Danny
Our (New) Vintage Tow Vehicle
45 posts
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Our (New) Vintage Tow Vehicle
by halfdome, Danny » Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:19 pm
I've always wanted a 55 or 56 Chevy so I finally bought one for our TD tow vehicle. Jane & I flew to Phoenix AZ and I drove the 2 door 55 Chevy Bel Air I bought back home but had a detour. Just a few miles out of Phoenix piles of smoke was coming out the rear of the car. I contacted the seller & he came and patched the leak where the dip stick meets the transmission. He sent us on our way following my brother to his house. About 30 miles (in the dark) we stopped at a traffic signal and that's all she wrote, the transmission was toast, literally. We had it towed 85 miles to a transmission shop where they determined the transmission was having problems before I ever drove it and it was a total loss. They installed a re manufactured replacement for the TH 400 along with a shift kit. It has a passing gear that they couldn't get to work, no biggie. There was 3 bellhousing bolts missing and a potential fire from a loosely installed wire next to the headers. They fixed that. They also repaired the cooler lines that will come in handy when towing the TD. The car was ready in two days and we were on our merry way again. No problems at all this time with the exception of 3 long traffic jambs 60 miles from home. My ears were ringing for two days from the sound of the short pipes from the mufflers. I was pleasantly surprised that my average gas mileage for the 350 with a cam was over 18 MPG and the low was 13.5 MPG with the high over 20MPG. I plan on extending the 2 1/2" pipes 4' to the bumper with chrome tips for a quieter ride. I need to install or have installed a trailer hitch and 3 point seat belts. A link to pictures are in my signature line. Danny
Danny
"Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing". William Feather
Don't accept "It's Good Enough" build to the best of your abilities.
Teardroppers Of Oregon & Washington
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halfdome, Danny - *Happy Camper
- Posts: 5894
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- Location: Washington , Pew-al-up
by Jack J » Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:41 pm
Danny,
Nice looking ride. It will look good pulling your TD. Always hate to hear of car trouble, especially after buying but good to hear that things are good now. Sure would like to have that running gear in my Chev. But for now, you will have to wait for me to catch up to you on the road lol.
Jack
Nice looking ride. It will look good pulling your TD. Always hate to hear of car trouble, especially after buying but good to hear that things are good now. Sure would like to have that running gear in my Chev. But for now, you will have to wait for me to catch up to you on the road lol.
Jack
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Jack J - Teardrop Advisor
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- Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 9:54 pm
- Location: Washington state
Like a lot of classic cars, it looks great 20 feet away. It has some paint issues and a small dent below the right tail light but overall I'm very pleased with it. I'll see what my half brother can do for it since he's a second generation auto body man & works 4 miles away. Paid the use tax and licensing fee yesterday 
. I registered it as a collector vehicle with a plate that will never expire, no more fees. Jane just loves the car. While traveling she would crawl over the seat and take a snooze in the back seat. I'll need to put in anti sway bars front and rear since it's still a shoe box. I can only dream of an Art Morrison chassis. They are building a new plant 3 1/2 miles from me. One great thing about Tri-Five Chevy's is there are enough after market parts available that you could almost build an new one. I'll post a picture when it's hooked up to the teardrop.
