Projects Gangreen. My 56 Chevy

My car's story starts at vintage torque fest in May 2013. I've always been a fan of tri-fives, gramps had a 56 210 and dad has a 57 delivery. At the show my fiancé and I saw this car and we liked it so much I had my step son pose for a picture in front of it. We owned a 51 Fleetline, but it had the original drivetrain in it and, while it was great to drive, we wanted something with hot rod attitude. Fast forward to December that year and the car shows up on CL and I struck a deal after asking my fiancé about 100 times if she was cool with us purchasing the car. I even said "this car could mean we don't get the flowers you want or some other detail for the wedding". She was very supportive and I even pitched it in place of a limo to get from the wedding to the reception.

I spent last year going through it and trying to figure it all out. It was put together with the intent to resell (I say this because the gentleman I picked it up from has numerous amazing projects that display a high level of talent). It was not in bad shape, it just needed bugs worked out, cleaned and polished.



The cars paint was inspired by an old truck that used to run at the strip in Eddyville, IA. The guys who put it together tracked down the guy that lettered the truck and asked him to do the car. It sounds like that was a tall order as the painter wasn't doing much anymore. I knew I was making the right move on the car when My grandfather and dad remembered the truck from the time they spent at the strip running a nova wagon. I've taken some heat for telling the story of how I ended up with the car when people find out I didn't build it. I don't put any weight behind the commentary, they are usually the same people telling me that a car has to have a solid front axle to be a gasser. None the less, I have been going through doing simple things to the car: gas tank replaced, carb rebuild, new distributor, etc. This year I intend to get more heavily involved with the car and this is my "non-build, build" thread.

My name is Nick and I live in central Iowa. I did an intro a long time ago, this is the first time I've posted action on any of my projects. I'm always up for expanding my car guy network, I do most everything on my own or with my dad. Hope you enjoy my thread and offer your experiences. Thanks for reading.

 

I like the car,regardless of who built it.

Love to see more photo's of the 56. HRP

 

Looks to the start of a great thread. Good ol' family projects are the best! Green is my fav color & looks great on your 56! Congrats. Flux

 

I just set the car back on the ground tonight after replacing the control arm bushings, springs, and ball joints. When I had it all apart, I blasted and painted the control arms as they will be pretty visible and I didn't want to just add another coat of paint to the multiple layers already in existence.



Here is a before picture of the stance from good guys in DesMoines last year. *i did not take this picture, I borrowed it from a post a fellow H.A.M.B. Member made last year covering the show*



Here is the new stance after switching to a fresh set of station wagon springs. I just wanted the car to sit more level. I also added the ball joint spacers just for fun now, but hopefully to help transfer weight when I get the car where I want it.



I had these laying around and I'm going to see how they fit the car after I blast and paint them.



This has been my largest commitment of time and effort so far. I am teaching myself to sew upholstery from scratch. This is the first panel I felt was good enough to put in the car. I have really enjoyed learning the process, and thank god I have an understanding wife. I'm three sewing machines deep and my man cave is now being referred to as the "sewing room." Tonight she actually came to me with clothes I need to fix for her...... I guess it goes with the territory. I am making diamond metal flake green side panels and covering the rear seat with black metal flake vinyl. I haven't decided the design for the seat yet, I'm trying to hone my skills on the side panels.



Here is more support for the great wife I have, she let this thing in the house. Any of you who are actually skilled upholstery folks are probably laughing your asses off right now, but this thing is what I stitched the panel with. It's an old cobblers machine and I made a clamp out of two pieces of square tube aluminum to hold my vinyl and sew foam. It allowed me to float the material without a table and because it is a treadle machine with a hand crank I have a lot of control, which is very nice when you are a rookie. It's also the manliest sewing machine I've ever seen which was more reason to buy it based on all the crap I've been getting from my friends.

 

Cool story, lots of the tri fives looked like that in the 60's, glad to see you are willing to learn new skill sets too!!

 

Here are a couple interior shots so you guys can see that it's really the last open canvas left on the car. I'm thinking simple black vinyl floor and a modified super boot for the ram rod. Buying a real ramrod boot is a little off the list priorities at the moment. I'm going to clean up the slop in the steering column, but I'm going to leave the worn wheel. The car has a great feel of a car from the late sixties, early seventies (I'm basing that on research, I'm only 32. LOL). I don't want to get too far away from it, I meet a lot of drag fans that spent time at the tracks when cars like it were popular and I enjoy the discussions. I'm going to insulate the car and I actually have the rear seat out of my grandfathers 56 that I am going to restore and re-cover. I love adding bits and pieces from my grandfathers car to mine. His is in disrepair, but I'm rescuing what I can from it.

