Our barn find

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by davischevy

OK, AD quit teasing us. Just start a new thread on the 56. lol. I laugh, but I want to see it. I had a 56 Nomad for 20 years and still have a 56 parts car.

Ok, I may do that davischevy. It's just an ok 10 footer. Sorry for blathering on about it.....get me talking about a car I can get carried away.

Looking forward to seeing your updates on the 55 Wayne!

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Ok, I may do that davischevy. It's just an ok 10 footer. Sorry for blathering on about it.....get me talking about a car I can get carried away.

Looking forward to seeing your updates on the 55 Wayne!

Don't apologize for talking about it. That's what we are here for. That and posting compromising pictures of our wives. lol

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by davischevy

OK, AD quit teasing us. Just start a new thread on the 56. lol. I laugh, but I want to see it. I had a 56 Nomad for 20 years and still have a 56 parts car.

Here you go davischevy...http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=690783

Don't have a lot of pics though I did post what I could find.

[Daddy'O]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Specs on the 56 - 5.3 from a Silverado, PSI harness, Spectra tank with AC Delco pump, 4L60E trans, 9 inch rear (left over from my first car69 Mach 1, I put a Dana 60 in it) with 3:70 gears and posi, Moser axles, Borgenson ps, GMPP accessory drive, Vintage Air, Dakota Digital VHX gauges, PRC radiator and shroud, Spal cooling fan, lowered couple inches all around with springs and spindles, disc brakes all around, 92 Buick body harness and the most goofy looking yet extremly comfortable bucket seats for long drives from a 92 Riviera.

Sorry such a long description on specs.

Wow! - That sounds great. Would love a ride in your 56 and don't be sorry, I love details.

Gave the 55 a bath Sunday. We think it cleaned up nicely.

[Advanced Design]

Holy cow...drool!

Really cleaned up well!

[nlped]

Very Cool. I missed out on a 55 wagon a few months ago & keep kicking myself for dragging my a$$ on that one. Love the new lift too.

[flashed]

The 55 cleaned up very nice ,what kind of roller skates you got it on .I have the cheap Harbor Freight ones that work good but yours look much nicer .

[Daddy'O]

Thanks guys!

flashed - I got the skates from summit racing. They are AutoTwirler brand. They are American made and have grease zerks in the castors. They are really heavy too.

[aggie91]

Congrats to you and Dee on finding that wagon. I looks to be in really good shape and cleaned up great.

Hope you can get it into driver shape without too much expense or hassle and start enjoying it this coming spring!

[davischevy]

Wayne, I found a brand new, still in the box, Walker muffler for 55-57 chevy, circa 1975-80, in my storeroom. The price is right if you need it.

[Daddy'O]

Originally Posted by davischevy

Wayne, I found a brand new, still in the box, Walker muffler for 55-57 chevy, circa 1975-80, in my storeroom. The price is right if you need it.

davischevy - I would be interested in the muffler. PM me your thoughts.

Many thanks!

[89AKurt]

I have a soft spot for these wagons. My dad's father had a '57 two door wagon (brand new in picture), which he traded in for a P.O.S. Chevy LUV before I was old enough to drive.


When I had kids, the Honda Civic was getting small, so got a '57 4 door wagon.


You got a beautiful car, enjoy!

[Daddy'O]

Originally Posted by 89AKurt

I have a soft spot for these wagons. My dad's father had a '57 two door wagon (brand new in picture), which he traded in for a P.O.S. Chevy LUV before I was old enough to drive.


When I had kids, the Honda Civic was getting small, so got a '57 4 door wagon.


You got a beautiful car, enjoy!

89AKurt - Thanks!

Cool story and pics - you still have that '57?

[Daddy'O]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Congrats to you and Dee on finding that wagon. I looks to be in really good shape and cleaned up great.

Hope you can get it into driver shape without too much expense or hassle and start enjoying it this coming spring!

Thanks Karl! Us too!

