Feature car: ‘56 Chev

Family Ties

DRAGGED FROM A BARN OVER 30 YEARS AGO, THIS ’56 HAS GROWN UP WITH THREE GENERATIONS OF THE WILLIAMS FAMILY

It’s no secret that some of those who stand among us consider their creations — their cars — to be part of the family. To others it might sound absurd that a hunk of steel with four wheels and an engine can be regarded as family, but for the Williams family, their ’56 hardtop, which has been in the family for 30 years, has been the cornerstone of many memories, road trips, and holidays. It’s also served owner Sean his share of angst as it’s grown older. How could you not consider it family?

The ’56 first appeared in the family garage when Sean was in his early 20s and eldest son Chris was still in nappies. Dragged from a barn on Waiheke Island, it was in a state that would have had those more irresolute among us leaving it where it lay. But for a young Sean Williams, the shape of the hardtop was too hard to ignore, and the price was well within his ‘I have a young family’ budget. But there was no denying that it was a basket case — and a very rotten one at that.

Sean recalls the trip home: “I pulled into a gas station towing the ’56, and the attendant comes up and asked what I was doing with it, to which I replied, ‘Taking it home.’ ‘What, you’re not taking it to the tip?’ he asked. And I replied, ‘No, I’m going to restore it;’, and he told me, ‘I hope you didn’t pay money for that’. I told him I paid five. ‘What, you paid $500 for that?’ he asked, and I said, ‘No, $5K,’ to which he replied, ‘You’re mad.’”

Ignoring the impromptu mental health assessment, Sean pushed ahead. The shell was taken to Kiwi Metal Polishers and dipped in acid. What hadn’t been eaten by rust worms was returned to the shed. It was bad — like, real bad — so much so that it could have spelled the end hadn’t Sean’s cousin, a fresh-faced panel beater, not stepped in and offered his services. Over the course of three years, he would fabricate and weld in countless patch panels while the car was on a rotisserie, while also handling the first round of panel work before it was returned to Sean’s garage for final blocking.

While all this was going on, the chassis was undergoing an upgrade at home. In the rear went a nine-inch diff, while, up front, a 427 big block and TH350 were slotted in. The car was painted in two-tone red and white, and the neighbour’s garage became a makeshift booth in which to spray most of the components. Stitches Upholstery handled the

upholstery, while CJ Automotive put together new wiring. The total build process would span eight years, see three more kids born, and be completed and on the road just in time for youngest daughter Claudia to be christened.

But a dream run it was not, and after only two years, it became evident that all was not copacetic under the shiny new paintwork, with moisture bubbles spreading like chickenpox. There all over the country, all with four kids in tow. It’s been a family affair the entire time, something that is very evident when flicking back through the photo album. They all loved it and loved being involved with the car.

Around 2002, Sean decided it was time for a freshen-up, and had his partner Ange go wheel shopping for something to replace the 15-inch Boyds, while Sean imported a complete air-ride system to get the hardtop a little — scratch that — a lot lower to the ground.

Handling the air ride himself wasn’t without drama, even more so was trying to fit the 20x8inch wheels that had also arrived from the US. Despite the company giving Sean all the assurances that they would fit, and that it was the offset the company fitted all the time, the first bolt up showed they stuck way outside the guards, so it would take some clever Kiwi ingenuity and machine work to get them to fit. This paid off though, and Sean fondly remembers when he first got it completed — probably his favourite memory of the car to date, not only for its look but for how much the car was getting used and enjoyed by the family.

Somewhere along the way, the 427 got tired and it just so happened that Sean and Ange had a 502/502 crate engine sitting in the shed destined for his roadster build. But with that project taking time, it was decided to use it for the ’56 instead. When it came to GM Performance crate engines at the time, the 502 was king of the crop and would receive further upgrades like a big cam, roller rockers, Holley carb, and an RPM Air-Gap manifold. While it’s never seen a dyno, it’s seen plenty of burnouts, something Sean assures us that it can handle with ease. What of the original 427? Well, that would find itself a home in Sean’s son Ben’s Buick LeSabre.

Fast forward to the start of 2019: “The kids are driving it now with their kids and it just wasn’t safe. It was time to give it a makeover and make it more modern.”

A call was placed to Dan at Rocket Speed Equipment to see if he could help. The plan was simple — make it a little lower, upgrade the

steering, upgrade the brakes, and upgrade the rear suspension. Over a pandemic-affected 12 months, the work that went into the overhaul was anything but simple and far beyond the scope that Sean had envisioned.

As it turned out, getting the car to sit low was one thing, but getting it to lay frame was in a whole other realm. The rear bag-over-leaf set-up was ditched and a custom four-link with C-notch added that would allow the chassis to lay frame. Originally, Sean had planned to run the old 20s, but Dan had a better idea and got on the phone to Sean, convincing him that it was something that needed to be done, or, as Sean recalls, telling him to stop being a pussy. Again, Ange was called in, and she ordered a new set of Budnik Ices in 20x8 and 20x11. The nine-inch was shortened to suit and new Currie axles added. A new tub was also built — something that was far from straightforward, given the fact that it’s a four-door. Had it been a coupe, this would have been easy, but it required some real craftsmanship to tub the door inner structure and relocate the latch mechanism higher in the frame. New rear tubs, a flat boot floor, and raised gearbox tunnel were also added to the sheet-metal job list.

Up front, it was all about big brakes, and a rack-and-pinion swap, but this would also be a real head-scratcher, as the so-called bolt-in steering kit was anything but. Sure, it might have worked with a near-stock ride height, but stock ride height this is not, so everything was modified or, in most cases, thrown away and crafted from scratch. It was a huge undertaking, but the end result is something that lays frame, stops on a dime, and can be driven with only a single finger on the wheel.

What is more surprising is the fact that this work was all taken care of without disturbing the 22-year-old paintwork. Where it did need to be changed — in places like the door jambs, the rear boot floor, and the engine bay, which now has custom-made inner guards — it was simply matched to the original Red first sprayed on all those years earlier.

The same can also be said for the upholstery. Despite an upholsterer saying it could not be done, the boys from Rocket were able to modify the rear seat to fit the new steelwork, while also keeping the 20-year-young Stitches work intact. The air system was dragged into the modern area too, with an AccuAir Endo-CVT tank set-up and all-new bags. The tank houses everything, and you only need to push a single button to select the desired ride height.

The end result for Sean is something that he says drives amazingly — it stops, steers, and rides just as he has always wanted, but, more important, it has the right stance — the very stance he envisaged having when he first bagged it back in 2002. And, with that, he has decided he is now done with modifying it.

So, is the story over for this ’56 and the second for-sale sign about to go on the screen? A firm no. The car is part of the family and will stay that way.

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