Surgery went smooth and painless. The front suspension is gone and the engine is out. Now for some 4 x 4 and some 2 x 4 tubing and we'll soon be rolling again.
Hank, I will probably do that. I've heard it works. An "out of round" bend there will be obvious without even looking.
I just found this thread. I see my car has been mentioned. I left the original front stub. That was my personal preference for several reasons. Thought it was easier to modify the original, I liked the appearance of the original frame, and that was how I had seen them on the other Henry J race cars from the 60s. The new stub is not a bad idea at all. In fact it may make things convenient for you since you can completely design the new frame section to work with your steering and suspension, as opposed to have put things where they fit. I believe what Clik was refering to earlier about the gas class rules, are 24 in. maximum crankshaft height, no more than 10% engine setback, no wheelbase alterations... etc. If you go to Gassermadness.com there's a lot more info. If you want it to look like a gasser, following these restrictions will help keep the finished car on par with what was on the track in the 60s, as opposed to a 70s street freak apprearance. It looks like that J is a real dandy. good luck with the build
Thanks, I appreciate the input. Although I don't plan to race the car, I do plan to keep it within the specs of the gas class rules. I should have the frame welded on by the end of the week. I'm kinda dreading cutting the firewall. I have an old engine and trans that I will use to set it up and get the mounts made. So far so good. Everybody, keep up the suggestions and advice.
you dont have to cut the fire wall if you dont want to a small block will fit fine with out any cutting.
Tell me more! I thought it would have to be cut. Thought the front of the engine would be to far forward for the radiator to be in the right place.
I'm not pickin' on anyones choice of build styles. It's just that I wish I had done more research before starting my HJ project. I don't think an HJ can be much more traditional gasser than the Abomination car. Details like a Joe Hunt magneto were things I had forgotten about. I chose to stick with the stock frame and leaf springs for nostalgia as well. I think my engine is probably set back beyond the 10% rule that Gasser classes called for. I was thinking of the HJ with the Allison engine in it I guess. But then again, I guess his number one plug was still up there . I don't remember any coil-overs back in the day. Were they legal in the gasser classes?
Smilin Jack do you need a length measurement for a sbc to figure out if you need to cut the firewall or not ? This has most measurements for most popular engines http://www.carnut.com/specs/fengdim.html Here's a link to a collection of Henry J gasser photos too http://public.fotki.com/Fastplasticbldr/1_to_1_dragperforma/drag_and_photo_refe/ and lastly, build the car for you, that's what's important I used coil overs and ladder bars because for one thing I had the kit, but the reason I had the kit was because they work way better than leaf springs for racing. I also kept the stock front suspension because I feel it will have better travel than a straight axle and leaf springs, in racing as well...lol
Here is a clinic on what not to do with a HJ! Yeah it is mine and I got it this way. The tilt frontend I found later and it is a Rich Venza from the 60's. See my avatar. http://www.henryjcars.com/cherry/cherry.html http://www.henryjcars.com/henryjcars/mikekupdate/mikekupdate.html
Swade, I got an engine with trans attached that I will use to build mounts. It just seems it will be too long especially with a tunnelram if I don't cut the firewall. I don't mind doing that too bad though. I do plan to use the coilovers and ladderbars. I don't worry too much about staying totally traditional. I build Rev. War period flintlock guns for a living and some of the traditionalists bad mouth me because I don't exactly follow the "old paths" there either. Probably going to get the front frame stub and axle finished up by the week end. Thanks for the help. Jackie Brown
Swade41 Wrote: "I also kept the stock front suspension because I feel it will have better travel than a straight axle and leaf springs, in racing as well...lol". Check out the Shakey Pudin straight axle build here on the HAMB and the video of his car going into the wall due to bump steer with the stock set-up. That's why so many guys went to a straight axle.
Clik I'm not here to have a pissin match with you especialy on someone elses thread, kinda ruins it if you know what I meen. If you did a bump steer search here on the HAMB the majority of hits will be with straight axles. With that being said I know of several cars running straight axles down the track with no problems, more with independent though. Jackie you're just going to have to mock up the engine with the tunnel ram and see where she lies, to figure out the firewall thing. Don't forget I had to cut mine twice...lol
It's not a pissing match, it's how we all learn something. I'm happy to be proven wrong any day, because then I've learned something. I'm sure the author of the thread is listening intently and doesn't mind our input as he most likely wants to learn something from our mistakes as well. If I'm wrong he'll say so and I'll respect that. If you check those threads about straight axles with bump steer I think you will find they have push-pull steering and not cross steering.
