1959 Chevrolet Bel Air/150/210

Sedan

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

Gasoline

This is a 59 Chevy Belair (or Bel Air) four-door sedan. This is a reliable and fully functional car. This has been my daily driver for almost two years and it has never left me stuck. I'm selling it because I am finishing up work on a 60 Chevy that I couldn't resist getting. My point is that this is a ready-to-roll car with no serious issues. This is a no B.S. auction. I'll tell it like it is. I've done all the hard work on this car to get the body, interior, and engine looking good and getting the engine and brakes working like they should. It is sorted out properly so that I can regularly drive this car to work (45 mins each way), take it to the grocery store, kids to kung fu, out of town car shows, etc. A few months ago we rolled up to the Jalopy Showdown in Pennsylvania (about 4.5 hours each way) with no special preparations and no problems at all. You could buy this car and drive home to just about anywhere...and you'd get 18 miles per gallon the highway! The car runs very well. It's not loud when cruising but has a great deep tone if you give it more gas. Punch it and you get an awesome rapping. You can hear it in the YouTube video I made. Here's where to go for the YouTube video: YouTube - 59 chevy I rented my car to an British film crew last year for a long-format ad for H.P. The ad really shows the car well since you get to see it driving it around (they were pretending to drive to Woodstock). You can see the ad here (click on the "Woodstock" video): Zebra Crossing Creative Media » 2010 » March The stats:ENGINEoriginal 283 V8what's new: -switched from generator to alternator system-fuel pump-air and fuel filters-plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, points-valve adjustment-battery-the engine has never overheated-original two barrel carb works with no issues-85,000 is my best guess on the mileage. They guy I bought it from said the speedo/odometer worked before he pulled the motor to paint it but then didn't work afterward. That's the story but I can't be sure...the engine sure runs like 85K, not 185K.-no major drips-no smoke-starts easily TRANSMISSIONoriginal Powerglide - I've never done anything to it and it has never done anything wrong BRAKESoriginal drum brakes they've been checked out all around and are adjusted properly - the car does not pull to the side when braking.the stopping is very good but it's not like disc brakes and not like power brakes - so, you start braking a little earlier and use you leg, not your big toe, to engage the brakes SUSPENSIONthe car has been lowered by (perish forbid!) torching the springs. There are also lowering clamps on the front (NOT the cheapo clamps designed for compressing springs when removing shocks). I lowered it right after getting it and have had no problems with the lowering...it makes the car handle 10 times better...you can go fast on a curvy road and not feel like you are on a boat. The ride over railroad tracks isn't cushy but you look good going over them. In the rear I installed new, shorter shocks...this keeps the shorter rear springs in place...shorter springs can come unseated if the stock length shocks are used. The front end got a high-tech alignment and the car tracks perfectly straight. EXHAUSThas original rams horn headers. The mufflers are 18" Cherry Bomb glass packs. The exhaust ends are Bellflower tips. The tips have some scratches on them if you look up close but otherwise they're great and really put the icing on the look of the car. BODY AND PAINTthe pictures and the videos tell the story best. I must say, the dimples in the front wheel openings look much worse in the pictures than in person...I never really noticed that is was so much like that until I took these pictures. There are some bondo repairs on the body...some very good and some not so hot. Semi-flat black paint makes them hard to see unless you get up close and look (Semi-flat Krylon "Rust Tough" paint).There are a few small places where the paint is bubbled but, again, I saw it in the pictures and then had to go back to the car to check them out. The roof is done in "Rust Tough" metallic silver which I then wet sanded with 1500 sandpaper to give it a polished look. The front doors close perfectly but the back doors need more umph...I could get them to close sweetly but I'd rather have the trim and body lines match up really well. The trim on the car is all there but it has various dings. It's in the pictures. The emblems, mirror, and antenna have been shaved. The body work on these was done very well and you can't see any indication that something was removed. The trunk had rust through, all of which I fixed with fiberglass. The floors and the trunk had rust at some point before I got the car and someone did some scrappy patching with riveted metal but it looks like it will hold up a long time. The four inch peep mirror looks cool and works fine. ELECTRICALall the lights work, turn signals work inside and out, brake lights, interior lights all work (dome, glove box, gauges). The gauges don't work. I believe the gas