Customs 57 Chevy Budget 4 door build

You know what you did right there...you just passed on your own personal experience to someone. That is what this place is all about.

Keep learning and keep sharing. It's the best Karma there is.

 

This is how my heater hoses are run. Actual hardware kit I bought is for a '55-'57 Chevy on eBay, came with pump fitting and all water pump hardware. Fitting on intake is stainless and was expensive ($36).

 

Outstanding young Sir.Onward and upward.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Thank you for all the comments and words of encouragement guys, hopefully i'll get brake parts ordered this week and get my registration done over spring break.

 

It must be pretty cool to see all these people admit that they proved you wrong!


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Do you mean that he proved them wrong?

 

I knew I'd eventually get something accomplished, and with the amount of hours i have in the car, i actually have impressed myself with how far i've gotten. Most weekends at home involve 2-3 hours of car time total and the rest shooting the shit with high school buds. I couldn't have gotten this far without the hamb though, if i wasn't told my timing was retarded by a couple teeth i probably would have assumed the 283 was junk. I can't wait to actually do engine work though, even after i have this car on the road i have tons of plans of things i want to do, I'm already scouting out a 327 or 350 and want to do either a 4 speed or an auto swap sometime. Not to mention i want to tear into that 235, every time i walk past it i have to remind myself i've got bigger fish to fry. Firing my engine for the first time has made me want to work on the car more, i was getting burnt out honestly.

 

I haven't been around here a lot lately, and I saw your thread for the first time just a couple of days ago. I read through a lot of the first part, about the stubborn 235. As others have said, wasn't sure if you'd be like some other young guys who have had a tendency not to listen well or take suggestions, then got frustrated and quit. I finally had to cheat and jump to the latest posts of your long thread...lol...had to see how things worked out.

Well whatta ya know...you're up and running with a 283. Congratulations! Pretty cool. As others said, glad you stuck with it. And I'm so glad that you had brains and humility enough to listen to and apply what these more experienced guys were telling you. Notice that it was mostly a core group of Hambers that stuck with you to help. That's how it usually goes...they temporarily adopted you...lol. Seriously...they don't have to do that, and you won't get that kind of comradery and traditional technical know-how anywhere else on the internet. But believe me...Hambers enjoy helping someone who wants it. Hey...I've seen some amazing things happen on the HAMB. And on a personal note, these guys have helped me in the past...more than you'll probably ever know. And then you and I and others pass it on. That's why the HAMB is THE traditional hot rod forum...and the bestestest all-around group (family) of gear-heads ever!

You mentioned that you're feeling a little burnt out. That normal. And it's normal to take a break and attend to other things in life...then make a fresh start on your project. Just don't let it sit too long...time has a way of slipping by.

And while listening to your 283 run, I noticed that the rpms seemed to hover...it didn't want to idle down real well. It could be due to the throttle not completely returning, but I think you may have a small vacuum leak somewhere. Maybe take a can of carb-cleaner and spray around the base of the carb, the mating surface of the intake manifold to the heads, any vaccum ports/vacuum hose ends, etc. while the engine is running. If you notice a momentary change in idle speed, you've found your vacuum leak.

Congrats again, Pineapple! And good luck to you and your '57 Chevy!

 

Thanks for the tip! Yeah i still have a couple open vacuum ports i need to fix, i’ll get some of the bugs ironed out this next week and hopefully will get to drive it soon! Can’t wait to have it ready to cruise in the summer, take it to meetups and check out the strips in the old towns around here!

 

Instead of spraying flammable liquid at hot surfaces build a smoker to ingest smoke into the vacuum system of the engine. There is a thread here somewhere on the HAMB about how to build one, cheap and much safer.

 

@Rickybop "Notice that it was mostly a core group of Hambers that stuck with you to help." "...they temporarily adopted you". Rickybob I find it much more pleasurable working along side (figure of speech of course no labor involved here) those that I know wanna learn and do.

 

well the master cylinder is ordered, This is the kit i ordered. https://www.classicchevy.com/chevy-...it-with-four-wheel-drum-brakes-1955-1957.html

I hate ordering from ecklers/danchuk because it cost almost $40 to ship this but this will at least be easy and less frustrating to install i guess. I don't think this kit includes all the brake lines but if it does i'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

You'll also want to get the two rubber flexline for the front and the one for the rear.

