Projects Bad Banana Resurrection - 55 Chevy Gasser

I'm glad I got to finally see the Banana in person. It was nice meeting you and I hope to see you at next years
Meltdown Drags

Meltdown Drags 2013 July 19-21

 

I haven't updated this thread since going to the Meltdown this past weekend. Had a tire failure on the trailer on the way there. Had an engine failure second pass Saturday morning. Looks like it ran out of oil during the pass and burned #5 and #6 rod bearing then broke the #6 rod shortly there after . The engine is out and I have plans to get it repaired in the coming weeks. Right now, I am planning on having it running again this season. I am making considerable changes to the oiling system to try to prevent any more bearing issues. Been in discussion with quite a few racers with similar set ups and many have had the same type of failure at some point. Analyzing what I have found on disassembly as well as talking to others that have overcome a very similar situation gives me pretty good hope that this won't happen again.

Probably be out of commission for at least a month but I really want to get it back out a few more times before the snow flies. I have realized that 2014 will actually be the 50th year for the Bad Banana and I would really like to have all the bugs worked out for a kick-ass 2014 season!

 

Best of luck on the repair it was nice meeting you and seeing the car at Meltdown Drags..

 

Not updated this thread in a while since we blew it up at the Meltdown about 7 weeks ago. Got the engine back out of the machine shop last weekend. Put it back in the car and got it running this past Monday night. Been breaking it in all week in the driveway. Took it out to the local track for a bit of testing this afternoon.

Right out of the trailer I staged it and left at a dead idle and it went 10.06 @ 132+ mph. Brought it back and looked it over. All looked good so we left at a low rpm on the two step and we came up with a 9.980 @ 133+ mph . New record for the car and the first ever 9 second time slip!

We made several more runs with the car running in the 10.0s but the starting line was getting really bad (lots of street cars there and other big tired race cars were not hooking either) so we loaded up and came home.

I believe my oiling issues are behind me. The oil pressure is steady even on hard decel in the shut down. I won't mention on here what I did to fix it because it is not HAMB friendly but looking at the car you won't really see anything different.

We are going to give it the once over then get ready for Milan on Sept 27th. Hopefully, if the weather is good we can see what it will do there.

Stay Tuned...

 

Good to hear your back up and running! Well you be at Milan in the 28th also?

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Yep... weather permitting

 

It looked great going down the track Rusty, sounded real strong today.

Jon

 

Congrats on a great qtr time!

 

If you make it out to Meltdown in 2014 I would love a chance to race the Banana! I'm in the early stages of building my 56, and that would go a long way so far as keeping me motivated. Just don't get any faster please!

 

Good to meet you at Indy. I'm sure we'll see you some place in 2014!

 

LOL .. You are on... get it there and find me next year and we will do it!

As for going any faster, my goal always has been to put this thing right at 10.00 and possibly getting a 9 second time slip. I have pretty much accomplished that goal. I would just like to now be able to reliably keep it there.

 

Cool deal. See you at the Nostalgia drags at Milan Dragway Sept. 28

 

Same here, I have been a few tenths shy all year, I guess that's racing. Lol

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Excellent! I will keep plugging away. It's a long drive for me but so worth it. I have also lined up a race with rotten orange. Maybe we can get about 4 more cars and do a last man standing kind a deal?! Might be fun. Whatever we end up doing its gonna be a hoot!

 

Ditto on the bowtie love! Amazing thread, awesome car! Great job getting it back together!

 

Just looked at your bio, Texas Is a long drive! I am down for running ya. =)

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Super Cool! Your build was an inspiration to me and racing Engine Joe would be over the top. Looking foward to this one. Man I have some work to do!

 

Hey Rusty, how did things go at Milan Saturday? I had to work and couldn't get there. I am surprised no one posted anything about it. Did a search on here, but couldn't find anything. Hope the Banana did well.

 

Went 9.95, 9.97, and I had to breathe it a little on the last run and it went 10.10. Here is some video.

 

Thanks for the video Rusty. Looks like you are going a little faster than the goal you set during the rebuild. Looks like a lot of fun too.

