My 57 Chevy   
The fun of owning an antique auto.

Nov 4, 2011

Here it is, fall 2011. This summer Judy and I went many a ride and some car cruises. West Michigan has many of them. The Cruise in Coopersville, MI was great. The evening was perfect and the cruise went through Coopersville twice. The other cruise we went on was the 28th St cruise in Grand Rapids, MI. It runs on Friday evening and all day Saturday. We usually drive from the west toward Grand rapids. It is a four lane road so all cruisers stay on the right side.  On Friday evening it takes about 1 1/2 hours to make the run. It's about 15 miles. No turns, straight east. The traffic gets heavy, making the going slow at times. My Chevy has a stick shift. My left foot usually gets very tired holding in the clutch.

We didn't make the Whitehall, MI to Montague, MI cruise since we went west to see my sister in Vancouver, WA. We like that cruise because it is close to home and has many cars, usually about 500. In previous years we had great weather. Maybe next year.

I painted the turquoise this summer. It turned out very nice. Now I don't have many shades of turquoise paint on it. I like how the paint shines! A friend and I did the job. No, it isn't easy to paint a car. The prep work never ends. It took two days to finish it but the results were great.

Oh, yeah, new fender mirrors. O'Reilly's had them and were an exact match to what was on the car. Easy exchange and no more rust. Didn't cost much either.

I had to replace the points and condenser this summer. It was causing a miss and really started to use a lot of fuel.  This fall I still noticed a miss still there. I changed the spark plug wires. I got them from NAPA and were Belden MAX wires. The engine perked up and I get much better fuel mileage. The price was very good too.

Notice the radio antenna? Its out a ways but it actually isn't all the way out. Its really long on purpose so the AM radio would work better. I leave it in some so I can back the Chevy into the King Canopy car tent.

I'll keep on making small changes as time goes by. For a car 54 years old, the old girl is going strong.

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Sept 21,2009

My has time flown by! I new I should make more posts to this page, but ya know, Things kinda slipped by. But it's been a great summer to drive my 57 Chevy.

I upgraded the air filter to a paper filter, replacing the Bird strainer that was original equipment.  I found an  Onan 140-1228 filter that works good if you make a spacer nut 1 in long with 1/4 20 threads and a  1/4 20  1 inch long stud.

Prime Line
Litchfield, IL 62056-3029

Part # 7-02247

Replaces an Onan 140-1228

HT 2 1/8 X OD 8" X ID 6 1/4

This for a 6 cylinder 235 cu in engine with side mounted air cleaner can.

This summer I used my economy recovery check to buy new seat covers for My 57 chevy. The original seat covers had bad cloth and some damage to the vinyl. I ordered them from www.Carsinc.com They had the exact pattern for my 57 Chevy. The results were great. It now looks like new. I removed the front seat first. The seat back comes out first and the bottom next. I removed the hog rings and discarded the old covers. I didn't use hog rings I used tie wraps. I punched holes (with an awl) at the tie points and pulled them tight. I don't think tie wraps were invented by 1957.  Wikipedia said they were invented in 1958. Anyway, they worked great.

I got a good name for my 57 Chevy. Here is how I found it. My wife and I went to Detroit to watch a Tigers baseball game. (they lost) We drove the 57 Chevy down and covered it at the parking lot for protection. When we left the weather was perfect, the crowds were large and about everywhere. We usually get all kind of attention from about everyone. Today was no exception. As we were about to enter  I75 the traffic cop turned and saw our 57 Chevy. He loudly said "Hot Dang!"   So now that's what I call the old 57 Chevy.

I had this sign made up by Victoria, my daughter in law. It's amazing how many people holler out "Hot Dang!" during a cruse or parade.

March 25,07

Ah! Spring is here. It was nice and warm and sunny. Just what a spring day is supposed to be like. No, I didn't get my 57 Chevy out of storage, although I wish I could have. I worked around the house, cleaning and getting out the round picnic table. I had to dig out a small grill to cook some chicken. Mmm Good.

Next weekend is slated for the spring return of the ol' 57 Chevy.

The Ford Escort was nice, but my wife bought a late model Saturn wagon. (2003 LW300) It has a really strong motor. 3 liter, dual overhead cams, 4 valves per cylinder, port EFI. This thing flies! It also has Traction Control. TC uses the ABS braking control to apply the brakes on the spinning front wheels. It works most of the time. If you are on a downward hill and want to backup the hill and it's slippery you won't go anywhere. When I applied the power to back up, the wheels started to spin, and the TC applied the brakes. I didn't go anywhere even though the Tach said 2000 RPM! I had to turn off the TC to back up.

Jan 20, 07
I think I have found a car. It's a nice 1998 Ford Escort. It looks nice. Good price too.

I found a radio. I got it on eBay. It didn't work when I tested it. I expected that. I removed the top and bottom covers. I cleaned the dust and spiders webs out, replaced the burned out lamp and soldered every connection on the circuit board. Guess what? It still didn't work. I dug out my trusty Sencore tube tester  and checked all 5 tubes. Every one checked OK except the audio amp tube. It was weak. It will still work OK with that tube, just not as loud. The viberator worked, I really glad for that. Those are really hard to find.

I searched the 'net for schematics and I found one. Now I have to dust off my ole brain and figure out how to repair it. My first guess is the oscillator in the tuner isn't running. That's where I will start when I begin trouble shooting it. It works!, I just needed a really long antenna wire. Not much gain in the front end of the receiver. I did solder every connection on the circuit board.

After all of that, the car was modified for a modern radio. A large rectangular opening was created. I found a Pioneer CD radio in my TV shop and discovered that it dropped right in.  That's the only push button thing in the Chevy.

Jan 5th, 07: I am looking into getting the turquoise painted by Maaco.  The problem is, my 94 Chevy Cavalier wagon got broad sided by a stupid driver. (He ran a stop sign.) So I'm looking at some cars tomorrow. I guess the paint will wait.

Latest Note: Dec  24

I didn't win the radio. It was more than I wanted to spend.

Latest note: Dec 15

I bid on an original 57 Chevy radio. It looked good in the pictures. Naturally, the thing doesn't work. That's OK. The vibrator is probably bad.  If that's the case, I will have to scare up another.

Latest note: Dec 12

The hole in the dash is filled! I found a nice original clock on eBay last week. It doesn't work but I may be able to fix it.

Latest note: Dec 3

I'm looking at a nice clock on eBay. I hope that I win it. There is a big square hole in the dash to fill.  I found a nice clock on EBay, it doesn't work but fills the hole just fine.

I know that I have always dreamed to have a 57 Chevy. Now, I was 15 years old when this car was produced. I was just going into 9th grade! Those were heady years, with the birth of Rock and Roll, fast racy cars, and Sock Hops.  I was mesmerized with everything life was bringing to me.