GASSER MUST HAVES and cant haves?

Langy, your 3 build threads are some of the best things on the Hamb.True inspiration.

 

Rod that's very kind of you, thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the ride along


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Very well done.

 

Funny, I actually built one of yours over here...Austin Somerset.

 

Thanks, I just did the best I could with what I could afford really, not 100% accurate but for me it was important to get the look and to build how they would of thought about it back then.


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And very nice it is to buddy looks a wild ride


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A few random thoughts on the "Traditional" thing.

It was in the late 50's that I first became aware of cars that were other than stock. I was a kid in Maryland right on the DC line (Mt Rainier) and later moved halfway toward the neighboring and infamous Chillum. The area was a hot bed for cars, motorcycles and real hoodlums. Lots of outlaws that didn't give a rats ass about the NHRA's rules or even that of society.

There were times when an outlaw would roll a full race car out on the street from one of the many shops in the area and make a night time pass down Rhode Island Avenue. Rocket Welch made a pass with one of his rocket powered motorcycles down the street one night.

But back to the point. You'll read where "white wall cheater slicks weren't traditional", "nose high cars weren't traditional", "tinted plexiglass windows weren't traditional", "trucks weren't traditional", etc. But if you do a little picture hunting you will find plenty of pictures (taken in the 60's) of cars/trucks in the era with these features on this site alone.

I personally remember cars that sat really high in the front, tinted Plexiglass windows that slid in tracks horizontally, white wall cheater slicks, nose high straight axle pickup trucks, etc. and this was on the street as well.

Someone posted that gassers were painted nicely and everyone took pride in their cars. Well, maybe you West coast guys with all that good weather had nice cars and money to burn but there were a whole bunch of primed cars with rust bleeding through in my area. I remember Jungle Jim running a primer car at Aquasco.

Maybe what the "Traditionalist" posters should be saying is "It wasn't common in my area" or "it didn't meet the NHRA rules"

And rules were made to be broken, especially by hoodlums, outlaws and track owners that preferred attendance and gate $ over NHRA's rules..

One of the things that made the era so interesting was the UNCOMMON and the innovation.

 

Deep sump oil pans were the thing too,
and those 4" oil pump extensions with
the OFF the BOTTOM oil pick up
that eliminated the tube-n-screen pan(cup),
was advertised to give you 15 more pounds of pressure.
We made our own oil pans, one pan ,ended up being a (9) Quarter 11-1/5 inches deep ,
with the dual remote oil filter(2) and hoses that held a quart (1)
the change was ((( and some racers added (2) more quarts over the full line,
because at 50/60 pounds at idle there would be a LOT of oil up top at hi-revs
trying to make its way back down,))) so our change was a case of (12) oil,
then put 1-or-2 more quarts in..... chow chow (14) quarts each and every race day.
good thing we had a oil sponsor that let us LOAD up ALL we wanted.

 

What kind/brand of oil pump did you use? I always felt that the 'gearotor' pumps
were smoother than the straight-gear chevy-style pumps. And I hate Fords (not really!).

 

Extremely worked over chevy pumps,
mostly the BB ones on the SB engines.
add EDIT...TRW's ,melling,and one more, but brain fade might be holding me back...lol

 

Deep sump pan - check. Standard volume/high pressure pump (standard Z/28 pump with original white bypass spring) - check. Ready to go.

 

Larry,
Did you use those drop oil pump kits that came with
an aluminum block with longer pump bolt and longer distributor drive shaft...?

 

OK Anybody------ - - - >

 

No, I never used them. I think they would work fine, but I never had any trouble using a stock style pickup tube.

When I started doing performance work, I used (still do) The Chevrolet Power Manual (sold by Chevrolet through their parts department) as the basis for most of the performance engines I built. Their recommendation for oil systems was basically the setup that came on the Z-28 engines. It always worked for me, so I never changed it.

Like I said, basic setup was Z-28 style pump, a deeper pan (if it would fit), windage tray, quite a bit of work on the block to get the oil back to the pan ASAP and a little work on the rear main cap to get the oil to flow as smooth as possible. For me a deep sump pan was around 2" deeper than stock and you could buy a pickup from Moroso or Milodon to work with that. Only other upgrades were maybe Moroso/Manley anti-cavitation pumps and a few circle track engines I used some restrictors to keep the oil in the bottom end and not in the valve covers.


I always try to keep the rpms under 7500 on the stuff I build, but I always knew I couldn't afford to build a national contender either.

Sorry, I type slow!!

 

I think you're my OTHER brother.....

 

more pictures of oil pump drop extensions...
10-1/2 inch DEEP 8 quart 4" added oil pans...
And those Bottom feed pickups
Just Left over from the RACE days ...

 

...... just saving a space for some pictures of
the first chevy power green sheets loose
before they started binding them in paperback.
the predecessor to the book Larry is showing

net pic till i can find mine

 

^^^^^^As always some great stuff being shared here, thanks.

 

What about a front tow hook?
Without a bumper we should have an easy place to wrap a strap to get us off the track on a bad day.
What did they use back in the day?

 

I used a piece of my tow bar stock [ 1/2 by 2 in ] made a short piece with a hole for my tow rope, 2" away it had a tow bar bolt welded in and went into the frame mounted tow bar bracket

After a run put in the rope end with a nut and hook the other end of the 20 ft rope to my trailer hitch and tow me back to the pits, quick & simple

Plus when the tow car moves the rope would stretch and not snap your neck steering the 37' back

DND

 

When j was researching I saw all sorts of bits of metal screwed onto the front bumper mounts, I went with this in the end as it looked neat and j saw a lot of them





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HI STEVE you doing ok looking forward to see more of your build get well !

 

Is it a hook or a loop?
You have inspired me.
I believe I am copying your wheelie bars.

 

Yep middle of page 8! definitely copying those!

 

Just resting at the moment bud, got to rest for at least 8 weeks


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It's s loop Dave, you see them everywhere here, I found a stainless one so gave it a polish


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I got the wheelie bar pics from a few early 60's pics. They are semi elliptic springs cut in half and held in place with U bolts

I did notice a few early pics where the ladder bars were mounted on the rear chassis rails, never could see how that would work ???


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I plan to make new leaf pads to hold the semi elliptics. Doubtful this car will ever wheelie. I bought some cast steel wheels. Maybe get that done soon and share pics.

I wanted a tow loop, thanks

 

Look forward to seeing them


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