How I Came To Own My 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air

Peace,

It Was about Febuary 2004 e and my mom was heading to town. she stated that over in the trees at a very local junk yard are old cars. i always wondered what they looked like and might be interested in buying one to fix up and drive. after i stopped dreaming a minute or so later i saw a very nice Yellow and White car zoom by. it had fins on it and had v's on the hood and trunk. as it slipped by i saw the words Bel Air on it. and knew i wanted a old car of years similar to that car. i knew a old car would be a very useful tool for me. after all i was waiting day after day for a worldwide anti war protest. i knew scence i needed a vehicle it might as well be one i would like to own and drive. to many people in these parts drive old 'muscle' cars and i know to many people own VW Vans. so i thought another old but sueful auto. the 56 to 60 years seemed the best. i love the style, mechanics ( easy to work on, etc) so i started calling around for a old car from the midlate to very late 50's. i foudn a dealership had a 57 bel air. motor good, interior excelent, and body needs work. that is what they told me. i went ot look at it and i jumped up and down in joy and excitement. to remeber the flashback of the beauty, durability, and sheer style and how it was designed made me jelous not to own it. they said they wanted $2,500 for it. i finally said ok because they said they would cut it up into a couch and i upa nd said its not going to happen i wont let it. the car was desperate to be saved. the guy started the car and it sounded like a deap groan of a strong man. i started by selling some of my things and scrapping 2 new cars a 90 Ford Tempo GL for scrap and a 89 New Yorker made a payment and wham i kept on selling my things and somehow lasted till i got a job. In late July i payed $1,000 on the car. and they said once i payed it i could take it home. they said once i payed $1,500 i could take it home. i said sadly ok. so payment after payment the numbers i still owed went down and down. and in the frist 2 days of October i made the payment and demanded the car home. the guy understood and said ok. i was called by my job as they asked if i could work so i said yes. i needed the hours but wanted to see my car home. we live 2 blocks from the highway about and after work my car was driving very fast to pick me up and i didnt even wait for him to stop because i knew the car would be home VERY soon if not already. the truch was still moving 5 or 8 miles and hour i dont know and didnt care at the time. i hoped in and we went past the dealership as fast as we could get there and saw that the doors were closed. i thought the guy was already at my house. and i got the picture of what if my sister was outside. i got very corse and defenseive. as we went home at a average speed of 75 miles an hour we turned ot the dirt road and i saw a big metal thing in our yard. i got very joly and said stop i will open the gate to the pasture ( so they could back the car ona huge trailer so we could put it in where it will be worked on). i opened it as fast as i could. and looked. i was about oh 100 ft from my girl. and she looked brand new. she looked like a show car from that distance! my dad talked to the guy wo broght her over. he went and backed up the truck. i was there the whole time. he lifted the trailer bed and undid the chains and the car slowly rolled down. the car was so low that he had to pull forward because the rear bumper of my car was touching the ground! the car came off and he came back and cranked the car over. we primed the carberator and teh car fired right up. it was backfiring liek they all used to do! it wouldnt stay running long enough to drive it back. so we pushed it by hand. it took all 4 of us. my dad me, the guy ,and my sister. and all after that to now we got it to start 8 times. and a couple time i reved the 283 8 cylinder with a 4 barrel carb. and now the fenders are off, hood, generator, doors, benches, trunk lid, i will put it this way its all bare metal except for the motor and trany! and the dash. i even have the wirining harnessess off. and i did it all my self. except my lazy sister did the front bumper as i wached and made sure she didnt sabatosh anything. there was a parts car but last saturday they sold it to someone in Northe Platte ( a large city not to far away ) he paid over the phone by credit card HOURS before i got there that was a nice car. DAMN i would love 2 57s. if it had a motor and trany run or not it would have been sold by now/then. i HAD the money to make a down payment on it but not my dad had to go talk about parts for his rusted military cargo truck, he could have done it after work and i told him but NO he didnt want to wait. ohhh. but anyway it means i only have to tear down 1 57 Cheyv not 2! there are 3 phases in restoring a car. teardown, parts and body work, then reasembly. so i am trying to get as much done ASAP. i even have the radiator off. and except for the rusty liquid that came out of the bottom its ok. it holds preasure very well and its fine. but it needs straigned (the dent sin it) if you want you can ask WE1, MAtt, Angel, or Flowerchild17 they have many new photos of her if you would like to know more just ask

later

teh tired flwoer child

 

sorry tried reading it but it was long..will try again later..

 

the same at me

 

i dont know a lot about cars, but that sounds cool enough.

wish ya luck

 

Good job destroying the ozone and the Planet faster than any other car would, you hypocrite.

