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I think this is my next project car
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- Joined
- Jul 5, 2014
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Thanks for the replies.
I've found out my trans is a 1988 out of a camaro with external ports and I can buy a kit that screws into outside of the case with a pressure switch and don't have to pull the pan off which is good news. I also found out that the engine/trans was mounted 1/2" back from the standard location and the new stock position mounts move it forward and I'm going to have to get a new driveshaft. It was short anyway and this is the time to replace it. It was about 1" too short, now it's going to be 1-1/2" short. The bushing on the tail housing is loose and leaking out the seal from the yoke being too far out. I'll replace the bushing and seal and hopefully with a new drive shaft that will fix the leak.
I finally after much grinding got the left motor off the frame. What an ordeal that was grinding the welds off and trying not to damage the frame.
www.summitracing.com
I've found out my trans is a 1988 out of a camaro with external ports and I can buy a kit that screws into outside of the case with a pressure switch and don't have to pull the pan off which is good news. I also found out that the engine/trans was mounted 1/2" back from the standard location and the new stock position mounts move it forward and I'm going to have to get a new driveshaft. It was short anyway and this is the time to replace it. It was about 1" too short, now it's going to be 1-1/2" short. The bushing on the tail housing is loose and leaking out the seal from the yoke being too far out. I'll replace the bushing and seal and hopefully with a new drive shaft that will fix the leak.
I finally after much grinding got the left motor off the frame. What an ordeal that was grinding the welds off and trying not to damage the frame.
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Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2014
- Messages
- 2,852
Doing more research and there seems to be many opinions and different kits to lock up the converter.
I've found kits with:
kits with the pressure switch on outside if trans with/without wiring (easiest)
kits with the pressure switch on the valve body only and with/without wiring
kits with the switch and solenoid with/without wiring
kits with the switch, solenoid, vacuum switch with/without wiring
kits with the switch, solenoid, vacuum switch and a brake light switch with/without wiring.
And one of them has an available adjustable vacuum switch ($259)
I've not been able to find an definitive explanation on why some kits have so little and what is the best way to do this, and why some kits have so much more (and cost a fortune).
And naturally everyone is closed today when I call to ask about it.
I've found kits with:
kits with the pressure switch on outside if trans with/without wiring (easiest)
kits with the pressure switch on the valve body only and with/without wiring
kits with the switch and solenoid with/without wiring
kits with the switch, solenoid, vacuum switch with/without wiring
kits with the switch, solenoid, vacuum switch and a brake light switch with/without wiring.
And one of them has an available adjustable vacuum switch ($259)
I've not been able to find an definitive explanation on why some kits have so little and what is the best way to do this, and why some kits have so much more (and cost a fortune).
And naturally everyone is closed today when I call to ask about it.
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2022
- Messages
- 525
I feel sorry for the other car it hit!My comments are not positive because I have followed your Nova process and know how much trouble you have had with previously undisclosed defects and POOR workmanship.
The '55 looks like a poster child for undisclosed defects and poor workmanship. I know you 'gotta do what you 'gotta do
All mechanicals/chassis look like they've been sprayer with oil to pretend they haven't been touched lately. Got to love that shinny new chrome air cleaner. ROTFLMAO
It looks like they have sprayed some areas (like the whole trunk floor) to hide condition and make it one color.
If you plan to put an aftermarket frame under it, disregard the following comments. Art Morrison, 800-929-7188
View attachment 411912
It's been hit hard on passenger side front end.
Even has two different upholstery panels on the doors.
Look at the fender support brackets at rear edge of front wheel openings (between the foot well and the fender lip). Drivers side OK, passenger side not.
Bumper support present at drivers side wheel well, not at passenger side.
Frame weld repair (poorly aligned) on passenger side at center of angled brace between main frame rail and crossmember.
No oil filter.
One exhaust pipe into the torque converter/flex plate.
The other exhaust pipe cut off short.
Don't know WTH is going on with that power steering kluge.
This is a Frankenchevy and a huge project. Please don't give them any money before you go to inspect it in person.
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2014
- Messages
- 2,852
Been busy with my business a lot lately but have managed to get some done on the 55.
Got the new engine mounts in, and cleaned up the front of the frame and painted is as best I could without pulling the body off the frame and got the engine/trans back in. . I made up a new transmission cross member and got it in. I achieved the -3deg down angle on the engine, and got 3 deg up angle on the rear axle I was hoping for. Had to make up a couple of 4.5 deg shims to get the angle on the axle right. So now the angles are parallel and the drive shaft should be happy. I ordered a new drive shaft and it will be here on Monday I hope. I had to have it custom made because of the length and different size u-joints.
