Found Dads '56 Chevy Gasser!

I know some may be sick of seeing these pictures and info, (sorry if so) but here goes. My dad and his buddys
Dick Jones and Chris Christensen (the same Chris who
went on to Alky Funny car fame)raced this car from '62-'67 or '68ish. San Fernando was their home track with occasional jaunts to Lions, Irwindale and Fontana as well as most if not all March Meets from during those years. They took it apart to update which was done by
Richard Ruth of the original "Competition Engineering".
They were switching from 400" sbc (yes, 400", ask and I'll tell ya how) 4spd, to Jackson injected L88/Clutch Flight. Before they were done however, Jones & Christensen found a then new '68 camaro wreck and
decided to build it instead of the '56. They stripped the '56 of any usable items and sold it. The camaro was finished and was named the "Fat Rat" and there is an
article in '70 Chevy Hi Performance book. I always wanted to find the '56 or duplicate it since it was my
introduction to drag racing as a toddler. I have memories from as young as 2-3 years old. My brother and I found what we believe to be the same car in '04
from and ebay add. We are currently involved in a slow
but steady restoration to the '67-'68 era with the latest
safety items included so we can also race it once again.
Any photos or films even in the backround would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Ric.

 

Kick ass.

Whats it say on the tunnel? The stick is coming........glides are.........

 

Real gasser! I can dig it.

 

And, it looked bitchin racing our friend Hugh Tuckers 29 Chevy. I would love to see that race recreated.B

 

The car in the original pic is a 210. In the recent pics the car has 150 trim on the side but 210 trim on the top of the doors and quarters. If the car you have now is a 210 as the original pic suggest it will have a B at the front of the serial # or A if it is a 150. If it where the same car you should be able to look at the inside of the quarters and see if the holes were welded up.

 

That would be soooo BOSS too see those two cars lined up together after 35-40 years.

 

Love to see an old gasser brought back to life.In my book nothing looks meaner then a 55-56 chevy w/a straight axle launching off the line.Congratz on the find.

 

holy crap!!!!!, i remember a few years ago (2002?) that thing was for sale at the pomona swapmeet. it parked next to me in the morning, it was the first thing i saw when i opened the door on the panel truck. i was all over that thing for 30 min and then i found out it was sold..........damn slept in too long i guess.

to this day my friend and i refer to "yesterdays child" for gasser stuff.

 

How did the side trim get changed from 210 trim to 150 trim? That's a few holes to weld up.

Sam

 

It says "The stick is coming back! Power glides are for
Nancys" We have a clutchless Doug Nash for it.

 

You are correct and it does have a B. When we were quizing the last owner, he said he bought it at the '03 CHRR, that it had been
blue at one time and that some thing had been welded
on to the rear cross member just inside the rear bumper. If you look at the "San Fernando" photo you can see the home made wheelie bars made from telescoping square tubing (like an engine hoist boom)
and casters. Dick Jones made the fiberglass rear bumpers him self and was tired of them getting torn off
from wheelies so this picture is the first outing with them. We also quized on the 210 trim and he said that
the original holes were there, just welded up. Also the
Chevrolet script on the quarters was removed then as now. By the was Jones and Christensen did the body
and paint on many of Richard Ruths cars, including the
Two Lane Black Top Car. More on that soon!

 

Very cool, I too would love to see that race re-created..............gives me chills!

 

In 1983 I met and begain working for a guy named Dick Gazan, who was involved with the roadster while working and B&M.
He had lots of pictures and stories of the car and touring with many of the gas supercharged hero's of the
day. Dick even drove Stone Woods & Cooks B/GS a few times. In the March Meet photo the '57 delivery in the back round was our tow car, my mom is also inside 6
months pregnant with my older sister. That photo was
found by my friend Nick Arias III. Imagine my suprise
also to see it lined up with Tucker roadster. We runner-upped to Fred Tiexierras Willys in '65. The Willys is
getting a bitchen era correct restoration as we speak,
check it out on "A moment in time" thread.

 

Awesome!!

 

We are chompin at the bit to get it painted Cobalt Blue
as it was with a silver roof as was planned but never happened. Every one we talk to says NO! LEAVE THE PATINA ALONE! We have decided to leave the paint for
now while working on everthing else. We'll even race it
a few times this way. "Yesterdays Child" has also grown
on us too, so it will be incorporated in the restored lettering. By the way McPeaks is still in Riverside (the guy who did the flame pinstriping) and says I'm welcome to come look at his old albums to see if I can
find the photos he took when he first did it.

 

this is how they look launching

 

The car was sold out of Burbank in '67 or '68 to a couple of Burbank cops as best anyone remembers. I am 44 and have been looking for this thing since I was 10 or 11 years old. It would be great to find/meet the owners since then to track the history.
I have dogged every nostalgia photo/website I can find and have come up empty. A guy named Fred Badburg
aka "Frantic Fred" who used to race A/SR's told me years ago he has many photo's/8mm films from his racing days. One of them is of the '65 March Meet were
we runner-upped to Tiexierra's Willys(the same one
Royal Shifter is restoring right now). I have asked his
wife to PLEASE let me go through the films/photos or if
she could find it for me, though she is pleasant on the
phone, saddly it hasn't happened and I don't want to
piss her off, so I just keep asking every few months or
so.

