Please NOTE.  If you click on the thumbnail and then click on “view full size” on the bottom right of the page that opens you can see a really nice large version of the picture.  And then, if you click on the page that opens you will then see the largest picture available for viewing.  Look for the plus sign in the hourglass which tells you that there is a larger picture to be seen.

A couple of shots of the car after is was almost done at Orange County Hot Rods.  Still needed some fine tuning at this point but it could come home for a few days.

A couple of shots the Danchuk Art Department took of the car so we had a few really nice outdoor shots to go with the ones from the studio.

Finished Engine Compartment with custom one off (so far) inner fender filler panels that Aaron made us installed.  Looks really nice with the Eddie Motorsports Hinges.  We also have a shot of the Eddie Motorsports under hood braces installed on the hood.  (If you call him and ask we bet Aaron would make a set of filler panels for your ’57 too.  The guy is a fabrication master)!

The beautiful TMI Products Interior Kit.  An entire custom leather interior in a box ready to install in the comfort of your air conditioned garage.  And no waiting for an upholstery guy either.  These are made to order so the wait is around 6-8 weeks but with all the different ways to customize and personalize these kits you can really come up with something that is all your own for your ride.  And for a decent price too.

Enough of the finished car pictures.  Lets see the build pics!

As we mentioned in the article.  Moss growing behind the stainless trapped water and caused the body to rust under the side panel inserts and the stainless trim.  Not something you would expect to find on an only 12 year old body off restoration.

12 years ago this was a cutting edge build and this was a gorgeous engine compartment.  Not quite as cutting edge as it would have been with a supercharged LS7…but we didn’t want to spend 25K plus on an engine.  Besides, normal people who build these things can’t afford that anyway.  We wanted a build that would be something the guy at home would do.  (We still do).  Check out the distributor and the broken stud on the intake…we had a miss in the engine..wonder why?

We found a virtual Rats Nest under the dash. We don’t know how the wiring got into such bad shape…but Aaron had it fixed in a jiffy. It pays to go to a guy who has installed hundreds of these American Autowire kits.

As we mention in the article.  The exhaust had to be replaced (again) and the undercarriage, the engine, trans, and Morrison GT55 chassis, was covered in ATF due to the crushed and improperly installed oil cooler line running to the inadequate capacity cooler.  What a mess.

Once the engine and transmission was out of the frame Aaron got to work with the detailing.  The Edelbrock engine was painted black from Edelbrock and we wanted to change it up a bit.  Also, the bright polished billet look has become a bit outdated (still nice, don’t get us wrong…just dated…think been there done that) and we wanted to replace the polished stuff with black instead for a more subdued look.  The bright polished Billet Specialties valve covers were replaced with their new “Streamlined” covers which are painted body color along with the block and engine parts.  The entire engine compartment was re-plumbed with black hose and fittings, the Vintage Air Frontrunner System was replaced with a black unit, the polished master was replaced with black etc etc etc.  You get the idea,  Also, the new Edelbrock Pro-Flo 4 intake was painted body color to match the block and heads and further tie the car together.  Check out the awesome hardlines Aaron made for our radiator catch can and transmission oil cooler.  Beautiful.

Once the body was off the frame Aaron cleaned it all up, fixed the little things that needed repair, removed and rebuilt the rear end assembly then reassembled the frame, dropped the engine and transmission back in, installed the headers and built the customer exhaust using Flowmaster 50 mufflers to replace the Bassani’s.  The car should be much nicer to drive now with the less boomy exhaust note.

That’s pretty much it on the pics.  We have to say the car came out fantastic and we cannot be more pleased.  Still a few things left to do but the car is road worthy and trust worthy and that is the most important part.

Thanks again to Aaron and Orange County Hot Rods for getting this done for us.  Came out fantastic as we knew it would.

Read all about Orange County Hot Rods in our Shop Spotlight by clicking HERE.