Going Pro?

After a whole life as a real petrolhead I have gone through about all styles of vehicles as my favorite.

But over the years they fade but when it comes to cars two of them still shines brighter than all the others, Kustom and Pro Touring.

And as we can see, in the end Kustom came out with the victory in Bombus Speedshop.

But still I can't let the idea go with Pro Touring…

These styles are not exactly close to each other….but.

What is Pro Touring???

Old car with lots of go, turns great and capable of high speed as well.

Hmmm, where did such cars exist in the early fifties?

The answer: Carerra Panamerica.

Pro Kustom? Is that even a style?

Doesn't matter, now it is.

Should I go full Carerra Panamerica with the lettering, flags, numbers…?

Nope, exterior I think just a couple of tweaks will be enough.

16"-17" steelies (Nascar?) with medium sidewall, 4" Le Mans fuelcap, side exaust and leather hoodstraps.

Might be more, might be less, but those touches I really like.

And the rest?

Of course powertrain and handling will have some attention...later on.

Imagine old school cruising, curvy backroads and modern highway speeds mile after mile all together still with that classic Kustom look.

That's my optimal goal from now on.

Some nice touches

November in May

This wrenchin´season have been way way off to say the least.

Have lost all form of spark and happiness the last year.

But this spring I learned that I have Diabetes and after taking care of all things regarding that suddenly the spark slowly came creeping back.

So now in May I have started with all those things I was supposed to start back in November.

But, better now than not at all.

Started with many projects at once and it looks like there will be a season with the Chevy after all.

Also of course the Corona situation makes 2020 weirdest year ever anyway so a late start is just a breeze in comparison.

Drawings

My dear friend and supporter Kristian is a wizz with the pencils.
He have helped me many, times over the twenty five years!!! we have known each other.
He's awesome to take out the image in my head and enhance it.
The Chevy Kustom was no exception, I pitched him some ideas and out came these awesome visions.
Thanks Kristian, you're a rock!!

First vision he went all in with the Pro Touring look and double turbos, me like!

Second he toned it down a bit and added a paintjob from my desire.

black/silver/red are "my colors". I have had them many times over the years.

And classic scallops can't ever be wrong on a kustom.

Third is probably the closest what actually can happen for 2020.

I have to repaint my roof anyway so im thinking of just some tones apart from the rest of the body.

Darker or lighter aint decided yet.

This color I will also do scallops with, might almost not be visable.

And around the scallops there will be a distinct green pinstripe.

Also some classic pinstripe on the front of the hood and on the trunk in same green.

Driveline

Kustom cars doesnt come with clear spec sheets…
I have straightened some question marks already about the driveline,
but I still had questions.
The only fact I had was that my driveline was from a seventies Chevy Nova.
Quite generic information...so which one?!?!
Took another dive the other day in the ocean of internet.
This time I found the excellent webpage Nova Recource
But even when I have read there and visited the Youtube channel I missed a lot.
I sent a mail to the webpage and got the most amazing help.
Thanks Scott !!
Those people make me believe in the world again
Big words, but that kindness to strangers is something we need more of.
Scott guided me through the Nova jungle so now I have a clear view of my drivetrain.
My front half have 1975-79 Nova subframe, same components also are used by 1970-81 Camaro.
My rear axle is a 10 bolt 8,5” and all of this are the parts that you want.
So in this case I´m the lucky one.

Winters is here

First days of November 2019 I jacked up the Chevy.
Its so low in the rear and the suspension is so soft so I needed four jackstands.
Two to support the rear axle and two for the frame.

When in the air I wanted to be a little more familiar with it and what the specs are.

First I spotted a tab attached on of the 10 bolts on the Chevy axle.
The tap said stuff about limited slip...me like.

Limited Slip

Tried the old trick to verify and just rotate the wheel and the other side turned the same way.

Yep, definetly no open diff.

Another thing I saw was of course the 4” drop with blocks and the tiny bump stop.

I´m aiming towards 3” blocks and maybe 1” bump stops next season

I also did som wheel turnin´to and got 2,¾ revs on the prop shaft for one turn on the wheel
So it's a fair assumption that I have a 2,73 rear end.

Compensation

The Bombus version of climate compensation.
Business to the left and party to the right.

2004 vs 1952

A clip

Took a bunch of pics and did some filming when I first went to see the car.
Put some of them together in a short film after I bought it.