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

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Von Hartmann, Jan 3, 2010.

  1. Hellfish
    Joined: Jun 19, 2002
    Posts: 6,626

    Hellfish
    Member

    I love you, man :D
     
  2. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    So, there isn't much new to show. We've been working on it still, but I pulled the Henry J out to take care of some things, so we've been going back and forth a little between the 2 cars.

    We got the rest of the stuff to finish the exhaust. I went up to the old Warshawsky muffler man shop to dig up some old glass packs. I guess within the last month, some guy went in a bought up pretty much the last of the good glass packs. All I was able to find were 2 in scatcats and cherry bombs.

    So we bought some new Smithy's. 2 1/2 in-out in the shortest length. Should be loud enough.

    We got this from the neighbor last year. We knew it would go on something. Its an NOS Lakewood driveshaft loop. Been sittin on his shelf for around 30 years. No pics yet of it in the car, but it is installed.
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    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 1, 2014
  3. sixpac
    Joined: Dec 15, 2002
    Posts: 553

    sixpac
    Member
    from Courtenay

    Great job love what you have done. Happy motoring
     
  4. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    Ok, so we got back to work on the exhaust. I spent way more time on this than I had anticipated, but the result so far is way cool.

    I made some caps and flanges for the side-outs. The flanges I cut out of some 1/4 in. angle iron I found. The caps are 1/4 in. stainless.
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    Welded on and tapped the flange for the allen bolts
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    Fabricating the rest of the exhaust.
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    Since I had no luck at the Warshawsky shop, we ordered some 2 1/2 Smithy's in the shortest length.
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    they're even BLUE!
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    Finished, painted pipes with polished caps
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    They aren't as loud as we were expecting, but maybe that's just because we are getting use to the open pipes. It has a really nice rumble and it makes plenty of racket at 5000 rpm. All that is left now is to paint the exhaust (mask off the glass packs) and polish the caps.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 1, 2014
    -Brent- likes this.
  5. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    Oh yeah, we ordered front tires last night too. We changed our mind last minute and bought the firestone 640-15s. The BF Goodrich 640-15 we liked the tread on, but the piecrust sidewall on the firestones sold us.
     
  6. c57heaven
    Joined: Feb 22, 2008
    Posts: 544

    c57heaven
    Member

    pour some oil in those glass packs, that'll cure the quiet!
    Nice work.
     
  7. johnybsic
    Joined: Oct 8, 2009
    Posts: 612

    johnybsic
    Member
    from las vegas

    just some words for this.
    I gotta say that i love this build, its got soul. and thats what these cars want, just to be a hotrod. Keep up the work man. I love the metal flake wheel and stuff, im goin this direction on mine as well. i hope it turns out a rad as this one. after seein this i went out and finished priming my interior, thanks for the inspiration. this can be dishearting when im out there by myself with lowww cash.
    keep it up
     
  8. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    So the new tires came. Got them mounted on the car.

    We got a chance to back it outside and take some pictures.

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    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 1, 2014
  9. That is by far one of my favorite 55's. I want to "do" it, I like it so much. Bravo.
     
  10. Damn COOL! You and the car!
     
  11. Butch M
    Joined: Oct 14, 2008
    Posts: 1,633

    Butch M
    Member

    way cool look's great.......
     
  12. Mr. Jean
    Joined: Dec 13, 2007
    Posts: 603

    Mr. Jean
    Member

    Just found this thread. God, how it takes me back. It's like I'm back in my garage in 67-68 building mine.:D Groaning at the thought, of lifting the Ansen, but I was a bit younger then. ;)

    Car is looking great. Plan to follow along with this one. :cool:
     
  13. JeffreyJames
    Joined: Jun 13, 2007
    Posts: 16,628

    JeffreyJames
    Member
    from SUGAR CITY

    Holy Shit!!! I just stumbled on the thread and the first couple pics of the destroked 327 had me!!! I love the car and the new tires look great!! Just plain ol' rad!!!
     
  14. Countn'Carbs
    Joined: Nov 8, 2006
    Posts: 975

    Countn'Carbs
    Member
    from CO

    Man that looks good and those cutouts look right at home. Love the stance and the wheel/tire combo is perfect. What offset did you go with on the rears? Excellent call on the pie crusts.
     
  15. lotus
    Joined: Sep 7, 2002
    Posts: 1,119

    lotus
    Member
    from Taft, CA

    everyone else has already said everything that can be said but i will say i love the attention to detail!!!!!
     
