Home-Built Hero: Andy Millican’s Street-Legal ’57 Chevy Drag Car

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Of all the 1957 Chevrolets we have seen throughout the years, this street-legal drag car belonging to Andy Millican of Kingston, Washington, has to be among the coolest. The first thing you’ll notice about this particular ’57 Chevy, is its color. It was painted Emerald Green back in the late ’90s, and is a color that was actually a GM option at the time. When Andy bought the car in 2005, it also had a light green top, but he quickly changed that along with almost every aspect of the car. Like every car guy, he made it his own.

Andy tells us, “It came with a 671 blower motor that ran on a 110-octane racing fuel. You can’t stop at just any gas station to get that kind of fuel, and it’s not like I could carry a drum with me on long drives.” For Andy, it was about being able to drive the car. To that end, he went to Kyle Kirker at New Era Racecraft for a solution. Kyle built Andy a 1,200 horsepower engine that runs on gas-station-available Premium fuel. It’s a 540 cubic-inch big-block engine that is force fed by an F2-series Procharger. behind the engine is a two-speed Powerglide transmission with a 5,500 stall converter, and a 4.30-geared rearend. Andy hooks that power with a set of 31×16.50-15 Mickey Thomspon ET Street tires.

According to Kyle, “What makes the Procharger so nice for street use, is that most of their kits include a pop off valve in the charge tube. This is a vacuum/boost regulated valve, so when driving on the street at a constant engine RPM, engine vacuum increases and the valve stays open, bleeding off unnecessary boost. When you step on the throttle, the manifold vacuum goes to zero and closes the valve, forcing the pressurized air into the engine.”

Kyle also detailed the special carburetor and fuel system requirements a Procharger like this needs: “The C&S blow through carburetor works with a boost-referenced power valve and fuel system. This lets the power valve add fuel as the boost increases.

From the beginning, this car was a family affair for Andy. While working on the interior, he made sure things would be comfortable for him, his wife, and their two young children. He kept the bench seat already installed, so his wife could sit next to him, and then he had a custom bench seat made and placed between the rollbar down tubes in the back so his two children have a place to sit. “It would be the wife and I in the front, the kids in the back, and the chairs in the trunk,” he says. “We drive it to the track, race it, and drive it home.” And don’t think for a minute that this is just a good-looking car. Andy has blasted a best 1/4-mile time of 9.73 seconds.

Andy also wanted us to mention a good friend of his, Mark Cain, that was a crucial part in building this car. Mark was the owner of Cain Customs in Bremerton, Washington, who unfortunately passed away in November 2015.

The custom rear seat Andy had installed for his two children.

The custom rear seat Andy had installed for his two children.

“Mark helped with a lot of the work that is done to this car.” Andy continued, “He was a great car enthusiast, and one hell of a father.”

It’s the people in the car hobby that make it worthwhile, and Andy has made some great family memories and lifelong friends with this car. He has also had a lot of fun taking it down the drag strip and driving it on the highway.

We want to know what you think of this awesome ride, so leave a note in the comment section. Don’t forget to check out all of our pictures in the gallery.

Since we’ve started the Home-Built Heros segment, we have received a few candidates, but we need more. Send us a few pictures of your car with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected].

Photo gallery

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About the author

Kyler Lacey

A 2015 Graduate from Whitworth University, Kyler has always loved cars. He grew up with his dad's '67 Camaro in the garage and started turning wrenches at a young age. At seventeen, he bought his first classic, a '57 Chevy Bel Air four-door, and has since added a '66 Plymouth Valiant and '97 Cadillac Deville to his collection. When he isn't writing for Power Automedia, he's out shooting pictures at car shows, hiking in the forests of the beautiful Pacific Northwest, or working on something in the garage.
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