So far you guys have been a lot of help to this newbie who was a little bit of an asshole at first, Ive got to say thanks. But now I need some more help. I have been thinkin about building a gasser out of a 55 chevy 4 door. I was wonderin what are the basic setups for one. (dont think about rule book right now) Im just wonderin how a basic setup with axle, body, interior and especially engine and tranny. Thanks ahead of time for all your help. Flat Black60 P.S. good news, My ma just bought a digital camera and scanner so I will soon have a pic of the International.
Buy as many issues of Hot Rod and Rod & Custom from the 1960s as you can, and read them. You'll be glad you did. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
Checkout and thorohly go thru www.gassermadness.com. Also pick up "Gasser Wars", a book available at Barnes& Nobles or online. Great color pics, and features the real deals from back in the day. Joel
Big vs Small block doesn't matter except for setting up what class you'll be in, and how fast you want to go! I'd say that you want to make it as light as possible, the important thing is to get that front end up and use a straight axle!
the four door is too heavy. get a two door post, toss the interior, front body clip, doors, glass and cut the frame off at the firewall, acid dip the body to remove some metal, use fiberglass doors and front clip, lexan to see through, a BOP with 4.56 posi rear, mini tubs 10" slicks and ladders in the rear, straight axle with 3-1/2" skinnies in the front, 454, 2x4 tunnel, M22, Hurst Comp. plus shifter, roll bar or cage.. the list goes on... how much money ya got? Paul
Paul, I think his deal is that he's got the 4-door for really cheap if he wants it. How much heavier is it? If he gutted the rear doors and put Lexan in them, wouldn't it be roughly the same? I only have a Truck catalog for Chevrolet and they list the 1955 Sedan Delivery as weighing just over 3100 lbs. Isn't the sedan lighter than that? Besides, for the cost of the car, (that you mention on the other thread) if you can build a kickass dragster for under $3000, even if it has 9 doors on it, you'll be a winner in my book!
Hey, if you're broke, under 20 and on a budget, keep the mordoor. I got EXTREMELY luck and found fiberglass front fenders, a lift off hood and 'glass doors for my '57 2-door wagon, and got the whole she-bang for $450 for them--from three different swap meets. For yours, here's the set-up: Small block chevy, vintage finned valve covers or stamped steel "Cheverolet" script valve covers--but with breathers in them. It won't be absolutely correct, but any 4-bbl intake--just make sure it has the oil fill tube in the front. Fenderwell headers are still available new, and you can find them on e-bay or swap meets. With that, you just built a very reliable, affordable and fairly "correct" engine. 4-speed or auto trans--your choice. With the auto, you'll need to do a trans cross member. With a manual, you'll need to find an early blow-proof bellhousing and bench seat shifter (if you keep the bench). Can be done on a budget, but you've got to scrounge and have a little luck. Get rid of the heater, radio, washer bottle, etc. Lose the whole front bumper, inner fenders, one horn and radiator core "filler panels" on both sides of the radiator. A lift-off fiberglass hood should be findable: with scrounging, you might even come up with a whole fiberglass flip front end. If you can get either, do it. Attach 'glass hood with hood pins and ditch latch mechanism and hood spring assemblies. With enough weight off the front end, you can install a set of stock replacement springs for under $80, and the nose will sit high like it's got a straight axle: Best thing is it's cheap, handles better than a straight axle, and requires absolutely no fabrication. When you order springs, ask which engine is heavier (Inline 6 or V8), get ones for use on A/C-equipped cars, etc. and order the ones for the heaviest front end. Finish the front end with 14-inch wheels to "air out" the tire-to-fender opening. In the rear, 5-leaf station wagon springs, or an add-a-leaf, and cheap slapper-style traction bars. You'll probably blow the stock differential out of it, so plan on that. A new rear won't be cheap, but... run the stock till she blows and save up, or replace it now. Finish with 15-inch wheels and tires. A fairly wide tire will fit in the stock wheel well. A lot of times they ran Cragars up front (or other 5-spokes) with chrome reverse, Ansen 5-slots, steel wheels or something else in the rear. Mis-matched wheels front and rear is fine, and makes buying wheels REALLY cheap! I've got a $20 set of 14-inch American Torque Thrusts front/15x7 junkyard steels rear. Swap to a dual-reservoir master cylinder. If you're going for a look, what I just wrote will get it. If you're actually going for a race car--2 door body and 354 Hemi! (or 409 Chevy. Or 396 Chevy. Or injected small block. Or...) -Brad
On the next Oprah..... Crease discovers his long lost brother is Deyomatic. This crap is all bout havin fun. The difference between 14 seconds and 12 seconds in the quarter is 3000-5000 dollars. Fortunately just goin down the track is the worlds biggest damn rush ever. Build what ya want and have fun !
