Another 55 Straight Axle Chevy Gasser build.

Finished roll bar installation.Ready to prime and paint.

Painted (finally...)

 

Off to Saugus Glass to install the glass/plexi-glass this week.

 

Damn thats looking good, thanks for keeping us posted.

 

Nice work Baron, you won't be be twisting that one up & ought to help keep it going straight.

 

looks great barron!! got the pics today.. wont be long now.. havnt seen glen drive the coupe in years!

 

Back at the shop.

 

WOW lookin great......

 

How wide is the rearend? Wheels and tires fit perfectly.

 

i would make alot of sacrifices to have a car like that. Maybe one day I can buy some 90's built billet monster 55's and turn it into something like this, something cool. You will all be invited over to smell the burning tweed.

Seriously though, 55 post gasser is my number one choice. Cool build and thanks for the picks.

 

Thanks! The rear end is 61 inches wide(1 inch wider then stock rear). Cragars are 15 x 10 / 4.25" back space. About two more weeks it should be ready for the road.

 

Fired the Hemi yesterday. Motor sounds strong. One more week and I'll be driving it (as long as no major problems...)
( the wires hanging are for the headlights,directional,etc)

 

Very nice, very, very nice!

 

looking great!!
now that you have the engine running,do you have any videos of it running?
I would like to Hear that Hemi .

 

I don't currently have that capability, but something I plan to do in the near future. Stay tuned....

 

I like it.

 

Nice car! Question, I always wondered what the reasoning was for the spring shackles being on the front of the spring instead of behind, would think it would be more stable with the solid mount on the front. Lippy

 

As far as I can tell,having driven both set ups, I don't see any difference in handling. A good friend of mine has a 56 Chevy with this same set up. He drove it on the street as a daily driver for more then a few years, and turned it into strickly race car( now running in the 9.90's at 135 mph) and his car goes straight as an arrow. Figured if it has worked for him for the last 10 years, should be fine on mine. No sense re-inventing the (steering) wheel.

 

Aren't you afraid a mild steel front axle will bend? I've heard they will but I was just wondering your opinion.

 

Ha! I have that ten years beat! My 1948 dodge 1-1/2 ton has them on the rear of the front springs, has had since 48. Although it's never been 130 mph. LOL. Lippy

 

I know 1/2 dozen guys using these axles with no problems to date. My car will be driven 95% on the street and hopefully 2 or 3 Nostalgia Drags per year. Being a "street car", I am running a 3.70 rear gear,so it's not likely to carry the front wheels. If it does and it gets bent, I will go with one of Tinny's axles. I spoke with him at the start of this project. All he makes is a straight axle. I wanted a three inch dropped axle, so the MAS was my second choice. Time will tell.

 

Front end back on. About 1/2 done with the wiring. Got in a 10 hour day today.

 

it's been a few days...
any updates?

 

Wiring is almost finished. Installed the front seat tonight, so now I can make a mount for the shifter. Next will be fill the master cylinder and bleed the brakes,etc. Just finishing all the little ,time consuming tasks that never seem to end. Have an appointment at the alignment shop Friday morning,so it the clock is ticking....

 

Damn that looks good.

 

Took the 55 out for it's first drive this afternoon. Still finishing up some wiring, and other small odds and ends. So far,so good.

 

looking Great!!

 

it keeps getting better. now I want turn my 55 into gasser

 

Almost there. Added two leafs to the rear springs for tire clearance. The trans is slipping pretty bad in reverse. Waiting for a reply from the shop that did it ( he is waiting to hear from TransGo about the 727 manual valve body). Other then that,all is good. Finished wiring the lights today and hope to get it aligned this coming week(depending on the tranmission outcome). Pic of the day.

 

nice build.. you did a hell of a job, should look great at the drags..

 

bitchin'!