'56 Chevy

[squirrel]

that is a 56 type rear. The Olds rear has a round center section. And it's bigger.

[Deaf Bob]

that is a 56 type rear. The Olds rear has a round center section. And it's bigger.

Cool! Knew there were differences besides bigger.. Thanks

[Loren]

Congrats on a great score. Lots of work ahead, but so worth it to have a car like that.

I love '56's, my favorite year of the tri-fives. We had a two-door Bel Air sedan when I was a little kid, I always liked the front end style, swoopier than a '55 but still simple, clean unlike the next couple years. I remember how much faster it was to climb over the front seat to get out rather than wait for it to get tilted forward, or even crawl out that big rear side window. Climbing back in you could use that chrome trim for a foot-hold. I would jump over the seat front-to-back as well, once I landed my foot right smack in the middle of a nice big frosted cake that Mom had sitting there waiting to go to Grandma's. (Dad made it clear that once we picked up our new '67 there would be no more treating cars that way, or cakes too I suppose.) It tended to get us stuck on the road with generator/electrical problems, Dad took it to the scrap man around '70 although it was in otherwise great condition, those cars just weren't worth anything at the time. I was especially annoyed about that when I hit 16 and they had already become far out of my price range.

Imagine...the rust on the '56 two-door wagon below had me pretty concerned when I picked it up in 1989...it was just below the tailgate, nowhere else. Nowadays I'd be overjoyed to have anything that solid. The missing front parts actually showed up at the Pick-Your-Part and I got everything for a hundred bucks. Unfortunately I already had too many projects and it eventually had to go to the Pomona swap meet (where it was purchased by a guy intending to part it out...cringe...). I saved the built 327 that came with the '55 but it had to sit out in the rain for years, I still have the rust-ball it turned into. That motor was never even fired up.

Pardon the El Camino, that's just how I towed those days.



Still pisses me off good that I let the wagon go, while I hung onto cars I would later not care for much. I have a nutty old friend w/ a '55 four-door wagon, riding in that it seems so small when as a kid I thought they were huge. For a pic of a genuine old shop car saved for generations see: http://www.latimes.com/tn-blr-by-kel...614-story.html

[oj]

That rear won't take any abuse. If you plan to be aggressive with a 4spd then plan on replacing the 12bolt while you can sell it in one piece and get yourself a bolt in 9".

[squirrel]

...or find a 12 bolt to put in to replace the original 10 bolt.....

[anotheridiot]

Cool! Knew there were differences besides bigger.. Thanks

the first rear end we used on the a fuel nostalgia dragster was an olds rear end. Just flat out were stuck if something went wrong, everyone had ford 9" parts at the track.

[STINEY]

I have an Explorer 8.8 with discs and LS 3.73 just taking up space. 31 spline axles.

Stock width should be close at 59.5" - - easily narrowed to 56.5" if needed.

What I find online says the stock width of the '56 axle would be 54"-55"..........but I also find several guys who say theirs measure 60".

[squirrel]

it should be around 60", the exploder rear would fit. But would contribute to ruining the car.

[STINEY]

Body trim tag decodes as a Bel-Air, 2-toned India Ivory upper body and Twilight Turquoise lower body color with Turquoise interior in Cloth/Vinyl (one site says cloth/leather?)

STYLE 56-1011D '56 2-door sedan Bel Air

BODY No N 1032 Norwood plant and sequence number

TRIM no 577 Interior Turquoise

PAINT no 710-D Upper body India Ivory Lower body Twilight Turquoise

TOP blank

ACC blank

[STINEY]

it should be around 60", the exploder rear would fit. But would contribute to ruining the car.

True.

I've heard how the stock rears are weak, and also heard many guys have had no troubles with them at moderate power levels.

Guess some people can break a crowbar in a sandbox, eh?

[squirrel]

If you go easy on the clutch, it should be ok.

[STINEY]

We try to load the clutch slightly on the VW sandrails and buggies before completely dumping them. By taking all the slack out of the drivetrain, shock-loading is minimized. and we spend more time playing and less time repairing.

[STINEY]

There is a mystery hole in both doors. Seems factory, both sides measure same location, hole has been painted and is slightly dimpled, not just drilled.

Any ideas?

Hole is below the lock cylinder several inches and towards the front a few inches.

[Deaf Bob]

If you go easy on the clutch, it should be ok.

My 57's original rear broke...yokes and side gears..
Needed a rear to go to work the next morning so put in a 68 Nova 6 cyl car rear in it.. (what I had..)
Depending on measurements, a 77 Trans Am rear may go under it. 3:40, limit slip.
Son is pushing for an Explorer rear

[squirrel]

the paint is not original, so the hole being painted doesn't mean much except that someone put it there before the car was repainted the last time. It can be really hard to figure out what folks did 50 years ago to cars. Or why they did it.