Hot Rods 37/38 Chevy Gasser and I’ve got the Pink Slip!

Got my August Hot Rod mag in the mail today, and when I needed to go to the library and do some reading look what I saw!

A real nice 32 roadster worth more than my house and a couple cool hot rods. But there was an interesting story on page 46 about a “Barn Find” off topic car…..

I’m thinking I got the real treasure! Thank the Hot Rod Gods this guy didn’t realize what he was looking at when he was there buying the late model. Them things are not a dime a dozen, but it ain’t a genuine Gasser! Finally, my lifelong dream has been achieved, my car is in Hot Rod! LOL!

 

I was looking at that article and thinking it might be where yours was hidden?! Was going to go through your thread to look at the video....Thats cool!

 

Wish I would have found it!!

 

I knew it was out of the same garage because the guy I got my car from was a retired cabinet maker. His shop had amazing floor to ceiling cabinets, you can see them in all the pictures. Very nice guy with a cool garage. He didn’t mention the Camaro when I was getting my car, I wonder what other treasures were hiding in his garage all these years….

 

Thats so cool, I was just reading that article last night and looking at your car in the background not knowing it was the same car I have been following on the HAMB!!!

Never Know... When you finish it you might be able to get it in HotRod magazine twice

 

And I still haven't seen the pink slip,,,,,,,,

 

Agreed, you got the good stuff! I can't believe those unibody POS Camaros are worth what they are.

 

Please look on page 2 post 37

 

Got my cylinder heads back from the machine shop today. Took them to Kadar Performance down in Phoenix a couple months ago, looks like Tibor (the owner and one man band member) did a great job. He does a lot of heads for the local drag racers and was highly recommended. He rebuilt them and added 2.02” intakes and 1.60” Stainless Steel valves. He also used Howard’s BeeHive Springs that are right for the mechanical camshaft I got with the short block. He machined them for 7/16” rocker studs and Moroso guide plates. He also relieved the combustion chambers for the larger valves. After he surfaced the decks he was able to verify the chambers were right at 62 CC’s just like stock. Was it cheap? Nope, but, in for a penny, in for a pound! What other heads would you run on a mid Sixties Gasser?

 

Almost seems a shame to cover 'em with paint!

 

I’m gonna cover them in paint, the greatest color known to man, Chevy Orange! I wonder how many winning engines were that color? When I went to buy the car I was told that the engine had a fresh set of Mondello Fuelie heads. While loading all the parts we couldn’t find the heads, finally the PO remembered a friend had talked him out of them 30 years ago! He hadn’t looked at the pile for so many years he had forgotten the head deal. What to do, Mondello is long gone, so I took my stashed 462’s to Tibor and told him I wanted a set of old school ported Fuelie style heads. He actually tried to talk me out of putting money into a set of old tech heads, that I’d make more power and spend less money on new heads. But I figured with the old dual quad intake and the small headers I got with the 327 a set of ported 462’s would make plenty of power, and hopefully not destroy the Muncie 4 speed!

 

That 327 will definitely love those heads... what cam is goin' in?

 

I’m thinking the one I got with the car…
I know, I know! There’s better cams available today but what fun is that?!

 

Hey, I don't think that cam spec is boring at all. Did you give the cam card specs to Tibor when he selected the springs? I'm gun shy when breaking in a new cam these days, y'know?

 

When I was in college I bought a used 289 with a Sig Erson cam. There where some issues with it so I took it to Sig Erson in Long Beach. They ended up giving me a new cam (remember that for sure because the break in process at 2,000 RPM for 20 minutes was the longest 20 minutes ever) They also checked the lifters (solids) and replaced a few that were determined to be defective. That said double check your lifters to make sure they are all good.

 

Looking at those springs and then the cam specs tells me the technology has really come along way over the years. We always ran double springs with hi lift, high revving motors but that was a long time ago. Your project is beyond cool!

 

I did and he said he would setup the heads for that camshaft. I’m with you on breaking in cams these days, I’m going to be super careful and make sure I have all the secret potions and I might even have a Voodoo Witch Doctor come over and dance when I fire it up the first time. I am kinda a 50% owner on a engine run in stand with my friend Dan, I think I might be able to borrow it….

