LT1 and a T56 in a 55 Chevy

My other rigs keep demanding my attention, breaking something or needing adjustment....

But I got both trucks, the 55 4x, and the 58 pro street; and the 55 gasser, all running again...
YaHoo....

Now to work on the 55 Sport Coupe and the panheads for awhile...

Put a 1350 pinion yoke on the rear end, and measured the old driveshaft from the gasser to be shortened. Sent it to Strange, they will put on a front 1350 trans yoke for the GM T56, and cut and weld on a new 1350 rear yoke to fit the pinion yoke.

Then pulled the motor/tranny out so I could finish welding the motor mounts in, do some mods on the firewall to provide more clearance for the valve covers, cleaning smoothing and painting.

Yesterday pulled the T56 apart and swapped out the main shifter shaft for a modified shifter shaft from Keisler Engineering that I've had around for awhile. The new forward position of the shifter will clear the bench seat in my '55.

Wrote it up and it is here (Link) if you want a look...

Some highlights:
Pulled the rear tailshaft housing off, it also houses the reverse gear set and the 5th and 6th gear sets...
T56shifterMove004sJul2014.JPG


Removed all the gears in this portion of the case, reverse, 6th and 5th, then pulled the main gear case off the front trans plate:
T56shifterMove008sJul2014.JPG


One of the guys in our crew hauled home that "Wombat" sign from a recent trip "down under", no we don't have wombats on Maui....

T56shifterMove007sJul2014.JPG

You can see the long shifter shaft, it runs the full length of the gearbox. I pulled it out and installed the modified shaft I got from Keisler Engineering, which splits the shaft in half at the appropriate spot under the forward case inspection hole, and puts a piece of hardware in that will accept a new shifter and operate all six gears and reverse properly...

Unfortunately I forgot to take a pix of that modification Keisler did to the replacement shaft, will look for something I can find to show it.

The truth is, I misplaced the new shaft, and we were going nuts trying to find it so we could finish the job, I finally did find it, and it was getting late, so we buttoned everything back up and then realized we forgot to photo it !!

Stuck this short shift lever on it to check it out, it shifts good, hits all the gears it is supposed to. I'll find a nice curved shift lever to use in the '55....

T56shifterMove016sJul2014.JPG


Actually, that original main shifter shaft could be modified to the forward position if you had that piece that goes in that location to match up the two halves of the shaft after it is cut and a piece removed.

Now to figure out where to cut the hole in the floor for this shifter....
Aloha,
Willy
 
Am laid up with some medical issues, so have not got much done on the '55 hardtop.

Got a Hurst stick that I've used before w bench seats, but the stick's thread was different from the 8-ball knob I want to use:
T56ShiftLever1sAug2014.JPG


So I got a bolt that fits the knob, drilled and tapped it to fit the stick, put it together and put it on the tranny.
T56ShiftLever5sAug2014.JPG

T56ShiftLever6sAug2014.JPG

T56ShiftLever7sAug2014.JPG


I've been playing around with some new software for web pages, this is my first attempt:
LINK to shifter page

I did go beat on the firewall of the hardtop a bit before I got laid up,

55chevyfirewall03sJul2014.JPG


Chalk marked it the last time the motor was in,
the driver's side went where I wanted it pretty easily....

55chevyfirewall02sJul2014.JPG


But the passenger's side was being more stubborn,
might have to get the torch out....

55chevyfirewall01sJul2014.JPG


Link to a new page

There will be some welding, filling in holes, smoothing, fresh paint....
More later....
Willy
 

Hope you recover quickly, it never fun being sick ..... well unless you are 10 years old and
want to stay home form school. But I'm guessing that's not your situation! GDAR! :lol: :roll:


What are the two lines that run just below the red base plate for the shifter ???

 
Indycars said:
What are the two lines that run just below the red base plate for the shifter ???

55T56shifter07sJul2014.JPG

Just one, the vent, the other is a spring loaded detent ball that rides on the gear selector shaft device.
 
I've had some surgery, and it's been a slow recovery, but am getting back at it....
Am slowly bondo-ing that firewal I beat up with a ball peen hammer, and am working
with some new software on a new server for my project websites....
55HTfirewall04sOct2014.JPG


And when my wrist gets tired of sanding that stuff, I go pull old wire out from under the dash....
55HTwiring01sOct2014.JPG


Some more pix here....

