Bill Eaton's (427TJ's) Newest Ride!

[Xplantdad]

First of all...I would like to thank the two people who have volunteered to share their cars with us allow me to break policy here and allow this car to be the Members Ride of the week. I just wanted everyone to share in the fun that Bill Eaton is having right now.

The two fine folks who gave their okay will have their rides posted ON TIME by me (I have been lacking lately with this and I am sorry) in the following weeks....

Now, onto Bill's newest score *Which was just delivered on October 22nd*




The Time Capsule.

I've wanted a '55 Chevy since I was a kid and this year I finally was in a position to began looking for one. My friend Brad has an incredible ex-gasser '55 Bel Air post coupe with a 600-horse Rat, auto, 4:88s, black interior, orange exterior, American 200S mags with radiused wheel arches to allow huge M/T street stickies, etc. I went nuts when I first laid eyes on Brad's car and he helped me locate my car. Brad and I searched classifieds, eBay, etc. for a good candidate. Plenty of cars with rust in the body supports, etc., and plenty of half-a$$ed cars out there but I held out for something special.

Having grown up in the Bay Area of California in the '60s and '70s I knew the instant I saw this car that it was the one. The car was built in Los Angeles (VB55L vin) and spent the first 23 years of its life in Long Beach. The car was street-rodded by a young owner in the early 1970s who sold it to the person I bought it from on 12/29/78. He then kept it just as you see it for almost 30 years, only taking it out for sunny-day cruises and local shows. The guy I bought it from grew up in Long Beach and bought the car just after Christmas of 1978 after seeing an ad in the paper for a "red 1955 Chevrolet." He moved to Michigan soon after where the car was garage-kept with several other collector cars. He is now retired and decided to sell the '55 and I saw it on eBay and took a chance. After talking on the phone with the seller I had a very good feeling about the car and I bid accordingly.

I sent the money, the transporter picked up the car, and after some difficulty with the shipping company the car finally arrived a few days ago while I was on a trip. My wife and a neighbor (who is able to drive a snarling old 4-speed street machine) took delivery and got the car put away in the garage.

I arrived home at 2:00 a.m., hit the door opener, and there it was. I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I quietly looked the car over inside and out and it occurred to me that the car was even better than the eBay ad and the seller had implied. I went to bed at 2:45 a.m. and awoke at 6:00 a.m. and went down to the garage to look at the car some more. The wife went to work, I took the kids to school, and then I came home and checked the car over thoroughly and fired it up.

I was not really ready for the killer idle of the 327. It has a Duntov 30-30 solid-lifter cam that exits through headers and Thrush HUSH turbos with turndowns and it lit-off and went "rump-rump-rump" just like the old days. I eased it out of the garage and took it for a short spin around the neighborhood and everybody stops what they are doing to watch this thumping red-orange beast go past. I still can't believe I have a '55 Chevy.

Engine: 327 with 10.5 pistons and 4-bolt mains (conversion). Holley Dominator intake and 650 carb. Duntov solid-lifter cam and roller rockers. MSD distributor and coil recently added to replace old Mallory dual-point setup. Milodon pan. Camel-hump heads but I have not yet determined if they are 2.02s or 1.94s. Moroso valve covers. Headers with Thrush turbos. M-21 trans with Mr. Gasket shifter. Clutch and p-plate have been in there for three decades and will soon be replaced. Original '55 differential with 4:11 Posi. Extra leaf in rear springs and slapper traction bars. Battery relocated to trunk. First-gen Camaro bucket seats with leather tuck and roll. Sun Super II tach and SW gauges. Grant wood wheel. US Indy slot mags with 78-series whitewalls (turned in) on the front and ancient Inglewood Pos-A-Traction Torque Twister tires on the rear. Front stabilizer bar added and new shocks all around. Car was originally Gypsy Red with an India Ivory roof panel and it is a 210 Delray Club Coupe, not a Bel Air. Interior was originally black with white trim. The seller dug up the black California plates that the car got in 1963 and they will be used for shows. Car is dry as a bone underneath and there is NO rust. Paint is old but very nice and will get minor touch-ups here and there. Doors, hood and trunk all close and windows roll up and down as if the car was brand-new.

Pat Chappell's 1977 book,<u> The Hot One, Chevrolet 1955-57</u>, leads off with the sentence, "Almost everyone had one once." I am delighted to finally be able to add myself to that group. I still can't believe I have a '55 Chevy.

















Bill was nice enough to send me a video, too!