Thread: 57 Chevy Cruizer

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Originally Posted by Dave Severson

I had to go stand out in the alley yesterday in the 20 degree weather just so I could "see" the colors on the car. Yellow really works!

Sounds like a good choice, and the fact that the song was a "fave" makes it personal for you. :-)


Here is a thought to ponder.... Really intense or bright yellows were not available yet. If you go with a light yellow it would look more "vintage".

I'm not sure, but I think the '55 Chevy used a light yellow for yellow & white two-tones. (I could be wrong, but that image is stuck in my head!)

I guess a pale yellow would also be considered..... "mello". :-)~

It would also be nice if you used wheels from the same era as the scoop. The steelies on the back, that were mentioned, would work okay, but with maybe15X4s mags out front. All the way around would also be cool, with some deep ones at the rear! :-)

Halibrands would be nice... but usually were on higher class cars. The first commonly used wheels I remember from the early sixties would be a 5-spokes ...but they weren't Torquethrusts. I think they might have been Fentons, other American models, E.T.s.. or similar straight spoked wheels, with a black or gray centers.

Cragars (my own street favorite), and Keystones, came along a little after those, but appeared more like "dress wheels" to most people. They didn't seem to get to the dragstrip as often as the spoked wheels.

Just please don't use directionals or spinner mags! LOL! :-)

When I first suggested yellow I didn't think it would catch on like it has, but I'm glad to see you guys "get it". Jay is correct, eye searing yellow wouldn't be quite right, but what's "too" bright is in the eye of the beholder.

I have to admit to being strongly influenced by my early days at the track in San Fernando. As I mentioned in your first thread on this car, to me the baseline car for Tri-5 gassers is the Scribner brothers '56. Look at the picture again. It's got a scoop like what you seem to be coming around to, and it's got the torque thrust style wheels, the neatly done wheel radius, simple graphics, the whole mid to late '60s vibe. This was one of the cleanest (and meanest) gassers of the day.........

As for the tone of the yellow, it's brighter than the stock Chev color, but warmer too........that warmth is what I had in mind.

Here is a close approximation of the factory color.

Best I could find on short notice. Restored cars are getting rarer, and old photos are usually faded or poor color.

http://www.57heaven.net/Specs.php here you go if stock is what you want BUT if I were going YELLOW I'd go 74 corvette yellow , and look back a few post about yellow attracting bugs I've seen it at more than one car show yellow cars become bee hives .

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

When I first suggested yellow I didn't think it would catch on like it has, but I'm glad to see you guys "get it". Jay is correct, eye searing yellow wouldn't be quite right, but what's "too" bright is in the eye of the beholder.

I have to admit to being strongly influenced by my early days at the track in San Fernando. As I mentioned in your first thread on this car, to me the baseline car for Tri-5 gassers is the Scribner brothers '56. Look at the picture again. It's got a scoop like what you seem to be coming around to, and it's got the torque thrust style wheels, the neatly done wheel radius, simple graphics, the whole mid to late '60s vibe. This was one of the cleanest (and meanest) gassers of the day.........

As for the tone of the yellow, it's brighter than the stock Chev color, but warmer too........that warmth is what I had in mind.

Yuppers, the Scribner Bros. car pretty much sez it all!!! When I visualize a mid 60's gasser, that's the one I think of! I believe you first brought that picture to our attention a couple years back when Scooter was going gasser????

Really gald you brought up yellow for a color, think it's the way to go on the '57. Subtle seems to be the key to cars of the era. Going to take some doing to get just the right yellow, isn't it? Oh well, the guy that mixes paint at ABS has hated me for 20 years so no big deal there!!!!!

The rear wheels don't really look like a Torque Thrust, were they possibly a Fenton? I replied to Jay's post saying I'd like the 5 bolt version of the old 10 spoke spindle mounts on the front....think they'd look good together....

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

The rear wheels don't really look like a Torque Thrust, were they possibly a Fenton? I replied to Jay's post saying I'd like the 5 bolt version of the old 10 spoke spindle mounts on the front....think they'd look good together....

