New Acquisition
 

Still have a couple of cars I am planning to sell, but in the meantime....

I have really had the bug lately to get a TriFive. In HS I drove a 57 210 two door sedan. 283 PG. Tropical Turquoise with a white top and white side panel. It was cherry when I bought it; but I quickly drove it into the ground. Not all the issues were my fault. I had plenty of idiot friends helping. I ended up losing my driving privileges, and had to sell the car. My next car was a 69 Z/28, but that’s another story.
I have always thought Turquoise was THE quintessential color for all the TriFives.
For years I kept thinking I would run across another one. Even back then, I really lusted after the two door hardtops. They just have the look. So, I always kept an eye out for either one. I would be fine with EITHER a Bel Air OR a 210. But, being the fickle, unstable person that I am, I really wanted a Nomad. As Steve mentioned a few months ago, they have the “it” factor. I have stated it before, my biggest problem is I want ALL of them, but don’t have the means or the room.
While I like the look of the 57 Nomad, I believe the 55 is the best looking of the three years. I know it isn’t smaller, but it looks a little smaller, and the radiused rear wheel wells really set it apart. Frankly, Chevy should have done that on ALL the 55s.
After looking at the 55 Nomad in Regal Turquoise owned by SpeedyB on this site (guessing it is the same color as Tropical Turquoise in 1957… just a different name), I was really jealous. Some pics on pages 8 & 9 here: https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthre...t=Nomad&page=8
Don’t think there is a chance he will sell that one.
I also love the look of the TriFives in stock form. I know everyone wants a restomod. I don’t. I wanted something that at least looked original. I can stand some upgrades, but 17 inch wheels on a TriFive just look wrong to me.
I seriously considered buying this Nomad: https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=176986
Sherri and I flew to Philly and drove 3 hours a few weeks ago to check it out. Warren and his family were wonderful. I really enjoyed spending time there. I spent a lot of time going over the car. Even though I was dressed for the cold, the 8 degree wind chill didn’t help. It is as represented. It is a fabulous car, and maybe the lowest mile Nomad on the planet. I left PA thinking I would be confirming the sale with Warren. But something bugged me about it. There are three car shows annually here in Guthrie. I knew I would be OK driving it those short distances; but if I wanted to show it anywhere else, I would have to trailer it. I would rather have something I am not afraid to drive.
Bottom line is that this arrived yesterday from California. Some guys would call it a pig with lipstick. I prefer to think of it as a diamond in the rough. V8 powerglide car. Has some mechanical issues. Factory PS leaks (now THAT’S a surprise!!!). Interior is filthy. Hoping I can clean it up; I will find out today. The 283 is gone, and a 275 horse 327 from a full size 68 Chevy is in its place; although some moron put power pack heads on it. Would have been a pretty common upgrade back in the 60s or 70s. It has a cast iron powerglide manufactured Jan of 57, but no way to know for certain if it is the original. I would assume so, BUT FOR THE FACT that there is a poorly patched hole in the floor for a four speed shifter. So, if it is the original, it was removed at some point. Bottom line for me is that I really don’t care. Unbelievably, the trans does not leak bad at all. Engine doesn’t leak.
I spent part of yesterday checking out brakes and tires. That’s why I posted the tire date code question. The rears are AT LEAST 30 years old. Not worn out. It just hasn’t been driven. The fronts are 22 years old and still have nubs on them and the parting line is visible!!! The wheels are American Racing Torque Thrust on back, and copies (really good copies) of the same on the front. I could not tell the difference other than the writing and “Japan” stamped into the front ones on the back side. RR tire was losing air around the bead. It took a while to get the tire busted loose from the rim. But, the rim surface cleaned up really well with a wire brush followed by 220 emery cloth. I like the look and will use them for now. Put the wheels on the balancer just to make sure none are bent. All are perfect.
Ordered a set of “driver” tires from TireRack last night.
Spent the rest of the day “cleaning” the underside. There was 68 years of gravel, sand and stone (and one recent mouse nest) inside the frame rails and on top of the body mount “tabs” (or whatever you call those things). Has about 30 pounds of undercoat. But, the floors are absolutely rust free. The rockers are all there, with no bondo. Even has the factory drain flaps. It started out innocently enough; I saw part of that mouse nest and decided to pull it out. Got the air gun and blew out the last remnants and man, did the dust start flying. Figured I already made a huge mess in my nice clean shop, so blew out everything I could from underneath. Car has been in CA and AZ its whole life, and I ended up with half the desert on my floor.
Spent the rest of the day cleaning my shop. Had I been smart, I would have taken I out in the parking lot, but it on jack stands and blown it out.
The body and paint is really nice. If I had to guess, I would guess it was painted in the 90s. Still holding up well. Not a dent or a big scratch anywhere. There is some minor rot in one of the body braces, but it will be an easy fix. I won’t fix the hole in the floor unless I end up removing the trans. Lots of little dings in the stainless. The driver’s side flapper works perfectly; the passenger side, not as well. The only pitted chrome pieces are the tail light housings. Bottom line is this: I won’t be afraid to drive this car anywhere.
Plan for now.
Clean the interior.
Take car outside and blow off the dust.
New tires (just temporary… see below).
Rebuild power steering control valve and replace all four PS hoses.
Rebuild the Qjet (had to use a can of starting fluid to get it started).
Original 57 Chevy wheels, hubcaps with reproduction wide white wall tires. I want it to look original.
Assess the engine. I don’t know if it was rebuilt when installed, but would assume so. It does have a 327 crank, so that wasn’t changed. Not sure why someone would put the PP head on it. Once it starts it runs reasonably smooth.

