LGC Posted November 22, 2015 Posted November 22, 2015 I know we have car guys on the board. Is there any hot rod builders here that currently own one? With my current down time, I'm planning the build on my 1953 Chevy 5 window 3100. Since this won't be a trailer queen, it's not a restoration. My goal is to build a street rod that's comfortable enough to one day do the Hot Rod Tour here in the states with the wife... and drive to car shows. I have some ideas already, if there's any other rod rod builders here with experience with engine builds, drive train, and suspension setups.
garbandz Posted November 22, 2015 Posted November 22, 2015 distance = comfort. it should tour comfortably,so a smooth engine/trans/suspension setup is called for. cost = limitations.budget will determine setup. safety = survival.Good brakes,safe tires and steering are most important ,bling can wait. I restore barn finds and neglected sports cars.Always start with safety,then reliability. fancy paint has been the death of a project more than once.By the time you have paid for paint,carpets,etc,the budget is gone. People will be more impressed that you drove it to the event,anyone can trailer a car............... 3
Redsoxnat Posted November 22, 2015 Posted November 22, 2015 Couldn't agree more with the above statement. I have worked on a few hot rods with my dad and his friends and am in the search for my dream restomod. 65 FB Mustang. More to the point. Reliability is an absolute key! Build a project that you can get in turn the key and enjoy. Leave the aesthetics until the very end. Keep your budget for the good stuff, under the hood stuff! A truck like that, to me, looks great as a sleeper. Keep the paint and colour scheme on it but blow everyone's doors off with performance. 2
Fosgate Posted November 22, 2015 Posted November 22, 2015 Finished this project of a friends a couple years ago. Belonged to his aunt and he talked about this truck sitting in the garage for the last 25 years. His mother got remarried to her high school sweet heart and inherited the truck. There were a lot of people in line for it and we even had people circling the farm when we picked it up that were supposedly promised the truck by word of mouth. Had we turned our backs or left for a minute that truck would have disappeared real quick. Friends step father was footing the bill and was going to be his and the mothers. He died in the passenger seat of another truck while my friends mother was rushing him to the hospital about a week before delivery. We now take it around for his mother and she sits with us and talks about the build and Gary as if he is still with her. Body had no rust or dings on it, original glass is like new. Had just about 50K original miles on it. Sank almost $30k into restoring it. Only thing changed was adding a metallic flake to the blue/green paint and a pearl to the white instead of keeping it flat white. 4
El Presidente Posted November 22, 2015 Posted November 22, 2015 I admire guys who can do this Beautiful
LGC Posted November 22, 2015 Author Posted November 22, 2015 Very sweet ride! It's always nice to see fully original cars that are still running. It's always fun to drive a 3 on the tree. I started working on cars when I was 15, and my family owned a paint and body shop for a while. I rebuilt my first engine when I was 20... a 1970 performance 350 with 441 cast heads (what came on 327 blocks of same era). So, I'm not exactly a novice; but I don't have any experience with frame-up restorations. I'm fine with minor body work, painting, etc. I've done MIG welding for repairs, but never got around to learning how to stick weld. I have a bunch of plans for body work, paint, and interior... but that will obviously come last. I'd like to enjoy driving it as soon as possible, but I don't have $100K to pay someone to do the work. Here's what I have planned so far: power plant: -Looking for 400 to 500 bhp. Just trying to decide what kind of usable power to aim for (hp vs. torque curves). With a truck, I'm obviously no going to be doing 180 mph. I'm not tubbing out the rear end, so I won't be able to hook up excessive torque. I also will be planning to run a large alternator, a/c, hydraulics, air bags, etc. I need to have a decent idle and vacuum. I'm leaning toward a small block, since a big block will take away from my cornering and handling. A 454 or 502 also means more bucks for parts. I'm planning on running fuel injection. I like to be able to bump the key and fire up immediately. There's also better tuning ability and fuel efficiency for long trips. I'm looking into a 383 stroker and the ZZ 350 crate motors at the moment (with possible heads of valve train swaps). I'd like to build the engine myself, but it seems that the cost savings won't be substantial, if anything. frame: -I don't want to spend the cash on a full custom frame. I looked at a possible S-10 frame swap to make things easier to get the suspension setup, but I don't want to deal with relocating the cab/bed, etc. I'd rather strip the original frame, do some boxing around the front and rear stress points, and powder coat it in the end. suspension: -I'm looking at a Heidts or Fatman Fabrication (out of Charlotte, NC) IFS setup in the front (adjustable coilovers, rack and pinion, etc.). For the rear, I'll do a 4 link setup with coilovers. drive train: -I'll go with a 5speed or 6speed manual. I don't care about 1/4 mile numbers, I'm more after the driving experience. I can't stand driving an auto through the twisties. interior: -For the long trips, everything will obviously modernized. I'll run full power windows, seats, Vintage Air, etc. I'm open to any suggestions, experiences, etc.... as it's difficult to spent 10's of thousands of dollars and have regrets.
