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Hey ya'll. Thanks for adding me to the forum. Taking a bit of a leap of faith here with the "kustom" word, but I'll give you some back story.
I grew up in Northern California going to shows with my pops and always liked the kustom crowd. I remember as a youngster seeing a '51 Merc with a DeSoto grill for the first time and telling my dad, "I want one of those". Being that young I didn't know that the grill wasn't original to the car. Fast forward many years and many cars later I came across a 1951 DeSoto Custom that needed a home. Guys usually rob the grills and bumpers from these and leave them to rot so I decided to give it the full custom treatment it deserved.
Inspired by the Barris & Ayala's of Southern California I wanted to do something traditional that gave the '51 a facelift while still being true to its roots. Not slammed. No bags. No SBC. No tricks, just the good stuff. Here are some photos as it stands today and a list of the custom bits.
- Shaved and molded all around
- 4.5" chop
- Reshaped rear wheel openings
- Headlights extended 1" & frenched stock rings
- 1956 DeSoto 330 hemi w/ dual quads
- 1953 DeSoto Grill (STILL LOOKING FOR THE OUTER MOST 2 TEETH & WILLING TO BUY)
- 1956 DeSoto dash
- 1955 DeSoto wheel covers
- 1951 Packard spear trim
- 1956 Hudson tail lights
- Ford shoebox rear window
- Will be painted 1951 factory solid midnight blue
Will post more as things happen. I might be hounded ya'll for some parts!
Hey Stephen....that's one smooth DeSoto! Nice work. Although I'm a stock purist myself, I've got plenty of '50's custom and hot rod books on my shelf and a nice collection of those small '50's custom car magazines from back in the day. Although most of our club members cars are mostly stock, the modified class is one of the fastest growing in the club and usually has multiple entries at our annual convention. Thanks for sharing your craftsmanship with the rest of us.
Love the fact that you dropped a DeSoto hemi under the hood! Hope to see you at an upcoming meet one of these days.
Mark
