1956 chevy gasser build

Now thats good stuff!

 

Awesome dude..
Y'all got some perty numbers there

 

Some pics from over the weekend!

 

SOOOO bad ass Joel! I can't wait to smoke your 55 over in person...

 

Interesting side note i learned at the track two nights ago, my car is heavy as hell, 3585! Anyone have a fiberglass front end for sale??.....

 

I hate to tell you, but my experience is that most 'complete' fiberglass front ends end up weighing more than sheet metal.

It weighs right were it should, unless you gut it from front to back.....

Enjoy it !

 

My 57 has a fibreglass front and weighs 3460 with a small block

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Man how I love tri-five gassers

 

I think the only way you could improve upon your 56 would be to use a 56 front end on it also. There was a time when I was a big 55 fan, but now I'm on my 10th 56 Chevrolet, and most likely my last. I like the 56 front end far more than the 55. Seems to me, there's a 56 glass nose on that auction site we all know and love at the moment. Your entire build has been very impressive; thanks for documenting it so well. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Ours weighs 3095 by itself, 3300 with me. Working on shearing 200 from the car & 20 from me! PS. Glastek in Illinoise has a very nice one piece (56) nose. I think they are $600-ish.

 

Oh, you got a big block..,there's a 200lb penalty.

 

True, my Henry J ended up weighing a little bit more with the glass nose, doors and paint. I couldn't and still don't believe it !

 

I don't know how fellas. My father and I pulled my original 56 front clip off and it weighs a TON! My god it's heavy! Has to weigh 200-250 lbs minimum.Maybe it felt so heavy to me because he's 72 years old??! My glass front clip might weigh 30 lbs. Now I haven't added any supporting brace work to it but its very light. I do know that the older glass clips were heavier than the newer ones.

Weight reduction plans for mine include: glass nose,glass deck lid, ditching all glass windows for lexan and plexi, removing anything not essential. I have a beautiful newly chromed rear bumper that's about to be up for sale. Also running a big block but I will not be happy unless this car comes in under 3000 lbs. I have heard of sbc powered 55-56 coming in at 2800 lbs minus driver.

 

You can get it to 2800 & change, but use chromoly everwhere you can, steering, cage, seat mounts, drive shaft, cross members, axle tubes etc. etc. If your fortunate enough to have magnesium wheels great, if your stuck with aluminum like me, most of the ET wheels made today have spun aluminum drums with cast inners so they're alot lighter than old school versions and they are impeccable.., even polished on the back and the inside!. Get lighter brakes too.

 

Ah yes...the cage. Mine will be an 8-point in mild steel. Guess I better get to cutting??!

 

Not to stir anything up, but have any of the other gasser drivers objected to your use of alcohol instead of gas. Usually that's one of the first complaints. By the way, love your car.

 

The great majority are running alcohol.

 

a lot of street guys are starting to run E85 because its less than half the price of
turbo blue

 

E85 is where we're going, on our new 416" small block. 14.5:1 with a set of Jackson Injectors, the stuff is usually the same or cheaper than regular and needs similar jetting.

 

14.5:1 that sounds like E85 race fuel at or around $11.00 a gallon?

 

Nope, the cheap stuff, ($3.00 gallon or less), which I believe has an at the pump octane rating of 100-106. We have also learned that if you put a thermal barrier on the top of the piston,(ours are being coated by Calico Coatings in Denver, NC), it acts the same as adding 9 points to the fuels octane rating (that makes it 109-115!) Bryce @ Dr. J's has already run a 14.5:1 565" Big Block Chevy this way and made 903HP on E85. We will document it soon on build thread for the new engine.

 

or more at 3.55 gallon here but still less than 93 @ 4.10 gallon

How many times more do you have to change the oil though ?

 

Oil contamination is greatly reduced by running more second ring gap (.010-.015) than the top ring. If there is insuffiecient second ring gap, the top ring goes into " flutter" because the combustion pressure going by the top ring gap, fills the area between the top and second ring faster than it can relieve itself by "blowing thru" the second ring gap. This pressure build up unseats the top ring from the floor of the top ring groove, and combustion above beats the ring down. When the top ring "flutters"/is out of control, it does not suck/seal as well on the roof of the groove during the intake stroke (less cyl. fill and pull on the carb venturi, so less fuel pulled in, and less power made. The compression ring also won't seal as well on the floor of the groove during compression, power or exhaust stroke so the engine is a less efficient "air pump", period! Now you have to run a bigger jet to get fuel in which further aggrivates fuel contamination. The second ring is designed to twist upward slightly on the down stroke, and wipe the excess oil off the cyl. wall(depending on the width of the second ring, it has a 1-7 degree taper on the face to aid in wiping) towards the oil pan. On the up stroke it twists downward and glides over the remaining oil film. If there is combustion pressure trapped between the top and second ring, because of too little second ring gap, the second ring is trapped and can't twist in the groove with piston motion, so the tapered face gets worn flat prematurely and oil control suffers. Many people think the oil ring is solely responsible for oil control, but it is the second rings wiping action that is responsible for the brunt of that job! We now have blown alky drag cars as well as alky burning circle track cars that don't need to dump the oil near as much, and use less jet to make more power, because of sufficient second ring gap. Finally, if either ring butts its ends together, the whole thing is going to hell in a hand basket. What is the proper ring gap? Top ring needs enough not to butt, second ring needs to have enough to prevent pressure build up between the top and second and .010-.015 works pretty much most the time depending on ring material and the engines enviroment. If you need more info on this call me (Ric Panneton)@ (949)567-9022.

 

Excellent read, learned a lot. Thanks

 

Yeah, I don't like this argument. Those of us that run gasser inspired cars are doing it for fun. The gasser wars are long over. Methanol is very forgiving.

I may also go E85 on my next street / strip car.

 

.., NOW, think about what happens when you use a gapless second ring.

 

Wow.I have always wondered how effective thermal barrier coatings were.Clearly in that case they more than proved their worth.
I'm definitely going to try coating the pistons in my blown Hemi project.
Thanks Rick.

Scott


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We run pump piss in these parts

 

This is my first car running Methanol and i dont think i would ever go back. I change my oil "alot" and i have only had to do so about 3 times this season, and to be honest i run junk over the counter oil, i dont even run race oil. As for the acceptance of running methanol, i run with the Great Lakes Gassers and the club allows methanol, it does not however allow nitro-methane. I have had no complaints so far.
Ps, i am able to buy methanol locally for 3$ per gallon , which is really nice.