 

So would I and the one with Tiexierra's Willys.
Though the roadster and the Willys have received
beatiful restorations neither has the prerequisite safety
items needed today to allow side by side passes, so sadly that will probably never happed. There could by some pretty cool still photo ops though. Our car will have the safety equipment cause she aint done with her
racing days!

 

Growing up I'd heard a story more than once about
Dick Jones "street" '56, also a 210 blue and silver with
an L72 (425hp 427 iron head) turbo 400 and 4.10's
that was a low 12 sec/115+ mph car. One night (Mopar)night to be exact at the Toluca Lake Bobs they
pulled in and backed the '56 into a row of Mopars. Jones
hated Road Runners cause anyone could afford one and
everyone said theirs was the baddest. This '56 had a
"Beep Beep yer ass" sticker on each wing window. Anyway before too long he gets noticed and challenged, so he tells them don't waste my time with the wannabe's just get your baddest which turns out to be a Hemi Road Runner. Well the mopar has hard biased plys and the 56 in on 7" cheaters and beats the road runner 3 outa 3. Weeks later the mopar group brings a
"B023" Hemi Cuda and puts a couple of lengths on the '56. Fast forward, I'm talking Richard Ruth about our car and he says, when he was approached about the TLBT movie his inspiration for the car is the '56 gasser,
however the movie guys see a 55 he's working on and
decide on that body instead. Then to give them more
inspiration he takes them for a ride in Jones street '56.
Then Ruth asks if I've ever heard the Road Runner story, so I say yes and share. We'll he says you never
heard the ending! When they finished the TLBT car, the
one with the "real engine" he and Jones go looking for
the Hemi Cuda, find it, and "stomp the silly putty out of
it".

 

Dude, I will go in halves with you to get them converted to DVD. Tell her that if shew will loan them to you, we will convert them for her for free and add music etc. so she can show her relatives etc. The tape starts going bad after a few years. I just converted a bunch for my dad.

 

I appreciate the offer. I called her again and pleaded
with her. She thinks one of their sons has the photos/films and promises to get back to me soon. I offered to convert to DVD, she says they converted to
VHS several years ago so hopefully the quality will be decent. Also my dad still lives in their neighborhood and
occasionally does carbs and distributors for their street
rods etc. Dad says he'll keep the heat on.

 

Too cool !

 

Damit this is a hell of story!

 

I mentioned in the thread start that our car ran a 400"
Small block in the mid-late 60's. This was done with a
standard bore new service replacement 327 block (4.000 bore) and a C&T stroker crank. They started with a 289 Studebaker crank (3.625 stroke) and welded/offset ground to 4.000 stroke. The Stude is center thrust but the rear main seal flange is a small scale thrust, so they welded that up and machined a thust out of it. We used home ported 461Xs, Sig Ersons biggest flattappet at the time 340'Adv Duration/.550 lift, Jackson Injectors, 5.990 long '56 Buick nailhead rods converted to cap screw and bushed small ends/polished beams. Corvette pan/windage tray clearanced for the bigger stroke and a
home made main girdle (the first motor broke the 3 center mains loose after only a few passes. The car went
on Rex Carsons 400hp chassis dyno back then and pegged the needle a 5000rpm so probably 500ish at the
crank back then. 4 speed manual and 57 Olds w/4.10's
(remember, low rpm stroker) The best #'s were 10.90's
@ 125-127mph. Ets were a little laggin for the mph, but this car was retired/sold before it ever saw a rinkle wall slick. More later, thanks for the enthusiasm and kind words.

 

I totally agree'
"brother from another mother."

 

This is a bump, but I'll share another story. Early on when the '56 was still being flat towed, the tow bar was
stolen from the pits at Lions. The car had a late rochester injection 327 at the time and ran in the low 12 second range in C/G (same as the bakersfield photo). Since the car still had the original gas tank at the time dad had to drive it home to Sun Valley from
Long Beach uncorked and all on a saturday night. He said at first he was worried about the police, but as the
got closer to home and had not seen any he started looking for cars to do some stop light racing with. Unfortunately he didn't find any. He said he could believe that on a night like that in 1962 he could find
one hotrod on the way home to play with.

 

bumpity bump bump

 

Since we have no real history of what happened the '56
from '67 or so to know with the exception of a few guys
seeing it at Pomona and Bakersfield between '02 and '04, I'm wandering if this C/A photoed at Pomona could
be it. Although the car was darker blue when we had it,
there is a coat of this blue two layers under the current
faded maroon/flame pinstripe job. The last registered owner was a guy name Bill or Bob I think in Downey.
What do ya think? More info on the C/A setup anyone?





The yellow car is Tom, Dick & Harry (yes really)Scribners car that was also once owned by Wayne Brooks (former owner of JE pistons) who won owership of it in a card game. The white hardtop is cool too, notice the name of the engine builder on the fender.., Dale Armstrong.

 

PM me next month just before the last Thursday of the month (or I'll forget) & you can come to our club meeting as a guest. Fred Badburg is a member & is usually always there (he was last night).

 

Don't worry about my safety!!
Will you still need a handicap start?
Congrat's on the find and please keep us posted!
Hugh Tucker Jr.