Projects Trying to get my Banger to Freeway speeds???

I got on evil bay and bought a rebuilt carb from a guy in MN after getting tired of fighting the same carb issues when I had mine. I will go along with the flock on the brakes and front end. I went with Flathead Ted's mech brakes. Also had the 5.5 snyders head. Still with all my upgrades, 55 was about the limit. The local A club tried to convince me to put an overdrive in it but I showed them, I sold it . I wished the car had fit me better, it would have a 283 in it by now.

 

Semi correct,
And this ain't a threat about brakes, and the guy runs 1940 brakes, and as fare as I remember, they are hydraulic, self energized and generally the good stuff.
And this threat is actually about going faster, and he got stopping covered.

What I can't seem to find is the overall tire size, or length around.

You (OP) are correct that a two carbs will give you more power, in theory, but what it does is control your engine better and give less fuel in a better way, that will allow you better tun up.
If you know what you are doing.

The SU or Stromberg VV set up is beautiful. I would run that in a heartbeat, it should be cheaper then two 97 and manifold.
But you properly have to build your own intake

 

Freeway speed is 40 mph at least on most interstates, you are not saying that you are trying to get to legal speeds are you.

If you got an A banger even souped up 55 is pretty good speed. if you want a hot rod build one if you want a putz around car keep it the way that it is.

 

Isn't this how hot rodding was invented? Loving the picture of the banger with twin SU's . Bet it runs sweet.

 

Good stuff guys... thanks..
Will Kimble: OK: Tires on back are 7.00R16 Coker Classics. 5.50R16 on the front.
It does have a T-5 just don't know what one.
Bearing Burner: It already has 40 ford Hdy brakes. and Hyd shock kits front and rear. The rear bones have been reinforced with 1/4" angle. (see pic)
It has a short Pitman arm, steering is not to bad, (still "strong arm" powered, But OK.)
I have not felt any serious "wobble" yet....
Pete1: 153.7 I LOVE IT....
40Standard: "dump the 4 banger and stick a flathead or a 283 in it" that is actually on the short list. GMC_Bubba knows of a nice late flatty.. its the expense of the conversion and motor that holding me back.
A Rodder: good list of bangers you been involved with.. good advice. I am thinking about uping the head compression if I go with downdrafts carbs and headers.

 

To update a few things...

I was under it and didn't see a sticker on top of the tranny. Bill could pull the floor and doublecheck though. Without a sticker, is there any other way to tell what kind of T5? Is it a remove and rotate the shaft and count revolutions type of thing?

Maybe Linder has a tach you could borrow.

The low hanging fruit is probably a manifold and carb.

Seems like this could turn into a game of inches in some ways. We could triple check the ratio... It is either 3.54 or 3.78. A 3.27 would help if it is 3.78.

 

If I am not mistaken you jack the rear up with both wheels off the ground. Put the trans in high gear not the overdrive. Turn the motor over by hand one revolution and count how many revolutions the tire spins. If it spins 3 3/4 turns you have a 3.78 if it goes 4 turns its a 4.11. I looked at your specs and if you have 30 inch tires there is no reason not to be doing 65 mph. A little higher compression and downdraft would help. How did you check your speed? GPS would give a much better idea.

 

There is no sticker on a T5. You are looking for a metal tag bolted to the tranny where the trany is bolted together. There is a thread on here with all the T5 info you could ever want.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-ultimate-t-5-article.171291/

 

There was one on there, on the top cover, when it left the factory, or on the side, in final years.

They were white, with green letters, later, white with black letters.

From year-one, until the end, regardless of destination brand, on every single one....

 

I concur with Gimpy. Here's mine.
I's just a flat plastic stick-on tag. It could easily be covered with dirt. Paint would also obscure it easily.

 

Here is a "late" sticker:

 

Thanks Guys... The metal tag was just a big chunk of rust. Looks like a trip to the storage unit, to pull the floor up... Hopfully the tag will be there. Maybe take the batt out and charge it up a bit. I checked the speed by clocking with another car. Not scientific, but gave me an idea.

 

Did you check timing. My stock 29(a barn find) would go about 6o, maybe more but got a little scary. Timing can be a pain to set. I used pull all the plugs so I could feel the hole in the timing gear when I was turning it over(with a hand crank). Made a big difference. Don't forget the carb has a high speed adjustment on choke rod. Hope this helps a little

 

Yeah -- that's real. A blown gas Competition Coupe. Street-legal, I'm sure. And the timing tag? Did someone in Podunk make that? It's not real. Plus it's for a XXO class vehicle which isn't even a 4-cyl. And certainly not the one pictured below it.

Poor ol' semi-stock A-bones (restored?) don't like 65 mph however you gear them. Those theories mean that if you gear it right, you can go 200! Don't work.

 

frosty-49: Thanks...for the advice. The Distrib came from GMC_BUBBA of Bubba's Ignition Service in Speedway, IN.. He actually put it in, and timed it, made a BIG difference. So I think I may be OK there. The timing will have to be done again if I go to different carbs and headers of course.. I'm still dabbling with the Chock\High Speed adjust.

