Steve, yep in stock form these Olds engines were setup exactly the opposite of most American cars............they have one mount in the center of the timing cover and two on the bellhousing. Most American cars put two on the engine and one on the tailshaft of the transmission. What we did was make one crossmember up front that bolts to the stock mounting location with a poly bushing on each end. Then we did exactly the same thing on the transmission except it mounts to a couple of ears we made to bolt onto each side of the transmission. So now the engine actually has 4 mounting points and sits on somewhat of a cradle.

As for the radiator in the back, this will be a first for me too, but others have done it like Littleman from the HAMB (the winner on the Jimmy Shine Show at SoCal). He has a Model A coupe (Deaths Doorstep) that runs a hemi with radiator mounted in the bed. Yeah, an electric fan is a must, and I don't know yet if it will have to run continuously or if airflow going down the road is enough to keep it cool. I plan to build some sort of ducting system to scoop up air from under the car to direct air over it, plus my tonneau cover is punched with 224 louvers. I am also going to louver or somehow vent the tailgate to get more air out. One other good thing will be that I have tons of room back there for a huge radiator, and coupled with the extra water capacity of the long hoses going rearward I should have good cooling ability.

39Deluxe, thanks. It's a 394 out of a '64 Olds 98. It is just a mild build.......30 over, flattop forged pistons, mild cam, heads worked a little with hardened valve seats, and the tripower setup. It was the "red" 394 which was a higher horsepower engine than the "green" one, I think rated at something like 345 HP stock. Gas may be an issue because I think it was 10.5 to 1 stock and is probably pushing 11 to 1 now, but well see how that goes.

The one weak link in the whole thing is the transmission. It is a four speed hydro, and the ones from that year were not the swiftest transmissions around. Bendtsens Transmissions sells a conversion kit to put either a 350 turbo behind it or a stickshift setup. But they get $ 1000 for the 350 one and over $ 1500 for the stick version, so I am going to do that sometime down the road. By the time you add in the cost of a transmission it would tally up to somewhere between $1500 and $2500, and I can't afford that right now. The stock transmission should be fine for a while, I'll just put some seals in it and see what happens.

As for early pictures sans body, I think my Son Dan has some in his computer. He and I started out as partners in this car and I later bought him out when he found his Model A, so he has most of the build pictures. I will have to ask him for some of them.


Don