Hot Rods Barn or in this case, garage finds still exist!!

LOL the ignition wires still have over spray from the paint job

 

Damn!!! Been under that hood a couple dozen times and had not noticed that till you pointed it out...

 

Thanks a bunch!! This car means much more to me than the financial value it has, so I am not going to cut any corners on bringing it back to life.

Now, just need that winning lottery ticket....

 

There were three different bumper jacks in the trunk, is this the correct one that would have been with the car when new?

 

No one has any insight on the bumper jack?

 

How well does it fit the contours of the bumpers? The one shown doesn't look right for 1957.

 

It "fits" but I think it could be better. I am not sure how tight the tolerances were back then though and I have never seen a jack that style, it just looks old to me. The ones I remember from the 60's were kind of the same design, but different construction, then there was the "new and improved" version that worked the same but fit into a notch in the bumper.

Since it was in the trunk, I wanted to try and verify that it was correct for the year so I could restore it and keep it with the car, it is not something I would ever consider using, but don't want to throw away a piece of the car's history either.

 

Picked up a nice Saginaw 4 speed tranny for a good price.

Have not looked up the numbers yet, but owner said he got it many years ago from an early (73 or 74 can't remember), Camaro that was wrecked.

As he remembered, it had around 50K miles on it.

One more small piece of the puzzle off the list...

 

MAN!!! What a year 2020 was!!! Hope everyone made it through and are doing well!

It has been awhile, but have been making some progress on the 57. Started out with some rust reduction surgery by Toyland Auto Restorations in Longview, Wa.

This level of repair is way above my pay grade so was happy to have Gil tackle it for me...

 

Looks like good metalwork being done. Better to have a pro do it if you don't have the skills for that kind of repair yourself.

Once all of the rust is fixed, I'd be tempted to see how close of a color match you could get to the paint that's on it, and try to blend in the repairs and damage.

 

Nice find and great to see you are making progress. Those 57 Chevies are pretty cool, aren't they?

 

Thanks! Little bit here and there, but still moving forward.

It also runs and drives, first time that has happened since 1985, not great mind you, and stopping is a bit sketchy.

 

When the weather was good and not much else to do, spent some time working on the donor frame.

 

Had a few small things welded up since I didn't have my welding set up complete yet.

 

Noticed a little "WOW" on the back corner of the frame, so tried to see if I could straighten it without having spend $700.00 - $800.00 (real, in person quotes) for a frame shop to do it.



Got it straightened with a little effort and falls within the factory specs now. These weren't perfect when they left the factory, so I think I am good to go..

 

Off to the sandblast shop and back home with a coat of epoxy primer.

 

Little more welding repair to do then will be ready for the next step. But weather is a big limiting factor for me as a lot has to be done outside due to limited space, but still chugging along.

 

Those body mount stringers, are always the first to go! What was wrong with the original frame that it is calling for a total frame swap? The body is lookn’ good!

 

Thanks. Nothing wrong with the original as far as I know.

About a year ago I picked up a 4 door, hardtop parts car for cheap, pretty much picked over, but still had a few decent parts that I was able to recover my investment and end up with a one-piece frame free. So figured I would just do all the mods I want on it then swap out the original numbers matching one to save.

Plus I can keep it a roller and since it runs and drives now, can keep it that way till I am able to do everything I want to it.

 

Got a great buy on a 57 frame that had rust free body perches and was also a Sport Coupe with the extra body mount bracket that my frame I am working on was missing. So instead of having to try and repair the rusted out mounting brackets, I can replace with solid, factory ones.

 

So it this a one piece CA frame? Thanks

 

Yes it was.

 

Spent some time today working in the shop and took a much closer look at the frame I picked up and it is not a a 57, either a 55 or 56 instead.

I took the fellow at his word it was from a 57 and didn't look at the whole frame over too close as we got it out of where it had been stored for the last decade or two. Well, that meant 2 of the brackets I need are too short it seems.

Pretty sure he believed it to be a 57 and that he was not trying to pull a fast one on me and truth be told, it has more than enough good pieces I need that I can make do with what I have so not too concerned.

Added some pics to show what I am talking about.

 

BARN OR IN THIS CASE, GARAGE FINDS STILL EXIST
They will continue to exist until the end of time. Finding old cars inside buildings is the norm. Its not exceptional

 

Sorry if I am missing something, but your point is???

@manyolcars

 

Glad to see you scored that, pretty nice find. There is 2 57 chevy convertibles setting under a car port about a mile from me in Brooksville Ky. The guy lived in Germantown, don't know him, and had one of them covered up under a carport, then he moved to Brooksville and has two setting there.