1955 chevy survivor "barnfind" Gasser project" update

nice

 

the 55 is nice. the rest is somewhat mixed. no real harm.

 

I am very pleased to see that the thread has finally gotten away from being a pissing match. Thank you to all of you with positive comments, they are very much appreciated. constructive comments always lead to new ideas, which is the great thing about being a car guy. MOST of you are smart enough to realize that this is a PROJECT car, meaning it is far from being done and currently in the build up stage.this is my fathers car and there are several different ideas up in the air right now. As most of you guys know, building a car is about working with what you have, NOT working with what everybody else has. We are discussing several different wheel combinations along with several other things at the moment. The car was originally going to go in a different direction and my father had JUST finished the disc brakes all the way around when he decided that the straight axle was the way to go. The car will INITIALLY have a 327 and a 4-speed. The 4- speed will always be there but he wants to eventually go with a big block. I really loved the post that actually told all the nay-sayers that not all tri 5's had radiused wheel wells! This car will not be radiused. we are definitely going with functionallity over looks. it will be driven on the street and at the track...and it will be driven hard wherever it happens to be.

 

hey cody nice post, by the way i loved cutting this car

 

I think the reason people want to see the rear wheelwells radiused is because the guys that DIDN'T radius their wheelwells ran 7" or 8" tires, not the big meats that are currently stuffed under this car, those tires would have been on a stock width rearend with radiused wheelwells...it just looks odd to most of us who see uncut 7" tire cars and cut 10" tire cars, but not the uncut 10" tire cars which look more like those 90's tubbed street rods that never really fit in around here...I think that's the main reason guys want to see the rear wheelwells cut is the size tires that are on it, if they were 7" or 8" cheater slicks, it would look more traditional and appropriate for what the forum is about...hope that clears things up a little bit...

 

not to start anything but i did a search on this site for willys and most pics where of pro street willys which i think is the biggest slap in the face of anything hot rod or drag race related

willys is icon willys is god "just my opinion"

 

hey cody do you know these guys? LOL your dad was funny wearing that jump suit to help with the build. Forget blackmail im posting it LOL

 

well of course! that's dads favorite pair of cover-alls. keeps the grease off of the clothes! those have seen countless car builds!

 

Very true! It's just that an original car will not pass tech today. So, if it is to be used get over it and do what has to be done to run the car. Lots of stuff may not be original, including a 9", or up to date harness. I, for one, do not mind having disc brakes up front at 130mph.

 

Old cars still pass tech, depends on the event and the track...but in most circumstances of regular everyday track use, yes, some things need to be updated according to whatever specs that track adheres to...and sometimes you can sneak in with a slower tech approval and blast out a 9 second run or two before they won't let you play anymore

 

So am I to understand that the Olds. rear in my '55 Chevy won't pass tech? Ok that's a new one. I can see the belts and disc if your going to race it but dude, a 9" ? Get over it? Heheh, that's ok. I'll stick with remaining true to the past. I'm even running the manual drum brakes too. It worked back then it'll work now. Scary you say? NAH! Just press harder.

 

Who told you that? Just the opposite from what I remember because of the lack of converter technology, reliability and safety.

 

It's ok woody, I'm not making much sense out of much he says either.

 

Of course an Olds rear will pass tech. Lots of things will, including a 9. My point is that to nit-pic about what makes a car "real", is a waste of time. If a guy has 55 steel out on the track, and not boulevard posing, then whatever it takes to keep the car safe, and pass tech, is ok with me. I love to see these classics run. Should a guy wear an old style open face Bell, or would that ruin the validity as well?

 

So you're saying you'd rather see a '55 cut up with a narrowed rear, big 18" wide slicks stuffed into the trunk, some 80's Centerline wheels, generic blown big block with all the chrome and billet you can find and a Pro Mod scoop stuck to the hood because it's updated and safe, rather than an honest to God vintage drag car "boulevard posing" on the street after getting dusted off from its slumber...I just can't justify ugliness, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice safety for style, you just have to be more creative...like the guys hiding disc brakes inside finned aluminum drums...come to think of it, other than updating the roll cage and brakes, maybe some fluid catch cans, I can't think of anything that would need to be updated in a way that an old drag car couldn't pass tech...

 

Years ago, the 301 SBC was a high-winding popular engine...

 

Like this: Passes tech, launches straight, stops good, high 10's.

