Hot Rods When is it time to give up tradition over being practical?

Yeah my 60 ft are all over the map. Usually due to what you see in the avatar. I'm not a real racer, I'm more of a wheelie guy that goes to drag races.

 

One thing I learned a few years back, racing became a lot more fun when I was not so worried about winning as I was about having fun. I figure my next car will be lucky to pull off a 12, yea I could sure brag if I drove it in and ran a 10, but no one will be having as much fun as I am.

 

I think the All Traditional thing has gotten out of hand....If it's traditional....then it's got to be ALL TRADITIONAL.....if you put aftermarket parts in it, what's the difference in bolting a fiberglass body on it.....it's not Traditional anymore.....I have no problem with either....BUT....don't try to stuff Traditional down my throat when your stuff is not traditional.....It all comes down to the fact....We're all Car Nuts.....have been since I was about 12......65 now....I look at all these messages and also look at the person's profile page that makes certain statements about stuff......It's Not a Hot Rod...It's Not Traditional...It's a Street Rod....It's This and That.....I think it's time for some of us to get over the idea of what someone else' car is or is not and spend our time helping one another keep the sport alive....I admit, some of the cars are not what I would have built, but we're in it together weather you like it or not......There's Million Dollar cars and $2000 back yard builds, just enjoy the fact we have a Forum we can come to and talk about cars, sell them and buy and sell parts......I have a All Henry Ford '32 5 Window that some say is not Traditional and a Glass '32 5 Window that Is not Traditional......Feel free to park beside me anytime you want...drag up a chair and lets talk cars...Not about what's Traditional or What's Store Bought and Fake....I'm over the opinions....Hope y'all are or will be in the near future. And Please...take all this in a nice way just like you would if we were sitting and talking to each other.....I'm not hollering or mad, just saying...come on guys...We Are In This Because We Love Cars.

 

That's the way you'd want to do it, with old stuff- no ls stuff.
Blow thru carb's have made some advancements.

 

yup, but if you use advancements, it's not traditional, is it? You can draw the line anywhere you want, though.

 

I'll let you know shortly and update my thread with the info. Trickflow sold me the first bare ones they offered!

 

There is a line.........some thin some blurred and some don't give a shit, but good question.

 

Build the 434 then paint the Brodix heads fast Chevy orange, 327 valve covers with 327 decals.
Only spin it to about 6500 and it will live forever. ( I know a guy that does this )

 

You and I are in a similar boat. You can only fit so much dome in a sbc chamber. AFR told me that they can only get the comp up by angle milling the brand new heads. They said 55cc was doable, but they have a billboard cnc'd in the end of the head. They wouldn't even entertain the notion of not etching their logo on the head. Please do a thorough write up on the heads in your tech post. You always do. The TF heads are advertised at 60cc. I have really wanted to see a set up close.Thanks

 

Got an idea for you, brother Roothawg. It'll cost a little more, but I don't mind spending your money...lol.

Build two motors...one, awesomely powerful...the other, awesomely traditional. Then do a little of both...whatever you want to do at the time.

My father wasn't quite as "preoccupied" with hot rods as we are. He probably would have been, but he was really busy supporting a wife and 10 children...lol. But he knew that I like'em and he'd share stories with me. Once when I was a young kid, he told me about two brothers who owned a 30s Chevy coupe. They ran two separate 302 Jimmy sixes...one was a good running street engine and the other was for racing.

Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I spend my virtual $$ moolah 125 ways per day my friend...

 

If you're gonna port them for the public, I'd love to buy a ported set once you're ready to do them.

 

I have put tradition on the junk shelf TWICE. First time in 1959 when my Buddy and I pulled a hotted up 8BA out of his 49 Ford 2dr and replaced it with a 57 312 with the Paxton (or were they McCulloch) super charger and the "Flathead Forever" crowd howled their derision and again starting around 2013 everything gets an LS; just keep the hood closed. Latest is a 52 Chevy 3100 pickup with 430hp, 22mpg all around, and wife can drive it to the grocery store and leave it idling (smoothly) with the a/c running. Try that with a 350.

 

I guess the readers of this post don't read your posts about this being a tow it to the track old school drag car. Now talking about an LS swap. From your avatar you don't even run a hood.
The way I got past the AFR logo on a previous build was to JB weld the logo and then sand it to where it was blended,painted and couldn't be seen . Used a set of AFR 220's a .630 lift roller cam and a .060 over 350 with a stock GM steel crank and Eagle rods with 12.5 to 1 lightweight pistons . The heads were cut to 55cc and with injection it ran 9.80's. That is the car in my avatar at the Hot Rod reunion in 2004.

 

Yeah, I was thinking I was straying from traditional for looking at aftermarket heads.......I am probably gonna pull the trigger on the aluminum TF DH-175 mentioned above.

The LS stuff has it's place. Someday I may even own one, but the car in question is 100% traditional and always will be sans a few internal engine parts.

 

The fun part will be to figure out how to fool yourself into believing that you still have a traditional engine.

 

I reject you're reality and insert my own.

I identify this engine as traditional and you shall address it as such.
Works for a Fat dude who thinks he's an Asian woman.

 

Very well said

 

You have the same sickness, so I know you feel my pain. Chevy Orange covers multitudes of sin...

 

yeah, but you'll see that metal under the pretty paint

 

Probably so...

 

I read the whole thread, but I guess I over looked it, what heads are you running now? I would guess they are ported, but by who?
Now I have another question for the history buffs, when did they start running roller tappet cams in small block Chevrolets? Even the first sets of rules I remember reading for dirt cars had a rule against rollers, or mushroom tappet cams.

 

Roller Cams have been around in drag racing for YEARS. I have several vintage Crower rollers that are just identified as "Killer 90R" on the ends. Pretty big cams, even by today's standards.

I am running 462 casting heads, ported by dad back in the day. Even when ported by Mondello etc. they are still limited.

 

I'm on the vibe side of the vibe/ANAL fence.
I'm on the hot rod side of the hot rod/RESTORATION fence.
I'm also glad there are guys on the other side of the fence.

 

So, to be clear, the car in question is built with 100% period correct parts. Nothing newer than 1965 sans gaskets, seals and bearings. That includes the fuel tank, headers, roller lifters and cam, motor block, trans, rear end. The engine innards are all pieces that came out of a drag car that my dad campaigned from 1959-1976.
The Injectors are so old that Don Garlits had talked to dad about them, when Big Daddy was planning on swapping over to them. The wheels are so early they don't have a safety bead on them.

With all that said, I understand tradition and the importance of it, so let's not measure peckers on who is most traditional. I am struggling with upgrading certain parts to improve performance while still retaining the nostaligic vibe.

 

I have had a similar conundrum but for a different application
I have had a 50 merc waiting for me to build for about 2 decades(fixed everybody elses cars)
Hope to be able to start next summer, so I am specking out a few more parts lately as I finish up other projects.
What style and what era am I wanting to build? How serious am I in keeping it honest to the era chosen?
some would ask why worry.
I definitely understand on you keeping as true to yourself/concept as possible in a build.

 

You don't have to satisfy anyone but yourself.

 

Yeah! don't be one of those "sheep" that gets lured into the "32 Ford Cult"

 

Root, the Fly has been an inspiration from the moment you started building her. Seeing you build her your way regardless... Whatever you decide to do enjoy it. It's your car. That said, many of us won't be able to wipe the smiles from our faces watching your wheels up passes, regardless of what you do.

Gotta say I can relate chasing the performance I feel I should have vs what I actually run.

 

Thanks Kerry.