I probably should have done this during the build, but I put the car together in three months, so spare time was non-existent. I had been kicking around the idea of building a gasser, and I had a pump gas 491 BBC that needed a home, so here we go. The premise of the project was to build a gasser with period parts the way a couple of guys might have done in the mid sixties. Drag it in the garage (actually, I drove it in. The Nailhead purrs), cut it up, fab some suspension, and go try to break it. My goal was to race it at the KKOA event in Salina. I came up 12 hours short. I don't have a frame jig, and I basically do rough measurements, stand back and look at it, then weld it up. If it looks right, it probably is.
I had a front end out of a '56 F100 that had been chromed in a previous life under a custom truck. I snatched it up at the Wichita swap meet a couple of years ago. It came complete with brakes and both front AND rear leaf springs. I also had an old Frankland quick change with wide 5 hubs that needed a home. Add a reverse valve body turbo 400 and I had the majors to build the car.
I'm just running through the build pics. From pulling the nailhead and cutting the front off of the frame to mocking and fabbing the front frame and suspension was a matter of a couple of weeks of evenings and weekends.
The pic with the pallet of sheet metal on it was to see how 1000 lbs was gonna sit. My guesses were close enough. Throw in enough adjustment holes and guess close, and you can have 'er rollin' in no time.
I like it. Someone had an old Buick Gasser on here for sale a few years back. I wonder if it sold? Very unique.
The Jalopy Journal
