Las Vegas, Nevada – No doubt about it, cramming a big block Chevy V8 between the fenders of a classic Tri-Five is a surefire way to earn yourself a write-up on the Summit Racing blog. So when we heard about the latest project to roll out of the Cool Hand Customs shop, our ears understandably perked up.
Run by E.J. and Amy Fitzgerald, we’ve covered a handful of builds from the Wisconsin-based Cool Hand Customs shop before, including this delightful Pinto wagon and a super clean ’55 T-Bird.
But this my be our favorite ride yet—and as it turns out, it might be E.J.’s favorite too.
“Since I was like 13, I’ve always wanted a ’55,” he smiles.
Spotted in the KBS Coatings booth, this 1955 Chevy coupe has been completely torn down and rebuilt, and the Cool Hand team added plenty of custom touches along the way.
For starters, check out the incredible two-tone flip that begins with elegantly burnished and clearcoated sheetmetal on the hood and fenders. Look closer and you’ll see the subtle torch burn discoloration on the leading edge of the hood and headlights.
“So I’ve been painting for, like, 30 years and every car we paint, we strip it down to bare steel first and it always looks so cool,” E.J. chuckles. “Every time we do it, the body work day starts, you’re getting ready to start slinging mud and you just stand back like ‘That would look so cool if we just cleared it.'”
The good news is, he’s got some pals at KBS Coatings and they recommended the KBS DiamondFinish clearcoat that would work perfectly over the bare metal.
“It dries with moisture, not chemically, so it sucks all the moisture out as it cures,” E.J. explains. “The more humidity you have in the air, the harder and the faster that stuff’s gonna dry. So we had the whole booth covered in water with wet towels all around the car.”
As for the torch-burn effect, that’s just an expertly applied airbrush job.
“This is all done with a finish gun. I used cobalt blue, a great purple, and Aztec gold,” he reveals. “I’ve had guys stop in and they’re like, ‘How did you get the torching done so even on there?'”
Under the hood is a clean, vintage 396/402 that was gifted to E.J. and Amy by a friend.
And when we say “clean,” that’s no exaggeration.
“Yeah, I was really surprised. It looked like it had the original Chevy orange paint on it. And I took it down there, numbers stamped on the rods and everything,” E.J. tells us.
“And we did a compression test on it before I tore it down. Bone stock, it’s supposed to have, like, 140 PSI. It had 180,” he laughs. “So I’m like, ‘I think she’s good!'”
There’s a Summit Racing Classic Big Block Chevy camshaft inside (PN SUM-1300), and in era-correct hot rod fashion, up top is an Edelbrock dual-quad intake matched with a pair of Edelbrock AVS2 carburetors. A set of Summit Racing headers (PN SUM-G1902) begins the exhaust party.
And behind that big block lies a floor-shifted Saginaw four-speed—a leftover from their 1963 Nova project.
“And the Nova customer thought it was so cool when he looked in here, because it’s his old school shifter that he had in high school,” E.J. chuckles.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the name “Bad Temper” scripted across the rear fender.
Well, as we found out, Cool Hand Customs has a gift for wordplay.
“It’s because of the temper job on the front,” E.J. quips.
“Originally, I wanted to do ‘Double Nickel’ or something like that, but we were always going to have the Gasser-style letters, gold leaf lettering on the side.”
When you look inside, E.J. is quick to credit his partner.
“That was actually all Amy. I’m all about the the motor, the drivetrain, and that’s about as far as I went.
“It never once crossed my mind what the inside’s going to look like. I knew it was going to have three pedals and a stick. But we were going to have her reupholster it all black. We were just gonna do door panels.
“And then she found an original steering wheel, the 15 inch Delray wheel. And then she’s like, ‘Do you care if I do the whole Delray interior?’
“We were kind of fighting that for a minute, but it looks amazing. I couldn’t imagine it any other way,” he smiles.
Beneath that interior upholstery is a layer of Thermo-Tec Cool-It Heat & Sound Control Mats and up in the dash you’ll find an array of gauges from Dakota Digital bisected by a Summit Racing steering column.
We asked E.J. if he planned on keeping this one, and he didn’t heistate to nod a resounding yes.
…Which makes sense, because after all, he’s wanted a 1955 since he was 13.
***
You can follow the entire Bad Temper build from start to finish with its own playlist on the Cool Hand Customs YouTube Channel. Start with the first installment here:
And you can get a closer look at the team’s incredible paint process in this YouTube short:
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