1954 Chevy Ragtop - Custom Rodder Magazine

Bruce Ricks' 1954 Chevy Ragtop

By Jerry Wessner, Photography By Kevin Lee

Custom Rodder, March 01, 2002

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In the early '50s, GM's designers seemed to be stuck in the

'40s when it came to high cowls and vestigial rear fender
shapes stamped into
the quarter-panels of their progeny.
So, if you would, consider '53-54 Chevys as the last of the
old style of bodies, even though Corvette paved the way in
1953 (for Chevrolet at least) for what would appear

through the entire '55 line-slab sides, or at least nearly so.

It was, after all, the slab-sided, full-envelope, three-box
(hood, roof, and deck) design that was responsible for
automotive scribes giving pioneering '49-51 Fords the nickname of "Shoebox" (the only
TRUE meaning
of the term, no matter what else you may read and from whom, as other

interpretations came along much later in the game-an "old guy" term if you would).
Within the ranks of custom car guys, the '53-54 Chevy is a
pretty common, accepted car. On the on the other hand,
to street machine guys, it looks much more like an early
car, making the Tri-Five Chevy much more acceptable as a
"modern" car (the Street Machine crowd does call them
"Shoeboxes"). Quite possibly the cult film American Graffiti
had something to do with this, even if it was but one of
many influences-who
can say for sure? If we turn to the
rank and file of Lowriders, pre-'55
Chevys are considered

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1954 Chevy Ragtop - Custom Rodder Magazine

"Bombs," the early element of their hobby, much as pre-'49 modified cars are considered
Street Rods among today's mainstream hot rodders. So, when one of the traditional
kustom guys looks at Bruce Ricks' '54 Chevy ragtop, he sees a contemporary iteration
of
what was once considered a mild custom. When a lowrider checks it out, he sees
absolutely no connection whatsoever (other than brand association), as its stance in
permanent, not augmented by either hydraulic cylinders or airbags. And what does its
owner Bruce see when admiring his own creation? Would you believe a street machine?
Street Machine of the Year was exactly the category Bruce was shooting to win the gold
in at last summer's Goodguys Columbus Nats. And although he didn't cop the top award,
he was counted among the prestigious top-five runner-ups for the title-not too shabby
for a car that started out as a backyard trash dump (not in a dump, mind you, it WAS the
dump). With all
of this said, what does your ol' editor see when he takes a gander at

Bruce's pride and joy? He sees no Street Machine as he's come to understand the genre
over the years, that's for sure. As there's no Pro-Street-style narrowed rearend, or
blower intake sticking through the
hood, he defers to the traditional definition he's known
as man and boy-mild custom. So what does all of this rhetoric prove? Not a whole heck
of a lot really, except for one very important thing: A car is what
the owner/builder
perceives it to be-PERIOD, with everyone else's opinion not being worth a hill of beansincluding mine. What it comes down to is Bruce's Chevy is one really well thought out car
and, as such, we present it to you between these covers as an example of excellent
workmanship on a '50s car, no matter the labeling, which as needs be for our purposes is
"custom rod."
The Ricks', Bruce and Judy, went to a lot of trouble to get
their rare Bel Air convertible to this state of finish, as it
literally was discovered in an Oklahoma City backyard, top
down, being used as a family's refuse dump. In fact, Bruce
dislodged one full dumpster full of
debris from within, and
on top of, the hulk before he could start evaluating his
acquisition. What he found was both good and bad. Good

for instance meant that the car was pretty much intact,
and had new quarter-panels. Bad, that they had been
welded on crooked-and so it went. The car was then taken to Sapulpa, Oklahoma's Hot
Rod Garage for a
complete renovation from chassis to 502 Rat motor, to bodywork and

shimmering green paint. Rolling on 17 and 18-inch Billet Specialties "Legacy" wheels
wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber, with a nicely-raked stance
courtesy of Fat Man dropped
spindles and tubular A-arms up front and a back half supporting a Ford 9-inch on
coilovers, the pert little 'vert sits right all the time.
For finishing touches, Jason Smith applied custom-mixed Sikens Green at the Hot Rod
Garage as testimony to how perfectly straight the body had been massaged, including
the aforementioned rear quarters, which were R&R'd to perfection. Then, a trip to
upholsterer Don Kirkpatrick netted an interior filled with Austrian Leather and English

wool (Don also covered the folding top as well). The deed was now done, and a sweeter
'54 Chevy convertible you'll not find.
Modifications At A Glance

Bruce Ricks
Sapulpa, Oklahoma
1954 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible
Customizing:

Hood pie-cut 1 3/4 inches and nosed; quarter panels removed, straightened, and
replaced; smoothed bumpers; tri-bar, Lucas-style headlights, and bubble taillight lenses;
custom-mixed Sikens Green applied by Jason Smith at the Hot Rod Garage.
Rodding:

Chevy 502-cid big-block; C.I. Chevy heads; J&E forged,

8.5:1 pistons; Holley carb on Wieand Stealth manifold;
Moon valve covers; Hedman headers into custom exhaust
system; 700-R4 trans by Phoenix Transmissions.
Lowering:

Fat Man tubular A-arms and 2-inch dropped spindles

w/Wilwood disc brakes; coilovers and 4-bar at rear mount
Ford 9-inch rearend; Billet Specialties 17- and 18-inch "Legacy" wheels w/BFGoodrich
comp T/A tires,
205 50ZR17 front, 295 45ZR18 rear; suspension mods by Hot Rod
Garage.
Trimming:

http://www.customrodder.com/features/0203cr_1954_chevy_ragtop/[14/02/2015 12:05:16 p.m.]

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1954 Chevy Ragtop - Custom Rodder Magazine

Stock seating and custom door panels covered in Austrian leather w/English wool carpets
by Don Kirkpatrick, who also covered the folding top; Lacarra Mark 10 steering wheel.

See all 6 Photos

By Jerry Wessner
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1954 Chevy Ragtop - Custom Rodder Magazine

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