By Tommy Parry
Tyler had no idea what sort of headache he was in for when he purchased this ‘56 Bel Air. Across the border in New York, he’d paid a gentleman a good chunk of change to sell and temporarily store this Bel Air until he could bring his truck down from Canada and trailer it home.
That transaction took place in January of 2020, which partially explains why this car didn’t find its way back to Canada until August that year. The full explanation is that New York has a weird system of registering cars, which precluded a straightforward retrieval. Essentially, after four months of back and forth with the seller, the border, and the brokerage company, Tyler acquired all the required paperwork to import the car.
Thankfully, there was some consolation for all the headache needed just to get it up his driveway. The car was quite pretty as it had been garaged for the last twenty years, so, even though it was a car kept in upstate New York, it was not harmed too badly by the elements.
Apparently, it was used for some sort of drag racing in its past as it already had slapper bars, open headers with collector extensions, a driveshaft loop, and what appeared to be the firewall clearancing needed to fit a big block.
After tossing the included 327ci motor and TH350 gearbox, he parked it and started researching the transmission-engine combos he might be able to use. His first choice was a high-RPM, solid roller LS lump with a Jerico or faceplated Doug Nash transmission.
As it turned out, he went with a TR6060 out of a smashed Camaro. This started to shift the plan of the build towards a more user friendly package. Though he was still officially planning on the aforementioned LS, he was starting to consider something a little more modern.
But the motor would have to wait. First came a firewall inspection and deep cleaning, then a test fitting of the transmission, which determined he’d be cutting that out the firewall. That was fine, as he’d just finished cutting out the dash from another Bel Air and welding it into this one.
Though the firewall’s replacement was due to hackery, the replacement of three floor pans and the trunk pan was due to rust. Still, for a New York car of this vintage, the cutting Tyler did was minimal, even with the rough hole for the bigger ‘box.
Soon after, a collection of boxes from Ridetech arrived at his doorstep. Inside: the front and rear coilover conversion for Tri-Five Chevys. The rear ditches the leaf spring setup for a bolt-in 4-link and the front gets rid of the old control arms in favor of some tubular, geometry-correcting control arms.
At the rear, he mocked up the Quick Performance with a 9” Ford in the Tri-Five width. Sitting just ahead of the new rear: a Tanks Inc. direct-fit piece with a built-in Walbro 525 pump, which would provide enough fuel for the change he was planning.
Well, with all the costs taken into consideration, neither the high-revving motor, nor the subsequently proposed twin-turbo motor made as much sense as bolting an LSA blower to a basic LQ9. No, it wouldn’t have the screaming top-end his first plan would’ve given him, but this new combination was less work in the long run. He procured a pair of the pricey superchargers, one for his father, as well as an inexpensive iron block.
Like so many points in this build, this didn’t go without any headache, but was far from a disaster. Inspecting the engine which once powered a Cadillac, Tyler noticed a couple problems: the cam bearings were bad and the pistons were scuffed. Fortunately for him, he works at a machine shop in the summer months while he’s not in school.
He dropped the motor off while at work to check the cylinders, which had to be bored 0.030". In addition, the crank had to be ground 0.010" on the main journals, and the rod journals, mostly fine, got a polish.
With the engine open and the need to fortify the bottom end on his mind, he went ahead and ordered Wiseco forged pistons and BTR forged rods, which a mechanically gifted friend assembled and installed.
Not that the end is in sight, but the progress this man has made in the last eight months must be relieving—if not hugely motivating. There’s still a great deal in store for Tyler and this barn-find Bel Air, which, with his luck and penchant for quality parts, should keep all readers entertained for another few months or so.
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