Chevrolet 1955–1957 Assembly & Repair Manual Collection (P/N 3712500)

The assembly books document factory component placement and installation. Separate wiring sheets support circuit tracing, while service extracts and project articles add selected repair procedures.

Coverage limits: The engine and rear-axle files are excerpts, and the Hydra-Matic repair scan omits printed pages 30–33. The Hydra-Matic references cover multiple applications, including Chevrolet trucks; they do not establish fitment to the passenger-car models listed above.

Some supplements concern other vehicles: the Holley AA-1G manual is for International Harvester, the C3 Corvette articles address later cars, and the Rochester material includes Cadillac-specific calibrations. These supplements do not provide uniform service coverage for every Chevrolet model year.

PDF Search, Bookmarks and Scan Readability

Search and navigation: The three assembly PDFs have section bookmarks but no searchable text. The separate wiring, Hydra-Matic, brake and Holley scans also lack searchable technical text. Project articles and the Edelbrock instructions are searchable; the Rochester manual has imperfect, sometimes misaligned OCR. Engine and rear-axle exports mainly expose web headings to search, with bookmarks that include external destinations. Small wiring labels require zooming, and some assembly-sheet labels remain difficult to read.

The ZIP contains 36 printable PDFs totaling 1,237 pages. This includes covers, contents and web-export pages, including one added Hydra-Matic title page, three nonmanual pages in the rear-axle file and one in the engine file.

Factory Assembly, Wiring and Component Repair

Selected topics below cover installation and service material; additional assembly sheets address wheels, tires, bumpers and lubrication.

• Body and frame: Body-mount shims, gauge holes, mounting checks, brackets and crossmembers, with separate arrangements for convertibles, sport coupes, station wagons and sedan deliveries.

• Chassis and brakes: Control arms, steering knuckles, wheel hubs, springs, shocks, rear axle and propeller shaft, plus master-cylinder, pedal, hose, cable-guide and brake-pipe installation.

• Engine and driveline: Six-cylinder and V8 mountings, clutch and flywheel components, clutch-linkage adjustment, manual gearshift controls, overdrive equipment, and automatic-transmission mounts and controls.

• Fuel, cooling and sheet metal: Tank variations, fuel and vacuum lines, exhaust routing, radiator hoses, grille and fender assembly, hood hardware, seals, supports and alignment checks.

• Electrical and options: Starting, charging, instruments, lighting and direction-signal circuits, with installation drawings for power accessories, heaters, defrosters, hydraulic steering and air conditioning.

• Service references: Selected engine disassembly and inspection procedures, carburetor overhaul material, brake servicing, and Hydra-Matic diagnosis and adjustments within each document’s stated applications.

These documents suit experienced restorers, body and chassis technicians, and repair shops matching original installations or consulting component-specific service information.

Factory Sheets for Restoration and Reassembly

Individual assembly sheets identify part numbers, fastener stacks, bracket orientation, locating dimensions, hole patterns, seal and cement placement, adjustment points, applicable models and revision history. The 1955 book’s engineering revisions continue into 1955.

The drawings help reconstruct factory locations during restoration, collision and frame repair, or reassembly of a partially dismantled car. They locate wiring clips, brake and fuel lines, accelerator rods, steering-column seals, radiator supports, body shims, exhaust hangers and model-specific brackets.

Named references include Body Mounting Checking Dimensions, Front Suspension Geometry and Sheet Metal Checking Instruction. Front and rear Brake Pipes Instruction sheets, Starting Circuit with Powerglide Transmission, and Overdrive Wiring – 3-Speed Transmission for V8 & 6 Cyl. provide further component and circuit detail.

Body, Drivetrain and Option Differences

Individual sheets distinguish the passenger-car series, Nomad, sedan-delivery and station-wagon construction, convertible and sport-coupe mountings, left- and right-hand-drive layouts, and CKD Bloomfield assemblies. These application notes matter when matching brackets, mounting points and routing to a particular configuration.

Transmission assembly coverage includes clutch and gearshift linkage, Powerglide throttle and selector controls, cooler and filler plumbing, shift-position indexing, neutral-safety wiring and overdrive controls. The separate Hydra-Matic documents supply internal component and diagnostic material for their own applications.

Option sheets cover hydraulic steering and bleeding, vacuum power brakes, electrical seat and window controls, heaters and defrosters, export cooling and factory air-conditioning installation. The 1957 assembly book also includes fuel-injection installation and limited-slip rear-axle material.

Repair Extracts and Supplement Applications

The engine extracts describe cylinder-head and valve work, piston and ring service, crankshaft and camshaft bearings, oil-pump work, and engine removal and installation. The separate six-cylinder and small-block project articles add illustrated rebuild examples; their project-specific choices are not specifications for every original engine.

Hydra-Matic On-the-Car Adjustments addresses diagnosis, linkage and band adjustments, pressure tests and transmission identification. The companion repair extract includes clutch, servo, planetary-unit and control-valve work, subject to its missing pages.

The Rochester material covers carburetor operation, disassembly, adjustment and troubleshooting, with application-specific Cadillac information. The brake reference includes a Chevrolet application chart, while its Bendix Hydrovac C section concerns Studebaker applications. The rear-axle excerpt provides selected overhaul material rather than a continuous procedure.

Mounting and Brake-Line Cautions

Body-mount shim position and orientation vary by mounting point and body style. A generic shim arrangement can upset body alignment. The brake-pipe sheets reject flattened or distorted tubing and identify routing and clamp positions relevant to avoiding pinched or rubbing lines.

Brake, steering, fuel-system, electrical, and under-car repair work still requires current lifting, fire-prevention, pressure-release, and isolation practices. These historical production drawings do not replace modern shop-safety procedures.

Examples of Engine Bore and Bearing Specifications

The 1955 engine extract lists cylinder-block bores of 3.5620–3.5640 in. for the 235.5 cu. in. six-cylinder and 3.7495–3.7515 in. for the 265 cu. in. V8. These are the block-bore specification ranges in the engine table.

For both engines, main-bearing clearance is listed as 0.001–0.003 in. for new bearings and 0.001–0.004 in. for used bearings. The separate conditions distinguish new-bearing specifications from the figures listed for bearings already in service.