More later, I gotta go swap out the th400 in my '58 truck....
Aloha,
Willy
 
Finally got back on the firewall job.
More bondo, more sanding, more primer, it was coming along, but I just ran out of time so finished it off. Not as pretty as I wanted it to be, but this is not a "show car", it's a daily driver, just want it to look nice and be easy to work on.

Started with this:
55_hardtop_front_end_010s_Sep_2013.JPG


Which prevented me from pulling off the valve covers with the motor in the desired position:
55HT_Motor_Install_33s_Jan_2014.JPG

Since it's an LT1, with no distributor in back, I wanted to push it as far back as I could when I set up the motor mounts.

This is what I ended up with after a fair amount of bondo and primer:
44hHTfirewall05sDec2014.JPG


Still have some more work to do on the front end before I put the motor back in again, but I do need to check it out and make sure the valve covers will come off easily with this mod to the firewall.
Aloha,
Willy

MORE PIX HERE
 
Did some more cleaning and painting, put the motor mounts on, ready to put the motor/tranny in and check the fit:
55HTfirewall08sDec2014.JPG


But got to looking at this old original automatic shifter linkage (think that's what it is), trying to decide to leave it or cut it off, as mine is a floor shift T56:
55HTfirewall07sDec2014.JPG


And this old style e-brake pulley and cable??
55HTfirewall06sDec2014.JPG


Merry Christmas,
Willy
 
Depends, both my pickups, the 58 with th400, and the 55 with 4L80e, I've set up as column shift, keeps the floor clean and open, no shift levers sticking up. And the 55 is a 4wd, put the shifter for the transfer case down on the side of the foot well by the driver's door, works great and is out of the way.

IF it's a stick shift, fine, up through the floor, for an automatic, for me, put it on the column, get it out of the way....

BTW, properly setup, column shifts for hot rodded automatics work quite well.
Merry Christmas all,
Willy
 
I am a manual valve body kind of guy so the column doesn't do it for me. But for what you said I would leave it or carefully cut it off and save it if need be weld it back on.
 
I understand, just wanted to say that once I got used to the manual valve body on a column shift setup, I loved it. The last time I went through the th400 in the 58 truck, I changed the valve body to a semi manual, in D or 3rd, it will upshift from 1 from a stop, but if it is in 3rd and I downshift the lever to 2nd, it goes to 2nd, every time, no arguement, just like a full manual vb. I've learned to "blip" the throttle just enough, and at just the right moment, so that the down shift is seamless, and the 2-1 downshift is the same. Upshifting from 1-2 and 2-3 manually is the same, it will not upshift until I shift it. Getting the valve body shift positions accurately synced with the notches in the column shifter is critical. I've sometimes had to redo the vb lever to get the hole in the right arc radius to hit the positions exactly, and I used a threaded clevis on the end of the shifter rod from the column down to the vb lever to fine tune the length of that rod. But once you get it dialed in, it works beautifully, just like a good floor shift setup. I drive often when just "hot roddin around" with one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on the shift lever, working it up or down through the 3 gears (or 4 gears in the 4L80 rig, it's set up the same...), when some guy pulls up next to me and wants to play....

I also like to set up the shift governor with fairly light weights and springs, so full throttle shifts in auto (D or 3rd) occur at fairly high rpm if the tranny's vacuum adjustment is screwed in pretty tight. Full throttle shifts in D (both the 1-2f and the 2-3) are presently at 6500 rpm, about the max for that 502 I'm running in the '58, and the Olds 455 in the '55 4x4 (the 4L80 rig). They are both low 12 second rigs at the track.

Just sayin', it can be set up to work just as well as a properly set up floor shift. And yes, I do like both setups, just have slowly switched over to the column setups over the years.
Merry Christmas,
Willy
 
Cut all the body mount bolts (they were a rusted solid mess....), and got the body up off the frame....
55HTframeOff04sJan2015.JPG


Rolled the chassis out for a good look....
55HTframeOff09sJan2015.JPG


It will get ground down where necessary to remove the remaining fragments of the old original mounts I removed or the PO removed....
55HTframeOff10sJan2015.JPG


The frame is in really great shape, and will get a new paint job. I really like the Rustoleum black hammer tone, will probably use that, as I have already done the front frame/cross member with that paint....
55HTframeOff11sJan2015.JPG


Have a set of CalTracs I'm thinking of putting on, but I also really like the old style slapper bars, have had good luck with those over the years...
55HTframeOff12sJan2015.JPG


And a sway bar for the front....
55HTframeOff13sJan2015.JPG


It's coming along, but slowly....
Aloha,
Willy

More pix on my web page, please scroll down....
 
