55 Cheyy

chen2

I have an 55 hot rod, but the previous owner put
in bucket seats, a sacrilege. However, a bench
seat would have to be altered, since the car also
has 4 on the floor and the Hurst shifter would
interfere with the seat. Any suggestions and
sources for help? I will be completely redoing the
interior, so anything within financial reason is
possible.

jpstax

Anyone know what engine that '56 black Chevy that Harrison Ford (Bob Falfa) drove in American Graffiti had? Just saw the movie on TV a few days ago, and I've always wondered. I'm guessing a 348 with three dueces.

stephen32

i'm sorry to tell you this it was a 55 chevy

Mr_Shiftright

Don't be sorry...it's just history, you're not criticizing the guy. And there were no 348s back then. The hot setup for a '55 Chevy would have been to install a Corvette engine if you could have gotten your hands on one. The 348 came out, I believe, in 1958 and was basically a adapted truck engine.

isellhondas

The 348 was available from 1958-1961. Later it was punched out and became the mighty 409. 348's were big, heavy engines that would run and run.

My favorite Chevy engine of all is the 327. These could whip a 348 with ease.

348's and 409's were always referred to as truck engines because that's were they got started.

It is amazing that even though it's been 45 years since the 1955 Chevys with the 265 V-8 came out.

The amazing part being, that basic engine still lives today! As a 5.0 or 5.7 liter or whatever they are calling them now!

Mr_Shiftright

Sometimes engines are just "right"...a mixture of luck, engineering, metallurgy, balance, oil in the right places, voodoo...and other engines you can't make right no matter what you do to them.

isellhondas

V-6's that were used in some Peugeots, Volvos and De Loreans. Remember those? I think Renualt may have built them?

They would eat camshafts every 40,000 miles, leaked oil, and were pure junk!

carnut4

I'm reminded that in Southern California anyway, before the 327 came out in 62, there were a number of 348s that found their way into 55-57 Chevies. I remember seeing at least a few for sale. As a 15 year old wishing for his first car, a buddy and I looked at a bronze-and-white 56 Nomad for sale-for $1200. I remember my friend said "look at that-348,3x2s-isn't that bitchin?"
Next year, my Dad bought a new 62 Chev with 327-stick. We all quickly learned about the power of the 327. But for a while there, some were dumping 348s in their 55-57 rides.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, I'm sure, but really probably not to any advantage except maybe some low-end grunt...that was a heavy engine, and probably between the added weight and the heavy nose it gave the car, did more harm than good.

carnut4

Of course, the weight transfer and low-end torque with the 348 added to the car's burn rubber potential, which was a big deal then for high schoolers. I suppose most 348s now are just boat anchors....

isellhondas

There ws kind of a dorky kid in our high school that bought a used 409 engine from a wrecking yard. He installed it in his 56 Chevy Station Wagon and thought he was hot stuff!

When he discovered it wasn't much faster than the tired six cylinder it had replaced he took it to a shop to have things looked at.

Well..the freshly cleaned and painted 409 had very bad compression. When the heads were pulled...guess what? It was just a 348!! and a very tired one at that!

Remember, the 348's and 409's looked alike.

Well, he returned (with his dad) to the junkyard and raised enough hell that they ended up exchanging it for a 283 with power pack heads, no less!

Two weeks after that while showing off, he missed second gear (on the column) and blew the 283 up.

carnut4

Sounds like a dorky kid I knew in highschool who had a 56 Plymouth wagon. He jacked it all up, put on loud exhaust, and bragged about what was under the hood. Every time he bragged, the engine got bigger and meaner. He went from a "57 Fury mill" to a "Ram Induction Hemi" in a few sessions over a few months. Trouble was he didn't know the difference between the standard Plymouth "polysphere head" V [which is what it was} and a flathead six. Anyway, he was finally egged in to a race with a friend driving a 50 Ford with a hot Olds V8. Poor guy in the Plymouth not only lost the race, but blew a valve, AND his transmission [2speed Powerflite}. It was brutal-but funny. Another story from the carnut 60's...

jpstax

I saw an older 'Vette tonight with a license plate that said "REAL L89". Do you know what it means? I assume it's the engine. You once told me that the L79 was the 327-350hp engine that was available in the '66 Nova SS.

