GASSER MUST HAVES and cant haves?

I'll ask. Is there are particular year/model? I don't know anything about Volvo's I just happened to take a shine to that particular body shape and being different and all.

 

Hell yeah, OJ, its got potential!! Back in the mid to late '60s, there was a guy in my town who had one of those 544 Volvos that he stuck a Chevy engine into. He used to pull out of the local McDonald's onto US Rt1, rev it up, dump the clutch and do a wheelstand going up the road. What a show!!!

 

Here's a possibility.

 

I built similar shackled ladder bars and caught a lot of flak about how they won't work.

 

A friend of mine has a chassis shop and for years offered a pretty slick disc brake setup based on the Volvo 122S, I even machined quite a number of spacers for his kits.
Not as popular as they were, mostly because the source for used parts dried up.

 

Are those Ford spindles on a Willys axle? I thought about doing the same thing with an Anglia axle.

 

I'd be concerned about those little single shear mounted clevises too.

 

I like the 1965 rules for the suspension
sounds like you can use about anything from any manufacture as long as it was a designed style for a production car-truck
so stock is ok as A arms. Strait axle design type from any production manufacture, shocks of your choice - rear coils from any manufacture instead of leafs ect ect. ANY TRACTION DEVICE to stop wheel hop its re guarded as a safety thing as per NHRA.
These are the most things that maybe some people will pick you apart reguarding whats a real gasser The Storming Bull to me is a cool gasser
but would not be allowed to race with certain groups.

 

I think it might be time to bring this one back up.

 

Baloney. I built them the same way on my '63 Falcon gasser with a 464 c.i. BBC and they work just fine. Of course they have a little give built into them with the front shackle. But if the angle of the shackle is correct it not only allows the springs to work, but also keeps the pinion from wrapping up and causing wheel hop. My Falcon hooked great with them, and lifted the front wheels on launch with no wheel hop. I'll be doing the same thing on my current '39 Chevy gasser build because it works.

 

makes good sense to me,, can you share the correct shackle angle that worked for your application,,i am putting a caddy motor in my 41 studebaker,,and i like the idea

 

If all you want is a lift bar they work fine with no problem on low power cars and will help control wheel hop. If the ladder bar is to be used as designed it needs to have a solid mount in the front and a slider on the leaf spring. The front mount of a ladder bar is designed to be a push point, if a shackle is used it becomes a lift point only and the front eye of the leaf spring remains the push point defeating the purpose of the longer ladder bar having a further forward push point. Confusing I know but it's how it's designed to work.

 

What happens if ladder bars are solid on front AND back!

 

If a solid mount it still pivots in the front because of only one bolt.
If the leaf spring is mounted solid to the rear end housing and no shackle or slider in the front it will bind because of two different length pivot points. I wish i could draw on here to explain it better.

 

Makes perfect sense, I just need to learn how to read properly.

 

Since you are giving free advice, I was more wondering if my setup will work.

 

This setup will also bind. It doesn't matter if it's a 1/4 eliptical, or full spring. It's still going to restrict travel and cause spring bind.

 

How would it bind if it has a shackle mount between spring and housing?

Sent from my E6910 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Your set up will work perfect. The 1/4 elliptical spring was exactly how they did it in the old days once they figured out the full leaf mounted solid was binding. The shackle on your set up will let the housing move back and forth to so no binding. The bars being welded at the housing instead of having rod ends don't leave you any adjustment is the only problem i see.

 

I won't have any problems, it'll run perfect right off the trailer forever.

 

I did install a Jabsco water pump, so at least I can drive it around my neighborhood to work some of the bugs out. I spun a bearing last month and I'm not sure if it was from overheating or something else.

 

Sorry, didn't see the shackle on the end.

 

Ladders work fine on full semi-elliptic springs if you allow for the different swing arcs of the spring and the bar. I have seen cars with two shackles on each spring, one in front and one in back. This seems to be not as good since the axle will struggle making its arc comply with the bar. I have done it two ways. On my buddy's '37 Willys pickup we mounted the front of the ladder with a shackle to the frame. Here are some pictures of how I did it on my Willys coupe. I made a little holder for a Mustang II front strut rubber donut and welded a piece of pipe to the front of the ladder that slides tightly into the hole in the donut. This allows the ladder to make its arc that follows the spring's arc. Both work great, the spring doesn't know the ladder bars are there until it tries to wrap and hop. Smooth ride and no hop.

 

Anyone know what a good starting point for gearing with a Olds rocket with B&M hydro running a 30in tire.

Sent from my E6910 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Depends on what your plan is for the car? For the street mostly, I'd go 3.73 gears. But if drag racing, I'd need to know if it's 1/8 or 1/4, and what's been done to the engine, and how high it might wind?

 

This is my version of the Stott bars. All points have adjustments. Mine is a coil spring car.

 

This is very much like stone..woods..cook used on their willys

 

With the work done to the engine thinking should spin to 7. Holborn injection solid roller cam with a mag. Original B&M hydro. Planning on mostly nostalgia events. 1/8th mile

Sent from my E6910 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

With that engine specs and 1/8th mile racing, If you go strictly racing and little street use I'd go at least 4.56 gears. If it was only racing I'd go even deeper at 4.88 or 5.13 gears. If you plan to occasionally race nostalgis events like Billetproof at Toutle, Wa. but also use it on the street too, I'd go with 4.10 gears.

 

You can do whatever you want. Now if you want to know why it isn't done, I would guess it's because it wasn't done. I don't know when that started but I'm sure someone does.