I bought this car in 2000 with the idea of restoring it, but it was more work than I had anticipated. So I started to strip it down to make a hot rod out of it when I ran into financial issues and the car ended up in storage for the following 11 years.
This is what it looked like when I bought it:
In 2010 a friend of mine picked me up in his '52 Chevy rat rod and I was instantly envious. I started thinking of the Hawk again so I started looking for a new engine as the old one had locked up from sitting and worked on getting the car titled. I found a full flow '63 289 for the car in 2013 and in 2014 I found the time to do an engine swap. My buddy and I rolled the car out of the garage for the first time in 11 years. This is what it looked like:
Now its 2016 and after replacing nearly every mechanical and electrical part you can imagine, it runs, drives and stops! Its no trailer queen, the interior is still in rough shape and the body still needs a ton or work, but I actually enjoy it like this. Its pretty much a rat.
Its still missing a lot of trim pieces (I have the pieces of stainless that go on the back of the tail fins, above the brake lights, but need longer screws to mount them) and needs exhaust work still, but it is good enough for the car show in a couple weeks. Next, I will work out the bugs with the charging system and adjust the valve lash.
I am very happy with how the car turned out so far and have lots of plans for it further down the road. I feel that this is one of those projects that will never end!
Also, thanks for all the help with my questions... This forum played a huge role in getting this car road worthy again!
This is what it looked like when I bought it:
In 2010 a friend of mine picked me up in his '52 Chevy rat rod and I was instantly envious. I started thinking of the Hawk again so I started looking for a new engine as the old one had locked up from sitting and worked on getting the car titled. I found a full flow '63 289 for the car in 2013 and in 2014 I found the time to do an engine swap. My buddy and I rolled the car out of the garage for the first time in 11 years. This is what it looked like:
Now its 2016 and after replacing nearly every mechanical and electrical part you can imagine, it runs, drives and stops! Its no trailer queen, the interior is still in rough shape and the body still needs a ton or work, but I actually enjoy it like this. Its pretty much a rat.
Its still missing a lot of trim pieces (I have the pieces of stainless that go on the back of the tail fins, above the brake lights, but need longer screws to mount them) and needs exhaust work still, but it is good enough for the car show in a couple weeks. Next, I will work out the bugs with the charging system and adjust the valve lash.
I am very happy with how the car turned out so far and have lots of plans for it further down the road. I feel that this is one of those projects that will never end!
Also, thanks for all the help with my questions... This forum played a huge role in getting this car road worthy again!
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