Mr_Shiftright

That would be a late 60s Vette with the L89 engine option, which is aluminum heads on an L71 engine, which is a 427cid, 435 hp honker. Inasmuch as only approx 1000 of these cars so equipped exist (1967-69 I believe), he's either braggin' or lyin'...we'll never know. Personally, I think he's *nuts* to advertise unless he sleeps fully armed in it at night.

rea98d

About all this engine swapping...How, exactly, do they go about doing that? Do you have to find two engines that will essentially bolt into the same mounts, or do you do some cutting and welding? I read an ad on ebay a couple of days ago where a guy dropped a 350cid Chevy in a 1976 Jag XJ6. What are the possibilities when it comes to engine swapping?

Mr_Shiftright

The possibilities are only limited by one's skill and checkbook. Adapters can be made to mate up jusst about any engine and trans, and welding and cutting can accomplish wonders.

Of course, some engine swaps are worthwhile and some are really more trouble than they are worth. It's the kind of thing one has to think out carefully, and project the gains and the losses of such a conversion.

Like the Jag you mentioned...okay, he takes a basically worthless car, an old XJ6 (maybe $3,500 on a good day?) and TAKES OUT the only really good part of the car, the jaguar engine, and puts in a sturdy but noisy and gas-eating Chevy V-8, and thereby ruins the smooth quiet ride qualities of the Jaguar AND makes the car worth even less! Now, true, he can now get his oil changed at Jiffy Lube, and his car will be a bit faster...but look at what little he gained for the tremendous effort and expense! What he should have done was use the Chevy steering box and automatic transmission, which are two weak points on those older Jags and excellent items on the Chevy.

burdawg

The 350 engine installed in a Jag is a popular swap, but mostly in the 12 cyl. cars, since the 12 cyl Jaguar is hard to maintain, and doesn't perform much better than a built 350, if at all. I've never heard of someone doing the swap on an XJ6, but I suppose it's possible.

rea98d

The vehicle was advertised as an XJ6, so I'm assuming it originally had a 6-banger. My guess is that the guy heard of putting V-8's in Jag sedans, was something of a V-8 fan, and didn't bother to check that the only improvement comes when you loose the 12 cyl rather than the six. Of course, this is just my speculation, although I do find a V-8 Jag rather appealing personally.

Shifty, would it be worthwhile to loose an old 78 Ford 400 V-8 in favor of a more modern 4.6 liter Ford? I've decided to restore my old Grand Marquis, economics aside, but the more I think about it, the more I decide the old engine has got to go. My second choicde would be GM's 3.8 liter, although I'd be a little leery about putting a six cylinder in such a big car. (I don't want to have to get a ring job done every 100K miles.)

Mr_Shiftright

The problem you face with modern engines is that you have to use all the electronics and black boxes and wiring harnesses, etc., so you or someone will have to figure that out---but sure, it would be a great improvement over the old, no doubt about that!

Again, there's nothing wrong with Jaguar engines...it's the electronics that screws them up, so if you can just get rid of what's on TOP of the engine you've solved the problem...what people are really doing with a V-8 replacement is replacing Jaguar electrics with Chevy electrics, and so there's the improvement...too bad they had to attach everything to a V-8 engine to accompish it!

rea98d

Is that computers were in their infancy in the late 70's and early 80's. Add to that low worker morale and lax quality control at the Jag factory, and low build quality, and you have the recipie for a 70,000 dollar edsel. If it weren't for the snob factor, Jag would have gone belly up long before Ford bought them out (and brought some reliability with them). On the plus side, you can pick up a used Jag for $5,000 (or less, depending on how old of a car you get.) Cheapest snob appeal on the market :-)

speedshift

I don't think Mr. Shiftright would approve of what my brother did to a '58 Jaguar Mark I sedan. He bought the car cheap, rough and less drivetrain, and installed a 348. No, just kidding. He bought a junkyard 350 and 4-speed, also cheap, ordered a swap kit from John's Jaguars, put it all together and drove it for years. I just realized that the fact that someone had stripped the car of its engine and transmission should have told us something--those were the good parts. Anyway, he ended up with a 4-door Camaro with Ye Olde English charm. There's no doubt the Jag was a great engine--I seem to recall that the XKE could do 150--but most of us gearheads think there's no substitute for cubic inches. I think the small-block was lighter than the six, or at least the car thought so, because it sat too high in the front. Looking back, I suppose we should have done the right thing and put in a 3.8. The 4.2 did a decent job of moving around the '66 Mark X I owned, but there was a car that needed more torque (or a better automatic). Fortunately I sold it before I could put in a 348--more kidding.

