Tim Kerrigan’s maximum-performance 1957 Chevy Bel Air

This 1957 Chevy is all about producing the definitive statement in maximum performance

It’s the nature of a hot rod to be powerful. But we want them to handle, to drive, and as such this brings about compromise to the amount of horsepower we desire. Tim Kerrigan of Sonoma, California, has a history of good-looking, powerful hot rods. When it comes to performance Tim has a background steeped in it, as the principal behind Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation. He wanted the timeless appearance and presence that a 1957 Chevy Bel Air post car provides. He wanted comfort and driveability like the rest of us, but he also wanted undeniable amounts of horsepower that could be tapped when needed while otherwise at rest.

We asked Tim why Red Line wanted to build a 1957 Chevy for Red Line Oil. He says, “I always enjoyed the individuality of the styling of a 1957 Chevy, especially the bodylines. I was a high school freshman in 1957, so that was the new hot car when my love for cars was just developing. I had a 10-second 1957 drag car that was great fun, but not refined like the cars with street rod build quality that we’ve been building and admiring.

“When I was in high school, a sleeper was the ultimate car; stock body and big engine. This car is now like a dream come true, a 1957 Chevy that you can actually drive down the road with more than 1,600 hp.”
In order to get his dream package on the road, Tim contacted Leonard Lopez from Dominator Street Rods, in Tracy, California, who Red Line has built cars with before. It was Tim who felt that Lopez’s background as a hot rod builder and someone who had a great deal of background with race cars would understand the required suspension to handle the horsepower the Chevy would eventually have.

Lopez began with an Art Morrison Enterprises (AME) frame and began the quest for a chassis that would corral the monster motor that would rest between the ’rails. The IFS is made up of AME components and electric Flaming River steering. Wilwood jumps into the picture with their Pro-style spindles matched to Wilwood six-piston calipers on 14-inch rotors. More from Wilwood includes the pedal assembly with a bias-bar (adjusts brake pedal influence) and another pair of six-piston calipers and 14-inch rotors in back.

Also at the corners are QA1 coilover shocks and Americana series Schott Performance Wheels. The wheels are wrapped in aggressive but streetable Michelin Pilot Sports in front and Hoosier R6 compound in the rear. The wheel and tire combo offers just enough rubber-rake to illicit a response that says this isn’t a boulevard cruiser but rather a Bow Tie with pop—lots of pop!
The Michelin front rubber is 245R50/18 on 18x8.50 wheels; these tires are often recognized as the best-performing street tire with outstanding handling and braking characteristics. This tire is often found on Dodge Vipers. In the rear 19x13 Americana wheels are shod with 30-inch-tall Hoosier R6 345/30ZR19 rubber. The tire looks very much like a drag slick with two water grooves. There’s no question that this is a serious tire for serious horsepower. Again, Lopez was called upon again to fit the mini tubs required to properly cover the tire's 14-inch section width.

The ’57 has Americana model Schott Performance Wheels that measure 18x8.50 in the front and 19x13 in back, which are all mounted with Michelin and Hoosier rubber.

The rear suspension is housed around a Chrisman Driveline rearend with 3.73 gears and a Detroit Locker differential plus Strange Engineering axles all “floating” in Red Line 75W90 GL-5 gear oil. Outwardly a Morrison antiroll bar is used along with a triangulated four-link. All of the required chassis hardware came by way of ARP who also supplied the engine fasteners.

Sparky Howard from Santa Rosa, California, put in the required time to massage all of the finer points to give this hot rod its meticulous appearance. The secret is in the detail and on this 1957 it meant matching all of the bodylines often poorly matched from the factory. It was Tim’s intent that Howard maintain the near-stock body appearance. All of the stainless needed care to be brought back to show quality and then to make sure all pieces fit as the designer originally intended and not the way these cars came off of the assembly line.
Howard also was in charge of the bodywork and paint effort and if you look closely you will see the use of DuPont paint in a subtle two-tone silver effort. Tim worked with DuPont to achieve a custom blend of colors; the top in a Mercedes Benz–inspired silver and the bottom sheetmetal in a darker complementary color.
Accenting the Tri-Five are the apparent use of stock three-piece bumpers. Upon closer inspection you will see the combined efforts of Lopez and Sherm’s Custom Plating, of Sacramento, California, to fabricate a single-piece bumper that carefully matches the stock bumper in appearance.

Inside the 1957 it resembles stock but the plush leather seating was something you would be hard pressed to find today, much less back in the day. The Franzini Brothers handled the interior chores that included seating, door and kick panels, headliner, package tray, and carpeting, and also included all of the trunk detail. There is a six-point rollbar and Crow lap belts all fabricated and installed by the crew at Dominator. The Flaming River tilt steering column is topped with a stock-appearing wheel but downsized from its original 18-inch diameter to a more modern and comfortable 14 inches by Dennis Cook of San Diego. The interior is outfitted with Classic Instrument (CI) custom gauges that fit into the original cluster. One seemingly would get a chuckle out of the 180-mph speedo and 8-grand tach if it weren’t for the fact the car is capable of putting a strain on both. The tale of the tape, so to speak, didn’t end with the exposed custom instruments. When one looks inside the glovebox there is a CI five-pack of custom dials; a 320-degree oil temp, 100-pound fuel pressure, 35-pound boost, 280-degree trans temp, and 280-degree differential temp gauges. The one gauge that ties in the car’s history and the present is the reworked analog clock; something a 1957 had and vintage rodders affectionately recognize. All of the car’s required wiring was handled by the crew at Dominator.