 

Great story and wife.You done good.

 

Nice write up. A Don Garlits tach (Stars & Stripes) would help create that feel for the era you are aiming for.

 

Really cool 56. I like the green metal flake interior piece . Very period.

 

I likey Green with envy.

 

So what if you didn't build the car, it's your's now and that's one mean green machine.

 

Super cool car! What engine is in front of that 4 speed?

 

Nice ride,are you going to make your way to Bowling Green Ky this August? It would be cool to see it up close.

 

I've been searching for one since I bought the car. I agree, those things are awesome.

 

Sweet ride! Yer doing it right! Power on!

 

I ran the numbers on the block and it is a 69 350, I'm sure it has been cleaned up, but I have yet to tear it apart. I was told it has a full roller valve train, and I have confirmed it has roller rockers when setting valve lash last summer. It has double hump heads, 261 I believe, I'm looking to go through and freshen them up. The carb is a 600 Holley, it is designed like a double pumper, but you can change the jets through a port in the top. A friend told me that it was designed for easy jetting changes at the track without spilling fuel on a hot manifold. It is a little odd, based on the rebuild kit I had to buy being different than "normal" double pumper kit. It had the fender well headers on it with the dumps off an old speed boat. I bought a set of auger style baffles to put in them so I didn't have to worry about being pulled over (as much) on the street with open headers. I bought the air cleaner set-up because it had a very small assembly before. I picked up the old M/T covers at a swap as I thought they looked part on the car. My next steps after finishing up the interior is to go after reliable, safe, performance. I will be equipping a billet flywheel, scatter shield, and quality clutch for piece of mind. (I recently read the thread on here with all the stories of things coming apart under heavy load)

 

I would love to go, but my wife is due in early August and I'm sure it will probably consume my August this summer. : )

 

Thanks for all the positive feedback folks. I knew you guys would get it.

 

Looks good ,thats coming from an Iowa Gasser fan.

 

Color me green with envy as well. My first hot rod was a '56 210 sedan, although not as nice and fast as this one. Keep up the great work man.

 

You know we dig it!

 

I really like what you are doing. Neat car.

 

Just for fun, here is an inspirational picture of my grandfathers nova wagon he ran at Eddyville. He and a friend took turns running this car down the strip.

 

Ok guys, I mocked these up tonight and I have no reference for how the should set up other than that the bumper is supposed to contact the spring perch in the front. The bumper is sitting about 2-3 inches from the spring, I have a little more room to move it forward, am I close or is this way off? Doesn't look like rocket science, but like I said, I have never installed these before.

 

Do you have the suspension loaded? Can't tell in the pic.

 

No, I should have thought of that. I'll try again.

 

Great job on the door panel, doesn't look like the work of a beginner. Watching this thread, I spent many Saturday nights at Eddyville 1/8 mile in the early 80s. Seems like I saw that truck on the street late 80s in Knoxville IA (although my memory is getting very suspect)

 

Well let me start by saying those must have been some damned expensive flowers. I would just grab the gal up and head for Vegas and get married by Elvis if it were me.

The truth be known there are a lot more poser straight axle tri fives now then ever raced with a straight axle. There were an awful lot of lifted independent front suspensions being raced and raced competitively. I probably would not allow myself to be influenced by fools.

Nice car and good luck on the wedding. it will be nice to arrive at your reception in style as opposed to in a Limo.

 

Will you bring the car to Bowling Green in June to the Hot Rod Reunion?

 

Great car and enjoyed the read that old truck is BA.
I had a Good friend in HS late 60s he had a dark green metal flake 56 business coupe. It had a 301 four speed and a 456 rearend what a great car.
A few things to check on the ball spacers make sure you get the front aligned before you make any speed runs. I installed a set on my 55 and had problems getting the camber set right. Also the upper balljoint would make contact with the upper snubber bracket that is riveted to the frame. Not good it can bend the arms around the three bolts that fasten the upper balljoint and spacer. Lots of guys remove the snubber bracket to prevent contact. If you keep the spacers keep a close eye on cracks in the A-arms. Lots of guys reinforce or plate the arm around the bolts.
On mine I changed the way the balljoint sits in the arm to correct alignment issues and gain frame contact. I dident remove the snubber bracket because I think it adds strength to the spring pocket on the frame and you need that snubber under hard exceleration.
On the traction bars you want that snubber to come up under the spring eye were the bolt attaches it to the frame. It should touch the spring sitting at ride height.
On those bars you could cut off and shorten the front bracket if need be. Good luck with the car and new family. Ron