Mr_Shiftright

I never did understand why people put V-8s in old Jaguars--the engines were the best part of the car! As for a Mark X, anything would have helped that big old boat! (nice dashboard and seats, though...)

But Americans are traditional engine-swappers...putting a Corvette engine in a '55 Chevy was the hot ticket in the early 1960s, and actually made for a very nice and quick car.

speedshift

How about those picnic tables built into the backs of the front seats? Actually, the Mark X is something of a styling inspiration for Ford these days.

By the way, is it true that you couldn't get the solid-lifter 265 in the passenger cars? Was the Power-Pack the hottest engine?

Mr_Shiftright

You'd need a picnic table in a Mark X in order to stay alive waiting for the tow truck.

carnut4

I know you could special order the solid lifter Vette motor in sedans in 1956, but not sure about 55. Must have been able to at least get a dealer intalled option-after all, take the 180HP power pack, install the Duntov cam and lifters, and you had the 195 horse Corvette motor. Anyone know for sure?

Mr_Shiftright

All the books seem to indicate only the 180HP power pack in 1955, but in 1956 you could get up to 225HP with 2-4bbl. carbs.

speedshift

Since this seems to be the site for small-block stories, I'll add one of my own. One of the many beaters I've owned was a '61 Bel Air wagon with 170k, three-on-the-tree and 283/170. I bought it from the original owner, mainly because it was cheap. However, I was amazed at how responsive the car was, even with all the miles. Maybe it was the gearing, but the car was still lively. Motor Trend tested a new '63 Bel Air with the 195-hp 283, and they also were impressed (of course, this was Motor Trend, the Will Rogers of car magazines: it never met a car it didn't like). Anyway, I can see how even a relatively mild 55-57 V8 would be a strong performer.

isellhondas

I knew a kid in high school, who had a lot of fun with his mother's car.

It was kind of a strange, and probably rare combination. A 1965 Chevy II stripper station wagon. It had a 283 engine with three speed on the column.

It would SMOKE some "hot" cars that it shouldn't have been able to beat.

It would also smoke the rear tires beyone belief!

If his mother ever knew...

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, she knew alright.

carnut4

I told him my pristine, 43000 original mile, 55 Chev Belair w/265 had developed a rod knock [after being thrashed with a Duntov cam, AFB 4barrel, and 6 grand windouts] and that it was more cost effective to go with a new block [327 fuelie-30-30 cam] than to rebuild the old 265. He went for it, and loaned me the 300 bucks to buy a brand new 327 short block from Courtesy Vhevrolet in San Jose, CA. I'll never forget the first time I drove it with the new motor. The extra torque was awesome, and the sound of that cam and valve clearance was absolutely addictive! I got a ticket the first week for "exhibition of speed". But I remember my Dad taking it to the store a few times just to "make sure everything's OK." Yeah right Dad. He did the same thing when I got my first motorcycle-a 58 Triumph. Things were different then...

isellhondas

Carnut, we must have known each other!

I got one of those also, and it was no joke.

A buddy let me drive his '66 GTO and encouraged me to "light em' up" in front of our high school after school one day.

Well...I managed to entertain several of our buddies who were hanging out on the corner.

What I didn't see was an LAPD motorcycle cop hiding in the alley.

He may have been entertained as well, but he wasen't amused one bit!

Oh, the words that poured from my mouth when I saw his red lights through a cloud of rubber smoke...

As I recall, that ticket cost me something like 150.00 back then! Big money!

Ah...memories!

carnut4

You're right-we must have known each other. When you were in Southern California, did you ever know of a drive-in restaurant called Hody's, on Lakewood boulevard, I believe, getting toward North Long Beach? There were so many drive-ins in that area that we used to cruise. My 55 Chev experience, though, was in the San Jose/Los Gatos area. The exhibition of speed ticket also meant I had to take off those mellow glasspack mufflers [which had blown out big time an were much louder with the 327] and install STOCK mufflers instead! A police mandate. Actually, though, the stock mufflers let the sound of that huge 4barrel and solid lifter cam come through a little more when I wound it up to 7 grand. Oh I'd like to have another hot rod like that!!

isellhondas

I grew up in San Pedro. We spent most of our time cruising the beach cities as well as Pedro.

Hermosa Beach, Palos Verdes, Redondo, those were our haunts. There were towns we stayed clear of like Wilmington and Torrance. They hated guys from San Pedro, and the fighting got old.

I received many a "fix it" ticket for loud exhaust. Since these were not counted as moving violations, they weren't much of a problem.

