Alright, well....here goes.... I have been on the HAMB for awhile now. Just haven't posted much. I wanted to start the build thread for my gasser. Its a 53 ford customline. I got the car about a month ago, I have bought some new parts and done some stripping and patching here and there but I have not jumped in feet first yet. Getting there. Ive always loved gassers since I saw the book "gasser wars" in a bookstore. I am only 27, but I've grown up around cars and racing my whole life. I finally am settled in with a family and the money is there so Im gonna build my own now. I live in upstate SC and I have seen the south east gassers a couple times. I would love to race in that class, but I seriously doubt I could ever find the time to dedicate myself to that type of commitment of racing consistently. Right now my wife goes to school fulltime to be an electrician. So time is tight. As your gonna see, time is gonna be my biggest hurdle. Not that I have money running out of my ass or anything, lol, but I am pretty good at saving up for purchases. But I am going to build this car as traditionally as possible and as close to the south east gasser rule book as possible just in case time opens up. I am planning on mopar power. Just to be a little different. Plus my dad was always a mopar guy. Probably a small block bc of the "10lbs per cubic inch" rule. I figure the car will end up around 3300ish. So maybe a high rpm 340 is in order. Obviously a 4 speed. 9 inch rear is already under the car. Speaking of the car, it was a race car at some point. Or at least a pretty decent street freak considering it has radiused rears, a 9 inch already under it. Someone hacked the front crossmember out for an FE. It had some old gauges installed. The windows had crusty yellow tint on them. Slapper bars on the rear leafs. Lots of rubber in the rear wheel wells from burnouts. Air shocks on the rear axle. It looks like 70's type stuff. Anyways, enough yapping. Here is the old heap...anymore questions, ask away!
Some parts. New rockers. New front fender patch (I have two of them, dunno where the other one is) and my good ole' generic speedway axle kit. Annnddddd, no, those arent the tires going on the ford. Haha.
And basically done. I ran out of time, wife had other plans for me. So I left most of the finish grinding until the next day. Ill see if I can get a newer pic later.
I've always liked that body style. We had one when I was little, and ever since I saw the street racing/drag racing episode of the old TV show Adam 12 (Reed has a bitchen one of these) when I was a kid, I was hooked. I'll be watching, let me know if I cam help. Dblgun on here has a hoard of Mopar stuff too, and is a cool cat, willing to wheel and deal.
I saw some pics of that Adam 12 car. I think I read somewhere it had a FE in it. Yeah, its pretty solid in all the important places. Needs some love on the rockers and a few other places though. Nothing major. When I saw how solid the floors were I was sold on the car. I love the 52-54's, but parts are a pain in the ass to find depending on what you need. Ill def be hitting up the mopar guy. 340 stuff is kind of scarce around here. Thanks guys!
AWESOME! I am not a Ford man but this should be an interesting build. I hope to build a gasser style car one day soon. I am already scrounging parts to use or to trade for stuff to use. Remember Craigslist and the HAMB classifieds are your friend.
Thanks guys. I really appreciate the encouragement. Probably going to rethink the engine combo. I think a 383 or 400 mopar build would be more period correct for mid-60's as long as its dressed up as a 383. They both look the same on the outside and are far more available than a 340 around here. The 400 has a damn strong block and a huge bore. Anyways. Still throwing around ideas in my ole noggin. Like I said, going to try my best to build this as close to the south east gassers rule book as I can so in the future, if I decide to run in that group I can have just minor stuff to change around. Still stripping the paint off panel by panel. What a pain in the ass. Lol. Bitchin doesnt get it done faster though! Gonna run some errands and then get some done today. Hope everyone has a kick ass weekend! -Matty
Thanks! I guess craigslist is a small place. Lol. Im actually kicking around the idea of dressing a 400 up like a 413 max wedge, but blowing around $2k on one of those fancy-pants cross ram intakes is a little hard to stomach. I think it would be a unique thing to see inside of a early 50's for gasser though!
You can watch that whole Adam 12 episode on YouTube. I like the low deck wedge idea better & you can save your dough on the crossram as Mopar only made them for the RB (raised block) unless you use a 59-60 early RB 383.
Around here (California), people will give away 383's, but want money for 400 blocks. If your on a budget, get a 383, scour up a 440 crank (preferably forged), turn the mains down to fit the 383, offset grind/stroke it to 3.900.-3.915, while reducing the rod pin to big block Chevy (2.200) size), use a 6.800 long rod (every one has these available, from cheap to expensive), for a nice 1.75:1 rod ratio, and 1.230 pin height that will make the piston ALOT lighter. You can build a 450"er for peanuts, reduce bearing speed by reducing the rod & main journals, reduce pushrod deflection by using shorter pushrods, in a shorter block. With the right aftermarket pistons/pins/rings & rods, you can remove 7-9 POUNDS of reciprocating weight, and have a short block that turns over @ 15 lbs. of drag, instead of the origina 50+ lbs. of drag. If you want two 4's, Indy has a maniforld, Offenhouser made a low rise, a high rise, and a tunnel ram. Edelbrock made the STR's, Mopar made and M1 tunnel ram, Weiand made a tunnel ram (best 2 x 4 manifold for this combo by a COUNTRY FRIGGEN MILE!. AFB'S are everywhere for 0 to cheap. If you use production heads, put full bronze guides in them, and reduce the stem dia. from 3/8. to, 11/32 for better flow, and lighter valve weight. With the money you save on HP per cubin inch (100+ cubes over the 340 idea, Kip, I'm trying to name you "Skip" on this one ), you can invest in a hyd. roller so you never have to worry about piss poor cams/lifters these days going flat. Spend the dough for some Morel lifters with bushings, not needle bearings, that, and the mild spring pressures will make the valve train live for ever, and you can run beehive springs, and small retainers for even better rpm capability. Paint the whole thing red, and get "Golden Lion 361" decals for the valve covers. This was a 2 x 4 engine rated at 310HP back in the day, and I've never seen anybody do one like that.
