The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Buick Portholes on a truck

I have a 1957 Chevy truck that I am getting close to the paint stage. My preference is a stock looking truck, but subtle period correct modifications do appeal to me. I was thinking about putting Buick portholes (four to a side, probably 55 or 56 vintage)on the sides of the hood. Has anyone seen this before? Does it look subtly "kool", or does it come across as clumsy. The real ones are fairly expensive, but it may be a nice touch (or just ugly). I'd be interested in opinions as well as impressions of actual installations. I promise I won't do the stick-on type.

define "subtle" .... define 'kool' .... define "period correct"
holes in the fenders of an otherwise stock workin mans truck?
not in my dictionary

Bill

Buick portholes in the hood is an era correct hot rod mod look. Look at some old rod mags and you'll see them. Might actually ventilate heat too. It's not for me, but it's your truck. Maybe 3 to a side would look less busy.

Bill:
Buick portholes seem to provoke a dichotomy of opinion. I respect everyone's perspective on what they want in their vehicle/truck. And I did ask for opinions, so I thank you for that. As a matter of clarification, my truck to this point looks pretty stock except for the 283 (was a 261 & 235 before that), added a NAPCO drive train, modified the gears for highway driving, added a 3 speed OD trans, alternator, dual master cylinder, different wheels, made a minor modification to the dash to add a tach. (similar to the earlier clock housings) and will being adding a period correct winch. So, I don't think I'm altering the basic character of the truck, just modifying to as it might have been back in the day. Buick portholes as Drew points out were used a lot in the fifties, again not everyone likes them. I'm just trying to get a sense, even if they are period correct, if they will or will not look good relative to representing a 50's "look." If I decide to go ahead with it and in real life they turn bad, I can always get another hood. However, I'll try to Photoshop them first, but it still isn't the same as real life. Anyway, Bill, I just wanted to clarify that I'm just trying to do my truck my way, but as respectful as possible.

yes, how you want your truck is entirely your choice, I was just answerin yer question, or maybe askin you to think about it more, especially the "might have been back in the day" part

thinkin about where the truck you describe [basicly stock 4x4 work truck] would have been seen [I was there] in the 50's, when the truck would have been 2-3 years old, and who would have been driving it, I can't imagine seeing one with portholes, anyone with the money to customize that new a vehicle was doing nice cars, the hot item in the late 50's was the 57 Chev and such

now if you were talkin about the late 60's or 70's, and a worn out red oxide beater, saggin in the [censored] that some kid had taken over from dad to impress the crowd at his high school ..... well, in the 70's you could still find those portholed Buicks at any wreckin yard .... so maybe, but I still wouldn't use "subtle" to describe it, nor "period correct" for the 50's

Bill

Saw one in Columbus, Ohio Goodguys event last summer. It looked good. The owner said they were original Buick Portholes that he had rechromed. That's what I like about our passion, do what appeals to you!! You could check the Goodguys photos of 2010 on their site. They take photos of all vehicles that attend the event, may take awhile, appx. 6000 vehicles last year!! I hope that the photos are still up on their site!

...."my opinion" is what a neat idea and it would be different which is what a lot of folks want. After reading the post above my conclusion is I think it would look good BUT would depend a lot on the exact placement. I'd play around with that a bit before I drill.... you know, measure twice and cut once.

And, I must admit, I want someone else to do so I can see what it looks like...heck, I may want to do it one of mine

Before getting out the tools why not photoshop it and post a picture of the concept for comment?

....or buy some of those stick on's just to see first hand?...if they are not expensive? Then go with the real deal. In the end you may not want them?

Thanks for the inputs, I think I'll PhotoShop them over the weekend and post them. I didn't think about getting the stick-ons for test purposes, sounds like a good idea. Of course, this lead to another idea: installing LED type lights on the inside of the portholes. The LEDs would fire when the cylinder fires (one porthole per cylinder. I would need to scale/divide the firing rate, otherwise they would be pretty much on all the time. Just something fun to tinker with, it may be a bit too goofy, but easy enough to remove/turn off.

Don't ask anybody what they think when you are creating something.
It will stifle your creativity. As long as it's not a safety issue and only cosmetic, do what you want. You may be the only guy in the world that likes what you've done, but it's your own. The only consideration might be at resale time. Then anything that is too personalized will limit potential buyers.