A good place to start would the F.A.S.T club. More knowledge about 'bangers than you'll ever need. http://www.hotforhotfours.com/
Use the search function in the upper right corner, do advanced search on titles ony and type in...banger. Enough info will come up to keep you reading for weeks. Also there is a monthly banger thread with links to info and parts.
As 117harv said, there is a monthly banger thread here. Get yourself some food, drink, and a few spare hours, kick back, and start reading. Theres a lot of info, yourll be an expert on bangers if you read it all.
right in crook county is antique engine restorations in skokie actually 5 grand for about 80hp and it would look almost stock add aluminum goodies and exotic intakes and you start racking up the price of addmititon bangers make a shit ton of torque which is why i like driving them tk
Jim Brierley has been building 4-Bangers for many years, and has published a 180 page book on 4-Bangers he sells for$24. He is on H.A.M.B. but I don't know his handle here. You can contact him at: [email protected]. Worth the money. Good Luck!
I'm looking for a vehicle right now to start driving and building ect...I have a certain budget for said vehicle and want the best vehicle I can get for my money. In this order: 1930-31 Model A, 1940 and under Ford possible Chevy, Certain Chevy or Ford pickups 1930 -57. I'm trying to get a feel for what I can do with a Model A. Just getting my feet wet w/ real hot rods. Thanks to all, for info provided. Dean
Dean, The basic Model A long block is $3195 at Schwalms http://www.schwalms.com/services.htm). I would add as a minimum Engine Balancing at $225. You need to start with a rebuildable block (you might allow $200 and some time looking). You will still need to have the carburetor rebuilt (another $200). A rebuilt leakless water pump ($200?). Note that I have not discussed the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate or transmission. This will get you about 40hp. Add a cam from Bill Stipe ($425), a counter weighted crankshaft ($495), a high compression cast iron head ($400?) and a Model B carb to get about 70hp. Insert main bearings ($700) and rod bearings ($375), downdraft manifold $286) and 2 rebuilt Stromberg 97’s ($500), a header ($396) and a reproduction Cragar overhead (http://www.millerhi-speedheads.com/dyno4.htm) (a reproduction Riley or Roof overhead for $4500 will probably get about the same hp but that is a hot topic, http://www.secretsofspeed.com/Model A Speed Parts.htm) and for about $12K you will have a neat engine that will get about 140hp. That is enough to make you want to settle for less that the high end or build a 4 Cylinder Chevy II. Good luck. Charlie Stephens
http://www.modelaparts.net/donovan.htm/estimate.htm so if you have an extra $16k My trophy case has a trophy case!
I won't be building a banger. Looks like I'll need a proper frame for a small block on my first build. Working on a super t10 plus extras...wish me luck!
Yeah good luck with that dirty old chevy. Haha Na just joking. Good luck brother Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Here's mine. My buddy craig and I are building a banger powered roadster. Yes twice the money for one third the hp. This is a stock, empty block. It was in a deuce one ton truck. It is a model b. we got it and a crusty but "rolling" model A frame for nothing. Oh and another A engine and trans. I had a glass 27 roadster body in the back yard. We are into this project cheap enough that we can spend some bucks on the power plant. The B is the holy grail of bangers and this one is unmolested. z'd the rear. Ordered a new 4 inch dropped front axle. we wore out one wire wheel. just cleaning and rattle canning. I highly recommend brierlie's book. A banger project doesn't have to be expensive. Skip the overhead for now and shave some off to get a little compression in her. If ya can't add hp then add more lightness. We wanted something to putt around town in, cruise in, and run at vintage hill climbs. Look around before you drag out the checkbook. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
To me hot rodding is being creative and scrounging and not spending a fortune. Be patient. Talk it up with friends. Go to swap meets. It is car-ma when it all comes together for you. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Btw that is an iron head painted to look like aluminum. 94's on a home made manifold. I want a double overhead Hal but it is the champagne thirst on a root beer budget. Be real be patient and lament with your barber. That's what I did and he got me going in the right direction. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The basically stock build gets one Model A carburetor. The slightly warmed up one gets one Model B carburetor. The overhead gets a pair of Stromberg 97's. Check the math, I didn't just add all of the numbers together, some dropped out as the configuration progressed. Can you beat these prices, sure, but I just wanted to get the overall magnitude of the costs. Bangers are neat, just not cheap for the hp produced. Charlie Stephens
When I was a kid, and people "Z'd" a frame. It was cut at an angle so that you just layed the top part on the bottom part and welded the overlap. Then made a boxing plate and installed that. Got more contact and it looked better that the straight cut that I see more of these days.
As you point out, a sharper angle will provide more overlap. But as best as I can remember 45 was as good as any. Depends on if it's a T, A, or deuce frame. Thinner rails call for a longer cut.
You can have a lot of fun for a little dough with a banger. You might not win all the races but you'll have a blast gettin there. I have a banger RPU that I have less than a grand into.
Actually, if you have access to a mill, and you don't mind spending some time standing in front of it, you can build a pretty neat banger without spending lots of money. For these two I had to step up for custom rods. Otherwise it uses 265 Chevy pistons and rod bearings. The Ford head was given to me. The oil pump was about $430. The Y block injection was a swap meet deal. Parts for $60. Pinto distributors. The Flathead injection I did. Lot of chips in the finned head and side cover. Reground cam, stock crank. All in all it wasn't to bad.
Hi you spend the same money on a banger for 80 hp as chevy sbc 500 hp Mercruiser your money will be trans adaptor and cooling system read the mercruiser thread here
I agree with your first statement but the trans adapter is the same as is used for a SBC. I should be available used at a reasonable swap meet price or new from the suppliers. I am using a radiator designed for a SBC with my Mercruiser (talk about overkill but the price was right). Charlie Stephens
Just about anything out there can beat the HP per dollar ratio of the A/B Banger...but they can't beat the look;
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