Belair62's (Gags...Finally) 1964 409 Belair!

[Xplantdad]

I found this car thru the site. One of the members (Dave...dehw31) put a blurb on regarding a 64 Belair found by Les , a buddy of his up in Michigan. It had been sitting since 1968 and had 8700 original miles on it.He got it from a woman’s estate who unfortunately was not in good shape.. It had a 6 cylinder and 3 on the tree with an unpainted new shift collar on the original column, trans linkage pieces with GM tags still on them and the frame bracket for the linkage looking like it was welded on at a later date.


What caught my attention was the fact that there was a 4 speed cutout on the floor in the original carpet, a tach missing ,and emblems removed from above the cross flags. After getting ahold of the owner we thought there was a good chance it was a 409 car. I bought it sight unseen just because it was neat.

After he delivered it to the house we pushed it in and I went about looking the car over. Tach harness there but cut. Backup light harness there but cut, Ballast resistor there but cracked…hmmmm. I opened the hood and started taking pictures of everything to document my finds.

I gave my buddy Verne Frantz all the numbers from the tag and a part number for one of the original spring tags. Original spiral shocks are even still there and work fine. There were many crayon markings on the firewall which I also gave to Verne.

He confirmed how the car was equipped which was a little odd. Remote mirror, am pushbutton with rear speaker,4 speed, Daytona blue ,blue interior. It had plastic seat covers so I stripped them off too. Verne asked me to check one specific area to put the final icing on this car being a 409…I looked and sure enough…it’s a 409 car. No doubt.

I pulled out the 1958 six cylinder and trans and had a mild 1964 block full roller 409 built for it…put in a new trans and driveshaft too. Buffed the original lacquer and shampooed the carpet. Also put on a set of station wagon rims with caps.

Its a pretty cool old car. We have no idea what may have happened back then to warrant someone pulling the big block and slapping in a six banger and buying new pieces to make it all work.

One thing Verne and myself found curious on the firewallwas a big “0” written with an “8” inside…L80 ??? Don’t know. Firewall also had Paint Body Trim STICKERS too !!! It was not in a climate controlled garage so the underside is not real pretty…but it’s staying the way it is.

Added: Here's the link to the post that refers to this car on the site: https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/show.../fpart/22/vc/1


As Found

[Xplantdad]

Then Bob starts getting busy!

[Xplantdad]

Here are some detail shots!

[DaJudge]

Nice work Bob, very nice !!!!!!

[Mr70]

How appropriate.."Wheels Of Terror".
Man that's sweet!

[SS427]

Pretty neat Bob. I was excited when you first mentioned this car to me and hoped it would turn out to be a 409 car. Neat looking sleeper. You did a great job cleaning it up and getting it back in shape.
Rick

[kwhizz]

Wow!!!!!!! Nice Job Bob........... Next time we meet, remind me to tell you a story about another 64 Bel Air 409 car

Ken

[MosportGreen66]

Great preservation work Bob!
Congrats on the 409 sleeper...

[Z-11 396]

++++ Bob +++ Great story, some really Fantastic pictures of before, and after, What a great find, enjoy , and give it the Ride of a lifetime... Thanks for sharing, and bringing this Beauty back to Life....Kasey ....

[VintageMusclecar]

I love sleepers like that!

Very cool ride.