Glad it's running better for ya. Avatar updated, too! There's probably a horn button around here if you need one. And your diamond tuck is sooo vintage looking. Well, because it is! School's out and the car is running! Good on ya, Philroy, it's the best years of your life.
Chevy57dude, she runs like a top. Put another 40ish miles on her today with zero problems. I'm looking at getting a 15 inch steering wheel from Speedway but haven't decided which one to get yet. I like the original one, but an extra inch or 2 of clearance around the gut would sure be nice. Brian55lvr, I don't know if it is or not. I guess I had never really caught on to that. It carries 40 lbs of pressure so I would imagine its getting all the oil it needs. I have another motor that I'm going to rebuild for next year. Dadseh, I agree. I need a bigger tach. But for 50 bucks, I won't complain.
Philroy, looks like you did an awesum job. 2 doors vervus 4 doors. It don't matter I love them all, just like Jesus. I remember when wagons were not cool at all. I love them now. I don't know if age changes our tastes in cars or what but I'm jones for models that I wouldn't have given you the time of day at one time. Still I'm a tri-five lover of all kinds. and gret job on your ride. Take care and enjoy. YRUHOT............Doug
I think he's tongue-in-cheek brotha You gotta downsize your tach so you can see that bitchin 57 speedometer. and put something old school in it to match your 40 year old slots. Least thats what I think he meant, with which I agree Lookin' good tho, I dig it.
YRUHOT, thank you and I agree that age causes a change in tastes as well. I see it in some of our hot-rodding buddies all the time. Kevin, I know... It's a big tach... But, the 57 speedo is busted and this one has all the gauges I need already in it. Oil Pressure. Water temp. Oil temp. And a shift light. If I had the funds to get a vintage tach and a speedo that worked, believe me, it'd be done. Today is the first nice day in a coon's age that it hasn't been raining. I just acquired another truck and decided to take a picture of all 5 of my "treasures" parked in front of dad's shop. So, enjoy. Left to Right: 71 Chevy, 93 Blazer, 76 GMC, 89 Dodge, 57 Chevy (kinda obvious)
Well, took the 57 to a small car show on Saturday. When I say small, I mean there were 11 cars there. It was the annual town festival of a small town about 15 minutes from here, so it was a must to go. We all had a blast, so it was worth it. I got runner up on both participants' choice and peoples' choice, so I felt pretty good. No trophy, but I won a hat!!!
Oh man!!! That is SICK!!!! I want one!!!! We had all our hot rods lined up in the yard the other day and I realized that I had the only car without a velocity stack... Hopefully that'll change this winter when we put the other 327 in it.
Sorry it's been so long since I've been on here. Taking the day off from work today. I guess I'm only gonna turn 18 once. Might as well enjoy the day. Couple months ago the chorus teacher from our high school asked me to use my car on stage for the choir's rendition of "Grease." So, she played the part of "Grease Lighting" in the school play last week. Two days before I was set to take it in, I blew the spider gears out of the rear diff. So, after some quick checking around, I was able to locate a pumpkin out of the old rearend of a buddy's 59 Vette. Had it back up and running the very next day!!! I'll try and get some pictures posted of the car in the play here in the next couple of days.
Happy birthday there! 18. I can remember that age.. Lemme know if you still need a speedometer. I'm sure I can dig one up
Hey man I hadnt seen this thread in a while and just want to say the car looks awesome. The first thing I noticed when I clicked back on this was the slots, they look like the perfect size and dish giving off a once common but now unique classic character thats perfect for the car. I seriously like it a lot.
Chevy57dude, that would be awesome if you had a speedo. Mine got hot in the desert sun and all the internal plastic stuff inside it is warped and cracked. I might even consider ditching the ricer tacho, which would make several folks happy, I know. Low budget, thank you. I am tickled with how well the tires and wheels look on it. I was concerned at first about running 14 inch wheels, but I'm glad I did, now. The back wheels are 8 inches wide and the front are 6 wide. So, the back tires are a little more bubbled out, and thus a little shorter. And apparently, she hooks hard enough to blow the spiders out. I want to put some coil spring spacers in the front to bring it up just a tad to give it more of a gasser stance.
I probably wouldnt, I think it looks good as is, If you get it too high It will just look like a wanna be gasser instead of something cool that it already is. Its just in a rodders blood to always want to change something but sometimes you just hafta hold yourself back a little, cause sometimes less is more. Thats just "my honest .02" not to offend at all
I was just thinking maybe some of those little rubber spacers. Easy to put in, easier to take out. But, I may leave it just as it is. And that definitely dont offend me. I like other people's input.