I would take my stock mufflers out of the garage, go to the local muffler shop, have them installed, go to the Highway Patrol, let them listen to the car and sign off the ticket.

Back to the muffler shop to have the "good" mufflers reinstalled.

After a few trips, it got expensive.

We learned to step on the clutch when we spotted a cop!

speedshift

All this talk about solids and burn-outs is getting me excited. I have this recurring fantasy about a mint '64-65 Chevelle SS driver with four-speed and built 283. Maybe with the early Duntov cam, if someone still grinds it. I figure it would give me a little mid-60's musclecar flavor, with some 5-7 Chevy thrown in. It might even make sense economically. Does anyone have any experience with these cars? I have a feeling they could be pretty ordinary. The motoring press of those days seemed to think so. What might make this idea work for me is that I really like GM intermediates, so I'm easily pleased.

carnut4

I always liked these cars, more than the later Chevelles. Several close friends had them, [all with either 250 or 300 horse 327s] and I never, ever saw a car that could burn so much rubber!! When the 65 Chevelle first came out with the 350 horse 327, I went down and looked at the first one to come in-all Black in and out. Boy did I want one! That's why I was jacked up recently to seeone for sale-a mint original 65 with 63,000 documented miles-and an undetailed, 350/327-one of my all time favorite engines. Only thing about those Chevelles I remember was the rearends were weak[my buddy went through 3 in less than a year] and the brakes were also weak. I think a hot setup might be a 65 SS with upgraded brakes, rearend, and a modernized 327 or 350. Definitely a fun ride!

isellhondas

Find a '68 Firebird with a 400 Turbo-Hydramatic and a nice, dry street.

Just stand on the gas...don't get scared or let up...about two blocks later, it might stop spinning the wheels!

Mr_Shiftright

I was going to ask WHY someone would do that, but i guess that's like asking why someone had the statue of Liberty tatooed on their forehead one New Year's Eve. "It seemed like a good idea at the time".

isellhondas

Somebody talked about burning rubber. That 400 Firebird had no equal in that catagory that I know of.

So...WHY do that?...Ah...because you can?

People only did that once. Their Firestone red stripe wide ovals were shot afterwards!

Mr_Shiftright

Seems there is a fine line between fun and wanton destruction.

You know what the old barbarians used to say:

"First pillage, THEN burn!"

carnut4

but it was fun. Now, I would cringe if anyone did that to one of my cars. I think about expensive damage to vital parts, etc. Not to mention expensive tires. But-Shifty-didn't you ever burn rubber, or try to impress your highschool friends with the power of your car? Or did you never ever do anything foolish with cars? Wait a minute-what about the junkyard story-putting bricks on the throttles of the junkers, to see which ones blew first?

bluesi37

does anyone happen to know the gas mileage for a 55 or 57 chevy?

thanks

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, a six cylinder would get about 18 mpg and a V-8 (283) around 15-16 I'd guess under average circumstances...if you put your foot in it, it would decrease rapidly of course.

andre1969

I'm surprised, considering 15-16 is about all I ever got out of any 80's V-8 (and some V-6's!)...I have a habit of putting my foot into it, though ;-)
-Andre

Mr_Shiftright

more cylinders=more gas. It's hard to avoid. That's why even the modern V-12s are gas hogs.

mmcsw

Looking way back at earlier postings on this subject (#2), it was asked what motor the 55 Chevy in American Graffitti had. I'd like to shed a little light on this subject and regurgitate what a recent (year 2000) Hot Rod Magazine article said about this car.

This particular car first appeared in the movie "2 Lane Blacktop" starring James Taylor as the driver and Dennis Wilson (Beach Boy) as the mechanic. The movie was made in 1971 and they actually made 3 cars for it. Note that in neither movie (2LB or AG) is motor ever seen. This because it was a circa 1971 state of the art big block chevy. I believe it was a 454 with dual quad carbs over a high rise (tunnel ram?) manifold. The 2 Lane Blacktop movie had many scenes of the car, including on trip down the quarter mile where it ran in the 12's, and the driver complained that lack of traction almost cost him the race. For the later movie, American Graffitti, the car was painted black and the dual quads were replaced by a single 4 bbl for better driveability.

In American Graffitti the scene where the 32 duece coupe runs against the 55 Chevy, in my opinion the duece didn't stand a chance. The Chevy probably had a least double the horsepower of the Ford, really not a fair contest at all. The most radical non blown flat head Ford was probably only good for 250-300 hp. As I mentioned earlier the motor is never really shown, especially since American Graffitti was supposed to be set in 1962, and the "porcupine head" big block Chevy was not produced until 1965.