[ QUOTE ] This crap is all bout havin fun. The difference between 14 seconds and 12 seconds in the quarter is 3000-5000 dollars. Fortunately just goin down the track is the worlds biggest damn rush ever. [/ QUOTE ] Amen brother!!!!
[ QUOTE ] On the next Oprah..... Crease discovers his long lost brother is Deyomatic. The difference between 14 seconds and 12 seconds in the quarter is 3000-5000 dollars. [/ QUOTE ] The BIG difference is is about 2 more turns of the pinion gear to the ring gear! I'm planning at the HIGHEST a 4.30:1 rear axle when/if I do my 55 Ford as a Gasser. I'd LIKE to get around a 4.60:1. "I've always wanted a brother. Brothers don't shake hands, brothers gotta hug."
you can go small block... dump a huge solid cam (3000-6000rpm for example), get a swap meet dual quad (or single) tunnel ram, 3500-4000 stall with a well built tranny - TH350 with trans brake aught to be fine. for brute power get a cadillac 500ci, edelbrock makes some stuff for it. your redline wont be a wild 6500rpm, but quite possibly the motors lower rpms will prevent some common problems the higher rpm motors experience. a friend use to squeeze mid 12s with one in his chevelle. powerband 2000-5500rpm, nothing unstreetable.
[ QUOTE ] the four door is too heavy. Paul [/ QUOTE ] You act like there is a BIG difference in weights here. The 4 door is only 50lbs heavier or weighs the same as a 2 door hard top.
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] the four door is too heavy. Paul [/ QUOTE ] You act like there is a BIG difference in weights here. The 4 door is only 50lbs heavier or weighs the same as a 2 door hard top. [/ QUOTE ] well, think of it this way.... Go run a footrace... now run the same race with a 50lb backpack.... Don't get me wrong.. Some of my favorite gassers are wagons, but I agree with Paul about the weight issue... Light and fast... HC
[ QUOTE ] And another! [/ QUOTE ] Hmmmm.... Euclid Body and Fender in Willoughby, OHIO....I live in Willoughby! Where did you find those pics at...the book or the site?
Since you already have the 4 door, build it with that first. You can always buy some 2 dr doors and make it into one later on.
Hey, if they could run an Anglia with a flathead Hudson six in Gas, this dudes four door should rock! BTW, HC, I used to love to watch that avatar over on the realoldspower site... she's a hottie! uhhh the one before the rat fink... Between typing this up and reading it, she's gone! I still wanna do a Jet gasser with a 371 Olds... when I get rich! jay
[ QUOTE ] well, think of it this way.... Go run a footrace... now run the same race with a 50lb backpack.... [/ QUOTE ] Maybe if I weight 3000 lbs. to begin with. 100 lbs in the quarter mile is supposed to be a 1/10 of a second difference. So 50 lbs would be half that. It would be like strapping 4 lbs to the back of a 200 lb person.
Dude don't sweat the 2dr vs 4dr thing...Cause nearly any gasser is cool as hell regardless If I were worried about weight I would have never let Radshit and the gang get a hold of my wagon. To get an idea of how to set it up look here Hamb Gas Or just do a search for gasser on the HAMB looking at all posts. The info is out there
They sure are! Where are you located? Didn't see much in your profile, are you a west coast guy? It'd be fun to get a group of West Coast HAMB Gassers out to a dragstrip sometime.... Go for it with the four door! You can move the engine/tranny back like you see on a lot of those Hillman four-doors, and put the driver's seat in the old back seat! Remember, the gassers were about putting the weight on the back tires, and that would be just plain cool! I'm in the middle of my gasser construction, and won't be anything like it around. In the middle of cutting out all the floorpans and the firewall. The body is off, found my front axle assembly, can't wait to get the frame done so I can start on the next step!
Soemthing like this, but a '55 Chevy: http://gassermadness.com/forsale/historic/levine/index.html You know, engine relocation, and driver's seat in the back. Awesome!
The inspiration you need is in this link....scroll down some and you'll see plentyo 4doors. Even a 55 chevy. These are from Australia I guess. http://www.gassermadness.com/downunder/index.htm Farmall
The three piece front end from the swap meet is a pretty good deal, but you can get a brand new one-piece front end from unlimited products for $600.00 (here is the link to their 55-57 page) And speedway has their gasser front end kits in the new Good Guys Gazette for around $300 with springs and hardware. So even if you had to buy some of the stuff new it wouldn't be all that bad...
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