Here is the mess I made yesterday.
That stone was lodged on top of one of the body tabs.
Looks like moon dust. You can see my footprints. The clean spot is from one sweep with the broom.
What a mess.

Nice. Even has the one piece front bumper. 👍 👍

Very cool Lynn! Congratulations

Didn't do a whole lot today. Cleaned. Cleaned some more.
Found a receipt under the seat for a battery from Sears dated 1996.

I don't believe the car has been driven more than a mile since 2003. As I stated in my long winded first post, front tires still have nubs, and they are dated 2003.

I thought about putting the RR tire back on the rim, but decided why bother?

Would still like to take the car to the tag office in the next day or two. In OK, if you buy a car in state, you only need to take the title. But if it comes from out of state they have to inspect the vin plate. So, in case I can't wait until my new tires get here, I tried fitting the front tires and wheels that had been on the El Camino. They are a bit tall, but fit up into the wheel well without any possibility of rubbing. 215 70 R15. 15x7 wheel with about 4.5 inch backspacing.

Looks kind of odd with 15 inch Centerlines on the rear and the 14 inch Torq Thrust on front. Doesn't help that the front tires are undersized. 195 70 R14. But it is temporary.

Still haven't washed the car yet. Lots of little water spots. Tried a couple of test areas and they all polish off. Should be 60F here on Wed. so maybe then.

I had to take the floor mats to the car wash and treat them with some heavy duty degreaser. Would have been nice if the water was hot on the soap cycle like it is supposed to be. May need to find another car wash. Still not perfect, but a vast improvement.

Because I found a mouse nest in the frame, I wanted to make sure the little bastard didn't get nesting material out of the seats. Pulled the back seat and was pleased to see all is well. Springs still have the Jan of 57 assembly tag. I was surprised to see seat belt anchors. Not sure what the PO did with the seat belts. Apparently they were never installed on the assembly line, but could be ordered with the car and dealer installed.

AM radio works. Not that there is anything I want to listen to on AM. Horn did not honk with the horn ring. Ran a wire to each one. RS does not honk. Left side does. I assume there is an issue in the steering column or a horn relay.

I did confirm that the carb (7028212 DH) and the intake (3919803) are original to the 1968 HF code engine (275 horse 327). Still can't figure out why they would not have used the heads off that engine. Should have 291 heads with 1.94 intake valves. Did not pull a valve cover to check dates, but they could be the 1957 power pack heads. That would give it some extra compression (60cc chamber vs 63cc) but they use 1.72 intake valves, so really small. Just seem odd.

