There is actually one of those that races up here Don. Its a newer one but is a wolf in sheeps clothing.
Sasquatch or fast chevy would probably know more about it and the owner then I.

-- Edited by janies dirty 37 on Tuesday 29th of April 2014 12:24:12 PM

Carl, how sweet of you to put your wife in your avatar!

 

Sorry,,,,,,,threadjack.

i ll take the DODGE

56loser wrote:

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i ll take the DODGE

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 The Dodge is a real fun car. Perhaps too much fun. Someday I will sell it but it will cause the prospective buyer to wince I hope.

I had a post 63 in the 70s but put a street hemi in it reworked for racing and ran it at Cayuga a lot. Big grey car. It would pull over 120 in the 1/4 which was at least respectable back then.

It always bothered me that a hemi didn't belong in a 63 so I was always looking for a 426 MW. In between I became well experienced on BB mopars eventually writing the book Old Reliable which is still selling giving the stuff no one tells you on how to build a strong bracket car and specifically a very strong but not expensive 440 bracket motor. I stumbled on to a set of StgeII MW heads while buying a used Van Norman  surface grinder for my machine shop and bought them. In 1999 Harry Wilson found a 426 marine wedge bare block at a NOS marine parts place. He bought it for me. I did the conversion to Stge III MAX wedge in my machine shop. (two valve notches at the top of the bore) Mazolini sold me some forged 11 to 1 426 pistons from a batch he had custom made by JE. . Using 440 bottom end parts (Better rods, crank same dimensions) I put a good 426 Stg III block together. I repaired a the heads and even had the weak spot repaired at united welding in both so they would never crack. I switched out the solid set up for HD hydraulics. (More power at same lift and duration if below 7000 RPM) I had one of my custom cams ground for it and put it together. In Florida I bought a very rare Nascar single 4BBl REV 2 max wedge manifold (ouch$$$)and reworked a 850 holly for it. Lupo Dynamic kindly supplied me with a  nice 3800 converter and I found a set of 391 for $20 in the back of an engine customers pickup. I bought the car from the Easy Cruisesr in Alexandria Ontario. It took me two trys to get it. It had sat inside for 23 years in a garage in BC with some collision damage. I got a BB pushbutton trans case from M&R racing in Brighton from their Nostagia Super stock 64 Dodge and built the trans using my 313 inners plus modified drums and valve body. Put it all together in 2000. It was my wife and my millenium project so we still call the car Mili. At first with 255 X60s and 391s it would occasionally pull the wheels on the street. My wife would go nuts screaming as there is no steering when the front wheels are up. So when I built the dragster I took the 391 for it and put in 355s. I also changed to a taller 275X70 rear tire. the taller tire and less gear eliminated the wheels up problem and everyone was once again happy. It will almost do it now and just once last year I did have them up getting a thumbs up from a passing driver. Skimming would probably be a  better way to say it.  It is still a rather violent ride but thanks to a good exhaust and some old age I keep a very low profile and stay out of trouble. I now just use it for going to Picton Cruise night and built a matching trailer to tow the Sr Dragster on since I only got to Picton Races now anyway. Oh Yeah It has full old school SS suspension )

Still when I am out for a cruise alone it never fails to amaze me that this kind of performance was available in 1963.  Fun car to drive. Thanks for noticing.

don

Great read Don, much appreciated.

A63 Savoy post! WoW!

