Chevy 1953 - 1954 custom & mild custom galerie

954 Chevrolet Hardtop restyled by Gordy Brown for Dick and Doris Vanadrigham of Salt Lake City, Utah. Gordy restyled the Chevrolet in the early 1960s, before he moved to California and opened up House of Customs. Gordy nosed and decked the car before he shaved it for handles and and emblems. The grille was made up of 1956 Plymouth grille pieces and 1954 Chevrolet grille ends with two 1954 Chevrolet grille teeth on each side. The license plate was floated in the middle. Gordy gave the car a Copper Rose Metallic paint job with matching Copper Rose Metalflakez on the roof and the side inserts on the quarter panels.[1]



http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Dick_and_Doris_Vanadrigham%27s_1954_Chevrolet


http://public.fotki.com/rikster/11_car_photos/beautiful_custom_cars/gordy-brown-built-c/house-of-customs-by/dick--doris-vanadri/

this car is stunning.

• [it has a black cherry paint job with Watson inspired gold scollops.
  
• It rides on air ride technology air ride system
  
• It is four linked in the rear.
  
• It has a mustang front suspension  with power disc brakes  It has power rack and pinion steering
  
• It has  fifteen inch wheels wrapped in wide white  walls sporting 58 caddy hub caps
  
• The interior is beautiful white tuck and roll vinyl
  
• The headliner is also white vinyl
  
• it has all new glass including the windshield
  
• It has shaved door handles with remote opener
  
• It has an aluminum radiator
  
  

Andre’s ’54 took home Best In Show during this year’s Fiesta De Kustom Kulture, and rightfully so. A clean build through and through, from the frost-white paint job and jaw dropping flaked and air brushed roof courtesy of Hot Dog Kustoms, to a unique diamond tuck interior–Rod Authority caught up with Andre to learn more about his stellar Delray.



“I was at work and I was on hold over the phone. I decided that I’d wanted a Chevy car, I’d previously owned a truck. I stumbled on AutoTrader and saw the Delray. It definitely didn’t look like how it does now. By the time I’d called the guy who’d listed it he’d already sold it. I basically asked the guy how much he wanted to unsell it,” Andre explained. Needless to say, his persuasion paid off, and though Andre paid a little more to get the car in his possession, we’re sure that if his Delray could talk it would be jumping for joy because of its slick restoration.



Andre has owned his’54 for the past five years and out of that five it took three years to complete the restoration. With all this flare that the car has we asked how many of his car buddies were a part of the process, “I actually have no friends who like this stuff and this is the first time for me to actually show it.” Andre continued, “I did a lot of work on my own along with J&V Automotive in Chula Vista who was responsible for a lot of the bodywork and fabrication. I painted the body in my garage and Hot Dog did the roof.”



The upholstery buttons offered a unique touch that are commonplace on classic furniture, but surprisingly we don’t see to much on classic cars. “I found this guy who had excess buttons out in Jersey. Hot Wheels Upholstery, also out in Chula Vista, handled all the fabrication of the interior. Subtle touches such as the dash and the steering wheel compliment the ’54’s bold roof.




As we wrapped up our interview with Andre we had to get the backstory on how the roof came to be, “I had kind of an idea of what I wanted, but the reality of it is, with Pete aka Hot Dog–you don’t tell him what to do. He asked me one question, ‘What colors don’t you like?’ From there I just let him do his thing. The roof was 100% Pete. I hired him for a reason, he had the style that I wanted and I also knew what I was looking for on the roof.”

Chopped 3front/4rear, 1940 Ford split rear window, frenched headlights, frenched antenna, shaved doors/trunk/hood, 1961 Buick Lesabre tail lights frenched vertically with peaked quarter tops, rounded hood corners, one piece nose, custom grille w/ extra teeth. All new custom interior, 4 seatbelts. Almost new bias ply Coker wide whites with 5 year road hazard warranty, Walton dual master cylinder firewall kit new in box, Drive it anywhere. 305 newly regasketed with newer Edelbrock intake and 1405 carb,/200r4 overdrive transmission using factory column linkage, super clean underside, new gas tank, new shocks, true duals w/ smithy mufflers, all new brake lines, hardware, shoes and drums, all electrics in car work including heater, aftermarket radio with Bluetooth/mp3/aux/remote, (2) 6x9 speakers. Custom pinstriping by Junior Huff. 1957 Cadillac hubcaps. Very tasteful kustom. All glass functions in car. Electric poppers in doors trigger in dummy spots.

