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ne day in May of 1967, my parents surprised us by bringing home a green & white 1955 Chevy convertible. I didn’t know how or where they found it, or whom they bought it from, and I certainly wasn’t asked for my opinion beforehand. I was of driving age, and my siblings weren’t far behind. Since my folks owned a ’65 Pontiac Bonneville, this old Chevy was for us “kids”.
America’s Sensational Sport Car! Creating a sensation everywhere!
The new First Generation Corvette boasted a 160 hp extra-high compression Blue-Flame engine, teamed with the new Powerglide automatic transmission. No V8 for the Corvette, yet!
Introduced in 1965, the Quadrajet is the only four-barrel carburetor that performed well during the 1960s, through tighter emissions in the 1970s, and lent itself to electronic feedback in the 1980s. The Quadrajet takes advantage of its “spreadbore” design to offer very good fuel economy and outstanding performance. Spreadbore means that it has small primary bores and much larger secondary bores. Most versions have 1-3/8” diameter primaries (very few had 1-7/16” primaries) and all have giant 2-¼” secondaries. During normal driving, the engine operates off the small primaries. Following the laws of physics, the higher the velocity of air through the venturis, the more efficiently you can meter fuel. With the small primaries in this carb you can take a 5,000 pound Cadillac or Olds 98 and achieve 16-17 mpg, which is not bad at all considering the heft of the vehicle. When the driver gets in a hurry however, the huge secondaries open and you can pretty much watch the gas gauge move. The “air valve” type secondary had two controlling features.
When working on your carburetor, transfer the carburetor from the engine to a clean, open workbench. If you don’t have a carb stand, simply slide four bolts of your choice through the mounting holes in the bottom plate, and “nut” them up at the top. All you need is enough clearance for the levers and protruding linkage.
When installing an open-element air cleaner, use a drop-base unit. This will allow for additional hood clearance, and it opens up the possibility of using a larger filter element.
When doing an HEI distributor conversion, label or mark the location of your spark plug wires on the distributor cap for fast, easy reference.
Before installing new vinyl seat covers, lay them out in the sun to loosen the material and to relieve any folds or creases in the vinyl from due to packaging. A couple of hours in direct sunlight should do the trick!
Don’t forget: hog-rings and pliers, seat foam padding (optional)
This 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible was designed and built by Hulst Customs of Merlin, Oregon for Don and Karen Blacksmith of Grants Pass, OR. This car is a full custom in every sense of the word, way too features and modifications to list, but you’ll find most of it is visible in the pictures here.
“Heat” officially debuted at the 2009 SEMA show, was a Top 25 pick at SEMA by Hot Rod Magazine. From there, the car went on to the Good Guys show at Scottsdale, AZ and won the Top Ten pick.
Take a 2008 Harley Davidson Dyna Street Bob motorcycle, add vast amounts of ingenuity, imagination and innovation and blend with over 3,000 hours of labor and you might end up with this homage to the ever popular, instantly recognized 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. This red beauty was recently seen at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show held in Las Vegas, Nevada .
