Projects my sketchy 55

Love your choice of color for the final paint. That ft. clip is so retro cool.

 

I dig 55 56 Chevy's... can't wait to see more progress

 

Sketchy, hell you ought to see mine. I have to take two to make one. Great car lets see some more oics of progress.

 

yeah i really dig the way the trimmed front clip came out. the lower part was so trashed it wasnt worth the time to fix.

as far as progress pics go, this is where she sits as of now. hope to get something worth posting accomplished over the long weekend.

 

x 2

 

great starting point, IMO you will get more attention with a gasser than you ever would in a lowrider

 

my understanding is the window sticker did go, that's how he got the 55.....

project is looking good but you gotta do a gasser some more justice than stuffing a 305 in there

 

GOD DAYYUUUM dawgie....I know you as a lowrider but i see you got some str8 high octane hot rod gas running through them viens....nice progress!!

 

Just found this thread. Great project car. 55 gasser's are a favorite of mine too. Looking forward to following along on the build. Best of luck, have fun with it.

 

sorry. you are correct. from this post on i will not refer to my car as a gasser. that style of car has definatly had a heavy influence on me as far as how i want this car to look, but you're right at the present time i'm not building a legit drag racer. my goal right now for this project is to have it drievable in on form or another by the time the snow melts around here. so if that means stuffing a free 305 out of a clapped out caprice in there then so be it. i'm gonna have alot more fun banging gears than pushing this thing in and out of the bay. trust me when the time (and funds) are available there will be a respectable small block uner that glass nose.

thanks man. that was my first lo-lo build. i've had 2 novas, a 70 & a 73, and a 400 horse 89 formula firebird, and a bunch of lifted chevy trucks before i made the switch to low & slow. so this ain't my first rodeo.

that's the idea!

 

hahaha and i can't believe people still give a crap about that damn window sticker! the whole reason i put that on there was 1.to be obnoxious 2. to give people who couldnt apprecieate the amount of work that went into the rest of the ride something to talk about, and 3. nobody else seems to notice the fact that these cars came from the factory with no less than 30, yes 30! crests/cadillac/logos on them(go count) so what's 1 more?

 

Hey 8FLEET9 Ilike the way you cut that ft clip you got her look'n good get her done and let's go to the HAMB drags this summer........

 

thanks, it's the same but different. it's held on with 4 hood pins, no tilt, to keep it simple. i love the bumper-less look, but mine kinda took on that 56/57 bumper-less style without the grill. i'm happy with it. it'll eventually get a moon tank for a radiator overflow mounted on a piece of tubing tying the front frame horns together

 

yeah,go with the the 305 for now, if you can't drive um they get put on the back burner,mines been on the back burner for years till i got on the hamb,305 sounds pretty bitchin' through glasspacks too,

 

Great car and nice build. Good ideas and aproach. Gassers (whether real, or street fighters, were about simple, neat and light). They were a lot about being able to fix stuff when it broke without having to pull a motor. With the crank center-line just shy of 24" off the deck, you can't pull a motor with a cherry picker if the body is in place. So you build so you can drop the pan with the block in the car. Everything is reachable.

The 305 will get it around while you sort the axles, brakes and stuff. Have you figured out what "race year" look you are building to? There are some theme differences prior to 60-62. Earlier cars had to have minimal interior and working accessories. They make good street builds. After the change, they became pure race trailer queens mostly.

Have you ever watched an old movie called "Two Lane Black Top"? Their car has some cool ideas

For final brakes, I'd go big Buick finned aluminum in front and finned iron in back. They'll whoa you down smartly and they are period correct. Front axle out of an early Chevy Van would be nice.

Rear axles have a lot of choices. B-O-P big rears work. Especially if you are going to radius the fenders. If you are going to tuck 8" slicks, you can go with stock body and narrower rear axle. 8" slicks would be correct for 283 four speed car if it was running smaller class.

327 or 302 would be fun. If you are going to drive it on the street, the dual ram will be a bitch to tune (low vacuum signal), but once sorted it'll make nice. Small four barrels and linkage is key. More cubes makes it a bit easier to tune as it will signal the carbs better at idle. And idle will be around 800+ all sorted. You just have to move air to stop fuel puddling/or separating.

If budget allows as you get further into this thing, the 283 (bored to 292) with a 4-71 blower poking through the hood will be king. May be all around better street set-up than the ram and will definitely pull any naturally aspirated motor up to all but seriously built 348/409 country.

 

more pictures...

 

i'm kinda feelin a 70s street freak vibe on this one, so will see how it evolves. it's gonna be satin black with a red candy flake roof and red tinted windows. lot's of big gawdy pinstripe. most likely a variation of my shop logo on the car somewhere. fiberglass rear bumper, headlight, and turn signal bezzels painted to match the roof. haven't decided on the right wheels yet mostly cuz i just haven't come across them yet. i do know i want whitewalls on this car though. as far as the rest of the drivetrain goes, for now i got an overdrive 4-speed out of an 80s chevy 2wd pickup that i machined the front bearing support down on to fit inside the 55 factory bellhousing. stock rear for now but i'm on the lookout for an 8.5 10 bolt out of a second gen f-body. that will get 4.56s and a spool

 

It looks great, man. The real spirit of car building is doing the most with what you have to work with. I'm looking forward to seeing it at a show in the spring.

 

just ordered a brand new set of fenderwell headers for this shitbox! cant wait to get them, should be in this week. i'm still searching for a single carb top for my tunnel ram, if anybody has one kicking around i'd buy or trade my 2x4 top for it.

 

the holey grail

 

I got a vintage wieand tunnel ram with both tops a couple years ago from a friend, i had been after him for five years to sell it to me everyone we were in his garage, finally he gave in, car looks good, and good luck with it. by the way what size are those front steel wheels, 15in or 16in and what are they from?

 

so you want to sell me the single carb top? the front wheels are 16" temp spares from 80s caddys.

 

I cant sell it, worked so hard to get, i was just agreeing that its hard to find someone that has one without going to the internet. I have seen a few on here on the classifieds and egay pretty cheap. I wish i could find some wheels like that in 15inch. I had a set for an old dodge that were supposed to be from an early 50s ford. 15x3 but i need a set for a chevy.

 

thank you craigslist! $150.00

clear coat's falling off so i started wire wheeling the top tonite. i'll get it polished up nice and spray-bomb clear it to match my valve covers, which got a similar treatment.

 

you done good!! single 4barr. hard too fined!! good price!! keep pics. coming!!

 

I would say you got the best deal. your cad looked pretty cool to and if your 55 looks as good when done, you will still have a great car. keep us posted

 

great looking manifold ...good score keep it up

 

6 hours of wire wheeling and a can of clear later

after removing the pipe plug from the top of the coolant passage i noticed a good sized crack through the threads. so i had it filled and ground the boss flat.