1955 Chevy Body by Golden Star Classic Auto Parts built for Super Chevy Magazine

The Super Chevy Magazine Team decided to build their 1955 Chevy Sedan from the ground up with all new reproduction sheet metal from Golden Star Classic Auto Parts.

Why?
First off, it’s getting harder to find tri-five bodies in good condition and at a reasonable price.

Second, because the Team at Super Chevy knew that they wanted to modify the body (mini-tub, larger trans tunnel, recessed filed wall) starting from scratch allowed those changes to be made while the body was being built.

Third, the Team knew this would be a SEMA quality build with a higher-end paint job so rather than stripping an old body, making the body modifications and doing body work it was easier to start with fresh sheet metal.

People often ask, “are the parts made with OE tooling?” Yes, in some cases the OE tooling is used to produce the aftermarket sheet metal and parts. In other cases, the OE tooling is so worn out that the tooling doesn’t produce the quality that it once did. In the 1955 Chevy’s case, the tooling was made new.

How is the tooling made?
First off, an entire body is shipped to the tooling factory to be scanned. The reason an entire body is sent rather than let’s say just a door is because single parts can bend and get damaged during transport.

Once the entire body is scanned, the individual parts are then scanned once they are removed from the body. Even with a car that seems to have a perfect, undamaged stock door, the scanners will pick up small body defects that we can’t see with the human eye.

Now that a part has been scanned, the tooling team will use 3D CAD programs to perfect the door and then it’s time to get ready for molding.

This next step in the tooling process is interesting: the computer will output the digital part in Styrofoam modeling before it makes its way to a cast foundry.

With the cast foundry tool in hand, the tooling team then mills the tooling, starts doing sample presses and then refines the tool until it meets the dimensions and tolerances to be ready to start stamping the sheet metal.

As you can see, this is a very complex process that involves a lot of time, precision and investment to make a single tool for a single part. And in some cases, there are multiple tools to create a single part.

How good does the reproduction sheet metal fit?
You can take a look at our tri-five sedan and judge for yourself. Yes, there is body work involved but we believe the quality, fit and function is as good as OE or in some cases even better.

If you would like to purchase a complete tri-five body or piece of tri-five reproduction sheet metal, you can head over to our website: https://goldenstarauto.com/collection...

For the 24th Build on MotorTrend’s Week to Wicked Show, the Team had their eyes set on building a 1955 Chevy. The challenge was trying to find a 1955 chevy body that was in good enough shape to be within their budget and ready for some minor body work and paint.

If you’d like to see more about the Week to Wicked 1955 Chevy Sedan build go ahead and check out the full build playlist:    • 1955 Chevy on Week to Wicked - Golden Star...  

If you are looking for a complete tri-five body or reproduction sheet metal for your 1955 – 1957 Chevy give us a call at 972-315-3758 or head to our website https://goldenstarauto.com/

Golden Star Classic Auto Parts also produces sheet metal and restoration parts for classic favorites including makes: Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Jeep, Volkswagen and Models including: Bronco, Tri-Five, Camaro, 1949-1954 Chevy, T1 Bus, OBS, Mustang, El Camino, Chevelle, Monte Carlo, A Bodies, G Bodies, GTO, Impala, Cutlass, Nova, Mercedes and others.