martybose

We used the bronze inserts where you use a special tap to put threads in the stock guides, then screw the insert in and lock it in place. Marty

I haven't checked recently, but at one point Lokar had a parking brake conversion setup that was specifically designed for our cars. Marty

Ironically my 47 is the only car of mine that has a front plate installed, and that is just because I wanted someplace to display my Rhythm Riot plaque. Other than that, I haven't had a front plate on any of my cars for the last 3 decades, even though they are required here in California. Marty

There are no return lines from the carbs on our cars. Marty

When I had my speedometer calibration checked it needed to have a gearbox added to correct it, and there wasn't room for it to bolt directly to the OD housing. So they made up a 6 inch cable to move it off of the transmission, and that gave me enough cable to route the speedo cable nicely. Marty

As I said in post #64, I'm guessing at 150 horsepower, and before that post I had commented that it has never been dynoed. I've never had the car over 80 MPH, although it does cruise nicely at that speed due to the R-10 overdrive I have. The added power makes it much nicer to drive, but I've never taken it on a long trip; I'm a little gunshy after some early mishaps before I got the fuel system all cleaned out that had me arriving home on a tow truck hook ..... Marty

The pictures that Don posted of my engine is a very early version of it; since then the head has been polished, a lot more parts got powder coated, and there have been several different ignition systems tried. The plug wire separators were something I found in a hot rod catalog, I don't remember the vender. In those photos on the right inner fender you can see a part of my oiling system starting with the orange kevlar-covered oil line coming up from the oil pump and going into an oil filter. You can't seen the oil pressure regulator behind the carbs (a sprint car motor part!) and in the first picture you can just see the black pipe running across the engine compartment to the left side of the engine. I'm particularly proud of the throttle linkage, which cost a rediculous amount of money but works really well. Marty

The rods were ground down and polished to eliminate any stress risers that could lead to problems. Like the torque plate, totally unnecessary for a street motor, but all it took was time to do it that way, and I know that they are there! I'll see about posting a picture of my engine when I get back to my other computer. Marty

Agreed, I probably didn't need to use one, but the shop that I hung around in for a quarter of a century manufactured them, so it just cost me the material to make one for myself. It did kind of surprise the shop that did the boring when an old flathead block showed up with a torque plate installed! Marty

The biggest oiling system improvement for our flatheads is adding a full flow oil filter. A bit of searching should find details of the easiest method that involves drilling a couple of holes in the block above the oil pump. I did mine differently by using a modified hydrive engine oil pump and eliminating the crossover pipe in the oil pan; my oil goes from the pump to an external oil filter and pressure regulator, then across the back of the firewall and back into the block where the original pressure regulator used to be. My way requires modifications to the block, the oil pan and the oil pump, and doesn't gain much over the less complicated way of doing it. 50plymouth had asked for details on the rest of my engine. I think the only stock parts in it are the crankshaft, the lifters and the valvesprings. The rods are stock ones that have had the sides ground down, polished and balanced. The pistons are custom forged 9 to 1 Venolias using a modern Toyota ring set. The block was bored to piston size using a torque plate that we made for it. All of the ports in the block were smoothed out and matched to the gasket size. It has bronze valve guides with cut down Chevy V-8 valves for both intake and exhaust. The cam is a mild regrind, the head is a polished Edmunds. Intake is a polished Edmunds with Carter-Weber carbs on Stovebolt adapters with a homemade air cleaner based on an O'Brien Trucking top cover. The throttle linkage I made using an extruded aluminum mount with pillow bearings and anodized aluminum arms. Exhaust is handled by a set of cast iron headers into a 2 inch dual exhaust system. ignition is the Stovebolt HEI. I've no idea of actual horsepower, but I'd guess at maybe 150 or so. It's a fun drive, and I love the reactions I get when people see it. Marty

Well, i have one of the more modified street 230's on this forum, but since it has not been either raced or dynoed I didn't feel I could contribute anything to the thread, so I stayed out of it. But I have known Don for a long time, and thought his points were valid. If that bruises your ego, so be it. Marty

Tim, I wish you the best in your racing efforts, but don't give up your day job, because you have no future in diplomacy ....... Marty

You can't make any assumptions about how our cars are register in California. My 47 has been in CA for a long time, through several owners, and has always been registered with the body number, not the engine number. Marty

It was a long time ago, but when I converted to 6V halogens the bulbs were 55W, while the originals bulbs were 30W. Consequently the amperage draw was almost double, and I quickly ran into overheating headlight switch and dimmer switch. The solution was a set of headlight relays with larger wiring to the headlights. Marty

Fred, Glad to hear the comment about listening to the tube radio playing. Did the last part I sent you fix it, or was there more wrong with it? Marty

Found one ! http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/interior-electrical/hppp-1007-electronic-speedometer-converter/ Marty

I would swear that somewhere I saw a gizmo that would take the electronic speedo input and drive a standard speedometer head. Now I'm going to have to try to find it ....... Marty

While it is an even fire exhaust, the two sides are out of phase with each other, so the crossover pipe still would have made a difference. Marty

Engine mods are very much the choice of the owner. I started out stock, then added a mild cam and an Offy manifold modified to use a pair of Stromberg 97's. It didn't run worth a damn, couldn't get the carbs jetted to work at all speeds. Then I build up a 230 with higher compression and an Edmunds manifold modified with the Stovebolt adapter and dual Carter-Webers. This setup runs like a dream. Over the years I've purchased a bunch of Weber jetting parts and tried changing it, and always wind up back where I started. Both versions had the Stovebolt HEI ignition and a set of cast iron headers. Most people just put a second stock carb on the Offy manifolds, and they seem to work quite well, I just like to try things a little different ........ Marty

You've already started to convert, but I would have been curious if there was a crossover pipe connecting the two exhaust pipes. Way back when I had a dual exhaust built for the Chevy Blazer that we towed the boat with. As built it sounded terrible, more Chris Craft and noisy. I took it back and had a crossover connection put it with no other changes and it quieted down to a nice purr. Marty

I'm with you; Don has the symptoms backward. When the OD is active and engaged you get compression braking; only at lower speeds when the OD is activated but not engaged does it freewheel when you lift off of the throttle. Marty

There was an article in the September 2014 issue of Ol' Skool Rodz about a shop in Chicago that rebuilds the Gemmer steering boxes used in 1940-1956 Mopars using new parts manufactured in India; I'm going to try them out if I ever figure out how to get my steering box out of the car without a lift. Here's the contact info: Midwest Remanufacturing LLC 5836 W. 66th St. Bedford Park, IL 60638 www.mwreman.com (800) 634-5829 (708) 496-9132 fax Marty

The slip joint is about a third of the way from the front of the driveshaft. The adapter for the transmission is exactly like the one for the rearend. Marty

It's easy, they have bolt on adapters. My 47 actually has a driveshaft that MOPAR made in the early 50's that had both adapters and a "modern" univeral joint driveshaft with a slipjoint as a retrofit kit. Marty

Nope, the HEI requires 12V for the circuitry in the distributor to work. Marty