Gasser Era Questions

Its pretty sad when someone is trying to get questions answered and someone is trying to preach up their car. Go bicker somewhere else.
This build sounds a lot like Von Hartmann's Abomination Henry J. Very cool

 

Is this nostalgic enuff? 5.60X15 on 4" fronts and 10.00X15 Hurst pie crust slicks on 15X10" magnesium rear rims. Use ET's Vintage V front runners, exact reproduction of the American 4" rims in aluminum - very nice!

 

Here is something to think about on your interior, this is a Henry I did some work on for a friend, the offset around the edge might be more than you would want for a 60's era G***er. On the rear suspension bars, I would consider rectangle tube, 1.1/2" X 2.1/2" with the fronts rounded and sleeve for a pivot, clean, simple and will work great.

 

I'm no where as militant as some, but I think from the grandstands the car should look correct.
Here is what I'm working on and no its not a g***er because it has a man size engine setback double the cl*** limit.

www.meltdowndrags.com

 

See Tom,
You got your ******* in a wad and I never said a damned thing derogatory about your ruck. I do have some steelies if you want them..

I chose you because you were there, I guess if you want your wheels to be fake anything more power to ya. I was giving you an out and instead you dove deeper in.

I think that we have a real problem defining "g***er" because we look at it as a look and not a cl*** of car. If the look is what one is after then they have completely missed the point, street beasts were mostly about the look, gas cl*** cars were all about making it to the big end before the other guy. Maybe they ran lifted, once the rules allowed for that, maybe then ran as close to the asphalt as possible, racers do whatever is required and within their power (and budget) to make it to the big end first.

Now getting back to it if one puts aside there insecurity and looks at a discussion as just that a discussion there is no need for all the drama.

 

Point taken...

BTW...
If my ******* were in a wad (which they are were not, and are not by the way) your last sentence >>I chose you because you were there<< pretty much sums it up....was not even posting to you....

I did give you an out to PM me, but you chose instead to bring it back here.

Propose a truce, so the OP can get back on his subject? I've already deleted my posts you have replied to, thinking this is only fair to him and the rest of the forum......

 

I started calling them radio tires when the old man put the first set on his roadster in the late '50s or early '60s. I could never understand why he needed radio tires when his car didn't have a radio. Anyway in my mind they will always be radio tires. The whole radial not radial debate falls on deaf ears to me, in the era that we call traditional I know of several cars around the bay area that ran radials.

The Ol' Man prefered Perellis by the way but if he couldn't swing them for whatever reason he would run Dunlops in a pinch. They were both still import tires back then.

I dumped it from my post because it didn't add anything to the discussion and part of it was just plain mean. No need to be just plain mean that only adds to the drama.

 

Thanks for doing that... I agree on the drama.... tis' not needed, and not fair to anyone else...

 

Swade, sounds like you had a stressful day of sanding your own Henry J, or maybe your back is bothering you. I can relate to that. You would think we were picking your car apart. We were'nt even picking Rustang's truck apart. There has been alot of constuctive advice on this thread. I think the OP gets it, I think Rustang gets it and I'm sure you do too. I hope Marty keeps showing us more of his work. If the OP wants to see how it's really done, he should check out Kiwi Kev's g***er builds.

 

So we are not made at each other?

I used to know where ther was a Plymouth truck set up about like yours by the way. [Pretty rare truck] he used to load slicks inthe bed and race it on grudge night. Drove it to and from work the rest of the time.

 

heres my old J maybe give you some ideas? it had 37-41 willys axle on the front it fit well and those are common, Americans in the back, and Halibrands in the front also had rockets in the front that were cool. moon tank for the grill, 57-64 olds rear end.

 

Are you going to use the stock front of the ch***is, or cut it off and
stub on some rectangular tubing. I bet there were more built with the
stock frames in the 60's using a pickup, early chevy axle w/ parallel leafs
or a ford axle with cross spring. Everybody thinks of the AA/GS Willys
like Stone,Woods & Cooke , K.S. Pittman and George Montgomery, but most
of the cars were the little guys with carburetors or injectors and home built.
On my Henry J project, I chose to keep the stock ch***is, went with a
4" dropped axle on parallel leafs added disc brakes for safety. The rearend
is a 56" wide 9" Ford on the stock rear springs with some 50" long square
tube ladder bars. Wheels are American Torque Thrusts 15 x 8.5" rears
and 15 x 4.5" fronts with 10.00 x 15 Hurst Piecrust and 165r-15 tires.
Radiused rear fenders , steel tilt nose with 8 point rollbar(ok the rollbar is
not period correct) as an old lakewood rollbar would have been, starting
out with a carburetor and planning on converting it to 8 stack injection.
I am not trying to build the perfect 60's g***er, just putting a lot of
the features in the car that I like.

John

 

Very nice work Marty! Vic

 

Good thread Plan on using info in my 50 stude build.

 

Very nice clean work there.

 

John, I plan on being pretty close to you.
I'm going to use the stock fram rails.
I'll PM you sometime because I want to see more pictures of your car.

 

Back to the original poster, for a historical referance. My Uncle started building his Henry J in 1969. At that time he had some large slot mags, an 8 inch out of a 62 Mercury Meteor, a chromed 36 Plymouth front axle, with 65 Mustang Disc brakes, and a hot 289/4speed. This was in tune with what was happening in the San Jose area at the time. Not nose high, but it was up a bit, and no frame stub, it was the stock frame. This was a backyard build. Sadly, the car sits much the same now as it did then, never finished with the engine long gone.
I have his other 53, (my build)with a 413 chyrsler, a 53 Chevy axle, 57 Ford rear on ladders, and 15x4 and 15x 10 Cragars. Been dreamin, and working on it 30 years. Never cared what anyone called it. While I am shooting for a 1968 look, there are quite a few details that will be more of a 70's thing. Do your research, find the look that you like, and build it for you. If you try to please everyone, you will please no one.

