Customs This 1959 bel air should get you all worked up!!!

One question!.......WHY? A hell of a lotta work for mediocre at best results!!!! But I guess some people will do almost anything just to try to be different. Good luck with it !!! No pictures are needed.

 

Whats the problem? Just put 4 or 5 mufflers and a long ass tailpipe on it...

 

would be nice if that solved the problem, but mufflers don't help with all the knocking crap.

 

at least its not getting a YUGO motor!

 

Hey Cherokee Coachworks-

I think it's a great idea, but then again, I am biased. I know how great a diesel really is. I'v got a secret project brewing as well.

Why dont you come and join us on the diesel social group. Up at the very top of this page, right under the red HAMB logo, is a button that says "communitiy". Click it, and then click "social groups". Once the social groups page opens, type "diesel" into the search bar, and you will find my [our] social group. It's called "Diesel power [and bio-fuels] in a hot rod".

I just started the group a couple days ago, so there's not a lot of info there yet, but we do already have 3 members, and I havn't advertised it at all.

BTW, Cherokee NC is a beautifull town. I try and get down ther a couple times a year, and I look forward to eating at Bob's Diner.

 

well that's kindof a mean thing to say. but I guess i was expecting it anytime, everyone else had been so nice

 

I'm not really trying to be different, I'm trying to make a good car ;-) this isn't gonna be no garage queen, she'll be my everyday driver ( I hope ). The bel-air is pretty beat, and after the "lift-off" incident I didn't want a V8 or the fuel consumption that goes with it. Here's the kicker, when this is done all those people driving those hybrids will be eating black frenchfry smoke from my tailpipe ;-)

someone above this also posted something about the clanking and knocking from a diesel, I have not thought of a way around that, it's just one of the drawbacks to a diesel, even though i'm a fan of them i'll admit they have their drawbacks. the worst one is the off the line power, you just can't do a whole lot about that, but with that propane injection, i'll be able to get her up to a pretty impressive top speed.

 

...and just what does this piece of junk have to do with traditional rods or kustoms? I think you're on the wrong board here..........it sounds like a worthless project for any board..........I mean, really...............

CB

 

I think it's a cool idea.
Funny how "Hot Rodders" seem to think that innovative thinking should stop sometime in the early 60's. It's supposed to be what this sport/hobby is all about.

When the Fed starts regulating this hobby-- they are already talking about ATV's, motorcycles, automotive paint & supplies-- hopefully you won't have your head stuck in a time capsule and you can help do something about it.

 

And putting a benz in a 59 chev is gunna be ez? when i was a kid my neighbor put a 426 street wedge in a metro. Hell, come to think of it I put a 289 in a wheel barrow. with the same result the metro crashed into our fence and hit our house. The wheel borrow fell over. good luck look forward to drivin behind a big fin smellin' like a greyhound.

 

This thread >> http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=171665&highlight=diesel+powered+hot+rod <<<< Is a few years old, 12 pages of info, nearly 12,000 veiws !!

Most diesel threads get flamed into oblivion, this ^^one^^ didn't, or hasn't yet.

Its very easy to spot the people who are "Dieselily Illiterate".& practicing the continued ignorance of diesel power.

I can see being stuck on "tradition" but,
hypotheticaly if oil was not available for the making of gasoline in the near future, would you not re-power you ride to run on corn oil ?
Natural gas, propane, hydrogen, corn based alchohol, electric?
Would you let your ride sit and deprive yourself the pleasure of driving your hot rod ?

 

>>"One thing about these old big finned bel air's though. They will pick up off of the ground at 90mph+ I shit you not, the only time this car was running worth a flip I pushed it up to 90 and the rear end picked up and set down in the other lane, I thought I was dead... Hence my reluctance to put a 350 or something like that in it."<<

I have no idea what happened that caused your 'lift-off' to occur (pothole?), but it wasn't due to the fins.

Plenty of '59 Chevys ran in Grand National (NASCAR) races at 130-140 MPH with stock bodies- no lift documented, period.

