Art & Inspiration Engines: Lying in Wait

6 Y-blocks, 57 283 with a muncie, 66 283 out 0f a Chevy II, 64 Nailhead with the one year 400, and another 66 Nailhead with a SP 400, 50 Merc flattie, and a 51 Merc flattie. I'll be listing the nailheads on here as soon as I figure out how to get them out of my basement.... 10 tons of stuff in front of them.

 

A friend I know has had a hot rod shop for decades...and he has a knack for finding cool shit. He says he found this run stand at a garage sale. It has so many details it's crazy. It's pretty heavy..but has great casters..moves very easy. Yup...has an 8 track...notice the chrome speaker grill on the side of the box. Has one on the other side too. Also used to have ashtray on the right that was lost and a metal plate was put over it. The tach is really old..early 60s I'd guess...the fuel pressure gauge is a Carrol Shelby branded piece. The rear box section looks to have been polished originally. The motor bolts in using a Hurst mount and there is a tri 5 Chevy style cast iron bellhousing that's mounted in the back. Inside the aluminum box is a gas tank and a place for a battery. Its really well thought out...guy who built it must have been in aviation or a great mechanic. Even has a galvanized drip tray covering the whole bottom with purpose bent creases in it to give it a low point in the middle where there is a hole. My friend says $400...and I jumped on it. It's a conversation starter for sure and a quality piece. My goal is to get it looking like it did when first built...and then bolt my 327 in there, so I can start it for shits and giggles.

 

I’ve always wanted a blown 394 Olds and a chopped deuce 2dr sedan to put it in.

 

Love that 318! I was fortunate enough to get to build headers for a guy who had a Dodge truck with a 318 with that same intake and similar finned aluminum valve covers. I was amazed to see it. It was a clean, nice truck with a nice sounding lope from a cam he got from Isky. No one else would do custom headers or they wanted an arm and a leg to do them. I actually had a set of header flanges in stock and I felt bad that everyone snubbed him and his truck. He had me build headers and then added a full exhaust system. It sounded great. He was a great customer to work with and the whole experience was why I opened my shop to begin with.

 

You had me at Hello with the 327 for a Big Healey ,But with that engine stand I melt in your hands...That thing is insane! Seriously, an 8 track, and a speaker? Envy. (oops, a little late to the party).I'm copying it.

 

Those Polys have the best looking valve covers of any cars of the era IMHO.

 

They do look really nice with the scalloped look on the bottom.

This is really cool! All this has got me wanting to get this one rebuilt and find something to put it in.

 

Hey Chad, Your mill reminds me of one that a friend put together many moon back. He built the entire race to run the Long Beach Model T Hill Climb. It was pretty rudimentary, basically a set of rails, a firewall, and a seat. All required to be Model T. He built the engine was built around a vary early set of Hilborn injectors. He won that year, hands down. He was told by one of the tech guys that he could come back, but not with that car, as the F.I. setup was too new. Pissed off my buddy, so he hung the car on his office wall, and as far as I know it's still there, many years later. Funny thing is, that tech guy won the next year, with his T motor backed up by a C4 tranny.... Go figure

 

Try and find a 8 track tape of a AA Fueler starting up and running when you start the 327.

 

Those distributers were good distributers. I am generally a Mallory man and if I found one in good shape I would trade any Mallory I have ever owned for it. If you loose every other part of that engine keep the distributer.

 

Curious as to who made your valve covers as I thought Edelbrock were the only US company who made them. I've got a set of Edelbrock and they have the 3 hold down bolts. I think Chrysler changed to 2 bolts from 62 on. Al Fountain here in Australia makes a nice set of covers with 2 bolts and I'm running a set of those also.
BTW your engine is the truck version with the high mounted water pump which is understandable coming from a Sweptside.
Both my Polys are running Edelbrock P600 tri-powers but I've got the Weiand single 4 barrel and a Weiand tri-power sitting on the shelf.

 

I do not know if they made them but Cal Custom marketed finned aluminum and chromed stamped steel rocker covers for the late poly. Hope this helps some.

 

Thanks for that info p'n'b as I didn't know that. If those are Cal Custom then they will have their logo on the inside of the covers. Interesting; as we visited the Cal Custom warehouse back in 66 when we were in the States and I don't remember seeing them there and being a Poly fan I would have been onto it for sure. Maybe they didn't have all there stuff on display.
Now we need @MRW1994 to pull them off and check the inside.

 

I appreciate the info about this engine @swifty. I don't know a whole lot about the poly engines. Next time I'm down at the shop I'll pull one of the valve covers and see if there's any markings inside.

 

No longer lying in wait, my 345” ‘56 Olds is finally going to work.

 

^Gold engines with chrome look so right. Nice, Bob!

 

235 shortly after it's break-in. This is the "virgin" version......

https://youtube.com/shorts/_nLlIOZdTmE?feature=share

Here it is getting dressed up.....have yet to run it with these carbs....but soon!

 

Ironic I see this thread pop up. I had a “changing of the guard” ceremony, today. The 8BA I’m giving up on until I have deeper pockets & the 283 that’s replacing it. Made a crate fixture for the HF moving dolly for the flat head.

 

I pulled the valve covers today @swifty. There were no markings of any kind inside. It's a nice heavy casting and the machining done for the gasket surface looks like it's probably a pretty modern made set. Also the middle hole just had a bolt filling the hole so I guess that puts my Poly as a post '62.

 

Thanks for that @MRW1994 It does sound like your covers are a modern set as both my Edelbrock and the locally made Al Fountain units just have a cast surface for the gasket and as you have seen, machining that surface would not be that easy. Interesting re that third hole, maybe whoever made them decided to make them suitable for all Polys from 1957 through to 1966 in the USA and 1967 in Canada and Australia. I gather your engine does not have the tapped hole in the rocker post to accept the valve cover setscrew.

 

No it didn't, just on the outside. I removed all three nuts and thought I had broke off the middle stud at first since it stayed in the cover until I saw it was just a bolt blocking the hole!

 

I rarely need a 10 mm wrench because I try to never use metric bolts on anything that I build.

 

This -55 Olds engine has ”laying in wait” long enough now so itˋs now on its way to a new owner who will put it in use, have a great ride…..

 

Wow, someone’s got to be happy to score that engine and transmission where you are! I imagine that they are not very plentiful.

 

I've got one "lying in wait" for someone!!

 

It’s no good anymore, someone cut the radiator hoses!
Nice, even “patina” on that one.

 

I've got a BBC 454 block and a 396 steel crank that I'm in the process of building it as a 30 over 427.
I've got 3 8BA flatheads and one mid 40's flathead, a couple 400 small blocks, a 350 block and a 307 drive train to make a large journal 327 out of, a 56 model 265, plus a 52 331 Hemi and a 58 392 Hemi that I plan to put in my second 32 3w. I've also got an all aluminum LS 5.3 that's fresh and may end up eventually in my 57 chevy convertible. As for motors already in my cars:
(1) 454
(1) 427
(1) 396
(3) 350
(1) 327

 

While looking for some old RC plane wings I found a Pontiac 400 Id forgot all about. Found the wimgs I was after too..

 

Some just say "Made in Japan" on them. LOL

I bought a set from the local autoparts in '72. Maybe they did not make them in the '60s. They went on the poly of an old plymouth we had. gained at least 15 hp. LOL

Those dimple rocker covers are making me get my freak on. What a beautiful mill my friend.