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Holden fans.
I’m in two minds as to what to do with my old ’57 Chev so I thought I’d do an online poll and see what people think.
The car. She’s an Australian delivery 4-door 210, which to those that don’t know Chevies, that means:
Built by Fischer in Canada and sent to Oz as a CKD, assembled by Holden.
Sold new by Holden dealers.
Trimmed in Oz using full leather trim.
Blue flame 6 with column shift 3-speed.
No demister, heater or seatbelts.
4 wheel drum brakes.
These specification were the only 57 you could buy new in Australia bar a few consulate cars which were single carby 283 V8 Belair sport sedans (4-door pillarless).
I bought the old girl about 15 years ago as a one owner car in original condition with 62,000 original miles (it still had the old tar top battery in it). That is how she remains now, except with 63,500 miles. The interior and body are absolutely perfect. As a comparison if it was a HK GTS it would be worth $20 – 25k- as it stands. It is also mechanically spot on, but all of the original seals are old and perished, so the diff, gearbox, engine, brakes, suspension etc all need rejuvenating – basically gaskets and seals replaced and probably new brake cylinders and maybe a clutch for good measure. All of the paint under the bonnet, inside doors, under the boot is still perfect as per original, but some of the outside paint is crazed and needs replacement. All of the rubber door seals also need replacement, and the bars and die cast need either re-chroming or replacement.
My plans are as follows:
Bare metal respray on the body, leaving the inner paint intact.
Re-chrome the chromed steel and buy new die cast (tail-lights, eyebrows, grille bar, rocket launchers, door handles etc).
Buy new body rubbers.
Put new bushes through the suspension and new shocks.
Freshen up the brakes.
Fit new seals to the diff and a seal kit and bearings through the gearbox.
NOW FOR THE QUESTION.
I’m in two minds as to what to do with the engine. A blue flame is not cheap to rejuvenate, plus isn’t a good engine to have for a regular drive car as they have no oil filter. I am tempted to pull the blue flame out and keep it aside. I have a few ’58- ’61 283 V8 engines at home plus a ’62 block as well. If I can locate a factory cast iron RH drive V8 bellhousing the V8 will fit in on original front and bellhousing mounts, plus will use the original tinned copper radiator. I will also need an original RH drive V8 accelerator linkage. As far as I know, as long as I keep it as a 283 I don’t have to fit seatbelts, demister fan, discs etc. (That is one of the beauties of a ’62 283 block – a 327 crank will fit straight in making a 307, plus they can be bored to 4” making a 327). I’m not overly concerned with getting an original ’57 engine (no side mounts) or heads (with offset rocker bolt holes) or having original exhaust. I just don’t want to modify it away from the original car so that it can be put back to a 6cyl if needed.
Anyone have any comments, or suggestions??
Since I typed this earlier today I've heard that possibly the blue flame uses the same bellhousing as a SBC. Anyone know anything about this?
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I would be surprised if the remote oil filter like the ones used on the grey Holdens wouldn't fit the Flame motor. But a v8 is always tempting it is a big piece of tin to push around as long as you don't haave to modify too much. That way you could stick
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I'd recommend putting the 8 in her Byron. So long as she can be returned to stock if desired/warranted, what is the harm in it? She will be a LOT more drivable with the little 8 and probably only use the same amount of fuel or maybe a bit less. On th othe Edited by user Friday, 28 October 2005 10:02:30 AM(UTC)
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Since discovered that the blue flame does not use a SBC bellhousing bolt pattern. '62 and later Chev 6cyl engines do though. I looked at a couple of the spare 3-speeds I have yesterday and they look like they have a sag/muncie pattern. This would mean any |
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My sister in law had a 55 210 sedan complete with blue flame & 3 speed (converted to floor shift). She used it as a daily driver for years without issues. We did however fit one of those bee hive heaters to it so that she could deal with Canberra winters |
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The Bedfords may have, but I thought they were post '62 engines (not blue-flame).
Apart from the lack of an oil filter the problem with the blue flame is it won't run on ULP or PULP very well at all, plus it is a good motor and I don't really want to mes |
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quote:
Originally posted by Byron Rich
as they have no oil filter.
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My brother inlaw had a 58 byscanne aust delivary with 235 blue flame , he drove it work daily for a while with little drama and with the 3 spd manual , we had bit of race with it with my old HQ 202 auto and they were fairly well on par with each other. He
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I remember buying an MQ patrol ute with a P40 4-litre petrol motor in it, and being surprised how much it looks like a blue flame. I learned years later that Nissan copied the blue flame for their G60 engine. Everything is near identical except it's all m |
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Similarly the Datto 1200 was a metric copy of one of the Austin/Morris engines.
Cheers...Dave
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