55gasser%20front%20panhard%20bar%2098s%20Apr%2012.jpg


Look at this pix taken when I was setting up the front end of my 55 gasser, I tried something a little different on that rig. Those are the springs I got off a 59 F1 truck along with the axle. I later changed to a '48 F1 axle that was a little bit narrower and fit better under my car. There were originally 6 springs on each side. After installing that setup, I got to wondering how well a QA1 setup would work along with one or two of the leafs on each side. With the 90 lb/inch coils, and two leafs, it works exceptionally well! And it is tunable. Running the Q's knobs in the middle position, tried a couple of settings and that one I like the best.
And I can do some height adjustments with this setup.

So, I am wondering how well this would work with a reduced spring pack and CalTraks on the rear end of my hardtop? Along with a sway bar? Anyway I think I am going to try it.
Aloha,
Willy
 
if you do install the rear differential, springs and a set of CalTracs pictures would be very much appreciated as would your thoughts on how it launches and drives


if your one of the newer guys reading thru this, and your not sure of what the difference is between slapper bars and caltracks this thread may help

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=4067&p=10823&hilit=caltracks#p10823
http://www.calvertracing.com/store/calt ... -p-15.html
caltracfirebird.JPG

READ THIS
http://www.competitionengineering.com/a ... assis2.asp

chs1.gif

The bolt-on "Slapper Bar" is one of the most basic traction devices available. Originally pioneered by Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins in the mid-sixties, it gets its name from the way it works. One end of the Slapper Bar replaces the stock spring pad and is clamped to the rear axle housing. The front end of the bar is suspended just below the spring eye. When the housing begins to rotate during launch, the bar also rotates until it contacts or "slaps" the spring. (Unlike other brands, Competition Engineering Traction Bars make contact directly below the front spring eye, preventing spring damage). When contact occurs, the Slapper Bar becomes a lever trying to push the axle housing down and planting the tires in the process.
http://www.hotrodsandhemis.com/Traction.html

chs2.gif

A revolutionary, patented, completely bolt-on traction device, the Slide-A-Linkâ designed for both street and strip use is track tested and competition proven to outperform conventional Slapper bars. A solid mounted front plate is installed inside the original front spring pocket and clamps to the leaf spring to provide a positive displacement for the torque that is transmitted from the rear axle through the telescoping bar and special durometer shock pad. These forces, along with improved instant center geometry, provide better weight transfer for increased traction. Free travel and pre-load adjustments are made on the vehicle by adjusting the jack screw at the rear of the bar.



lak-21606_w.jpg

LAKEWOOD STYLE traction bars normally cost between $70-$120 there not quite as effective but they work reasonably well.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/i ... _21607.pdf
 
Absolutely !

One problem with going to a reduced leaf spring pack is that the torque applied by the rear axle to the springs will roll the springs back in an S curve much more easily, so a slapper bar setup is essential when going to a combined coil-over/leaf spring setup like I am contemplating.
I have not run a CalTraks before, but understand the concept and like it. It's just that for an old curmudgeon like me (I'm 73) I like to stick to the "Old School" as much as possible, but ONLY as long as it still works well !!

I think two leafs and the coil-overs, once I figure out how to set them up to work well together, will work quite well. I am surprised how well my 'gasser' hugs the narrow, curvy two lane roads I have run it on fairly hard! Here's 3 video segments of a run I did last year, if you haven't seen it, and there's more at my personal website. I pushed it pretty hard in the 3rd segment, difficult to tell in the vid, but I was hitting speeds as high as 90 on a narrow, curvey road, when there was no traffic, that road is posted at 30 !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3P8LIg ... e=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXBjkxL ... e=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx19x-J ... e=youtu.be

my website:
http://www.wheelsmaui.com/content/540cb ... ot;_1.html

I should be able to do even better than that with this car.
Willy
 
Got the frame "hung" up sideways so I can get at all the surfaces with a grinder/wire brush to clean it up.

55HTframeOff015sFeb2015.JPG


55HTframeOff016sFeb2015.JPG


Willy
 
Had a bunch of delays, other business getting in the way, but am back at it again. Flipped it over to the other side to complete the cleaning, removal of odd brackets, welding up some holes, etc....

55HTFrameOff18sMar2015.JPG


Posted a bunch of pix on my web page HERE

Next is Ospho treatment, then paint.

Aloha,
Willy
 
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