I think it turned out wicked! I still need to finish the door jams, and that passenger door needs to be changed asap!
Part 3 ~ I Got New Doors!
I manage to finish welding all the panels and complete the door post. At this point, all the ugly hard work is done. I also manage to track down a mint set of complete doors (glass, panels, and moldings), so I installed those on the car.
Part 4 ~ Blending 60-Year-Old Paint
All the rough metal work is done so now it’s time to start the bodywork. I’m not a huge fan of bodywork, but this was exceptionally terrible. Trying to sand while maintaining as much original paint as possible was VERY slow-moving. I managed to get some custom paint mixed up that matches flawlessly!
Part 5 ~ It’s all 1 Color and Looks GOOD! A Little Fauxtina Helps
I was dreading this part of the project. The white doors were in such great shape and had a really cool look to them. I didn’t even mind them as-is on the blue car. I had a vision in my head and it was a proper 2 tone, 2 door ’57 Chevy. The risk of matching original paint is huge! I HATE when you can tell 1 panel has been painted “the same color”. Luckily between my buddies at Rondex and my old man running the gun, the car turned out great!
Part 6 ~ The 1957 Chevy Bel Air 4 Door to 2 Door Conversion is Finished!
It’s Done! After only 3 weeks of work, my ’57 Chevy Bel Air has been successfully converted into a 2 door hot rod. There really wasn’t much money spent on this build just lots and lots of hours.