I suffered a severe internal injury in 1990. Eventually it made daily work almost impossible and even now is a constant pain in the butt day and night. Eventually fielding a competitive bracket car was too much even with a hired shoe so I switched to puttering mode and closed the shop. I was tempted many times to sell all and forget it but I didn't. I have learned to live with discomfort. I am glad I didn't sell all. The dragster was the result of this slower approach to life. I have to be careful but my close friends know and watch me to be sure I am ok. Ie cant take hardly any direct sunlight and have trouble walking above a snails pace. I also cant lift anything of significance. Somehow I now think it has been good for me.  It has caused me to slow down and sniff the roses. Have now done more seen more then before when I had good health.  If it is possible in your circumstances resist the urge. Maybe you issues don't allow that. If that is so please forgive me. I could probably now not pull an engine  or lift a trans but I can still screw a mean one together and still build a killer trans. If I am stuck my friends or brother will give me a hand on their schedule of course. I work  in the shop only 2 to 3 hours per week day. After lunch there is often a nap in the lazyboy. Puttering out there takes my mind off my troubles. I also learned about adjusting to a retired mode. When you realize you can no longer fight all day long and that will happen to us all eventually you need to find a doable alternative that still feeds ones creative juices. I did. My wife tells people when I am working in the shop that "don is doing his knitting." Your Savoy is a real treasure. I hope you get to enjoy it somehow and in the meantime wish you all the best.

don

Between adventures I have been working a mounting bracket for the steering box in the VW. As of tonight I have it welded in place and the steering box loosely attached. Looks good. Box is a 56 Ford I believe. How did I choose it? It was offered to me free.

don

PS if you look at the photo of the bug above you will see a set of Ford turbine wheels stacked there. One had a chunk out of it. Not in a critical area but a chunk just the same. Over the years I learned to arc weld aluminum with pretty good success. An old friend I used to supply race engines for had an original Stge 6 mopar head that had gotten broken in a engine disintegration however they were very good heads so he after having several other gurus mess around with tigs and such ask if I would arc weld it for him as I used to do it for him before back when I did all his bullets. He bought me the special rod and arrived with it today. It goes on ugly but when ground is sometimes impossible to find from the parent metal. I did the initial welds on his head down thru the ex port , up across the seat pocket and across one combustion chamber into the spark plug hole. He will have to grind it all, re check and we will do what we have to till it is as good as new. Meanwhile I used the rod he supplied and welded up the rim. After hand tooling it you would be hard pressed to find the weld. These rims are going on the rear with the slicks. Why? They fit and were free. That is why.

I also fabricated a passive supercharger infuser mixer diffuser from exhaust tubing shorts. The passive supercharger is something GM was playing around with about 1962 to supply passing power momentarily in an otherwise non performance vehicle. I had read about it in my misspent youth. (I was 12 years old at the time) I mentioned it in a post some four years ago and last week a fellow from NB Canada hunted me down by phone saying he was going thru some old magazines and stumbled on that article by Roger Huntington. He had his son email me the whole deal. Using "paint" I got a pixel count from the pictures , established an arbitrary dimension in inches for the mixer tube and developed all the other dimensions from that as they are easy to figure using percentage. If it works I have a /6 here with only 30000 km on it so it will go in the bug with the passive supercharger. Supposed to give approx. 40% increase in power for up to 15 seconds (4 PSI boost). We will see. Seems too simple to work but I never found Roger Huntington to be anything but right on so I will give it a shot.

-- Edited by Don on Thursday 1st of May 2014 06:49:26 PM

-- Edited by Don on Thursday 1st of May 2014 11:24:14 PM

-- Edited by Don on Thursday 1st of May 2014 11:39:25 PM

Steering box is now installed, pitman arm reworked (shortened and recentred by removing 1/2 the teeth) It is hard not to work on it as it is so handy and still interests me.
don

It gets better. Tonight I had a visit from the VW Whisperer, Aaron Christopher. The one piece I did not have for this car was a hood. Aaron found me one and was kind enough to deliver it. Very interesting young man to say the least.
don

-- Edited by Don on Tuesday 27th of May 2014 04:31:18 PM

LMAO  sitting here trying to figure out what I was looking at . Even went to get my glasses and a coffee , then it dawned on me maybe READ .   Good one Don .

Looks good Don, good addition.

