Progress keeps rolling…

Since you first met our 1955 Chevy, its shell was left in a rough, but very workable state. Sans floors, rockers, and pretty much anything structural, we were ready to actually get started! You know the saying of “going backwards to go forward?”

Yeah, that applies here.

See all the updates from Alex Taylor’s “Quest for the Sixes.”

Alex sandblasting the inside and jambs of the 1955 Chevy. (Image/Alex Taylor)

Patina is an acquired taste. Some love it and some hate it.

We’ve always been ones to stray away from it and go for a nice, shiny paint job, but patina is truly fitting for this build and we wanted to save as much of the original as we could. We did, however, want the door jambs and inner panels to be clean and freshly painted—patina with effort and purpose!

So, after a tape job around the jambs and areas we wanted to save, we set the shell up outside (in very cold temperatures, might I add!) to prepare for sandblasting. Three to four 300-pound sand pots later, we had the aforementioned parts of the shell rust free and down to bare metal.

Acid washing the 1955’s shell. (Image/Alex Taylor)

Working against less than favorable weather conditions, we were able to get the shell set back up outside the following day and get the panels we blasted the day prior acid washed, protected, and ready for primer. The acid on the bare metal cleans and preps the surface and leaves behind a phosphoric coating; essentially etching the metal and preparing for an adhesive bond when the primer is applied.

While I was at it, I went ahead and “treated” what was left of the patina to rid years of fade and build up. Good as new!

State of the Chevy’s driver side quarter, prior to metal work. (Image/Alex Taylor)

As I’ve mentioned many times, and probably will mention again, we started with a rough car! We wrapped up the first episode by adding a few patch panels and straightening the original panels that were left. (At this point, every time we worked on the shell, we ended up with less original metal than we started with!)

After a couple hours of hammer and dolly work, we managed to save the lower rear quarter on the driver’s side, but the front lower quarter was a lost cause, just like both the driver and passenger rockers. Check out Episode Two, below, to watch what will eventually be the shell of a six second car begin to take shape!

And don’t forget to check the Summit Racing Instagram page (@SummitRacing) for story updates too.