Thread: A log of my updates on my '32 Brookville highboy

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Bob, I would think that the cam selection would determine the torque curve which is what defines the "drivability" for the engine. The fact that you pushed out to 427 CI on a SBC should not, in itself, result in the engine having to be 2500rpm or better to be street friendly, seems to me. If I'm wrong I'm sure someone will be quick to point out my shortfall in understanding.

I didn't skip over a turbo, it is a different animal. A turbo is the most efficient way to make more power as it uses what would be wasted heat in expanding exhaust gasses to spin a turbine that shares a common shaft of a centrifugal compressor for adding boost. That is why I said a positive displacement blower, because it produces boost right off of idle. But then it gets interesting since the boost is so linear in a turbo application, a drivetrain that is built to handle say 500 hp from a positive displacement blower, would have the same survivability with a 700 hp rating of a turbocharged engine.

It's home now! I drove it home the long way but it was still too short of a drive. I love driving this thing. Tomorrow is questionable weather so I put it right into the garage tonight, but after that the next few days are going to be gorgeous so I'm driving it as much as possible.

Throttle response feels awesome. I've never had a car with such fast throttle response. Bob, maybe it's the auto trans like you said but it seems if I give it a good dose of throttle from a dig or almost any speed it'll light up the tires. I have yet to play with putting much heat into the tires to see how they hook with a hard launch but the rears are M&H drag radials and quite sticky so I'll play with that this weekend. I'm super happy with the exhaust, though I'm hoping some of the potential expansion problems you guys mentioned don't show up. I really think with the flex hangers (other than at the far rear) and bends it will absorb any expansion but we'll see. With the pipes running all the way to the back now, when I'm cruising it's very noticeably quieter than it was before with the ZZ4 motor which dumped in front of the rear axle. But when I blip it or hammer the throttle the exhaust sounds perfect!

Still practicing one baby step at a time so I don't kill myself.

That picture and the piles of rubber in the foreground looks like a romp in 1st gear. As light as my ride is, it isn't light enough to take a lot of throttle in 1st gear. Your 2nd gear traction is where I have interest. As I've said, if I go into 2nd at 40 mph the engine drops from 4400 rpm to 3000, which I have found if the road surface is flat with a good gripping surface, the 427 doesn't produce enough at 3000 to break loose. This way I can have my foot in it for the duration of 2nd, and as I approach 60 mph traction is maxed out, but if it breaks it isn't bad, probably because of the T's light weight, speed, and I only have 1500 rpm left before a needed shift. It has come together rather well, unlike the 383 that produced so much torque at low rpm, it was much slower because where you need big torque towards the end of the power band for acceleration, it was coming on so early and smoking the tires. The 355 was much more gutless in the low rpms than the 427, but unlike the 383, had a good zing in the high end. The 427 has a better zing and improved power in the low rpm band over the 355.

So Nick, waiting for your next post and what your able to get away with in 2nd gear.

Hello Nick looking at your ride awsome DO YOU WANT TO SELL THOSE ZOOMIES PLEASE LET ME KNOW deanraye?

Hello Nick looking at your ride awsome DO YOU WANT TO SELL THOSE ZOOMIES PLEASE LET ME KNOW deanraye?

Dean,
I am selling them for sure. In fact, this past Friday I posted a 4 sale ad up on the bulletin board of the local speed shop but haven't gotten any bites yet. Here's my ad ...which I guess I should post in the for sale section here but I thought I'd wait a couple weeks to see if I get any local interest before dealing with shipping etc.

Originally Posted by deckofficer

That picture and the piles of rubber in the foreground looks like a romp in 1st gear....Your 2nd gear traction is where I have interest....So Nick, waiting for your next post and what your able to get away with in 2nd gear.

Bob,
I was sort of cheating in that photo above. That's the end result of a 2nd gear burnout after applying the line lock for a couple seconds and spinning the rears in 2nd gear. Some may ask "why the line lock?" and I wouldn't have even thought of it except my fabricator/tuning buddy who did work on the roadster had a new line lock laying there so he said he'd install it just for the hell of it.

