Welcome to our 57 Chevy build!

july 2005

present

Thank you for all the great comments and your votes!
it's a real blast showing my 57 here on Cardomain!
Please leave your comments, I don't always get back right away,but I do read and check out your cars too- so let me know who you are!

In August 2005 my son, Spencer, and I journeyed from our home in Ventura, California to Kennewick, Washington to pick up our newly acquired '57 Chevy Bel air 2-door sedan. During the lively trip home (driving this new car) we experienced a failed fuel pump (middle of the night going through Grant's Pass, OR), a small wiring fire, a leaky rear main seal and numerous other minor repairs. We finally managed to nurse her home within 3 days.

We started the restoration 3 weeks later!

We tried to keep it clean classy and traditional old school.
The only real alteration to the body was shaving the frumpy speaker grill on the dash.

As for the drivetrain it's a different story- most everything
was tricked out for every day driving and strength.
Tremec 5 speed- 9" full floater axle rearend, 53" truck arms w/ adjustable Panhard, Gun drilled 1 1/4" front swaybar and 1/2 rear,
adjustbale valving coilover front shocks and rear shocks.
It hooks up like a drag car but handles like a sports car!

Here she is after we did the restoration!

The car was originally built at the Oakland, California Chevrolet plant

the pic below is really close to what the actual color looks like

Spence installing the American autowire fuse box THE TRUCK ARMS ARE IN! PICS COMMING SOON!!!

Please take a moment to vote and sign our guestbook!

if you need help with your project feel free to E-mail me-I'll try to help with your questions in anyway I can

The radiator was a US Radiator and was a total piece of junk! it blew out after 4,000 miles.
The C&R radiator you see further down is what I'm running now.

This pic is the underside just before putting it on the frame! I spent after 3 weeks stripping the old undercoating off!

The pictures are pretty sad, but, in the trunk,engine compartment,package tray,even under the dash and fenders are painted nice! every single part of this car we removed all the factory imperfections and dents. everything is painted as nice as the the exterior.
The bolts aren't chrome they're stainless, and every one of them we ground the letters off the heads and polished them to a beautiful shine.

THE NEW RADIATOR IS FROM PENSKE RACING TEAM SOUTH (NASCAR)

DUAL FANS ARE COMPUTER CONTROLLED.

Specs/Performance mods: 350/330 Hp 380 fps torque
Custom built Holly 600 double pumper.
Tremec TKO 5 Speed.
Speedway engineering 9" rearend with Detroit locker.
in progress- Nascar truck trailing arms.(Almost finished)
Schroeder Gundrilled Sway Bars
C&R aluminum radiator with dual elec. fans
Driveshaft provided by Coast Driveline (Coast Machine)
Power disc brakes (CPP)
Tubular control arms (CPP)
IDIDIT tilt steering.
power steering box (CPP 500) 14:1 ratio
adjustable coil-over shocks from QA1
Wheels Torque Thrust II (American Racing)
Primer's PPG/ DP Epoxy, DuPont URO-prime.
Base coat color- Chroma Base.
Clear coat is Spies Hecker.
Engine compartment,dash,trunk and jambs are PPG Concept.
The color is 2005 Corvette Torch red.

The vehicle ratings don't have options for the following upgrades: stereo, steering column, pedals,Headers, ignition and brakes-so here they are :) The stereo is Custom Autosounds with a 10 disc CD changer in the trunk. The steering column is IDIDIT and is hooked into a CPP 500 14:1 ratio
steering gear. The pedals are Lokar. The power disc brakes, drop spindles and tubular upper control arms are by (CPP) Classic Performance Products. The ignition is ProComp similar to MSD,Dougs's headers (A.K.A Doug Thorley).
Rear now has a Speedway engineering 9" rearend ,Detroit locker floater hubs and gundrilled crowned axles.
Nascar truck trailing arms,Hypercoil springs,Afco T2 double adjustable shocks,panhard bar,Wilwood superlite III calipers.
17 gallon fuel cell,9" in wide Torq theust II wheels.

A special thanks to Hans Wesski at Simi Valley Auto Body. for letting us build the car in his shop

Thank you for the votes!
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