Popular Post polarbear Posted November 22, 2015 Popular Post Posted November 22, 2015 I spent most of my youth under various cars, trying to keep them running, trying to make them go faster/stop better When I turned 18 the first car I ever bought with a bank loan was a 1964 Holden Station wagon. 12 years later I still have it. It looks more or less the same as when I bought it, but the whole car has been redone with fresh paint and interior. The brakes were upgraded to Discs all round when we gave the motor a tickle with triple carbs and a small shot of Nitrous (NOS). Its more reliable than my daily driver and despite what I had to do to the straight 6 in it (to handle the carbs and Nitrous), its got pretty good road manners. A year or so after I put the wagon together (after its last rebuild), my old man was talking about how he'd like to have something with some class to cruise around in. The hunt began for a 1965 Ford Coupe. I managed to track one down in some old guys backyard in NSW. We had it delivered to Darwin and then it got a full ground up rebuild. Seeing as my old man wasn't trying to build a car on apprentice wages, it got the best of everything. Full Bare metal re-spray. Any body work that needed doing was either done with new (repro) panel or lead filler. A custom motor, gear box and rear end was ordered from the US and the car got a full brake, steering and suspension upgrade. This thing is a iron fist in a velvet glove. Close to 700hp at the tyres (plus another 120hp shot of Nitrous on top) but it can be driven like you're Driving Ms Daisy. Perfect road manners, never gets hot, always starts but can fry a set of tyres if the mood takes you. 6
MrGTO Posted November 22, 2015 Posted November 22, 2015 Fully restored 64 GTO and my first car ever 70 GTO. The 70 will eventually be a pro touring car with modern suspension, brakes and 6spd manual. 2
Fosgate Posted November 22, 2015 Posted November 22, 2015 Lots of guys in my area were using these guys in the late 80's and 90's. Still seeing them on big builds today. A must in my opinion for a modern digital dash on a restoration. http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=59/home_id=59/mode=cat/cat59.htm
kuma Posted November 23, 2015 Posted November 23, 2015 real nice cars guys. Myself had in high school a banged up Sunbeam Tiger. 4 speed Hurst transmission, posi. traction, headers Holley Carb, large block 289 ford engine. very hard to work on wall to wall engine. Red body, white rag top (convert.); beat most cars off the line in the 1/4 mile. Should of kept it. In todays market in good shape worth quite a bit. Good luck gents with your cars.
Dozerhead Posted November 23, 2015 Posted November 23, 2015 I admire guys who can do this Me too! I am envious of people with these types of skills. Great work! Beautiful
LateApex Posted November 30, 2015 Posted November 30, 2015 I spent most of my youth under various cars, trying to keep them running, trying to make them go faster/stop better When I turned 18 the first car I ever bought with a bank loan was a 1964 Holden Station wagon. 12 years later I still have it. It looks more or less the same as when I bought it, but the whole car has been redone with fresh paint and interior. The brakes were upgraded to Discs all round when we gave the motor a tickle with triple carbs and a small shot of Nitrous (NOS). Its more reliable than my daily driver and despite what I had to do to the straight 6 in it (to handle the carbs and Nitrous), its got pretty good road manners. Classik.JPG Wagon 004.jpg Wagon 003.jpg A year or so after I put the wagon together (after its last rebuild), my old man was talking about how he'd like to have something with some class to cruise around in. The hunt began for a 1965 Ford Coupe. I managed to track one down in some old guys backyard in NSW. We had it delivered to Darwin and then it got a full ground up rebuild. Seeing as my old man wasn't trying to build a car on apprentice wages, it got the best of everything. Full Bare metal re-spray. Any body work that needed doing was either done with new (repro) panel or lead filler. A custom motor, gear box and rear end was ordered from the US and the car got a full brake, steering and suspension upgrade. This thing is a iron fist in a velvet glove. Close to 700hp at the tyres (plus another 120hp shot of Nitrous on top) but it can be driven like you're Driving Ms Daisy. Perfect road manners, never gets hot, always starts but can fry a set of tyres if the mood takes you. 392697_153556958087329_415165637_n.jpg 397516_153557064753985_249105691_n.jpg 404521_153557554753936_1767563075_n.jpg 387656_153558814753810_2145264127_n.jpg P1000044.JPG 383740_153556488087376_1552762353_n.jpg Dig that carb set-up. What are those?