There is a lot more to do. I still have to make up a new exhaust system. I replaced the old headers with ones just like them but are ceramic coated. I'm going to try and get the 700R4 trans do lock up in 4th gear. Have to put a vacuum switch in and route power to the lockup solenoid. I've put power to the solenoid but can't hear it click, so many have to go into the trans and see what's going on.
Got the new engine mounts in, and cleaned up the front of the frame and painted is as best I could without pulling the body off the frame and got the engine/trans back in. . I made up a new transmission cross member and got it in. I achieved the -3deg down angle on the engine, and got 3 deg up angle on the rear axle I was hoping for. Had to make up a couple of 4.5 deg shims to get the angle on the axle right. So now the angles are parallel and the drive shaft should be happy. I ordered a new drive shaft and it will be here on Monday I hope. I had to have it custom made because of the length and different size u-joints.
There is a lot more to do. I still have to make up a new exhaust system. I replaced the old headers with ones just like them but are ceramic coated. I'm going to try and get the 700R4 trans do lock up in 4th gear. Have to put a vacuum switch in and route power to the lockup solenoid. I've put power to the solenoid but can't hear it click, so many have to go into the trans and see what's going on.
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2022
- Messages
- 2
I may be a little late in entering the conversation, but I'm interested in this topic and would like to share my thoughts. A '55 is a classic beauty, and it's great to see that you're willing to put in the effort to make it your own. Best of luck with your offer, and I'm excited to see how your LS3 and other upgrades turn out!
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- Jul 5, 2014
- Messages
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I've been lax in posting lately. Just a lot of transmissions coming in and not as much accomplished on the car unfortunately.
Finally got the parking brake worked out. I was going to try and use stock ford explorer brake cables but they were such an odd setup I decided against that. Wilwood has a universal brake cable kit but at $175 I was having a problem swallowing that price. But luckily amazon came through.
These are EXACTLY the same as wilwood, and even came with wilwood sticker in the box. It was a $120 savings for me. I had to make a lever type setup to add some leverage to the cable handle and extend the length of the cable coming from the handle. The handle just pulls out and you can't pull it hard enough to make the parking brake work, so this is a take off on the stock setup that was under the drive shaft. I couldn't use the stock cables because the exhaust with the x pipe prevented me from doing that, and the new 3" drive shaft was very close to the stock lever.
As I said I got a new driveshaft in it. I bought it from A-1 drive shaft and I ordered it on Monday and they said give them a week and they will ship it. That same day I got a tracking number and on Thursday it showed up. Really nice part and fit perfectly. The dang thing was packaged so well took me 20 minutes to get it out of the package. You could have just flown over in a plane and dropped it off to me and it wouldn't have gotten hurt at all.
I have the new steering column in with the column shift. Took awhile to work out the linkage. It seems to work ok, but am not at the point that I can fire the car up and see if I have all the gears. I didn't like the carb fuel line so got this nice solid one installed but it hit the heater hose fitting on the intake manifold. I had a 1/4" thick carb gasket I put under the carb but it wasn't enough to clear the hose. So I ordered a 45 deg hose fitting that was supposed to be here today, but the post office missent it somewhere and no delivery date is listed. I also made up a new throttle linkage. I had one from my 1962 chevy pickup that had 1/4" heim ends on it. Nice and solid. So I shortened it and it works very well. I put some braided wire loom over the rod and used shrink wrap on the ends to finish it off. Can't see it with the air cleaner on, but I know looks good that way.
I moved the transmission cooler from the engine compartment to in front of the ac condenser. Nice little cooler, had a cooling fan on it, but the fan was dead. So I ordered a new fan that kind of looked the same and when it got here I pulled the motor off it and put in on the fan that was on the cooler. They were exactly the same motor. I was going to just reuse the tranny cooler lines but they just were too hard to modify for the new location of the cooler, so I just last night ordered enough an6 braided line and fittings and am replacing the lines all the way from the trans to the cooler. The braided will look so much nicer.
