My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Having had my truck done for a little while now, I knew that I would need a new project. After a few Power Tours I have learned that living out of a standard cab truck for a week with twin boys who aren't getting any smaller...room was in short supply, I decided that my next project needed to be a 1950's 4 door station wagon.

Chance would have me at my pinstriper's shop this past spring helping unload a couple of 40 Fords that didn't have any suspensions. His brother was telling me how much he liked my truck and wondered what my next project would be. After telling him I wanted to find a 50's 4 door wagon (Ford, Chevy, Dodge....didn't matter), he said I needed to stop over at his house. He had a 54 Chevy wagon that he had purchased most of a decade earlier, and decided he wasn't going to get to it and wanted to see what I could do with it. After telling me what his vision was for it, my vision for it had similar elements. A deal was made and a couple months later I was back to load it up.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

So here is how I found it. The story is that it was an eBay purchase from Utah, didn't have a suspension under it and was towed to the midwest on a boat trailer. The guy I bought it from purchased a 54 4 door parts car, which would donate some temporary suspension pieces and a color-matched front clip that has more paint on it than the one that's on the wagon now.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

After getting home from the Power Tour in June, it was time to go retrieve my purchase and haul it to my parents acreage where it would sit until I had time to bring it to my place. A few hours of sliding the car out of it's resting place and bolting up some suspension pieces, I had a roller.

I'm also trying to navigate my way through using this site to host the pictures, so pardon the formatting until I get this figured out.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

So yes, it was in much need of a good cleaning. I took it to my dad's shop and used the hotsy on it first, and then gave it a good CLR bath. This did wonders for the appearance of the car, which is good because the plan for it is to leave it's original Antarctic Blue (or as GM called it, Horizon Blue) and white paint.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Over the summer I started collecting parts, as well as chipping away at a few things while I visited the folks. I replaced the plywood window with a quality pre-owned piece, cleaned out the interior somewhat, procured seats, and the more modern front suspension. Parts delivery was done with the 49.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

By December I had things put away for winter and had a space in the garage for a project, time to start in on it! Another trip up north had the wagon loaded up and ready to bring home.

Here it is in the garage, ready for the optional rally fun pack to be added!

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

New stuff! Had to see how the seat would fit in the back, kids approved! I actually sat in the back with a friend of mine (I'm 6' and he's probably 6'2") and we fit with lots of headroom. I think it's going to be a great road trip car! Another friend found the luggage at an auction and thought they were a perfect fit for the wagon, I agree. Can't wait to load them up in the back!

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

So the Rally fun pack on this one will be a Scott's IFS, 4 link rear with 8.8 or 9" rear, 18" smoothies, and a 6.0 with 4L80E. Engine compartment will get painted, interior will get freshened up, floors will lose the ventilation that they currently have, and whatever other comfort mods required to make this a reliable, comfortable car to drive anywhere.

Disclaimer: the motor in the pics is a mock-up 5.3 and 4L60, for any one keen enough to call me out on that.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Very neat looking project. Looking forward to seeing your progress with it.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

With the holidays, I've had a little time off work. I've managed to put in a few hours on this project. Disassembly is pretty straightforward. Old is out, and getting ready for the new.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Prepping the front frame rails.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

nice project...should be fun.....

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

So with the front of the frame stripped, it was time to do some initial mocking up of the front suspension.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

I picked up some tires that would approximate the diameter of the new ones to use during the build.

Not low enough....

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

A friend came over to help lift the front clip back on the car, and I borrowed one of his rear tires to see if 275 wide was an attainable goal. It'll involve cutting, but it is do-able!

Bonus points if you can identify via the paint scheme what car this wheel was borrowed from!

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Here is the stance I settled on! Now I wait for drop spindles to show up before I can continue with the front suspension. I plan on running a space saver spare tire and a "normal" gas tank, so the original tire well had to go. This would also give me additional access and light to work on the rear suspension!