Clik, Bump steer most often occurs with a push/pull type steering like we use on our t buckets. I've buil6t 6 T Buckets and this was never a problem but I guess I was lucky. I can't picture bump steer in a '55 chevy though. On a drag car where the wheels are in the air, when the thing comes back down, something's gonna happen. I don't call it bump steer, I think its bounce steer. I will use cross steering on my car. I've spent a lot of time in the last day or so just figuring out the front frame stub. It's all worked out and ready to weld in place. I make my own axle from 2 inch DOM and using lathe turned axle bosses drilled for Chevy Spindles. Got a set of 51 Chevy spindles off Ebay, now to machine them for the Gm rotors. Weld the bosses on the axle at a 4 degree angle and we're on the road. I will admit, from the start to the finish, there is a lot of measuring, remeasuring, thinking, a bit of spiced rum and root beer, careful welding, and more thinking. Swade, I think I will have to cut the firewall a little. I'm gonna set the engine on the new frame stubs and see where it sets in relation to where it needs to be. It'll post pics of the mock up. I appreciate all the input and information I can get. If I disagree with you, I'll just ignore you and do it my way anyway. LOL We're all on the same page. jackie
Jackie Wrote: "I appreciate all the input and information I can get. If I disagree with you, I'll just ignore you and do it my way anyway. LOL We're all on the same page. jackie". Ya see Swade, now that's Southern hospitality. Later Jackie. PS I sure wish mine was as rust free as yours. <!-- / message -->
I guess I was lucky I didnt have to cut my firewall I put put in a SBF 427 stroker motor and still had plenty of room for every thing . the only thing I had to do is make a bit of room in the tunnel for the bell housing to fit. I went with cross steering also Jackie. Im looking for a good pedal set up right now for the car and it looks like the kogel fire wall mount set up looks the best but $400 hurts. any ideas for this would be helpful.
Esbit, I plan to look for a donor car pedal. If that don't work, speedway sells a nice power booster/MC/ pedal set up that looks good for about 200.00. I have an old '84 TransAm that I going to study on for the brake pedal. I'll let you know if it works out.
That's sort of how mine started. It was just intended to be a street car that had that gasser look and sound. Once I got into the project further, I grew to dislike the thought of it being a "faux" gasser. So I decided if it has the look, it should have the bite (plus I liked the idea of going faster). From what I have read about your project, the engine combo along with other speed goodies should give it the bite of a street machine, and keeping it within the gas class rules will nail the look. In the end it makes for a very legit HJ gasser. A lot of the gassers in the 60s were street cars. Mine is still a street car. As far as building it to race goes. If you are anything like me, when you get behind the wheel of this thing, you won't be able to resist mashing the pedal and letting this thing's tongue hang out... whether that be on the street or strip. The difference is, on the street you will have less than ideal conditions along with possible road hazards. My best opinion on such a project, would be to build it like you would a race car, whether you intend to put it on the track or not. It will still endure the same abuse and fatigue on the street as it would the strip, if not more.
For those of you unfamiliar with my car. This is it. <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SNX5h1yfNBQ?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SNX5h1yfNBQ?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
I have watched allot of threads about your car and I love that you kept build in a traditional style. Jackie Im running a 4 speed in my car, Im looking for pedals with out a power booster I have a very heavy cam in the engine and single plane intake so not much vacuum.
I've actually looked into pedal assemblies for 4 speeds, because I have a soft spot for Clutch Turbos. They are pricey though, so that's not in the foreseeable future. What I would use, is the CNC pedal assembly with the hydraulic clutch. They make a nice little petite clutch pedal with an inward facing cylinder. There looks to be plenty of room under the cowl, behind the gauges for it, and this would eliminate any difficulty with mechanical linkage and it would shield the cylinder from heat off the fenderwell headers. I can't tell you how much they are, but I would think they are relatively affordable. CNC is not a 60s company. They have been making stuff since the 60s, but it wasn't until the early 80s I believe that they went into actual production and product sales.
The front frame is built. Now, on to the straight axle. As soon as that's done, I will get the motor mounts made. Still wondering about the firewall.
One of these days I'll have to learn to weld... and do body work... and tin work... and electrical... in the mean time you can never thank those who have the talent to make your dream a reality, enough
My advice is cut the firewall. You will be glad to have the extra space for the radiator. We recessed the motor on Von Hartmann's HJ 3". There are details of how it was done on the Henry j page. We have seen it done several ways. We chose to leave the body mounts in place and fit the motor with the Chevy II headers in mind. I see your front body mounts are still in place, good idea. The beauty of building cars like this is there are no wrong answers as long as it works.
Well said, my firewall was recessed with the old wheel barrow trick, so I tried to keep as much of that old style in there. My front body mounts were gone allready so just adapt and overcome with what ya got. What front springs are you going to use Jack ?
I plan to use the 31 inch springs from Speedway. They're fairly cheap and worked well on the last Chevy II I put a straight axle under. I will set a motor and trans in place next week and see just how much to cut. I feel it coming though. LOL Actually, I never cut a firewall and I'm kinda looking forward to it. There's just not much to be in the way of a cut. I think it'll be fairly simple.
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