February 2009
1956 Chevrolet 210 Sedan-Custom
John Foti, FL
I’ve always been interested in cars and my first recollection of a ’56 210 was one that I passed most every day in the early sixties on my way to and from school as a teenager in a small New England town. It was British Racing Green with Crager SS wheels and black rolled and pleated interior; just plain and simple showing off its great lines. I wanted one then, but I was soon off to college in Miami, Florida. A few weeks later, while walking with a college friend one day through a parking lot, I’m now reminded of a remark I made at that time about a white ’56 we passed, “I’m going to have one of those someday.”
Many years later, while visiting a former neighbor who had moved to Texas, I found an ad in the Dallas Times Herald: “56 Chevy 2-dr post, no motor or transmission, $650.00.” I called and the seller and I struck a deal at $550.00 and soon it was on a trailer behind the family van headed to Florida. There was little major rust, having spent all of its life in Texas and most everything, body, trim, seats, etc., were there; well worn, but original. Even the paint was still original. The year was 1986 and the car had last been registered in 1968.
So I finally had a ’56 210, but at that time not being able to begin what eventually became a frame off resto/mod, I decided to put the project on hold for a while after the body was stripped, repaired and protected with a coat of epoxy primer. The 210 was stored for many years while I began reading CCI articles on up-grades, buying parts, etc., for what I knew would someday be a driver with modern upgrades and a 327 with 4-speed.
Once again, time had passed and a decision had to be made to sell the car or move forward. I realized that I needed to finish what I had started, even if plans had changed slightly with the passing of time and with many more improvements that were now available for these great cars. My long appreciation for ‘56s wouldn’t let me sell it so I finally dove in starting with a complete teardown, sandblasting the frame, etc. With the help of many great friends and finding some truly talented professionals in the South Florida area, the project was well underway and constantly improving. It’s just the way it goes...new parts need new bolts and polished stainless looks much better than cadmium plated!
The Build:
My goal was not only to be involved with the design decisions and parts selections, but to be a hands-on participant wherever possible. Naturally there’s no sense in getting in the way of the professionals and respecting that, most of them were quite indulgent of my need to be a part of the process. The intent was to keep the body stock, with a bit of old school under the hood, while utilizing modern upgrades and an interior that reflects both old and new.
The build team came together as:
Once started, the project rolled on from shop to shop. However, with all of the typical project wows and woes it was Dave’s phenomenal paint job over his painstaking body and prep work that set the tone for the rest of the build. Anything less than the best bolted on from here on out wouldn’t be tolerated; that notion, I soon found, was strongly subscribed to by Eddie York and others on the team.
Clint executed a design I had developed for the stock seat frames and custom door panels that included a detail imitating the 210 exterior side trim. Finally finding the right “baseball glove leather” I had in my minds eye, along with a black suede headliner, black wool carpet and black leather trim, we created a unique, custom, but understated look to complement Dave’s excellent paint and the simplistic stock exterior design of the car. Clint’s fine craftsmanship, attention to detail and innovative construction techniques, along with10 hides of great smelling leather, carried the design effort through to the trunk.
Specifications:
Engine: ZZ 383ci GM Performance crate motor, 425 hp, 460 ft-lbs. of torque with Demon Carburetor and Edelbrock Performance RPM Air Gap manifold
Radiator: Griffin aluminum
Transmission: Tremec 5-speed with Hurst shifter handle
Differential: Ford 9” with 3.50 gear and Moser Engineering performance axles
Chassis: Powder coated with spring pocket kit and modified engine and transmission mounts
Suspension: Heidt’s polished stainless A-arms with QA-1 front coil-overs, 2” dropped spindles, modified rear leaf springs, QA-1 adjustable shocks and custom sway bars
Wheels: Budnik 17”
Steering: Concept One C1 performance steering gears with ididit tilt column and Budnik two-piece billet steering wheel
Brakes: Wilwood billet 4-wheel disc with drilled rotors, integral parking brake and stainless steel lines
Exhaust: Ceramic coated headers with 2-∏” polished stainless mandrel bent X pipe system through Magnaflow polished stainless mufflers.
Fasteners: Polished stainless
Interior: Custom leather on stock seat frames
Gauges: Custom Rod gauges
A/C: Vintage Air
Audio: Custom Auto Sound Secret Audio
Wipers: Raingear
Paint: PPG Pearlescent Flame Orange
Completion:
Upon completion and being quite satisfied with the results of the five year build process, I asked Eddie York, who has won many Top 25 awards for the street rods he builds, at the Shades of the Past Rod Run in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, how he thought the ’56 would fare in that kind of show. His response was, “Good as any.” With that encouragement and again with the help of a few friends, we put together a truck and trailer and I entered the show and sure enough took a Top 25 award out of 600 cars entered in our first major judged show. That was validation, honor and excitement all rolled into one after such a long process.
After leaving South Florida and moving to the Orlando area in 2006, I began driving to “local” shows within a 200 mile radius and entered the Super Chevy Show in Gainesville , FL , winning an Editor’s Choice Award along with two Class Awards.
The car drives well with all of the performance and suspension upgrades, cruising easily on the highway like any modern car. Having plenty of Chevrolet power in the equation provides the “fun factor” of passing those newer cars on the highway, or just going thru the gears.
With around 4000 miles on the 210, I decided to put the car to a true test and drove down to Kissimmee, FL, to enter the 2007 CCI Winter Nationals. Winning awards is great but to be judged by your peers on a 1000 point system is the true test. To my surprise the car scored 998 points winning First Place 1956 Custom and a Platinum Certificate. Having enjoyed the experience so much, I quickly signed up for the 2008 show and began working to correct my two-point deduction!
The 2008 show brought another 998 point score winning First Place 1956 Custom Senior and a Platinum Certificate. But, this year the 210 also won Best Interior Modified Custom Driver and the Third Annual Tom Trainor Memorial Award.
All the hard work and perseverance was certainly worth the enjoyment of participating in these shows after so many years of attending events as a spectator. A great part of the enjoyment is meeting people with common interests at these events and sharing information. It’s an invaluable experience.
I am grateful to the many friends who provided many hours of help and encouragement throughout the process of building my car and as to the build team, all of which have become great friends, I can’t say enough about their great talents that made it all come together.