Motor Trend Classic's Sep/Oct '06 issue ran a '59 Chevy numerous ways in the GM wind tunnel to test this myth- car actually exhibits a smidge of DOWNforce due to the fins. The only way they could record any lift was to test the car BACKWARDS. Were you driving 90 MPH in REVERSE ??

You could put a blown & injected 454 in the '59, sort out/rebuild the suspension and not worry about lift from the fins. It's an urban legend. Like someone said- that opportunistic dirtbag Nader would've been all over GM if he smelt a buck to be made with a million-plus 'spontaneous lane-changers' out there.

 

My advice is to quit considering it a hackjob right now, or it's guaranteed to be one.

Custom engine installations can be done very cleanly. Clean installs fall into one of 3 categories.

Group #1- the lucky fucks. The planets align, and so does everything underhood. The parts-selection equivalent of winning the lotto. These guys still have the mechanical skills to do the wiring/fuel/exhaust/radiator stuff correctly.

Group #2- the smart ones. They research for hours and measure for days. Then the donor is carefully selected and everything falls into place due to careful selection.

Group #3- the dedicated ones. These guys spend weeks modifing crossmembers and oil pans and floorboards and firewalls and radiator supports and go to the ends of the earth for one-year-only exhaust manifolds or oil filter adapters. This group has ALOT of resource & skill, or dollars at their disposal.

Look at your garage. Look at your car. Look in the mirror. Do you fall into one of those 3 groups? If you do, then charge ahead. If you don't, look real hard at what it's gonna take to join group 2. They're the safe bet.

Good luck!

 

isn't anything other than a flathead 4 cyl in a '29-'31 Ford, considered a "custom engine installation"?

 

From the first day of hot rodding, different engine / car combos have been the norm. You never new what you where racing from the shinny side of the hood. If your car fits in this definition, cool.

Theres nothing wrong with good gas milage but, If you are building the car to save the planet remember this. Green house gasses is called that because at one time it was pumped into green houses to help plants grow faster. Maybe still.

HAARP is damaging the outer layer of our atmophere, not old cars.
Search it.

I should have kept my 59!

 

i bet i can probably buy this fuck up in 2 years on ebay for 300 bucks

 

Cherokee, my only advice is to check the oil pan clearance for this combo. The M-B diesels' oil pans can't be changed, typically double-humpers, so crossmember work may be in your future. Also check starter-to-crossmember clearance.

Is it a 240D motor or a 300D? A 300D would have decent power, 240's are pretty pathetic IMO.

 

Thats not what the radios for???????????

 

No, they don't. 59's are very stable cars. The front end will get alittle light at about 95 MPH, or so, from pushing so much air. Other than that they are very solid and stable. The only reasons that one might jump around would be a worn out or damaged suspension, poor road conditions, or a driver who has had a few too many. By the way here is a good engine for a 59.

 

I agree with the above post for the engine choice "she's mighty fine",
but I also must throw in my 2 cents on the wing lift bit. Always wondering if it were true or not I did notice on the highway my 59 swaying sideways when a tractor trailor blew by me. The wings may be a factor but the car also being a big ass boat i'm sure also weighs in also. We'll have to get someone to weld some 59 chevy fins onto a escort or a cavalier to test this theory on a lighter , smaller car......

 

wow- If only they would have known in '59 that an alternatively fueled motor would actually make the car airlift....

 

Back when I had my '59 Caddy, I couldn't make lane changes over 75. The huge fins kept me goin in a straight line...

 

I would have sold the benz and bought a rebuild kit, I WOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE ROAD IN HALF THE TIME, put a700r4 behind it with 308's and you would probably get upwards of 20mpg with out much hassle. Just keepin it real due good luck, you are going to need it!!!!

 

The likely results are two bastardized vehicles hauled away to the salvage yard by tow trucks. You will run out of either money, commitment, knowledge, or patience or some other project will come a long to distract you and you will wise up on this one and bail out. Happens to many people.

My $.02

Marty McF.

 

OK not to stir up the chit but I'm really having a hard time getting worked up over a more door with a turbo diesel.

So tell me this do turbos suck or blow?

 

You might want to put the Mercedes emblems on the car also, I think they resemble old peace signs,then you and the car will match, Brilliant!. Hey, good luck anyway!