 

Just read the whole thing and it's the most outstanding thread I've read on here in awhile. The small handfull of guys who think it's not "HAMB friendly" are simply clueless as to what it takes to stay current with the NHRA rules. It's a REAL period gasser, not some fiberglass bodied clone made to look like one. This car has been a drag car for a very long time and you are to be commended for continuing to run it hard every chance you get while keeping as many of the original parts as you could without making it unsafe. It's what it was built for way back when your dad first bought it and you are continuing his legacy and adding to the history of the car. Also many thumbs up for bringing a new kid into the hobby. The alternative if you really gave a shit what the naysayers think would be to put it back to exactly the way it was prior to 1965 and haul it around from car show to car show to be looked at but never to run down a dragstrip again due to rules violations. THAT would be the real shame and I find it hard to believe that it's what any die hard "car guy" would want. Who are you here to please ? Yourself, your dad and the kid you're bringing in to the hobby or a small minority of strangers that think your car belongs in a museum covered with dust ? The few who bitched about the little details they don't agree with should be ashamed of themselves for pissing on one of the coolest threads on the HAMB. All the best in your future memories with this very cool slice of drag racing history.

 

Thank you.. I could not have said it better myself.

I am a racer. It is what I have done literally all my life. It has cost me just about all the disposable income I ever hope to have. It has probably shortened my life by breathing some of the fumes I have breathed and chemicals I have been exposed to in the process. My hearing is shot from a lifetime of loud engine exposure with no hearing protection. But the feeling you get by sitting in that seat and leaving the starting line then accelerating to the finish line in a machine that only you and possibly a select few others have had their hands on is something you can never accurately describe to someone else. I figure if I end up broke and homeless someday, that experience is something no one can ever take away from me.

Putting this car back together and documenting it on this message board and also driving it these last 3 years has been quite an experience. I have accomplished everything I set out to do with it from page one. I am proud of that. I had lofty goals and it was not easy. (Neither the car build nor the build thread..LOL.)

With my dad gone now, I am trying to decide what I am going to do with it now. It used to be easier when he was still around because I always looked to him for the answers. Not being able to talk to him this year has been the hardest part. I would always call him before and after I ran it to talk about what it did and what I needed to change. This year I felt lost at the track. I know I probably pissed some people off because my attitude was not like it should be at times and I am ashamed of that. I'm not making excuses but I can't "unring a bell" either. All I can do is try to be the guy my dad wanted me to be from here on out...

Everyone says it gets easier as time goes on, but I will tell you that today I would trade this old bucket of bolts in a heartbeat just to talk to him one more time for 5 minutes....

One thing is for sure. The story of the Bad Banana Resurrection isn't over yet! Austin turned 16 about a month ago and has his license now. However, this thing isn't a very good beginner car so we will have to see what we can do to get him ready for it. I figure he has the winter to get some driving experience under his belt then we'll see what happens when the snow melts next spring. I have some ideas I want to explore and we'll see how they pan out in the coming months.

Thank you again for taking the time to read about my adventure and stay subscribed to this thread to see where it goes from here...

 

You need to consider yourself extremely fortunate to have had as much time with your dad as you did and be proud of your accomplishments. It's your turn to be "dad" and pass on everything you learned to your stepson and keep the circle going. My situation was very different. My dad is the guy on the far right in my avatar pic. It was taken at Daytona in 1959. He passed on in 1963 when I was 6 so my entire life I had to try to be the person I "thought" he would want me to be and to teach myself all the things he would have taught me if he was there to do so. So cherish the memories you have and make new ones with the next generation. It's as important to your stepson as it was to you..

 

Viva La Bad Banana!!!

 

Rusty, what happend after your bye run during eliminations you packed up and were gone? Looked like you had a good pass.

Jon

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Did you see the latest issue of Gasser Wars Magazine?

 

Which issue?

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No.. am I missing something? I don't subscribe.

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Subscribed.

 

Haven't updated this thread in a while and I have had some PMs recently asking what is up with the Bad Banana. Honestly, not a whole lot. The family has had a few financial set backs recently and it isn't clear how much we will be running it this season. I had some hopes of doing quite a bit of running but I may have to pick and choose where and when and I may have to pretty much stay close to home.

There is no doubt at this point we WILL be running some. Austin and I have been doing some work to the car. Mostly suspension stuff. We have been exceeding the travel limitations of both the front and rear suspensions since we have had the car out. As we have gone faster, those issues have become worse. We pulled the rear suspension out of the car and have totally reworked it based on what the car needs today verses what it needed 30 years ago. However, we made sure that there was no visual change in the appearance. Looking under the car, it looks the same but should be much safer and durable compared to how it was.

Also made some changes to the front as well. Same story. Will function much better but will not appear any different than it did. Time consuming work, but stuff that doesn't cost much since it is all homemade stuff here in the shop.

Other than that, just inspecting everything else and counting the days until spring.