A little more on the car itself, it was extensively modified from stock to reduce weight: one piece fiberglass tilt front end, plexiglass windows, fiberglass trunklid, gutted interior, heater removed, etc... it was a real bonafide runner that really could turn 12's or better in the quarter.

mmcsw

After reading some of the previous posts, I'd like to relate my own story of youthful indiscretion....

In 1976 I bought a 1964 Chevy four door Bel Air for $200. It had 72,000 miles on the clock, a 195 HP 283, three on tree manual trans, a posi rear end with about a 3.08 ratio and r/h (radio and heater). Other than that it was stripped (no options). The title listed the weight at about 3400 lbs. I gave it real good tune up, plugs, points, timing adjustment, plug wires, cap and rotor, etc, and I also installed a 4bbl carb and intake off of a '65 327 and new factory type dual exhaust from the manifolds to the mufflers (no tail pipes). I also put a set of H78-14 GoodYear retreads on the back.

I was working second shift at an auto plant in Detroit and was driving home late one night on Mound Road ( a boulevard with a 50 MPH speed limit and 1/2 mile between stop lights), just minding my own business, when a hot rodded, loud, jacked up Camaro pulled up to me at a stop light and challenged me to drag race. I don't know why he thought I'd even try to race hime as my 4 door made no pretensions about being a race car.. Anyway he was riding me, revving up his engine, so I figured what the heck... there's not another car in sight... I watched the light and when it turned yellow for cross traffic I floored the gas pedal, when it turned green for us I side stepped the clutch...The old Chevy launched hard, lighting up both rear tires, I went through the intersection with the rear end sliding sideways and left that Camaro at the light in a cloud of tire smoke. I ran out first gear tight to about 40-45 mph shifted into second and backed out of it. The Camaro blew past me about 5 seconds later, but I let him go figuring I had proved my point.

At the next light, I was all alone again and when I let out clutch in first gear it sounded like somebody was beating on the transmission with a hammer... limped home in second and top gear. I took the opportunity to replace the tranny with a full synchro three speed from a '69 Nova that I got for $25, and put in a Hurst Master Shifter floor shifter, had to get the drive shaft shortened 4 inches...

isellhondas

The green and white Edsel that was used in American Grafitti came from my home town in So. Calif. It sat in front of a house with a For Sale sign on it for a long time. the price was 200.00. This was in about 1970, I think.

My best friend's cousin and his wife, Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz wrote the movie.

They mentioned later that the Edsel had come from San Pedro.

That was a great movie!

carnut4

Sure was a great movie- I picked out all my friends in each of the characters in their cars. I would have been the guy with the 55 Chev, except no big block-just a 327/365 horse, solid lifter thumper. I always thought it was a stroke of genius to have Richard Dreyfus driving a Citroen 2CV-of all cars. I wonder who wrote that car in to the script? It would be interesting to see a "many years later" sequel to the movie, maybe with all the characters as aging baby boomers [like us] recapturing their younger years with new Street Rods, etc. and contemplating retirement, etc. Could also include a group of guys sitting around telling old cruising stories, and then seeing the actual thing. Just a fun thought...

isellhondas

A few years later, More American Grafitti came out. Great music! It showed the guys in Vietnam.

Very good movie, maybe better than the first. Some funny parts and some very sad.

carnut4

Just returned home after a road trip to the Bay Area-been gone since the 13th. I'd forgotten about the sequel to American Graffiti. Yes I saw it. I think another sequel, set in the 90's and featuring aging baby boomers, might be fun. Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard, for example, could be kicking the tires on a new street rod or something in their garage, and recalling old stories, which could then be shown. Kinda like what I did last week with an old highschool buddy in his garage, talking old times and tinkering with his new rod- a '67 Nova with a hot 350 Chevy, radical cam, lots of chrome under the hood, and a super quality yellow paint job. The demo ride on the freeway really brought back memories! The sound of that huge 4 barrel sucking air, etc..... Years ago, we did the same thing in my 55 Chevy.

rea98d

I once tried to impress one of my car guy friends with a burnout in my oft malaigned 78 Grand Marquis (Equipped with a 400M cleveland and an FMX trans) I literally stood on the accelerator. You'd have never known I was trying to hotrod the Mercury. Looks like the ol 400's gonna need some serious work ;-)