Projects Turning a lemon into lemonade - Very rusty 55' Chevy onto a Caprice frame...

Yours looks like its coming along!

I did a 49' Fleetline on an S10 ch***is before this one. Its a lot of work and the only time I will do a ch***is swap like this is if the entire bottom of the car is rotted out, like this one. The 49' was better than this 55'.

If the floors are decent, then a frame swap with another stock frame if sooooo much easier.

 

i just want to say outstanding this thread is a great read , nice to see you save the roughest car and make something cool out of it , cant wait to see how it turns out when its in primer

 

I didn't make it to the shop last weekend because of the Waterdown swap meet. I didn't find anything I needed and it rained pretty bad.

However, when I got home I did speak to a friend of mine who is giving me his old 73' Buick Electra for parts. It has a strong running 455/TH400 and 2.73 posi 12 bolt in it. I am picking it up this weekend hopefully and I think the drivetrain will find its way into the 55'. I might try for a stick shift setup since I do have a BOP bellhousing and basically only need the flywheel.

 

I haven't been working on the 55 much since I have been busy picking up parts for it. I have located a good tailgate, picked up a pair of bucket seats for it, and getting room made for the 455 Buick that I have been given. I believe the 455 should motivate the car better than the 305. Now all I need to get is a Buick flywheel and the four speed setup I have can go behind the Buick!
I aleady have a spare BOP bell.

I might actually keep this thing on budget...

 

Cool!

I am enjoying the updates.

Keep up the good work.

 

Anything new??

 

I have gotten some things done, but also ran into a problem or two. I had to take the 55 off of the hoist because we needed to do some work on my friends cutl***. I also was doing a lot of running around getting parts.

The problem was that we couldn't get the rear wheels to go back on! The new rear suspension doesn't droop as much as stock and made it impossible to put the rims and tires I was using back on the car. I had to go and get smaller tires and they barely will go on - but once they are on there is tons of space. Good thing I am planning on radiusing the wheelwells. This took far too long.

I also pulled out the 305/TH700 on Saturday and put them for sale. A guy is actually supposed to be coming tonight for the motor. Its currently in the way so it would be nice for it to go.

I went to get the Buick to pull the 455, but the car wasn't running as I had been told and the brakes were all locked up . Its in a BIG car and the winch couldn't budge it. I am going this weekend to see if I can get it running (it need a battery) and break the brakes loose. The engine turns over and is a factory 455, 4 brl, dual exhaust motor - but not a stage 1. I think a good battery, some ether, and good gas and it will fire up. It was last running a year ago so it shouldn't be hard. This was saturday night.

Sunday was spent running around trying to find a guys place up north where I picked up a nice set of 15x10 Cragars for the 55'. Wrong street names on the directions from google maps, half the roads in the city shut down for a run for cancer, and the fact that street signs are optional once you get out in the country turned what should have been a few hour drive into an all day affair.

This weekend I have to try again to get the buick moving, and hopefully get to spend some time welding the last rocker panel, and crossmembers into the car.

 

I REALLY like this thread! Going from junk to something that REALLY looks like it's gonna be cool. Keep after that Buford, it'll make the car.

Brian

 

Sometimes a car gets so low that the only way to get a tire on/off is to take all the air out. My wagon is this way, kind of a pain in the *** and probably pretty dumb. I keep an air valve removal tool in my glovebox.

 

Man, I'm amazed at what you have done so far. I wish I had a fraction of the talent you've got! My Buick is in similar shape; probably better a parts car by now, but I refuse to give up. Of course, I also keep neglecting to actually start on it out of fear. lol.

 

If its as bad as this car was, you might as well start. Just remember that as you take it apart to label everything you are going to reuse, and that you will find a lot more rot as the parts come off.

I just scored a complete set of rear quarters patch panels for my wagon. Price was free - just come and get them. That will save me a bunch of money as I still needed the rear portions of the quarters (the patch panels come in two pieces per side). They are covered in surace rust, but I am cutting them up and only using pieces, so the DA will make short work of the rust.

This weekend I am actually looking forward to working on the 55. I am getting the buick towed to the shop and should have the motor pulled pretty quickly. Then I can finish welding in the drivers side rocker panel, and can move the body forward a half inch on the frame, and actually weld in the crossmembers that have been waiting for the last two monthes.

 

I just scored a complete 454 BBC for $100. Heh....we will see if the buick 455 goes into the 55' now.

 

Well, it looks like the will not 455 will be going into the 55'. It runs perfect, but parts are just too expensive for this budget build.

I tore down the 454 and it has a pair of busted cylinder wall from water getting into the cylinders and freezing. I think I will do a tech thread on how to get a really stuck motor apart on this 454.

 

Well, the 454 is still soaking, and I now have a 427 truck block and crank to play with. I am trading the seized 454 short for it, but will pull it apart. I also pulled out the TH400 I got for free several years ago, and the 57' ford 9" I picked up at the barrie swap this year. A friend is trying to talk me into running a spool, but I haven't decided if that is the way I want to go at this point on a driver.

I also picked up a set of BBC stainless turbo headers for a very good price. I think this car is going to be seeing a little boost. I am looking at a pair of T04B's for a carb'd, blowthrough setup. T04's came on the market in 1961, so they might even be considered traditional. Heh.

I even got to work on the car! The drivers side rocker is now all ready to weld in. I had to rebuild a lot more of the front of the rocker than I first thought, but now its all done.

