Project "57"

[Hoosier Bird]

Ok, here is the update. I have owned this car now for 12 years. I had driven it regularly up until about 9 years ago. It has been parked inside ever since. It had been "Restored" in 1980. My intention was to build a GM 383 put a 4 speed, power steer and brakes in and totally detail the undercarriage. Upon close inspection I found that a shock had shot through the floor pan, which is common because it hooked directly to the floor pan.......DUH. I took care of that with the frame on which was a pain in the butt...Dropped the rear end springs gas tank front suspension ect. Stripped the interior so I could heat the undercoated and scrape it away. Basicly I have the undercarriage ready to go back in after I clean and paint the frame and belly of the car. It is really in good shape. I put a bare block in to mock up all of my pedals and power steering. I bout the new 500 series power steering box and an ididit tilt column. Friday I decided to mock up the steering before finishing the frame. In order to bolt the steering box up you have to remove the inner fender. To remove the inner fender you have to remove the fender. To remove the fender you have to remove the grill and cross bars. To remove those the front bumper has to be removed.....I guess your probably getting it right? So now I have decided to do a full frame off and fix everything else since I'm so close to having the car stripped anyway. I'm just too D@mn picky. Where to you stop? Anyway, I'll keep you posted. I'll post more pics very soon.

 

[dobie]

Cool!

Great looking project.

 

[ACME A12]

Great project! You gotta love those old shoe boxes! Keep the updates coming... One of my oldest friends has a '57 Bel-Air that he bought in 1975 at the ripe old age of 15 (grocery-bagging money) that he has done and re-done a couple of times in the ensuing years. Just an absolutely beautiful car. About ten years ago we pulled it out of the garage (he lives near Valdosta, GA) and drove it up to the Good Guys Show at the GA State Fairgrounds. We didn't so much as even clean the bugs off of the front end (too busy sitting in the trunk drinking beer...) and the thing won "Coolest Chevy in Show". It's just THAT nice. Originally orange, it has been black since about 1978. Runs a 327, Turbo 350 w/Vega converter, and a '60 Olds rear out back (runs various ratios). I'll try to track down a digital image to post...


Ray

 

[1BADBIRD]

That is one nice ride. If I had to pick one it would be the "55" chevy. I think they have the meanest look when they are all black :cheers:

 

[ACME A12]

That is one nice ride. If I had to pick one it would be the "55" chevy. I think they have the meanest look when they are all black :cheers:

Suddenly I have visions of "Bob Falfa" racing "John Milner" out on Paradise Road...


Ray

 

[John69RR]

My father-in-law is working on a 57, 2 door HT also. He's already been through the front end and most of the body work. He picked up a dual quad set up recently. Looks good on his engine.

 

[Roadcuda]

It looks like you have a great project going there Hoosier. It's funny that you mentioned the shock going through the floor pan. I had something simular happen to my first RR. I had bought it used in '72 and never should have, as I later found out with all the problems, mostly created by the previous owner. One problem was the thumping noise in the rear end. I found that the cross member where the shocks mount was broken. The previous owners solution to this was to not replace the cross member, but to punch a hole in the trunk floor over the diff; and bolt the shock to the floor. Needless to say, it tore up the trunk floor. That was just one of the first things I had to get fixed. But it was not the last.

 

[Basketcase]

That is one nice ride. If I had to pick one it would be the "55" chevy. I think they have the meanest look when they are all black :cheers:

Suddenly I have visions of "Bob Falfa" racing "John Milner" out on Pardise Road...


Ray

so did I. My Jr High Health teacher(great guy) had an all black '57 he'd drive to school. Best pat was he lived about 100 yards from the school.
nice '57 Hoosier

 

[Big John]

Its really funny, they sold almost as many 57 Fords as they did Chevys but there is a lot more Chevys left.

 

[Hoosier Bird]

Thanks guys, I'll keep you posted. It's almost too good to strip down but I won't be satisfied unless I do it right.

 

[ACME A12]

Its really funny, they sold almost as many 57 Fords as they did Chevys but there is a lot more Chevys left.

Big, I'm no Ford or Chevy numbers guy, but I'm pretty sure that Ford actually outsold them in '57...for what it's worth...which makes your point all the more noteworthy...


Ray

 

[Big John]

The Fords were real rotters... as were the Chrysler products for 1957. The tops of the fenders just about fell off behind the headlights after a few years.

My oldest brother had a 57 Ford with a retractable hardtop. It was pretty well a pile of rust when he stopped driving it.

 

[Hoosier Bird]

Here's what I did last night.
Rear Brake hubs, springs, and rear end. The other rear end picture has epoxy primer only on it. I used my descaler to strip it down which really worked great. You guys will have to have one for getting into the nooks and crannys.

 

[Roadcuda]

The Fords were real rotters... as were the Chrysler products for 1957. The tops of the fenders just about fell off behind the headlights after a few years. quote]
I can confirm that. In 1958 my father bought a new Plymouth Sport Suburban wagon. Over the next seven years it was driven over 125,000 miles. I don't remember the time frame on when the typical rust problems took hold, but the floors had rusted to the point that my father had taken 1/2 dia. galvanized pipe and placed it between the floor mounts and the floor pans. And for the headlights, he took some house flower box brackets and bolted them to the back of the headlight buckets, and to the inside of the fenders, on both sides of the car. The main reason the car was retired in '65 was that some rod bearings gave out. As I recall other then the rust problems, it was a reliable car.

 

[Confederate1969]

Dang, I wish I had a big garage like I see so many of y'all with. I've got a 1.5 car garage crammed with 2 vehicles and car parts everywhere. Absolutely no space to be comfortable while working or organize anything.

 

[69hemibeep]

Lookin good I like the 55 and 57s

 

[Hoosier Bird]

Didn't get anything done tonight. Assembled my new english wheel and planishing hammer. Played with it a little bit. :cool:

 

[droptop]

Didn't get anything done tonight. Played with it a little bit. :cool:

Way to much information. :lmao:

 

[Hoosier Bird]

Didn't get anything done tonight. Played with it a little bit. :cool:

Way to much information. :lmao:

Sorry, my wife is in Denver. Someone had to do it.....LOL

 

[Roadcuda]

Dang, I wish I had a big garage like I see so many of y'all with. I've got a 1.5 car garage crammed with 2 vehicles and car parts everywhere. Absolutely no space to be comfortable while working or organize anything.

Don't feel bad. This is what I have to work with. I finally found out that the only way I could fully open one of the cars doors was to park them this way. Otherwise I would have to back one of them out of the garage to work on the other.