To catch me up to current, I also installed my Walton Fab transmission crossmember. I saw this piece and really liked it. The K-member is integral to the front body mounts, and with this car I'm taking a different approach than I did with my truck and not custom fabbing everything. After installing this I have 2 learnings. 1) This is a quality piece, and it actually fits (unlike so many other aftermarket parts. 2) Cutting out factory rivets sucks, period. I had approximately 30 lbs of dirt fall on and around me as I was doing this. Since I was filthy, I committed myself to removing the rest of the rivets I wouldn't be needing before going in the house that night.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Awesome build. Love the rides that you can drive any ware, can hold 4 people and still carry stuff. keeping the stuff out of the weather, another plus.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Thanks for the heads up Jeep. I'll be following the build.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Great project! The wagon looks amazingly solid, especially for one found in DM Iowa.
Anticipate you will have this one done in time for HRPT 2018?
Tagging along for the rest.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Perfect, thanks! And I appreciate the advice you've already provided!

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Thanks Doug! The wagon did originate from Utah, so it's solid for that reason. Yeah, I've learned to not make timeline projections....but to directly answer your question I've already started a list of things to do to the TRUCK before HRPT 2018. ;) We'll probably visit friends in Maryland on the way home this year.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Cool project love wagons

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Sweet looking wagon, I'll get it line with the rest to tag along...Jim

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

I’m in too! Love some vintage wagons!!

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

I also love old wagons so I'm in for this build. It looks like a very solid start. Almost forgot to add, that vintage luggage is cool.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Very cool project. I love the look and the direction of this build.

Marc

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thank you!

It will add a nice touch!

Hopefully it turns out like it looks in my head!

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

So I finished up my holiday break with pulling the frame out from under the car. I had originally planned to blast it after I had everything mocked up, but it is sooooo nice to weld to a freshly cleaned frame so shifted gears and pulled it out. Hopefully next weekend it will warm up into the 20's, so I can get that done (some of you will be amused by the warming up to the 20's comment).

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

I needed a way to be able to shove it in the corner while it waits, so this is the solution I chose. Worked really good, and feels stable.

I had some parts show up this week. Bought universal 4 link brackets off EBay thinking they would save some time (but still anticipating having to modify them). Also got my dropped spindles in to set the front end down to my desired ride height.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Doug, you'll appreciate my Tommasini-inspired stump in the background here, as well as the door skin leaning up against the compressor that Pat Brubaker helped me work on this past year.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Very much so. The stumps are handy for many purposes in the shop I've found. And door skins...skill and hours to get one right. Pat is really skilled and a good guy. Did you use one of Peter Tommasini's wheels? Very smooth....

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Yeah, Robert Anton brought his and Will Cronkite brought the go-kart slick we used for the curl at the bottom.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Another good weekend of progress this past weekend. I had been hoping for nice weather to sandblast the frame. Well, it was sunny......but cold. It was pretty much 5* the whole time I was blasting. It was OK, but I did have to stop periodically to de-ice the lens of the helmet. Got it done! Used a big tarp and was able to recycle most of the media.

Once I got it home I didn't waste any time getting it slid back under the car and bolted up. I also got the Scott's front end (now with drop spindles) in place in the car. It will be so nice welding to clean metal now.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

To begin getting ready to tack the front suspension in for real, I needed to get the car set up with the rake I wanted and ride height. I put the 8.8 in and made some spacers to go between the axle and frame to hold the back of the car where I wanted it. I like the stance, it feels low, but is not nearly as low as my truck so it should be very practical for driving.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Another eBay purchase showed up too, a rear hatch with the latch. My latch was broken, and there was another broken one that came with the car. There wasn't enough there to even see how it was supposed to work, so I was hoping to score a decent deal on a latch. This one is worn out/broken too, but at least it has all the pieces there so I can see how it is supposed to work. Still in the ideation phase, but may try to machine a new piece. I assume it was pot metal, and that's why they're all broken and good used ones sell for crazy money.

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

And here we can see a little mischief in the back of the car. I ordered the wheels for the car, and the plan is to run 275's on the back. However, the tires I'll likely go with are available in a 305.....hmm.....

https://www.firestonetire.com/conten...tions/original

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Chris, did you happen to get a level, straight on side pic of entire car? I would like to see the rake you are going for.

I really like the approach you are using to get ride height and rake ...clean, logical.

305...I double dog dare you! :)

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

that's gonna look killer....thumbs up

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Great car! AMC on the wheel question?

Re: My Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack
 

Looks like you've got a great start on your project. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

We did a 54 Chevrolet two door sedan several years ago... You get a new respect for people building cars that don't have the aftermarket support of more popular cars/trucks