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So Cal 53 Mainline street gasser

61K views 475 replies 22 participants last post by  1937Austin 
#1 · (Edited)
I just recently became aware of this site. I've been a gasser guy since the mid 60s. My 53 has a fresh +.030 428, Dodge I-beam (big brakes) in front, a Mopar 8 3/4" (also big brakes) with 4:56 gears and a full spool in back, it has 16x10 American Torque Thrusts in back and 15x4 American Torque Thrusts on the front.
I've also got a 41 Willys pick up with a SBC that's about 60% done. The bad thing is it's in storage because I don't have room in my garage.
 

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#263 ·
Never had

this kind of vacuum before. Got the carbs dialed in and was finally able to get the idle down low enough to set the timing where the rpms weren't kicking the advance in. Had it idling at 750 and the timing was at 8 degrees BTDC so I bumped it up to 13 degrees, the magneto has 24 degrees for 37 total so will go from there. Set the idle to 1000 rpm so that when I drop it into gear it's at 750/800 rpm. Thinking I should have gotten a looser torque converter. Guess maybe getting the heads done and getting the new carb base plates were worth it. Bicycle tire Automotive tire Motor vehicle Bicycle handlebar Crankset
 
#265 · (Edited)
So I've

tinkered with it somemore and think it's just about dialed in. Redid the throttle linkage, again. Rooted around my boxes of parts and came up with an old fuel injection bell crank with some 3" long arms, set it up with a piece of adjustable rod that goes to an arm on the rod that works both carbs, made a new bracket for the cable coming from the gas pedal and it works smoother than it ever has. It's 88 here today so I fired it up and let it idle for 25 minutes, never got over 190. Before it would have gone up to 210/215 before I shut it off. One other thing I did while it was idling was to fire up the Willys; can't remember the last time I had both cars running together; it was music to my ears. The real test came when after idling for that length I jumped in it, drove it around and the temp stayed where it was. Drove to a service station to fill it up again and put another bottle of Lucas fuel system cleaner in it. Seems each bottle I put in, it runs a bit better. I hope all the gremlins are finally getting worked out or are gone. So all it took was a new cam (to replace the one that went flat), 2 new high flow 1400 cfm fans, getting the heads done, rebuilding the carbs, twice, and 2 new carb base plates. I also finally hooked up a PCV valve. It's nice not to have that little bit of blow by coming from the valve cover breathers.
 
#267 ·
Oh yeah it does feel good. Now drive that bad boy. Great job.
 
#268 · (Edited)
So, I realize

that with all the major motor, chassis and body work that goes into building a gasser/hot rod the little things don't always get much attention. I just thought I'd post a couple photos of the "final" carb throttle linkage I was able to cobble together with a bunch of parts I had. Again, it was the KISS principle. What really worked out was that I was able to use one of the carb base studs for the bell crank and then just weld up a simple bracket for the cable support. Every once in a while something just falls into place when you don't try to over engineer it.

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#271 ·
It does look great and all done with your spare box of parts. All points to great engineering. Nice job.
 
#272 ·
Not sure

if I should be surprised or not what with my luck. Took the car to the coffee/doughnut shop where I have coffee with some buddies most mornings. With it being a holiday weekend the parking lot wasn't real full so I thought what the hell, time for a smokey burn out. About half way through I heard a noise and the car jerked to the left a little. I parked and looked underneath and the front heim joint on the right ladder bar had broken. No real damage done except that it rattled like hell on the drive back home. I only hope this is not a precusor to things to come. I'm just glad the throttle didn't stick...........
 
#273 ·
Do you have safety clips on the front of those ladder bars Steve? Might be a good time to add them if you don't! I've seen cars "pole vault" into the air when the front of a ladder bar breaks loose and stabs into the blacktop.
My ladder bars came with a C shaped clip that bolts around the front heim and holds it if the heim joint comes apart. Would be easy to weld a pair of tabs on and make the same thing.

