55 Chevy Bel Air

Hi Guys,
Long time forum member but never had any time to post.
However, bought 2 cans of auto spray paint from the sale bin at Repco that gave me inspiration to build a two-tone something.
Picked a kit from my stash and found the perfect style on Google.
Its gonna take some time but hopefully, by committing to this build on here, I'll eventually get it done.
Anyhow, comments and suggestions very welcome as I progress on this perilous journey!  

Here's the beginnings:
The 2 cans of paint that inspired me - Sienna Red and Bahama Beige:
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And here's the google image of what I'm hoping will be the finished product:
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Oh, and here's the kit I've chosen for the build:
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Until next time.....I'll be at the bench

Going to look good, Welcome here too.

Thanks Allan,
Appreciate the support...
Cheers...Geoff

Love them 55 coupe's , will be watchin " how it turns out

Can't wait to see how this turns out, love those colours!

Thanks guys...
Got the wheels sorted.
Pegasus big n little Hollies (Halibrands)
The gold ones arrived from the States yesterday and I realised they would be too wide to use on the front. The Chrome 23s are perfect for the rear with a little finessing of the chassis.
Then I looked at the custom wheels and tyres in the kit and realised the inside diameter of the tyres would fit the Hollie rims. So out with the saw and reduce the width of the rims.
I now have exactly what I need. All I've got to do now is soak the gold paint off and respray with Alclad chrome.

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The final set of fronts and rears are in the middle of the shot:

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Until next time....its bourbon and coke time!!

Paint supplies gathered.
Going with interior colours similar to exterior - Tamiya TS33 and TS46.

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Love these kits and your colour combo looks great. Just a suggestion, if you are using the Holts Duplicolour colours, use the same brand primer. I have tried all different brands and get best results with Duplicolour, same with clear coat, straight from the can. Just my experience. Look forward to seeing the end result.

Thanks for the advice Tubman

I second Tubmans advice mate, stick with one brand usually ends up in a trouble free paint job.
Windex will remove the gold and chrome, but i think metho will ONLY remove the gold. Then
you wont need to use alclad.
I like your color choices too mate.

Hi am liking the colour choices you've made and looking forward to your updates. Just a caution about the paint. I always use duplicolor on my builds body wise but had bought some cans on special which where in the older cans as you have and 2 out of the 4 the paint came out with small lumps throughout the paint work and that's with shaking it for 5 minutes, even tried to heat it up in hot water to thin it out but had no success. Luckily I was able to sand it down and buff it out so give them a testing on some old plastic first to save yourself the hassle. I only use the newer style cans now and don't have an issue. Anyone else have this trouble?

Thanks for the advice guys!
Will take things nice and slow to make sure I keep any issues at bay.

Well today I started on the suspension components. I'm using the custom front and rear assemblies from the kit.

I thought I'd do a bit of enhancing so made up my own coil springs for the front and shockers for the rear.

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By the way, got the front rims soaking in metho to take off the gold tint. Hopefully they will clean up well enough as to not require re-chroming.

Time for a beer........Cheers....Geoff

Those springs look pretty cool, copper wire???? Did you try the backs off the rims first? Nah, should work mate.

Yep, copper wire stripped of its plastic wrap.
The rims have lost most of the gold tint but I'm not sure the metho is going to clean them up well enough.

Anyhow, next will be the engine build. Not sure whether to stay totally stock or dress it up a little. Certainly want to stay with traditional orange block. What do you guys think? Suggestions and ideas welcome.

Hi Guys,
Stinker of a day today so no work outdoors.
Lucky for me I got a nice A/C unit in my cave, so it was off to the workbench for some time on the Chevy.

Got some paint on the springs and shocks - Koni blue and red.

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Also started on engine - block halves glued and sanded. Heads drilled for spark plugs.
Spark plugs will be made by inserting pointed wooden toothpicks from inside, glued, then cut off flush with inside on head. Found some clear plastic wire outer cover to use as spark plug boots - painted black of course.

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Pulled the rims out of the metho - still a bit yellow compared to the rears. Looks like its Alclad for them!!

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That's it for today.

Nice work on the shocks and springs mate.
My personal opinion on engine, i would do the block one of the body colors,
i think it looks better as opposed to a color that clashes with every thing else you have painted.
Quite often and orange or blue engine can ruin a sweet build. ( only my opinion mate. )
Yeah, i can see some gold tinge there, looks like you might need to alclad.

Thanks Dale,
Might do the block in the beige then, in contrast to the sienna red engine bay.
Cheers....Geoff

Shocks now branded and ready for build.

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Shocking!!! Nah they're awesome

NICE NICE NICE mate.

A gasket set for a 55 Chevy!!

Is this craziness????!!!! I think I've got too much time on my hands!

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..... I got nothing .....

I like to make the head gaskets on a tough motor, but water pump too...????????
YES, you have too much time on your hands,.....but at least your putting it to good use.. MODELING!!!

Long time between drinks but finally got some colour on the engine.
As DeeCee suggested, I'm using the beige body colour for the block and heads.

Slowly but surely......
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That will contrast PERFECTLY i think mate, good choice..