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The ‘57 was solid turquoise with bucket seats and an LS1 motor. The Chevy was just beautiful! I asked the owner, who was from Kentucky , if he would sell it and he replied that the car was not for sale. At this time, I had an all-original ‘57 turquoise and ivory 2-door hardtop, but I wanted to build a custom ’57 and hoped to find a suitable car for that purpose at the show.
In June of 2001, while at a wedding, I was talking with a friend about the ‘57 I saw in Pigeon Forge. I asked him if he knew of a car for sale that would be a good builder. He said that a guy by the name of Mark White, who lived nearby, had one, but he was not sure if he still had it or would sell it. I knew Mark and his dad because they run a hardware store in my hometown of Statesville, NC. I waited until after the July 4th holiday and I went to see Mark. I asked him if he still had the car and he said that he did. I then asked him if he would sell it and he said he did not know. He stated he had the car for about 12 years and had started to restore it about 10 years ago, but lost interest and the car had been in the basement of the hardware store ever since. Mark said he had the car torn down and the body was ready to be taken off the frame. I asked him if I could see it and he laughed. He said that there was so much junk around it that we could not even get close to it. However, he did say he would think about selling the car and would try to clear some of the debris out around it so it could be seen.
 
A few weeks later near the end of July, 2001, Mark called me with news that he had cleaned up the mess around the ’57 enough so that I could get a closer look at the car. I met him later that afternoon. The car had about two inches of dust on it from sitting in the basement for the past ten years. In spite of the dirt and junk in and around the car, Mark said that all the parts were there. I asked him if he had decided to sell it and he wanted to know what I was going to do with it. I showed him some pictures of the ‘57 that I had seen in Pigeon Forge and told him that I wanted to build this one somewhat like the picture, but he was still undecided about selling it. I asked him if I could bring a friend who owned a body shop to see it and he agreed to that. The next day I was back with my body shop friend who told me that the car would be a great one to build, because it appeared to have little, if any, rust. I made Mark a cash offer and after about a six week wait, Mark finally agreed to sell the car to me. I took the next day off from work and went to get the car. When my wife got home, she asked me what I was going to do with all that junk. I told her that I was going to make a beautiful car out of it. She laughed.
 
Now that I had the car in my garage, the first thing I did was to give it a good bath. The next week I went to Diversified Finishers in Statesville, NC. I talked with Kenny Barnes, the owner, about glass beading or sand blasting the car. The car was taken to Kenny’s shop the first week of October, 2001. About a week later the body was clean. At that time I took the body to Tracy Wike's Body Shop in Taylorsville, NC for them to start to work. The body was taken off the frame and placed on a rotisserie. The frame was taken to R&M Custom Carworks in Taylorsville, NC, owned by a friend, Roy Bentley. The frame was made ready to be taken back to Diversified for powder coating. Meanwhile, I had been looking for an LS1 motor to go into the car. While talking with another friend, Chris Harrington, owner of Harrington Machine Shop in Taylorsville, NC, about putting an LS1 in the car, he talked me into rebuilding the 350 motor that was already in the car. He also talked me into rebuilding the TH400 transmission that came with the car. The engine is now a 355ci with 365hp, Vortec Heads with a Barry Grant Six Shooter. The transmission is a TH400 with shift kit and stall converter.
 
Once the frame and front suspension were powder coated and the underneath of the body was finished, the frame was placed back under the body. The body had two small areas of rust in each quarter panel, which were removed and replaced. The body, both doors, front end and deck lid were ready for painting. The completed body was put back together for aligning and fitting and then taken back apart for painting using PPG base coat/clear coat Tropical Turquoise. Once painted, the parts were reassembled and most of the new stainless moldings and bumpers were installed.
 
All electrical work, along with the bucket seats, was done by R&M Custom Carworks. Vintage Air, along with console, was installed by Michael Canter's Custom Shop of Taylorsville, NC. The exhaust system was made by Chapman's Garage in Stony Point, NC and was ceramic coated by Diversified. The wheels are Billet Specialties Vintec Dish (front are 17” x 7” and rear are 17” x 8”). Tires are BF Goodrich TA's 255-50ZR-17. The interior was custom made by Chuck Hanna of Lake Norman Tops and Interiors in Mooresville, NC. The interior is turquoise leather and the carpet is turquoise also.
 
In May of 2004, after almost two years of work, the car was shown for the first time in Pigeon Forge, TN at the Smoky Mountain Roundup; the same show where I had seen the ‘57 that I admired so much. The car received 300 out of a possible 300 points. The second show was in Hampton, VA at the 30th Annual Classic Chevy International Convention, where it received 999 points out of 1000. The car continues to show well, winning first place in every show entered.
 
The "pile of junk", as my wife called it, turned out pretty well. Thanks to all who had a hand in making this car possible. A big thanks to my wife, Kim and my son, Dustin, for their support and patience.