Blue bomber

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/04/2014 (4363 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 1950s was a decade of prosperity and growth. Announcements of advances in manufacturing, housing, electronics and automobiles were daily occurrences, and consumerism was in full swing.

When it came to cars, longer, lower, wider, bigger and better were all too familiar ad phrases. By the middle of the decade, high style was the order of the day, and cars began to look more like space ships with tailfins, Dagmar bumpers, scoops and vents, all adorned with a liberal dose of chrome and stainless-steel trim.

Today, many of the cars from the ’50s are highly collectable. A burgeoning industry producing reproduction parts has facilitated their restoration, many of these cars out of the shed and into the show-car arena.

For Dave Moffatt of Winnipeg, building hot rods was all about Ford Model As and Model T’s — that is, until his friend Tom Wright got his hands on a mid-50s Chevy.

“Tom had a ’56 he was building and I thought I’d like to try a Chevy as well, but didn’t want to compete with him. So I started looking for a ’57 model,” Moffatt said.

In June of 2009, he found a 1957 Chevrolet 150 series two-door on eBay that was located in Iron Mountain, Wisconsin.

“At the end of the auction, I was high bidder, but still $200 under the seller’s reserve price,” Moffat recalled. “But within a few hours he sent a second-chance offer and accepted my bid.”

The 150 sedan had been restored and updated with several mechanical and convenience additions. And the owner had applied a deep metallic blue paint job that still looked good.

Moffatt flew down to pick up the car and drove it back to Winnipeg. The ride would have been flawless except for a faulty fuel gauge that resulted in running out of gas a couple of times.

Since purchasing the car, Moffatt has made several changes and upgrades. Chassis improvements include power-assisted 14.1:1 ratio rack-and-pinion steering, two-inch dropped-front spindles, power front disc brakes and a 350-cubic-inch small-block Chevy V8 backed by a Muncie 4 speed and the original 3.55:1 ratio rear axle with drum brakes.

The engine features a Crane performance camshaft, Edelbrock aluminium intake manifold with 750 c.f.m. Holley four-barrel carburetor and Lokar accelerator cable conversion, H.E.I. ignition system and Trick Flow headers leading to a 2.5-inch-diameter custom dual-exhaust system.

Inside, the black and grey vinyl upholstery features a pair of front bucket seats from a mid-’60s Chevelle, three-point seatbelts, AM/FM radio, Vintage air conditioning, electric windshield wipers, power windows, power door locks, tinted glass, Dakota Digital dash gauges, courtesy lights and Lokar billet aluminium pedal set.

Since the car also has a tilt steering column with AMC Burlwood and leather-wrapped wheel, Moffatt continued the theme by adding Burlwood trim to the dashboard. To ensure everything works as it should, he also rewired the entire vehicle with a 21-circuit Autowire wiring kit.

But Moffatt’s most visible changes have been to te car’s exterior, with new LED taillights and back-up lamps, as well as a third brake light artfully crafted into the chrome trunk and new side-view mirrors. A new reproduction bumper upfront and one-piece rear bumper from Eckler’s replace the originals.

Moffatt is a member of the Manitoba Street Rod Association and his car will be on display this weekend at the club’s 15th Annual Rodarama event, being held today through Sunday at the East End Arena, 517 Pandora Avenue East.

However, the car you’ll see at the show won’t be exactly as pictured here, since the photos don’t show the changes Moffat made over the long winter. The car now sports 18-inch Foose wheels shod with Mickey Thompson radial tires, giving it a very different stance. And then there’s the cooling upgrade with the installation of a new Griffin aluminium radiator.

The biggest change is the addition of stainless-steel trim and aluminium side inserts worn by the top-of-the-line Bel Air model in 1957. While it’s a great way to add some sparkle to the large side area of the 150, it wasn’t an easy addition, Moffat said.

“I had to look over lots of photos and do plenty of measuring to be sure the over 70 holes I punched in the body for the trim mount clips were in the right locations,” he said.

After Rodarama, Moffat will take his ’57 Chevy south to “Back To The Fifties” show in Minneapolis this June. He plans on leaving the car with his friend Tom to drive back to Kansas while he completes his ’56 Chevy build. For Moffatt? Well, he’ll return to Winnipeg to continue work on his 1929 Ford hot-rod project.

The Rodarama show features MSRA Street Rod of the Year winner Frank Fazio’s ’48 Chevy Fleetline Aerosedan, as well as Custom Cruiser of the Year winner Tim Salisbury’s ’57 Chevy. There also will be a tribute entry for long-time MSRA member and former city councillor Al Ducharme, who sadly passed away last December. Ducharme was a true hot-rod enthusiast and a member of the Manitoba Motorsports Hall of Fame.