Projects Midnight Special: 1935 Chevy with a Hemi

I had already bought an offenhauser 3x2 intake and 3 rebuilt 97’s ready to bolt on top. But a few weeks ago while perusing Facebook marketplace I stumbled upon the holy grail of intake manifolds that I had to have, and only ten minutes from home. A polished Weiand 4x2 complete with 4 97’s, edmunds air cleaners, custom fuel rail and a progressive linkage. His late father had purchased it for a truck built in the early 70’s? And was featured in Hot Rod magazine in 1973. Although I plan on doing my break in with a 4 barrel to keep variables to a minimum. I’ll probably run the 3x2 for a while to practice tuning a multi carb setup and to work out any other gremlins during the first few thousand miles, but I can’t wait to get this setup figured out. There’s just something about 4 carbs that gets me all giddy.

 

Most don't know that those 4-2bbl and 6-2bbl manifolds were just made for wide open use, I got told this by guys older than me, and they are right. I had a 6-2 for my SBC that we could never get it dialed in for street use, we would get it real close, and the next day the weather changed and you were back out in left field all over again.
Finally sold it all and put dual Carter AFB's on it and it ran perfect for 20 years.

 

I can believe that, i have read that motors like these intake at WOT. I posted it to a group on FB and a guy sent me a photo of his 270 that had the same intake on what looked to be a street driven car, I’ll find it and attach it. I sent him a message asking for any tips/tricks to getting it set up but haven’t heard back yet. But I sure hope I can get it working well enough to drive to a couple car shows, I’m fine with using my 3x2 for general use and I got a good enough deal on the weiand that, worst case scenario, it’s going to sit on my shelf looking like a piece of jewelry

 

Bass put in line 4x2's on his Hemi in his build thread years ago. He is in Austin I think and has his own shop. Might try a PM to him, but he has not been on here in a while. Might be over on Instagram?? He builds some awesome stuff.
Technical - Build: The Bass Coupe build | Page 2 | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

 

I'll be watching this intently, I have the same manifold for my 276 Desoto (which still needs to be built) the 241 is a supposedly fresh build that I'm yet to open up

 

Packaging everything is a lot of planning, combined with some luck. Your angle on the drag link is ok since it is the angle being same on horizontal plane (looking from the front) that is more critical.

Glad to see the in-frame headers, i think it's cleaner and with a good sounding muffler dumping at the rearend sounds better. Zoomie exhaust just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe I am getting too old.

 

Gonna be a neat little truck with that Hemi!

 

Very cool build! Looking forward to watching the progress!

 

Thanks for the heads up! I wish his photos hadn’t all got messed up, would love to see the build!

Very cool! I’m hoping I can make it work, they’re just SO cool looking, if I do I’ll be sure to include any tips I figure out along the way

Both the drag link and tie rod are perfectly level so we are good there.
And I still enjoy straight pipes on the right motor, I guess I’m not that old yet ha. I will be building the full exhaust since I plan to keep this truck forever, I want to be able to change it up eventually, same reason I’m keeping my hood.

Thank you!

Appreciate that! Hopefully I can keep it entertaining

 

I went back and forth on modifying my original bumper into something, but ultimately decided to just make a spreader bar to sit between the rails. Still have to trim the ends down and fill them, then it’s off to the chrome plater. Also a sneak peek at my shock mount that I’m also making into my headlight mount.

 

Bass is indeed on Instagram, I’d expect a delay on reply’s though as he is trying to get his land speed roadster to the salt this year and is from the looks of it very busy with that

 

Great build and it shows you don't need every tool in the world to build a nice hot rod. Keep the updates coming. I love builds like this where it was multiple pieces and now is something everyone will want.

 

good to know! I’ll have to look him up, I need more car guys to follow

Thank you! Good to see some fellow Arizonans on here, I’m in Mesa. And yea my setup is small and pretty basic but it’s getting the job done! The most expensive tool I own is my welder.

 

I don’t know what I was thinking when I initially mounted my panhard bar. When I had to extend the mounts that were included and I opted to weld a piece to the outside. Which I was probably thinking the more weld surface area the better. But it has bugged me ever since and I’ve tried to justify it by it being hidden under the bed eventually, but after just 2ish hours of work and I can be happy with them forever. It doesn’t have to be right the first time as long as it’s right the last time.

 

Discovered something cool today, I had a gentlemen tell me that my intake had all separate runners, and I needed to run a straight linkage etc. which I believed and at first glance down the #1 port looked like that was an accurate statement (see pic#1). Then I had the gentleman who had run the same setup on his 270 tell me he used a progressive linkage with great results, when I mentioned the separate runners he told me to send him a pic since he’d never seen one like that so I broke out the flashlight and lo n behold.. gotta be careful what you see/hear/believe on the internet.

 

My understanding of those intakes is the plenum connecting the port runners is small enough to cause fuel distribution problems with progressive linkage. With you running higher compression and a more aggressive cam, your hemi should handle three carburetors.

