Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Yes my 73 Buick Century that I run in I/SA is my primary racecar now. I got lucky and won class at the Sportnationals in Columbus the last few years. Runs about .90 under in good air.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Took the 55 Q/SA to the Indy LODS over the weekend for it's first outing of the year. The air conditions were not that favorable, but the car did run nearly 2 tenths under in the 3700 corrected altitude.Qualified at around the 70th car in the 80 car field with a 13.61 95.mph on the 13.80 index. I got my #2 WCFB back from Dean Oliver but didn't have a chance to run it as the rain limited us to 2 qualifiers and we started eliminations on Saturday. Car is real consistent as all the numbers in the first half of the track were within a few thousands of each other on the first 3 runs. First round I had a FS/G Mustang dialed in at 10.57. I had a .005 reaction time and held him off for the win. My second round opponent hung a .023 package on me and put me in the trailer. The 55 is fun to drive and I enjoy talking to all the people who come up to check it out. Thanks to Randy Snyder for the pictures, and sending us the video.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Looks great on the track !

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

The 55 Chev Stocker takes it's first event win at the Tri Five Nationals Bowling Green,KY. this last weekend. They had a dial in race for all the Jr. Stock type cars in attendance. Sixteen cars made the first round. Many original cars were in competition. The 57 sedan delivery of Kyle Marshall from Indy now owned by Tim Pogue and more. I will post names and pics in the future. I ran Anne Toews ( NHRA racer Todd Hoven's mother in law) in Barry Wallner's 57 Sedan delivery in the final in front of a big crowd of on lookers. Anne tripped the red eye to give me the win. Picture of me against the 55 red wagon was first round action. Check out the crowd. Weather was great in the low to mid 80s as past years had upper 90s. The trophy was donated by 1967 NHRA Stock World Champion George Cureton. He drove Mike Szczepanski's beautiful "Tokyo Rose" 56 sedan delivery P/SA car to the semi finals. The 55 ran 13.40's at 95 mph all weekend at around P/SA weight. Not real fast but consistent.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Good one !
I don't imagine there were too many T200 transmissions in that eliminator.
Anyone ask about it or comment?

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Mark, Yes I may have been the only metric 200 in the field. The 56 Szczepaski car, which is a legal P/SA has a t350.But the rest of the cars have a variety of transmissions from p/ glides to four speed sticks. Trans is holding up well, and is very consistent.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

I see you're entered in the US Nationals. Which car are you bringing?

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Congrats Lyn! I was following the Tri-Five event and coaching Jeff Kane remotely from home.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Enjoyed talking to Jeff about how he acquired the 57. Great to meet him and the wife.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Al will be taking the 73 Buick I/SA to the Us Nationals. It can run farther under the index than the 55.Better chance of qualifying. My goal is to someday enter the 55 in the Nationals. I think it has been over 50 years since a 1955 Chevrolet has been entered in Stock at the Big GO.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Back working on the ol Silver Bullet 55 Q/SA as a long wait for some new engine components finally came to an end. Got the motor back together and made the trip to Larry Allen's dyno in Indiana. The goal of making a little over 1 horsepower per cubic inch was made, so I will probably take the car to the Indy LODRS in 2 weeks. Dyno operator was impressed with how well balanced the new carb was, (typical for a Deano carb) and how the engine responded to timing and other changes. Well we will see how it runs in a couple of weeks. Just hope it is not going to be high 90s then. Check back in a couple of weeks for details.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Well the Indy points race did not go well .Had to go to the back up trans and convertor and that convertor is way too tight. Talked to fellow Stock racer Duane Dickens and he said he had good luck working with Coan Eng. to get a convertor loose enough for the little small block applications. Called them and they had a convertor done and to me at Indy on friday. Will see how it does at Earlville this weekend. Will be a little cooler with temps in the low 80s.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

I have some metric 200 converters and a trans that we used in the truck. Engine was 262 with a 3 .48 stroke. Let me know and I’ll bring them to a race.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Thanks Larry. Will take you up on the convertor offer. I will be going to all the races down in St. Louis later this month. Are they 7 inch or 8?

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

I’m not sure I will measure and get back to you. They fit the metric trans.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Took the 55 to the Indy Fall Classic and it is running a little better with a string of consistent 13.65s at nearly 97 mph runs in testing and qualifying. The air was not that great, and an ever changing wind direction (head wind on sunday) was a pain. I really had to steer the silver brick when I passed the grandstands with the cross wind on friday. LOL. With the installation of a play back tach I can really see the lack of convertor flash stall in first gear. It jumps up to around 4800, then continues a seemingly slow rise to my 7200 shift point. I'm going to send the convertor back to ATI to see if they can get that initial stall to around 5400. On the dyno sheets the difference in horsepower between 4800 and 5400 is over 30 horsepower so a looser unit has got to help.This weekend I hope to try one of the 8 inch convertors Larry Hill has loaned me. I didn't last long in eliminations as I lifted a little to early against Robin Lawence's number 1 qualifying Mustang and gave him a early Christmas gift. Oh well there is always next year. More info next week if I get to test one of Larry's units behind the metric 200.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Well had the 55 back up on jack stands the week after the Fall Classic and installed one of Larry Hill's 8 inch convertors he was so very kind to loan me. I was pleasantly surprised on the first run as the car picked up over a tenth in the 60, and 2 tenth in the 1/4 over the Indy runs the week before as it ran a 13.44 at 98 mph on the 13.80 index.. Some of this had to be related to the better weather conditions and a nice little 10mph hour tail wind but as the playback tach showed it was the first convertor out of 5 units tried that flashed upwards of 5000 on the launch. After 4 runs or so trying a few different things with no gain I decided to take out the 200 lbs of ballast I carry to make the Q/SA weight to try to hit the magic 100 mph barrier. Got close in the next few runs with a runs of 13.22 at 99.57 mph but no cigar. LOL Earlier in the week I had a nice conversation with Charlie at ATI and he said he would attempt to loosen up my convertor so it has been sent back to them. One of the local tracks has some test and tunes listed in the first few weeks of November so i will try to make one of those to close out the season. I feel that if I can get the flash stall up to around 5400 it will help the car.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Lyn… I'm Very Interested in the results from your Convertor Thrash. Are you still running a 5.57 rear end ratio with a 2.75 first Turbo 350? Also do you still have the 1 5/8" Headers on the car? Did Charlie (ATI) mention anything about 7" convertors at all? MB

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Yes 5.57 rear gear, metric with 2.74 and the small fender well headers. Been told by a couple convertor people they do not think a 7 inch in the small engine stocker is worth messing with. A SS car yes.A stocker no.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

We tried a 7" converter in the 231 firebirds more than once and it just did not have the power to make it flash like it needs to. There may be something there but it will take a lot of adjustments for something with this little power.

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Got a question for you. What do you do about the piston to valve clearance with pistons that have no valve reliefs or are they allowed now? Just curious, no race car anymore, no plans for one, too old. If yould rather no answer Im ok with that too

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

The cam can only have around 230 degrees duration at the most. In fact the 1957 265 block i'm using right now has the stock deck height (.012 deck, .037 gasket) . Never been milled because of the very tight valve to piston problems. Back in the 70s NHRA allowed Stock,Jr Stock 1955 265 racers to use the valve relief pistons but not now. Go figure?

Re: 1955 Chevrolet Q/SA Build
 

Had the same problem with a Z/28 stocker in the 80s, ran them at possible disaster clearance if a shift was missed, .080. Thanks for replying