 

Opp's, sorry, wrong stickers!

 

How fast does your car go? Quarter mile?

 

Cool car!!! The only experience I have is with a car that doesn't belong here. (10 sec. chevelle).That being said. In my experience. I dont care if it has the smallest 10 bolt money can buy. It needs pressed bearings (i.e. c clip eliminators) or ford ends. And an aftermarket axle. Whatever it takes to keep the car shiny side up if something bad happens..... Just my opinion. I do run a nine inch. Just cause the gears are a little beefier,and a little more available. I would not hesitate to run an olds. Shit I would run the factory 55 rear end with the tubes welded,and axles. Of course with the M and E ground off!!!

 

pics...

 

after neat-o holes

 

gassertruck, I love your motor plate and mounts. Look fast.

 

Sorry I didn't get back to you. My car got wiped out before I could find out. It's at the body shop now getting fixed and painted '69 Camaro Hugger Orange. Check out the thread " R. Seghi has a bad day ". It will be back soon.

 

nice build cant wait to see more, love the motor mount

 

"R. Seghi" Don't worry about him guys. He just wants to be grumpy and talk smack. We know what we got, and they look like Gassers to me. Prozac anyone?"

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOO! EXCUSE ME MR. GASSER!

"What's wrong with people honoring the old days of drag racing by building a tribute car? No I wasn't there. But what if the guy that I bought it from raced it then? At Lions, and San Fernando? What if he never won anything? What if he just did it for the fun? What if he broke in it the '70's? What if he put it in his garage to fix later? What if he got married, had kids, life got in the way? And what if 30 or so years later I happened to find it, buy it, drag it out, fix it and drive it? Would it be a Gasser then?
Then what's the difference? Same old cars? Built the same old way?"

"I read it but your being too closed minded. After I get mine back together, because ( I ) blew it up this time, it's going back to the track. I may not win either but I'm gonna have fun doing it. In my GASSER ! And anybody who builds one is a Gasser too."
from this page
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7127&highlight=gasser&page=13

 

the car is a real survivor "barnfind" Gasser before the straight axle im doing,look at the shape of this thing and i will post pics of certain things that tell this this used to race just to shut every one up real of fake how cares have fun

 

Ok dude, whatever. You bet, your the man. That's right, you'll show all of us won't you?

 

take your own advise and stop "being too closed minded" all gasser's are bad ass

 

Well said, but the term "gasser" is taking a real beating these days. Like all fads it has taken on a life of its own and is rapidly spinning out of control. The line between gasser and Street Freak, in my observation, is very blurred nowadays and I am certain that fist-fights have broken out at car shows over the difference between the two. Your premise that an old street machine or weekend warrior drag car that could have been raced, put away, etc., is a very plausible one and we all know that many of those old street machines survived in dark garages for decades. My '55 is one such car, having survived its early life in SoCal, mainly unchanged since the 1970s.

Such cars ("tribute" cars today) are only "gassers" if they are set up in close approximation of the gas-class cars of the late '50s and early to mid-'60s. Again, the lines quickly blur these days, but if you are doing an early '60s tri-5 gasser then it should--not must, but should have its stock a-frame suspension. (My car.) If you want to get into the more serious track car look then the straight axle and more power comes into play. When I think "Willys gasser" I think straight axle, blown Chrysler, etc. When I think street machine/gasser-look '55 I think stock a-frames and cut quarters like my car. Is that iron-clad? NO! It is always open to individual interpretation, but only as long as you know the actual history of what you are trying to pay tribute to and can explain (defend) why your tribute car is set-up the way it is.

Today's gassers (GASSERS!!!) seem to require 500+ horsepower, automatic trannys and had better lay-down AT LEAST high 11-second runs in the 1320 or it won't be seen as a "real" gasser by today's car crowd. If you know that early gas-class sedans often made 14-second passes--and were considered quick--then you know that "gasser" means much more than sub-11-second passes and sky-high stances.

Not that I am against sub-11-sec cars with jacked stances, (I'm all for them!), but if we are talking "tribute" gassers then the blurring starts and we often, these days, wind up with a Street Freak show with big-HP cars. Not that there's anything wrong with that either, as long as it's done right.

What is "right?" Open your old rod magazines and start looking at pictures and reading text and captions!

Back to the blurring world of hot-rodding.