My '55 Bel Air build

[mgrinshpon]

Originally posted March 8th, 2009.

Originally Posted by mgrinshpon

Yesterday, first work began on the '55. I started by draining all the gas out of the tank and charging a battery outside. One of the 20-some-odd year old 4 ply tires was flat thanks to a busted valve so I bought 4 fat base valves for $2.83 and went over a tire place to have it repaired after removing the bead and previous valve myself. The owner of the place, ETD Tire Direct or something like it was nice enough to put the valve in the tire and blow it up for free.

So at the end of the first day (I had to call it quits early because of a family gathering), I smelled like 1 year old gas but the car was on all fours and the starter worked, along with the left turn signal! Everything else though...

The second day began at a leisurely 11 in the morning and lasted straight through 8 in the evening. I didn't have enough gas to pour through the carb so I decided to pry apart all the wiring and prepare to put in the new dash & forward wiring kit the previous owner gave me. It's a rat's nest of crap in there!


I started by removing the speedometer and hidden underneath it was the original paint scheme of the interior- dark blue and white instead of turquoise and black! I think it'll look much better in stock colors than the horrendously bright green blue.


To get at the clock, though, I had to remove that gigantic vacuum tube speaker and AM radio, both of which aren't going back in any time soon because they're heavy and impractical. Light weight=better mileage and acceleration.



All the dash wiring was disconnected at the end of the day, with the firewall forward being taken out next and the wiring kit being put in at the same time.

Originally posted March 11th, 2009

Originally Posted by mgrinshpon

It's outta there!


Victory over the wires.

Originally posted March 23rd, 2009

Originally Posted by mgrinshpon

So I've decided that since I have another harness already, instead of spending 500 for a modern harness with a fuse box/circuit breaker/fancy electrical doodads, how hard could it be to build my own?

Here are the two harnesses side by side. New one is closer, old one is further. You can see the age of the old one's connectors. They smell even worse than they look.


Unlike the old harness where everything was fused at one location, near the generator connections if I remember correctly, this one had two seperate soldering points across the length of the harness. Cut here, it said to me.


And here it is, all cut. The large red wire will be broken off at a later point, at the other fusion point in the harness.


I also took out as much as possible from the dash to test for shorts and broken pieces. At the end of the day, here's how the car sits.

[mgrinshpon]

Originally posted April 3rd, 2009

Originally Posted by mgrinshpon

The fuse block came in on Monday on this week and by the end today, Sunday, I had it in with all the connections working!

I started by picking up the connections I'd need for the fuse block and deciphering how the alternator was connected into the engine bay. Price minus fuse block: 42.02. The guy at the autoparts store was nice enough not to charge me that extra .02. What a saint!


Then I grabbed my harness


And started connecting up connections. Engine bay connections should most CERTAINLY be covered in thermal wrap to prevent dirt and grime from penetrating the solder point. They went back through to the firewall.


These here are the in-dash connections for the primary wires. These will be going to the ganged fuse block.


And here's the fuse block I got from wiringproducts.com for like, 30 bucks. 12 points for ATC fuses. Quite a bit cheaper than 500 for that "modern" wiring kit!


This is the fuse block with connections in it. I forgot to take a completed picture. Oops. Next chance I get, I'll put it up. Either way, the connections were crimped, a dash of solder was put in at the connection, and then they were thermal wrapped to prevent slippage.


Either way, I just saved 430 dollars by doing my own fusing. Cheap but thought-intensive and labor-intensive: 1. Expensive bolt-ins: 0.

Also, I've finally decided on a motor for it. I have a 350 with aluminum heads from a 1991 Corvette sitting outside of the car. With thinner head gaskets, I'll hit 11:1 compression on it. Then, it'll be fuel injected using Megasquirt, a Victor Jr. intake mani I found, and one day, I'll turbocharge it. "But turbo an engine with 11:1 compression you say?" Using E85, I can have a second mapping giving me 6-8 pounds of boost and the primary mapping will be with pump 93 octane with the turbo completely off. Everything needing porting will be ported. A lot of water has to pass under the bridge before that, however.

Here it is completely installed.