 
#274 · (Edited)
So I got

under the car and pulled off the ladder bars. I'm not sure if I'm going to repair the broken one or not. I really like the the traction bars on my Willys. They're basically the old style Traction Master bars Wheel Tire Vehicle Automotive tire Tread
but on steroids. Thinking I might make up a pair of those.
Since I got the car running again I've been chasing a high rpm miss. Checked all the usual suspects and that wasn't it. I did notice that the car was much quieter than before and then I remembered that I had wrapped the header collector insert chambers with some very coarse steel wool. I pulled them out and removed the packing, put them back in, fired it up (remembered why I had wrapped them in the first place) and immediately noticed a difference in the way it reved. Took it for a ride and no more high rpm miss!! I am going to have to put some packing back in but won't use nearly as much.
 
#275 ·
When I bought my 35 it had a set of large tie rods into a plate something like yours. Almost looked like a large truck tie rod end. They seemed to work and the rear had an open carrier in it. Still hooked pretty good without the posi. It must have been done around 70 or 71 back in the day.
 
#276 ·
Always the same

story. My 53 has been sitting uncovered for about the past year and it shows. I thought I'd wash it before taking new photos for the calendar but before that I knew I had to replace the driver side window that cracked and that I had purchased a replacement for over 6 years ago. I took the door apart to discover that anything and everything with either felt or rubber was shot. Well, thanks to the aftermarket it's all available but as we all know it isn't cheap; $300 later it's all on the way.
The other discovery is that my fuel lines are leaking again, yep, the same lines that were leaking and replaced about 2-3 years ago. I've been starting and running the motor for 5-10 minutes every week or so with no signs of a leak and then like magic a leak appears. I think I'm going to replumb with steel line because this toxic fuel that we're getting out here is not healthy to my car.
 
#277 ·
Use as much steel as possible Steve. Then where you need hose be sure to buy "alcohol" approved hose because the new gasohol that so many states are pumping will eat up regular gas hose quickly! I bought a roll of alcohol resistant fuel line last year because the crap gas had already caused both of my cars to start leaking right through the fuel line on my Austin. Figured I might as well do both cars.
I had hard lines from the tank to the fuel pump, and just short pieces at a couple places for vibration, and connection. I need to figure out where I put the rest of that roll so I can use it on the '39 too!
 
#278 ·
I’m not sure what’s happening but my braided russell and summit fuel lines are about 9 years old. I still have not sprung a leak yet. I wonder if a return line fuel setup puts less stress on the rubber in the lines. Whatever the reasons I hope you figure out your problem Steve.
 
#279 · (Edited)
I'm not sure

what's going on either Mario. The last time it was as I posted; I had used left over ATF braided line and assumed that was the problem. When I redid the lines I got braided "fuel" line. Whats interesting is that the ATF lasted much longer than the so called "fuel" line. I guess my mistake was not getting the type you mentioned. I am however going with 3/8 steel line. I'll just bend it to the configurations I need. What I really like though is that there won't be any rubber lines used in the new fuel lines at all. The tank is fitted with a threaded bung so right now I have a steel line from the tank to the canister type filter, a steel line from the filter to the pump, a steel line from the pump to the firewall mounted fuel block and soon to come steel lines from the fuel block to the carbs. What really pisses me off though is all the money I spent on the big assortment of -6 AN fittings that were needed for the job.
I do have to add though the damage the fuel did to my carbs it doesn't surprise me what it did to the rubber fuel lines but also the way I had to chase my tail trying to figure out what was wrong with the motor and then finding out how it was the fuel that had fucked up my carbs so badly.
 
#292 ·
what's going on either Mario. The last time it was as I posted; I had used left over ATF braided line and assumed that was the problem. When I redid the lines I got braided "fuel" line. Whats interesting is that the ATF lasted much longer than the so called "fuel" line. I guess my mistake was not getting the type you mentioned. I am however going with 3/8 steel line. I'll just bend it to the configurations I need. What I really like though is that there won't be any rubber lines used in the new fuel lines at all. The tank is fitted with a threaded bung so right now I have a steel line from the tank to the canister type filter, a steel line from the filter to the pump, a steel line from the pump to the firewall mounted fuel block and soon to come steel lines from the fuel block to the carbs. What really pisses me off though is all the money I spent on the big assortment of -6 AN fittings that were needed for the job.
I do have to add though the damage the fuel did to my carbs it doesn't surprise me what it did to the rubber fuel lines but also the way I had to chase my tail trying to figure out what was wrong with the motor and then finding out how it was the fuel that had fucked up my carbs so badly.
What you want is braided PTFE (Teflon) fuel lines. This is resistant to all the corrosive additives in modern pump gas fuel. I put this on my '67 Firebird more than 5 years ago here in SoCal and no fuel leaks to date. I'll be using it on my '55 as well.
 
