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00:00 On this episode of Roadkill, we're going to show you the entire build up of my '55 Chevy
00:06 Bel Air.
00:07 With Hemi!
00:08 So here's how I ended up with the '55 Chevy.
00:35 When I was in high school, a buddy of mine named Clay Baber had a '56 Bel Air.
00:41 It was a four-door and it wasn't a gasser, but the body style left an impression on me.
00:46 So that and seeing the movie Two Lane Blacktop just made me obsessed with this body style
00:51 and getting one of these cars in my garage at some point in my life.
00:55 A year and a half, that's how long it's been since we ran up to Oregon in episode
01:01 eight of Roadkill and took his bare '55 Chevy body, plopped it onto a Jim Meyer Racing gasser
01:07 chassis and then came home and almost did nothing with it.
01:11 And so now we're going to force him to get it done.
01:13 We got to jam this thing together in 15 days in time for the Grand National Roadster Show.
01:22 So she looks different from the last time you saw her because all of the rust is gone.
01:29 That's a fiberglass front clip, which we bought to shave weight.
01:32 Here is the Jim Meyer Racing bitching gasser chassis.
01:35 So far, we've moved the firewall back to actually fit the Hemi in here, started a roll cage,
01:41 but essentially it needs everything.
01:43 So the car over the last year and a half hasn't had a ton of work done to it, but it hasn't
01:48 exactly sat around either.
01:49 It's got all new floorboards, which we got from Classic Industries and had our friends
01:53 at Hot Rods and Hobbies weld into the car.
01:55 So we've got a solid foundation that we can now use to weld our roll cage into, which
01:59 we got from Chris Dallason's Chassis Works.
02:02 So the car is solid.
02:04 It's basically a roller.
02:05 The body is mostly intact.
02:07 We've just got to do everything else to make it run.
02:10 It's a ton of work, but it's not impossible.
02:12 I predict a lot of all-nighters and broken knuckles and stuff like that, but we may end
02:17 up divorced from our wives on this deal.
02:19 But I will finally get to drive my car, hopefully on my birthday.
02:23 Yeah, I mean, when you're going to build a car in 15 days, you need a list, because you're
02:29 never going to remember anything, even with the list.
02:31 But this at least keeps everyone on track.
02:34 But the big thing is, is it reminds you you need to order parts, because we don't have
02:38 anything we need to build this right now, and it's day one, and we need the overnight
02:41 stuff basically.
02:43 Wow, you're good.
02:48 The reasons that we dummied the engine in the car are, one, we needed to measure up
02:51 our driveshaft length so that we could get that coming.
02:54 And then we had to put the steering column in the car.
02:56 The main reason for that is to see what our obstacles are for making headers.
03:00 See, the problem here is this is the steering box, and this is where this needs to go, and
03:04 I'm not even lined up with the port.
03:06 It needs to come up.
03:07 Even this side's a nightmare.
03:08 It goes straight into the frame rail, but way more workable than your side.
03:13 So our second major hurdle is figuring out how to build a set of headers for this thing,
03:17 because nobody makes headers to put a Hemi and a 55.
03:21 So we've got a bunch of bends from Hedman Headers.
03:24 We're going to chop them up right now and see if our engine location is going to work
03:28 with our steering.
03:29 So this is our test pipe right here.
03:35 Give me the cold end.
03:41 If we make this work, then we can leave the engine where it's at, and we don't have to
03:45 hack up the rest of the car.
03:46 Which will save us days.
03:48 Yeah, I'm worried it's going to hit in here if we do that.
03:51 Go like this.
03:56 I'll put a more of a Hemi this way on it.
04:00 We've never made headers before, but so far it's proving easy.
04:03 All you need is flanges and a zillion tube bends and a whole lot of cutting, slicing,
04:10 dicing, pie cutting, wedging, pizza cutting, and figuring.
04:14 And a great attitude.
04:16 [sawing]
04:19 Last night I had an epiphany about how to get that one header tube around the steering
04:28 column and that sort of broke this project wide open because we were thinking we were
04:32 going to have to drop the steering box or raise the engine or do something to get headers
04:35 on the car.
