Hot Rods 1953 Chevy Gasser build- 1962 style

First off, I´ll really need your help and assistance on this topic, all I know about the Gas Classes I have read in books , seen in pics and since there are no real old Gassers over here that I know of, I have a long learning curve ahead of me.
I have seen the Big John Mazmanian Willys in the US about 10 years ago, which was extremely impressive, but this is and always was a professional built and raced car, nothing I can achieve performance or quality wise.

I thought I´d share what I´ll be up to as soon as my 34 sedan will be back on the road.This will still take a while and give me enough time to gather ideas and missing parts...



A while ago I got this 53 Chevy gasser project from Brent, a fellow Hamber. The Chevy is very straight ,and even more important, it is rust free and all the mods done by Brent are very well executed.
A lot of parts came with the car, a set of very nice old Ansens , an old Edelbrock TR1 tunnel ram for an SBC, all the delete plates for the dash,all the garnish mouldings, glass and trim pieces and lots of other stuff.

My general idea is to build it in a way like someone in about 1959 would have started drag racing a mostly stock car that evolved into a gasser over time. I´ve read a couple of books on this topic, like Gasser Wars, and noticed the rules and classes have changed a lot every season. In the early years of Gas class a car could have been a hopped up factory car with just the hub caps popped off.

I have been daydreaming for a while on this car, and as much as want it to be fast I don´t want to compromise a period correct appearence. Modern speed parts like AFR aluminum heads, efi, HEI distributors, radial tires and things like that won´t be used. ( I know I will have to make compromises somewhere, I just don´t want to admit it yet, hahahaha )
It will be fine if I end up with a car that is "quick" for a 1962 timeframe home built car and can be driven to and from a race track legally and won´t be a handful to drive straight down the track.


Here is a little summary of parts I plan on using so far, and this is not yet set in stone, it´s mostly because I already have them:
1939 Chevy axle with airheart disc brakes on quarter elliptic leaf springs
Stock steering box modified to cross steering,alternatively an old VW steering box
1962 Aluminum Powerglide, needs to be rebuilt and modified ( no clue what to improve yet, what converter to use)
1958 283 Chevy .060 over with forged dome pistons for around 10.5:1 cr,power packs or 1.96/1.50 camel humps ( will the TR1 tunnel ram with 2 carter AFBs work on the small 292 cui engine?That´s a lot of carb for a small engine...?)
Cam in 234°/ ex 244° @.050 lift with 112° LSA, in .488/ex .510 lift
Ansen Sprints with 560-15 front runners and probably cheater slicks in the rear ( wrinkle walls were not availible in 62, were they?) rear tire size will be around 10.0 x 15 somewhere
vintage (60s ?)fiber glass bucket seats
I have a 62 Buick Electra rear axle, but I think a 9" Ford would be easier to get parts for, right? Gear ratio would have to be quite steep, I think somewhere between 4.11 and 5.13?? A locker would be necessary too.

This is as far as I am now... Thanks for your thoughts and input!

Chris

 

Chris....cool car. If you are asking for input...I'll give you some. Tunnel rams....aluminum slot mags...accessory bolt hole heads....Torker intakes....were later 60s, early 70s things. You have a cool collection of parts there to build a nice ride....don't worry about the time period. Early 60s would have been intakes like Edelbrock X1 crossram, a Weiand WC40, Weiand Dragstar....McGurk 6x2....Halibrands or magnesium Americans for wheels....camel hump heads....that kind of thing. Don't stress over the 1962 thing....it'll drive you nuts.

 

You are probably right, maybe I should move the time range somewhere else... when did the first tunnel rams come out? And the Ansen Sprints? 70s?
These heads on the 283 are actually camel humps, but they are from a 69 Opel Diplomat 327 and already have the holes. But I do have a set of non acessory hole camel humps ( but they have 2.02/1.60 valves and will be shrouded in the small bore) and non accessory hole power packs I´´m probably going to use. When I built this engine I didn´t even know it could end up in a gasser right now. So I used the best heads I had at that time and arked it in my living room....So the heads won´t be used, the headers and the lower end will.

 

I think aluminum slot mags came out about 1967-68 and tunnel rams maybe a year or two later...

 

ralph ridgeway developed his own tunnel ram in '65, marketed them in '68

 

I've seen those Ridge Runner Tunnel rams....really neat but super rare....the Edelbrock TR 1 came out late 60s early 70s..

 

The tunnel ram was invented by Phil Miller in Haverhill,MA for the then new big block chevrolet. 1965. Miller sold the rights to Weiand. Soon after '65, tunnel rams were available for small blocks. Build your car the way you want and enjoy it bro

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Any more photos of the build! looks awesome!

 

Very cool project. Instead of the tunnel ram, how about 471, or 671 blower.

 

Thanks ! I´m still collecting ideas and parts, so the "real "build has not started yet. I´ve got to finish my 34 first to make some room in the shop.

