Projects The long process of finding a project car and adventures of the new guy.

Tick...Tick...

 

This is what a factory overdrive unit would look like. Kind of a back view of the cable/handle. Pretty sure the handle is specific to '57. If it's an original part, rare.
Hope you got it for a good price.

 

Your much better off with the 57 than a 58. Almost everything is available for the tri fives. And if things change and you ever decide to sell it the market for a 57 chevy is much much better than a 58. Leave it a stick shift. Soak the cyl,s with a mix of auto trans fluid and diesel. Pull the oil pan and clean out the crud and clean the oil pump pickup screen. with the spark plugs removed grab the lower pulley (harmonic balancer) and wiggle it back and fort. if it moves a inch before taking up the slack between the crank and valve train its time for anew timing chain. also look for nylon chips in the oil pan. Do not try and use the gas tank. start it for the first time from a small tank gravity feed to the carb. I use gas that has 1/2 pine outboard oil to each gallon when first starting a zombie vehicle. The fuel in the tank & lines will be stale and will ruin the fuel pump and carb and can even cause the valves to stick. You will never have a reliable vehicle until you really clean the tank replace the fuel lines & fuel pump and rebuild the carb.

 

Got er home yet?

 

Glad for You! Congrats!


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Congrats! A 57 chevy with a 57 Buick grille is a great start. Have fun! I think 4 door cars are a lot more accepted now than when I was 17 in 1965. When I was still building my merc powered 50 ford tudor, I'd borrow my mom's 55 Olds 4 door and took a savage ribbing from my class mates. It eased up a little bit when I bought the car and put chrome reverse wheels on it.

 

Cool!!!! Personally, I'd take a 57 BelAir 4 door hardtop, (Sport Sedan), over a 2 door hardtop, or a convert, every day of the week. The roof line of the 4 door hardtop is so much better than the 2 door.

Please post some more pics, when you get them......Engine......Interior......Etc.

 

Give him some time to get acquainted with his new toy.

 

I'm having problems getting it out of where its at. Hard to get a truck back in there and the wheels are partly buried so my s10 won't cut it but i'm trying to work something out. And if i end up not being able to get it out i have a backup car. A 57 belair 4 door sedan straigh 6 for 1500. Cheap as hell and complete so either way i'll have a car soon


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... Dude ... be diligent and dig out the hard top with the 327 4 speed ...

 

Don't settle for the back up car. They got it in there you can get it out. You need to get air in the tires first. It's tight with the building on one side and the fence on the other and a tree to manuever around but it looks like you can open a door and hopefully roll down a window so you can access the steering wheel. Rollbacks have extremely powerful winches on them. Can you get one in the back yard??? It doesn't have to up close. They have a ton of cable on them and there is always chains to extend them. I would pull it out into the open very very slowly and get it in a position that the roll back can line up with it. Looks like there is enough room. I just don't know what access is back there.

It's also not hard to open up the cyclone fence and maybe go out that way. All you need are a bunch of chain and chain binders to put it back.

 

Going out the back way might be easier if you can have someone remove and reinstall the fence for you and you have access from the neighbor. Most will want to see the eyesore gone and will grant access. Just make sure the ground is dry.

Another thought is to wrap a chain around that tree in front of it and pull it out by hand with a 1.5 to 2 ton ratchet style come along. I prefer chain to cable. You may then get it close enough to pull it the rest of the way with your S10.

Please don't give up. Someone is going to do it.

 

Well the ladys son came over today and pulled it out with his tree trimming truck, so i guess it's still a green light for go. I hope i'm not making a mistake with this car. I'm putting 3 grand into it just for the start of it


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Don't give up! 4dr HT is worth it. How complete is the interior? Front seat?

 

Get the other car too, make 1 bitchin' car out of the 2 or fix one up to sell.

 

I have a adapter made for installing water in rear tractor tires. They are inexpensive. You remove the valve core and hook a garden hose to it. It will inflate & fill the tires with water. And many tires that will not hold air will hold water. Makes it easier to drag the vehicle on a trailer.

 

How well did you inspect the frame??? Tri fives are notorious for rot. It's not an end of a project in my mind as anything metal can be repaired...it's just going to be an unexpected set back. I would keep in contact at least with the owner of the parts car 4 door post. You never now.

 

Is it home yet?
Waiting for pics, love the 4dr hardtops.

 

Try not to let this thing called 'buyer's remorse' get into your brain. Everyone gets a touch of this after handing over a sum of hard earned cash.

Once You get 'er home, and clean 'er up, this should fade away!




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So did you get it? Looks like you reposted your wanted ads.

 

I've been pretty busy, and i may not get this 57 but theres a couple other cars that really peak my interest one of which is a 57 ford that recently was on the road. I'm usually a chevy guy but a running 57 ford for 2 grand would be perfect for a first classic.

And heres the story on the 57 hardtop, so the lady whos selling it kept telling me shes moving so she needs it gone, was very adamant that i get this car out of her yard and give her money before i do so. She handed me the title so i could look at it and make sure it was legit and it was in her husbands name and it was signed. This was still fine with me but he was "out of town" and "didnt want her to sell it too cheap" and since the house wasnt even for sale and nothing was packed up ready to move i got out of there. Something was very off putting about the whole thing. It may have been completely legit but i've been caught up in stuff like that before so i walked away.

The lady also told me the KBB said it was worth 2500, so she'd take that. Well, KBB doesnt go back that far. She wanted this car gone immediately and im assuming before her husband got home... i asked her if i could talk to him about the car and make sure its ok that she sells it and she wouldnt gibe me his number. Something just wasnt right. I ended up looking at the 4 door sedan and its a really nice car for the price. I'm just busy right now so dont have time to mess with car stuff at the moment


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If the ford runs and drives i could at least have fun with it while i build it.


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Yep. Something stinks there. Trust your instincts, they are usually right.


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'57 Fords are nice and there's a lot of parts available for them. I went with the '59 Ford and parts are harder to source, but I'm finding them. The '57 will be a lot easier.

 

I think i'm gonna pull the trigger and have the guy deliver the 57 sedan. It's just a 4 door but if i ever found a 2 door roller, i could put everything from the 4 door in it. It's got a 6 cyl, and i'd want to v8 swap it. I've never done that so how easy is it? I was thinking of picking up a cheap 350 or 305, just a plain small block unless i can find a running 283. I understand i'd have to get a different throttle arm and motor mounts, but can someone who's done this explain? I don't even own a cherry picker so this would be a completely new experience for me. Also, the car is a 3 speed if that makes a difference when swapping.

I'm thinking of doing a slight rake with the car as well, either lift the rear a couple inches or lower the front a few. I know i could just cut the springs in the front, but i'd rather lift the rear. Could i just get some taller tires for the rear and have the leaf springs re shaped?

 

The woman sounds like a lying sack of shit. Glad you walked. V8 swap in a 57 is as easy as falling off a log, everything is available to do it. Side mounts from Danchuk for later model small blocks. Rubber rake is the way to go. Pics of the sedan?

 

I can usually tell a woman's signature or hand writing over a mans, especially these days where penmanship is a lost art. If I had the slightest inkling that she signed his name I'd have walked too!

 

Here she is, all 48,000 miles of grandma's grocery getter. Seriously the car was in the sellers family since new, was originally his great grandmas, and was last on the road in 95. I dont think it ever left the state of Missouri.

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Also, it comes with all the chrome to fix the rusty/missing pieces as well


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That looks like a good deal if its the 1500 dollar one, Have you seen it in person? have a title?
1500 delivered with a good title almost sounds too good to be true. I would buy it, and rock it as a 4 door, Hey it is a Belair too...