The thing is if you change the height, your alignment also changes. Go too far and you can't get it in spec. Upper ball joint spacers with slightly taller springs could do it for you and gives the benefit of increased rise on launch. (Just throw money at it!).
When I was less than 6 months old my dad bought a bralnd new black over red & cream interior, '55 Belair two door hardtop with a 235 straight six and a three speed overdrive because he just knew that new Chevy small block wouldn't ever amount to anything! So for that reason, I think the '55 Chevy is "the most beautiful Chevy ever". And I ALSO agree that the '58 Chevy MAY be the ugliest...to me. Yes, apologies to '58 Chevy lovers! Here, here! You go kid and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And don't be an IDIOT liKe me! My dad gave me that '55 as my own when I turned sixteen AND I didn't want it. What a jackass. It was 1972 and I wanted a van. I gave the car back to my dad because I bought '66 Chevy van that I POURED money into. He sold the Belair for (gulp) $450 from the Pennysaver weekly fish wrapper and I have been kicking myself ever since. NEVER SELL THIS CAR! You will regret it, I promise.
Chevy57dude, I found those spacers on ebay a long time ago, but I read online that they can cause catastrophic failure and result in a crash. The ones on ebay go between the ball joint and upper control arm, correct me if i'm wrong. But, I couldn't find any info on this type. The kind they mentioned online (which involved a fiery crash) went between the upper ball joint and the spindle. They said that this put too much stress on the ball joint and cause it to break... Dan, I am not planning on EVER selling this car. While the money would be nice to have for college, I have decided that I'm going to just keep it. I am planning to go to school to be a pharmacist. So, adding that extra 10 or 12 grand to my college debt doesn't seem all that scary, considering i'll be making pretty good when I graduate. (affordable care act permitting...) As my dad put it to me, "while that 10 or 15 grand would be really nice right now, in 10 years, you'll put 50 grand in somebody's hand to have that car back." So, she's staying right where she's at!!!
Hopefully some experienced HAMBers can chime in about the ball joint spacers. The way I understand it, the spacers and taller springs with a smaller wire diameter would allow for increased height and suspension rise on launch. This would enables the car to transfer more weight to the rear before ''topping out''. The safety factor is something that I haven't heard about. Good on you for thinking of that 1st.
Just found this thread. Keep up the great work!! I see a future Rod shop opening soon in your area probably yours.
Philroy what ya been doin with your 57? Did you or your pops make it out to the drags with your 57s last year? Kevin
Gtolarry, I just received my acceptance letter to Pharmacy school so once I get through that, I'm planning on opening one on the side! Kevin, We sure did come! Going again this year! Grandpa bought a 57 4dr HT for Grandma 2 weeks before they came up for the drags so they brought it up from New Mexico with them! 3 generations in the family with 57 Chevys! Just got mine out of the shed today and took her for a spin. Parents bought me a silver metalflake steering wheel from SoCal Speedshop for Christmas. Planning to throw a bigger cam in and upgrade from my 2bbl Rochester to a 600 or 650 Holley yet this winter. Also planning to ditch the big tach in favor of a more period-correct one. Swap meet coming up so hoping to find one. Planning to have 2.5in straightpipes put on this spring so she'll have a much nicer tone.
Good deal on the acceptance to Drake! Haven't dug the spedo out yet, I'll look soon. The old Sun tach I have worked fine on another guy's car that still had points, but wouldn't work on my car with the Pertronics guts in the old school dual point dizzy. Ya may want to spend the bucks on a retro Sun or Moon unit so you're sure it's gonna work.
Pops has an old Sun tach in his 57 hooked up to his MSD 6AL setup with a billet distributor. I'm just running a small cap HEI and MSD coil. Both tachs I've had in my car worked, but that's not to say an old one would. Dad's cousin gave him an OLD tach that we're putting in his car this winter along with the 383. I'm planning on using his old tach. Hope it works!
If you want to run an old tach with the MSD unit you may need to run an MSD Tach adaptor.Theyre not real expensive. Scott Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Cool man. I'm gonna try to make it to the drags with the 56 this year, pending work situation, funds etc. but I hope to see ya there. Your 57 is the coolest high school ride I've seen in a long time. I had a 70 skylark with a 455 in high school, and a friend of mine a year younger had a 70 Chevelle and we thought we were the shit, doin burnouts in the parking lot and other stupid stuff... We didn't have any 55-57 Chevys to compete with tho! I wish I woulda had a car that cool when I was in high school. The red/white 2-tone on that thing looks sooo bitchin dude, if I had a 57 more door I'd want it to look just like yours, slots and everything. Kevin Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Oh and congrats on getting accepted to pharmacy school, that outta buy some speed parts, and maybe a 57 2-door sedan project?? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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