I checked the runout and it was perfect! There is a crank hub spacer made from aluminum, it's more of a flex plate indexer I suppose. I took the hub spacer to my machinist and had him take 5/16 off and now car the starts perfect every time. I yanked the hemi out and put my Hilborn injected SBC back in. I should start small to get a feel for my car before going to the Hemi anyway. I have the SBC tuned fairly well but I could definitely use Quain Stott's hands on it.
It's looking like a period built Willys Gasser that was unearthed from somewhere and the sign is funny after sinking all of the money into the Hemi you don't have enough money to get back home.
7 years ago I brought this bucket home. I wonder if I would have completed it sooner if I didn't have a baby.
Oh my gawd' .... I still can't believe you churned that toasted piece of sh#t into the BAMF'r it is now. THIS is why I love this place. King Kong sized nuts to envision and then save, other people's trash piles destined for the scrapper. Amazing. What a beauty !
yes you couldve.... yes...you couldve but if youre like me youre probably a lot happier to have both haha. i get bummed i have next to no spare time but i have to have my little helper and someone to give my hot rod to someday
I love my girl more than any material object on earth and I would give my life for her without a second thought. BUT.... I have NO free time to work on my cars and it is a miracle that I have gotten as far as i have. It does sting a little every time I walk into my backyard and see my cars just sitting.
i know the feeling haha i have 4 projects sitting around that all need my attention https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/47-coupe-build.1133545/
It is such a blast meeting some of the older guys that physically were at the races. George Klass is SUCH an important wealth of knowledge. I originally wrote him in regards to my OTHER Coupe, as I will be building it to be as"low buck" as possible, similar to the early days of racing. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1940-willys-coupe-project.1107265/ He wrote me back when I asked if they ran stock 16" front steel Willys wheels back in the hey day. As far as using the stock wheels, I have no doubt that many of the early cars did. Most of the early cars used steel wheels all around in the 1950's and there would have been no reason why they would not have run the stock wheels in the front, provided they could get a decent tire. There used to be several wheel shops in the SoCal area that specialized in adapting a wider outer rim to the stock inner center part of the wheel, and welding them together. I have also seen a narrower outer welded to the stock inner part, so they could run a narrower tire, like a race tire for a Porsche, for front wheels. Apparently, there were narrower outer wheel rims from foreign cars that fit. It was kind of like you say, most drag guys (or teams) were low buck operations. Anything they didn't have to buy, they didn't buy. In fact, most of the stuff that racers needed, they traded for, either with parts or with labor (the credit card had not been invented yet in the 1950's). Some guys knew how to weld, some knew how to do upholstery, some (like Don Prudhomme) knew how to paint cars, etc. Labor trades were as good as money. I knew how to build wood decks, for instance, and also how to clean carpets. I traded services like that for all kinds of engine parts back in the day, everyone did. This was especially true in the lower Gas Classes, like C/Gas on down. Many competitive C/Gas Willys were very stock as far as the chassis and body. Most cars in all the Gas Classes were all steel cars when it came to the body. In the '50's, plastic (fiberglass) body parts were actually few and far between, and even then, they were pretty heavy pieces. We just gutted the interior and inner body panels to cut weight. In fact, 90+% of the parts you needed to go racing you could nt buy, you had to either make them, or scrounge them from junk yards or Army-Navy salvage stores. On our AA/FD twin Chevy dragster, we never had aluminum rocker arms or aluminum rods. We boxed our own rods, and modified the stock rocker arms. Blocks and heads were cast iron. Stroker cranks were welded cranks. It actually didn't take much money to run a AA/FD in those days, if you were willing to make all your own stuff, and this was true in the Gasser Classes, Altered Classes and most of the other classes. This was also the main reason that guys formed "teams" of three and four guys, to share the cost of anying you had to buy (like nitromethane, $5 a gallon)... On my site, which I started in 2013, I tried to put the focus on those early years, even prior to the 1960's, to let people see the way it really was back then, when drag racing was simple and fun, when people raced just to race, not to make money. A plastic trophy for the winner was great, but even if you didn't win, it was a wonderful feeling. Drag racing today is a lot like hot rodding is today, nobody builds a car for themselves, they buy everything and have somone else build it for them. Based on your talents, you would have fit right in back then. Please keep in touch. Regards, George
Drumyn29, thanks for sharing that it is interesting to read the words of the guys who lived it. I am on the other side of the rising kids, and set aside projects; it was all worth it when my son thanked me rising him and sending him to college.
It's kind of funny, I check in to the HAMB almost every day and somehow I've never seen this thread before until Jeff sent me a link. Jeff is an artist, an artist with a vision. He knows how to do stuff, and he knows other guys that know how to do stuff. Looking at this thread this morning starting at the first post, it's like going back in time. I just can't believe he is as young as he is (he is half my age). On the other hand, maybe I'm having trouble beliving that I'm as old as I am...
This has been nothing short of a miracle. Unbelievable. You say that you're a handyman? No kidding! Nice house and shops, BTW.
Took my car out to get my Hilborn tuned by Bob Mc Kray today, what a great guy! I have been in a mad rush to get my ramp truck and car ready for Eagle Field but it looks like my motor sounds hurt and needs to be freshened up, so I won't be going out this year. Pretty stoked that my ramp truck made It's maiden voyage without any issue from L.A. to Mission Viejo today. My car and truck haven't left this house since I bought the truck and built the car.
I did a compression test the other day and it was perfect. It seems like there is one dead cylinder, so I'll take the intake off tomorrow and pray that a lifter broke or hopefully a bent pushrod. The only other choice is to tear the engine down and freshen it up but still won't have time for Eagle field. Of course I have my Hemi's but that's a LOT of horsepower to a car with no track time.
I hope your engine repair is very minor! The news on your ramp truck and new car is AWSOME! Hoping for the best, Gary
Took the intake off and everything is fine. Dropped the pan and inspected all of my rods bearings, not so good on one, she got hot. I think I am going to roll the dice and install new bearings, oil pan gasket and intake gasket and let it run.
I'm in this same boat! Oil pressure started fluctuating. Found out I still had the stock bypass check ball in the oil pump and the spring had broke! Replaced it with one of those aluminum inserts. Also found the front main bearing clearance was a little out of spec., and almost all the wear was on tbe top half of the bearing. 20 years of the crank trying to climb the blower belt will do that, I guess. Crank looked fine so I put new bearings in it and it seems fine running around town. 70 psi of cold oil pressure (thick oil!), and 50 at operating temps at 30-35 mph. Gonna buzz it down the freeway this weekend if it doesn't rain and see what happens. Good luck with yours. I know where there is a pretty reasonable crank if you need one, but it's 30-30. Sent from my SM-G955F using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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