Yesterday I worked on the hood. It didn't fit well on one side as it was from a repaired wreck and was perhps repaired to fit the wreck. I had to slice it on the edge half way up on the pass side. I installed it and forced it down then tacked the gap with the mig. I removed it and welded it completely , ground it and gave the repaired spot a layer of kity hair , they gave that a rough finish. It fits much better now, perhaps s good as new. I made a couple of straight strips that go under the top ledge and will keep the hood on the car at the top while the windup key fastens it at the bottom. Car looks much better now. I may go ahead and finish the front of the car at least to the point of the final body work. Today I made the steering wheel adapter and drilled and tapped it and installed the wheel.
don

-- Edited by Don on Thursday 5th of June 2014 10:23:10 PM

Got more done today. Worked on the mating of the lower front fenders with the new middle body section. Despite the fact you can't tell from the pic they are bolted together and come apart. they will have the normal fender welting. right now I am doing the ruf body work as in REPAIRS. One everything if repaired and fitted then I will do the body work and paint. People in general like this car for some reason. Even non hot car folks who have seen keep asking about it.
don

Hard not to smile just seeing one.

Have given and received many punches to the arm when ya see one. Still play to this day and depending on who is with you maybe even when you don't see one, but you can get away with it by just yelling out "punch buggy", no hit backs  

We have now added "coffin" when seeing a "smart car" to the approved punching roster. That's how we roll in The River.

-- Edited by janies dirty 37 on Sunday 8th of June 2014 11:50:03 AM

As of noon I have a working steering from Wheel to Wheels. May revamp the drag link later but its all in and working.
Little by little this project is taking shape. I am beginning to like it more all the time. Have to make all the lock nuts and take it all out for shine and paint but it looks like it will work. I have just enough steering to steer safely. Don't want too much as it is a race car. Enough to turn onto and off the track and enough to be able to have good control but not enough to get into trouble and put it on its top. I think I will finish everything on the front end before going back to the rear and finishing up there.
(Everything is tacked and fitted back there but finish welding needs yet to be done.)
don
Funny I was thinking today(always dangerous) Way back when I built the Altered (posted just yesterday on Desoronto thread) before I sold everything originally I wanted it to have a VW body. Back then I couldn't find one and a Anderson 32 Bantam was actually cheaper. So here I am full circle realizing the original dream. There have been a lot of VW race cars over the years. CheVWagon which is the one that inspired Bill Villneff to build his. Purple People Eater a hemi powered VW from the 60s. I have three Nostalgia drag books here and there is at least one in each of them too. Also in the old Hot Rod annuals I have found one of two. All with North American power plants. Why they may actually be "traditional"
Bottom line is they are a tudr sedan and small size and light weight. And they are available. I need to put enough suds in this one so I can run with Bill at Picton. He was running a 383 chevy last time and has since whipped up a 355 for it so I will have my work cut out for me with a lowly six . However I think the crowd would enjoy it whatever the outcome.
don

Working on the piston rod combo now. May have to go to West Lake and "borrow" a piston. One I have isn't quite the way I want it and I am not taking any chances. Borrow comes from Huck Finn. Huck told Tom "We have to stop here and borrow some watermelons." Tom asked, "What do you mean "borrow?" Huck says "We always meant to take them back. Just never got the chance!" Anyway whatever I need to do to get one I need at least one 2bbl piston from "the source"
don

YASSIR!

 

Don

You should have gone to the tractor show over at the fair grounds.

Warren

PS: I was just testing how to attach photos with my new laptop.  Getting ready for Bonneville.

Sorry Don

That picture was taken at Ameliasburg the Sunday after the Armdrop. I just wanted to make sure I could attach a picture. Brian tried to announce Barcovan on Thursday but there was too much chaos at the time. I haven't seen any flyers on it.

Warren

Crank and pistons now installed in "Dixie cup" engine for the VW gasser

don

My personal term for deep dished piston,s is , " soup cans " ..77.

Block is quite close to being done. Head is ready to bolt on. Supposed to be getting a tranny core/s from my nephew in Kempville . Have a spare race converter. A friend brought me a perfect rear trunk lid so I installed it right way.
All of the sudden what seem like a huge project is getting smaller by the day.
don

Pulling the dummy motor today and getting ready to install the new one after stealing the last few parts off the dummy.
don

Tis the truth for sure. Motor is all done except for pushrods. Made a deal for a parts trans so I can get that together. Already have the converter. You must be painting today. All the best
don