The 1951 Chevrolet Cowl Tag
Open the bonnet of a 1951 Chevrolet and there is a small metal plate on the cowl, riveted to the firewall. That is Fisher Body's plate, and for a...
Earl Dawson
Earl grew up when a 1951 Chevrolet was simply the family car, and he has been putting them back together since the 1970s. He writes about the 1950 to 1954 cars the way he explains them in his own garage: slowly, in order, and without pretending a fifteen-foot paint job is a restoration.
His interest runs to the ordinary end of the range as much as the pretty end. He would rather own a straight Styleline Special with honest floors than a dressed-up car hiding filler, and he will tell you so before you spend the money.
Written by Earl Dawson
1951 Chevrolet Serial Numbers
The serial number on a 1951 Chevrolet is not a VIN in the modern sense. It is a short string that Chevrolet used to tell one car from another on...
How to Identify a Chevy 235 Engine
Somebody sells you a car and says it has a 235 in it. Maybe it does. The 216 and the 235 look close enough from the driver's seat that plenty of...
1951 Chevrolet Identification
Somebody is standing in a barn with a torch, looking at a black sedan, and the question is not whether it is a Chevrolet. The question is which o...
1951 Chevrolet Disc Brake Conversion
Front disc brakes are the first modification most people make to a 1951 Chevrolet, and it is worth saying at the start that it is usually not the...
The Chevy 235 Engine
The Chevrolet 235 six is one of those engines everybody praises without asking which one they mean. There are two very different 235s, and the di...
The 1951 Chevrolet Rear Axle
The rear axle is the part of a 1951 Chevrolet that decides what the car is for. Not the engine, which makes the same 92 horsepower either way, an...
1951 Chevrolet De Luxe Coupe
De Luxe coupe is a phrase that comes off an old dealer advertisement rather than off a factory chart, which is why it causes so much trouble in c...
1951 Chevrolet Suspension
Independent front suspension on a low priced car was not a given in 1951. Chevrolet had been building it since 1939 and by the time this car was...
1951 Chevrolet Steering
Ask ten owners what is wrong with the steering on their 1951 Chevrolet and nine will say the box is worn out. Get under the car and check, and mo...
1951 Chevrolet Fastback
The fastback 1951 Chevrolet is the Fleetline, and 1951 is the year to pay attention to, because it is the last one that makes any sense. After 19...
1951 Chevrolet Brakes
Four eleven inch drums, four wheel cylinders, one master cylinder, and no assistance of any kind. That is the entire braking system of a 1951 Che...