2Loose '55 Chevy Sport Coupe, 396 LT1, T56

[2Loose]

Good Morning,

I got my driver's license in 1957 in my Dad's yellow and white '55 Chevy Sport Coupe, with the little 265 sbc he had bored out to 283 ci. With two small 4bbls, a solid lifter cam, and dual "smitty's". And he had found a 4sp for it somewhere (early Corvette? don't remember....), for it's day it was considered fast, and we easily left the "hot rods" with the flathead V8's in the dust! What I remember most about that motor is it would wind up to amazing rpm's and hold together. I'm now 71, and my memory is not as good as it used to be, but I am sure 7,500 was no big deal with that motor! I do remember that Dad thought he was making close to 300 hp with the motor. It was not fast off the line, but the acceleration as the motor picked up rpm was just amazing, particularly in 1957 for a sbc!

So I have always kept my eye out, and finally found a '55 hardtop I could afford, in pretty good condition, about 7 years ago. Did a little work on it, but eventually put it in storage as I worked on other rigs (see my introduction to this forum here( LINK to my introduction post). Started collecting various parts, as money allowed, to try to put together a decent handling '55 Chevy, this rig might fit the current definition for a pro touring or a g-machine when it's all done.

I had a '93 Z28, LT1, 6sp Camaro that I totaled. Kept the motor and trans. The motor has been upgraded to a 500 hp 396 ci, keeping the EFI and using an FAST controller. Now I just need to put it all together.

Haven't decided what to do with the rear suspension. Right now it is minitubbed (unfinished) with a narrowed 9", 4.11 gears, detroit locker, and relocated leaf springs with the old style "slappers". Have a set of CalTraks to replace the slappers. Would like to upgrade to a triangulated 4 link with good coil-overs some day. Front suspension will get Global West tubular a-arms, 2" dropped spindles, disk brakes, coil-overs. Need to think about steering too, looking at best way to to a R&P setup. Also trying to decide if I need a full cage, or just put in a roll bar.

Yesterday was the day to pull the hardtop out of storage, and haul it up to my main shop 15 miles away and get started on it. Will post pix and keep this thread going as the car comes together.

When I bought it, the motor was a wheezy, oil leakin' 350/350 combo, on stock rims with stock suspension, stock interior, and the magnet found a bit of bondo here and there.



This pix was just before it went into storage:





Here's a concept drawing I did when I first got the car:



There are lots of decisions to be made, bucket seats vs the bench. Dechroming vs keeping the Bel Air trim. Just how far do I want to go with the frame. Have visited both Jim Meyer's shop and Art Morrison's shop, both offer quality products.

Or do a body off and setup my own custom frame (a whole lot more work, but I feel capable of doing it). It's just that at my age, just how far do I want to go with this car?

This is what I pulled out of storage last Sunday and towed up to my shop:


Aloha from Maui,
"2Loose" Willy


LINK to the '55 Hardtop project home page
LINK to all my projects home page