Project-X '57 Chevy - need some help with details

[bisc63]

Going to build a model of one of my favorite cars of all time: Popular Hot Rodding magazine's Project-X. This yellow '57 sedan got me looking at cars as a boy the way that one cute girl gets a boy REALLY looking at girls. Being a test car, it went through a lot of various phases, but I'm keeping my build ol' school. I'm not at all interested in any variation of the car newer than the late 70s. I'm shooting for the early 70s mostly. I have a couple of old articles that got me started, but I'm needing some further info that the ol' interwebs can't provide. I'm building the car as it looked after the rear wheel openings were enlarged a little, a fresh interior with bench seat up front, rear seat deleted and covered with a tonneau, 4 point roll cage and Simpson harnesses were installed then,too. A fresh L88 427 with Edlebrock intake and Holley carb and 4-speed were added at that time, and Hurst/Airheart disc brakes up front to stop all that power. No bumper up front, just a tube grille.

I read that a Pontiac rear end was installed at one time, early on. Does anyone know what rear end that was? What car it may have been sourced from? How long was it used? What replaced it? When? In one black and white photo I can see that the rear end has been painted a very light color, I'm thinking maybe even white. I've seen old drag racers with white rear ends under them, but it could also be yellow to match the car. Does anyone know which is right? I'm hoping some of the older guys here (like me) might remember or even have some of the old magazines that describe some of those details. Another detail I'm missing is some small lettering in the area of the quarter panel between the rear swooping chrome strips, near the tail-end chrome over the tail lamps. It's blurry in every pic I can find.  What does it say there?

Edited June 7, 2022 by bisc63
typo

[Mark]

You might want to search out the recent Rodders' Journal which included an article on Project X.  More info can't hurt.

Pontiac rear end would have been '57 or so through early Sixties.  AMT '62 Catalina unit would work.  The Olds/Pontiac rear end swap needed rear wheels with a non-stock offset to fit really wide tires.  The swap was so popular that a couple of aftermarket wheel companies catalogued wheels for it.  The Pontiac probably got switched out for a Ford 9" in the Eighties, when putting those in everything became the rage.

[espo]

Another source of information would be Hot Rod Magazine online.  They had a print issue a couple of months ago that gave a good timeline on all the different engines and other changes made thru the years. 

[John M.]

It also became a movie star when it appeared in the 1980 film "The Hollywood Knights" with Tony Danza as it's owner. I cringed when it got smoked by the AC Cobra with the two guys in it in the impromptu drag race at the traffic light. Even 40 plus years after the film's release, I'm still cringing over it.

[slicks56]

John, if you go back and watch that seen in the movie, They blew the motor up when they missed the shift.

[bisc63]

15 hours ago, Mark said:

recent Rodders' Journal which included an article on Project X.

11 hours ago, espo said:

Hot Rod Magazine online.  They had a print issue a couple of months ago that gave a good timeline on all the different engines

Thanks guys. Mark, the 62 Catalina was my first inclination for a rear end, but as the car was built in the late 60s, I wondered if maybe a GTO 12-bolt might have been perched on the leaf springs. They never ran terribly wide tires on the car in the time period I'm interested in. Thanks for the heads-up on the Rodder's Journal article, I'll find that one. Espo, thanks for that tidbit on the Hot Rod site, could be very helpful. As for the American Graffiti years, I couldn't care less. That look was a step back from its former glory. To each his own!

Edited June 8, 2022 by bisc63

[BuilderX]

Unfortunately this car is all electric now 😒