Just bought my first HAMB friendly car! 1958 Chevy Bel Air!

awesome project, in a few years sounds like a Route 66 cruise

 

Wow, this is a great car. Congrats. Search Mox Miller here, or go check out his 58 in The Rodders Journal, number 32. Its an Impala, but its well worth checkin out. He brought it new, and customized the hell outa it. Still owns it as far as i know. Might inspire you to get crazy. Lol. Good luck.

 

I remember driving by the Chevy dealership in 1958 and seeing a new 58 Chevy like yours sitting flat on the ground. I learned this was a failure in it's new for the first time option AIR RIDE . In other words ''It had bags'' . That would be an intresting and very cool system to add to your new project. That would be outright clever. Seems it wouls be very simple to a modern bag system on your car for it already has 4 point coil springs. Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

'58 chevys are my all time favorite car, Im working on a '58 biscayne now. Stock brake rebuilds are simple; I did a front disc brake swap that Ill test when it gets warmer out.

I totally dig 4-doors, esp the hardtops.

If I can be of help please PM me.

 

really cool. Interier is awesome!

P.S. HOLY HUGE HOUSES

 

Nice looking car. Brakes are cheap and easy to re-do. I would consider discs on the front. Stopping is improved, and driving an old car, you begin to notice how many people pull out in front of you. I like them because they stop hard, and will do it over and over. they also stop straight, and need less maintanance and adjustment. I know some guys will praise drums as great, and all you need, but I like front disc brakes. As said, drop the gas tank, clean it out, check the fuel sending unit, and if it's good, just replace the filter on the end, if it has one. Blow out the fuel line, make sure to use another filter before the carb, too. Clean and (probably) kit the carb. New plugs and wires, new points, timing and dwell, and away you go. It isn't rocket science, so don't worry. Don't get two jobs on the car going at the same time. One thing at a time, andyou'll be on the road in no time. A little patience now will pay off later. If it was me, the cast iron PG would go, and be replaced with a th350. Not that hard to do, and will re-invent the old girl. Looks like a lot of fun. Best of luck.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking, and abt. 2" drop all around.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. The car comes home officially this Thursday and I can't wait to dive in this weekend. As for the disk brake conversion, does any one know a vendor who sells a kit?
Thanks!

 

Also, how hard is it to add power brakes to these cars? Im assuming all I have to do is add the booster to the firewall?

 

http://www.piratejack.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11:typical-brake-system-configurations&catid=12:tech-support&Itemid=18 Brake set ups Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

Awesome. So any kits on putting on disks and calipers?

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...16.0j10j3j1j0j1.15.0...0.0...1c.1.xI7SnB48kjg LOTS HERE!

 

Don't see those ever. Looks like a nice survivor.

 

I got some free advice ,for free. You don' t have the car yet. First big thing,check it out. after a good washing and cleaning.check all the fluids , replace as needed . Get the engine running. 58 chevy had good brakes(big). It's a big car. Go one step at a time,Don't scatter pieces all over.Get it going drive it . Enjoy it.Why any one would spend years on a non-driveable car is beyond me,especially since it's your first HAMB friendly project.Daddy always said ''Think before you do something.'' Just my opinion . carry on......Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

This my help. Hot Rod mag did a barn find on a Buick Special that sat for 30 years. This is what happened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLWndk3-tuk

 

Wow!Nice find!!! Rare to see a car like that to have fared the last 50 years in such a clean state! I have a ´58 Impala in the same exact colors.
As for the parts source, like "Mrbuck" already said, try "autocityclassic". Not affiliated w/them in any way, but I´ve also found them to have the most complete line of anything and everything needed for restoration/upkeep of a ´58 Chevy. Call in and ask for the print catalog. They stock brake upgrade kits as well.
As far as Your options w/Your brakes, first of all I´d highly recommend a dual master cylinder. For power brakes, You basically have two ways to go about it; power-assist drums all-around, or You may upgrade for discs up front w/the stock drums out back if You wish. Note that the master cylinder will be of different diameter for each application, however. If You decide to go w/the disc brakes, You will have to switch into 15" wheels as well, as Your stock 14" wheels won´t clear the brake calipers supplied in the typical aftermarket disc-brake kit.

 

I'm a another happy Auto City customer.

 

hmm, I wasn't planning on changing the wheels. Is that true for all disk brake kits? how well do power drum brakes stop these cars. I printed out the autocityclassic catalog and will be ordering parts once I get the car home!

 

I just ordered a disc brake kit with power brake booster, lines for $400. I'm going to run 15" steelies and dog dish caps. Dog dish just cover too much wheel on a 14 any way. Look we are same color combo. I know where a 58 4 hard top is if you need trim. I grabbed the auto column from it.