 

You're taking things out of context. I have no problem with people building a car in any manner they want. I also stated I like the 10 spokes, but like many other modern wheel there are so many cars running them I don't want them anymore. The original question was about building a period correct g***er, not about just building a g***er. It's hard to say I want a period correct g***er, and then say you want non period correct wheels. Why worry about being period correct, just build it the way you want.
As for gear ratios, and things like radiators, carbs, etc. It is the exterior of a car that gives the first impression. So things like gear ratio are done for whatever your car's purpose is. So if your car is used mostly for the street, then I see no problem with running a gear ratio that's useable, and you can enjoy your car more. My Austin sees mostly street use, and only made about 10 p***es down the strip last year. But with 6,000+ street miles I want something I can drive, so I run 3.73 gears.
I'm one of those old farts, being born in 1950, and I built/ran a '55 Chevy g***er with a 283/4 speed back in the end of the g***er era. I ran 4.10's in it because it saw as much strip time as street. And like most of my counterparts back then, we drove our cars to the strip every weekend. Only the big guys could afford a trailer and a tow rig then.
Yeah, I thought all the cars were cool back then if they ran in the 13 sec or faster, because they were as fast or faster than my '55, but there were very few dedicated drag race fans who didn't know who Ohio Geroge was back then! Hell, he was NHRA champion and record holder from way back in the 50's, so most of us admired his consistency and winning ways throughout the 60's.
My Austin is not period correct. Never said I was looking to build an authentic period correct car when I started it. No matter what I did to it, it could never be period correct, because NHRA didn't allow the early Austins to compete back then. They didn't meet minimum wheelbase length, and if the wheelbase was stretched to meet minimum they'd not be a g***er, they'd be an altered.
My point here is that it doesn't matter if you build a non period correct g***er, just accept it's not period correct (as I have) if it's got various things on it that make it incorrect, and don't get upset about your choices. We're supposed to be having fun with these builds, not defending our choices.

 

I don't recall saying on here anything about being upset. I just want some help & advise.

 

No, I didn't think you were upset. Seems more like the rest of the crowd that's getting worked up over nothing.

 

I couldn't agree with you more.
The topic was lost long time ago & the questions were never really addressed!

 

Ha Ha! Yeah!

Maybe you would have gotten better answers if the ***le your thread would have read "How would you build a Street G***er?".

 

Depends on the pocket book, in the early '60s a car that was a street strip car (gasers were still street legal through '64 except for blown gas) would have run American or Halibrand magnesium wheels if you had deep piockets or steelies if your pockets we not so deep. A 7" slick would have been real common, hell I was still running steelies and 7" slicks in '70.

If you look at the early rules the rules state that cars in that cl*** could not be raised to gain a traction advantage, but lots of cars that sat high stock were left at a stockish ride height. Now I am suggesting NHRA rules here, there were a ton of little sanctioning bodies out there, the NHRA just has staying power so I default to them.


The wider stickier tires came out or became more common in the later '60s. As did the craigers and Ansens and the like.

Ladder bars were popular in the earlier '60s many of them were built pretty crudely from 1" square tubing. Later '60s and earlier '70s ******* bars became popular on street strip cars as well as wild panel and flake paint jobs.

OK that is certainly not going to be the definative answer to your questions and I have no doubt missed something but it is a start.

Maybe if you really want the high lifted big tire thing just build it that way and don't name it. Let everyone who views it decide whatever it that want it to be.

 

It has Often been said that the two most important things on a Hot Rod are the Wheels & Tires and the Stance - this defines the car more than anything else. Whether or not you agree wit that is up to you, but it is pretty much accepted by most car guys - Let's face this, along with paint are what attracts or repels you when you first look at a car! How often on here do we see "Change the wheels and it will be killer", "WOW that wheel change made all the difference' Etc.

Look at my avatar - I can look at the car every day. The rear wheels are 10" wide, have been since the 60's including when it had Halibrands before the Cragar sponsorship. And the cut off for G***er's isn't 1965 - not on this board and not in the original cl*** of racing, and that is part of the discussion.
And how do you know he has a stressful job? maybe his job relaxes him from reading all the drama on here

There ya go, two real deal cars still turned out like the hey Day!!

Some very good points! With one small exception; they did amend the rules to allow the wheelbase of the Anglia's and Austins to run as G***er's - first only as injected small block cars, and when all the big name Anglia's in particular went Match Racing they finally allowed to run blown as well.

Ha Ha - well some of it was in a round about way You just have to read between the BS
Now, what was your question again

 

fibergl*** front cap on cr okie city...

 

Not at all... all's good......that Plymouth reminds me of my dads old '36 dodge... had a buick engine and used to take me to school in it must have been about '66 or '67...Have not thought about that truck in years...

 

G***er Cl*** rules , and changes from 1958 to 1969 . Very good breakdown of the different cl***es , wheelbase , engine height , interiors , and fibergl*** useage .

I'm about as dumb as a rock with computers . So i hope this scans and loads .

 

around '66 I lived about a block from the school. The Ol' man was still driving the roadster then, saturdays were still our days. I still am not a big fan of roadsters, Hemmingway said that the coldest winter he could remember was a summer in San Francisco, he was right.