(Image/Alex Taylor)

Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of progress in a short period of time on the Quest for the Sixes 1955 Chevy build—but we needed to see a lot more!

In the last update, we got started on the chassis (which was a big milestone), and at the point of the accompanying video, the chassis has progressed rapidly. We’re about two-thirds of the way done! We have only been working on it at night and on the weekends, and this is the result of about two-and-a-half weeks of work.

Remember—May 31 is the race day deadline for day one of Summit Midwest Drags!

Here’s a glimpse of how the chassis looked after two and a half weeks of night and weekend work. (Image/Alex Taylor)

The ’55 will be a double frame rail 25.3 SFI chassis cert car. Meaning, the cage will meet SFI specifications that allow us to legally run as fast as a 6.0 second quarter mile time, as long as we weigh 3,200 pounds or less. (We won’t be going that deep into the sixes, so we’ll be in the clear for sure!)

The SFI Foundation 25.3 Certification Guideline Book. (Image/Alex Taylor)

Once the main hoop and crossmember were set, we built a structure behind the cross member that we could attach the four-link to. I’m short—like 5′ 3″ short—and I don’t want to drive from the back seat, so we wanted to put the seat close to stock location.

Typically, the front four-link brackets would be attached to the cross member. We did it a little differently though. We want our four-link bars to be around 22 inches long, so we could not attach to the typical crossmember point, hence the need to build the offset structure behind the cross member.  

Starting on the back half of the ’55. (Image/Alex Taylor)

We moved back with the lower frame rails and then built the structure to support the upper frame rails in the rear and braced that as we went—one week in.

Here’s a rear-facing view of back half of the ’55. (Image/Alex Taylor)

After we had the back half under control, we moved forward and started on the inner and outer main rails, the mid plate and hoop, the inside forward down bars, and dash bar.

So. Many. Bars.

We wrap up our episode by getting the funny car cage roughed in (two-and-a-half weeks of non-full time work at this point). You’ll see us finish up the inside in the next update, and then move forward once the new Strange struts from Summit Racing arrive.

New parts, how exciting!

This is a side shot of the chassis, showing forward inside down bars, mid plate and hoop, and main inner and outer frame rails. (Image/Alex Taylor)

Speaking of new parts though…I have been like a kid on Christmas morning for the last few weeks as I wait on our rounds of mail delivery trucks to show up for the day.

With so many parts and pieces ordered, I never know what will show up that day! My mom, Debbie, has spent hours on the Summit Racing website and all across the internet scouring and researching parts for the build.

It’s one thing to have to order parts for a build. It’s another thing to have to get a complicated build done in a short timeline.

But it’s a whole different story when you are have to mix both of the previous statements together and find parts without very little notice or time to waste AND build have to build the car!

You guys know how that is—but thankfully Summit Racing has kept the parts trucks parts coming in consistently!

Here’s an up-close look at the mid plate and hoop. (Image/Alex Taylor)

I appreciate you guys staying tuned in as this build has progressed. But buckle up! Because we’re about to really start seeing it take shape.

As always, make sure to check out the Summit Racing Instagram (@summitracing) stories for build updates!