THE AVERAGE CAR GUY - COST ANALYSIS ON A 56 CHEVY ENGINE SWAP PART ONE
Dave Lychuk bleeds Tri-five Chevy red, white and blue-but he's always worked within a budget. That's how he's managed to build a beautiful 1956 Chevy Bel Air into a car with a recent appraised value of $50,000.
But in a scenario that every average car guy eventually faces, he's been forced to make a costly decision on the power train.
These are the steps that Dave has taken to this point.
The car currently has a 1966 Chevy truck 283-that engine was a replacement for the 6-cylinder that the car was born with in 1956. It's been a reliable motor and as Dave reported, "it was pretty good, really peppy past 30 miles per hour once it got the weight moving. I would have kept it because of nostalgia but the motor is tired".
The biggest cost factor with the 283 was pretty simple as Dave explained, "the car was valued at 50,000 but the blow-by put oil all over the firewall so every time I got to a show I'd spend a bunch of time cleaning up the mess. I had to do something".
Dave's first thought was to save the 283 because of the nostalgia factor but he approached this like everything he's done with the 56 Chevy-he did a cost analysis. The 283 came out at the losing end of the equation.
He had two estimates done on the rebuild and one came in at 3400 plus taxes while the other topped out at nearly 3800. Neither option offered much in the form of a decent warranty and that was important to a cost conscious blue-collar guy like Dave.
Originally he considered a 383 stroker for a massive power increase but the theme here is simple-Dave's an average guy working within a budget.
That's when he started exploring the world of the venerable 350 Chevy small block. Options opened up at this point and Dave initially looked into a factory rebuild from a national supplier but that option had limitations as he explained, "it was a little less but it was a rebuild and the warranty was handled out of country".
The next option was found at Kip Scott GM, a local General Motors dealer-that is the option that Dave likes the most. It cost a little more than a rebuilt 350, but the 2-year warranty is handled locally and the biggest factor for Dave is simple- "it's brand new, it's a local business and they're going to stand behind it".
The new crate 350 is 1000 dollars less than rebuilding the 283; it pumps out 290 horsepower with a 670 Holly. Dave estimates that the new heart in the 56 Chevy will get over 20 miles per gallon plus he knows that the extra horsepower will help it "get up and dangle".
Dave admitted that he's wrestled with his decision since last year and if the 56 Chevy had come with an original small block 265 the decision to rebuild would have been simple. But what he had was a car that "had the looks but you gotta have the power too" and the tired, oil spewing 283 wasn't the answer.
The other big factor is labor-Dave is a hands-on guy and he's got a Ford buddy (a veteran of many swaps) ready to help out in the process. Dave estimates that he's saving "around 1000 bucks" by getting his hands dirty and doing the work himself.
Dave is a classic example of an average car guy who works within a budget. His biggest ally in the project (non 5-6-7 Chevy guys will attest to this) is the ease and availability of parts for tri-fives and the universality of the crate 350. Dave knows that the 350 is going to add value to the car in the long run for its power and cost efficiency.
Non tri-five guys may wonder what they can take away from Dave's experience and it distills down to a few simple messages-be patient, do some serious research on parts and suppliers and be prepared to get your hands dirty.
That's the national anthem of the average car guy.
Jerry Sutherland
Stay tuned in a few weeks for Part 2 and see how well Dave did with this 56 Chevy heart transplant
Many more car guy stories can be found at http://www.mystarcollectorcar.com/
COMMENTS
DENNIS:The kind of people who watch Oprah take mass transit, voted for Obama and want us to drive Chevy Volts. They don't get their hands greasy, I doubt you'll find many of them here.This guy has a head on his shoulders but if the rest of that 56 is bone stock, I would have bit the bullet (financially) and found a 265 to rebuild just to have that oil filter hanging in the 'correct' spot. He could always fill the inside of it with 'speed goodies' like I did on my Model T".
TREVOR:'I would like to send my congrats to Dave on his engine swap. I've known Dave for many years and he has always done as much work as he can himself! I have had the pleasure of bustin a few knuckles on his car my self. I think with the new power plant ,Dave will be seen cruisin all over the place with a grin on his face ear to ear! Good luck Dave, see you this summer if it ever shows up"