 

I would believe that, it’s definitely much smaller openings than how my 3x2 is setup. I’m sure it’s going to take a lot of trial and error and frustration, but really have my fingers crossed I can make it streetable. Only time will tell.

For todays bite out of the elephant, I got my headlights mounted. Next need mount a panhard bar and then figure out my radiator situation. Getting close to finishing the fab work then I can pull my motor and get it built and running!

 

TurkeyDay update! I had to take a few months off because Arizona summers are relentless and a 95 degree shop is not much fun to work in. But thanks to the cooler weather I’m happily back at it now!

Decided to tackle a big project, making my cab 1 piece by building a sub-frame, hanging the doors and attaching the roof. When I had initially tacked all the pieces in place my doors did not line up well and it angled the cowl/frame mounts up so I knew I had some problem solving ahead of me. I tacked a couple piece of tube in place before cutting the doors out to keep the cowl and rear panel in somewhat the right place


Then reinforced my A-pillars and got them ready for door hinges


I lined up the doors and got the front gap to something I was happy with and tacked the hinges in place. (My welder is like a 3rd hand) then I could open the doors and drill all my bolt holes right through the hinge.
Had to solve the door being flared out at the top, the drivers side was much worse. After a little trial and error I discovered that it was actually a fairly easy fix by cutting the lower rear corner of the door frame, correcting the angle and welding it back together.


drivers side after I fixed it


With the doors swingin on their hinges for the first time in decades, I made a cross support for the roof to replace the original wood, and welded on the mounting brackets


then put the roof back on and got it attached and finished off my A-pillars. I know my welds are fugly, was definitely a bit rusty after my few month break. But hey I welded, it helded. And ultimately it’ll be hidden under the body panel

 

now the floor, I had to cut the cowl mount because the doors were both angled down, once I loosely fit my 1x2 I had to bend the outside of the mount up so the door/belt line would line up. The drivers side had to come up about 3/4” the passenger side only about 3/8”. Once I had the doors lining up the best they can, I tacked the 1x2 in place and finally had a cab that was essentially 1 piece.


Then after researching many other floor examples and a little imagination, I came up with the basic shapes/dimensions for the inside and made sure I left enough room that I could slide the transmission back if I ever needed to remove it down the line. I saw some builds that they form the frame tight around the transmission which looks awesome, but I imagine that causes some headaches later on.


Now for the rocker panels, got them lined up with doors and tacked in place and then I built up the frame to fit. I did have to cut them down a little as I plan to have my floor be about 1/2” lower than factory, trying to squeeze every bit of extra space where I can.


That’s all I got for now, have to make a driveshaft loop and another crossover support at the rear of the transmission and then I can figure out my seat mounting situation, then it’s onto the steering wheel and finalizing pedal position. Until next time

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Cheers!

 

Excellent work on your truck and an excellent detailed thread,...great job!

 

Really interesting to follow this. Great work!

 

Looking good

 

For some reason, I just saw this... Love your vision for the truck and of course your fabrication skills! Great work!

 

Good to see this thread back up.

 

Nice to see progress, it's getting there. Keep working and showing the progress pics.

 

Thank you all for the positive feedback!
I know this is probably common sense for most builders, but thinking back to before I started this build, I had no idea how you would fabricate something like a driveshaft loop. I just thought everyone had to buy them, or use a tubing bender or something. So for anyone who might be in the same boat as I was when I started, here’s my process

I cut a slot every 1/2” with a cut off disc, and since I want a 5” opening I went out about 5” each side of center, 23 cuts total. After a test bend I had to go back and make a second cut on each one to remove enough material to get a 180 degree bend. Bingo


I’ve learned to leave the gap a little wider than you want the end result to be because the shrinkage from the welding will pull it together quite a bit. I Tack each cut together but leave the last one at each end untouched. Go to town welding, and once you’ve got all of them done you can finalize the gap and weld the last 2.


Now break out your angle grinder with a 40grit flap disc and smooth everything out and boom! almost instant driveshaft loop.

 

Ha! What else did you get done on Saturday?
That is a lot of work and finishing but the end justifies the means as is said. Good job, looks great.

 

Great work , a true craftsman . Your truck is something to stand tall and be proud of . You have completed it all yourself in your own garage . That to me is true Hot Rod build as it was supposed to be done .

And by the way the area you live in is as close to heaven on earth as it can get for me .

 

Nice progress!

 

Haha truth be told, this was done over 48hrs, measure and marked cut lines at night, go out for 30 min and make my cuts during the day, weld everything that night, then grind it smooth later that day. For me it’s the small steps daily that adds up to pretty decent progress monthly.

Thank you very much, I’m already fairly proud of what I’ve accomplished so far, can’t imagine the feeling once I actually getting to drive it around! And yessir this time of year it’s the best place to be, not so sure about the summers ha!

Thank you sir!