#280 ·
Are you gonna keep rubber between the pump and the start of the steel line? I really feel there has to be a vibration dampener between pump and lines and steel mounted frame lines and engine. It can also stress crack the steel fuel lines.
 
#282 ·
Not progress

from anything I've done mechanically but the more Lucas injector cleaner, fuel conditioner I run through the fuel system the better the motor runs. It appears that the carbs might still be getting a cleaning. I can actually get it to idle down to 600 rpm to get a timing light on it and set the idle timing at 14 degrees BTDC before the magneto advance comes in at 750 rpm. Since I know how much advance there is in the mag I've just been setting the total at 42 degrees BTDC but it's still nice to be able set the timing at an idle.
 
#283 ·
from anything I've done mechanically but the more Lucas injector cleaner, fuel conditioner I run through the fuel system the better the motor runs. It appears that the carbs might still be getting a cleaning. I can actually get it to idle down to 600 rpm to get a timing light on it and set the idle timing at 14 degrees BTDC before the magneto advance comes in at 750 rpm. Since I know how much advance there is in the mag I've just been setting the total at 42 degrees BTDC but it's still nice to be able set the timing at an idle.
Absolutely Steve, that stuff is great for carburetors too. Love that stuff. I used it in my generator during the Sandy Hurricane outage we had. I swear that motor got quieter and smoother after putting a shot glass in the tank. Works great. I buy at walmart by the gallon.
 
#284 ·
I guess

you can call it progress. I got around to swapping the front wheels; the skinny slots to the skinny Torque Thrusts; I'll post a photo to get reactions and thoughts. I also pulled the Gear Vendors unit out from underneath all the crap it's been buried beneath. Finally unpacked it to see just how much crap there is. There's a shit load of electronics (most plug and play) if it's going to be wired for automatic engagement and disengagement. Since I'm not going that route I've just got the 2 wires to run to the solenoid. The installation looks very straight forward. I haven't taken any measurements but I think they're designed to use the existing rear trans mount. If not I had been planning on redoing that mount anyway since I broke one of my ladder bar front mounts a while back. I'm really looking forward to freeway on ramps with the 4:56 gears and then pushing the button to engage the Gear Vendors unit and get the 3:56 ratio kicking in. The thing that's cool about the GV unit is you can shift at speed, no having to let up on the gas.
 
#287 ·
I searched

on line for a heavy duty foot operated switch for the Gear Vendors unit. I thought about just using the high/low beam type switch they use but I wanted something a bit more substantial and one that I wouldn't have to "search" for when wanting to shift from direct to over drive. I found one, purchased it and it was delivered today. It's a diecast aluminum body with a heavy spring action and very positive operation. The switch platform is about the size of a size 10-11 shoe/boot heel Output device Audio equipment Font Office supplies Gadget
so there should be no problem finding it. Now if it ever stops raining and I get motivated again I can finally get the GV unit installed.
Oh yeah, I think I've quit hoarding wheels and started hoarding fuel tanks. Bought this Elco Fluid Cylinder Gas Machine Electric motor
on ebay for $100 because it had some oxidation holes that needed repair. I took it over to my buddy Jerrys house and he tig welded them all up for me for lunch at In N Out; not a bad deal. Tanks are sure a lot cheaper to hoard than wheels!!!
 
#288 ·
I've got an old fuel tank like that I got at a swap meet here several years ago. Wanted to put it on the Austin, but even a small fuel tank dwarfs the frontend of that car, so I never used it. I wont use it on the '39 either, so will likely just sell it to someone building a gasser.
 
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