1957 444

I need another project like I need a hole in my head. Here we go!
Several years ago I had a newer version of one of these, it was a 64 544.
I gave up on it because of massive amounts of rust but, promised myself I'd never pass up a rust free example. I spent about three weeks trying to talk myself out of this heap....... but I just had to have it, the floors are as solid as the day it rolled off the assembly line. So I'm gonna sell my xj6 because I'd rather have this. Go figure!

MMmmmmmmmmm

l can see it now, small block chevy,5 speed, roll cage, upgraded suspension, tie up the uni-body,performance tires and ZOOOOOM, corner carving fun machine[cl

Later

Like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM6-TY4diwA

forgot

that is cool'

l forgot, need 4 wheel discs so ya slow/stop well.

Later

Or this



I love those cars, first year model imported to US. I realize the B16B was never a power house by American standards but it would be kind of a shame to whittle up a nice survivor to put a chevy engine in it. Besides, in stock form, it should be a mid 20s mpg ride.

Only thing wrong with this project is that its not in my garage. Would make a great gasser or street cruiser. Good luck with it.

Love these cars. For us old timers these were a standing joke as in "I found and old 48 Ford out behind a shed. Oh crap. It was a Volvo."[ddd
[P[P[P
Torchie

Torchie said:

Love these cars. For us old timers these were a standing joke as in "I found and old 48 Ford out behind a shed. Oh crap. It was a Volvo."[ddd
[P[P[P
Torchie

Click to expand...

You too torchie [S

ORR Keep us in the loop, little engines with a huffer run good [cl

I spent the day cleaning the gas tank and the fuel lines. Cleaned out the float bowls and needle valves. Bypassed the fuel pump with an electric one I had laying around. Changed the oil and filter. Installed a 6 volt battery I got at Menard's. I'd put a few ounces of ATF in the cylinders a week ago and been working the motor back and forth by hand from time to time. Today I hit the starter and watched her spin on her own.... sounded real healthy but had no spark. After further inspection I found the condenser was loose and the points were just about closed. So I fixed those 2 issues and tried again. This time it had spark so I gave her a good dose of ether and boom she started right up and idled like a Swedish meatball hitting on all 4. Brought her up to temperature..... no blow by no smoke. Incredible! The guy I bought this from had put it on blocks 30 years ago in 1986.
Anyway, I backed it out of the shop without brakes and, after rolling to a stop I put it in 1st to go forward and it's stuck 2 gears at the same time. I'm guessing one of the spring and ball lock out thingamajigers in the shifter rails is stuck from sitting so long.
I agree with WB3 and think I'll keep it close to stock. I have a couple B20's sitting around I could use and think building a rally car would be cool.

very cool..My oldest brother had 3 of those sitting around when I was a kid, I always did like them..

I'd have to stuff at least a V6 in there! [ddd[cl

Yep that's a thought for sure but for now I just want to get her running and stopping so I can move it around without major hassle.
So first thing first is to fix the tranny from getting stuck in reverse from time to time.
I pulled it out and took the top off of it in about 30 minutes. Took a look down inside and it appears the little doohickey that connects the reverse lever to the hub on the reverse idler gear was missing. (maybe called a shift fork shoe?)
So I flipped the tranny over and shook it a little bit and the broken doohickey fell out. As luck would have it, it appears that the smashed up little bronze piece that goes on the reverse lever is identical to the ones on one of the other shift forks. So at least we had a model to go off of. So we made one. It was a bit of work getting the shift lever out because I had to tear the tranny down a bit just to remove it. About a 2.5 hour ordeal start to finish and now the tranny works fine. Kind of funny though, the tranny in this thing has been obsolete since about 1960 and I'm sure this is why the car was parked on blocks in 1986. At that time it was a $200 car that needed a $1000 worth of work.

nice work !

Fabrication

Awesome! Making parts is where the challenge and fun is! [cl

440shorty

Always wanted one of these. Tried my best to trade a '61 Bonneville convertable
for one. You probably know its the 4.5 bolt pattern.

Nice fix on the tranny! My uncle had a '60. We beat the snot out of that thing. It was his dailey driver/fishing buggy for a while and we even towed his fishing boat with it. Tuff little car...

Yes 440 I agree, it's the Fab work that's the most fulfilling.
Yes EM in fact I got my eyes peeled for a steel Ford rim so I can build a rear brake drum puller.
I'm pulling the trigger on brake parts today. 4 wheel cylinders, a MC, 3 brake hoses and front linings are around 3 bills. The brake shoes are just the linings and the rivets. I guess I'll need to figure out a rivet tool.
I cleaned the main jet assemblies good enough to get the jet assemblies moving for cold start enrichment. But, when I was in there it was clear the SU carbs needed rebuilding. So I found a guy on the interweb that does them for 250 for the pair! Heck the kits are about 125 for both carbs. I'd do them if they were Jap carbs or a Q jet or something of that nature but one thing I've learned about being a know it all, It's OK as long as you know when you don't. So I sent them off to him up in Maine.

So here's where I'm at with this build / restore. I've got it running perfectly. The engine purrs with no smoke even on a cold start. I went through the distributor like the good ole' days and the vacuum advance diaphragm even works. Rebuilt the glass bowl fuel pump. Had the carbs done. And cleaned out the gas tank. Got some pretty decent radials on it and re-bushed the idler arm. Also redid the brakes M/C, W/C and linings. Last, I washed it as best as possible by hand trying to remove all the black spots. Painted the rims and got some beauty rings and baby moons for it.
I'm not too happy about the baby moons though. They're made for 15" rims so the fit but they stick out way too far. They'd be fine on a big American car. But this thing has what's basically a VW bug tire. You can get stock hubcaps re-pros but geez, they're 95.00 a piece!