  16. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    i can't remember what exactly the offset is on the rears. They are original chrome reverse from the 60s and I can't recall seeing any quite like them with this much dish. they are 8 1/2 wide. The fronts are repops.
     
  17. Countn'Carbs
    Joined: Nov 8, 2006
    Posts: 975

    Countn'Carbs
    Member
    from CO

    Perfect!!
     
  18. crook
    Joined: Oct 10, 2007
    Posts: 375

    crook
    Member
    from Winder,Ga

    Dig it the most man! I've been trying to convince myself for two weeks that I don't need the '55 a friend of mine is selling....then I stumble up on this thread! Dang it! Congrats on the badass ride, it's got the snarl!!!
     
  19. airmentbob
    Joined: Sep 25, 2009
    Posts: 75

    airmentbob
    Member
    from san diego

    the build looks awesome in the photos, post a video of a drive if you get a chance!
     
  20. Between the '55 and your henry j, im not sure which build is cooler. I dont know of you are aware of the fact that your ansen nhra bell housing is no longer accepted by the nhra. It is a better part than a stock bell, but a lakewood scatter shield is he real deal.
     
  21. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    Yeah, we know it doesn't certify. This particular one wouldn't anyway. Somebody cut out the area around the starter nose. But we really don't need this car to certify anyway, so it's no big deal.
     
  22. Flathead26T
    Joined: Dec 4, 2008
    Posts: 316

    Flathead26T
    Member

    thats bitchin!! It looks great!!
     
  23. fab32
    Joined: May 14, 2002
    Posts: 13,985

    fab32
    Member Emeritus

    Damn, You've just about cloned my old '55 from back in the early 70's. Mine had the first 350 hp/350's around here. Your going to have lot of fun with that one. I built a lever drag brake like that for mine and it worked flawlessly. Don't listen to Holeshot, I doubt he ever tried one.

    Frank
     
  24. Aman
    Joined: Dec 28, 2005
    Posts: 2,522

    Aman
    Member
    from Texas

    Man I love this 55, great job, reminds me of the good ole' days. I just started my 55 4dr project and when I saw this I was pumped up that much more. Keep us posted, thanks. Aman.
     
  25. 65 impala
    Joined: Jan 12, 2007
    Posts: 1,091

    65 impala
    Member

  26. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    Haven't posted any updates on this car in a really long time, so here are some.

    I don't have pictures of the aluminum puke tank I made to mount behind the grill. I'll have to get some pics of it soon.

    We did some last minute thrashing on it a few months back for the Meltdown Drags at Byron Dragway. Put a new 3rd gear in the trans. Also did some work to the cage. Since the car didn't have any seat belts we figured we might as well put a harness int he drivers seat. I picked up an outdated RJS 4 pt from an old guy named Larry the Legend at the local hot rod shop for 10 bucks. So we put that in it.

    With just the hoop and rear bars, the cage was actually rather loose and would shake at certain rpm. Since we had nothing to mount the shoulder harness to, we decided we should add in some bars.

    We added this diagonal bar to triangulate the hoop to prevent any shaking or movement it had and added a cross bar for the harness to bolt to. It's solid now.
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    This still allows easy access to the back seat. Sorry no pics of it in the car.
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    Some shots outside (pre puke tank and diagonal bar)
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  27. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, it started smoking at the Meltdown Drags. My dad made 2 passes with it and was unsuccessful both times. He got out of it early, so we never got an accurate e.t.

    We suspect it is just an intake gasket.
     
  28. c57heaven
    Joined: Feb 22, 2008
    Posts: 544

    c57heaven
    Member

    I like the stance and presence of that car.
     
  29. benchseat4speed
    Joined: Feb 11, 2008
    Posts: 470

    benchseat4speed
    Member
    from Golden, CO

    You absolutely nailed it with everything on this car. I don't know what year you were shootin for, but you and your car would have been seen at a street race in 1965. And a bel air no less....black, chrome reverse, no bumper....too freakin cool man.:cool:
     
  30. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    This car is an ongoing project and experiment. It is time for some updates.


    The Hand grenade finally made it down the track back in July at the 2nd annual Meltdown Drags. It ran in the low 14s. Its fastest time of the day was also on a pass where my dad missed 3rd gear... so there is room for improvement. We are not disappointed by the time since it a very heavy street car with a little 301 in it. More gear would make a huge difference for this car.

    So no surprise that the motor was out again this year. We took it to the engine shop and had them check it out to try to find out where the smoke was coming from. We didn't find anything, but it did appear something went through the bearings, so we replaced them. While we had the heads off, the engine shop did some port work.

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