Classic Nation

The engine is coming together nicely for the 1950′ Chevy Fleetline. Here are some recent pictures of the work that was done to the block of the Chevy 261 Straight 6 engine. It has been bored out, with some trick components.

Yeah, yeah. That’s the mustang in the background.

Yep, sometimes wintertime in northeast Washington can be an obstacle to custom car building. Case in point: Here’s a picture of my barely discernible 50 Fleetline buried in mid-winter snow. Left out because my 3-bay shop is already jammed with classics, the old chevy will get my full attention once the snow recedes.

As the snow piles up, all I can do is busy myself planning how to proceed in the Spring. Cozied up to the woodstove, I’ve spent many nights pouring through aftermarket catalogues, car mags, and car show pictures I’ve collected, trying to flesh-out a vision of how I want this car to look and be. The truth is, I’m getting really antsy, wanting to get out there and start in on it. Probably a lot of car guys in the northern climates can relate to these wintertime doldrums.

One dilemma I’ve been struggling with is whether to replace the original 216 babbitt-rod stovebolt with a built 235 or 261, or to drop in a small-block chevy. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a believer in small-block chevy power. I’ve already got a 327 powered Impala, a hot-shot 350 ZZ-4 crate-powered Corvette, and an 73 Chevy 4×4 pickup, powered by a venerable 350. But you know what…when I was growing up, early 50’s Chevy street rods were all six cylinder, and almost always had Fenton split-manifolds and dual exhaust. The look and sound of those early low-rider Chevys is indelibly etched in my car consciousness.

I’m wanting to do this Fleetline in the early 50’s custom street rod style: lowered, chopped, nosed, decked, etc. and those six-bangers with their distinctive bark remain part of that image to me.

On the other hand, I know I’d enjoy the power and growl of a V-8; yet, to swap engines around is like dominos: to do so means everything from the steering, to the driveline and rear-end will need to be changed out, which is all fine, good stuff, good improvements, but it will take me quite a while to do all that, which, in turn, means the car will just be sitting. But what I want is to get this car on the road and drive it! Over the years I’ve owned more than a dozen Chevy 235-powered cars and trucks, (I still have a nice rebuilt 1961 235 motor in my 51 flatbed, which is sitting out back, languishing) and I learned to like them a lot. Plus, I’ve talked to a lot of guys who have seriously hot-rodded in-line sixes, and they swear by them.

I still haven’t made up my mind, and in the meantime, it’s snowing again…I reckon I’ll deliberate some more…If I was really smart, I probably ought to be planning on building on to the shop, so I can get this rig out of the weather next year, but that puts the car project off even longer.

That is the question. I keep telling my dad that he needs to customize the 50′ Fleetline with a good old’ chop and tub job. He isn’t so convinced. He likes the idea of keeping it more original, and making it a “rat rod” with flat black paint and red steel wheels.

Here is what we are working with. So as you can see, there are a lot of directions that this project can go; Hot rod, rat rod, custom, ect. My personal opinion for this rig, is to yank out the original engine and drop in a 350/turbo 350, put air bags on it, chop it, tub it, paint it flat black, throw on some custom wheels and call it good. Here is a nice start for a project similar. I really like the stance that this car has. The chop looks great on it too.

Here is the alternative: Keep the original engine in it, paint it flat black, put on the red steel wheels… This example doesn’t look bad either, but it is all a matter of opinion.

Here is my question for you. If you had this car, and money was no object (be reasonable), what direction would you take this car if you planned on keeping it and enjoying it as a weekend driver?

Last week we let you know that the newest addition to our car collection is a 1950 Chevy Fleetline from Kentucky. Well - It should be on a truck somewhere between here and there!

The car has 92K original miles on it, and is a blueish color exterior with a gray interior. The car was ordered with a few extra options including this sweet teardrop spotlight.

The visor on these Fleetlines is such a nice touch! I wonder why cars these days don’t have things like this?

You can track the progress on this project Fleetline and see what gets done to it. Check out the rest of the pictures in our gallery.

Last week while we were at the Goodguys car show in Spokane I mentioned that Dad was thinking about getting a Chevy Fleetline. Well, I got an e-mail early Tuesday moring that let me in on a pretty funny story. Turns out that he bought one off Ebay - out of Kentucky! It is in good shape and has been in the same family since it was new. It has the 6 cylinder engine in it. I will post pictures of it here soon and well track the progress of it in our resto section.