 

Using and OD of .76 you are trying for just shy of 2100 rpm at 65....In fourth around 2750....The engine really gives up before then? 5lbs of boost.......For a laugh picture this: Crosley at 65 mph is 5203 rpm, got another 200 rpm to rated at 5400, and a good tune one will get to 70 at 5800' ish....Every body stay clear..One bump and swapping lanes is not an issue, landing on another highway is....In my opion the OP's car is set up too good for what the banger can be expected to utilize...I was drag racing a car and I put in lower gears thinking it would help...Slowed down by .3, engine couldn't pull better just cause I ran more rpm; OD's are the same in that the engine can't pull better just because of lower rpm...

 

Way too much misinformation on this thread...you shouldn't need the approx 250-300 cfm dual carbs provide unless you have an OHV conversion and/or high (7:1+) compression and a radical cam. A single Stromberg 97 and touring cam - combined with moderate compression and stock trans/gearing should easily yield 60-65mph without much trouble.

This was done every day back in the 30's & 40's. Consider the following (period) article outlining Winfield's 6:1 (Yellow Head) and 7:1 (Red Head) and the speeds attainable (75 and 80mph, with B and BB downdrafts, respectively); and to think, this was done with stock gearing, factory A transmission, points ignition, and those death-defying mechanical brakes...(you guys amuse me sometimes)

 

Tierod;
If you have a gas fired water heater in your garage the fumes from your leaking carb could become a problem, it has for others.

On my T-5 the metal tag is bolted to rear (tailhousing) of the trans, could be unbolted and cleaned with a wire brush. Refer to the post above for ratios, there are 265 numbers, but only 5 or 6 different ratios. Crazydaddyo on here knows a lot about the T-5's, he makes a closed driveline adaptor that is really good, no problems with the rear wishbones.

 

If it is an S10 sourced T5, then there are only two gear sets.

 

if you have the .86 OD and changed to the .72 OD tranny, you would gain approx. 7 mph at cruising rpm. Assuming you have exhausted all tuning and carburation possibilities, this is going to be the biggest bang for the buck. Dropping one gear ratio in the rear end will only gain you approx. 5 mph at the same rpm. The idea of a tire change could not even get you that much.

I am betting you will discover the transmission overdrive ratio is the .86 version. This is where I would focus my attention, effort and money (after exhausting tuning and carb opportunities)

 

I don't see this anywhere in the thread, but how accurate is your speedo? Why not check your speed with the GPS ap on your phone before throwing $$$$ away? You might be doing better than you think.

I have a stock '30 coupe with a decent tune and not all the "goodies" that your car has. I can get to 55 easily. Do I cruise there any length of time....NO... but I can get to speed without trouble.

 

speed was measured by another car

 

Was the speedometer on the other car checked? For what it's worth the AAA used to have a speedometer checking unit that went between the various offices, if you are in AAA you might check to see of they offer that service.

Charlie Stephens

 

no matter what the speedometers read, he can't keep up with traffic. That is his goal

 

I stand corrected. Sorry for the misinformation. Of all the T5s I have had out of vehicles doing clutches and rebuilds, I have never seen one of those stickers. Learned something new today

 

Thinking about this a little more, I wonder if you're having an issue with valve float...Even on stock-cammed engines, valve float (due to relatively light valve springs) would serve as a defacto rev-limiter. Add a performance-oriented camshaft and the problem gets worse...use aftermarket (reproduction) valve springs (noted for being 'softer' than stock) and you could have a major float problem on your hands.

Stock Model A valve spring length (installed) is 2 1/2" with a pressure of 32 lbs. Jim Brierley (Winfield disciple and cam-grinder extraordinaire) recommends 40 lbs with a stock B cam and 60 lbs with most performance cams. 60lbs can be accomplished by machining a spacer to compress the spring...per Jim's instructions, stock A valve springs produce 62 lbs pressure when shimmed to an installed height of 2 1/8".

For my build, we went with 1-pc valve guides (compresses the springs .090") and 3/16" spacers - which created an installed height of 2.22" and a seat pressure of approx 55#. I figure I can always machine larger spacers to increase seat pressure (and gain RPM) if valve float becomes a problem, but considered this a good 'failsafe' rev-limiter in the meantime.

Just something to look into.

 

That video is SOOO wrong. The car should go up about 2" if they want to demonstrate the point.

 

This seems like a RPM issue.
With the tire diameter, rear gear, and OD known and the desired MPH it's easy to calculate the needed RPM.
What is the needed RPM?
Does it reach this rpm in 1st or second gear?
So what's keeping the RPM down?
Could be Air flow, however stock carbs perform fine.
Could be the Tune up & adjustments.
Could be a weak/tired engine that can't create the torque for the od gear.

 

What? You get the point in multiplying force in the hydraulic system? That it makes an different in how the brakes are operated! [emoji15]

It was the best one I could find, I know of a better I can't find it, and it's in Danish. [emoji20][emoji21]

Send me a link where there car moves the right amount, and I posted it in place of the other.

The valve float post seams reasonable! And could be a part of the problem.

 

Nothing against you my friend


It's a crying shame that some educator thinks that animation video is suitable to show anything without any reguard to the volume moved. You don't get to multiply force for free.

That cartoon has some Wile E coyote qualities