 

David,
I like those colors! As for the trim, I might need some. Once I get the car home tonight I will be posting pics up friday morning and start buying stuff for it. Task #1 is to get it running though!

 

Im as excited as you are. I will be watching as you do your first HAMB FRIENDLY build. Thanks for sharing. Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

the colors were used in 70's gm cars too same as the 58

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr class="yiv1504432214odd"><td>
</td> <td>G B Y</td> <td>1958</td> <td>GM</td> <td>Chevrolet</td> <td>Silver Blue </td> <td>930</td> <td>B </td> <td>C </td> <td align="center" bgcolor="8197AA">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td>WA4267</td> <td>11755, 2431</td> <td>2696L, 882-91077L, 181-27235</td> <td>4564</td> <td>Ditzler Form 8005 (Oct1983) </td> <td>
</td></tr> <tr class="yiv1504432214even"> <td>
</td> <td>G B Y</td> <td>1972</td> <td>GM</td> <td>Buick</td> <td>Crystal Blue </td> <td>21</td> <td>
</td> <td>C </td> <td align="center" bgcolor="8197AA">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td>WA4267</td> <td>2431</td> <td>5440L, 5440A, 5440D</td> <td>4564</td> <td>1958 Corvette color </td> <td>
</td></tr> <tr class="yiv1504432214odd"> <td>
</td> <td>G B Y</td> <td>1975</td> <td>GM</td> <td>Buick</td> <td>Horizon Blue </td> <td>21</td> <td>
</td> <td>C </td> <td align="center" bgcolor="8197AA">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td>WA4267</td> <td>2431</td> <td>5440L, 5440A, 5440D</td> <td>4564</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td></tr> <tr class="yiv1504432214even"> <td>
</td> <td>G B Y</td> <td>1975</td> <td>GM</td> <td>Chevrolet</td> <td>Silver Blue </td> <td>21</td> <td>B </td> <td>C </td> <td align="center" bgcolor="8197AA">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td>WA4267</td> <td>2431</td> <td>5440L, 5440A, 5440D</td> <td>4564</td> <td>1958 Corvette color </td> <td>
</td></tr> <tr class="yiv1504432214odd"> <td>
</td> <td>G B Y</td> <td>1975</td> <td>GM</td> <td>Nova</td> <td>Silver Blue </td> <td>21</td> <td>B </td> <td>C </td> <td align="center" bgcolor="8197AA">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td>WA4267</td> <td>2431</td> <td>5440L, 5440A, 5440D</td> <td>4564</td> <td>
</td> <td>
</td></tr> <tr class="yiv1504432214even"> <td>
</td> <td>G B Y</td> <td>1975</td> <td>GM</td> <td>Oldsmobile</td> <td>Glacier Blue </td> <td>21</td> <td>
</td> <td>C </td> <td align="center" bgcolor="8197AA">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]</td> <td>WA4267</td> <td>2431</td> <td>5440L, 5440A, 5440D</td> <td>4564</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

Got the car home tonight! and its pretty much all good news. It was dark and getting kinda cold, so we pushed the car up the driveway. Amazingly, the brakes work, but I'm sure they will need to be worked on to make them street legal, BUT the car does have pedal. the biggest accomplishment was we threw in a fresh battery in, and the motor turned over!!! Tomorrow is another day, where I plan on taking a lot of pics, cleaning up the car and then Saturday we will work on getting the car to run. Ill need a lot of advice from the HAMB!

 

one of my favorite chevys your a lucky guy a 58 around here thats been sitting anywhere looks like old swiss cheese

 

grats you got it home safely. change the oil/filter , pull the coil wire , make sure you got oil pressure good luck. Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

nice find, rare 4 dr hdtp belair

 

Great car, and those -58 look great both as 2 and 4 door!

My stepdad has a -58 Biscayne 4-door post that I rode alot in as a kid and then it was parked becuase of a cracked block.. Changed engine for him to a used one and when we started it the heads were shit and it was parked again. Changed heads for him and started it up again and got to drive it for the first time and give him a ride in it, priceless feeling!!

Anyways whats your plans with this one?

 

Spent the morning washing the car, cleaning the interior, and digging for treasure in the trunk! I also bought a battery for it, but then had to go off to work. Sad but tomorrow is another day. Check the first post again, I have MUCH better pics, and even better, a VIDEO!!!

 

<font size="7">VIDEO LINK BELOW!!!!!!!</font>
Video is up on the first post. Here it is anyways just for fun!
http://youtu.be/sGAq4kkmSRo

 

Please install new brake lines on it. All of them.
Watched your video, very nice car.