Clearly visible is the rollbar, but more on that later! The Franzini brothers handled the stitchwork in the light saddle leather with matching wool carpeting. While the look of the interior is based on a ’57 retro look, with the presence of the rollbar you see its potential. Supple seating is based on split bench in the front, with Crow racing seatbelts, and a stock-appearing solid bench in the rear.

5/17 The stock dash is outfitted with Classic Instruments while the factory wheel was downsized to 14 inches and mounted on top of a Flaming River tilt column. The series input comes from these custom Classic Instrument gauges neatly packaged within the glovebox; oil temp, fuel pressure, boost, trans temp, and differential (yes, rearend) temp.

A tribute to the ’50s is the analog clock the way it was done in 1957, nicely refurbished by Classic Instruments.

 

A close-up look at the Classic Instruments four-pack (speedo, volt, rpm, and oil) reveals a clue on the car’s performance; note the 8,000-rpm tach and 180-mph speedo. Oh, at the time of this photo shoot, note the nearly 3,000 miles!

OK, there is a rear seat and it is as neatly upholstered as the front but don’t plan on jumping back there anytime soon. The rollbar comes first. Rear quarter windows are 150-series—they are fixed and do not roll down (or up).

We have waited to tell the story of the engine, its management system, and trans. It’s here the car develops its personality; something akin to the Incredible Hulk. Mild-mannered throughout the day, going about the chores of a very streetable hot rod until the mood arises and then, look out—enough power to spin the earth beneath its tires. We will get to it but a key component to this Chevy’s soul is the engine management system that allows the power to be doled out as needed, allowing the chassis and rubber do their job to the max.

From any angle this is an impressive and intimidating engine; a 540-inch Dart Big M steel block (Chevy), 80mm Precision turbos, and 60mm HKS wastegates. Did we mention 1,695 hp at 16 pounds of boost at 6,500 rpm? Can you say traction control! Look and enjoy: the headers, and the remainder of the exhaust system, were masterfully built by the crew at Dominator Street Rods. There are no mufflers! Heat is horsepower and this big-block is plenty hot, requiring the use of a Meziere electric water pump and a pair of SPAL electric fans matched to the Steve Long brass radiator. Additional cooling is required and aptly handled by two more SPAL fans hidden in the front fender area that evacuates air from the engine compartment. Should Red Line want to dial back the horsepower by “only” 10 pounds of boost, the V-8 will produce 1,225 hp on 93 octane.

The foundation of the engine comes by way of the Chevy-configured Dart Big M steel block sporting 540 inches with aluminum heads and Moroso dry sump oiling system. From Mike Moran Racing Engines in Taylor, Michigan, they designed the motor using a Lunati crank, Oliver billet rods, JE 8.5:1 pistons, Speed Pro rings and bearings, and a COMP Cams camshaft, Manton pushrods, and Jesel solid roller lifters. From here a pair of Dart Northeast modified dirt track aluminum heads were used and coupled with stainless valves and LSM springs, and Jesel Mohawk 1.7 ratio rockers.

The exterior of the big-block sees a Wilson custom billet intake manifold and throttle body.
Next up, the induction system: a BigStuff3 EFI with a pair of Precision 80mm turbos, a pair of HKS 60mm wastegates, MRE 160-pound injectors, Spearco intercooler all lit off by the 570 primary volts (47,000 secondary voltage) of an MSD 7AL-2 ignition control with MSD wires. The spent fuel is sent through Dominator stainless steel headers and exhaust system sans mufflers. Cooling chores fall to a Meziere electric water pump, a pair of SPAL electric fans attached to the Steve Long brass radiator. The final touch on cooling comes by way of two more SPAL fans hidden low in the front fender well area that evacuates air from the engine compartment. This good-looking and extremely potent big-block produces 1,225 hp at 10 pounds of boost on 93 octane all the way to 1,695 hp at 16 pounds of boost on race fuel.

Tim worked with Moroso to develop a streetable dry sump oil system that’s neatly packaged in the trunk (Peterson tank) that’s filled with Red Line 10W40 motor oil.

The BigStuff3 Engine Torque Management (ETM) System is a critical component to the engine but also makes this 1957 an extreme performance vehicle and also an around-town driver. BigStuff3 founder John Meaney and Moran worked to develop the fuel, spark, and transmission mapping. Traction control will make any high-horsepower car driveable as we see on many of today’s modern hi-po factory hot rods. The traction control on the 1957 isn’t based on wheel speed sensors but rather on controlling engine acceleration under throttle. The system allows any hot rod with massive amounts of power to be easily controlled for street use.

From here the BigStuff3 computer controls the 4L80E transmission screwed together with a full complement of beefed up internal goodies by Gordon Stoney coupled with a Precision converter, all running Red Line ATF. The computer controls the converter lockup, shift points, and shift hunting, all making the car enjoyable to drive in town.
There’s a hot rod term, “sleeper.” This 1957 isn’t your garden-variety used car rescued from the classifieds but then again one wouldn’t see it as the ultimate asphalt eater that it truly is—it must be a sleeper.

The ’57 gives the appearance of using stock bumpers but look more closely! Upon closer examination you will see the joint craftsmanship of the crew at Dominator and Sherm’s Custom Plating who fabricated a single-piece bumper that, upon a casual look, matches the stock bumper in appearance. Much of the remaining sheetmetal is stock but, once again, never be fooled until you look under the hood!