gauge works but the sending unit in the tank doesn't. The speedo needle bounces around so I disconnected the speedo cable...speedo can be fixed but costs about $150. The heat gauge might work but it never goes past a little less than half...maybe the car is that cool but I wonder if the needle just doesn't go any further. The wipers work...too well. Sometimes they don't stop when you turn off the switch...I am told it needs to be grounded better. Before I knew that, I installed a kill switch under the dash...that's why the wipers are a bit up in some of the pictures...they don't go down all the way if you use the kill switch. Sometimes the wipers turn off normally, sometimes after 5 seconds, sometimes a minute, sometimes they go until I turn off the car...they usually don't start up when the car is started again. When they stayed on for a long time it was annoying so I put in the kill switch. TIRES AND WHEELSThe wheels and tires are about a year and half old...they have about 5000 miles on them. They all came from Coker. The tires are American Classic radials. 225/75R/15. The rims are multi-lug chrome steel. Most people run a center cap of some sort that covers the lug nuts. I filled the extra holes with dummy lugs in the back and small bullets in the fronts. There is a 3/16" spacer on the front wheels to give enough clearance for the rim to clear the front-end components. There is a 1" (I think) spacer on the back to move the wheels out toward the outside of the car...for looks and to clear the exhaust pipes. These are quality aluminum Mr. Gasket spacers that have their own lugs built in...the car's lugs hold the spacers on...the spacer's lugs hold the wheels on. I've had this set up since I got the wheels and have had no problems. The tire tread looks new. The white on the stripes has wear from curbs and such but still look pretty good. INTERIOR-I stripped the dash down to bare metal and repainted it with custom mixed spray paint from the local auto paint store. Sort of an egg shell finish so there isn't too much reflection in the windshield. I just sanded and repainted the steering wheel a few days ago...it suffered in the heat of this summer in the place where I always put my hand. Looks awesome now. I'll include the almost full can of the interior paint. All other metal in the interior was also sanded and repainted.-The door panels are original. The two on the driver's side were ragged at the bottom and I did a rough renovation with Gorilla tape. The original upholstery is still on the seats but is torn up under the driver and just isn't very nice looking. -I installed a brushed cotton headliner and new visors. The headliner looks great except for wrinkle near the light. They could be pulled out but it was more work that I was willing to do. The right visor sags sometimes because the head of the tightening screw came off. I never go around to replacing the screw.-I covered the seats and the arm rests with new Mexican blankets. Blanket sets often look good until you sit in them and then they are loose and bad looking. I've done it so it stays nice and tight. The back seat didn't get this deluxe treatment but I didn't use it much. I put seat belts in the car: lap belts in the back and retractable shoulder belts in the front. Nice aircraft style buckles. The buckles in the back tuck all the way away or so they are just sticking out. The front ones don't lay all over the seats like you sometimes see...the male end retracts against the column and I set up the latch end to be very short.-I put new carpet in...the color looks better in person that it does in the pictures...it looks very washed out in the pictures. For some reason, the rubber bottom of the passenger front floor mat discolored the rug so that it looks sun bleached...but, fortunately, it's pretty much under the mat. Nice very heavy duty mats.-Both of the front windows have cracks. There is a picture of each. On both sides, the crack is in just one of the two panes of glass so the window stays rigid. The cracks are actually not that obvious, especially on the passenger side. -I also have two headrests (from a 73 Dart) that are blanket covered like the seats and could be stuck down into the seat top if you are concerned about whiplash. -I have installed a radio/CD player behind the ash tray door. I removed the ashtray (I still have it and you can put it back in) and added hinges to the ash tray door. It stays shut with magnets. When it's shut, no one can tell there is a radio. I am going to put the radio in my new car but since it is already installed and wired up behind the dash and under the carpets for four speakers, I could sell it with the car for 50 bucks (it was over $100 new and I have all the original packaging etc). Obviously the stickers could be removed from the inside of the ash tray door.________________________ I'll be glad to answer any questions or to email you a picture of some part you want to see better. Check out the YouTube video to see a good walk around and to hear the motor and exhaust. If you are serious about bidding to win the auction, feel free to contact me for my phone number. Thanks.