Adam H P15 D30

I was always amazed how well the stock brakes worked until I had one too many oh $hit moments and off they came in favor of disc brakes. Remember, we are sharing the road the little Honda $hitboxes that stop really fast but we can do better. Drums were fine when all cars had them, times have changed and driving styles too. Biggest problem I see is it really does take the brake tool to get them right (very rare and expensive tool) so that's strike 1. Then you must arc the shoes to the drum, good luck finding someone to do that but it might just depend on your location, strike 2. Say you do actually fork out $800.00 + for the tool, find someone to arc your shoes and actually get the brakes set up correctly, they will work great but it's all down hill from there until you readjust them again. Strike 3 Any old vehicle with an unknown history should have the brakes rebuilt, for that money you could upgrade to disc brakes and have some left over for beer plus it will stop better every time, not just when the brake adjustment is top-notch. If you are building a concourse car, keep the drums and ignore everything above. Nice car BTW, enjoy it but make it safe.... Adam

There has been several (a lot actually) posts on the HAMB about Stockton Wheel taking their money and not delivering. Just sayin...

Don - That brings back memories of when I taught my oldest in my 49. Thank you for sharing Adam

Second gen Camaro is a better fit because of the front steer but it is a little wide. Not so wide that it’s unusable but offset wheels will have to be used or narrow control arms from Fatman. I went the Fatman route. Don’t let anyone tell you any of this stuff is easy, they’re either BSing your or paid someone else to do it. Just swapping engines is a fair amount of work, subframing Correctly takes time, skill and patience.

Why the motor plate? That’s a lot of engine suspended between the plate at the front and the trans mount at the rear.

Have to look closely for the marks, I removed my crank pulley once a few years ago and painted them. 2 other ways to time it... 1. Using a vacuum gauge to get to the highest vacuum 2. (the way I do it) Advance it till it pings under high load, lower RPM, back off till it stops pinging, back off a little more, lock it down. I only use the timing light to see where I ended up after doing the above. Fuels are much different now and some factory specs are worthless, timing be one of them. Adam

I’m not as familiar with the 25” blocks as I am with the 23” blocks. That said if I were going to have custom pistons made, I would use a 230 crank and 218 rods, pistons cut to 0 deck with a higher pin height because of the longer 218 rods. Then find a 201 or late 50’s 230 head to top it off. Adam

While you’re at it, use the longest rods possible and measure for zero deck. Adam

They will run all day at 3600 rpm. I cruise mine at 2800 which is over 70 mph. With the old gears I cruised at 3200 and never had any issues. Long stroke = high piston speeds limiting rpm Adam

I went with the dual Carter/Webers From Tom Langdon and couldn’t be happier. No distributor or ignition mods required. See link below. Adam

Your best bet is to keep the point ignition instead of Pertronix. Nothing wrong with points and if you have issues with your stock distributor such as a bad vacuum advance or worn bushings, you can still do the slant 6 mod just use a point distributor instead of an electronic. Adam

It looks like there is a star lock washer on mine. Can’t say for sure if it’s original because the engine has been rebuilt but I think it is... you have to zoom in to see it.

In Thrashingcows' write up, he ended up using the Slant 6 distributor gear as a spacer. Probably because the Flathead retainer broke. I was able to get my roll pin out and reuse the Flathead retainer and it all went back together with correct end-play and no additional holes drilled in the shaft.

Yes, Dartgame is correct. Seems I've posted this link a lot lately but Thrashingcows did an excellent write-up on the Slant 6 distributor mod. I'll keep posting the link if it saves someone the Pertronix misery a good number of people have gone through. Keep in mind 12v is a MUST. I also perfer and used the GM HEI module from the 70's era vehicle attached to a heat sink from a late 90's blazer/K1500 seen on the right side of the picture below. Don't mind the 6v regulator in the picture, I use it to house my relays (horn, ign, fan) The car is 12v. I am still using a Pertronix 1.5 ohm coil I was given from a friend that gave up on the Pertronix after a few modules left him stranded. I have thought about going to an E-core .3 ohm coil I have for hotter spark but I've been warned it may become too much for the Slant 6 cap/rotor to handle but I have no proof. The MOPAR ignition boxes are troublesome. NOS ones are either no good or non existent and the replacements are overseas specials plus you still have the troublesome resistors and a weaker spark than the GM unit. Thrashingcow's write up and pictures should be in the Tech section.... Adam

Look at Posies superslide rear springs. They come with reversed eyes if you want lowered springs or standard. Adam http://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com/

Just a suggestion. If you plan on staying 6v, stick with the points. If 12v is your plan look up the slant 6 distributor swap. Keep the Pertronix for the trailer cars or carry an extra module and tools in your glove box. Adam

Thrashingcows did an excellent write up here I used a GM HEI module from a late 70’s car instead of the troublesome Mopar box and resistors. Parts are super reliable and available at any parts store if you are traveling, DWELL control is much better with the HEI module than the Mopar one. Better than being stuck with a broken Pertronix module waiting for a replacement. Adam

If it’s a stock distributor it’s probably a Pertronix, check the vacuum advance. I timed mine at about 500 rpm. You are correct, marks are hard to see. I painted mine red to see better.

I set mine until it pinged and backed it off a couple of degrees. Ended up about 5 deg BTDC. You didn't mention what electronic conversion you have, if you converted your old distributor make sure the vacuum advance can is not leaking. Adam

For no other reason than to heat the intake manifold, mine now has a 5/16 line running from the rear of the head to the top inlet of the water pump, effectively making a bypass. Ran fine before I replaced the intake when it had no bypass. I’m running a 4 pound cap and I rarely see 190 on the hottest days, mostly 170-180.

Agreed. Did the slant 6 conversion and never looked back. Took about an hour or two. Adam

At this point I would look for a modern axle without tapered ends for ease of maintenance. 8" Ford, early mustang / Maverick/Falcon is a good fit, better brakes. 8.8 Explorer, 7.5 Fords and other Mopar axles. Adam

I think that's an external bypass head, hard to tell but I don't see the bump on the front... Also, my 49 Wayfarer has an external bypass head (no bump) but an internal bypass thermostat housing as you have. Several other Wayfarers I have seen are set up the same way. Adam

2001-2010 F250-350 diesel. Non diesel has the reservoir only, diesels add the pump. It was used to provide vacuum to the AC actuators. Reservoir has a built in check valve too.

That’s what I did with a small electric vacuum pump. You can see it on the left of the picture. Almost completely hidden when the fresh air duct is in place.