Info needed on the '57 Chevy Black Widow

philo426 wrote:

I recall seeing a picture somewhere of a '57 150 Chevy with a corvette fuel-injected engine.I think the factory took a bare-bones post coupe (The ones with the '55 chevy trim on two-toned 150 models)and put in the fuel-injected 283 backed by a 4 speed tranny.Does anyone know of any pics or  info on this model?And does a resin trans-kit exist for the black widow?Thanks in advance for any replies.

a 57 Chevy with the fuel injected 283 was a factory option in 1957. The factory installed T-10 four speed option was very rare, and I think there actually was less than fifty built. The front seat has a notch cut in it to clear the shifter handle (a little round spindelly looking thing at that). The body your thinking of was the 210 body that just had the chrome trim without the paint in the middle. I don't recall ever seeing the fuel injection option in anything but a Bel Air, but they probably did build them. I used to have a buddy who's Dad had a factory four speed fuelie car in the Bel Air body. Thinking back, I don't think I ever saw one that wasn't painted black, red or white! Samething for 57 Bonnevilles; all were white with fuel injection.

gary

philo426 wrote:

Yes the one in the magazine article was black over white with "dog-dish"hubcaps.!I think that Nascar banned the fuel-injected 283 in '57 so the project may have been cancelled!

Fuel injected 283's were not all that uncommon, but the four speed gear box was about as rare as hen's teeth. I think I've seen two or three in my lifetime. I think that the reason that NASCAR went with the single carb / normally aspirated rule was due to the 57 Ford 312 with the blower on it. It was clearly faster than the Chevy, and with minor tweeking the Studerbaker was even faster. Fuel injection was pretty crude back then by today's standards, and when Carter started to market the AFB carbs the end of Rochester fuel injection was written on the wall even though it was carried as an option till the mid sixties. What was wrong with it was the manifold design, and the open plenum air box ontop of it. Chrysler had it as on option (Bendix) on the big cars, and Pontiac had it as standard equipment on the 57 Bonneville.

    Funny thing about the fuel injected small blocks is that GM sells a Ramjet 350 crate motor to this day, but it only looks like the old setup. It's completely electronic.

gary

philo426 wrote:

OK dudes I have good news on both fronts!Revell will be making a kit of the Black Widow in the fall/winter!Plus I googled "Black Widow" and they have a killer website with all kinds of reference photos of the 1:1 car.It was indeed a 150 sedan with the 283 Fuel injected engine and black and white exterior.i guess this project will be easier than I thought!

we have a clone of that car showing up in Greenwood on a few Saturday nights. Next time I'm down there I'll take my small camera and get a picture of it. The problem there is that there will be almost three hundred cars show up on any given saturday night!! Hotrod magazine did a write up on it when they discovered it on their power tour a couple years ago.

gary

You can still find the Revell 1/12th Bel-Air FI kits.  If memory serves, this one has a four speed in it.  http://www.amazon.com/Revell-1957-Chevy-Model-Kit/dp/B000JVPW1M  Several are also on ebay. 

The '57 FI system was used in Corvettes and Bel-Airs.  Most of the 57 fuelies (Corvette and Bel-Air) were three speeds. The automatic was also available.  The 4-speed was not introduced until late in the model year making them harder to find.

EasyMike wrote:

You can still find the Revell 1/12th Bel-Air FI kits.  If memory serves, this one has a four speed in it.  http://www.amazon.com/Revell-1957-Chevy-Model-Kit/dp/B000JVPW1M  Several are also on ebay.  The '57 FI system was used in Corvettes and Bel-Airs.  Most of the 57 fuelies (Corvette and Bel-Air) were three speeds. The automatic was also available.  The 4-speed was not introduced until late in the model year making them harder to find.

there actually was two different 283 fuelie motors. One had a milder cam and compression. A fuelie motor in front of a Powerglide would be even rarer than a four speed car, and doubt they used the motor with the 30-30 cam in front of that transmission (way too low of a stall speed).

gary

philo426 wrote:

I also believe that Chevolet offered a "power Pack" option with dual 4-barrel carbs.

they did offer two different engines with two fours. Brother just put together two engines like this for a restored Corvette. One was bone stock except for pistons and valve seats (built to run on unleaded gas the right way). And the other was a stroker motor with two AFB's (had a lot of trouble finding all the parts to rebuild the WCFB's) on an Eldebrock manifold. The sedan and the Corvette pretty much had the same engine line up from 1955 till 1957. Ever see the alloy heads sold in 1959? I saw a set for sale once in a gas station that had a price tag of $100!!

gary