Thread: No question-just gloating!

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We towed a Merc truck home the other day, supposed to have a really good flattie in it. Tried starting it, found it had a stuck valve. Pulled one head and the intake to free it up. Guess what? It's a fresh rebuilt .040 overbore 255 Merc! 262 cubes and perfect! Sometimes lucky is better than smart and good lookin'! Now I'm seriously considering pulling the Chevy II four out of my bucket and making it a REAL hot rod, whattaya think? (Oops, that's a question, ain't it?)

With flatheads being hot again right now, it would lend a certain "real hot rod" appeal to it. Seems like if a car has one in it people are just more turned on than with almost any other engine. I grew up right after the flathead era, and we were jerking them out and putting Oldsmobiles into every early Ford we could find, so they don't hold the same appeal for me, but a well dressed flatmotor is really pretty, and they have a great exhaust note too.

My vote........do the swap.(or sell it to me )


Don

You don't have the 4 popper out of the bucket yet?

Well, I gotta find some car pulleys and pumps, and figure out what to run for a trans. The truck straight cut 4speed isn't gonna do it for me.Anybody got some used hop-up stuff? I gave all mine away decades ago. All I have left is a busted 505T cam, and a set of adjustable lifters.

R.Pope, what tranny you running behind the Chevy 4 popper? If it's a 3 or 4 spd, just get a Flatty to chevy tranny adapter from Speedway or Transdapt or whoever and go for it.

The four has a 'glide. I'm not sure there's room in the bucket for a clutch pedal. I see adapters for automatics are available, but they're worth more than I've spent on the whole car!

Ain't that the heck of it. So much of the items that would make it so easy end up costing an arm and a leg compared to what you have in to the vehicle. I am facing the same thing with my old truck on some sheet metal I want to replace, although I already got too much into the danged thing.

Originally Posted by R Pope

The four has a 'glide. I'm not sure there's room in the bucket for a clutch pedal. I see adapters for automatics are available, but they're worth more than I've spent on the whole car!

I'm wrestling with the same thing with the budget bucket I'm building. I really want to use the nice Chevy 3 speed trans and Hurst shifter I bought on Ebay, but I don't think I'll have room for the 3 pedals. I know they did it in the old days with '39 ford trannys and all ( like Kookies T) but it is going to be real tight.


Don

Just move the gas pedal over onto the passenger side and you will have a real retro set up! Sounds like a great find, I say go for it

Pat

Originally Posted by Stu Cool

Just move the gas pedal over onto the passenger side and you will have a real retro set up! Sounds like a great find, I say go for it

Pat

Hey, that's the ticket. I'll use a craftsman wrench for a hand brake. Who needs those stupid foot brakes anyway.



Don

Speedway sells a flattie to C-4 adapter......

Just dug around in my junk--er, parts department--and rediscovered a '39 floor shifter 3-speed and a '47 rear end. All I need now is a Model A frame, and I know where one is. Maybe the Willys bucket gets to keep the banger. It has a triangulated four-bar rear that just doesn't seem to go with Henry's water heater. I have in mind a true traditional rod, nothing newer than 1960 or so.

Originally Posted by R Pope

Just dug around in my junk--er, parts department--and rediscovered a '39 floor shifter 3-speed and a '47 rear end. All I need now is a Model A frame, and I know where one is. Maybe the Willys bucket gets to keep the banger. It has a triangulated four-bar rear that just doesn't seem to go with Henry's water heater. I have in mind a true traditional rod, nothing newer than 1960 or so.

Hey, you can join our low buck project club. With the stuff you have there, you could put this thing together pretty cheap, and old-timey.

Not much has been happening lately for me and the other guys who were shooting for the $ 3 K budget, so maybe we need you to get us going again. I think you've got the real beginnings of a cool traditional rod there, and with old stuff showing up on Ebay all the time, you should be able to find those pieces you need pretty easily.

Much better choice than tearing down the other car.


Don

That sounds like a plan. But, please, don't even let the word Rat Rod pass you lips. I know you wouldn't and the "true traditional rod" backs that up. Go for it.

Just found a '37 tube axle. They don't like split wishbones, will an A-V8 work with stock 'bones?