1953 Chevy Bel Air Mild Custom. I bought this car three years ago as a bone stock, 235, 6 volt car. Everything has been stripped, replaced, rebuilt or bought new. I built this car, intending to keep it forever, but things change. Fresh car with 6000 miles on it, runs and drives great. 70 mph on the highway, with no issues. Never gets hot. I have been all over Michigan in the car, and would not hesitate to drive anywhere. Won "best paint and finish" award at Sins of Steel car show this past summer. I have a clean Michigan title in hand and a folder full of receipts.

Frame/Suspension: Fat Man Fabrications Mustang II front cross member, with air bags, dropped spindles, integrated motor mounts, with power steering rack and disc brakes. Rear is set up with a C notched frame, Shockwave air bags, triangulated 4 link, 10 bolt Chevy rear end with drums. Air ride is electronic valves and digital controller.
Motor/Trans: Motor is a freshly rebuilt 350 with an RV cam. New Holley Street Avenger 570 carb. New starter. New aluminum radiator with transcooler. Fast. Runs very strong. Trans is a freshly rebuilt TH350 with a shift kit, slaps into gears. Lokar shifter, throttle cable, and brackets. Dual exhaust with Flowmasters and chrome tips. Sounds great!
Brakes/Wheels: New dual reservoir power master cylinder in stock location, all new lines, hoses, fittings, valves, etc. BFG Silvertown 7.10x15 4" Wide White Wall tires. Retained the original steering column and adapted it to use U joints for the power steering. Butterfly steering wheel.

Electrical: All new EZ Wire 21 Circuit harness. New battery in trunk, new cables. New Dolphin gauges in a custom surround. All dash and exterior lights work. Dome light installed. Air ride controls in glove box. All new light bulbs.
Body: Body was stripped down to bare metal and all rust removed and replaced with patch panels. Added 55 Chevy headlights with new chrome bezels. Extended and flared fender skirts down 3.5 inches to match body profile. Shaved gravel guards, gas door (filler relocated to trunk), handles, deck lid, and one pieced and peaked the hood. Door poppers included but not hooked up yet.

Paint is Matrix Cognac candy over a silver base. Pearl white with crushed glass roof and trim cove. Glows in the sun! Paint is good driver quality, with a few pits, and a couple dark areas that were spot blended after initial paint. Being a candy paint, most people don't notice them. Pass. door has a bubble. Behind the pass. rear wheel there is a gouge where a hubcap came off. I touched it up with paint. Professional pinstriping on dash and deck lid.

All new flat glass. New rubber gaskets for all glass, new window felt, new window channels, new glass and body seals. Pass door glass is cracked. Pass vent window regulator needs replaced. ALL 36 pieces of stainless were tediously polished this past winter. New trim clips. New chrome front and rear one piece bumpers. 54 Chevy Lee bubble tail light lenses. New carpet.

1954 Chevy 210 I bought out of California. This car is an awesome driver it's power plant is a late model 250 inline 6 backed with a 350 turbo with tall lokar shifter fresh driveshaft mine inch ford rear and power drum brakes with dual master cylinder. It is bagged on all corners it's a simple setup built for driveability up and down in front and back c notched new crossmember raised driveshaft tunnel 4 linked all new bushings up front. Body mods include frenched headlights, tailights (with big bubble lee lenses)



, shaved doors deck lid and firewall nosed and peaked hood, top has been freshly painted 2 kinds of red flake and kustom shop red kandy over top that also has brand new 1 piece front bumper and grille from chevs of the 40s (still waiting on rear bumper to arrive) Interior is like new not over 8 months old will send pics of it don't have any on my phone. Has whitewall radials new bullet cones bullet lugs and tri ribbed beauty rings.