Hey all, I starting a list of to does on my 54 Chevy hardtop. I was lucky to find a really good start. The only sheet metal that does need replacing is now the door bottoms. However, I'm not sure I've seen door bottoms for a hard top. Are they not the same as a post? As far as the drive train. It needs some work. It runs/ drives and leaks in between. Haha. I had the car out last weekend pushing it pretty hard. Eventually getting a " hey you're smoking pretty bad!" So as soon as pull over , oil is literally pouring out. I shut it down and it continued to pour and eventually fizzle out. The car was towed home. But just as a precaution. It was stilling driving under good power and still starts and runs good. Anyway, here is the deal. After it looked like it bleed to death on the side of the road, i check the oil in both the ****** and engine.... Full...? It looked like the leak can from the bellhousing. Not the drain but above it. I swear it was oil, but was confused. So, I was already thinking V-8, sbc. I have a couple of little girls and the wife. We're part of a small close group of car nuts. So we do a lot o car shows and meets. So, i'de like to be able to run 70+ without rapping out. So here's another question: hp or nastalgia? I have two good options on a v8. Late 60's 383 stroker or a 55' 283. Both a good deal.... What should I put behind them aswell?
For crusing and riding you don't need tons of hp,or glitz.Stay small and get decent mileage. AOD trans and a open drive r/e.
So, do you think stick with the 235? And a 200 or 700r with a better rearend? Or 283? This is the first car project I've done. Cause weighing the options, the adaptor is exspensive. So a sbc is within reason.
Well, since Chevrolet didn't make a 283 in 55 that would be an odd engine to begin with. First, if it runs good and drives good find out what the hell is wrong with it to cause it to leak and see what it takes to fix that. Then if for some reason it is beyond reasonable expense to repair go to plan B. Swapping to an overdrive trans and open drive rear end will still cost a stack of change because you will have to buy an adapter to connect the trans to the engine that costs just short of 400 bucks. Even then you might have a car that doesn't keep up with your buddies in their V8 cars on road trips. If it were mine I'd probably go with the 383 if it wasn't built too wild with a 700R4 behind it and a mid 3's geared rear end and have a car that had some poke and could get out and run with the big dogs on the boulevard .
Would the early 55-57 Chev sbc bellhousing work for this one, fit to the trans? Run the 283, as it will have enough power and be light on the financials.
Bite the bullet and do it right. No matter which engine you go with you will need to change out the rear end and transmission to an open drive setup. If you shop around you should be able to find a rusted out donor car and use the rear and trans, there are lots of old gen2 Camaro's in junk yards. The 283 will get you down the road easily and should get decent mileage. You will need engine mounts for the V-8 and fabricate a mount for the trans. The donor drive shaft should be long enough to cut down to fit. The stock radiator will cool the 283 after flushing it .
Thanks all, I guess I need to run the #'s on the 283and find out more about it. I'll check to see if it mounts to the front or sides too. The straight6 runs good, but pretty sure the rear main pooped out. Normal noisy top end, but still has descent power. I'm just worried it maybe on the end of it's run. Speedo has not being hooked up for who know's how long, so milage is not known. This car is solid, but you can tell it's been around a few hacks. Wires and lines are everywhere, panels a bit crooked. but all there and solid. My job now I suppose. And I dig it. I just want to do it justice and correct the first time around. If this 283 is not what I'm thinking it may be then I'm probably going for the 383. This 383 is a running $400 shortblock from a friend. Maybe just put a small torque'y cam in it and back it with a 700r and later rearend?
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