 

Cool , cant wait to see some more update pics when ya get a chance.

 

Very cool. Keep us posted.

 

Its been a while since i have been busy with other things, but I am going to be working on the beast this weekend. I did the math and the only way I can afford to get this thing on the road for the spring is if I scale back the engine build some.

I have sold the buick, so its gone. And i have traded my tall deck Weiand Team G intake I had for a virgin 454 block, another 454 cast crank, and a torquer II intake for the low deck. I think I might be getting a set of 2.25/1.88 valves also.

I need to find a single 049 head locally here in Toronto.

I also pulled out the TH400. It looks good but we are going to freshen it up. I also pulled out the 9" and might have a 2.80 gear for it. My friend is giving me a stock center section, but it has a spool, so I am looking for a 31 spline Posi unit.

I should have the motor mocked up this weekend, the rocker welded in, and the body cross members in. I am ordering the turbo's today - T04B's with 62-1 compressors.

Finally, progress!

 

I even go to work on the car this weekend. There is now a rocker welded in on the drivers side! I need to finish it, but its mostly welded in now. I even have pics, but they are not that good. My camera is still deciding if its going to work properly or not.



I even got two of the cross members tack'd in place. I need to mark the frame and do some drilling.




I also tore down the $100 454 I picked up. It has 045 heads and two cracked cylinder bores from water getting inside and freezing. Other than the cracked bores the block is actually in pretty good shape. It had the better truck rods in it, and a virgin cast crank that is going to need a grind. The cam is a mystery - no numbers on it at all. It also had hard face lifters in it which I didn't expect.

It did take about four hours pounding with a mini sledge to get those pistons outl, and I only broke he head off 1 of them! The block will probably clean up at 30 over, but will need two sleeves.

A generic 4.25" bore 2 bolt main 454 block


Is this thing drilled and tapped for the oil cooler?


Generic P*** HI PER casting


Crack in #5


Crack in #1

 

Got my turbo headers. They are built by a shop called Phab out in michigan and are very nicely made.

Turbos should be showing up any day, then I can mockup the engine.

 

Good going man - Keep it up!

 

good stuff.

 

this is a great thread! way to rescue an obviously far gone body. making do with whats available and cheap, doesnt get much more traditional than that. There will be disagreement, but mostly from guys who will spend more on their period intake than you spend on the entire build, except for sweat equity of course.


regarding keeping the floors, I did this with my s10 frame swap, kept the s10 floor and firewall to replace the badly rusted 62 cab floor the new metal is obvious, the 62 metal also obvious, and the white is the s10 floor.




the advantage for me was keeping all the firewall systems intact, I have AC/heat, antilock brakes, EFI etc. In fact it worked out so swimmingly I am actually planning to do it again with a 55 4dr wagon body and.... a 4 or 5 cyl colorado longbed frame/drivetrain/floor/firewall/systems.


keep it up! very nice work.

 

Thanks! Yours looks great!

Well - two steps forward...one step back.

The 454 is mocked up in the car with a dummy block. I ended up moving it three inches back to get it closer to the firewall. Its also three inches up from the stock right now in an attempt to get the headers to fit.

The headers were not built correctly, and I am trying to see if the shop will replace them with a set that will work. The turbos end up rotated exactly 30 degrees, and one of the flanges has a 20 degree tilt for some reason.

Unless the guy who built them decides to fix the problem, I need to cut the header flange off, rotate the headers up 30 degrees and reweld.

Anyone in toronto have a metal bandsaw? I need to saw up some headers.

 

I have been actually working on the car. But the camera has said adios, so so pics.

The cross members for the front are all welded in and bolted to the frame, the drivers rocker is finish welded, and all the welds on it have been dressed. All I have to do is the cross members in the cargo area. I have pulled out the stock spare tire well and the rusted out original gas tank from storage - going to reuse the spare tire well, and will order a new gas tank.

I am waiting for my new header flanges so I can get chopping on the turbo headers.

 

Have you got a new camera yet!!!

 

No camera yet. I need to buy one but money has been tight. I might borrow one soon. I have been working on engine stuff anyways. I am going with the SBC that was going to go into my 57' instead of the big block. Its still going to be turbocharged, but I am also leaning towards the four speed. I already have everything but the pistons for the SBC I have.

I already have all the SBC stuff, and the turbos will work perfect on the smaller motor. No intercooler, and low boost blow through carb. Should still make an easy 600+.

 

Man that Heavy Chevy had seen better days! All the more power to ya Rick. Your making some nice progress. Keep it up!

 

Still working on the car. I even have a new camera but I am still figuring it out.

The small block is mock'd up with the four speed, and the engine mounts have been moved to the proper spot on the crossmember.

With the body bolted down to the frame, I have removed all the bracing inside the car with the exeption of one brace at the rear. The back of the car is really rotten around the bottom of the tailgate, and I have a lot of rust repair to do there. I started on it, and its ugly.

I also mocked up the steering column, and seat mounts. I have found that the stock seats sit a little high (the floor is 2" higher than stock at the seat mounts, so I either have to lower the stock seat or find one that doesn't sit 14" above the floor. Oh well - I am still looking at options.

 

Great post, I'm putting a very rusty 1958 Pontiac 2 door on a 1975 Impala Ch***is. My Pontiac frame is rusted and was cut up back in the day. Keep up the good work, someone has to save the rusty ones too.

 

BTT any updates Rick??