Projects StNick's - 1957 Ford Custom 300 Build - Progress Begins!

Hey Nick and Mike--love that project. Very cool.

 

great car always hads a soft spot for 57-58 fords 2 dr posts

 

Good luck stay with it.

 

StNick called, said he spent all day Sunday in the garage pulling the motor/trans.

Nice Work Dad!!
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awesome build

 

Alot has happened over the last few months. The big news today is the motor is at the dyno, break in and tune. I'm taking videos and will post soon...

HP is in the 522 range!

 

Hope you get the numbers u want. I ran a tunnel wedge for yrs and loved it.
I think mine was running 10:50's back in 1990. 63 1/2 Falcon. Fun

 

Oh man, this is gonna be good!

 

My oldest son an I got to the Dyno shop at 10 am, they were breaking the motor in at that point.



Grandpa (StNick) was really excited!


Still tuning, and we are at (max) 561.6 trq and 539.4 HP



Via TJJ on iPhone

 

I am a big fan of the 57 Fords. Can't wait to see what all you do with it. Killer motor with impressive numbers.

 

So curb weight of 3527 lbs and 540 hp you should be running in the 10s. right?

 

So after the break in we drained the oil and cut the filter open, everything looked perfect! We filled her up with oil and a new filter and warmed up the new oil.



Then came dyno time, we first ran it with a brand new set of Ford BK BJ Holley 540 cfm carbs.





We had really good numbers



We adjusted the timing and tried it again




... it liked less advance.

So we put it back to where we started and then swapped the carbs. Dad bought and rebuilt an original set of BK BJ carbs last year. and made some adjustments.



And now some more pulls with the old carbs..






These carbs actually made more power!



The best for the day was 565.0 Trq and 539.9 HP

Whoopie!!!

 

I think ole Dad has been inside a carb once or twice before.
Sounded way cleaner and more crisp.
Gonna be a bad ass ride!

That Ford should have been born with a 9" from the factory. Big bearing ends are easier to install than changing the whole housing. Later center section bolts in.

 

Man, looks like you are doing this thing right! I love the look of an FE in a 57 Ford but maybe I am just a little biased.

 

By the way, I did put a little info about the rear disc brakes on another thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=569272

 

I built the same car 46 years ago in 1965, sure was fun racing 55-57 Chevys. Good luck on the gas deal, Sunoco 270 was 35.9 a gallon ! Sure wish Id have had brakes but you only needed them to stop !

 

I picked up the motor yesterday and delivered it to StNick.



We are going to work on getting it installed today.


Via TJJ on iPhone

 

Did I mention that the dyno runs were on 92 octane pump gas?


Via TJJ on iPhone

 

That is some REAL horsepower!

 

We got a lot accomplished today!
Lining up the parts, installed the pilot bushing, flywheel, clutch, scatter shield, and transmission.








Then it was time to clean the way for the cherry picker, StNick is scurrying around cleaning up...



And Ka-Chow!!! The motor/trans was in!!



Tight fit on the headers (does anyone make fender well headers for this?)







Plenty of oil pan clearance



I'm going to work the crossmember over tonight.




Via TJJ on iPhone

 

very impressive Nick!

 

be one bad mofo

 

you gotta know i'm loving this since i own an old 57 documented custom drag car that ran in the 12's back in the 60's. nice nice nice.......

 

can,t wait to see it done great car

 

This car kicks ass! It looks like a ton of fun.

 

The car won me over but the engine and trans put it in orbit. Can't believe i'm saying this but if my name were on the title I'd park one of my Chevys outside so this one could be all warm an snuggly during these cold winter days. Keep posting until it's finished and a utube of it turning rubber to liquid would be appreciated.

Frank

 

I brought the cross member home for modification, cut a section out and weld in some plate (sections of 2x4 sqr steel tube). It will get a brace on the bottom once I know how it needs to fit.





I love working in my shop!



Headed back to StNicks for installation.


Via TJJ on iPhone