 

That's a 283... my dad's silverado has a 454 in it (never drives it much, though ) . Trust me, it's destroying the ozone more... but the only difference are emissions and unleaded/leaded. on top of that, my mom drives a lincoln navigator... she drives it about 10 minutes to work, the gym, and that's about it. Who needs a $50,000 truck that big to drive that far in a place where we may only get a foot of snow at the most at one time... .

I've done fine walking from our house to her job, walking to restaurants, stores... etc. I don't even have to take a bike usually... but I'll probably buy something when I travel someday, because I really don't want to stick around here for much of my life once I graduate... well, I do have a Chevrolet Corsica that pretty much sits, and we did have a '41 chevy that was my uncle's... what we use most is my dad's '96 camry... quite good mid-sized car that gets good mileage on long distance runs... I think we made it to florida with a tank and a half...

 

I think that's a good story...

 

Peace,

the size of the motor doesnt matter in how much gas it burns. what does is if its carberated or fuel injected, 4,6, or 8 cylinder. mine is a 8. i have a 4 barrel. and get about 4 to 5 miles per gallon. yes 4 or 5. now jsut sitting back and letting our history sit and rust away is worse for the future. remeber thsoe who dont learn about history are bound to repeat it? you can see a old steam train sit in a museum but seing one actually operate says alot more. same thing about cars. think about it. my car is 48 years old. never been overhauled til now. and think of how many new cars you would go through in the same time! i a going to make this car last at least 50 more years. yes i understand that i am a hipocrite in a way but i ahve alot of good cause. anyway think of how positive they are. the designer Harley Earl believed in lower, wider, longer and flat out heavy jet lookin fast cars. it shows hwo america has fashioned. and the 57 Chevy or the 59 Caddy would be the best in my opinion for the 50's. fins, huge gas guzzlin motors, outragous fins and sheer size, and alot of others things.

later

the tired flwoer child

 

Koolas dude! Hope it looks mean as when you've done it up!

PS. (why did you choose to post it in this area of the forums? Bad idea if you ask me, seeing as though your car is a petrol guzzler and all) Ya know, Hippie-type people + Petrol-guzzling cars = Grrrrr. LOL.
No offense to anyone!

 

Yeah... that is true, but displacement... and figuring in hauling things, and speed would factor that in. We had a stock 350 silverado that got 12 miles to the gallon after a tune up ... I like the history in old cars...

When Neil Young started restoring old cars adn working with them, he encountered a problem. Emissions. He now has every vehicle he owns including, I believe, tour buses, running on peanut oil... and he owns 20 something vehicles... I think even his tractors and such on the Broken Arrow (his ranch) in Northern California, too.

 

PEace,


i dont want to upset anyone but i think petrol would be better. i know the enviornment is harmed but what would peanut oil do if we kept using peanut oil. it sucks nutrients from the ground! and soon soil depletion is going to be the most dangerous thing and i dont have the money to covert to burn anything but good old fashoined gasoline. if ihave the money i may consider it. but its not jsut short term enciornemt things we need to think about such as peanut oil enstead of gas is better for the air i agree. but its worse for the ground. peanuts use nutrients gained formthe ground and soon that land will be unusable becuase those peanuts used for auto mobiles. i think for now gas is still the ebst for people who dont have thousands of dollars like Niel Young

later

the tired flwoer child

 

57 bel air for 2500? either that bullshit or the dealer is a complete dumass. even with a shit body. 2door or 4door? have you checked numbers to make sure its a bel air and not a modified 150/210? why do you never post any pics of it..

as for fuel consumption, nothing is a sole contributor to how efficient a car is. capacity, power, fuel management, weight, everything. forced aspiration would generally guzzle more than natural. you can get a 2litre evo that only gets 4mile to the gallon with 400hp, or a 6.9L v8 pushing around 425hp but with twice the mileage. and thats a heavier car.. so many things have to be considered. im currently building a ford zetec twincam engine into a '78 ford escort.. 2litre naturally aspirated and will get around 200hp, but still get 35miles to the gallon.

 

PEace,

to tell you eBaymotors.com has many 57s for sale. i ahve kept close tabs on those 57's. i feel lucky to get a GOOD deal on my old girl. even witha crappy body they go for $3,000 to $5,000. they were a little low in the price but hey im not complaining! its worth it to me. every cent.the more i spend the more i feel its worth it! odd but that means the more work i put into her the more i think the car is a good deal!

later

the tired flower child

 

Peace,

yes i checked the vin. vc57k....... the v means its a v8 the c means bel air the 57 year and the k means it was built in Kansas City Mo. it was built in late 56 to be exact!