If I can’t borrow it I was probably needing to build my own anyway! If I have my own I can share the glory of the Chevrolet any time I want! Wait till my psycho neighbor who likes to fire up his chainsaw 6:30 AM on a Saturday gets a retort from one of these!

 

Yup, talking to Tibor, he said I’d only need these modern beehive springs for this camshaft. I believe GM developed the beehive spring for the (shhhhh, don’t say it) for the late model Corvettes and they have really helped control valves and reduce valve train mass. New school meets old school. Good thing I’m hiding them under some cool old valve covers!

 

Situation well in hand! Time to make some noise!

 

If I can’t borrow it I was probably needing to build my own anyway! If I have my own I can share the glory of the Chevrolet any time I want! Wait till my psycho neighbor who likes to fire up his chainsaw 6:30 AM on a Saturday gets a retort from one of these!

When I was in HS a buddy built a 327 with a cam and headers for his Nomad. When It came time to fire it for the first time and do the cam break in thing he was planning on doing it with open headers. His dad (who he thought didn't know didley) told him "yeah, that makes a lot of sense to start a brand new engine with open headers so you can't here crap if there is a problem" Funny how his old man actually knew a thing or two. So you might want to rethink the pissing off your pyscho neighbor

 

His neighbor is miles away,,,its AridZona

 

I’m going to break it in correctly with quiet mufflers and carefully listening for any problems and watching for pesky leaks. I’m thinking about that nice junkyard find for my neighbor’s listening pleasure…. And like Typo said, (he’s been to my hood!) it’s the guy across the street who also likes to let his trash blow into my yard, which is why I’m in the process of building a 6’ fence all the way around my 3.5 acres of Arizona Paradise. Get off my gravel…..

 

Old parts like my heads talk to me, who was the guy that pulled them out of the sand casting? Who did the rough machining? Who was the guy who put them on the short block, and did he even give them a second glance? What about the owner of the new car they were in, did the engine just run okay, or was it a great runner? I got these heads back in 1991, they were out of a Malibu that had a flat cam, the shop convinced the owner that a Target Master was the way to go to fix the car. I got the whole engine, a ‘67 327 with a steel crank for the $100.00 core charge!

I look at this head and think, who was the guy that knocked the casting flash off of it, what’s his story?!

 

Gun towers on the corners as well?

 

I do live in Arizona….
I’m a Native too!

 

Everybody wants an update on a thread that’s gone cold uh? Well, remember when I got this car, it was from a tip from my buddy, typo41. Tony is a wonderful guy, always fun to be around. He loves Hot Rods! He loves his wife Chick! He loves his dogs and his cat Nitro! He also loves Land Speed Racing and has published The World’s Fastest Calendar for many years. It’s filled with photos of all the different cars that make the journey to the Coolest Place on Earth, Bonneville! I even had the honor of getting my car into the 2017 edition. When I first met Tony and saw his calendar I was kinda puzzled that it started in the month of August and it was printed in Black and White. He explained to me that SpeedWeek was the most important thing that happened every year, DUH! and it was B&W “because”! Years later after we had become what I consider best friends, he confided in me why it was B&W. He had been fighting a rare form of leukemia for many years and that when it was clear that it was winning he was going to publish his last calendar in glorious beautiful color. FUCK CANCER! Sadly, that calendar is not going to be. Tony isn’t gone, but he is living his last days on his terms. I’m going to dreadfully miss my friend. He and I communicated with each other one way or another daily and he was always waiting for me on the lakebed. I’ll remember the good times and look forward to seeing him again.

Got my January issue of Hot Rod tonight and right there is my friend at the place he loved the most taking pictures.

 

typo41 Anthony Huntimer June 2nd, 1954 - November 22, 2021
Rest In Peace my friend.

 

Sorry for the loss of your friend. I have two friends that have just stopped there cancer treatment and will just try enjoying the little time they have left.

 

So sorry for your loss. Praying for comfort for you and his family in this time of loss. This life is too short all too often.

 

Very sorry for the loss of your good friend! Cancer Sucks!!!