Yes, a blower would be awesome!! Nothing better than the whine of a blown engine.... I only have three points to check off my " no blower" list before I start:
1 . I don´t know squat about them
2. Here, they are quite rare and not cheap, I´ll have to find one in the States, and there for it would help to know what I´m doing ( 1.) and looking for...
3. The engine is already set up for around 11:1 CR, not so ideal for a blown motor...
But maybe I´ll come across a deal or ,maybe even better ,a complete blown engine sometime in the future. But until then I´ll stick to the 283 for now

 

dual quads without use of tunnel ram still have plenty of Wow factor, and will run better for a street car

 

TR1's are notorous for fuel puddling in them.... Can make for some unwanted flames coming out of the carbs. But it would fit the era!

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Be sure to add tinted glass or plexi glass of your color choice to complete the gasser look, always thought that was so cool. And don't forget the Moon tank even if it's not functional.

 

Subscribed!!!! Bad ass mang!!!

 

Have you considered what color to paint it?

I'd do a stock '53 Chevy color. Here's why:

It would've only been nine years old in '62 and the factory stock finish would've still been shiny, or at least "good enough" for a grass-roots racer who was more interested in going fast than looking pretty.

Cool build, by the way!

 

I can tell you from experience that building to a 65 time frame is a lot more easy than 62 .

 

You have a great start on a cool project. Just put it together with what you have, drive it for awhile and change what you don't like later. No need spend money on something that might not work as expected.
That 1850 Holley should be just right for your motor and cam. Jet changes, acc. pump cam changes etc can really make it a crisp responding motor. Definitely go with disc brakes though. Plenty of people will tell you "the original setup worked fine" but from scary personal experience better brakes makes for safer stopping. My avatar (429, 4 speed, 3.73s) had mostly original brake parts and at the end of a race it was a handful to get stopped quickly when needed. Definitely some "skid marks in the skivvies" moments.
Subscribed and looking forward to your progress.
Eli

 

Chucky, unfortunately not. But thanks for asking! I am still in the dreaming and 'what if' stage.... I just finished my 34 Ford project and try to get my girl's 52 suburban in one piece before I dig deeper into the Gasser project.
Another thing is that I found it is getting more difficult here to get even a well built traditional car registered and safety inspected. I'm just going through this with my 34... I 'll have to prove to them that the car is a real old hot rod , not a recently built kit car made of aftermarket parts. If so it would have to meet like 2018s safety and emission regulations. With the gasser I'll have to find out if a gasserstyle car would be accepted by them, this type of car is not common... we don't have regular drag strips here. It would be nice to be able to drive the car in the street legaly. But I'm sure there will be a legal way. I would like to keep the solid axle, but I may have to go back to factory IFS, if they won't accept it. And it's the things like that which need to be cleared up before I start building.

In a sidenote, the term ' hot rod' is kind of a red flag for our TÜV people. I always try to use something like vintage race car, special built sports car, and so . When they hear ' Hot Rod' they have a picture of a M2, LS powered Rat rod with 22" wheels in mind and don't want to be involved in that...

 

I experienced those issues back in the early 70's with the TR1 on an M/P car. Hydraulic the rods. I sold it to a buddy and we had a couple of inches shaved off the top plenum and he drove it on the street with no problems. The next generation, I believe the 1X, had a much smaller plenum on it.

 

ew...

 

Hey yeah! I 've bought "Baumi's" Gasser in January 2019. Baumi - thanks for the awsome chance to build that car. Build of - begins in a view days. I ordered some parts like Transmission, 9" Axle and some other stuff, the new Blower-Motor is allways there . Sorry for the bad english... but i try...

 

Hey , Jan! I think the blown chevy is more than enough motor for the 53, hahaha. I´m glad you are building the chevy for the strip and puting it to good use. It would have taken me another couple of years to getting around to build it. Which transmission are you going to use?

 

Jan, you might want to do an introduction in the " New to the HAMB" -section at the very top of this message board, so the other guys here get to know where you´re from and what you are up to.

 

I would try a powerglide (good for 700 HP). This is enough for 1/8 Mile this year and with electric overdrive (in addition) next year the quartermile
Sorry for bad english but i try - still..

 

Habe es gerade gelesen - du bist es Baumi! Cool - ich lach mich gerade kaputt!

 

Dein Englisch ist doch gut!
I think the powerglide is a good choice, I would have used one too.

 

...took the introduction...

 

So - now the Gasser is in the next stage of build off process. We 've taken the currie enterprises 9" axle in combination with willwood breakes. The motor is now placed . Next step - the steering. Anybody ideas what kind of steering works? At this time - i have no steering.

 

Kinda hard to say without knowing what is there. Appears to have the stock unit in place? Or there anyway? Seems many use (I used) a cross steer set up.

 

It's an 55 truck Front axle. Yes steering is original but not good for racing, is it? Maybe there is a Plug and Play system i can build in... ?