Technical ***January 2024 Banger Meet Thread - Happy New Year***

Just FYI and to add on to what John discusses above- A / B factory cam noses are not hard at all and can be easily drilled, bored or tapped for an extension if need be. Aftermarket or billet cams will depend on the material and heat treating.

 

I appreciate it guys! Currently I’ve got a .340 stripe cam, but I’m hoping to find a cam grinder locally. Learning how to grind a cam would be so cool.

Tonight I got something I’ve been waiting so patiently for, an oil pump from a GMC “DUKW”. I chucked it in the lathe and turned it down to work with the cam plunger boss. I threw it on my B with a spare side drive… this is getting fun

 

Retson
Here is a pic of dry sump pumps on cam drive
The pressure stage is inside the housing and 2 stages scavenge outside
I had to anneal the cam center to machine in the drive tang

 

Wow, that is phenomenal machine work. Do I see a KONG side cover?

 

Yes
Kong side cover

 

Happy New Year guys. Hope everyone is doing well.

 

Question for people smarter than me..
What is this opening in the Snyders 5.5 head?
Also, why do they recommend the B gasket on the A?
As far as I know, the only difference is the 2 tiny holes in between the 2nd and 3rd cyl.
Seems like an A gasket is the better choice.
What am I missing?

 

I'm assembling a B engine and found out that i'm missing oil return pipe from rear main cap. Pipe guides oil under the tray, so maybe it let returning oil cool down little and contaminations drop down to bottom of the pan. Or is there some other reason for that pipe? With out pipe oil drops straight on the tray where it will go on #4 rod bearing (i have original babbit bearings).
The question is should i make the pipe or is it really waste of time? All other main caps leak the oil with out guide pipe, modern engines do not have pipes....

 

yes, you need the pipe- windage from the crank will cause the rear main to leak. A model A pipe (except early '28) is the same size. Make sure when you screw the pipe in the cap that it does not go in so far as to partially block the oil flow. I always notch the end of the pipe to make 100% sure its as open as possible. The thread is 3/8-32.

 

Thanks guys. The leak of rear seal without pipe makes sense. And yes those pipes are available, price is next to nothing. But only problem is that they are in States, i'm in Finland and i like to get the engine assembled during this week. But i have 3/8" hydraulic pipe and hopefully find right size thread die, so what could go wrong...

 

The thread is standard National Extra Fine. You might find a die but 32 TPI is very close to a .8 mm pitch. If you can't locate a die, a machine shop could cut a .8mm pitch thread on your tubing- just a thought. Don't overlook tack welding it in place- I like a drop of braze, as the cap material is not steel, but rather some form of malleable iron from what I can tell and is not the most weldable material.

 

I found out why my lug nut wouldn’t tighten.

 

Hello Banger collective! I have been absent for quite a while. Thought I would let you know I am still around. Not much going on with me lately. I do have to report my son helped me get a new steering box and brakes put on the stock roadster and he drove the heck out of the car all last summer. I am so happy that a 28 year old loves the old cars and is active with them.

 

I am still here but been kind of busy with no car related stuff.

 

A Run Group for Pre-WW II race, cars was not included in the recent release of Run Groups for August's Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (RMMR). The Velocity to be held at Sonoma Raceway in October made the same such decision. After near fifty years of accommodating these REAL VINTAGE cars; the Vintage Auto Racing Association (VARA) quit them last year.
Thus with no new racers of Pre WW II on the horizon; I'm going to retire too.

 

Not particularly happy with this, have to fit it all behind a valence. Maybe side to side is the path.

happy new years!

 

What a bummer. Seems that all that is left is the ragtime cruisers (not meant to be a negative). All that is left is all the racing across the pond. Will give a ring soon.

 

John
Sorry to hear this, but I am afraid it is going to happen more. The Old Timers were discontinued in the month of May at Indy a few years ago. This is a shame, it really was cool to see those cars circulating the Brick yard.
J

 

John,

Sorry to hear this news, I know how much effort you put into preparing your car and putting on a great show. I recently sold our McDowell Powered racer, as the best we could do was a few slow laps during intermission. A Vintage Racing group still exists on the east coast, just not within reach for us.

Thanks for all you have done to promote the hobby over the years.[/QUOTE]

 

For vintage oval racing WRA will be at Santa Maria (& other places) on the West Coast ... Old Dawg, I'd bet you would fit right in with them, & I'm sure they'd be happy to see you as well!

 

I know this has been discussed off and on here since pretty much the begging of time, but can someone give me a primer on which distributors I should be looking for? I recall VW distributors being mentioned... are they all basically the same?

To my knowledge they all require some amount of machining... what's the best solution for a guy who doesn't have a lathe/mill?

Trying to get my ducks in a row before I go to slap this '28 Chev head on my A motor. I think I'd probably prefer to run an older part in keeping with the nature of the car.... I know FSI is a good option otherwise.

 

You can get the components from FSI to install in a stock A distributor

 

Sad news John,

I always enjoyed following your adventures with that car.

.

 

Here is the current Western Racing Assoc. schedule for 2024. All are in California.
March 30th-------- Kern Raceway
April 27th----------Santa Maria
June 15th-------------Santa Maria
August 17th------------Perris
September 28th-------------Kern Raceway.

 

I appreciate all of the kind remarks. I enjoyed entertaining the folks. It was a long time coming. Racers and the cars have been dwindling away from our grids for the better part of two decades. I've raced a long time. I began at 16 (I turn 85 in a few weeks) I cut my teeth on a dirt 5/8th oval in SoCal. It was a '33 Ford "Jalopy" a buddy and I constructed while in High School. It crashed when some of my crap welds started breaking. I went to road racing sports cars (that's where fine women were) . I've been a member of the WRA for about 30 years. I rarely run with them because most haven not raced (let alone driven) powerful sprint and midgets. The final blow was the death of a very dear friend because some guy didn't know what light signals meant.

This at Santa Maria with the WRA about twenty years ago


I may drive in some exhibitions. I will still be involved in the F.A.S.T... The next event with that group at the Santa Margarita Ranch will be on June 29th. Below is a pictorial of my sports car history (I'm the tall guy)

 

A quick update (aka confession)

I won't be contributing further to this month's thread as I have nothing to add.

My wife and I are on the island of Bali, celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. Being away means I declined an invitation to attend the River City Coupe and Roadster Club's inaugural rural reliability run. Oh well, hopefully there's always another event next year.

I've managed to collect the last of the hard parts for my A to B transmission swap, just waiting for some time to be able to get into it. Unfortunately it's Summer here, and not the time to pull down a perfectly running car in the middle of our hot rod season.

 

It is a fine reason! Enjoy the summer.

 

One of my favorite old dawg images. Was trying to imitate Mr. Lartigue for a few years, never did. Shot that on a 50's Speedgraphic that was modified with a later 120 film roll back. The speedgraphic has 2 shutters, a traditional focal plane shutter like a modern camera and a much older sliding shutter like early cameras. The idea being the sliding shutter can travel with the image effectively recording it in different times on the film. A moving object would appear to have a "lean" to it. Never did get it. Had fun trying.