We've always wanted to fix up a '57 Chevy but couldn't find a hardtop that was priced right. A good friend knew we were looking for one, and turned us on to this $1,500 derelict. His thought about car-building is "why buy one that's in pretty good shape and then replace all of the mediocre parts with new ones, when you can buy one that needs everything for a fraction of the price and replace the same parts?" In the long run, the price of fixing up the nice car would actually cost more than fixing up one that's not as nice. Using that logic, he persuaded us to buy the '57.
The '57 Chevy's body had its share of dents, and many of the body parts were mismatched, but overall it wasn't too bad, and the floorboards were rust-free. The first step was to strip the body to bare metal to start the initial bodywork. It was taken to Andrews Powder Coating where it was media blasted. Under all that mismatched paint there were no surprises, so the bodywork was what we expected. In this final story on the car, we'll give you an overview of how the car came together. It took about a year from start to finish, working in our spare time, and many readers saw the car firsthand at Americruise '98. Our intention when we built the car was to make it look good enough for car shows, but not so nice that it would keep us from driving the car. What we ended up with was a very nice-looking '57 that's also a blast to drive.
What we found interesting about building a tri-year Chevy was the abundance of parts that are available. Restoration suppliers have just about everything a person needs to get a '55-'57 Chevy looking brand-new. They have parts ranging from stainless trim to interior kits for the cars, and the parts are high-quality and reasonably priced. Aftermarket companies are also offering a large supply of suspension-related parts, from disc brake kits to power steering systems. If you have always wanted to build a classic, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the amount of parts that are available to make your car '90s friendly. We turned this Chevy from a stripped-out derelict to a luxury cruiser using the parts we uncovered in our search.