1957 Chevy

[Mr. Clean]

Pretty cool timing on this one. About two months ago my Dad asked if I wanted his 1957 Bel Air Sports Sedan. Of course I said "YES" and it was delivered to me last Sunday. It was the first car I ever attempted to paint and along with my 1957 2 door hard top is how I learned to work on mechanical, paint body work etc, which has given me the skills to build trikes as well!!! My plans are to slowly clean it up and put it back to the stock colors (silver body/white top) and get a new silver black interior.

A little history on this car and by viewing the pics can tell this one has not had a hard life. My dad bought it from a guy in 1988 who got it with a house purchase, the original owner had passed and it was included. The lady was born in 1898 and bought the Chevy new and rarely drove it. Then in 88 Dad bought it for $2500, running and driving. The car had been painted red on the bottom, black in the middle and red on the top but retained the original interior (seat covers) and some recovered door panels as it still is today. As I mentioned the black paint job was my first attempt at painting a car. It came out terrible, but it did teach me how it should be done, and panel by panel I will get the correct colors back on it.

When my Dad bought it the odometer was showing 52K original miles!! The straight six, powerglide ran awesome and I drove it to high school while my 1957 2 door hardtop was getting rebuilt. It was last registered in 1996 and now has 64K original miles. You can see some of the red oxide primer on the floors and the trunk sports the original silver and the jacking instructions. This car has no radio, no clock, no power steering (aka ARMSTRONG Steering), no power brakes, no power anything. It has a vacuum windshield wiper motor and if you know anything about how vacuum works you know that is not ideal setup while accelerating in the rain The only accessory it did have was the windshield washer reservoir, which in their infinite wisdom was made of glass. The only way I knew it had it was the brackets to hold the glass jar.

I tried to crank it over by hand and its not budging, I poured some oil in the cylinders and will let it soak for a couple days and see what I can do to bring it back to life.

Sadly the day it was delivered I had to put one of my cats down due to cancer. That was when I decided to name it ROCKY and plan to get a plate for it.

[bkm]

Sorry to hear about the Kitty, Mike. I'm sure this will one super cool crusier and would make an awesome ls 5.3 swap, unless of course you wanted it all original.

I would give anything to be able to get my dad's 67 Galaxie 500 back.

[coolpool]

Sorry to hear about Rocky, sad day for sure!

That will be a nice project to work on; especially with the history behind it. I'm surprised it's locked up just from sitting? Diesel fuel seems to work good for loosening up motors. If you pull the distributor you could prime the oil galleries with a drill and flat tip screwdriver. Might work and can't hurt.

[barnett468]

.
ths is the biggest parts mfg and supplier in the world for those . . they frequently have sales . . if you have a resale license, you might get a discount.

https://www.danchuk.com/


those cars often dont charge well at idle if they still have the generator and the charging lite will come on, but the voltage regulator is adjustable.
.

[oile]

Just seeing if you need some 57 Chevy hubcaps I use to own 3 57 Chevy's oh I also might have that fender trim also if you need it.

[Mr. Clean]

Just seeing if you need some 57 Chevy hubcaps I use to own 3 57 Chevy's oh I also might have that fender trim also if you need it.

Sweet! Do any of those hubcaps come with the spinners? Dad found the fender spear in a closet after we shipped the 57, but thanks!!

[oile]

Nope all my hubcaps are stock belair ones without spinners

[90guy]

Really sweet to see this thing in the close pictures! Really nice looking ride you got there! I cant wait to see it cleaned up slowly!

[6speedthumper]

One of the best right there! Car looks very solid. Count your blessings, because rust repair sucks! I'd love to see it kept a 6cy (I've grown to love them, a lot), I get many compliments on having kept the 6 in my Javelin. Of course, it's not stock, haha. What are your plans?

[hublake]

Nice to look under the hood and be able to see the spark plugs !!!!!

[bkm]

Who you gonna have do the work around the filler neck?

[Mr. Clean]

One of the best right there! Car looks very solid. Count your blessings, because rust repair sucks! I'd love to see it kept a 6cy (I've grown to love them, a lot), I get many compliments on having kept the 6 in my Javelin. Of course, it's not stock, haha. What are your plans?

I am going to paint the original two tone, silver body, white top. Going to get OEM repop seat covers in silver and black. I am going to leave the straight six, get split manifold and headers and dual exhaust. I want either a four speed or three on the tree or maybe near term a 3 speed automatic. The cast iron glide has to go. Swap the vacuum wiper motor with electric and lastly will be disc brakes up front with dual master cylinder.

Who you gonna have do the work around the filler neck?

HAHAHAHAAH!!!! Actually the gas tank and "filler neck" are removed and the filler neck has been blasted and painted. PICS to come later!!

[bkm]

The filler is in the back of the fin on those correct?

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[Mr. Clean]

The filler is in the back of the fin on those correct?

YES!!! The left side of the fin you move the stainless left and it exposes the filler neck!!!

[bkm]

My uncle had a 57 when I was a young lad. I thought I knew something equivalent to nuclear secrets when I would ask people if they could find where you filled the gas and they couldn't figure out where it was.lol

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