Thread: Followed Me Home II

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I'll have the body over on the frame tomorrow to get it back into shape after five years on a dolly, and check the gaps. Don, as we discussed on the phone I'm interested in what the "other" holes were for so I don't weld up something that I might want in a couple of months I'm still contemplating what "look" I'm going for with the hood, whether to run top only or top & smooth sides, or top & smooth sides with some unique "accent" feature that also exhausts heat.

On the tranny, I've looked at the 200-4R and with the "heavy duty" build it will just cover the rated power from the stock ZZ4 and I really like the deeper OD that it has. It's easy to boost the ZZ4 by 100+HP with some upper end work (intake, heads, cam & more carb). The TH350 is the same, needing the "third tier" build to cover the power and having no OD. The 700R4 can cover the power easily, and the OD is OK at 0.70. I know that there are a lot of 350/350 packages out there, but if you push the output much the tranny may not last and I like to cover the bases on reliability, no matter if I'm keeping it long term or passing it on to someone else at some point.

Running the 3.00/1 rear gears in the pumpkin now will work for cruising with the TH350, but I'm not sure that I can stand the anemia of first and second I'm leaning swapping to 3.89's if I go with the 700R4, and maybe for the 200-4R too.

Roger, I beg to differ with you, but have had many 425 - 450 hp 350's with stout 350's or 200r4's behind them, and never a problem.
This 1 I sold to a buddy in Nor Cal 6 years ago and he's still got the same 350 in it and it's been drivin all over the place on long trips since he's owned it.
You'll see the car @ LARS and the proof is there.
Also have anutter out there with over 50'000 miles on it with a 200r behind a fire breathin 377 cu in SBC in it and no problems.
Ask yer buddy @ the tranny shop what tranny keeps him in business and he'll tell ya a 700r4.
They fail more than 350's and 200's

You're probably right Don. I'm just going from the numbers that Monster posts on their site - GM Transmissions, Chevy Transmissions, Chevrolet Transmissions Now they're dealing with warranty, so they are likely very conservative plus we're talking a super light roadster here where they have to cover heavy weights in their numbers, too. Then you have the Buick GN's launching wheels up running 200-4R's so that's another vote that it'd be good here, too.

Like I said, going to visit the tranny guy tomorrow and will see what comes from that. Regardless, I appreciate any input that anyone wants to offer, especially from guys who've built as many as you!!

Happy Birthday to you ! Happy Birthday to you ! Happy Birthday to you Lucky Duck Roger, Happy Birthday to you !

Originally Posted by Scooting

Happy Birthday to you ! Happy Birthday to you ! Happy Birthday to you Lucky Duck Roger, Happy Birthday to you !

At this point I guess we make our own birthday's, Ray, whenever opportunity strikes!

Don, is that Washington Blue on the roadster you posted?

Not a true Washington Blue Roger, Just sumthin I mixed up myself, as Washington blue is kinda "DEAD" lookin 2 me.

Great find Roger! That motor is very similar to the Fast Burn 385 I have in my '34, although the heads are a little different from the Fast Burn heads, and have a half-point higher compression. I added the Chevy "Hot" cam and roller rockers, which made it almost a clone of the ZZ430. I have to tell you that in a light roadster, it will kick ass and take names.

Ditto Henry Rifle great find. Nice package of parts too! I love that he threw in the engine stand, body roller, and other stuff as well. With that chasis everything should go on pretty easy, and getting it to drive straight won't be a problem. I'm envious!
Now all you need is wheels and tires and maybe a gas tank!(not sure if I saw one in the photos!) Also might be worth taking the tranny to your guy and having him give it the once over, installing it, drive it as is, see if you want to spend on an upgrade, sell the car or keep and customize...just think of how much more time this would generate to a new project. It will keep yah busy! Who knows your wife may like it with just what it came with!

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So with the body on the frame holes B, C & D are covered, leaving only hole A exposed. The front body mount uses hole "B", and it is a bear to get to as it is in the extreme corner of the cowl. If it were me doing it from scratch I'd use hole "C" instead, but that would entail extending the metal bracing pads and is more trouble than it's worth. On a good note, once set on the frame the door gaps tightened up a ton, and in fact I may need to shim up the body mount hole right behind the door to increase that gap a bit.