From left to right going down, the connections are:
0: Alternator (10ga red, 30A inline fuse at the alternator itself). Alternator is self-regulating meaning I don't need to connect to a voltage regulator like on the original Chevy wiring.
1: Ignition switch (10ga red, 30A circuit breaker pulled from a trashed Dodge Neon). The circuit breaker means that firstly, if there's a short, my radio/lights/etc won't all cut out and will just cycle themselves back on and secondly, I won't have to run only on my battery for extended amounts of time.
2: Lights (12ga red, 20A fuse, soon to upgraded to circuit breaker for safety purposes)
3: Cigarette Lighter (14ga red, 15A fuse)
4: Horn Relay (14ga red, 15A fuse)
5: Clock (18ga red, 7.5A fuse)
6: Alternator exciter cable (18ga red, 10A fuse, soon to be upgraded to circuit breaker)
7: Glove box light (18ga red, 7.5A fuse)

Originally posted May 9th, 2009

Originally Posted by mgrinshpon

Thanks for all the encouraging words, everyone!

I'm taking electrical courses at college, so I may just end up fabricating my own AM/FM radio with the same front fascia, or retrofit the cheapest AM/FM I can find from Radio Shack. My original goal was to make it look as stock as possible, so, the original radio will almost certainly NOT be going.

Right, so since my last post, a lot of things have happened. First were college finals, so I haven't been able to work as much as I would have liked to.

As far as the car goes, good progress has been made! The previous owner, when installing the alternator, decided that he would take the cable that runs from the alternator and run it through the solenoid to the battery. Then there would be another cable running the rest of the stuff, so when the car is on, the flow of electricity is battery-> solenoid-> alternator-> butchered wiring harness. This was unacceptable, since it wouldn't be fused. Also, the exciter cable for the alternator was just a little nub going from the output of the alternator to the input. Not workin' for me.

I started by ripping out all of the wiring attached to the alternator and the distributor since it was in the way. Then, I ran the solenoid wire to the fuse block and protected it with a circuit breaker. I will possibly attach an ammeter to monitor the flow to and from the battery, to make sure the alternator is doing its job. If anyone has one that they'd like to sell, I'll buy it for the right price (read: single college kid budget, being single gives me more spending money but never enough!).

Either way, the car was ready to begin the tedious process of attempted a startup. The wiring was done and it looked like I hadn't done anything wrong. Granted, there's not a whole lot to go wrong with older electrical systems.

I hopped in the Mazda with an empty 5 gallon tank. It was time for the moment of truth: will the engine work? Does the battery have enough charge? What about the fuel pump? Has the gas tank rusted through? All of these questions were about to answered with mixed results. 4 gallons got dumped straight away into the gas tank. Then, it was time to hope and pray that everything worked.

I opened the bulky driver door with car key in hand. Time to do this thing. I pushed the key in, pressed the clutch, and engaged the starter. A loud squeal from the starter motor engulfed the garage.

Nothing. No ignition. There was no gas going from the fuel pump into the filter into the carb. Maybe if I fill up either side of the fuel pump, it would work. Did that, nothing.

However, I did discover something slightly troubling. Normal gas has the color of something like watered-down urine. The gas in the fuel pump had a color not far removed from orange soda and chocolate milk mixed together.

To test this fuel pump, I took an empty 20oz bottle of water, put new gas in it, and attached it to the fuel pump through a small thing of 5/16th rubber fuel hose. Then, I dropped some gas right into the carb and got ready for disappointment.

Turned the key, and there it was! It started right up! Sure, there were chunks coming from the fuel pump, but the thing was actually pumping real gas from a real 20oz bottle! It worked!

However, that means one (or god forbid, two) of two things don't work. Either the fuel lines are clogged (please no) or the gas tank's thing to the fuel line got rusted through (please yes). If it's the latter, I'll just clean it out with some chains. If it's the former, I may be out a whole lot of money and the car would have to be benched for a bit.

Pictures coming soon.

Originally posted June 6th, 2009

Originally Posted by mgrinshpon

Huge update! Huge!

Last I left off, my fuel pump was good and something else wasn't: fuel lines or fuel sending unit.

I took out my fuel tank...


And checked the fuel sending unit. The previous owner told me it may have been bad.


Yuck. Problem found. I was worried that the rust that got into this guy may have gotten into the fuel lines. A quick blast of compressed air through the fuel lines alleviated my concern. I went to Eckler's and grabbed a fuel sending unit for 55 dollars plus an outrageous 15 dollars shipping.

Then, I wanted to clean out the fuel tank. I don't have enough money to get a new one, and the old one worked fine (in theory). I took a heavy chain and just shook it around to get the gunk out, and what a load of gunk it was. The previous owner must've coated the tank with this horrific plastic stuff. It just annihilated the fuel sender and did nothing, other than make my life difficult. Long story short, after a few days of hard work, the gas tank was sanded, painted, and cleaned both inside and out, fuel filler neck included.

I also had to expand the driveway to make room for the soon-to-be-street legal Bel Air.


