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DragSix Jr 57 four door sedan project

102K views 1K replies 69 participants last post by  Dragsix 
#1 · (Edited)
So for the last 6 years or so my youngest son has been my right hand man in getting my high school 57 sedan back on the road. The car had been sitting in my garage for well over a decade when we started with repairs at the end of 2011. It was in bad structural shape, rust had really taken its toll as the car was no longer safe to drive, and everything needed attention repair wise. Well, we got it done and took it to the 2015 nationals. He was 19 at the time and was my quiet child, really did not speak all that much, lol. But when he got there, quite a few people began asking him questions about the car, and he had the answers and was talking to people. I had to send my wife photos, lol. He ended up with the same car hobby sickness we all have, lol.

At the 2016 nationals he mentioned to me that he might like to get a 57 of his own to build. I started looking around but what would be affordable and in his price range was not all that good condition wise.

Like me, one of my oldest and best friends still had his original high school 57 4 door sedan although it was a shell. In 2016, he decided that he had had enough of me telling him all about the nationals and toward the end of 2016 he told me he wanted to resurrect the sedan and go to the nationals with me. When we looked at the car he realized that it really was just a shell and there would not be enough time for the 2017 nationals. So he goes out a buys a running wagon, which we then install a 383 and four speed and a new rear, fix a bunch of wiring and suspension issues and he and his daughter follow me to Kentucky. We are two kids in a candy shop, trip to Nashville, car show, swap meet and the fun runs. Oh my heaven the fun runs. So I get back to where were are parked after making a fun run at this years nationals, and there is my friend and my son deep in conversation. As I approached, I was informed that my son had just purchased my friends 4 door sedan. So my 22 year old son is now going to build himself a low buck 57, lol.

I am in the process of having my one car garage extended three feet or so upward so I can get a lift in to keep both cars at home. So the sedan is being stored by my friend (after he had the body blasted and primed as a gift).

So we began digging out all kinds of old parts to use including a posi to rebuild. I explained the various differences between the early and late posi units, walked him through the rebuild and showed him where to find all of the specifications to get it back together. I wont lie, it was pretty fun and he is a good student. So he and I are off to a new trifive adventure!

Play Soil Art
 
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#1,071 · (Edited)
Looking forward to visiting again and another of those cheesy steaks we had the first visit, and to see all Patrick and you have done to the 4dr.

Should be to your place week from today!

Mikey
 
#1,073 · (Edited)
Not too much going on with the build. Had some visitors two weeks ago, Patrick’s older brother, wife and little boy were home for a visit. Chris is a Technical Sergeant in the Air Force and was home on leave for a family wedding. He is stationed in Minot North Dakota where they have been getting some snow already. So what did he want to do while he was home, work on his brothers car, lol. So I had to dig out a project.

Member myfirstone (Wayne) offered Patrick a driveshaft. When it arrived I knew just from looking at it that the shaft was way way more usable then the one I had which was in really terrible shape.

So our project would be the drive shaft. He scraped and sanded to get the heavy junk off the shaft.

Leg Wood Shorts Grass Knee

Plant Wood Garden tool Road surface Fence
 
#1,075 · (Edited)
We rolled the tube around for a few days, took the shaft out and scrubbed it down with a purple scotch brite pad, back in the tube.

Wood Grass Gas Automotive tire Composite material


Did that three or four times. Took it out, rinsed it off, washed with simple green, water and baking soda, more simple green and dry it off. Let it air dry in the basement, scuffed it all down with 80 grit. This is the end result.

Road surface Outdoor furniture Gas Wood Asphalt
 
#1,081 ·
Looks like you finally got some sunshine.....When we were there it was rain and we couldn't get the project out to see progress.......that was disappointing!....
but understood

Mikey
 
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#1,084 ·
Mid 60's and humid and foggy here all last week. Rained every day. Most got 5-6 inches of rain. Now in the 30's and down to the 20's overnight. Snow
flurries for Sunday......yuck
 
#1,088 · (Edited)
No...I like Elk hunting....NOT all the ICE and SNOW...........I DO like it here....You have salt on the Roads and rust GALORE...WE DO NOT.........I can go camping and fishing and not have to beat the crowds...in fact I might not see a soul.......Wisconsin has almost 6 million people there.....we have just over 1 million....AND we are the 4th largest state......hmmmm I bet ya pay sales tax there too.....huh?....bummer we dont 🙂 :ROFLMAO::giggle:
 
#1,090 ·
All the above is a good reason for you. I don't hunt and stopped fishing years ago. But I may start again. Yes we have more people and most I will not spend any time with because I don't frequent bars/pubs/craft breweries and the like. I also don't gamble.

I don't like to ski or spend time out in winter half frozen.......and call it "fun"
 
#1,091 ·
c`mon now.....Mikey....there is Never a reason to be "1/2 frozen" no matter what the temp is outside.... thats what they make Warm clothes for......insulated pants, coveralls , hats , gloves , -40 degree boots....we might like cars out of the 50`s but dont have to wear the clothing from then........cold weather gear has come along way since then.
I agree with ya... I dont drink,go to the bars,,,or all the Casinos here,and my knees would never allow me to ski....However I do like all nature has to offer and enjoy it often
 
#1,093 ·
57 degrees here in West Alabama this morning at 7 AM. Went for my morning walk in shorts and crocs. We have some rain in the forecast for this afternoon. It will be the second time it has rained here in the past 5 or 6 weeks so we are a little dry at the moment. The rain will be welcome. We also have our first freeze of the season in the forecast for tomorrow night. It is supposed to drop to 29. Of course, the daytime temps for the next couple of weeks will be in the 60's and 70's. I would say that I feel your pain regarding the cold weather but I can't really because, thankfully, I don't know what it is like.;)
 
#1,098 ·
Grabbed another set I had, old stock I purchased a lot of years ago so some surface imperfections but nothing in the realm of a defect.


Used my decades old moroso harmonic balancer installer and a tool I purchased last year to use the balancer installer as a crank gear installer.


 
#1,099 · (Edited)
In the oven went the cam gear for a little baking and then installed on the smaller Schneider camshaft. We will let it cool down. Tomorrow is supposed to rain so we shall see if we can get it in or not.

No, not motor oil. Management would not have been pleased so vegetable oil. Basement smelled like French fries when we installed the gear, lol!


 
#1,100 ·
Temps were pretty nice today, overcast but in the middle 50s. Tolerable. And dad felt like some fresh air, and a little tinkering on something, anything, lol. So I decided to make a little template for Patrick to drill a few holes and install a piece of window fuzzy.

His 57 is a 210 but the car had all kinds of doors on it. Only one seemed to be original to the car, the drivers front, and that door was pretty battered. 55wagoncrazy supplied us with a matching set of doors. The one issue we have to deal with, and a minor one at that, is that the doors were from a Belair. So the trim and window fuzzy arrangement is a little different. We saved the original door so I dragged it out from behind the garage. This is what is left of the door side window fuzzy.


It’s held in place by three small clips embedded in the fuzzy and one small screw.


 
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