Sunshine Baby Motor Rebuild Done By Don Garlits

First, a little history to put this into perspective. It was a sunny day on October 2, 2023 when Jim Aid and your blog author stopped in at the Don Garlits drag racing museum on our way back from Detroit towing a special surprise to show Don. It was a racing hydroplane from 1959 he worked on for original owner Ray Gassner. The story of how Jim Aid working with Tom D'Eath who connected Jim to current owner, Hayden Harris deserves a blog post of it's own. Look for that incredible story soon.

We stopped by unannounced; would Don be there?  Would have time to see us?  Would he remember  building an engine over 65 years ago for a hydroplane?  He sure did!  Don built the original Chrysler Hemi for owner Ray Gassner from St. Petersburg who would campaign Sunshine Baby in major races all over the country. I should also mention Tom D'Eath would be the racer/ driver responsible for winning many races with SB IV, creating a winning record for Sunshine Baby IV. It become a national champion and set a world record speed of 173 MPH! Here's some pictures from that day in October. 

Jim Aid in 2023 with Don who is all smiles as the sight of the boat brings back memories.

So that's the backstory- Now here we are September 12, 2025 picking up the motor Don rebuilt!

                                                  Wally and Jim checking the straps.

Well folks, it's finally done, the Baby's Hemi has been rebuilt by Don Garlits who built the original motor 65 years ago! Here's some amazing pictures I took on September 12th when we picked up the motor from Don.  In this post you will see Don explaining some of the technical aspects of the rebuild.

The Sunshine Baby team members including Captain Jim Aid, Technical advisors Wally Osinga and Norm Cameron and myself as camera man. We headed out on the two hour drive from St. Pete to the Don Garlits Museum in Ocala to meet with Don and pick up the motor. We arrived a little after noon and Don was there to greet us still dressed in his work jeans and tee shirt.We were overeflowing with excitment like kids on Christmas morning waiting to see what Don had in store for us.   

Don spent a good hour with us going over the technical aspects of the work he did to rebuild our motor and some of the challenges he encountered. It was an awe inspiring master class in the art of engine building. Don's knowledge of Chrysler's legendary Hemi engines was impresive. We were in the company of one of the best and it gave us chills to see him explain with ease what and how he did this job.

Here are some pictures that show some of the details that went into the rebuild. Go to the Paul Ziegler 8505 YouTube channel to see video that is as cool as it gets when you consider Don is still here today doing the work he did 65 years ago!  Below you will see some of the still shots taken when we picked up the motor.

Click here to see YouTube Videos

                                                   Chrysler spaceship power!

                       Don explaining the details of rebuilding the Sunshine Baby motor.

Don's notebook

Loading up for the trip home.

Fully Loaded

Motor and Blower

Don teaching the 'young' guys!

Brought to you by Paul Ziegler, Publisher Carcamerastory.com and author of Echoes From The Glen.

Follow on Instagram @wownowpics and on YouTube Paul Ziegler 8505 channel

Let There Be Light- For The Sunshine Baby IV

 Our project captain, Jim Aid decided it was time for new lighting in the skunk werks shop, better known as Jim's garage. The team has been working under old, outdated fluorescent lights since the beginning of the project and Jim decided to spring for all new lighting in the shop. Thank you Jim!

Here's are some pictures to see how the operation went.  Starting with the contractor, Maury Creech Electric.  Their crew arrived at noon on Wednesday and within about two hours, they transformed the workshop from something old to something new.

                             First step- move the Sunshine Baby IV out into the driveway

                                            
                                                   Team member Wally looks on:

Jim inspecting the work:

                                      You can see the old, yellow fluorescent bulb in foreground

                                    with new, LED bulbs in the rear.  It made a huge difference.

                                                    Here's the job, nearly completed:

        

The work continues with another new set of steering cables that will be fabricated and the return of 

the rebuilt motor in the next few weeks from Don Garlit's shop in Ocala, Florida. Stay tuned!

Brought to you by Paul Ziegler, Publisher,  carcamerastory.com.