Projects Bad Banana Resurrection - 55 Chevy Gasser

Still some things to finish up but here is where it is tonight



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Weeoh! the Bad Banana LIVES
KK

 

Way to go Rusty! Very proud of what you've done!

 

Super comeback!

 

It is ALIVE!!!

 

That’s crazy, I guess he just doesn’t care anymore, a shame. Your doing a great job, really glad you’re able to bring the Banana back

 

It drives just like it used to.. wait for it

 

Awesome, great to see her rolling again

 

I figure a running and driving Bad Banana deserves to have the front end back on soon. Nice to finally get to the point of shooting some primer on it.

 

Magic!

 

Jeff the fiberglass whisperer...

 

Jeff,

That front end has come a long way from where you started! It's looking great!

 

X2. Snowman

 

So, what took you so long?

 

You never showed up to help...lol

 

You wouldn't want me helping....fo sho.

 

Jeff is my hero. When I climbed out of that wreck I figured that fiberglass front was done. It really was my biggest concern. I never had an interest in body work and paint and avoid it as much as possible. I have been forced to dabble in it a few times over the years but it never turned out like I felt it should.

Jeff and I agreed in the beginning there was no hurry but about a month ago, I asked him if it might be possible to have it done in time to make a nostalgia race at Little River on Oct 10 (the scene of the crash). His comment was "its good to have a deadline to shoot for". While it would be cool to make it for Saturday, if its not ready its not the end of the world. We'll get out again at some point. He's got work and family and other commitments that I feel guilty about taking him away from in order to fix this old worn out race car.

I'm still tweaking a few details and I am working on the hinges and mounts for the front when Jeff gives me the thumbs up. Here was tonight's project. Had to modify those aircraft hinges. Turning scrap from other projects into something useful.

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It's getting close. Burning a lot of midnight oil.

One of the last pieces is this piece that supports the middle of the fiberglass front. Its in all the pictures so I needed to reproduce it. Hand drilled on my old man's old drill press. I'm feeling pretty good about the repair. When I drove it the other day, it felt just like it used to. Like it never happened.

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and soon!

 

What repair?!?!

 

You are good at that Jeff.

 

Jeff, do you make house calls?

 

Holy chit! Like it never happened. Snowman

 

Lol...you can still tell where it was fixed, but the spatter paint that Rusty’s dad put on it and we wanted to match hides a lot. Only problem was I couldn’t find the right color spatter paint. So, I was thankful for that silly fad in the 90’s when I was painting Harley’s and custom trucks and that granite look was popular... I used that technique (sort of) 25 years later to get as close as possible.

 

Haha...probably not all the way to Oregon. And, I rarely do this kind of stuff anymore. I need to get back to welding patch panels in my kids pu.

 

Looks like there's a very good chance the Bad Banana will be back at Little River this Saturday. I'm going to pick up the repaired fiberglass front on Friday.

112 days to fix it. On June 20th, I wasn't sure I was even going to fix it. Was a long tough ride home that night. Hopefully it will go well and we can continue on with the story. Stay tuned. More to come. I promise.

 

Glad to see it back up and running. Hate to lose a piece of automotive history.
Will you be running any of the 3 remaining SEGA races ?

 

You aren't the first to ask. I'll defer until I see if it goes down the track this weekend.

Honestly it doesn't look good. I spent a lot of my racing travel funds on fixing this thing.

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That's too bad. I hope you can at least make the finals in Florida.

 

Just got back from Oklahoma. Long day but we are loaded and headed out in the morning to see if it all works.

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