04:36 So Finney and I stayed really late last night getting really excited about building sets
04:41 of headers and we're trying to make them perfectly symmetrical on both sides so it's got that
04:45 cool gasser evil look.
04:47 The deal is when you cut the tube in a straight piece it becomes perfectly round.
04:52 If you cut it off square in the middle of a turn then it becomes a big oval like this
04:57 and there's no way to put them together.
05:00 So that makes this more of a challenge.
05:02 They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again
05:06 expecting a different result.
05:07 It's kind of what we've been doing here today.
05:11 How many of those bends have we used?
05:13 There's your headman Hemi into 55 Chevy header kit and there's the mistakes.
05:17 Those aren't mistakes those are trim those are fine tuning adjustments.
05:21 Just set it on there next to our new header.
05:24 That is gasser right there.
05:27 Look at that.
05:28 Yay us!
05:29 Yay us!
05:30 That's pretty big.
05:31 That's something we have not done before.
05:34 Yeah they're definitely a gasser looking header for sure.
05:37 They've got a little bit of zoomy action going to them.
05:40 Then the gasser thing.
05:41 Look at that.
05:44 Yeah!
05:45 Oh man.
05:47 That's the reason we're here.
05:48 That is a giant engine.
05:49 I know it looks even better with the headers doesn't it?
05:53 Oh my gosh.
05:55 Wow.
05:56 It just got real.
05:59 This side not so impressive.
06:01 This side shwing.
06:08 A lot of people think that we fabricate drama for Roadkill and we're always on a tight schedule
06:12 and why don't we plan better?
06:13 Well here is the reality of our life.
06:16 We're working on five different cars here right now that all need to get done before
06:20 the end of the month.
06:21 My 32 Ford there is going to become a roller to go to the Grand National Roadster Show
06:25 at the same time as Finnegan's 55 which is of course the major project.
06:29 Then we've also got the muscle truck that's getting MSD fuel injection on it for an editorial
06:34 story.
06:35 Over here we've got my Super B and Crusher Camaro that Grant is prepping to take to the
06:39 drag strip next week actually.
06:42 Which is going to take three days out of the schedule to go have to test those two things.
06:46 That's talking more working.
06:49 There are 11 days left in order to complete the entire car.
06:55 And so I needed help.
06:56 Right now video guy Mark is TIG welding the headers that we built the other day.
07:01 My buddy Todd is helping me fit the fiberglass front clip on this thing.
07:05 It will be a big accomplishment if today we can make that thing tilt.
07:10 I think we have to cut it back here.
07:16 We're having a problem fitting the front end.
07:18 The fiberglass seems like really rigid over here and it doesn't fit as well as it used
07:23 to.
07:24 And we're thinking it's because we tried to dry that fiberglass resin with a heat gun
07:27 and it might have warped the glass a little bit right there.
07:30 And so Todd's going to grind on it and try and make it a little bit more supple.
07:33 See if we can fit it again.
07:36 Yeah.
07:37 Ready?
07:38 Does it hit?
07:39 And yes, big time.
07:40 Oop, but.
07:41 Yeah.
07:42 Look at that.
07:43 That is cool.
07:44 I need to sit behind the wheel.
07:45 That is so evil looking.
08:01 That's way too high.
08:11 Way too high, but I get to see.
08:14 The next big moment we'll be firing it off.
08:19 We finished the headers.
08:20 We were dead tired, but we loaded the engine up and took it straight to the dyno.
08:24 The dyno has its own cooling system, which the guys hooked up because we thought we were
08:30 really close to getting ready to fire the engine up.
08:32 But the moment they turned the water on to the engine, a hole magically appeared in the
08:35 water pump and it's just peeing out onto the floor of the dyno cell, which is no good.
08:40 So we're going to have to go buy a new water pump.
08:47 680 pound feet of torque.
08:56 That's going to be fun.
08:57 Now that it's broken, we're going to drain the oil out of it, cut the oil filter open.
09:01 That's going to give us a good visual check of how the bearings are doing in this thing
09:05 right now.
09:06 And if this thing is full of metal, basically your engine's eating itself alive and you
09:11 need to take it apart and start over.
09:14 Ours is not doing that.
09:15 So we get to keep going with this build.
09:17 I'm at a loss right now.