I have several extra sets of 186 heads, so will likely just use one of those sets if I decide to get into the motor. Way down the road. Just want to get it safe and comfortable, enjoy the ride for a while. Engine does idle very smoothly, so no reason to start ripping it apart. Besides, I need to get back on the LT-1 resto.

Did order a carb kit, points and plugs.

Tried to load pics. "Page not working". HTTP ERROR 500

Well, at least one loaded.

Congrats on the new purchase, Lynn! :beers:

What a pile !!!!!

LMAO.

Charley helped me out with the short term storage and then transport of this pile.

After it left his place, I got a text that just said: "POS left a couple days ago"

After I received it, I responded: "POS is at my place."

Sorry the POS dripped on your nice clean floor Charley.

Despite trying to come off as a horses arse, you are still a good guy. Thanks!!!

And no bumper guards. Those things just mess with the lines.

Congratulations - looks like a great acquisition.

Good day today. Been fighting a lower back injury that happened just before MCACN. Was in a lot of pain during that whole weekend. Note to self. Don't pick up an old iron floor jack and turn quickly to put it in the back of the truck. Won't bore you with the details, but gave in to Physical Therapy to speed up the healing process. Before the injury I was doing 5 miles on the treadmill 4 or 5 days per week. Was even able to do a 10k in under 55 minutes. Not bad for an old fart. That came to a screeching halt. Just started back a little bit at a time once or twice a week. Did 4 miles this morning without issue before going to PT, so seeing some real progress.

Got home from work and went down to the shop about 5:30. Drilled out some broken screws in for the center caps on the two rear wheels. If you don't have a set of rescue bits, check into it. I could not have done it without them.

Also cleaned up the lips on the wheels. Figured while I had it on the tire machine cleaning up the bead surface, may as well do the outside. Came out really nice. Just used a green scotch while they were rotating on the tire machine.

Car would not go into park; was having to set park brake each time it was parked. Just a simple shifter adjustment fixed that. While I was under there, I noticed the trans mounts look REALLY old and cracked. Engine mounts look almost new. Ordering trans parts tonight.

Checked out the lights. All work as they should. Electric wipers work as they should. My 210 had vac wipers and they sucked (no pun intended) especially uphill. Even the friggin AM radio works. Not that there is anything I want to listen to on AM.

Didn't check the clock, but would be shocked if it worked.

I mentioned in my first post that the only pitted chrome was the tail light housings. Not quite true. Guess the stars in my eyes kept me from noticing, but the outside mirror base and both hood rocket bases have some pitting. Not a big deal at this point.

One thing that will definitely need addressing is the kickdown for the transmission. Not hooked up. Most of the linkage is there. But I need a couple pieces. I may have something leftover from when I converted the El Camino from PG to 4L60E. I rarely throw away brackets or linkage pieces. Shouldn't be hard to source.

I can live with the 40 or so pounds of undercoating on the bottom of the car for now. May have it dry ice blasted at some point. The three cosmetic things I really want to address are:

1. Some nimrod painted the firewall black. Not a high quality paint (thank goodness) as there are several spots where it is flaking off. Not even going to attempt anything on that unless and until the engine comes out.

2. I am assuming the same nimrod undercoated the bottom side of the hood. There is so much undercoating that there is a prop rod stored up in front of the radiator. If you open the hood ALL THE WAY it will stay open unless the wind is blowing OR if you just bump the car hard enough.

3. Hood hinges got painted half black (I guess to match the firewall... who knows what a moron is thinking when he does something like that) and half body color.

I am planning to talk with someone local who does dry ice blasting to see if he can blast the underside of the hood WITHOUT disturbing the paint on the top side. I would think so, because of how that works. Anyone try something like that? I read on line that it was doable, but haven't seen anyone post before and after pics of that job. So, if I get that done, would be easy enough to fix the hood hinge issue while the hood is off.

For now, just waiting on tires and other parts to arrive.