[phillip123hastings]

I want to barn find something one day! I mean people find awesome vehicles like this, plus they might worth a lot! Like this one, probably a fortune!

[Daddy'O]

Originally Posted by phillip123hastings

I want to barn find something one day! I mean people find awesome vehicles like this, plus they might worth a lot! Like this one, probably a fortune!

phillip123hastings - That's a cool story. I hope barn finds are not a once in a life time thing because they are too fun!

[Daddy'O]

We finally have the title transferred and the wagon insured. We were able to find some nice 1955 Texas passenger car plates so the wagon is officially registered as a Texas antique vehicle using YOM plates. Now I feel more comfortable with throwing some blood, sweat, and money at it

Here are the plates we found:

[flashed]

Plates look good .

[Advanced Design]

Congrat's....are you going to throw a lot or just a bit of blood, sweat and money at the wagon now?

[Daddy'O]

A bit and a lot of all Doug.

The power tour is going to be real close to us this year. We've talked it over and decided on a budget. We hope to at least cruise from here to OKC and back. My goal is to do as much of my own work on the wagon as possible but with self imposed deadlines I know I will need to farm somethings out. Right now we plan on keeping the wagon as stock as possible. A full resto mod will be much later down the road.

Funny, I really wanted to start on Greenie. However I think this will be more of a husband/wife team oriented project which will be really fun. I really like it when it's more than just me being excited about a project and Dee is excited and on board. Man, I am a lucky guy.

We'll see how it goes.

Might even need to move this thread to the Alternate Tinkerings forum?

[davischevy]

What ever you do to it, we will be watching.

[Daddy'O]

Got some questions for Advance Design, davischevy, flashed and anyone else that has had their hands in trifive restorations.

I got a chance to do some inspecting on the wagon Monday. I discovered the upper ball joints are most likely original to the car as they are riveted in. So these could be 61 year old joints. No big deal as I am going to replace them but that brings me to my first question.

Knowing that we will eventually improve the suspension at some point, do I rebuild these or upgrade to control arms with positive caster now? If yes, what are your recommendations?

Also,

I will need to upgrade the wiring especially the external wiring in the engine bay and back to the tail lights as the wiring coating is very brittle. No evidence of rodents though which is a very good thing. So on to my next question, if you have updated your wiring in your past projects what are your recommendations.

By the way, I found a little more rust through in the other floor pans but not bad at all. The frame, body mounts, fenders, rockers, door bottoms are in really good shape. The wagon has good bones. I am thankful it was in a dry location for the last 20 years.

Many thanks for any advice and recommendations you have to offer.

[flashed]

Wayne , I replaced the control arms to tubular ,all the suspension front and rear was replaced .I dont remember whose parts we used and it had an aftermarket wiring harness installed as well .I also added a tilt wheel and smaller stock style steering wheel .

[davischevy]

I definitely would replace the upper control arms for improved caster. My 55 has tubular control arms. I'm not sure what brand. I would consider disc brakes while I was in there. They are all over Ebay. There has been a lot of discussion on trifive.com in the steering forum.

You didn't mention steering, but my 55 has a Borgeson/Delphi and I don't have the steering sorted out yet but I am not happy with the way mine drives. I am going to get the front end aligned when I get my wheels on it and if that doesn't work I will probably change to a CPP 500.

Wiring harness are a cheap investment and relatively easy to change.

When I had my Nomad, the front floors and cargo area were borderline rusty. Lots of pinholes. After dreading it for a long time I finally ordered the pans from CARS and once I got started, I actually enjoyed changing them. The cargo floor was interesting in that is adds so much structurally to the car.

Go to http://www.trifive.com and it's just like this forum. Lots of info over there.

[davischevy]

You didn't ask about this either, but, for years I had a completely rebuilt 265 long block, date coded 1955, around here, complete with remote oil filter and a factory rebuilt carb still in the box. I sold it for $500 to a guy in Washington County to put in a vintage sports car (MG or something) to race.

I had a new rebuilt 55 date coded powerglide I gave away.

You should have bought this car sooner.