Just Found My First 57 and need Guidance

[Newbie]

A couple months ago I had to go pick up my step son from school and since there was a dump truck stalled on the road and had traffic backed up I decided to take a little different route. That turned out to be a godsend. I passed by a house that apparently had not been lived in for some time and parked in the carport was a 1957 chevy 210, four door post,that appearred to be in decent shape but, covered in dust. I am including this piece of info because my wife gave me a great way to track down the owner's current address and this may help others. I looked for a mailbox and got the last name and the street address and sent a letter to that address addressed to Mr &/or Mrs Hightower(the name on the box) stating that I was interested in buying the car but on the envelope was written, "Return to sender, Forwarding address requested". When the letter came back the postman had writted the owner's new address down and I was able to locate them and was able to purchase the car. Here is where I need some direction. The car has been parked since 1996. It has a 6 cylinder motor that, according to late owner's daughter was rebuilt in 1996. The tires are of-course rotted and flat. The car's exterior and interior are in pretty good shape. The carpeting and the seat covers look like new. There is a bit of rust here and there on the driver's side which was more exposed to the elements. The paint on the wheels is rough and the hub caps are missing. The car has a manual 3-speed transmission. Any input on the steps I need to take to get this wonderful classic back in good running condition would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for all your help. I will try to figure out how to post a couple photos of my treasure to give you a picture to go with my description. I was able to clean up the front of the car to present it as well as possible.
Steve
http://www.trifive.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10077/normal_57ChevyBetsy%7E0.jpg

[chevman57]

Steve that looks like a great find. And i like the way you came up with a name for the owner. As for the car, i`d try to get the engine going first if it were me. Considering it has sat all this time i`d pull the plugs first and add a mix of dieseland oil mixed together. Let that sit for a few days and then go from there on the engine. After that i`d go to the brake system. Oh and you better clean the gas tank and fuel lines before cranking the engine. And welcome to the site.
Terry

[1957chevy]

That's a great story! Congrats on the find :)

Like Terry said, I'd pay attention to that engine first following Terry's advice so as to not cause more problems than you might have anyway. Get some rubber on those wheels, check and rebuild the brakes if necessay. Have fun and keep us up to date.

[19_Chevelle_69]

Excellent story!

Welcome from Ontario, Canada.

Don't be afraid to post any and all of your questions in the forums as you start working on your project, we're here to help each other.