55 Bel Air 4dr sedan 348W/700R4 project

k9hotrodder409

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 15
I located a 2 inch and 3 inch center link at East Coast Chevy. My big question is which one do I need? I don't know if the 2 inch will hit the pan as it rises during steering. Any advice? They said that I can exchange the 2 inch for the 3 inch if I needed to but that is more time and more shipping cost. On the other hand I don't want to have the center link hang unnecessarily low with the 3 inch. I would like to get some opinions.

I guess I bought the last Tri-5 " Hurst 3" dropped drag link.from Summit. I had to send back my old one for a core exchange. They must have sold that one also.:crazy:dance:cheersPictureKodak easy share photos 991.jpg
 

Harper57

Active Member
We used the 3" drop on the swap that we did. We probably could have used the 2" but we did not move the engine foward. You are more than welcome to look at our build under 348 stroker engine under builds and projects.
 

Robert Wiehl

Active Member
I think I will go with the 3 inch. Most people have seemed to use that with no issues. My only concern was that it would hang too far below the rest of the frame and would be a strike hazard. The last thing I want is to lose my steering after running something over in the road by accident.
 

Robert Wiehl

Active Member
Ok. I have lots of updates. It has been a while since my last post. I have done quite a bit since. I have done a complete chassis off resto with a tri power conversion. Every moving part of the chassis has been replaced 13998275242421.jpg 13998275692762.jpg 13998276663553.jpg 13998279033034.jpg and everything has been fully detailed. Firewall has been painted as well as the dash. currently working on rebuilding the carbs . Here are some pics.
 

nomad59NZ

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Hey Robert, ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with a 4 door. These are way kewl too. You are going to have a really sweet ride when done.
Attached is my 55 4 door with BBC 427.

Gav
 

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blkblk63ss

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 5
Nice car , i was born and raised on 4 door's {dad's family car's } so i gave them love also!!!!:eek:eek:eek
 

Robert Wiehl

Active Member
New update. Tri power carbs rebuilt and detailed. Still waiting on locating a progressive linkage for the center carb. No one seems to have one for the large base Rochesters. I will continue searching. If anyone knows of a source. please let me know. I will be using an electric choke conversion. I mocked up the battery tray and fuel block. I will be running hard lines out to the carbs (like they did back in the day) and connect to the banjo fittings with a small piece of fuel hose. Fuel fittings for the fuel block will be here next week. I will continue on body work while I am waiting on the other items. Making more progress. Cant wait to hear it run for the first time.
 

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Robert Wiehl

Active Member
I have finally located a source for the correct tri power linkage for the large base Rochester carbs on the 348. A store on Ebay that sells the kits for the sbc with small base Rochesters contacted his machinist and requested the custom fabrication of a carb shaft and longer linkage rod to work with the 348w with factory intake and large base carbs. He will custom make the kit for me for $160 w/shipping. Not bad considering it is custom work, and it is still the same price as a mass produced sbc kit. The linkage will be ready in a week. Then he will ship out. Until then I have the body ready for another 2 coats of epoxy primer so I will work on it this week. Gotta keep moving forward.
 

Don Jacks

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 3
Great project! Maybe I'm wrong,but it looks like you have the primary carb in the front,instead of the center like it sould be.Another thing is those little "bell" type air cleaners are a real performance killer according to some of the guys here that have tried them.Not trying to critise,just help.
 

Robert Wiehl

Active Member
I appreciate all advice and constructive criticism. All 3 carbs are large base Rochesters. The front and rear carbs have been modified to eliminate/disable the idle circuits and have no choke mechanism or butterfly. They are power circuit only with accelerator pumps. Center carb has full function choke because it is the primary. I did not do any research on the air cleaners but decided on them for the retro look( and they were very cheap). If they choke it down I will go with an alternative. I guess I will just have to see how it goes. I didnt build it for racing anyways. Just want a nice touring car to take on trips and go to shows.
 
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desapience

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
I'm not a big fan of column shift manual trans setups. Besides the exhaust is in the way of the original linkage so it will never be a manual trans again. I might have to go with a floor shifter if an automatic column will not clear the exhaust. I will deal with that when I get to that point.

WRONG!!

Hi! You can EASILY have a manual transmission, with no problem at all with linkages. I fabricate and sell kits for all tri-5's that mount the clutch master
cylinder under the dash, with the mounting of the brackets directly on the original main pedal support. IF you are interested, go to Ebay and look up my same ID there as here 'desapience'...., check out all the pictures of all items... or click on this link to go directly the item that would solve your dilemma.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/130843235485?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

BTW, my 55 has had a stroker 409 for nearly as decade now, and I would have enjoyed helping you by pass all the problems encountered. In fact, I was also a Stef's dealer, and worked directly with a fabricator there to better design specially modified 409 oil pans to fit tri-5 Chevy cars, including those with R&P steering kits in them. In the other build thread, I am presently preparing to install yet another 409 stroker in a 2nd 55 chevy, but this one has a recessed firewall.

As for headers, with a 3/4" forward side-mounts, and with the hipo 583 heads, I was able to use stock 1965 hi-performance headers, and could have used
the stock steering box by simply grinding down one bolt boss on the left header. For my second 55, with the recessed firewall and R&P steering, I'm using
the "classic" Edelbrock headers for the large port 409's. They were available only for a short time (for both 348 and large port variations). The "new guys" who bought Edelbrock, and their new bean counters axed the older classic stuff.

Good luck,
Denis
 
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