1957 Chevy 2 Door 210 Barn Find
It all started one evening with a phone call from a friend that knew I was interested in old cars. His son, Kevin purchased several acres of land, a house and a barn near Texarkana, Arkansas. In and around the barn were several 1980s and 1990s cars and trucks of little or no value. But inside the barn was a 1957 Chevy. As part of the sale of this property the previous owners were to remove the cars and trucks including the old Chevy. Over time they removed the other cars and truck but not the 57 Chevy. After nearly three years my friend's son lost contact with the previous owners and by law the car was considered abandoned.
By email Kevin sent me the 4 pictures above and below. As you can see it looks like a great barn find. So it didn't take long to cut a deal. From the pictures I determined it to be a 1957 Chevrolet 150 or 1957 Chevrolet 210 2 door sedan. It turned out to be a 210. The following weekend my son and I along with a neighbor, his diesel truck and trailer, made the 4 hour trip to Arkansas.
When we arrived in Arkansas and saw the car, I was a little disappointed with the condition. Kevin had done his best to describe its condition but upon closer examination by me I found more rust and a interior that was gutted, full of junk, extra parts and rat or squirrel nests from the engine compartment to the trunk. Plus the old 57 Chevy 2 door sedan was setting on 4 flat dry rotted tires. There sat a 1957 Chevy 2 door sedan just like the one I wanted for over 30 years. After careful consideration and in spite of all the surface problems I decided to buy the basket case 57 Chevy without a title. I'll either fix it or part it out on eBay Motors I told myself. So we aired up the tires and they held. Then pushed and pulled the Chevy out of the barn and loaded it on the trailer. I paid Kevin for the car and we headed back to my home in Southwest Louisiana. As we drove home the old rusty and tired Chevrolet attracted a lot of attention and I looked forward to the day it would be restored and could cruise around the Bayou state.
After a long trip home we unloaded the 57 Chevy off the trailer. The next day I washed all the dust off the exterior and cleaned out the junk and extra parts stored inside the car including all the squirrel nests. With the 2 donor bucket seats and some rotting carpet removed, a closer examination of the floor pans revealed more rust, lots of it. All the floor pans and most of the braces needed changing. The trunk floor was solid except near the bumper. Next I removed both bumpers, front fenders, grille, inner fenders, engine and transmission. More rust was found on the front fenders. The engine was a 283 V-8 that had lots of miles on it. Transmission was a 3 speed. A new engine and transmission was needed. A closer check of the doors, rocker panels and rear quarter panels reveled lots of bondo and rust everywhere. It seems that someone had patched up all the rust with bondo, then put a coat of gray primer the car many years ago. They did a fairly descent job but then the old Chevy must have sat outside for a time and in that old barn in Arkansas and just rusted away. I was looking at major sheet metal work from an entire floor pan, rocker panels and both quarters as they had lots of rust above the wheel wells all covered with bondo and primer. It was time to put a pencil to this project and the answer wasn't good. The car was restorable but not by someone like me without the necessary sheet metal and paint skills. It would cost to much money to have it done by a restoration shop. I estimated $20,000 to $25,000 plus. So I decided to sell the car "as is". This time the buyer had the necessary skills, knew what he was getting and was very happy with the car and price. End of my great "Barn Find" story. So with the experience gained by completely taking a 1957 Chevrolet apart and the desires to some day own a 210 1957 Chevrolet 2 door post, I started searching for one already restored. It wasn't long before I found Ginger.
|
1957 Chevrolet - Ginger
|
