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BlueFlameRunner235's 1957 4 door 210 old school build

7K views 65 replies 16 participants last post by  BlueFlameRunner235 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey all, this is my first post here so I apologize if I make any goofs. Right so the 57 in question is my 4 door 210 that I'm planing on doing at first a good old school racer/cruiser that I can build out to higher levels when time/funds/and needs/wants permit.

I got the car down in Lansing a few months back and have been daily driving it to and from work (35 mile round trip) without much complaint. The original 235 does very well as a regular driver and gets decent milage with the three on the tree (I'm getting 16 to 17mpg), it has plenty of get up and go but sadly does need to be gone through as the lifters start clattering loudly if it's under to much load like climbing a decent hill or going to fast. Being original doesn't help ether as I have to run lead additive as well which has already gotten annoying. Luckily for me the previous owner put fresh tires on it, had the front suspension gone through with fresh bushings and shocks, along with new leaf springs and shocks at the back giving it a nice little stance, he also had a.dual master cylinder installed with a disc brake conversion on the front along with fresh brakes at the back.

Now note I dont plan on getting rid of the three speed and 235 as I'm going to save them for another project. But for now the first plan of action is to get the 235 squared away with a new remanufactured head with hardened valve seats (gonna keep the original as a spare), a new set of push rods (two are bent from what I can see), a new rocker oil tube (someone did the old school trick of crushing the line), give the lifters a good clean up, and the corresponding gaskets to get the job done.

Once the blue flame is all set and happier the next step is to track down a good four speed I can bolt in for some better drivability, after that I'll just be gathering the bits I need to swap in the 1957 Corvette 283 I picked up at the first show I attended.

Now onto the 283, the guy I got it from bought it freshly rebuilt back in the 80s for his 2 Dr Bel air but sadly sold the car before swapping it in. He was also kind enough to give me (yes for free 99) the left over parts he had of which was a perfect 57 V8 rad with trans cooler for a power glide, a basically new generator with the power steering pump shaft, a set of vent windows, a complete new in box gasket set for a power glide, a few trans oil pan gaskets, and a box of tid bits he had. Also when I bought the 283 I also bought the two four barrel carbs he has, one is in need of a rebuild as it's crusted up while the other is more or less a brand new remanufactured carb from Nappa back in the day (the carb in the pics with two vent tubes is the nice new one).

By looking at it I'm going to guess it's a base model Corvette 283 as it doesn't have power pack heads but has the four barrel intake, so by knowing that and guessing it has the standard cam in it I'd have to guess that it's in the 185-195hp range. It also has the original front mount motor mounts so swapping it in shouldn't be to difficult. I'm planning to build it out to that of the stats the 270hp 283's they ran in NASCAR and what not back in the day with power pack heads, a good duntov cam, ect...

Now back to the car itself, currently I'm waiting to get it in the shop to get some deer damage sorted (hopefully this week and it's not bad, was only doing 45) and possibly getting it painted as well if the funds allow. Once this is done with them the real fun shall begin!


Now real quick I figured I should go over all in all what I plan on accomplishing with this build. My hope is to build it like that of a classic dirt track/oval track racer of the late 50's and 60's in terms of performance and appearance, but at the same time I want it to be a good reliable driver that I can drive daily and where ever such as to events and what not. I also want it to perform well enough so I can take it to whatever event I feel like (such as the drags, rally's, auto cross, ect.) and have fun without slowing anyone up. More or less something that's not crazy competitive but surprises them a bit and can be made more competitive later on.

Thanks for putting up with me for so long lol and I'm glad to be a part of this great community! :):wavey:
 

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#35 · (Edited)
Hi y'all, just got back from Gaines mi and picked up a nice rebuilt wide range M20 Muncie. Guy went top to bottom with it and no he didn't paint it, this is how it looked when he pulled it from the 50,XXX mile car!

Now that I think about how I plan on building my 57 I'm more or less building a modern day 'black widow'. Since I plan on keeping the original metal but plan on getting the absolute most out of the old school 283/M20 set up, to my knowledge 300hp is possible with a 283 with power pack heads, a good intake, and a decent efi set up. I think I'll call it a 'Recluse' since we have more brown recluse's up here than black widows.

So now the real question is does anyone know where I could get a good Hurst c style shifter for this M20?
 

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#37 ·
I have a really similar car to yours but mine's a belair. I'll be doing the same exact swap, but might stick with a 3 speed due to lack of funds. Funny enough, i saw your car on google images a while back while looking for how i want to paint mine and i think i might just paint it like yours, dark/light metalic green.
 
#38 ·
Funny thing about that actually, it was featured on Barn Finds back in January when the previous owner still had it. All those guys there left nothing but complaints about it being in Michigan and rust blah blah blah. Honestly if the paint was nicer and they didn't use that off mint green I was going to clear coat it and call it good for awhile.

Currently waiting on my new hurst shifter kit and boot to show up so I can get started on the four speed once I get the deer damage taken care of (once the grill bar shows up!).
 
#39 ·
Hi all! I know it's been a bit but I've finally gotten the deer damage dealt with the best that I can (and with a bit of help from the father in law who does body work). It finally looks like a '57 again!

Today I'm going to start on getting the three on the tree shift linkage out and then the trans.
 

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#40 ·
Right, bit of a bump in the road. Got the driveshaft off and the yoke but when I went to put the new yoke on I discovered that the bearing caps are to small or simply the yoke is to big. Sadly work is on hold till I can figure this out.

