Now that will be a great gasser, wish I had my 61 Rambler, never thought of it, I am thinking on making my 60 Chevy a gasser. Good Luck!!
I would recommend checking what Hackerbilt mentioned here. The kingpins should be leaned back a bit. I set mine at 7 degrees. Too vertical, the car will tend to dodge, too far back will wear tires more and steer funny ( look at pictures of old dragsters). For the tie rod. You should be able to draw one line from the center of the rear end, through the tie rod end, and through the kinpin center. Steering arms with the tie rod in back should be angle in, steering arms with the tie rod out from should be angled out just a bit. The way you have it set up will cause it to steer a bit "pidgeon toed".
The car looks pretty tough with that nose bleed stance. I would just be concerned with the way it would handle at high speed. They will tend to catch air and float if the rake on the car it too much The stance of the strange bird falcon is great for a gasser, and might be something to consider translating to your car.
Chopt, I don't see any of the comments as criticizing, just pointing out possible problems so they can be at least evaluated before too much is done. Some of the tips, such as the Ackerman angle and angle of the king pins, is really critical and easily overlooked. I had to fab shorter steering arms to put a 90s T-bird rack and pinion in my wagon and not have the turning radius of a school bus. I quickly learned that ignoring the Ackerman angle was a no-no!! Had to do some research and studying to get the arms right. Sure wish someone had pointed that out to me before I fabbed the first set of arms up and tried to drive it! Maybe my statement that it looks a bit high is just criticizing, but it was meant to be supportive. If he wants/likes it way up in the air that's fine, of course! I was thinking about it being driven on the street though. If it's difficult to drive for any reason the fun quickly wears out. I didn't note the vice grips, by the way, only that the shackles were lying flat on the frame.
right now every thing is just held on by clamps to see how it was going to line up. nothing has been welded or caster angle set. i do like all the input from everyone! i will be running the tie rod in the back. when i get the motor set in i will then set the caster angle with a pre load on the front springs. Rod
took out the seats and all the carpet saturday and did not find any rust! cut out some of the floor and fire wall to make room for the turbo 400 trans.
The thing is with most trends that become popular is that people start doing things to be different or stand out and that is when all of the odd and extreme versions start showing up and deluting the style and popularity of the trend. If people would do some research and find references from the time period they are trying to recapture it would go a long way to keeping things right.
i think hes saying if it isnt an exact replica of a car that existed back in the day then its a fake and should be crushed?
I would ignore the negative comments. The car will be very unique.....not just a Rambler but a convertible. Go for it!!!
I don't think he meant "exact", as in a replica of something previously built, but built in the same style similar to those that were built in the "gasser age". Same look and feel. I don't recall any Rambler gassers, but there probably were a couple on some small town tracks out there. I've got to admit that I considered building one from a parts car way back, but prefer something a bit more streetable. Cool but not comfortable to drive just doesn't sit well with me. A "play car" that won't be driven much or will be mainly a racer is different -- but I prefer to drive mine... a lot!
Now my statement wasn't really directed as much to this build, but more to the people who constantly bitch about these builds, and those that really don't study an era when they build something that is supposed to represent an certain era. Now, I try to build my cars in a way that represent an era as do the guys in my car club and i'm not saying this build isn't going to be built with the same in mind, but because there have been so many cars built that don't represent the era very well and are built to be different (like a gasser fairmont wagon or something) it gives some people the right to lump every gasser build into a group that they can bitch about. I can't tell you how many times I read or heard that someone wants to build a gasser on some oddball car because they've never seen one before and they think it would be cool because "nobody" has ever built one like that. All that does in my mind is delute the era/style of cars that are from that era or being built to those standards, that's all. So really, I'm not saying this is a bad build because it isn't done, I'm just really tired of people trying to build something from an era that they really couldn't be from because it was built to "be different", I really don't think you can have it both ways. Just my 2 cents.
i was thinking that i should go with leaf springs not with the 4 link i was going to use so it will be more gasser correct let me know what you think......
+1 on this setup and no narrowed rear-ends, cut the wheelwells if the rear tires don't fit, no streetfreak 4x4 stance to get wide tires to fit without cutting the rear wheelwells
My 'era' is now. Who cares if it's been built before? Somebody had to build a Willys or '55 first too! I think it's cool if someone builds a car with period correct parts. But what if this guy doesn't want to? He's diluting what 'your' building because of what he's building? That's quite odd! Geez I don't remember anyone building a chopped '39 Chevy sedan 'gasser/street freak/altered/insert your class here' either but I still am! Sorry if I'm diluting what your building but I think we'll all be ok. Now back to the Rambler!
This looks like a fun build, keep up the good work! I built my car according to the 1965 NHRA rule book concerning the A/GS class. Most of the fun in it is "interpreting" the rules. Rule books nowadays are far too specific to do that. Heck, back in the day when these things were thundering down the tracks, the guys that ran them weren't sure what class they would be put in. At one track they would be A/GS, another track they would get stuffed into the Altered class where they didn't stand a chance. Everything was open to "interpretation" I also alot of knowledge from picture and build threads on the HAMB, talking with old timers that actually ran these cars, and a website called Byron's gasser Madness. A little studying goes a LONG way. Call it a street freak or straight axle car, and all the naysayers will disappear. I like that you have thick skin and are above all the nonsense. When I first joined the HAMB, I wasn't so thick skinned and it really turned me off. Good on you.
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