09:22 We broke the engine in, made a couple of power pulls to 6,000 RPM, made great power, and
09:29 it puffed a little bit of smoke out of one breather at the end of a pull.
09:34 Used the oil, fired it back up, it's down on power and smoking out of the breathers
09:38 as if it's wounded.
09:40 But we did a compression check and it checked out fine.
09:42 We cut the oil filter out, drained the oil.
09:45 Everything looks fine.
09:46 So I don't know what's going on.
09:50 Every dyno test is an emotional roller coaster.
09:54 Strap the engine down, cross your fingers that it's going to run properly and that the
09:58 work you've done is correct.
10:01 Five hours ago, we found blown head gaskets.
10:05 Engine's back together now.
10:07 Hopefully we're heroes.
10:18 We broke it, we fixed it, and made more power than I actually even requested.
10:23 Not bad.
10:26 It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment to overcome that obstacle.
10:29 We made 700 horsepower and 700 pound feet of torque.
10:33 The problem was our one day dyno test took two days and now there was no hope of making
10:39 the Roadster show.
10:43 When Finnegan brought the engine back from the dyno, we had the body off of the chassis.
10:47 We needed to paint the underside and do some things like that.
10:50 And so we were able to mock the engine in and finally get in our bitchin' T56 Magnum
10:55 transmission which is a double overdrive six speed from American Powertrain.
11:04 When May 2014 rolled around, we still had not touched the car since our debacle at the
11:09 Grand National Roadster Show.
11:11 But we had another scheme.
11:12 We were going to drive it to the very beginning of the Hot Rod Power Tour event in Charlotte,
11:16 North Carolina.
11:17 And the honest to God truth is, I'm going to ignore this because this is everything
11:21 we have to do.
11:22 I have done things.
11:23 The actual engine is in the car.
11:26 Right now my buddy Todd Griggs is 10 feet in the air sanding the dash because you need
11:30 to sand the dash to drive.
11:31 Alright, so we've got wiring, plumbing, brakes, fuel system, lots to do.
11:38 Let's go to work.
11:39 This is not even close to the complete list.
11:41 I've insured it.
11:42 It's got insurance, just in that registration.
11:44 I'm mocking up our new gas tank.
11:48 And this is a stealth tank from Aeromotive.
11:51 It's a brand new gas tank that's powder coated and has a fuel pump built into it that will
11:57 support 900 horsepower worth of naturally aspirated engine.
12:02 Way more than I need.
12:04 So I bought two stock fillernecks.
12:06 I'm going to pie cut them right around here, weld them back together so that we can reach
12:10 from here to here.
12:12 And then Freiburger is going to plumb this and then this will be our new fuel system.
12:18 Next to building engines, this is my favorite part about building cars.
12:21 Now all I've got to do is pull this back out, clean the pipe, TIG weld it back together,
12:27 put it back in here, build a bracket.
12:29 Done.
12:30 So I've got to do brakes, the rest of the fuel system, steering, paint the dash.
12:36 I'm working on the fuel system and we want to run hard line the full length underneath
12:39 the car just because it's more sano and it flows better.
12:46 Not going to call it perfection, but it might be roadkill 55 Chevy good enough.
12:53 Let's see.
12:54 I needed to put a whoopty-doo in this to clear this deal, to drop it down, to clear this
13:00 body mount.
13:01 The thing is now I have to bend another one exactly like that one.
13:05 And what's the chances that I can do that?
13:07 This is the mailbox scoop that's going on the hood of the gasser.
13:11 This is the whole reason I built this car.
13:13 This is like waiting for Christmas.
13:14 I want this on the car.
13:16 Bueno, like it.
13:24 Can we write Hemi on the side of this?
13:27 Like get some cool sixties graphic, Hemi.
13:31 There you go.
13:34 Okay.
13:35 So this is why the scoop is clear now.
13:37 Last night we mounted our yellow scoop right here without realizing that that was going
13:41 to hit the front of the scoop.
13:43 So then we cut the front of the scoop to clear that.
13:45 And then we realized rain will go in there.
13:47 So now we've made a new top.
13:48 We're going to slide it forward about right there.
13:51 Bend a new top, remount it.