I've got to figure out how to turn the cooling fans on. I had planned on just using the function in the sniper fuel injection do that, but everything snowballed on me with all the repairs needed and now the plan is to just try and get the car running with the carb setup so we can go to some cruise ins this summer with the 55 and the nova. I'll do the fuel injection this winter. I was also given a complete coil over front suspension with tubular a arms and that will go one this winter also. I don't want to rely on noticing the temp and turning the fans on manually. My wife will probably be driving the 55 to the cruise ins and I will drive the nova. She doesn't like like the nova much, says it scares her. She can drive a kenworth but the little nova scares her. And I can't ask he to be watching the temp gauge al the time in the 55.
So that's the update. Hopefully son I can fire it back up and see what else I need to do.
Edit:
Thinking about his controller. Anyone use one of these? It uses bluetooth to set the fan temps. Kinda spendy though.
Finally got the parking brake worked out. I was going to try and use stock ford explorer brake cables but they were such an odd setup I decided against that. Wilwood has a universal brake cable kit but at $175 I was having a problem swallowing that price. But luckily amazon came through.
These are EXACTLY the same as wilwood, and even came with wilwood sticker in the box. It was a $120 savings for me. I had to make a lever type setup to add some leverage to the cable handle and extend the length of the cable coming from the handle. The handle just pulls out and you can't pull it hard enough to make the parking brake work, so this is a take off on the stock setup that was under the drive shaft. I couldn't use the stock cables because the exhaust with the x pipe prevented me from doing that, and the new 3" drive shaft was very close to the stock lever.
As I said I got a new driveshaft in it. I bought it from A-1 drive shaft and I ordered it on Monday and they said give them a week and they will ship it. That same day I got a tracking number and on Thursday it showed up. Really nice part and fit perfectly. The dang thing was packaged so well took me 20 minutes to get it out of the package. You could have just flown over in a plane and dropped it off to me and it wouldn't have gotten hurt at all.
I have the new steering column in with the column shift. Took awhile to work out the linkage. It seems to work ok, but am not at the point that I can fire the car up and see if I have all the gears. I didn't like the carb fuel line so got this nice solid one installed but it hit the heater hose fitting on the intake manifold. I had a 1/4" thick carb gasket I put under the carb but it wasn't enough to clear the hose. So I ordered a 45 deg hose fitting that was supposed to be here today, but the post office missent it somewhere and no delivery date is listed. I also made up a new throttle linkage. I had one from my 1962 chevy pickup that had 1/4" heim ends on it. Nice and solid. So I shortened it and it works very well. I put some braided wire loom over the rod and used shrink wrap on the ends to finish it off. Can't see it with the air cleaner on, but I know looks good that way.
I moved the transmission cooler from the engine compartment to in front of the ac condenser. Nice little cooler, had a cooling fan on it, but the fan was dead. So I ordered a new fan that kind of looked the same and when it got here I pulled the motor off it and put in on the fan that was on the cooler. They were exactly the same motor. I was going to just reuse the tranny cooler lines but they just were too hard to modify for the new location of the cooler, so I just last night ordered enough an6 braided line and fittings and am replacing the lines all the way from the trans to the cooler. The braided will look so much nicer.
I've got to figure out how to turn the cooling fans on. I had planned on just using the function in the sniper fuel injection do that, but everything snowballed on me with all the repairs needed and now the plan is to just try and get the car running with the carb setup so we can go to some cruise ins this summer with the 55 and the nova. I'll do the fuel injection this winter. I was also given a complete coil over front suspension with tubular a arms and that will go one this winter also. I don't want to rely on noticing the temp and turning the fans on manually. My wife will probably be driving the 55 to the cruise ins and I will drive the nova. She doesn't like like the nova much, says it scares her. She can drive a kenworth but the little nova scares her. And I can't ask he to be watching the temp gauge al the time in the 55.
So that's the update. Hopefully son I can fire it back up and see what else I need to do.
Edit:
Thinking about his controller. Anyone use one of these? It uses bluetooth to set the fan temps. Kinda spendy though.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Messages
- 3,584
I simply put a temp switch in-line on the outlet side of the oil cooler. If the oil leaves the cooler hot, the switch will trip a relay for the fan and cool it further.
I am looking at coil overs for my ‘36 Chrysler coupe. The rear leaves are getting tired, as in flattish, and the front hits too hard. Still have to get to the scales to get the weights.
I am looking at coil overs for my ‘36 Chrysler coupe. The rear leaves are getting tired, as in flattish, and the front hits too hard. Still have to get to the scales to get the weights.
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2018
- Messages
- 6,852
Sounds like the perfect excuse to fit a Mustang II front end and a Jaguar independent rear diff into the Chrysler!