polarbear Posted November 30, 2015 Posted November 30, 2015 Dig that carb set-up. What are those? 45mm side draft Webber Carbs
MrGTO Posted November 30, 2015 Posted November 30, 2015 45mm side draft Webber Carbs Are those a ***** to keep adjusted? I know the 3 deuces on the pontiacs where always finicky. They ran off the center carb till you stepped on it and then they all went wide open.
polarbear Posted November 30, 2015 Posted November 30, 2015 They were a pain in the ass to get set up, as one would always run rich, the other lean and one would run right I spent a bit of time when they were first fitted figuring out how to get them tuned but I've since fitted a trio of Air/Fuel Ratio gauges that makes checking the tune heaps easier Its helped by the fact that this motor is currently running on Av Gas and likes to run rich due to the high compression in the motor
LGC Posted December 1, 2015 Author Posted December 1, 2015 Are those a ***** to keep adjusted? I know the 3 deuces on the pontiacs where always finicky. They ran off the center carb till you stepped on it and then they all went wide open.Triple Webers always take more work to keep synced. My brother had this set up on a Datsun 260Z. Unless you are tracking flows, you can't do anything more than guess. The most accurate tuning method would be to take emissions readings on each cylinder. Otherwise, mass air flow or static pressure readings are needed to track adjustments.
Fosgate Posted December 1, 2015 Posted December 1, 2015 3 carbs in anything is a pain in the butt. Neighbor kid had a Charger with a 440 6 pack in it. He decided to fidget with them one day and got them all out of sync. Took what seemed like forever to set them up right again. About a year after that I helped him cut a hole in the hood to do a dual tunnel ram with two Holly 650 double pumpers on that. Then about 6 months later that wasn't enough. We tore the motor down and polished all the ports and anything we could polish inside. Added a NOS system, cams, Pete Jackson gearbox and several other goodies to it. That only lasted a couple of years. Ran into him at a car show a year or two ago and this is it in the latest form.
Fosgate Posted December 1, 2015 Posted December 1, 2015 Here is another pickup a friend did. Guy is like 7'2 tall and has issues getting into cars so he sold this pickup to build a rat rod.
MrGTO Posted December 1, 2015 Posted December 1, 2015 Im thinking of going with a fuel injection setup on my 70 GTO so I can tune it on the fly. I could create different maps for different driving conditions. I also have been toying with the idea of plumbing a turbo in. 600hp motor + a turbo sounds good to me! I haven't run the numbers but I would assume it would be in the 700+ hp area. I have a friend who works for BorgWarner and he is ready to help!
LGC Posted December 1, 2015 Author Posted December 1, 2015 Whatever you end up throwing on the car... I would just make sure you're running safe compression numbers for your boost setup. I've heard of folks having longevity issues with their motors due to slapping big turbos on high compression engines.
polarbear Posted December 1, 2015 Posted December 1, 2015 Im thinking of going with a fuel injection setup on my 70 GTO so I can tune it on the fly. I could create different maps for different driving conditions. I also have been toying with the idea of plumbing a turbo in. 600hp motor + a turbo sounds good to me! I haven't run the numbers but I would assume it would be in the 700+ hp area. I have a friend who works for BorgWarner and he is ready to help! Dunno what its like over there, but the Chevy LS1 motor is a popular conversion over here as one can be had for relatively cheap compared to converting a carb fed motor to efi or buying a big cube/big horsepower crate motor Most of the time its a case of drop it in, wire it up, fire it up You can pull pretty epic power out of them with only a few tweeks (intake, heads, cam, tune) plus there are tons of Supercharger/Turbocharger kits for that style of motor
MrGTO Posted December 1, 2015 Posted December 1, 2015 Im a pontiac purest. I'll have nothing else but poncho power in my cars. I can build a low compression pump gas 500hp motor all day long with a 400 Pontiac motor. I haven't really looked at compression for a gas engine but my diesel truck has a compression ratio of 16:1 and runs 30lbs of boost at WOT. It has 440hp & 860 lb-ft of torque.
luv2fly Posted December 1, 2015 Posted December 1, 2015 I really admire those of you with the "touch". My cousin does this and it amazes me what he and all of you can do. The car is your canvas. Well done
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