My 57 Chevy
The fun of owning an antique auto.
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. It has a really strong motor. 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.
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.
Sometimes your dream car is just that,
just a dream
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.
I still admired all the 57 Chevy's that were around town. It
truly is a marvelous design.
In 1955 Chevrolet designed the Bel Air that was a revolutionary design, and
improved it in 1956.
In an attempt to take back the sales lead from Ford they created the
fabulous 57.
They almost succeeded in doing that by selling 1.5 million cars. Even
though Ford sold more cars that year, what would you expect would hold the
lead in cars now remaining?
It has to be the 57 Chevy. They looked so good, everyone saved them. They didn't all go to the scrap yard. Even today an old decrepit, beat up 57 Chevy will sell! Maybe even for $1000.00 but they are always found and sold. The market for restored 57's is impressive! They get priced up to $50,000 or even more. Today the 57 Chevy convertible is the car to envy. Parts for the venerable 57 Chevy are everywhere, at good prices too.
Late October, 2006 I was browsing eBay Motors, wondering what the 57 Chevrolet was going for. If you haven't looked before, it is a nice trip down nostalgia lane. Every type of auto is on sale there, not only 57's Chevy's. But Wow! There are a lot of 57's on the auction block.
I found my 57 on eBay Motors and got what I thought was a good deal. I'm sure it will grow in value, and I have a fun project to work on. You won't find a better way to invest some money, have a lot of fun, make new friends too. I plan to take it to some car shows this coming summer.
Now, a 2 door no post 57 Chevy with a V8 engine is probably
the way to go.
I couldn't afford one of those for what they were going for.
I bought a 4 door six cylinder with a 3 speed transmission with the classic colors of turquoise and white. The mileage on the odometer was only 34,611 when I picked it up. I had to drive it back home from the west side of Chicago, but it drove almost like new. Not bad for a 49 year old car. It cruses at 65 MPH with ease.
I have driven stick shift cars before, so I knew that I would do OK. Boy was I rusty when it came time to drive it. Automatic transmissions make it so easy to drive a car. The venerable "3 on the tree" separates the men from the boys though. You have to think about what to do before you do it. When to press in the clutch, What gear to chose when rounding a corner. How to start on a hill. Wow, I thought I had it mastered. But that's what driving an old antique is all about.
I have paint to do, bench seats to recover, and some trim and chrome to fix up. I'll leave the engine as is, along with the 3 speed transmission. I will clean up the engine compartment and keep it well tuned.
Lee Klemetti
P.S. Book mark this page and I will keep you updated on the progress.