Oh and the original yoke is on the left of the photo while the new one is on the right.
 

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#41 ·
Driveshaft yoke has been taken care of and huzzah the 3 speed is out and marking it's territory on the garage floor. Seems the shaft seal is shot. No surprise as I could feel only just a bit of play in the rear shaft.

Now to start getting the linkage set on the M20.
 

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#44 ·
Hey all, I know it's been a bit and not much to update on besides getting my volt gauge and new tach working. At the moment I am putting in the new pushrods and going to clean out the covers and oil line.
 

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#45 ·
Just finished getting the rockers and push rods out. All the push rods are more or less good except for the no.2 cylinder's intake is ever so slightly bent where the rod meets the rocker, my guess is that it's from age and milage as the rest of that rod is fine. No.2's exhaust however and no.6's exhaust push rods however are proper bent.

Next is to clean up the rockers and rocker shafts then get the new rods in and all buttoned up for adjustment.
 

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#48 ·
I did a few test runs when I got it in and I must say it shifts amazingly, the comp pro Hurst shifter is great and works soooo smooth, also by how it's sprung I can bang shift from second to third by just shoving it forwards!

Although I'm going to need a different rear gear as at 55 it was turning over 2500rpm. I think a 3.08 will work but I'm not sure, it still has the stock gear which is a 3.55 to my knowledge. I'm going to look into a different gear once I get the Speedo, horn button, and wipers sorted.
 
#49 ·
Right then rockers are all apart and cleaned up, all look well and went well besides the shaft holder that's above the no.2 cylinder was a bit stiff to get off so I had to use a screw driver in one of the bolt holes in the shaft to get it freed and off. It wasnt froze or rusted on just seemed right stiff. Also hoping someone can tell me how bad these rocker shafts are.

The shaft on the left is for the back three cylinders while the one on the right is for the front three.
 

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#50 · (Edited)
They are a little rough but I have seen worse. Like I noted in outher PMs, clean them up as best as possible, Polish the shafts with some metal polish if you want, just wash them really well afterwards. Scrub the rockers and stands and springs real good, nice and clean, make sure all the spit holes in the rockers are clear and the groove inside each of the rockers is clear. Reassemble with 30 wt. oil, a little white assembly lube on the rocker balls, and take your time reinstalling the assembly so you don’t kink the copper connector tube. Torque to 25 lbs. as per your review of the shop manual, and adjust the valves according to the procedure in the manual to get it going, and you can assess from that point whether it’s running correctly.

Looks like you are coming along pretty well there.

By the way, I would not swap to a 3:08 rear. Your car came stock with the 3:55for a reason. You need the gear multiplication. You have already cut the first gear gear multiplication some with the four speed you installed. The 3:08 will make it significantly worse. Very hard on the clutch and very hard on the long crank of the 6 motor. I drove my 57 as my every day car from 77 through 84 or so with 3:55 including any number of long interstate trips. Try living with the stock gear set for a while before you make that drastic kind of change.
 
#51 ·
And finally the rockers are back in and torqued to 25ft.lbs with my ol' trusty torque wrench, ain't non of that fancy twistin' n' clickin' nonsense here lol. Also got the side cover back on and set with a fresh gasket.
 

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#52 ·
HUZZAH! The valve adjustment was a success! Instead of going 1 1/2 turns on each valve I went 1 as from what I was told while adjusting the valves while the engine is running you turn them in 1/2-3/4, so I went one to see how it'd work and it worked well, no misses or bad running just clatter, so I did the running adjustment and I must say a socket makes it a hell of a lot easier to do than a wrench lol.

Ether way this little 235 is purring like a kitten that found its own sunbeam.
 
#54 ·
Just finished going through the Speedo and got it all cleaned and oiled, hopefully that'll do it. Next on the shopping list is a new steering wheel (as my current one is very cracked up), horn button kit, Speedo cable, the bolts for the center cap on the wheel, and some fresh lenses for my dash lights (blinkers, oil, and gen lights), and some wiper cables so I can get that sorted.

Time to go shopping!
 

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#57 ·
Good for you! looks like your ride is coming along nicely. Yep, adjusting the valves on a hydraulic lifter 235 is more accurately done with the motor running. A bit of a pain as you discovered but it works pretty good. Congratulations.
 
#59 ·
Been a bit since the last update, well I bought a new (rebuilt) set of wiper transmissions on fleabay and hot my wipers working again and got some fresh trico's put on. Dash is all back together with the Speedo gone through and cleaned up with a fresh cable. Bought a new reproduction wheel as my original was fairly cracked in the usual spots. I managed to get my horn button and original horns working again of which they sound awesome! Picked up some fresh lenses for my turn signals and dummy lights, so next on the list is an oil change with some high milage 10w-30 and then it'll be ready for a test drive to see if I got the Speedo working right.
 
#63 ·
You have no idea lol I got hooked on this old girl durring those two months I drove it in the fall before winter hit. Just finished a quick test run to make sure my Speedo is working right and huzzah it is!! I love how the Munchie with the Hurst shifter drives it's far more satisfying than the three on the tree but they both have their pros and cons and appeal.

Funny enough Bellie here is going to be the 'wedding car's here in a few months for me and my fiancé. We're doing a classic 50's theme cause of the car lol
 
#64 · (Edited)
Today's the wedding day! Belie is driving alright, bit cranky but nothing that can't be fix. Glad to have her back on the road, this Muncie is just awesome. The Mrs is glad she's on the road again too.
 

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