13:54 Now our scoop's clear.
13:55 I've got the fuel system completely mapped out and the hard lines bent.
13:59 So today my goal is to get it connected to the engine at the front and the gas tank at
14:02 the back.
14:03 And then if I can finish that up, I'm going to move on to the steering column.
14:06 I finished up my trick little bracket here.
14:09 See, it holds the fuel tank vent here.
14:13 It goes to the inside of the car there and this holds the fuel filler neck.
14:18 Well, it's the end of the second day and I'm sort of the last guy standing on the 55 project.
14:22 I think I'm going to hang out for a little while and try and wrap up my fuel system situation.
14:26 All the other guys have hit the road to go deal with Mother's Day, which I'll probably
14:29 do pretty soon as well.
14:31 And then we'll be back out at Monday, crossing fingers for actual progress.
14:34 I wanted to thank you.
14:36 We have a truck that's leaving California on the 22nd.
14:41 If I say yes and the car is not ready, how much trouble am I in?
14:46 What I would ask is that if you're not going to be able to make it, let me know by the
14:51 20th or the morning of the 21st because I'm sure that we can find another vehicle out
14:57 of California to fill your spot if we need to.
14:59 So here's the plan.
15:01 Don Schumacher, who we met in episode 30, invited us to any race we wanted to go to,
15:08 to hang out in his pit.
15:10 And I thought, good God, it would be amazing to get this car done and go hang out with
15:15 Don Schumacher at a drag race.
15:17 And the only one that works with our schedule is in May, and it's the English Town event.
15:21 So we have to build it, make sure it runs, get it to English Town in 13 days so we can
15:25 hang out with Don and then have a road trip adventure and film an episode of Roadkill.
15:29 What I'm doing is making these gussets that are going to end up triangulating this bar
15:34 to the main hoop and also the main hoop to the windshield bar.
15:39 And so I'm having to take this piece of tubing and hand fish mouth it so that it fits nicely
15:45 against the tubing.
15:46 It's got to fit really, really tight so that he can TIG weld it.
15:48 I've got to have virtually no gap all the way around this grind.
15:52 All right, so here's the stress.
15:55 In a Tri-5 Chevy, the frame rails run right about here.
15:59 Well, you don't want to put a roll bar there.
16:02 That's right where your feet go.
16:03 So the bar comes way out here, and then you weld this outrigger to the frame.
16:09 And then the bar comes down here and contacts it.
16:12 So what we're going to do is we're going to cut the floor out so that we can access all
16:16 sides of the steel.
16:17 And then we'll weld the floor back in.
16:24 We're nearing the end of the build here.
16:26 And I always figured it would be something like the clutch not working or a fuel pump
16:32 or something that would stop us dead in our tracks.
16:34 But right now, our Lexan windshield doesn't fit the car.
16:38 We accidentally cut it too small.
16:40 I need to call ProGlass to order a new front window, which is kind of a big deal because
16:45 they make them one at a time.
16:47 Before I do that, we're going to test fit the back window to see if that one needs reordering
16:51 to do before I call.
16:53 Since yesterday, we've got a lot done, actually.
16:56 We named the car.
16:57 Kind of a big deal, you know, because that'll help it run.
17:02 And we've got the seat frame done, the ignition box and the fuel panel are in.
17:07 There's really about like four hours worth of wiring left, and then we can try to fire
17:11 the engine.
17:12 I think it's tomorrow.
17:13 It feels like tomorrow.
17:14 It feels like the day we're supposed to be leaving.
17:16 But we're doing good.
17:18 There hadn't really been any major hiccups.
17:20 So if we can stay awake, we're going to make it.
17:26 There, I'm rested.
17:31 I can go again.
17:32 So here's the deal on the shoulder bar.
17:35 This is the roll cage kit for the Datsun.
17:38 I can bend, or I can cut this bend off and that bend off and sleeve it in the middle
17:43 and make our shoulder bar.
17:45 And I've ransacked the shop.
17:48 And our digital caliper that doesn't have digital readout tells me it's this size.
17:53 So yes.
18:03 It's the only piece in the whole shop that fits.
18:06 This is it, the whole shop.
18:07 There's nothing but...
18:08 Not even close.