I'm not a small block guy by any means...I just thought he already had an LA engine. If it was me I would do as big a ci as I could...big don't need to spin as hard and the torque is almost free.
Ya, I wasn't gonna say anything either when the LA small block was first mentioned, but as soon as he opened the big wedge door, BAM!, I was on it like a rat on a Cheetoh! He could also just turn down the mains, and use the 6.760 440 rods with the stock stroke (3.750) 440 crank, and build a low deck 426 (the way Chrysler should have). Obviously the 400 block would be better, but I've seen good core blocks alone bring $500 I have a 2 x 4 inline Edelbrock STR for my '62 Dodge 383 Super Stocker, but the as cast Weiand tunnel ram is 35-40HP @ TQ better right off the bat. Even if I was talented enough to Frankenstein the STR into being equal, it would take a lot of work, and I don't see a manifold with runners laying on their sides, ever being a good as one with runners aiming nearly vertical from the ports right to the plenum floor/carbs. Think about it, if the air/fuel had to get to the combustion chamber with no help from the piston drawing it in there, a vertical "fall" would be best right. I'm pretty sure you could get a low deck wedge & Tunnel ram under that 53 Ford hood with room to spare! Don't mess with engine mounts either, use elephant ears, and grind/machine all that heavy cast iron off the side of the block. I am selling my 62 Dodge, and so far, no one seem really interested in the engine (NHRA legal Super Stock 2 x 4 Inline 383 combo) which should make right at 600HP. If I can sell it with, or without the car, I might throw it in the '56 for awhile sometime, or better yet, in a future Anglia we find sooner or later, with our Clutch Turbo behind it, or one of our Nash/Jerico's.
Thats insane with how much weight you can shave off a reciprocating assembly by going with this combo. Thanks for that info man. I especially like the 361 decals! Definitely like this idea.
If you can't locate the 361 decals, I have a set I'll give you. They'll probably only work on painted or chromed stock type valve covers, not finned aluminum, no good place to put them. There is a HAMB Alliance member, Exeter Auto Parts (they're in northern California, that has all the remaining NOS Offenhauser inventory. I checked awhile back, and they still had some 2 x 4 Hi Rise intakes, but they aren't cheap, nearly $500 I believe. You can find the Weiand tunnel rams for much less on Fleabay/Craigslist/swapmeets. PS. My Super Stock assembly was 7.5 lbs lighter than the factory 4 BBL 383/335HP parts. That's 3,405 grams!!! We turned the crank counter weights down .750 (3/4 of an inch), (reduces windage),and STILL had to drill a few holes in them for balancing. Look up Ishuhara-Johnson crank scrapers (Crank-scraper.com). They make bitchen crank scrapers for everything, and they're worth 15 HP on a big block Mopar .Don't believe me, ask Lance, or Jason Line.., yes, that Pro Stock driving Jason Line. They pre-fit them according to your stroke, about $70.00, and they have a deluxe version with an adjustable Teflon wiper blade, that is much easier to grind/fit, for around $140 I believe.
Here is the intake I was thinking of earlier. Its an edelbrock str-15. Its like a cross ram knock off for the low deck 383-400. They are super hard to find, expensive ($1400-$1800) 0__0 and more than likely make less power than a tunnel ram...but....stilll sooo keewwllll! I will prob just grab a tunnel ram. I like them. Ive had one on a small block before. Loads of power up top.
Crank scrapers are underrated as hell. A few ounces of oil splashing up onto a moving crank at rpm is adding weight to it. Especially when you are sweating grams in a rotating assembly, it doesnt take much oil to add alot of weight. Most people overlook that. Crazy something so simple and inexpensive is worth 10-15hp.
If you want a cross ram, this is the one to have, but yes, they are hard to find, and bring big $. They are much easier to tune with the removable lid too. If you use one with AFB's modify the carb pads to run the carbs facing forward. With them facing each other as Mopar built them, they have a problem keeping the primary, and secondary jets covered with fuel, because AFB's have slosh plates for front to rear fuel control, not side to side. You can fix the problem, as we do in Stock, and Super Stock cross ram Chryslers, but you have to move the jet location in the carb. Funny enough, some Buick Nail Head AFB's had this modification, which was not really needed because the 2 x 4 setups were mounted inline. I always wondered if Buick had thought of doing a long, or short runner cross ram nail head, with the carbs mounted facing each other, and had the carbs made that way, but scrapped the cross ram idea. Q-jets facing each other on a cross ram suffer the same problem.., ask me how I know! I don't know if Mickey Thompson ever made a Ram Log for the wedge like they did for all the other popular engines, but those manifolds are crap for making good power/Tq. They may look cool, but that's it. If you find one of those, and use it.., you are dead to me!
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