It all started with a paint job. Dave’s father found this 1953 Chevy Belair on Facebook Marketplace and asked him to go take a look at it. Dave’s initial thoughts for the car was that it would make a good flip so he and his father split the bill and took it home on the condition that when it was roadworthy, his father would get the opportunity to buy it out first.
Unfortunately for his father, Dave got the car going and fell in love with it and decided to keep it. He may or may not still owe his dad a few bucks for the car.
Local painter and friend, Adam Stief, wrecked his Harley and was looking for another one. Dave offered up his Dyna as trade for a paint job. Picturing a patina car with a patterned out roof, Adam took it to a whole other level, thus making it easy to turn this car into a full on build.
The Belair is a factory frame car modified with a Mustang II style front suspension including rack and pinion steering and airbags. The rear end is a Ford 8.8 with a parallel four link and pan hard bar, also riding on airbags. The car is set up with disc brakes on all four corners and are fed through an aftermarket master and booster setup. Newly fabricated engine mounts support a built purple 350 4 bolt main SBC with fully forged internals, cammed with double hump heads. This is paired with a built TH350 including a 2500 stall converter. The cooling system was upgraded to a 3 core aluminum radiator and electric fan.
The roof was blasted in Painthuffers Mini Silver metal flake, covered in patterns topped with shades of House of Kolors Burple Kandy, Voodoo Violet Kandy, and Oriental Blue Kandy. The visor was painted to match and the whole roof includes 1shot enamel lines, and silver leafing. The rest of the body was sprayed with Boulevard Nights Satin Black. Other modification include the one piece molded grill, shaved door handles, shaved and molded bumbers, shaved decklid, and molded hood. Future plans are to add more pinstriping throughout.
The initial build for the car was a push as it was David’s dream to drive off from his wedding in a cool car. And in true build crunch fashion, the car took its first drive the day before the wedding and Dave spent the whole night before the wedding in the garage buttoning up the car. The car has changed a lot since the wedding but cool to know it’s been part of the family.
Dave would like to thank his wife (Amanda Harrison) for letting him spend all the money on it, his dad (Dave Harrison) for finding the car, Adam Stief for the paint and body work, Brandon Randall for the chassis fabrication, Mike and Jeremy Gipfert for the Motor and Transmission work, Ciadella Interiors, Haller’s Repair for the Dyno and tuning, and Steering Wheel Kris for the beautiful custom steering wheel.
Now we can’t talk about Dave with out talking about Angelina and Angelina’s Dream Foundation. In memory of their daughter, Angelina, who lost her life at the young age of 16, they started a 501(c)(3) non-profit called Angelina’s Dream Foundation. She was a junior in high school who had worked hard to graduate a year early and her dream was to attend a local beauty school in Cheyenne Wyoming. One of the ways they have chosen to honor her life and preserve her memory is by providing scholarships to those wanting to attend that same beauty school in the community and inspiring kindness in the local youth and community. August of 2023 was the 1st Annual Angelina’s Dream Foundation Car Show to help raise money for the scholarships. Th foundation built a super cool ’95 Chevy 1500 that was custom painted and slammed on the ground, and then raffled off. They are currently building a cool ’66 Lincoln Continental four door. Make sure you follow along @angelinas_dream_foundation and support in any way you can.
To see more of this beautiful Belair, follow Dave on Instagram @bigdaver307.
Article By Brian Holzli
Photos By Nate MacDonald (Throttle Addikt)