Nice looking car! Should be an 'easy' project. Hope you make a full recovery with your back, not something you want to mess with at any age.

Looks very cool, Lynn. Congratulations. I wish I had both of my '57s back.

I haven’t heard someone being called a “Nimrod” in years! I’m still laughing.:beers:

Kind of "dates" the poster as an "antique".... :wink:
AND, you look so much younger without that handlebar 'stasch too, Lynn.
Looks like a fun project to distract you from the LT1 restoration. I do that to myself all the time too.

California banned multi piece bumpers so any vehicles sold in the state were required to have 1 piece bumpers. They, also, didn't like the
C channel frames, introduced on the all new 1955 models and required the frames be made stronger, so they all have full perimeter frames too, hence the need for Lynn to blow the "stuff" out.

Day three. Got the top layer of dirt off the car. Normally, these cars look better in the pics before you purchase. This one looks better in person after a hand wash and chamois.

These were taken on my phone at dusk. Not great quality. I can almost guarantee one or more will be at 90 degrees, even though I flipped them on my computer. Smart phone with a dumb operator.

Fixed it for ya Lynn:naughty::naughty::naughty:LOL

Thanks Dave. All is right with the world now.

The guy that brokered this deal thought the engine needed a rebuild.

I don't think so. Will post a longer update tonight, but this engine is running smoothly and without smoke right now.

Just received the following message from a guy who has spent the last 55 years restoring Tri Fives. "Congratulations on finding a unicorn."

After I sent him info on all the "tells" this car has, he is reasonably certain it was a 2 x 4 barrel carb car originally; probably the 245 horse version.

Still lots to do. Did find the hidden partial VIN on the frame using a boroscope. There is no rust or pitting on top of the frame (where the bozos did NOT get undercoating). Very legible. It's a match.

My plan is to still just use it as a driver for now. Have too many irons in the fire that preclude me from trying to get it back all original.

Rear axle guts were changed from the factory 3.36 gears to a 64 Chevy pumpkin with 3.55 gears.

Was also surprised to find it had windshield washers. Hoses (really brittle, assuming they are original), switch and nozzles are present. The jar is missing.

Not a lot going on with the 57 until Thursday.
Busy with Museum stuff when the weather was warm. We had a new record high on Monday Feb. 3rd.

Spent a lot of time down around zero since then. You Canadians need to keep that cold air up there where it belongs!!!!
Hard to get motivated in this cold weather.

I did get the PS control valve rebuilt (NO pitting on any of the mating surfaces… WOW) and installed new hoses. Glad to report I have not seen one drip of oil, trans fluid, or PS on the floor since the rebuild.

Hey Charley, now I can come visit and won’t leave any drips on your clean floor. Not bad for being such a “pile”.

My scissor lift is downstairs in my garage. Been doing some work on it, as I can get the garage up to 65F in about 10 minutes. My workshop, not so fast. Too much cubic footage.
Rebuilt the Quadrajet. Block, intake, carb and distributor are all from a 68 Chevy, 275 horse 327. I am shocked this thing even started. 1/8 inch of sediment in the float bowl. Power valve was stuck in the UP position (meaning it ran REALLY rich. NO accelerator pump action as the rubber had come loose. One of the air bleed tubes was completely blocked with a white chalky residue (usually means water). Had to get the pin vise out with tiny, tiny drill bit. Took about 10 minutes to get through.

The well plugs were not leaking, but I epoxied them anyway, as the plug on the fuel filter housing had a very slight leak (no drip, just fuel residue) so I had the epoxy out anyway. Let the epoxy set 48 hours under a heat lamp.

Fuel filter was completely clogged. Also has an in line filter. Could barely blow through it.

Good news? Other than a defective choke pull off (which doubles as the vac secondary control) the carb is in really good shape after a long soak in the Chemdip. Nothing is worn out. Kit did not include the little rubber for the idle vent valve. Found some on Ebay. Whittled on the original one to make it functional, and will replace today, as I just got the part yesterday.
Distributor wasn’t much better. Dwell was at 40⁰ and the vac advance was inoperable. Someone had stabbed it out of sync so No. 1 wire was not where it “belonged”. Am I the only guy who is OCD about #1 wire being where is SHOULD be?