But I'll be posting more on test drives and try to get a camera mounted for a vid. Yesterday I was just cruising around in PA and NJ and I'm very happy with how the engine responds and feels, and sounds. But I want to look into suspension setup since in some turning transitions it feels a bit too twitchy for my taste so I want to check alignment. I also want to do some hard loops to get a feel for under/oversteer since I think it now induces oversteer in some situations that is too sudden but I need to check this out further; not sure about need for a panhard bar front and/or back or not; over washboard rapid bumps the steering felt like it could use some dampening so I ordered a steering stabilizer from So-Cal Speed Shop.

Nick,

This is too cool, your a driving perfectionist like me. I expect to learn a lot from your future posts on cornering, hooking up, and ride comfort. I took the easy and non technical way out. Just mounted the engine and trans as low in the frame as I could get away with. CG at or below spindle height assures no moment-arm above spindle height, so no body lean. The Jag IRS handles my need for comfort. The longest single day drive was from Corona, California to Sierra Vista, in SE Arizona.

Bob, I can really relate to what you did with your track-T and even appreciate some of it from afar. Before buying this highboy with a straight front axle and solid rear I looked at and drove a few others that I didn't like for one reason or another, but two of those had IFS and IRS and one thing they had for sure was good handling. I figure if hot rodders over the years have run solid front/rear setups at Bonneville at huge speeds, super fast et's and even with adequate street manners I should be able to make this one handle good enough. But I don't expect it to ever handle like IFS/IRS setups.

Ahhh, the Jag reference you made reminded me of my very first car that I bought for myself two weeks after graduating from college and landing a job; it was a '67 Jag E-Type roadster which I always wanted since love at first sight in 1961 when I was 12 y.o.; that was a wonderful car that I never had any problems with (after a couple "Made in USA" corrections to the Prince of Darkness Lucas electrics) and definitely one I'm sorry to have sold

For me IRS was for the cushy ride, not all out performance. When a car is as light as mine, being able to dial in the spring rates for the (4) rear springs will allow good cornering without the harsh ride of a straight axle on a light car. I do have a problem with this set up, and that is when it is dialed in for just me in the car, when I add a passenger I can never show its cornering prowess because it doesn't have the weight range to be good at 250 lb occupant load and 450 lb load. I use 2 then 6 90 lb cement bags on the passenger side for trying to set it up, no sense in scaring a friend. Can dial that in and then show a passenger how good it corners, but then when I'm solo it isn't as good, so I just leave it set up for solo.


That is a super bright LED light for my reverse. I fabbed a magnet mount and used a coiled cord so that if I break down at night I have a good trouble light that won't pull the battery down.

I really like that bright LED backup light. I can see that coming in handy. I'm putting that on my list. My brother-in-law has a rather sizeable lightbulb business (commercial sales only) and he's always telling me about all the LED conversions he's worked up so I'll bounce this off him. Bob, is there a kit you used for the LED light or did you fab it up yourself?

The light. Since it is LED, current draw is 1/10 of an incandescent of equal lumen output, so no relay needed to protect the reverse switch in the transmission. 30 years ago I used fog lamps as my back up lights on a Subaru, so I needed that relay.
4" Square 10W Super Duty High Powered LED Spot Light | Super Duty Work Lights | Spot/Flood Work Lights | Work & Off-Road Lights | Super Bright LEDs


The magnet, not quite this one, mine to make it easy to mount has a threaded female stud, not male.
cPath_95 | products_id_931 | Neodymium Cup Magnets w/M6 Threaded Male Stud 1.25 inch - Applied Magnets & WindMax Wind Turbines

Still waiting for more driving impressions from Nick.

Somehow I missed noticing your last post, Bob. I was thinking I wanted to start adding driving updates since other than upholstery and front alignment I'm not expecting significant changes. I love driving it and will have it aligned this Tuesday. After actually looking at how the front tires are pointed I can see even without measuring that the tires are way too far toed out and that would explain the twitchy feeling when turning etc. From what I've found out about this type of chassis I should shoot for 1/16" to 1/8" toe in on the front.

I was thinking that as soon as I have some of my own short vids of driving, or if you, Bob, want to start it with all your vids, it would be nice to have a running thread titled something like "Just Driving Your Hot Rod" and people could just post whatever ongoing driving impressions they are having in there.