Not bad, yeah? A roof will be going over this portion. The tiles have already been put in. A little more construction and I'll have a suitable man-cave for man-cave-esque activities.

A week later, the fuel sender arrived. I dropped that puppy in and replaced the 20 year old fuel filter.

Much better. The old one had this goop on one side, you can see it right in the picture.

Then, clean off the back and take out for a pretty d-mn illegal (unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured) spin around the block!



And this is its triumphant return after its trip around the block.

It deserves its hood bird back, as a congratulations for its first drive.

Edit: On a side note, as my first ever drive of a carb'ed car, I must say, that was an adventure. The first gear is so ridiculously tall! I must've stalled out at least 6 times, and I drive a manual every day to college classes!

Edit 2: My first drive gave me insight into a few problems with the car, some of which I knew and some of which I didn't. Things I knew- the cam is terrible for this motor. It doesn't match it at all. Also, a gas pedal would be pretty cool.
Things I didn't know- My driver's side exhaust gasket is shot. The day after the drive, I grabbed a pair of spares but they were square ports and I had round 1 5/8" ports! Oops! A quick trip to the auto parts store reminded me that on Sundays, they're closed. Oops, again. I also didn't know just how terrible the cam was for the motor. I stalled out going 15mph in first gear because the motor couldn't provide enough power. Now I know!

At least I have a clear path of progression to my next goal: get it ready for inspection!

[mgrinshpon]

Good progress has been made!

I started by grabbing some stuff of Danchuk.

I already tried Eckler's Classic Chevy and their $15 shipping for an incredibly small part (fuel sender) wasn't working for me. Thankfully, Danchuk knows how to make a piece and not only that, the shipping was half as much for twice as much, it was packed better, and was at my doorstep in less than two days!

In the new light switch went.


And there let be light!


After that, I had to hook up the brake light and steering column connectors. That was pretty time consuming work. The connectors on my steering column weren't stock meaning it wasn't a plug-in affair. I took some wire left over from my fuse block adventure earlier and just routed it that way. Nice and easy. I didn't take a picture- I'll add it tomorrow.

Next up was the front blinkers- easier said than done. One worked flawlessly and the other one had a siezed bulb in it. I smashed the bulb out using my handy-dandy heavy blunt object.


Then, I carefully (read: savagely) ripped out the old bulb and noticed the springs that seated the bulb up weren't really being springy at all. While I was at it, the low beam/high beam thingermajigger wasn't working as well; it was stuck all the way down for whatever reason. I just dropped it in a vat of WD40 overnight.

Did it work? Yes! The WD40 soaked right in and allowed me to gently use a flat-head screwdriver to pry off the switch. It now switches impeccably, sitting in my floor. One of the blinker's springs also is much springier now, too!

Now for the headlights. I'd never put sealed beams in before and all I had were about a million pieces of rusty metal and pitted chrome.


I am now a little sad that my little Mazda daily driver doesn't have them. So much easier than those H7s!

As you can see, it only has one in and there's a very very good reason for that- the adjustment screws on the driver side one are missing, nowhere to be found! To Danchuk, I suppose.

And then, another problem. My driver side tail light wasn't actually working. I mean, it sort of worked. If the lights weren't in parking or the higher mode, I could brake and blink and such. If they were, it wouldn't. I decided it was the ground. Pressing very hard on the housing while in high beams and pressing on the blinker confirmed my theory. Out it goes.

Those gaskets were beat harder than Sanford will be if he runs for governor next election. Rust in some very bad places and such.

And that's the story so far. I have a working passenger side and a not-so working driver side.

[Teku18]

Looks like you got a ton of work ahead of you. But keep at it and it will come out nice as anything. GL

[lownslow95]

Wow, this isn't your average build thread on TST. Nice man.

[Spocknasty]

Sick!

[Goddabob]

Cool thread, Ill be watching

[den9]

one of my favorite cars after watching 2 lane blacktop. do you have the muncie m22 "rock crusher"

[poolmike]

More classic iron! And 4 doors! Nice ride.

[mgrinshpon]

Originally Posted by den9

one of my favorite cars after watching 2 lane blacktop. do you have the muncie m22 "rock crusher"

I do not. The M20 is the wide-ratio. The M21 is the close-ratio. The M22 is the close ratio with 20something degree cut gears instead of 40something degree cut gears. This gave it more ability to withstand torque and horsepower but consequently made it sound like a beast, for all those wondering.

The answer is no. I have an M20. It works well right now because the higher starting gear makes the car get into gear more easily due to a mismatched cam meaning the poor 305 doesn't make power right now. As I build up the engine, the transmission may or may not go but it was custom built, only 1,500 miles on it right now despite being older than I am. Should be more than capable enough for now.

