Projects Bad Banana Resurrection - 55 Chevy Gasser

I'll try to post build pics in the next day or so. Maybe try to scan some more old ones as well.[/QUOTE]

I never get tired of those old pics !!

 

More old pics. These were in a different album and undated. I believe they are from between '69 and '72. They are not all from the same year. The only real difference I see is the rear bumper. Dad had a round tube rear bumper on it in the early days then took it off and put a stock rear bumper on. There are no shots of the tube bumper here but the ones where you can't see the end of the stock bumper are the older pics. These all appear to be taken at Numedia with the exception of the first one which I think was Peterson.



I'll try to take some current pics later on today.

 

A great story. Glad to see your father kept it all those years.

 

speechless..... doesnt happen to me much

 

WOW!!! Those last few vintage pics are beautiful. I especially love the one where it is blasting away down the strip with nothing else in the photo. Absolutely stunning!

 

Rusty, are you going with the steel wheels or the Super Trick aluminums? Both look good.

Jon

 

just found you
I enjoy the job keep it going
i wish my dad would have been part of my racing
10 years later he got involved with a friends car i ended up as crew chief
not to hijack ya

 

It will have the Super Tricks on it. It will look almost exactly like the picture in my avatar. The next vintage pictures I post you will see that he started putting bigger wheels and tires on it. These are the last pics of the chome reverse wheels I believe.

 

Loved the pics of Green Pine. My brother and I both worked at the strip, me when I was 15 and him 25. He is in the picture of your car at Green Pine, the guy starting the race. We both worked until they closed the strip. We also had a car, an O Stock 52' Ford that was sponsored and driven by Johnny Ulmer from Johnny's Speed and Custom Shop outside of Jersey Shore, Pa. that ran weekly at the strip too. Great memories of the timing tower where I worked the Chrondek timing as well as the pits where I inspected. Started out selling Eastern Drag News holdovers that weren't sold the week before at Numidia and were brought to Green Pine to sell at a discount. Lots of good memories in those pics, first standard shift car I drove was that white Cadillac ambulance in the pictures. Thanks for the memories.

 

55 Chevy gassers are the answer.
Not sure what the question is but the answer is - 55 Chevy gasser.
Or is it "Breasts"??, I can never get that straight.

 

amazing historical documentation...great car and stories.

 

'Bout time to post some new pics. I have been busy but here are some update pics and some more old pics. I'll post the old ones first. From 1973 and that was the last year for the hilborn injection. He got some bigger wheels and tires for the rear. There are some other wheel and tire combo changes from here on out to the end. Both front and rear.




These are some pics the wife took over the weekend. The sheet metal work should be done this week and hopefully we can begin final assembly later this week or beginning of next week. If the stars line up right, the weather cooperates, and my prayers are answered, we could still maybe have this thing out for an initial test session before the end of April.




The original wheelie wheels were dry rotted so bad and falling apart. They were solid rubber tail dragger landing gear wheels. I found these ones at Northern Tool and they are the EXACT size. The only difference was the originals had a 7/16" axle and these are 1/2". I simply drilled out the bracket and they fit like they were made for it. I have been very lucky on some stuff like this.




Don't be too critical of the sheet metal work. Just me and a 13 year old doing it all with nothing more than 3 pairs of hand shears (right, left and straight), a borrowed bead roller, pop rivits and making all bends with a piece of angle iron clamped to the edge of a steel bench then whacking it with a rubber mallet!!...LOL Fits right in with the whole "homemade" theme of this car. Nothing has been done outside of my shop since we started. All done in house by my step-son and me.








Still a lot of little things to do yet but we make progress every day. I'll try to post more old pics soon. Looks like I might have it running before I get all of the old pics up.. . I originally thought I would run out of old pictures before I got the car done... LOL

 

Looking good Rusty, you have made some progress and the weather is just starting to break so things are looking good.

Jon

 

Rusty, what was the fastest your Dad ran with the Bad Banna?

Jon

 

looking great

 

11.10... and he is pressuring me to beat that...

 

That sounds like he has put up the challenge, I am sure you are going to be right on it.

Jon

 

On to 1974. The fuel injection was removed and it now has a dual Holley 660 center squirters. It also has the home made hood scoop on it now too. These first pics are of dad testing on the road beside our old house. I was riding along on this test run. I still remember this. I sat on the floor and held on tight to the roll bar and watched as dad ran the pedals and the shifter on a short burst through the gears. I was hooked for life!!! The neighborhood kids would all come running up to watch when he would fire this thing up. One is sitting on the guardrail watching in these pics. We were just cruising back from the test run when these pics were taken. I was probably kneeling on my knees because there was no passenger seat in the car. You can see me in the second shot in the passenger window.




Dad and I loading up for somewhere.


These next few and the one above are at Numedia.













The last two are at Beaver Springs in 1974.



Dad and my Uncle Jim putting the front end on the car.

I'll try to post some current pics this week. It is getting closer. We have the engine and trans back in the car and are working on final assembly and a few more details to finish up. Depends on how these last items go as to when we will have it ready to burn rubber..

 

Back in the '80's I ran a mini stock at Baylands raceway out here in Fremont, dirt oval stuff. I used to test drive the damn thing on a street near my shop. My then 10 year old son would stand on the passenger side of the cockpit grabbing onto the roll cage with his head sticking out the windshield area while I would drift the car through the corner. Not very smart I know but I guarangoddamntee he's never forgot that. Dads can be so stupid at times!

 

Sorry for the big pic

 

Rusty, did it run faster on the injection or the carbs?

Jon

 

Well... I wasn't sure so I called and asked him. When it had the injection it was on the 283. He went to the tunnel ram on a 327. He also took weight out of the car. By then, class racing was going away and bracket racing was taking over. The fastest it went with the 283 and injection and all the weight was low 12s.

 

Your pops is one cool dude. Totally irreplaceable. There needs to be more neighbors like him. Whoever took all those pics back in the day was a genious....I dig the chrome reverse/whitewalls on the tow truck whats with the datsun......

 

Haven't posted update pics for a little while. It is gettting closer. Might be able to have it running and moving under it's own power sometime next week. Still more details yet but we keep diggin' away.

Made some changes to the fuel system based on the flow testing. We should be good now. The pump is a little undersized at low speed but makes it OK in the mid-range and top end. It won't run much at low speed.. Not in the 1/4 mile anyway









Rules say "minimum 12 oz container for radiator overflow"


Got to finish the top of this piece yet, wire the car (not much there) paint the headers, mount seat belts, seats, door bars, window net, gauges, dash, fuel shut off, etc.. Need to also install the side windows yet too. Mounting the tires tomorrow. Only one tire on the car now is under 20 years old...LOL. I have fresh ones ready for it. By Monday or Tuesday we should be a lot closer..

 

Look'n good!

 

once you get the bugs worked out, I bet you run better than 11:10! I hope not too much faster tho.....you know, for when we run each other

 

Rusty,

Looking good! Hope you will make the Detroit Reunion.

Steve

 

OK... we are officially done under the hood!




We put the rear body together as well. A little bit of stuff under the car yet and the rest is all inside. Here is the view from the back. The license plate is one I had from a street '55 Chevy I had in the early 80s. My little touch I added. I think it fits this car quite well... ya think?


I'll try to post some more old pics later. I am running out of them. You guys have seem just about all of them now. Just about time for new action shots (I hope )

 

perfect ..keep it up

 

glad to see it going well