4 barrels and fully loaded!,....September's banger meeting!

Its 12:15 AM and hey, I find myself on the HAMB,...and realize its officially Sept 1st! So lets get things started,....how are we all doing these days in banger-land?

First off I've been emmersing myself into the early days of hot rodding,..books, articles, photos, etc. Always have been living in the past, always loved the 30's & 40s, WWII living history, jitterbuggin',...still working on my flux-capacitor though!! LOL!

Met a few very helpful gentlemen in the month of August, really exciting...been sharing some great pics and stories regarding the early days! Had the true blessing and good fortune to talk with a REAL important guy about the beginnings of real hot rodding,...seriously, nothing could be finer! I've learned good things come to those who wait, and more is around the corner still!! Reviving the past, because their history is my future!

Blew apart the roadster body, blasting it next week, then some minor repairs here and there,....pullin' out the rivets after that. Found a great gent down south a little ways to work on my engine,...really looking forward to that!! Tore apart a banger today, ready to hit the 'ol magnaflux routine,...busy but happy, always a good combination! Helpin' old lady's across the street, sayin please and thank you, prayin at every meal, and wrenchin away like it was 1938,...the good Lord is a cool guy!

Ok guys,....looking forward to hearing everyone's banger stories and happenings....how you folks doin??

 

Not a lot to report, fixed the busted oil line from last month, cleaned it up a bit and not had any trouble since.

Best 4 banger thing in the last month for me was watching Clark tear up the track at the Hot Rod Hayride. Total respect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhyvVcBaqrY

 

Built my 16 year old daughter her own flat banger powered Model T speedster. She's been driving the wheels off of it.

Strongly considering hibernating my dirt-track speedsters and go V4/GR racing next year at Maxton with a Gemsa head. I think I am ready for a new challenge.

Otherwise it is 5 weeks until Hershey and so we are trying to finish cars for that.

 

got another banger motor today pulled it apart babbit bearings buggered .this is motor number 8.insert bearings are looking good so is an 8ba .the banger world can be frustrating

 

You're taking some cars to Hershey then!! Awsome!!! I'll be there with bells on! Not sure if I'll be there with the roadster,...actually I probably wont be as I'm likely to be bringing something home from Hershey!!! Really looking forward to meeting you.
BY the way, a gentleman names Bob Parkes will probably be in touch with you regarding doing an insert bearing job on my engine,...might actually be after Hershey though.

So any pics of the T you built for your girl!!??

 

Either get it rebabbited or inserted,...dont give up yet,..hang in there!!! You can do it!!! Wish you were closer I'd hook you up with a good banger block right away,....damn Aussies!! HA!

 

I am starting the month by attempting to restore a winfield flat head I bought several years ago at the Long Beach "T" swap meet, boy those were the days! On that day I bought a Winfield flat head for $90 but it turned out to be badly warped. Also bought a Winfield "BBDS" for $75 but some one had reinstalled the float chamber cover without backing out the needles so they were bent. The head, as I later discovered, was warped .045 just forward of center due to some almost invisible brazing. So I have decided to mill it flat and see if I can balance the combustion chambers. It has a .025 flycut but I will just mill that off. I believe it was a 6 to 1 head originally. This head was tossed to the back but now the value even with the repair makes it feasible to try to save. If I can end up with 145 or 150 cc's I should be slightly higher than 7 to 1 on the stroker.

Remember the hill climb on the 8th.

 

The fourbanger 28 roadster keeps running well, so the only update on my end it that I just keep driving it. Thinking about changing the 6.00x16 front tires to 5.00 to give it more of a rake. Maybe even get some of the ribbed racing type tires.....

 

Well after last months weak contribution from myself, this month I'm back with something to say!

I've spent the whole month thrashing my little babbit pounder to within a inch of its life and still it comes back for more (Touch Wood!).

First off as The Wroung-Un has already mentioned I had at good go around the dirt track at the HotRod Hayride.





More pictures and the vids can seen here...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201304

Took a trip to the Norfolk coast last weekend. Chucked in the 3.00:1 gears in the quick-change for the 300 mile round trip and cruised up there in the outside lane at 80mph!
Didn't miss a beat the whole way there and back.

Yay! My pistons finally turned up after 8 or was it 9 weeks of waiting.



I got them through H&H and I must say I was very impressed with them. I never dealt with H&H before but it was no problem getting what I wanted, they were very helpfull and chatty. Which is something that is nonexistent in the world of Banger suppliers.
The waiting time was Ross end not H&H. Remeber Ross was the company that told me they didn't make or supply Banger pistons.

 

I drive mine often.
Longest trip so far was 1158 miles
F-150 overdrive, self energizing, self adjusting 1976 Chevy brakes, dropped axle, 195/80R16 radials, dropped floor in the trunk

 

Building a simple Speedster from some parts I had collected and a Doodlebug I purchased for the engine. This car will be just a 30' Cowl and a bench seat. Got the rolling chassis mostly finished last week and hope to finish it by ???

David

 

Trying to finish my ovh chevy setup for the hill climb on the 8th. I have had some great yarns and help on this project and even made some new friends. Having a blast.

 

Nothing much but driving my '32 wagon. It runs good, and it's stock, so 50 mph everywhere. Took it to GoodGuys in KC today and got Timeless Traditional award with it. I guess that is a plaque or something, I hope so. That would be good for putting on the ground to keep the jack from sinking in if the road is muddy. What I did to it today:I swapped the rr wheel out for one that is not cracked. The good one I broke down was like new inside the rim. The old one was pitted and the crack was where it was rusted thin. What I didn't do:wash it, I showed up with bugs all over the front, dusty, a bit of mud in the fenderwells (I live on a gravel road), it's a driver, not a showcar.
BobW

 

i have not done a thing! i need some motivation! but i have worked on the ol' guzzi vert. some.

