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Projects Bad Banana Resurrection - 55 Chevy Gasser

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Bad Banana, Aug 10, 2010.

  1. Higgy's Henry
    Joined: Dec 29, 2010
    Posts: 429

    Higgy's Henry
    Member

    I saw a few sparks fly in the Skull Garage video at about the 52 minute mark.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2017
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  2. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    I'm on Hot Rod Power Tour right now. Not able to watch the video. If it was coming out of the flywheel area I know what it was.

    Sent from my SM-G900V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  3. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    I was just able to look at it. The snap ring on the starter drive came off and it let the bendix touch the flywheel. Didn't hurt much. I'll have that fixed for the next race. As much as I would love to blame that for that loss.. it just isn't so. I got treed and he beat me fair and square. I'll be looking for a rematch soon.. ;)

    Sent from my SM-G900V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  4. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    Latest edition of the official video. You can see the sparks fly in the final.

     
  5. mopacltd
    Joined: Nov 11, 2008
    Posts: 1,044

    mopacltd
    Member

  6. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    Got beat first round for the very first time since I started running with the Southeast Gassers. Both drivers who were in the finals in C/Gas at the last event were out first round of this one. Goes to show you how tough this deal is getting. I really didn't do much wrong. It was actually the quickest run of the day for me. Just flat got beat. I started plans to improve the car on the return road coming back from my first round loss. I have been working on the car since we got home Sunday afternoon. Here is the video from Lyons last week.

     
  7. Higgy's Henry
    Joined: Dec 29, 2010
    Posts: 429

    Higgy's Henry
    Member

    Your still a fan favorite!!!
     
  8. That track didn't hook for me AT ALL.
     
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  9. Hang'emHigh
    Joined: Dec 31, 2009
    Posts: 224

    Hang'emHigh
    Member

    Been a fan of the Banana since seeing you and your Dad at The Beaver many moons ago. A great racing family! My boys, 3 and 5, love the car too! You should hear them when they watch the recap videos. "Dadda Bad Banana!"
     
  10. loudbang
    Joined: Jul 23, 2013
    Posts: 40,276

    loudbang
    Member

    Grabbing photos last night and found this one on the track site.

    Bad Banana.JPG
     
  11. Fiddle Picker
    Joined: Dec 15, 2016
    Posts: 411

    Fiddle Picker
    Member

    Great shot !! Is that a recent photo or back in the day ? Wheel combo throws me off a little.
     
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  12. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    That was a couple years ago. I put those wheel covers on the rear to hide the Super Tricks to run at the Meltdown.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  13. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    I haven't updated this thread in a while. Caught up a bit so I thought I would add some pics tonight. I've pretty much been forced to change the wheelie bars if I want to stay competitive in the SEG. I tried very hard to use the car balance to just stay off the solid frame mounted bars that have been part of this car for many decades. While I was able to get the car pretty close to where I wanted it, I have come to realize that I am not a good enough driver to leave the same every run. That is what it takes is hitting the throttle and clutch release exactly the same and at the right RPM and it works fine. However, with no starting line aids (i.e. 2-step), different length of time between staged and tree activation, adrenaline volume depending on who is in the other lane, etc.. I just can't seem to do it consistently enough and it has cost me several races.

    I decided to stop beating my head against the wall and caved in and spent some time since Lyons making "updates" to the car. Some you can't see and those are gonna stay in my pocket for now, but others you can. One obvious change is I removed the manly castors and built a set of the girly sissy sticks that are fully adjustable and hooked to the rear axle housing like most everyone else is running (yes... they are Quain Stott approved). I re-used the big 6" wheels from the old castors but every thing else is different. I kept the old bars in tact so maybe someday they will go back on the car. Who knows. :rolleyes: As always, every portion of this change was done by hand, by me, in my modest shop with very little modern equipment. The drill press is my dad's he used for many years. It's an antique ..lol.

    20170714_174748.jpg 20170713_211943.jpg
    20170714_210415.jpg
    20170716_173629.jpg 20170716_173648.jpg 20170719_185551.jpg 20170719_200418.jpg

    Also, Jerry Birch of Freebird C/Gas Chevy II fame kindly donated the front wheels and tires as they won't fit his car. I had to make some lug nuts but they fit my old axle just fine. They are a bit lighter than the steel wheels so we are gonna run them for now.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2017
  14. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

  15. cowboyinachair
    Joined: Nov 17, 2010
    Posts: 352

    cowboyinachair
    Member
    from colorado

    this car is the best your dad looks down and says change is needed to keep winning so make it win rusty
     
  16. pigfluxer
    Joined: Feb 15, 2006
    Posts: 207

    pigfluxer
    Member

    Looking good Rusty....
     
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  17. Jimbo17
    Joined: Aug 19, 2008
    Posts: 3,959

    Jimbo17
    Member

    The Bad Banana looks right out of the 60's and very cool.
    Great Job!
    Jimbo
     
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  18. Higgy's Henry
    Joined: Dec 29, 2010
    Posts: 429

    Higgy's Henry
    Member

    The Bad Banana IS right out of the sixties!!!:D
     
  19. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    This quote above is exactly what happened. That was put on this thread in the days after I lost my dad.

    So.. What happened at Clay City? Second qualifying run I stopped at the scales and the scale man says I'm leaking water. I get back to the pit and water is running out of the front of the engine. Behind the water pump. Not leaking out the weep hole but streaking down the center of the timing cover behind the pump, around the crank and onto the ground.