Update time: Insurance. It is just impossible to get insurance for the Chevy, but I got it. Called more than 10 places (12 to be exact) for quotes but they all gave me something completely unreasonable or were historic car insurance companies; however, I got a "I can afford and drive it" deal: 600 a year for 100/300 liability. Not bad at all, for a 19 year old in NJ. So, now it's just time to bring it home to Papa Mgrinshpon instead of the house it's been in since forever. See you all on the road in a bit!

[mgrinshpon]

And she's home!



As you can see, between today and whenever the last update was, a grille got [lightly] hammered in. It still looks like it wants to eat people, though.

At any rate, now my '55 can play and frolic in my garage instead of some other guy's garage. With the car being so much closer, I'll be able to work on it more. Even the garage was cleaned out with all new shelves put in courtesy of CostCo and the old man. Here are some sexy shelves.



There's a box behind a stereo system containing my birthday present- a Lincoln WeldPak 175 that was gotten for half off at Home Depot. Last one in northern NJ, according to the Home Depot website. Talk about timely luck!

I've also started accumulating junk that may or may not go into the Chevy. It probably will, though, since I have no concept of "staying with a brand." Up first are the sway bars since they're the most exciting. This '55 is going to be tearing up autocrosses and track days soon enough so this seems like a logical place to start.


Now these are just the link kits for the front and rear sway bars. Price? $0. The previous owner found these in his basement attic and sent them over.

Significantly less exciting but still pretty cool is the perfectly functional A/C condenser cherry picked off of a BMW E30 M3.

Tuned by M? Price? $0 at a junkyard. The guy was about to scrap the poor M3. It got rear ended very hard but was otherwise perfectly good.

And the rims. Wider is better, so following that theory, here are some rims for your viewing pleasure.

Now the ones on the left are wagon wheels off of a C4 Corvette. I have no idea if they'll fit or not but they were free, courtesy of that same owner. He said I could have them since he didn't have room for them anymore.

But finally, the biggest and best for last. Since the last update, I got an insurance quote! Hagerty (sp?) said that if I had a car insured under my name, they'd insure me. Turns out that spinning off of my dad's policy cost exactly 60 dollars a year and I could keep my 100/300/100 coverage. Hagerty said, "that sounds peachy. Now get your car into your garage, send us pics, and we'll insure you for $298 for the year." That seemed reasonable enough so I called a tow truck courtesy of my AmEx's free towing, moved the car from the previous owner's house over to mine, cleaned out the garage (see above), and moved it in. Now I'm going to call up Hagerty, pay them, get my policy number, and send out for historic plates.

As terrifying as the pospect may be for all of you, this monstrosity may actually be prowling the tri-state roads soon enough.

[HickRocket1258]

Thank god a different kind of build on TST. I definately love the 55-56 Belairs. What's your plans engine wise. You probably have it in here but I didn't read through all of it haha. Good deal on the insurance. My dad's '41 pickup is like $150/yr maybe.

[mgrinshpon]

Originally Posted by HickRocket1258

What's your plans engine wise. You probably have it in here but I didn't read through all of it haha. Good deal on the insurance. My dad's '41 pickup is like $150/yr maybe.

Engine-wise, there are short-term and long term plans. For the short-term, there's a 350 from a '91 Corvette sitting at a friend's house. It's an L28 with the Corvette H.O heads. It was designed with a 5000 RPM redline and that's about where the cylinder heads start copping out. A simple pocket port to a ~160-180cc intake and 70% on the exhaust port will give it breath 'till about 6000 RPM. The stock cast iron connecting rods will be removed in favor of el-cheapo forged rods costing 160 for the whole set. Then, I'll spend an hour or two on the phone with CompCaps or Lunati and get a cam made for me, with new springs and lifters to match.

In the long term, there's basically two options. The first is go with a basic LS gen III, gen IV LS, or the new Hemi V8s, probably courtesy of a t-boned car mated to a 5 or 6 speed transmission. Parts for those are ubiquitous and power is easy enough to come by. The other option is a fuel injected 485ci Cadillac mill bored out a touch and possibly twin turbocharged. Using megasquirt and an auxiliary fuel tank, I would switch between gasoline and 0lbs of boost to nitromethane and a leisurely 8 lbs of boost. This would be topped off with a fine set of aluminum heads to keep compression and heat transfer up. I could do the same thing to a small block Chevy, probably, but it wouldn't be as interesting.

[Nick Merrone]

do you have any people in your family named jon? haha. anyways sweet ass build. i loveee resto's.