The Barn Find 1955 Bel Air

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Yessir. As long as it’s after 58 when they went to side motor mounts
I see you no longer need one.
But if you change your mind I have a couple and bare transmission cases (TH350) you can borrow for mock up if you go that path.

I also have heads and intakes and HEI distributors you are welcome to borrow for mock up.
 

flatwins

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Dlbleak came over this morning and we made pulling the engine a family affair. My son (a Ford mechanic) assisted on the engine crane while we used jacks, furniture dollies and anything within arm’s reach to roll the engine and transmission up and out of the car. We then opened up the 283 and discovered the engine had seen better days. It had been ridden hard and put away wet 50 years ago. Gonna deal with power train later. Now the next step is to tear apart the front suspension. We have a set of power disc brakes for it along with tubular A arms, new bushings, tie rod ends, etc. We’ll also coat the frame in the Chassis Armor stuff from Poppy’s Patina.
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flatwins

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One tidbit I found while gathering parts of my 58 impala together. It ca,e stock with a cast iron transmission. Granted most trannys are heavy. this one is in another class..
No doubt! I’m not sure when the change was made but the early Powerglides were cast iron. Yesterday as I was moving this one around I wished it was one of the later aluminum-cased units.
 
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1962 is when the Aluminum Glide came out.
I hated the weight of my Iron glide when I pulled it and thought right then I am sticking in a TH350.


My 64 Impala was Aluminum. I helped a friend pull his out of a 60 and it was indeed very heavy for two teens with no floor Jack, let alone a tranny jack!
 

flatwins

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Just a bit of progress this weekend. We spent quite a bit of time with a pressure washer getting as much old grease as possible off the frame and steering components since I’ll be tearing all of that out soon. Then it’s time for new disc brakes, master cylinder, control arms, etc. Cleaned up the firewall and it looks like there’s some sort of assembly inspection marks there so that’ll stay. Ever wonder why the headlight brows rust so badly on tri-fives? It’s from all the mud that gets packed in there from the front wheels.
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