'53 Bel Airflow Shelby: The 7th Annual OddJob Awards! Pg 22!

[MattiThundrrr]

For me, the tri 5 Chev is one of the best automobile designs of all time. Little known fact, it's box on a box design also inspired the design of the Datsun 510!

 

[OddJob]

Unlike the ‘Tri-5’ BelAirs, the pre-55 have more of a ‘every man’ look to me, maybe it’s because they didn’t have fins or large amounts of chrome molding. They were more ‘pedestrian’.
That’s the social class I grew up in, albeit 10 years later, that’s what’s appealing to me about them.


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I hear you on all counts, Doc. I think my dad could relate to that as well, farm boy from the area of extreme southeastern MN where the farms were small, the fields hilly, and life was pretty simple. The new car in '53 was a means of transportation as for the first couple of years anyway, he was travelling home every weekend to help with farm work too. He also provided my future mom and her best girlfriend with rides home every Friday, as their family farm communities were along the way on that 90 mile journey.

He built his first home, with the help of teacher friends, in 1955, right after he and mom were married in April, and school was out in the middle of May. Got it built that summer before school started again in the fall. I was born the next April, 1956. We moved when I was seven, to the largest school district in the area, and my folks bought an old 1920's farmhouse and Dad worked on that all summer, we lived in the basement / laundry room / pantry / workshop while he finished the upper two levels of the house.

We never had the nicest stuff, but we cherished and took care of what we had. And, we were especially proud and happy with our 'projects', whether it was a fresh remodel, a hand built toy, or a conversion to a '63 Volkswagen panel van that we camped in throughout the western half of the United States. We definitely subscribed to the Rat Rod Bikes motto, "Built, not bought."

He would have loved what we do on this forum. And probably tried his hand at a build, even in his late '80s!

 

[OddJob]

A little work on the '53 to start the day. These rear mount kickstands are popular now a days. They keep the bottom bracket area clear, and keep the bike upright, without providing kind of a 'pivot point' that some center-mounted kickstands do.

I also took a left over spring from my faux fork off One-Liner before I sold it, and cut the spring and spliced it into my seat spring to beef it up a little. It was easier than losing 20 lbs. Although I am on my way to my Labor Day goal, 5 down, 15 to go.

 

[KJV]

I like this kickstand.
I have the one that I took off of the 41 Elgin that was on it when I got it. I took it off to try on Dead End Kid. It's still laying in the garage. & will go back on .

Excellent workmanship ..Bel-Air has lifting Springs
.. for the rearend.

Rat On !

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Raised rear is classic hot rod

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[OddJob]

Beautiful day here, got out for a spin and shot some video of the '53 in action. This bike rides really well!

Video Update #3

 

[OddJob]

Raised rear is classic hot rod

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I like how you can tell the white wall is a bigger tire in the rear, less of the black tire showing.

 

[marshall hudson]

The cobbler anvils just have so many curves and surfaces, and they seem to be the right scale for bike metalwork.

View attachment 156558

Picked one of these up several years ago. Not sure how many times it was just right for the job.

 

[OddJob]

So, in sticking with the '53 Bel Air theme, I thought maybe some kind of mini moon hub caps might work. These are 5" Ceiling Canopy Kit covers for a ceiling light junction box. Just taped one in place to take a peek.

Your thoughts?

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Thoughts? I think your idea is about to get swiped by more than one builder.

 

[kingfish254]

Man, I was a couple of pages behind on your updates. Looking great.
Since you are running the shifter cable down the seatstays, I am pretty sure you rotate the shifter axle housing to line up with that for a cleaner cable run?
I really like the FA Seat Spring Boosters.
I also like the baby moon caps. Are you planning on using them on the rear too?

 

[OddJob]

Man, I was a couple of pages behind on your updates. Looking great.
Since you are running the shifter cable down the seatstays, I am pretty sure you rotate the shifter axle housing to line up with that for a cleaner cable run?
I really like the FA Seat Spring Boosters.
I also like the baby moon caps. Are you planning on using them on the rear too?

View attachment 157472

Hoping to use the mini moons front and rear.
I haven't finalized where exactly the cable will run, there are options depending on what else might find it's place on here.

 

[billy bob customs]

Everything looks like it's meant to be together. Also looks like a comfy rider. I'm looking forward to seeing it in paint. The hubcap idea is cool. I build custom cars for a living and often times look outside the automotive world for items I can use for ideas I come up with.

 

[OddJob]

Everything looks like it's meant to be together. Also looks like a comfy rider. I'm looking forward to seeing it in paint. The hubcap idea is cool. I build custom cars for a living and often times look outside the automotive world for items I can use for ideas I come up with.

Thanks for the kudos. It is a very comfortably riding bike for sure. I have made a bit of a change in the hubcap idea; see my next post below for the update. Thanks for following, I'm digging your build as well!

 

[OddJob]

So, after pondering my hubcap idea for a day, I decided that the mounting issues for that particular cap would be too troublesome to bother with. And, I also had some more mods to do that may affect the 'look' anyway.

Today was dedicated to some CADD work; Cardboard Aided Design and Drafting. The '53 Bel Air was known for it's low feel, and that big rear quarter panel with the stripe / trim. So in an effort to emulate that, I came up with this design. Here are a few photos, and the last one that I 'colored' in my ancient Paint program. Literally, finger painted.

As always, feedback is welcome, Pos + or Neg - (what I call ' helpful critique' )

You will notice I used a metal bowl to get a larger and more proportional hubcap for the front wheel. That may or may not be integrated into that rear quarter panel....

And now for the painted version. Remember, the actual green is a darker emerald with metallic in it, so way more attractive than the green I used here. The silver represents chrome or aluminum trim pieces.

And a shot of Dad's old '53, in the colors and style of his , this is of a current one on the internet.

 

[KJV]

I really dig that concept. I say go for it. Now I call that a Dog dish hubcap for sure on the front.


Shelbroley

 

[MattiThundrrr]

That really looks cool, but in my opinion, you need to go lower. Looks like your goal was to match how it bisects the wheel on the Chev, but I think it should be at least as low as the bottom of the front fender to capture that low feel, more at the level of the running board

 

[OddJob]

That really looks cool, but in my opinion, you need to go lower. Looks like your goal was to match how it bisects the wheel on the Chev, but I think it should be at least as low as the bottom of the front fender to capture that low feel, more at the level of the running board

I like your idea, with one caveat . How bout if I go lower from the BB to the rear axle? Because the 3 spd shifter will be outboard of the panel anyway. That way it won't poke out noticeably.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Hmmm. Looking at the Chev, it is lower in front of the wheel than beside it, that chrome section is actually lower than the removable wheel area. Maybe play off that shape a bit to get the space needed.

Now if it were up to Matti, we'd go full lowrider, but I don't have family pictures or sentiment to follow. You could always put a hole in the skirt to give room for the shifter

 

[Captain Awesome]

Loving then skirts!