    Pulling the water pump is not an option since the engine is mounted using the water pump bolts and 4 gaskets, etc. I only have a few minutes because they are calling first round to the lanes. I tried to jam a rag in there to diaper it but it was leaking so bad the rag was wet before I could get it wedged in. Besides, it is right above the balancer and if the rag gets caught in the crank it could be ugly.

    I was not going to risk leaking on the track and be shut off or cause me or someone else danger if it wasn't seen. I was ready to go forfeit the race when a voice inside my head said "drain the water and it won't leak". I swear it was my dad's voice. I remembered a clause in the rules that said you could be towed if it was a hardship case. I checked with officials and they said I could tow it to staging and back after the run.

    That's what we did. I would drain it down enough to stop leaking and tow it to the front of staging and fire it up, make the run and the golf cart would be waiting at the time slip booth to tow me back. Fill it with water, cool it down then drain again. Worked like a charm and went 4 rounds that way. Lost at 3 cars.

    Got home and pulled the water pump. Pin hole in the back cover.

    20170815_192738_resized.jpg 20170815_200240_resized.jpg NeverGiveUp.jpg

    The above picture was just like something my dad had in the garage for many years. If I had given up, I would have lost any chance to possibly do well in the series points with SEGA. As it turned out, I gained ground on the two guys ahead of me. Looks like there is only one round between each of the top 3 in C/G right now with 4 races remaining. It's gonna be good from here on out.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2017
  20. catdad49
    Joined: Sep 25, 2005
    Posts: 6,401

    catdad49
    Member

    Hey Rusty, you weren't running some of Josh's "antifreeze" in there were ya?! Still trying to get used to those new fangled "mag" wheels on the front, does it feel different? Good Luck in points race, Carp
     
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  21. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    No.. nothing but water. Can't tell the wheels are different from the driver's seat.
     
  22. Trukcrazy
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 109

    Trukcrazy
    Member

  23. 55Belairman
    Joined: Jan 11, 2013
    Posts: 445

    55Belairman
    Member

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  24. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    Here is the official Clay City video.

     
  25. Trukcrazy
    Joined: Mar 5, 2006
    Posts: 109

    Trukcrazy
    Member

    Great video!


    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
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  26. enloe
    Joined: May 10, 2006
    Posts: 9,534

    enloe
    Member
    from east , tn.

    Heading to Ringgold Georgia to the Southeast Gassers race. I will have a booth set up selling old magazines today. Stop by and see Ethan and I.
     
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  27. Fiddle Picker
    Joined: Dec 15, 2016
    Posts: 411

    Fiddle Picker
    Member

    Way to go Rusty ! Congrats !!! Stopped by to see you, wife said you'd be back. I know you had your hands full. Had a blast !
     
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  28. enloe
    Joined: May 10, 2006
    Posts: 9,534

    enloe
    Member
    from east , tn.

    Rusty I posted a bunch of pics from yesterday's event on the thread that's linked in my signature. image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg
     
  29. southcross2631
    Joined: Jan 20, 2013
    Posts: 4,413

    southcross2631
    Member

    Good job Saturday night. Watching your lady standing behind your car when got staged up for the finals was priceless. You could not have had a bigger fan than her.
     
  30. Bad Banana
    Joined: Jun 20, 2008
    Posts: 834

    Bad Banana
    Member

    Wow.. what a week. Started off at Indy first part of the week then drove down to the Southeast Gasser race in Ringgold, GA on Thursday. Was able to do a bit of testing on Friday night. Track was good, air was good, car was good and all that equals to a giant wheelstand that broke the wheelie bar brackets off! I was able to find a guy who could weld them back up Friday night and we figured we were ready for Saturday.

    First qualifying run Saturday was against Robert Frazier and he broke in the burnout and put some liquid on the track so they shut me off. While sitting there waiting for the clean up, someone noticed I was leaking oil. I looked at it and they were right, we towed it back to my trailer and found the O-ring for my oil filter adapter had blown out. Took it apart and went thru everything I had and nothing to fix it with. Went thru the pits and no one had anything close. Someone suggested to eliminate it and just use a stock Chevy oil filter. Quain Stott had one and we spun it on quick with just minutes to spare to make the second qualifying run. Leak fixed!

    With a 16 car field, there was not going to be any by-runs for anyone. From there on out, we waded thru 4 rounds of Chevy 2s to be standing at the top of C/Gas for the first time in over a year. In the semi-finals it was 3 carbureted Chevy 2s with and one old beat up fuel injected 55 Chevy. Somehow, with divine intervention, we were abe to get to the finish line first on every run. I was screaming so loud in the shut down area I figure the spectators could hear me over the race cars. My voice is paying the price still...lol.

    I want to say a special thank you to "Sam" who I never got his last name who welded up my wheelie bars Friday night and also Garitt Pugh who jumped in to help me when I was in midst of the oil leak saga. He ran everywhere to grab wrenches and everything else and was also laying on the ground with me fixing the leak. Without his help we would not have made that second qualifier.

    Dennis Ashcraft Speed and Marine have built me an engine that is the best engine I have ever had!

    Mike Chilando from Alkydigger has been a huge help to get this car running like a swiss watch. In my opinion, it is the best running stack injected car in SEGA right now!

    Mike Norcia and Ram Clutches have provided me with the best clutch package in the business!

    Also a shout out to Jerico Transmissions for their help this year as well!

    And of course Sharon my wife, partner, back-up girl and best friend. Without her I wouldn't even have been there at all. I love you sweetheart!!

    It was a big points day for us. Not sure exactly where it all ended up but we are definitely in the hunt with only 3 races remaining. Say tuned. It's gonna be epic no matter what happens.
    Brainard win.jpg
     

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