My plans with the car was to build a very nice 57. Something that would be a great driver. It had to have a killer stance, big brakes, big wheels, big block, & creature comforts galore. I wanted to be a great driver, had to be comfortable & most important fun.

One thing I lacked before this project was fabrication kills. I am mechanically inclined & a desire to learn. So I went out & I bought a Miller-matic 185, learned how to weld & went to work.

I spoke with Todd Garthshore at Baer Racing Brakes & told him about the project & what direction I was going. He set me up with their Track System featuring 13� disc�s in front & 12� disc�s in rear. I then moved on to mini-tub the car to accommodate bigger tires. I then went forward to the firewall. I knew I was going to have clearance problems, so I cut out the stock firewall & made my own out of 16 gauge steel. I recessed the firewall back 4�. Once the firewall was complete it was time to put the body on the new chassis. I was pleased where the front was sitting but the back was higher than I wanted. Once the body was on I wasn�t happy where it sat. The rear was to high. I took the body back off & took the chassis to a friend of mine, Dennis Blakely, & we cut all the rear suspension out of the car & moved it up 3�. Made new coil over mounts. Once the body was back on, I ran into some problems. The body wouldn�t sit down in the back. The body was resting on the four link bars. I then had to cut the floor under the rear seat & made reliefs to accommodate the four link bars. I then had very tight clearance problems with the rear end pumpkin to the body, suspension travel & routing the exhaust through cleanly. I ended up cutting out everything from the backseat to the rear bumper. I made my own floor pan out of 16 gauge steel. Now I have plenty of room & then some for everything to work well without any problems.

I put 295/45-18 tires on it which are 28.5� tall. I wanted a tall tire for 3 reasons - 1) The 57 has a big wheel well & I wanted to fill it - 2) I knew I was going to drive this car a lot & I wanted a taller tire for a smoother ride -3) We all know these cars aren�t light & I didn�t want to worry about bending wheels with a short sidewall. I like the look of bigger wheels, but not willing to make that sacrifice. Another reason I went with the soft lip wheels to give that effect the wheel is bigger than it really is.

From the beginning I planned on doing a EFI big block. I have always been into big blocks. Fuel injection was going to be a new road for me to go down, but a must. I contacted Arizona Speed & Marine & talked with owner Jim Shofner about they�re system the have to offer. My opinion, I think they�re system is the best looking out on the market. After getting educated on EFI I decided to go with the Arizona Speed & Marine unit. I then went on to the exhaust. Between the custom chassis & installing the master cylinder on the frame created some problems in the header department. After trying a few sets of headers & not finding a bolt in set. I bought a set of �shorties� from Rodworks & modified them to fit in the chassis & clear the master cylinder. Shorties also worked out great getting the collector off the ground due to how low the car sat. They feature 1 7/8� primary tubes w/ 3 1/2� collectors. I then bought a bunch of 2.5� aluminized tubing & mandrel bends & proceeded to make my own exhaust. Once done I sent out to the system Component Finishing in Santa Clara, Ca to get Ceramic coated.

One of things I have never liked about 55-57�s is the core support is so high you can�t see the motor It�s like hiding behind a wall. I decided to fabricate my core support. I took 5� out of the height. The main support from side to side is 3� oval shaped tubing. It goes through the inner fenders & have K&N filters on each side that draw air through factory vents behind the headlight buckets. The center of the support was opened up 14� x 4�. I then made the cover and I used 2 pieces of 2 �� tubing that comes together & funnels air into the throttle body. I sealed the cover to the core support. I also wanted to cover up the factory wheels wells. I then extended the fenders 6� down into the motor compartment. I then made my own inner fenders that bolt to the fender extensions & down to the frame. I have never done metal work before this. I learned a great deal, went through some metal & a lot of time.

Interior Story - I own a detail business on the side & was detailing a 1996 Lincoln Mark VIII. I liked the layout of the dash & took some measurements. The width was very close to that of a 1957 Chevy, but the depth was a lot different due to the raked windshield the Lincoln possesses. I went out looking for wrecked Lincoln at the local wrecking yards. I found one & took the dash, console, seats, door handles, dome light & other misc pieces. To get the dash to fit I took approximately 3� of each side & 9 �� on the depth in the middle. It took a lot more work than I imagined but it came out like I thought. A lot of people thought I was crazy cutting out the factory dash. Now that it is done most have been very receptive to the change. I wanted to create a modern looking interior with a lot of creature comforts. Between my work & Ward Auto Interiors I feel I have accomplished that goal.

The level & quality of cars over the past few years has increased dramatically. Many of them being built by professionals. They are setting the standards in most cases. The innovative design & concepts that these guys come up with is unbelievable. It keeps the hobby alive & well. That has been my motivation on this car for 6 � years. Was to build a car that could hold it�s own within reason, have fun building it, drive great & do it myself. I have done probably 80% of everything on this car. This car has been a challenge to say the least. I have enjoyed every minute of it & have big plans for the next project.

I have learned a lot & met some great people along the way. To those who have helped, you know who you are I can�t thank you enough! Especially my family & understanding wife for their continued support.