55 Gasser

I finally got Black Betty up and running. After thrashing all week I took it up to Sacramento Raceway for test and tune Friday night. We finally got the plastic in the windows late afternoon and made it to the track by 6:00. We made five runs until some fuel starvation problems put us back on the trailer. Best time was 14.00 and a top speed of 94mph. Not bad for first time. We now think it will be capable of low 13's with the 396 iron heads. The rack and pinion steering worked great as the car tracked straight and smooth. What a thrill!

All my thanks and appreciation to everybody here at Club Hot Rod. You have all been very patient and helpful with all my questions. That the car ran so great the first time out is a testament to your generous advice!

Rad

MAN i LOVE THE GASSER LOOK, STRAIGHT AXELS RULE. SOMETIMES ITS NOT ABOUT THE TIME YOU RAN, BUT THE GREAT TIME YOU HAD RUNNING IT. WHAT REAR GEAR AND TRANNY, AND OR STALL ARE YOU RUNNING?

Dats what is all about.....

It's a built Glide and Ford 9 rear. 3:89 gears. The motor is 454 .030 over. I have a comp flat tappet hydraulic cam and 396 iron heads. 850 Holley. MSD mech dist and 6AL box. I really didn't do an all out pass. I think it would get into the low 13's easy enough with the current setup. With aluminum heads and a solid roller, I bet it would do much better! But, for now, we are going to run it as is and have some bracket fun.

That is one of the cars I want to own someday.........a clone of the American Graffiti/ Two lane Blacktop '55. You did a nice job on yours, I like it a lot. :) :)

To me your fuel lines look a little on the small side, maybe that is where your fuel starvation problem is coming from????

Don

That is something we will look into. It did run fine for some time though. And it has 1/2 inch line from the tank to the regulator, then 3/8 over to the carb. We did see some sediment in the tank, so we will flush it out and change the filter to start with. The regulator is a dual outlet, so I can run 3/8 to each end of the log.

Guess what? Bad fuel pump, right out of the box!!! Changed to Holley Blue.

i am interested in your front end set up, do you have any pics of you setting it all up?

I'm thinking your going to have way to much fun in that car, looks perfect to me. Ya did good..... Bob

Thanks! Scooter, the front axle is from a 65 Chevy van. The front crossmember where the shackles are mounted and the rear spring mounts were welded into place when I got the project. I am not sure what the springs came out of, but I had to remove a few leafs to get any action at all from them. I used a Chrysler manual rack and pinion rear steer unit mounted on the rear of the axle. Welded mount pads on the axle. The steering shaft is Borgeson with the movement of the axle - up and down - taken up by the slip shaft. I spent a lot of time to get the inner steering shaft polished to move freely inside the hollow outer shaft. The disc brakes are from Speedway Motors and really turned into a PITA to get them mounted. If I were to do it again, I would just buy the entire straight front axle from Speedway. They come with springs, mounts, and perches to be welded when the axle caster is set up. Also, disc brakes will work out of the box with their spindles. Jim Meyer racing products sells kits for the tri-fives. You can get a straight axle weld on, or a complete frame. He's up in your part of the country. I bet he could fab a unit for you even if you are not doing a tri-five chevy. I really do like the way the rack and pinion works. Very smooth. Also, I leaned the axle back for more caster, and it runs true at speed. I am using Chris Alston Chassis Works double adjustable shocks. They mount into the stock location at the top, and into tabs welded onto the axle below. I used heim joints with short chain on each axle side to limit the axle drop.

thanks for the info it sure looks like a fun car, the novas are differnt you unbolt the entire front end and roll it away from the firewall :LOL: bill thomas used to make a bolt on straight axle clip for em, i wonder if that jim meyer could do one of them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gassersrule_196

thanks for the info it sure looks like a fun car, the novas are differnt you unbolt the entire front end and roll it away from the firewall :LOL: bill thomas used to make a bolt on straight axle clip for em, i wonder if that jim meyer could do one of them.

---

Easy to fabricate one for a Nova, Scooter. Bring it over. I've done a couple for MII setups and one for a strut front on the old Nova's, straight axle setup wouldn't be a whole lot different.

heck id love to but your to far away :LOL: would be a worthwhile roadtrip though thats for sure. over the winter i was going to have the 5:13's put in and stuff a 4 speed in it. make it alot mroe fun. so by next spring i should have a nose high gear grabber:D dave you should of seen the falcon at my friends shop, a 64 falcon nose high with a 351 4 point bar pie crust slicks sure looked fun!!! you are going to have to build that comet so we can match race:D , i am still debating to run an i-beam or a tube axle. most likely end up with a tube and if it needs to be lower you can make perches. i just wanna be able to learn from this and be able to do one on another car by myself. can anyone picture a straight axle vega?????... :EEK:

wow...awesome ride :D

drofdar, Your car looks great.

Sure is funny how things change and then remain the same. I’ve had a 39 Ford coupe since 68 it has a tube axle, over the years I thought about a camaro swap when they were popular then the mustang, pinto now we are back to the mile high look with gasser’s I guess time made the right decisions for me. I really liked the look of the 39 ford with the front up higher then the rear. Now if I could only get started on it, it would have the look again. The car still has the 283 bored to 301 with a 4speed and a 411 gear. The engine might be worth more to someone building an original 57 Chevy, and I could put maybe the 454 in that car instead of the 50 ford.

I think it was in Street Rodder a few years ago when a guy stepped out and did what he wanted with his 55 Chevy making the gasser now it has really taken off. I had a 57 Chevy in 1967 I bought it from my brother who used it as a drag car. It sit up no front bumper, stiff suspension, bronze, black bias tires black rims, cheater slicks, 327, 4speed 456 rear, it was a fun car to drive on the street.

Richard

Thanks for the complements. I really was not trying to copy anything. It's just that when I traded my 29 Model A for the 55, the axle was already in and the rear wheel wells were cut. Then I thought it would be fun to drag race it....... and so off I went. The color was not designed to copy that "other" 55, its just that my buddy got cancer and I didn't want to wait for the nice paint job. So I took my remaining primer over to the paint shop and asked them to make it as dark as possible. So it turned out sort of charchol and I really like it. I have a 56 that is in need of attention, and then I picked up a 57 2dr hardtop that has all the parts. I was thinking of setting them both up as gassers also. Don't worry, I won't cut them or put straight axles on. Just do them old school with nose high and Cragar SS mags. It would be really cool to have a garage with one each of the tri-fives set up like that! Just like we used to do back in the day!!

very cool dont see too manys done up like that anymore