Pulled it to put on my Sun distributor machine just to make sure all is good. Installed a new vac advance, and limited the vac advance to 12⁰. Will plug it in to manifold vac. The mechanical advance was actually pretty good. 26⁰ all in by 3000. Just disassembled, cleaned and lubed. Points didn’t look bad, but installed a new set… just because.

Will run 10⁰ initial, and see how it does. Turns out the heads are Power Pack heads, but not 1957 vintage. They are from a 65 283 engine. Actually have slightly larger chambers than the heads that would have been on the 327, so I don’t have to worry about too much compression for pump gas.

Changed the oil Thursday (if for no other reason to get that Fram filter off there… friends don’t let friends use Fram oil filters, and install a proper Baldwin filter, or at least a Wix) and will monitor oil usage. If it isn’t using oil, I MAY go ahead and change the heads to a set of 186 castings with 1.94 intakes. That’s down the road. For now, just want it driving safely.
Still doing some sleuthing on how the car came from the factory.

It does have the deluxe heater, back up lights (and they work) and even has the windshield washer set up, although the jar is missing. Also has electric wipers. I hated the vac wipers on my 210 in HS. They just stopped working when climbing a big hill.

I mentioned that it may have been a dual 4 barrel car originally. I have now confirmed, it has ALL the tells. It definitely was a dual 4 car. I had no idea. Sometimes we would rather be lucky than good.

I need to get some work done at the Museum today, but am going to try and figure out if this car came with a PG or a stick shift.

Just a teaser, as I need to go out and get some things done today.

While assessing the carb situation and wondering about my current fuel pump, I noticed a 3/8 fuel line. Still has the double flare and flare nut on the end, but has a rubber hose slid up over the flare adapting it to a fuel pump with inlets and outlet in less than ideal position. But, working for now.

Fuel gauge does not work. The gas tank has obviously been replaced. Went to check the that the sender was hooked up. The line in the new sender is 5/16. I thought that was odd. It has a rubber hose going to a 3/8 fuel line. Again, still has the double flare and flare nut.

The 3/8 fuel line is routed on the outside of the passenger side frame rail. After some research, I discovered that confirmed it was a dual exhaust car. Cool, that means it had a four barrel from the factory (or so I thought). The single exhaust cars had the fuel line run on the inside.

Then I started looking for a sending unit with a 3/8 line. I THOUGHT that the four barrels got 3/8 and the two barrels got the 5/16. While searching, I was informed that the "standard" fuel line for all cars OTHER THAN dual fours or FI cars, is 5/16.

That made me wonder if someone changed the fuel line. Got with the expert on tri five restos. He told me to look for a clip at the top of the frame above the rear axle. That clip is peculiar to the 3/8 fuel line. Also said there would be a clip on the firewall behind the distributor next to the trim tag. The dual four cars and fuelie cars are the only ones with that clip. It is for the temp sensor wire to re route it down the passenger side valve cover so it doesn't get tangled in the carb linkage.

Sent him the pics below. His response:
"Both look correct for what I was referring to. You should look into getting the right motor and Dual quad set up"

I said something about the undercoating. He said: "The undercoating you are dealing with was Dealer Applied. It was an option many dealers sold.
The fact it is on the underside of the hood confirms this. What you will find under it is usually well preserved metal."

I wasn't sure when the undercoating was applied. At some point, someone ADDED some more, as there is some on the exhaust pipes. But most of what is there has apparently been there since March 1957. That makes sense. I found anchors for dealer installed seat belts. All the anchors and bolts are still there. All are covered up by the old undercoating.

Contemplating having it dry ice blasted. Not sure i want to disturb the dealer applied undercoat.

The quest continues.

Very cool 57 Lynn.

