Keeping The Faith
"He promised to love, cherish and build her a '55"
Story by John Aschenberg and Linda Keel
Photos by – Julia Aschenberg
The word Faith means allegiance to duty or to a person, fidelity to one's promises or sincerity of intensions. It also means when we promise to someone, we need to pledge, bring about or provide. Well, in this story that's exactly what Linda Keel's husband George did, by keeping his promise when they were first married. Linda said when they first met, George was driving a blue '55 Chevy, and it was love at first site. He promised her one day that they'd build a car together, and she knew it would be a "Double Nickel" aka '55 Chevy. Right after George retired the Keel's started looking for a '55 and ended up finding one in Washington D.C., not too far from their Spotsylvania, Va. home. Linda said it didn't look like much, but to her the ole bowtie was a jewel. It was minus a motor, transmission, interior, with most of the chrome missing and no bumpers and the list goes on. When they got the car home, Linda was so excited that she called her four sisters, and after seeing it they asked her what she ever saw in the old car, Linda replied with a matter of fact, saying "POTENTIAL".
Everything has to start with a good solid foundation, so George decided to use the factory frame. The frame was put in the capable hands of Willie Eustace who did the modifications necessary for mounting the fuel tank and then sandblasted and ground smooth every square inch of metal before covering it in Eastwood Extreme Chassis paint. Up front Heidts 2" dropped spindles along with CPP tubular A-arms and Edelbrock adjustable shocks were used to bring the front suspension up to modern day standards. Before the rear axle was slipped into place it was filled with new 31 spline Moser axles and a gear ratio of 3.70: 1. The rear springs with a 2" drop were moved inboard along with shock mounts to make room for bigger wheels and tires that the Keel's had plans for. Linda relies on Wilwood four piston Dynalite brakes with 12" rotors to chalk it down when she gets the ole Double Nickel round up. A set of Billet Specialties wheels called "The Rail" finish out the chassis, 17" x 8" up front and 18" x 10" out back, comfortably wrapped in Nitto rubber, 235-45ZR17 and 295-45ZR18 respectively.
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