DACC FEATURE CAR
July 2012
In 1998 I begin to look around for a project to keep me busy
on the weekends as I hate to be inactive. So one day my wife Lupe and I were out
riding around and spotted a classic car lot south of Tyler. There was a pristine
‘56 Bel Air for sale sitting there. I thought that the asking price was too high
and we left (big mistake). But the idea of restoring an old car was in my head
and after a lot of searching I found my ‘55 4 door Bel Air in some very high
weeds behind a local garage. The price was reasonable, money changed hands and I
loaded my new project on the trailer. My wife came home and found her parking
spot occupied by a unappealing rust bucket -- thank god she just smiled and said
have fun.
I started the tear down and quickly discovered that I was in a steep learning
curve. As a kid I had worked on old cars but never anything like taking one
apart and rebuilding it. So over the next several years I disassembled the car
down to the frame and started rebuilding it from the ground up. After getting
the body remounted, I found out that I was not a “body man” and that It was
going to take some serious cash to get the body work and paint done. So the car
sat while I stocked piled funds.
Then in 2005, I retired from GMAC and fiddled with the body until I decided to
put the car on the fast track. After looking around, I found a body shop that I
liked and crossed my fingers hoping for a good result. Finally the body shop
called and said come get it. I was so eager to get it home that I drove it home
from the body shop with no glass, brake lights, mufflers and a milk crate for a
seat! That night I was like a kid at Christmas time. I sat out in my carport and
just stared at what used to be an ugly duckling. The next morning I started
putting the trunk weather seal on the truck lid, but I had to give it up as
Hurricane Ike was blowing through East Texas. From that point I really began to
make progress on the car. Soon we were taking trips and getting lots of thumb
ups while going down the road and answering questions about what the color is
called. I enjoy answering it is U-Tech color code 308E5.
My wife was and still is very supportive of the long term project, the only
thing she told me was that “we” needed air conditioning, to which I said No
Problemo darling. People ask me why I built a 4 door instead of a 2 door, I tell
them I wanted to have something different from every one else. One of these days
we will be “finished” with the rebuild, but I keep tinkering with the car so
that day is still a ways off. Until then, we will drive it, show it and have fun
with it!
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