Rik Hoving | Custom Car Photo Archive (Rikster) avatar

Mazza-Nitti restored 1955 Aztec Chevy

The trim is all hand made and is not 1/2 round, thats sticks up 1/2 inch. Its called 1/4 oval bar. No longer made and it was really hard to find it as all the Aztec trim was missing execpt for on on the small little spears at the end of the trim.
I searched for quite some time for it , finding it in a steel reclaim yard in a remote area of Pennsy. I found over 100 feet which I bought.
I had to figure a way to bend the trim, I tried heating but, it kinked some, cold bending worked best. I then welded studs on the back , first drilling holes to sink the studs in for better stregth. I wanted to add that as a last resort if all my searching failed I had a friend in New Jersey who used to do all my special machine work. We would have used 1 inch round rod and run it through his computor Bridgeport milling machine. This would have been costly but, what other choice would I have had.
The trim inside the chrome was fluted aluminum, another item from the 50's used in dinner car counters fronts and in the south they made storm shutters out it. I had one little peice of it to go by, once again a long long search . We found one 4 by 8 foot sheet in a dinner car company in Brooklyn, lucky to have found it and of course only enought to do it right the first time. I had it sheared in a metal shop then cut it to fit inside the trim using a cardboard pattern. Quite a job.

Restored by Bary Mazza and Bob Nitti.

 
© Rik Hoving Kustoms

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Added: July 01, 2004
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  • skiroyblank (Private)blank
    3 months ago
    I bought a raffle ticket for the "Aztec" at the Ram Rods rod & custom show at the D.C. Armory
    in June of '59. I always wondered what happened to the car, apparently nobody won the raffel.
  • llastchancelblank (Private)blank
    2 years 4 months ago
    This was the first showing of the Aztec at the kkoa in Getteysburg Pa after its completion
    Thank you Blain
    BOB NITTI