 

Im new to the banger world so go easy.. I have been having some trouble with overheating and I noticed the water wasent circulating and the pump had quite alot of end play.. I yanked the old one out today, and the new "leak proof" one is what Im gonna go with. I realy dont have the patience to go braze the end of the shaft. so I hope the new pump is the fix im looking for. Other than that I cant wait to hop up this motor once I work out the cooling issues. This all started because my rad was foaming at the cap when i'd drive long distances or if it was hot out. I still need to do a compression check to rule out head gasket but no water in the oil thus far.

 

we're going to school the uninitiated on the power of the banger when we bring one into our engine repair class for a freshen up Ultimate goal is to put it in a lakester for Bonneville next year......................................

 

Been very busy this month. At the end of last month I started thrashing a speedster body together to go on to the coupe's chassis, after I sold the body from it.
Progress was swift and it has gone together fairly well. It's a bit rough around the edges - hey, it's my first time at fabricating a body! - but it'll get me to the drags, in two weeks time. Certainly looking forward to it now.




Got the body primered and set on the chassis last week....


Don't know why my camera went all blurry for this shot. Too dark to take any more now, I'll take some more during the week and maybe a bit of video.


Finally got it built up enough to give it a blast around the block today. Feeling good so far, just a few little issues to clear up, then I'll be able to give it a decent run out. Feels a fair bit swifter than the coupe.
Gonna need a pair of goggles though.....

 

Artiki I see you have been busy

I may come to the drags - what was the e-mail to enter.

I have to find some lap belts...

 

No need to email, Simon, just let me know on here. I've got to get the list of entrants to the organisers by next weekend at the latest, so the sooner I know the better.

 

New Banger guy, need alittle advise concerning my 29 roadster, have her up on jack stands, currently going through a rebuild of both the front and rear end. The steering and brakes were wacked. I had very little time behind the wheel this summer #@#. Just about ready to put her back together.
The Gentleman I bought the roadster from purchased her in 1964. He never pulled the oil pan that he can remember. Banger runs and does not leak a drop of oil based on limited drive time and the fact there was no oil on floor after resting on stands all summer.
Million dollar question, panda box; pull the oil pan/pump screen for a cleaning? Or adhere to that old adage; don’t fit what is not broken. Please if you suggest pulling the oil pan provide some pointers. Already purchased a gasket set.

 

This is the second part of my post, as I never got to finish the original one.

After receiving my pistons I had the boost to get me going again on getting my engine back together.

The first thing was a strip down to finally properly assess the extent of the damage.

This is what I found...

Damage to the bores.





Number one piston that suffered most.







Broken pin boss, which may have been a whole other issue.



Seems like a bad case of detonation which was affecting all the pistons but it just happened that no.1 gave up first.
Most likely cause at the moment seems to be a sudden change in mixture to the lean side.

 

Clark, how much piston-to-wall clearance are you running? Naturally pictures don't show the whole story but there sure looks like a lot of gaulding there "just" to be caused by detonation. Also, I think a good way to tell will be what the rod bearings look like. IMO, you may have some "flattened" bearings on the rods too if that much damage is from detonation.

 

Been working on getting the body all cleaned up and removing all the old paint. Have not found a single speck of bondo, just some small bumps here and there. The body was really quite straight and rust free. Now, that top wood. Lots of dry rot. It's all gone now and just starting to install the new wood. Was on a severe budget due to being out of work, sold a couple of things out of the garage and with that influx of cash burning a hole in my pocket, i ran out & got a 3 port olds head. See pics below for a 28 chevy vs 25 (?) olds head. Now there is a couple of issues with the olds head; one of the exhaust ears was broken off and the original valve train was gone. How hard is it to beld cast iron? Special welding rods? And, any ideas of what valve train parts might work? One of these days i'll try and get some pictures of the coupe posted.
And my hat's off to Artiki, cool handmade speedster body.
Mike

 

question for the banger guys.have a 32 or 34 head (letter c cast in head)with a good waterpump.some pitting on the surface of the head.thinking of shaving the head a little.will this improve the compression and will this fit onto my 1928 block with standard (28) headgasket.

 

That was the only piston that suffer damage on the skirt. I just assumed the piston starting and wanting to seize in the bore. There was a lot of heat generated as can be seen with the little end of the rod.



The piston was also barely connected to the rod with the broken gudgeon pin boss so it must have been bouncing around in the bore to a certain extent.

 

It will improve the compression minimally (but not worth the effort IMO). You need to use a Model B head gasket with that head on a Model A block.

 

thanks for youre comments brett.wondering if the 32 water pump pulley lines up with the 28 crankshaft pulley

 

Yes

 

hello i vincent i post one time before i have a 1927 coupe on a A frame, with 32 block and some tractor A head i have some think like 8 to 1 compression and i broke 2 head gasket watt model of gasket material i must use.
sorry for my english.

 

Vince,

Welcome to the HAMB!

As far as your gasket, I'm not completely sure exactly which gasket you should use, but I am going to say that with the head your mentioning, I think a modern style "B" gasket such as the ones "Snyder's Antique Auto Parts" or "Bratton's Model A parts" will work for you. I know the modern gaskets are much more prefferred than the traditional copper head gaskets.

What do you guys think? Brent, Artiki,..etc. etc.???