Middle of the page for the rears, bottom of the page for another front alternative: http://www.team3wheels.com/et/index.html


My recollection of Fentons were that they were aluminum center/face with steel rim (I had a set on my '66 Cutlass, all a poor airman could afford), but they may have had a complete aluminum wheel, just outside of my experience if so.

Originally Posted by HOTRODPAINT

Sounds like a good choice, and the fact that the song was a "fave" makes it personal for you. :-)


Here is a thought to ponder.... Really intense or bright yellows were not available yet. If you go with a light yellow it would look more "vintage".

I'm not sure, but I think the '55 Chevy used a light yellow for yellow & white two-tones. (I could be wrong, but that image is stuck in my head!)

I guess a pale yellow would also be considered..... "mello". :-)~

It would also be nice if you used wheels from the same era as the scoop. The steelies on the back, that were mentioned, would work okay, but with maybe15X4s mags out front. All the way around would also be cool, with some deep ones at the rear! :-)

Halibrands would be nice... but usually were on higher class cars. The first commonly used wheels I remember from the early sixties would be a 5-spokes ...but they weren't Torquethrusts. I think they might have been Fentons, other American models, E.T.s.. or similar straight spoked wheels, with a black or gray centers.

Cragars (my own street favorite), and Keystones, came along a little after those, but appeared more like "dress wheels" to most people. They didn't seem to get to the dragstrip as often as the spoked wheels.

Just please don't use directionals or spinner mags! LOL! :-)

Good points, Jay! To stay with a Mellow Yellow theme, it would have to be a "mellow" yellow color, for sure!

Think Bob nailed the rear wheel, but I do like the re-pops that are out now, a 5 bolt version of the old 10 spoke spindle mounts in 15X4 for the front, also available with the grey center.... I recall a lot of the old Gassers with different wheels on the front then the rear, I suppose because we just didn't have the selection of sizes and widths like there is today.

gearcruncher

I like it Dave! Glad to see you are open minded enough to do a Chevy project! How about you put a Ford in it and call it "Mixed Marriage"

I will remind you that yellow always seem to attract bugs if you plan to take it to car shows etc.

Pat

i would do a heavy flake job med blue and a panel job on hood and lid pearl white top with some freak drops on the hood and lid and call it interstellar over drive or voodoo child but it is not mine

Are you gonna let some little bitty bees make your decision??? Take some Raid to the show with you! }:-)

BEES??? Aw man...........when you said bugs I thought you meant this kind......

Dave, Are you gonna weld the dog house together and make it flip? Ladder bars in the back? My neighbor in Ft Walton Beach Florida in the mid 70s had a 57 done that way, straight axle, flip front end, big block 396 Chevy and 4 speed. It was charcoal gray. He also had a yellow one with original front suspension and a nasty 301, 4 spd and 4.88 gears. He claimed the yellow car would eat the gray one up. I know it sounded wicked. The gray one was his daily driver.

One idea for the moon tank, use it for racing fuel and keep driving fuel in the main tank.

Pat

Originally Posted by Stu Cool

Dave, Are you gonna weld the dog house together and make it flip? Ladder bars in the back? My neighbor in Ft Walton Beach Florida in the mid 70s had a 57 done that way, straight axle, flip front end, big block 396 Chevy and 4 speed. It was charcoal gray. He also had a yellow one with original front suspension and a nasty 301, 4 spd and 4.88 gears. He claimed the yellow car would eat the gray one up. I know it sounded wicked. The gray one was his daily driver.

One idea for the moon tank, use it for racing fuel and keep driving fuel in the main tank.

Pat

Yuppers, going to use the steel Bel Air front clip that I have. It's in good shape and I do like the thought of a tilt front---that's real steel! Going to have to be a small block, one of my old circle burnin' buds is going to "help out" on the engine so, his money, his choice! I've already started putting the front sheet metal on a diet, have to get the scale out and see what the weight loss is so far. Specs show the original weight of the car to be a shade over 3200, got to shave a lot off of that....

Kewl wheels!!! Didn't know ET was even around anymore!