Hot Rods the Hand Grenade 55 chevy- engine, chassis, trans, interior

haha we'll see man, last year was unlucky for it. Like I said above, we broke a push rod and drove it home like that OOPS Not sure how well of a burnout it will do. We're pretty much setting it up to hook. Those hurst slicks actually bite pretty damn well.

That's just a Summit fuel log. It was on the car when we got it. It's actually on the list of "To Go" parts. I'm going to make an old style aluminum hexagon shaped one for it.

 

Me too! One of these days I'm going to have to dig my OL 55 out and get busy again!!

 

fuckin. bitchin.

 

what tire/size combo is that? besides the ball joint spacers what is done to the front springs? Funny thing is Im looking at a bel air original black with blue interiror like that car now.

 

The front wheels are 15x5 repops. The rears are original 15x8.5 deep dished reverse wheels. Front tires are 26 in. tall. Rear slicks are 28x8.5.

Front springs are original. We put a new bushing kit in it so that it is tight. Other than that, just the ball joint spacers, lakewood 90/10 shocks, and a shit ton of shims to get the wheels aligned right.


The front tires are just temporary. We are going to put some vintage 560-15 skinnies up front once we got the extra cash. That may be a while, the radiator shop got back to us and our radiator was junk.

 

Painting the block a Ford blue type color should make it run faster....wink wink

 

did you make the ball joint spacers ? cool 55

 

No, they are just some new kit sold on Epay.

 

We were talking today about what front tires should be on the front, even though we aren't ready to order any. I pulled one of the fronts off my henry J to see how a 560-15 looked and compared. It's too small, but here are some pics of the comparison. We need a tire that is about 26.5 tall and a 6.5 center section. We'll probably be getting the B.F. Goodrich 640-15 from coker.

 

the wheels from the henry j look good on there ...

 

damn u guys have killer shit!!!!!

 

Right now I have some old vintage F78-15 front tires mounted up but don't trust them for long hauls, so I am going to be ordering a set of US Royal 670-15 to replace them for the front of my 56. I am also running the 28" Hurst cheaters, they go together really nice. I think that is the size you are probably looking for.

 

You nailed it !!!!!!!!

Nice work !

Can't wait to hear about the ET's.

Now.....Get it out and waaaaail on it !!!!

 

Dat is....... DA KAT AZZ!!! Brutha, STAND TALL Wit pride!!! Ya got skilz kid!!! Keep us updated!!! This post is KOOLSVILLE!!!

 

Von,

Not only do you have a gift as an artist on paper but also with metal, I'll see you in about a week.

Thanks again for all your help with the artwork, the new site will be switched over in about a month.

Dashman

 

Tuff as nails!

 

I want to see more of this one:

 

I'm running the Coker BFG 6.40x15 on 15x6 Torq Thrusts and I think they are just right. You can also get the Firestones with the ribbed edge. On a narrower wheel the 6.40 would probably get just the right 'bulge' to the sidewall.




Here's a photo before I put them on the car. Again, my front wheels are 6s so the 6.40 would gain more sidewall bulge on a narrower rim.

 

Car looks great. I love them 55's.

 

If you have to ask that question, you've really missed something. You owe it to yourself to own a small block "buzz motor". You should add this to your "bucket list"! The music and the power our little 258 inch small block makes at 9200 is unreal.....

 

I agree. Keep it up.

 

Badass!!!! I am not a fan of tri fives but You guys have converted me

 

This brings back some memories.

In 1964 at nineteen, I bought a stick-6 55 Chevy 210 two-door. Black exterior with blue interior, gave $150 for it. I bored a 283 block to 4" to make a 301 wtih Jahn's pistons, ran a pair of WCFBs in front of the 3-speed. I had the same scattershield. Ran it in C/MP that year (first year for modified production).

I've often thought about replicating the car using only mid-60s parts to optimize the ETs for the period. In that first year, mid 12s was screaming for C/MP, though I didn't get close to that.

This is a really neat car and an inspiration. You're local, so I hope to see the car sometime in 2010.

 

Love the car, but thought you might want a tip; Not sure where you are going with the trans mount as that won't stop the rock inherent to this design. For more consistency I fabbed up a 1/4" strap from the upper control arm adjustment bolt on the driver's side up to one of the water pump bolts. Helped my shifting immensely! I also made a similar strap to support the weak generator bracket that came with the headers, they kept breaking otherwise. As far as rpm's to expect, the stock valve train can handle 7500 with the early cam profiles, but you must realize they had a lazy lift and were expected to last a long time on the street. I suspect a modern design cam will require more investment in valve train parts, but the short block can spin 8500 with stock rods and forged pistons.

 

The main idea behind the added trans crossmember isn't so much to reduce engine rock, but to support the tailshaft of the trans. Otherwise the weight/load of the trans is on the 4 bolts that bolt it to the bell housing.

The Generator bracket is one that we fabbed and is relatively durable. It's a lot more durable than your standard bracket.

We aren't sure what the specs of the cam are because that was the cam that came in it and it has no markings. It is a pretty choppy solid lift cam and it had hardly been run when we got the car. We replaced the lifters with a new set from comp cams because one had an issue with it. The cam accepted the new lifters just fine. Eventually it will get treated with an Isky cam.

the heads have been shot peened, machined for threaded rocker studs, have push rod guide plates, they also have Ferrara 2.02 valves, hardened seats, and bronze valve guides. We have a set of Erson roller rockers on it too with the big roller tips. All the hardware is ARP with high performance head gaskets.

 

Finished welding the cage today. It's bolted in. Now we just have to remove it one last time to paint it.



the bottom plates for under the car. We went ahead and welded the nuts to these to make it easier on ourselves.



And the underside. Notice the pads are right above the frame rails.

 

Nice work Von Hartmann! I met you and your brother and Dad at the cruise night in Beloit a couple years back, you had your Henry J there. I bought a shirt from you if that helps you remember. I don't know if this is the place to ask, but a while back I saw a picture of the ladder bar front mounts on your Henry J and I've been unable to find it again. Any chance you could PM me the pic if you know which one I'm talking about? Keep up the posts!

 

Thanks for the compliment on my 301. I have 3 more going together this wtiner. 2 - race 301's and 1 street.

I like the stance, and I especially like the Chrome Reversed wheels....everyone has Torq thrust on their 55-56-57 myself included....dont see as many CR I like it! Remember 60-70% of the gassers out therei in the mid 60's were dual street and strip cars...

Excellent Color choice on the engine.....


Koopmeiners & Sons

 

Here's some new pictures of what we have done up to today. The new radiator came yesterday, so we polished the tank and put it in today.



Also, did some more work to the interior. Cleaned up the original door panels and put them in. They will work fine until we can maybe get a new interior kit that doesn't have chicken shit on it... for real.


Since we are missing the belair arm rest pieces, I made some aluminum panels to fill them in. I like them better than the stock arm rests. It gives it more of a hot rod shaved look.


This is a good way to use up old road signs.




The traction bars came back from the chromer. These are just the bars. I'll show the brackets that make them work later on. They're settin on a skateboard in case anyone is wondering what the hell that is.