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Today the FedEx & UPS guys brought wheels and dog dish caps. Going with 16x8's in the rear riding P265R75x16's which measure 31.7" tall, and 15X5's up front riding 145SR15's which measure 24.5" tall yielding a 7.2" rubber rake which is close to ideal. Now I need to get my head around my color scheme so that I can paint the wheels before I mount the tires, which should be here by the end of the week. The PO painted the chassis black using base & clear, but the finish is less than stellar so my plan is to back tape the top & bottom and a line at the cowl and hit it with two or three coats of clear to even things out. This is the wheel & cap combo I'm going with, for a little more "retro" look, but I'm doing kind of medium heavy on the rear tires, big enough to say "Hot Rod", but not as over powering as the '33's P285's that one can only get from Coker. The caps are '40 Standard, which I think are among the best of the era. I like that V8 logo, and it will look sharp with some body color pinstripe accents on the "V".

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Yes Steve, the package included a poly gas tank and fiberglass cover. Unfortunately one of the pieces that didn't turn up when we were loading parts was the fuel tank nozzle and billet cap. I know for a fact that the package purchased included the nozzle & cap, and I've found the cork gasket & screws for it, but no nozzle. It's only a $36 item, so not a big deal.

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Today I was chasing down details of the paint that the PO used. I know that the chassis is base coat, clear coat and Dupont 99 black which is OK, but he painted the rear end housing, ladder bars, brake pedal and brake connecting rod with some greenish gray paint. The PO told me that it was Eastwoods Aluma Blast, which is an acrylic lacquer, but the finish would not soften with lacquer thinner or reducer, even with the surface broken with a red Scotch Brite pad. I want them black, so we decided to abandon attempts to strip the old, and simply rough up the surface with 320 grit, hit it with a quality epoxy seal coat, let it flash and then hit it with black & clear and be done.

I almost forgot, I visited my trusted tranny guy yesterday and he pushed me towards a 700R4 over the other choices. There's a ton more of them out there, cores are easy to come by and built right they will take the abuse. He took my unknown TH350 as partial payment, which gives me the mandatory paper trail for registration, a known new tranny, and overdrive. It's all good, but now I need to re-gear the pumpkin with something like 3.89's to give this thing some punch in the lower gears.

That's it for today. Not much real progress, but then again not on anyone's schedule but my own.

Roger, bear in mind that the 700R4 has a 3.06 first gear. Put that in front of 3.89's, and you have the first gear equivalent of an M21 Muncie in front of a 5.41 differential. I have 3.70's in my '34, and it doesn't need any more "punch" in the lower gears. If the tires stick, the acceleration is insane!

Nice, Roger! What a great starting point; I'm jealous.

Roger, I don't want to upset you, but-----------you can't determine door gaps with the frame supported at the extreme front and back like you have your frame setting on the jack stands--you have some droop to the frame that won't be there when the weight is carried at points above the wheel base locations(as if on its tires suspension) It is good that you are using three points tho as that eliminates any binding/twist from uneven support.

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Roger, I don't want to upset you, but-----------you can't determine door gaps with the frame supported at the extreme front and back like you have your frame setting on the jack stands--you have some droop to the frame that won't be there when the weight is carried at points above the wheel base locations(as if on its tires suspension) It is good that you are using three points tho as that eliminates any binding/twist from uneven support.

Jerry,
I didn't mean to give the impression that I was setting door gaps with the frame on jack stands, I was just pointing out that I was happy to see that the gaps that were pushing 3/8" when the body was on the 2X4 dolly had closed significantly with the body on the frame. It's not even bolted down yet, and obviously doesn't have any suspension in place. The body comes off tomorrow to hog out the mounting holes, goes back on to ensure that the retaining bolts all hit home, and then will come off again to give the frame two or three coats of clear in the "show" areas. Not a big deal, but it is indeed supported by four jack stands, so there could be some minor twisting/binding which is of no concern at this stage. The thing has been hanging from the spreader bars for five years.

OK-----------now where did you get those wheels and hubcaps???? My wife wants steelies, the v8 hub caps and maybe trim rings----------all after I got American racing to give me a set of lakers-------which means also that if I do switch, I gotta change the whole rear end with one of the roadsters as the housings are different widths so I can use the Americans on the roadster---housing couple inches shorter!!!!!!!!!!


10 degrees here this morning!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

OK-----------now where did you get those wheels and hubcaps???? My wife wants steelies, the v8 hub caps and maybe trim rings---

Wheel Vintiques "Gennie's" from Summit, not cheap!! A tip that I got from a more experienced builder, "Buy your wheels and hubcaps from the same shop."