I found locally a big Buick straight eight, and want to build a car round it. Measures 20"longer than my brothers Model A from pulley to back of tranny. Have tried searching the HAMB, but can't find anyone put one in a different chassis ie model a. Can anyone point me in the right direction here? Will it shoehorn into an A frame? hanks in advance for any help. Tom.
Good luck trying to put one in a model a. The Buick 8's are much bigger and heavier than they look. To get one in there you are either going to be stretching the frame forward, or having a lot of engine and tranny behind the firewall. Also, those things are HEAVY. You are going to have to do some fairly serious boxing and strengthening to a stock model a frame. And you probably won't gain much in the way of performance once you factor in all that extra mass. Everything you do on a Buick 8 is twice as awkward, and three times bigger than pretty much anything else. All that said, they are great, torquey motors. I wish I still had my old one, in my old buick... Posted using my Lil' Orphan Annie Secret Society Decoder Pin
Some things as cool as they might sound just don't work out in the real world and that is one of them automotive wise. It sounds a lot more like the makings of a rat rod than a decent hot rod. Now if you said you had this Model A coupe body shell and were thinking about using it an the straight 8 engine to get into a certain vintage engine class at Bonneville and the dry lakes we would probably all over it.
The guy that built the hot rod Lincoln put a Model A body over a shortened Lincoln frame with v-12 if that gives you any ideas...
Although Charlie Ryan's Model A was indeed on a 1948 Lincoln chassis it retained the Lincoln V12 and is considerably shorter than the Buick straight 8. Where there is a will there is a way,the guys the build rodent rods have managed to use straight 8's with Model A body's,but IMHO they usually appear way out of proportion. HRP
There was an a roadster here in wi about 8 years back with a Buick straight 8 in it and the proportions were not totally out of left field I believe it ended up in the north west and had a picture in hot rod deluxe a few years ago I don't know any specifics but I'll see if I can pull out that issue later Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Don Montgomery has a photo of a modified A with an inline 8 in Hot Rods As They Were (if I remember correctly). Will see if I can find it and scan it in.
As promised (from p34 Hot Rods As They Were); Tom Davis (Throttlers Club) 28-29 A 'Modified' with Olds inline-8. Tom went 116.12 in 1942.
There is a model A with a Buick 8 that runs at Bonneville. It has been considerably stretched. Also a '32 that looks nearer to stock, but I have never looked into the cab to see what that looks like. I would never consider putting that engine on an original model A frame. Other than that it sounds pretty cool.
If can carry it off as nicely done as the T that Flyn-t showed or the cars that Gwhite showed you might have something going. You have to put in that extra bit of effort and thought so it it looks right though.
I dont mind puttin the effort in...thats what its all about, and hey thanks for all the replies, that is just what I was needing. Gwhite, thanks for that photo.....its that long hood look that I'm after! Thanks! I wonder if the extra weight of the engine will mean half elliptics at the front would be better than trans leaf spring? FlyinT, is that yours, or can you let me know who built it? Thanks again.
No not mine, I would never refer to something I built or owned as "bad ass", but I really like this car. It was built by a shop here in so cal and I'll be damned if I can remember the guys name right now. When it comes to me I'll post the info up.
Here is a nice 1934 Ford Roadster with a Duesenberg J engine that raced in SCCA events in the midwest. I read somewere that Bob Drake owns the car today. Bob
It seems from a couple of posts that you don't think a traditional Hot Rod can have a Buick 8 in it.... that its not totally "right". Just trying to get to the bottom of this.....
Here's a link to one built by a fellow I know. You'll possibly like it, it has lots of English parts! https://www.flickr.com/photos/benhosking/8267778397/in/photostream/
Just looked up the weight, 750lbs. A bit scary! But a Cad is over 800 isn't it? And that is very popular amongst trad hot rodders? And probably in a few model a chassis?
Rich, that second car highlights one problem I will have. It is going to be hard to get the engine back. I like the rad shell to be behind the line of the front axle. Its just how I like them to look.
Wish I could remember the name of the racing team that campaigned the altered with the Buick straight 8. Car was 'well seasoned', ran competitively for 15+ years, often seen at Bakersfield, Fremont, San Gabriel strips. Car was famous for getting a quick plug change and running its class... In all its years of racing, engine was NEVER torn down for rings, bearings, valve problems, and ran the same cam. I used to educate everybody in the pits when these guys would run. Somebody will remember... HOW heavy is too heavy?? Cripes, 331s weighed 765 lbs. with cast iron intake, water pump, and exhaust manifolds. Seen LOTS of those in Model A's, and I've swung more of those heavy muthus than Grandma's garage header would like to remember! Those old Cads often got swung with their hydros, too... cast iron. That Buick 8 is worth more than its length regulates. I think Bluto ran Buick straight 8's in those long-hooded beauties he tempted Olive Oyl with, much to Popeye's chagrin...
The Jalopy Journal