18:09 Also not even close.
18:10 What is that, like shower piping?
18:14 You saved the Datsun.
18:16 All right, the Datsun lives.
18:18 And now I have got to butt and sleeve both halves of the shoulder bar together.
18:23 And this is the moment of truth where I'm actually going to cut it and start that process.
18:27 If it's too short right now, I cry like a girl.
18:34 Roadkill aficionados, I will have you know, this came from the Ratsun.
18:40 So the Ratsun is now saving the bacon of the '55 Chevy.
18:45 This probably takes two people.
18:50 I could be wrong.
18:51 But it probably does.
18:52 I don't think we're going to leave until tomorrow.
18:58 The good news is the guys that are transporting the car, somehow we suckered them into working
19:04 on the car.
19:05 So although they were going to leave today, they're busy putting lights in the car and
19:09 putting the hood on.
19:10 So maybe they won't notice that we're probably not going to leave for 24 hours later than
19:15 they thought they would.
19:16 What can we cross off?
19:19 Seat mount.
19:21 We're sitting in them.
19:22 Yes.
19:23 Oh, two bung.
19:24 I brought it.
19:25 Parking brake, not going to happen.
19:26 Rearview mirror, not happening here.
19:28 Glove box.
19:29 Done.
19:30 Done.
19:31 Gauges, no.
19:32 Windshield, no.
19:33 Rear window, no.
19:34 Console plate, no.
19:35 Adjust doors, no.
19:36 Finish flares, no.
19:37 Grind door welds.
19:38 Done.
19:39 Done.
19:40 Okay.
19:41 This isn't so bad now, see?
19:42 Oh yeah, no problem.
19:43 There's only 20 or 30 more things on there.
19:46 It looks a lot like that.
19:47 We're fine.
19:48 It's 5 AM, two days past when we were supposed to leave and we're about to fire this thing
19:57 up for the first time.
19:58 We hope.
19:59 We've already had fuel leaks, dead battery, wiring issues.
20:02 That's all solved.
20:03 Right now it's supposed to be rank, rank, vroom.
20:07 All right.
20:09 Water pump's on.
20:10 Ready?
20:11 Fan, VSS.
20:12 All right, here we go.
20:13 Look at that.
20:14 It's wired right up.
20:15 There you go.
20:16 That's off.
20:17 Three weeks of thrashing, lots of blisters on my hands from wiring and so I'm, well,
20:38 blistered.
20:39 But now I'm going to try to go around the block.
20:46 Ready?
20:47 The clutch is still engaged.
20:54 Well, that was the worst, best ride of my entire life.
21:01 The brakes don't work, the clutch sticks, it rides horribly and I don't care.
21:07 Look at this.
21:10 Man, that was a lot of wrenching over a lot of time, but we finally got it done and you're
21:17 going to come back to the next episode of Roadkill where we're actually going to hit
21:21 the road headed to Charlotte for Hot Rod Power Tour.
21:24 How many times have we finished this car for the first time for the last time?
21:37 Is this the second attempt or the third attempt?
21:40 We're going to build it in three days.
21:41 This is completely embarrassing.
21:42 I have no idea where reverse is on this transmission.
21:43 So I'm going to go get a shift knob that has the pattern on it so I can find out.
21:44 Just want to get in there and swim around for a little bit.
21:45 I can motor normally.
21:46 I'm going to go get a shift knob that has the pattern on it so I can find out.
21:47 I just want to get in there and swim around for a little bit.
21:48 I can motor normally.
21:49 I'm going to go get a shift knob that has the pattern on it so I can find out.
21:50 I just want to get in there and swim around for a little bit.
21:51 I can motor normally.
21:52 I'm going to go get a shift knob that has the pattern on it so I can find out.
21:56 I just want to put eight more screws in it and be done with it.
21:58 It's not a bad idea.
21:59 Oh, it's only 1am.
22:00 It's half day.
22:01 Oh, I'm good now.
22:02 Let's get back to work.
22:03 a little bit.
22:04 I'm going to go get a shift knob that has the pattern on it so I can find out.
22:05 I just want to put eight more screws in it and be done with it.
22:06 It's not a bad idea.
22:07 Oh, it's only 1am.