57 Chevy BelAir Gasser Build

Go Gadget Gasser Go......

 

This 454 will be the "for now" engine while I carry the project build forward. It's all freshened up with pretty much stock parts, tanked , honed, etc. Nothing crazy, mild cam, and a solid runner. I'll go through a few little things but not go nuts right now. I plan to build another engine later once the car is drivable but this one is pretty fresh, just been kicking around with about 10 hours on it and will do well to get things built around it.

 

Looks good! I'd put a short water pump on that and short pulleys. That will make a big difference on fitment.

 

Thanks! Yea all the externals will be swapped, it was in a square body Chevy truck when it was originally put together, but it's been stored a while since pulled. Thank you for the tip regardless. I also plan to cut out the firewall and install a recessed panel. And probably late the radiator in front of the core support, rather than behind like they come.

 

Looks scary , hide the women and children.....

 

Big block power

 

You might not have to cut the firewall. My buddy in high school had a 396 tunnel ram 4 spd. 55 chevy. We were just dumb broke kids that got some advice from a local drag racer guy. We moved the radiator to the front, like a 6 cyl car is, and we dimpled the firewall right behind the right side valve cover with a big hammer. We didn't cut anything. Test fit before cutting and making more work for yourself. I do remember cutting the top of the firewall by the cowl for the rear carb to clear, so we did cut something, but that was all we cut.

 

Yea I think there's a few ways to make them "fit". I have a couple buddies that have done then different ways but I really like the additional clearance and look of the recess firewall. I will definitely mock things up and throw the engine/trans in the frame and decide on mounting location before getting carried away. Thanks for the tips and sharing your story of how you guys did it on that '55! Any pics laying around by chance?

 

This Detroit 6-71 blower belongs to a friend of mine, I'll probably buy it. I'll take it to Rick Dean at Dean Blowers, who is here local to me, and talk about getting it converted. I have his video series that I purchased if I decide to attempt it myself. This one's straight off a Detroit. He has a process of triple pinning the rotors, times it, disassembles and cleans everything, does bearings, mills the top and bottom true and flat, etc etc to where it's ready to bolt onto my big block, for $550. As a buy package from my buddy I'll pick up the blower, intake manifold, pulleys (8mm), idler bracket, dual carb adapter etc for $1000 before the rebuild if we do the deal, so I'll be $1550 into it at after the rebuild. Not going to polish it, just clean it up.

 

No pictures. My Buddy and I lost track of each other after high school. I found him on facebook a few years ago, but he was real vague about what happened to the 55. I think it might have been wrecked. All he told me was he sold the motor to a guy for a boat, and then sold the body. After that he disappeared again, and I can't find him now. The 55 was yellow with green flames. Really wild for a high school kid in the 70's. It also had a 3 point roll bar, and radius rear fenders. I'd like to have it today.

 

Check those headers before you drop the BBC into your chassis! Every pair they make is 1.5" different from side to side, so one side is going to stick out further than the other by that 1.5" measurement.
Need to carefully heat the tubes and pull the furthest out side in so they'll match. Patriot has been told by hundreds of unhappy customers about this defect in their jig, but for whatever reason they refuse to change.

 

Well that's awesome, ok good tip I'll verify all of that and adjust accordingly before getting any coating work done. What's the go-to brand of Tri-5 fender well headers on the market?

 

For a Small Block, I'd say Hedman. They fit the best, IMO. For a Big Block, you're probably on your own, and a custom built set would probably be best. If you have the time and patience, it's not all THAT bad of a task to do, but the gratification when completed is priceless.

 

The ones you have are the most commonly used, likely because they're very affordable. Once they're bent to match they're a good header with large primaries and big 3.5" collectors.
I used a torch to heat the tubes, and had the engine on an engine stand like yours. I measured from collector to center of the engine stand for both sides, and then put a ratchet strap across collector to collector, and began heating the primary tubes up a few inches away from the heads. Then just slowly tighten the strap as the tubes begin to turn color and pulled in the side that was too far out. Leave the strap on until the tubes cool, then release and check measurements. Pretty sure it was the passenger side on all of these if I recall correctly?

 

For sure! I wouldn't be against building a set if needed but I think (hope?) I can massage these to make them work. I thought about having a buddy thermal kote and cerakote them white, but I might just grab some cheap stuff and see how it goes.

 

That sounds like a perfectly good solution to me, great idea. I'll check all that out and give a little feedback here. I don't know how old these are, I bought them from a buddy for about half price of new but they've never been run. I read after learning about the issues here that the design has changed a bit but I didn't read much into it.

 

Speedway Motors shows these. The chrome & coated ones are backordered.

 

Is there any reason that offset might be by design? Is the engine intended to be mounted off-center perhaps for any reason? Can't imagine why but I know there are cars out there that are that way. Either way, mine will be center mounted and headers tuned up accordingly. That won't be an issue.

 

a lot of kill stickers on that rear window

 

Hasn't changed at all. A buddy just got a pair brand new for his Willys gasser and had to bend them still.

 

Post a few pictures

 

Of what?

 

Catching up on a little light reading at the cabin...