DZAUTO

57vetteorwhateveryournameis,
I never asked John if that fitting is stock since very little of that car is stock.
That car was pulled from the production line by Chevy engineering folks and completely modified all over. Over the years, in the hands of various owners, there have been additional changes/modifications. John has taken great pains to return the car to its original Sebring race condition, but I'm sure there may be some things which are either unknown about its actual Mar 56 racing condition or some things that were one of a kind and are impossible to duplicate.
For example, the engine. Obviously, since it is/was a pure race car, the engine that was in it at Sebring 56 is likely long gone. Also, since the car was set up by Chevy engineering (and not by an outside source), MANY of the car's components, including the engine, were pulled after the race and thoroughly inspected for wear and areas that could be improved (racing brings out the weaknesses in a vehicle so that engineering can determine what needs to be improved on the production line). When John was meticulously returning the car to its Sebring race condition, he brought me THREE std bore 265 engines to select from for this car. Fortunately, the MOST DESIREABLE block out of the three was the one I built. As best as John could trace the history of the block, it was one which had ORIGINALLY been selected and set aside by engineering for their performance program purposes. I don't remember the exact details (been a while since John told me the story), but somehow the engine was basically shelved all these years and through the grapevine John found about it and was able to acquire it. The casting date on the block is Dec 55 and the car's VIN is 1009, which makes it a mid-Jan 56 built car (56 factory production did not begin until Jan 56) and the race was Mar 56, so a LOT of late hour candle burning was done to modify and prepare the cars in time to deliver them to Florida in less than 2mo. So, even though the engine in John's 56 Sebring racer is not the engine that was installed on the assembly line, it IS an engine that was allocated for Chevrolet's performance purposes, it IS a legitimately dated engine that was set aside for purposes such as the Sebring race, thus, it is as correct as it can be and possibly came from the same batch and time frame as the assembly line installed engine. The heads are correct, the 2x4 carbs are correct 56 versions and so is the intake manifold.

Tom parsons

63Corvette

Tom, thanks for posting these great pics, and the story along with them

john neas

Jack
The other item in the rear window is a Goodwood sticker. Thanks for the interest.
Regards

DZAUTO

Hey John, why don't you chime in here and tell some of this history stuff! You know it better than I do.

Tom Parsons

JohnZ

Paragon #12900 - get their catalog; lots easier to find things there than on-line.

92GTA

Perfect, thanks!

Okiedokey

As I recall the details on the engine you built for the Sebring car, I seem to remember the following. GM had produced appx 25 engines for the effort. Of these engines, Mauri Rose got 11, Smokey got 10, and the distribution of the other 4 is known. The engine you built was a Mauri engine. It was located by Dick Robinson and purchased from the Bob Gold estate in Maryland by John. Gold, it is said, acquired the engine years ago from some Eastern sprint car racers. ----------Great Photo's

DZAUTO

Joel,
THANKS for the memory jog. I knew there was some kind of association to Mauri rose, but couldn't quite remember just what it was----------------soooooooooooooooo, I didn't mention the Mauri association.

Hey, it was good to see you Sunday. It's been long time no see!


Tom Parsons

Dr L-88

Neat stories and even neater photos!! Thanks for sharing Tom and John....................

Rex

VetteRed1965

Great pictures. Most of those cars are not seen much !

K2

Tom;
Is that rubber hose to the fuel filter on John's car a second fuel feed line? It has the steel line coming in from the stock fuel pump, did the rubber line go to an electric pump?

DZAUTO

Klaus,
That is EXACTLY correct!
Two sets of shocks and two sets of headlights also.

Tom Parsons

conv63cpe

Tom,
Thanks for the great pictures and thanks to John Neas for inviting you.

Dwight

hedgehead

Very cool, thanks.

savewave

pictures. Thanks for sharing them. I also was curious about the battery-powered bicycle lights. I had some like that on the back of my bike when I was a kid.

john neas

Two Bendix electric fuel pumps. One under each side of a 36 gallon steel fuel tank, in case the tank was running low and in a curve at least one pump could pick up fuel. The line from the driver side was rubber and ran along the frame (near the exhaust ) and over the motor.
This along with carbon tet fire extinguishers and no roll bars would not pass tech today.
Regards

DZAUTO

With John's added comments above, I just now realized that I didn't include a picture of the filler (center of soft top cover) for the 36gal fuel tank. I'll locate that picture and post it! Sorry.

Tom Parsons

jimgessner

We need that "Camp Fire" so we can tell all the stories. Thanks Tom for posting. Wish I was closer, I would have been there for sure.

desertpilgrim

Great pictures of some outstanding cars! I think you've got a typo on the black Imperial CV - maybe '51 or '52, but not '58.

DZAUTO

YEP!!!! You're right! Thanks for bringing that to may attention. FORTUNATELY, I was still able to edit the year (51).

Tom Parsons