Q&A on my 57 Chevy

[Omaha Steve]

Cross post from Automotive.

Notes from Friday night 9-20-08.


Marta and I bought the car in 1975. Bel Air turquoise and white top. 60,861 actual driven miles. 4 door family sedan. When I went to work as a park caretaker 11 years ago, there was no garage in a bad neighborhood. It went into storage at our home we left at the time. Now that the old home is sold, we brought next summers project home tonight. Five mechanics from work, one wife, and my expecting any day youngest daughter (Beanie) all helped with the prep work. In a day or so after it gets a bath for 11 years of filth (even cat foot prints), I'll post some photos. It is clean but needs lots of work after all this time. It will have to wait for next Spring. I'm pooped. More in a day or so. BTW, I sold my 2 door hard top when I needed cash when we had small kids.

First daylight in over 12 years.

Several photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22395170@N05 /



It still has another layer of dirt to come off. Here are some of the Q's & A's on the car I've gotten in the last few days after posting about the car.

We did buy it in 1975. It was not in running condition. The oil light was not working. The oil pick up failed, and the engine was blown by the previous owner. In 1991 I put a classic vet 350 in it. I kept it as original as I could. When I got hurt on the job in 1994, the car went into storage at that time. It was over 2 years before I returned to work full time. No extras in the budget. I got a job as a park caretaker in late 97. I had to live in the provided housing that had no garage. The car kept sitting. I got promoted a little over 2 years ago. We moved into our new home just before Thanksgiving of 2006. We sold the home we owned since 75 (yep same year we bought the car). That brings you up to Friday.

The car was built as a one color only. A common practice back then was a dealer to offer in house second color tops cheaper than the factory offer. It was a single barrel 283 with power guild transmission. The tranny was still working great when the 350 went in. It has been in at least one accident in the front. The grill is silver, not the original gold of a Bel Air.


It needs new breaks, suspension, and a few other things. The original block is still in storage. It will be evaluated next Spring for a possible rebuild. There are a few pieces of chrome (stainless steel) that need to be replaced. It needs lots of touch up. Several friends will be helping. I will make a few safety upgrades like disc brakes. Finding original seat belts looks to be harder that finding original A/C parts.

OS