VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 210 to Bel Air Conversion

What do I need to do convert my 1953 210 into a Bel Air besides the numbers on the data tag? The upholstery, carpet, and two-tone paint combinations that I want to use are only available on the 2400 series. Is there more to it than the rear fender molding and Bel Air script (also on rear fender)?

There are door frame stainless above the belt molding that are different from the 210.Inside,the seat covers,the door panels and a small addition of chrome trim to the right of the glove box.Also full wheel covers are Bel-Air only.I think that covers it,hope this helps.What color combination are you going for?
BTW welcome and tell us a little about your project!Lots of great information here,if you are not a member of the VCCA,please consider joining.

Cheers,

Dave

Just finding the window moulding and clips and drillling the correct holes would be more than I would want to tackle.
In my humble opinion a 210 with skirts, full wheel covers and white walls looks as good as a BelAir (that was my first new car).
I will admit the 1953 BelAir interior was one of the best ever for a Chevrolet where as the 210 looked .....well kind of plain.

I agree,Gene,the seat covers were really nice on the Bel-Air series,I wonder if I should consider putting a Bel Air interior in my 210 4-door? Nah,I'll leave it stock.The interesting thing about the 210 and 150 is that there is no model designation on the outside......people are always ask me what model is it?or I didn't know they made a "Powerglide" model...... Too bad Chevy did not have the forsight to use the "Deluxe" script from the 52s,they could have placed it right above the stone guard.....just my 2 cents.

Yes, I never thought of that. The 1949-1952 Special (the cheap model) never had a name on it either.....or the 1954-57 150 and 210.

I have a 53 210 2-door that's surf green over woodland green right now. I would like to switch it to sahara beige over saddle brown. The specs say argent wheel striping for the 210 in this combination. I'm not sure where on the wheel the stripe would go, or how wide it should be.

I agree that it's probably not worth the trouble to make the conversion to a Bel Air. I would just like to make my car judgeable if (big "if") I ever enter it into that type of show. For instance, I don't think the 210 had carpet in the front. If I carpet the front, will they deduct points? If any of you know someone who has judged 53 chevys that wouldn't mind answering a few questions on the phone, I would really appreciate the referral. Thanks for your help.

Carpet in the front on a 210 and judging. I would bet that about 50 percent of the judges would miss that and 25 percent would not know its incorrect.
Would be intresting to have the carpet and see how many times its detected.

<<no model designation>>

--Neither did the 51-52 Bel-Air

FWIW - I had a 52 BelAir in Sahara Beige over Saddle Brown. I had the wheels painted decades ago - never got them re-striped.

Te 1950-52 Bel Air was not a series. It was just a body style in the Deluxe series so it had the Deluxe on the side of the fender or quarter panel.

The 1953 -54 Bel Air series had no wheel stripes because full wheel covers were standard equipment. Also the wheels were not always the car color or the insert color.