Are you going to rebuild (if possible) or replace the wheel cylinders...think ahead about this to have everything on hand and do it all at once.

I'd suggest that you start by pulling the wheel cylinders and take them apart and see if they are pitted...if not pitted, then get a kit, a hone an rebuild them...things like that could be done while your waiting for the other ports to arrive.

If pitted, you'll be replacing them. But don't toss the old ones, they can be sleeved and reused in the future if need be.

 

The front wheel cyls from a 63 thru 66 chevy 1/2 ton PK are the exact same as a tri five chevy. you can also use the 64 thru 66 master cyl.

 

I might add...you probably need to get ready for the front wheel bearings while you're in there. Seals and grease at a minimum.

Do the cars have the bicycle bearings, or tapered bearing?

 

Are they 14s or 15s?

 

The chevy trucks have 6 hole 15 inch rims. I was referring to the hyd wheel cylinders that actuate the brakes.

If you get the front hubs from a 61thru 68 full size chevy car they have tapered roller bearings. and will fit perfectly on a tri five . you use the tri five drums and backing plates and shoes ect. The original bearings are ball bearings.

 

This is some pretty good shit. I didn't know it. Gonna make it a little easier to find parts. I would recommend you look at rockauto.com for wheel cylinders using Old Wolf's information.

 

The most frustrating thing to waste time on is rebuilding wheel cylinders. 5 or 6 bucks for the rears 15-20 bucks for the front. The kits are not free either. Good work getting to where you are it took a while, but you did it. We are proud of you!!

 

Alright i’ll look around for that stuff.


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For my '59 Ford, Rock Auto had the wheel cylinders for around $10 each and the brake hose for the rear was around $12. You'll need the rear axle hose too.

 

It may seem like a lot but it is all routine maintenance and safety related so it needs done and you may as well be as efficient as possible. To do it while you have it all apart at once may seem overwhelming but will prevent having to dis-assemble then reassemble things multiple times. Good practice but you do want it to be all done and safe so you can at least drive the wheels off of it after all of the work you have done till now.

 

Spend the cash for the proper brake tools too. Don't attempt to use needle nose pliers and screwdrivers to put springs on. The tools can be had cheap enough and make removing and reinstalling springs and retainers a breeze. Remember, these tools will last many years if taken care of, and you WILL need them again if you are going to make this your hobby. In fact pm me your address and I will get some tools on the way to you through my Amazon Prime account. Free shipping and I need to get some "Pay it Forward" taken care of. Life is good for me right now and I can spare $20 as people helped me out in the past and asked that I only pay it forward. It seems like a good cause.

 

Tips like Old Wolfs are worth a lot. I have saved a ton of money by finding where common parts are used by different vehicles. If you're going to order the parts online anyway, shop Rock Auto for the substitute and save some money over Ecklers or one of the others.

 

If you’re swapping the master cylinder to a dual, be sure to check the installed clearance from the pushrod that attaches to the pedal, to the divot (or hole) it fits in to in the end of the m/c piston. That needs to be correct, or you’ll have locked up brakes (not enough clearance) or weak brakes (too much clearance).

Here’s one reference, showing the deeper “hole” style m/c piston:

http://techtalk.mpbrakes.com/how-to...forget-the-booster-pin-to-master-cylinder-gap

This would have been used on a manual brakes car, with a pedal return spring. The hole keeps the pushrod from falling out of the m/c bore.

A power brake car would have a shorter pushrod, a shallow divot to center the pushrod instead of a hole, and no pedal return spring. You can use the longer pushrod and deep bore m/c with a power brake booster, but you cannot use the short rod and shallow m/c on a manual setup.


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Good tip, i hadn't thought about that. The kit i ordered uses the stock non power tri five brake pedal so hopefully i won't run into to many problems.

 

Got these headed your way Pineapple....should arrive March 14. These will make your job of taking your brake system apart and putting it back together a breeze! Good luck! If you arent familiar with how to use these tools use Youtube and there should be lots of videos describing how the tools work.

 

So how cool is that!! Awesome gesture on your part @RMONTY .

 

Wow that's everything you need....

 

Thanks a ton RMONTY, after this project I’ll definitely pay it forward when i can!


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