While I'm still a sucker for TriFives and might be a nimrod for thinking this, I am jonsing for a Tuxedo Black 69 which has me thinking of selling my current 210 post build as I get it finished here. Might move it along while it's freshly restored build and get myself into another Camaro. Something I said I wouldn't do for a long while as I thought I had my fill? (guess not)

Time to top up my drunken sailor fund and go out and right the right code 10 or - - Z/28 :Can-I-Have-It:

As much as I love my new 57 (told Charley I am reliving my youth) I can't give up the Z.

Took off the Centerline wheels and put the original YH rally wheels on with repop Goodyears.

Have not even driven it on the Goodyears yet. Will when the weather gets better.

Here it is last spring.

Need to pull the brake master and send it out to be sleeved. It is original to the car.
Starting to leak. Ate some paint on the frame, so will be touching that up.

Need some pics of the new shoes on the car..........:grin:

Will do when I get it out in a couple weeks.

Got the car running pretty well. With the power valve in the Qjet stuck in the "up" position, it was running really rich... when it ran. Could not get it started without starting fluid. Now it starts instantly, and the divorced choke set up works great.

Also changed spark plugs last night. All were black and sooty. Three of them came out with just my fingers. None were tight. Have some original wire looms coming so I can correctly route all the plug wires.

Sherri and I made a run to Braums for frozen yogurt cones. Runs really well. Need to adjust the kickdown linkage as it was taking too long to shift out of low.

Overall, really happy with how it drives. Has some vibration coming up from the exhaust because of how some moron mounted it. I can see threaded holes for factory hangers, but no hangers there. Mounted stiff to the frame on both sides.
Steering is a bit loose, but I think it still has the original tie rods. Shows 84,000 miles and that may be original.

Got the spinners cleaned up and installed.

Just to give you an idea of how rich it had been running, check out the trail of soot left on my shop floor from the first start after rebuilding the Qjet.

Here ya go Lynn

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...06543661%22%7D

And that is Canadian dollars

That is a great price and a great deal for someone with a Corvette. The suffix code is different. I need an FD block. That one is FG.

Might be worth it to me to purchase it and then look for the correct block. Might take a while.

Would work if someone in Niagra could pick it up and bring to MCACN.

Would hate to ship. Can't imagine.

I don't even have a facebook account. May have to set one up just to talk with the guy.

Just grind off the FG and stamp your FD on it...good to go...:biggthumpup:

I have a line on a FD block. Not sure of the date yet.
Contacted the seller, but haven't heard back yet.

.....

Me too. Found what I think is his phone number and sent him a text. Still no response.

UGH...:frown:

Looks like I am going to be able to make a deal on the engine.... with help from a member here. What a great site.

Just too good a deal to pass up. I had already started pricing all the pieces. This will work out much better.

Which one ? the complete engine from Canada ?

Yup.
Too good a deal to pass up.

Looking to purchase the dual four 283 that is in Niagra... on the Canada side.

A very kind and generous member here has agreed to pick up the motor and deliver it to a truck terminal in Tonawanda for terminal to terminal shipping. But, I need to fill out all the necessary paperwork, which I am willing to do.

It should be duty free. Even if not, it would only be about $130 (2.5%) which I can live with.

Trying to find info on the logistics of this is not easy.

When I do research on antique auto parts, MOST of the forms I get refer to vehicles and want a VIN.

Any of my brethren close to the border have any insight? I know some of you guys drive back and forth pretty regularly. I am not trying to cheat the government out of any legitimate duty. Just trying to make sense of it.

Does it make a difference that it is a private sale, and not a commercial enterprise? Just buying from an individual.

Does the cost of the antique parts make a difference? In other words, is there a thresh hold under which the paperwork is a bit simpler?

I used to ship stuff to Canada fairly regularly. I remember filling out paperwork at the truck terminal, and it was just one page.

I found where I “need” a CBP form. The form and the “instructions” are 25 pages. Do I really need that for a 68 year old engine?

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/fi...orm%207501.pdf

The EPA doc is only two pages. But again, they want a VIN.

https://19january2017snapshot.epa.go...nts/3520-1.pdf

I don’t want someone held up at the border for hours on end waiting on some moron to go through a bunch of paperwork.

Is there a simple way?

No help?