MoparMontana

A quick video of the final thrash and initial shakedown run of the new lakester at El Mirage in November 2020. #MDB660

Not everyone is curse with my level of mania. ?

It's going to be a while yet. And since I won't be making any more EDGYs, the resale market should be strong for them if you decide to swap out for a new one.

Work has also started on the StudEbaker, a Tesla Model S Sport powered '49 2R5 EV shop truck, charged off the shop roof.

Bonnie, a 1929 DeSoto Model K roadster, parking in '51 with a cracked block and a broken front left leaf spring, is now fitted with a '50 23", EDGY cam, Shanefelt intake, vintage Fentons, Holley 48s, and will be the the recipient of the prototype head. Tranny is a S10 T5 case with '91 Camaro gears. Axles and wheels are '31 DeSoto in order to get away from the '29s six lug wheels and split rims. Dash is '31 Chrysler. #BonnieDeSoto

Now that COVID has ebbed and the new Bonneville lakester has completed it's new car shakedowns at El Mirage dry lake, it's time to dive into a few stagnant projects. First up is prototype #1 of my new "sleeper" head. This looks nothing like the end product, but is going on my '29 DeSoto roadster, Bonnie. I intentionally milled and polished it to inspect the quality of the casting, which I must say is simply outstanding. I then went a step further and gave it an old school hot rod prototype look. The real end product will look identical to a bone-stock 23" head, including provisions for the stock water neck, casting numbers, and provisions for the coil, linkages, and oil filter. Under the stock façade will be all of the benefits of my current EDGY aluminum heads - cast from pure ingot A-357 T6, and my Gen III "Bonneville proven" combustion chamber design. One exciting new feature is that the combustion chambers are going to be cast smaller than the current 74cc (about 9:1 CR), allowing for custom-order CNCed chambers of 8-10.2:1. They should be available in late-2021. Pricing will be about $1300. www.moparmontana.com

FLATHEADS LOVE BOOST!

The Holley 2300 series Sniper has a MAP sensor and sealed throttle shaft, so yes it is compatible with a blow-through configuration. Remember that because of the low RPMs that these engines typically operate at, you will need a BIG crank pulley to get adequate boost. My car is over in storage and I could only find a few photos on my laptop, but this will give you the basic idea. There is also an old video on my YouTube channel "MoparMontana" of when I was blowing through Strombergs. It looked cool but was a total mess. Note that my motor has an EDGY F-head on it so it looks odd, but the configuration for the blower bracketry would basically be the same. We have been running a blowthrough with a carb and Vortech supercharger on out Bonneville Dodge four banger since 2010, so I have quite a bit of experience (and made a lot of mistakes).

Not being a downer at all. Trust me, I get it. I am very fortunate to have an amazing group of friends and mentors from our Bonneville racing efforts. I am by no means a competent machinist. ADD and precision machining are diametrically opposed, but it is teaching me to slow down and be patient. And, yes, it's taken me several decades to acquire the tools necessary. Once the swap for the roadster is complete, I am going to do another on on my '31 DeSoto and try to further simplify the process to hopefully avoid machining. Through this process I have learned a lot and found that the T5 used many different front bearing retainers over different adaptations and years. Maybe I can find one that requires simplified indexing into the Mopar bell housing. When I say "cheap" I am comparing it to the alternatives. R10 overdrives have gotten scarce and very expensive, and won't work on an early floor shift transmission without an adapter and modifications to the cluster gearset. New R10 solenoids are going for over $400. The 833 OD transmissions are also getting difficult to find and very spendy, and require an adapter. I think this swap will end up being "cheaper" that either of those alternatives, and I'll end up with a more modern, lighter, and better shifting transmission. I'll do a cost breakdown when I'm done, but I think the overall cost will be less expensive than either an R10 or 833 swap.

Good news! I picked up a set of early-90's Camaro gears with 2.95 first and .63 Overdrive off Ebay for $136!

Dang, you guys are a tough crowd! I'm pretty sure that all of you have a machine shop in the vicinity that could knock out machining the parts cheaply if given the specs.

Yesterday, I surfaced the vintage Weber aluminum flywheel, shortened the front bearing retainer, located the transmission ears on the bellhousing, and pilot drilled it to drill and tap for 7/16" studs. I used a Chevy S10 case so I could get by without the adapter plate necessary for a Ford case. As you can see, it all stacks up nicely. It appears an A833 throw-out bearing retainer has the correct height, but I'll have to make a sleeve to adapt to the T5 bearing retainer OD. I'll post all of the part numbers once I am confident it works. As many have pointed out, the S10 trannys have less than ideal ratios, so I bought an Camaro set off eBay last night after doing a lot of research with the help of Tim Kingsbury.

Thanks. I'm excited to get it back on the road for the first time since 1954.

No, this is going in a new build for myself, a '29 DeSoto roadster.

I am not familiar with that transmission. You would have to measure the length of the input shaft, the diameter of the bearing retainer, etc, as well as the ID of the bellhousing. The simple answer is that anything is possible, it's just a matter of the ease of compatibility.

I've been researching this for months and finally started fabrication/assembly today. The goal was all off-the-shelf parts, minimal machining and no expensive adapters. I'll provide a parts list and instructions once complete.