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:
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: