Projects The 56 Chevy Continued Adventure Build

Scored these M/T valve covers this weekend. Been patiently looking and waiting for the right deal to come along. Always liked these and or the Cal Custom finned covers too. Will run these to begin with at least.

 

Cool!

 

Putting the son to work scraping the caked oil off the floor pan. Found oven cleaner loosens it up pretty good after decades of it caked on the metal. Trying to teach him you have to do the unglorious jobs before you get to do the cool stuff!

 

I used to have to "Learn" how to do stuff when my Dad didn't want to do it! LOL!!!
But I think that's the way we all learned!

 

It builds character .

 

well there is that too! ha ha Got my hands more dirty than I care to remember! I wanna do the fun stuff now!

 

He's just thinking..." I'm going to burn these tires so bad , and get laid in this bitchin car"

 

well,maybe a light respirator--i always notice the choking w/ dollar store oven clnr. in my kitchen!

 

yes agreed. I'd spray where we wanted to scrape and let it sit for half hour while not in the shop.

 

Think the boy did a pretty good jb getting the underside mostly cleaned off. Couple areas still but a good start. Got the old hole for the shifter and battery cutoff switch patched on the tranny tunnel. Will get the new round hole cut for the Tremec shifter once I get some measurements.

 

A little mechanical work today. Needed to clean and lube the speedo head as it was gummed up. Going to order a new OG temp gauge but the electric version and i'll test the fuel gauge to see if it still works if not I'll replace it as well. lens is a little frosted up, not sure if it can be brightened up. Any suggestions let me know.

 

I used swirl remover on the speedo in the modelA...it's a 54 Ford speedometer

 

did you just rub it with a cloth or use any sort of power device?

 

interesting, didn't know that. Back of the gauge looks like it was the capillary tube type.

 

Also, the capillary tube and probe are only long enough to reach the back of the block even it was aV8. 55 265’s are not the same as a 56 265.

 

Ticked off some more grunt work today and I got the gauge holes filled in. Forgot to take a pic after cleaning up the welds. I'll be returning the dash to stock 210 trim/layout. My copilot was hangin in the shop today with me too.

 

Looks good and I was wondering what you’ve been up to...

 

It was a while ago but I just used two microfiber cloths , one to apply the other to buff. I had a little bit of overspray from a rattle can , it took off the overspray and polished the plastic.

 

Started the drivers side under car repairs. Got the old seat mount bracket cut out and installed the new one with new sheet metal. Welded in the replacement floor pan brace as well. Have one more floor pan brace further back to cut and install new one. Tested the seat to make sure my measurements were right... I still know how to use a tape measure!

 

Been a bit of a slacker the last while. Everyone in the house took turns getting a nasty cold that just held on and on so that slowed progress down as well. Got back on things this weekend now that I'm on to the drivers side of the show. Got all the floor pan braces replaced and burned in and re did the top fender mount like the passenger side. A few other little things on this side to tend to then I'll jump on the back end trunk last 10 inches replacement. And for those who are wondering, no I didn't write the "looks good" on the rear brace. That's how she came out of the box. Someone inspecting on a Friday I guess...

 

Hope to make some more good headway this weekend. In the meantime got my CPP 25 gallon tank in today. This model let's you keep the spare tire wheel well which I definitely wanted to do. Comes with all the hardware and heavy fuel filler hose that connects to the stock filler tube. Took in the first swap meet of the season today. Pretty small but better than nothing. Not much there I needed but I did score a good deal on a set of exhaust cut outs and this clean original BC 56 plate. If only the province allowed use of these old plates. No dice in BC!

 

Looking great!
Pretty sure I picked up a trick from your thread. ^ The way you fixed the threaded hole. For the rusted hinge area on my '55 hood, I tapped a piece of 3/8'' x 1'' steel bar. Then welded it into the remaining good structure. It worked & saved the hood!

 

That's great, what the hobby is all about, picking up stuff from other guys

 

Very cool project and progress.

 

Looking for opinions here. Who is the best source for a pulley kit like this for a BBC with long water pump? Need the pulleys and brackets and I haven't been able to find anyone that does a complete kit so unless you go out and order all the components separate it seems no one has one. Not that I can't order the parts separate except then it seems I would have to order from multiple vendors which means multiple shipping and border charges.

 

I haven't looked recently, but Alan Grove used to be the go-to for al the brackets and such.

As far as the pulleys themselves, have you checked the resto houses? I'd be surprised if somebody didn't offer a kit with all that you need since so many muscle car era guys are still swapping in big blocks where there was originally a small block or 6 cyl.

Devin

 

Love builds like this. Awesome work so far. Keep the updates coming.

 

Thanks man, appreciate the nice words

 

Good day today. Long awaited Ciadella full interior arrived. Went through the stuff and I think the quality is top notch. Well worth the money in my opinion. Wheels & caps arrived last week. Wheels will head off to powder coat on Friday. I was going to paint the wheels myself but the more I thought about it, decided to get the coated then I know they'll stand up long term. The car is gonna get driven lots so bite the bullet and spend the dough in the right spots. Been steadily finishing sheet met work, nothing sexy enough to post pics of. Getting close to coating the floor pan in and out before I tackle the rear truck repair. Motor will hopefully be done any day. Engine shop is slooooow but they do great work so no reason to push. A few more items to order up then I'm hoping I'm done having to order parts and can just focus on final work and start assembly.

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