LS swaps are the way to go, how many mopar stock blocks can make 12 - 1500 hp. and live forever even in some really bad conditions. Only 1. ps And I am a Mopar guy. Thank God that I have one.
Has a lot of old school hot rodding been lost?
- Thread starter HankRearden
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People will find a way to do the things they really truly love if they have the guts. That does not mean everyone can afford a perfect old Mopar, but will find a way to get a car they can afford and will do what it takes to make it theirs. Unless they are too lazy, too stupid or just not really passionate about it all.
I WOULD buy me one of those wonderful LS MOTORS...IF I had a darn Chevy to drop it IN!!!!!
HemiSSDart
Dartus Interuptus
We built and sell 1650 modern Hemi engines that live just fine. I have seen plenty of carnage with LS engines, it all depends on how you build them..
Hot-Rodding has always evolved. The way I enjoy hot-rodding has no chance against todays hot-rodding. But to me, true hotrodding isn't who you can beat on the street or whip at the track. It's about making a change in your ride and being happy for the accomplishment. So be it flathead '49 Plymouth, or a hopped up 318 in a Street Van, or a gen III hemi with a ebay turbo stuck in a Mazda, it's just doing it differently but enjoying the same thing. Hot-Rodding.
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O ya I forgot about modern hemis I'm old. How much hp can you get aut of a stock block 5.7
Will work in anything.
Any thoughts?
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
bingo
HemiSSDart
Dartus Interuptus
When I worked for Mr. Norms Garage we spent our time on 6.1 Hemi's with Kenne-Bell supercharging or twin turbo's, I remember getting 1350 out of a stock block with the turbo's. 5.7's we did an Imagine Injection in a 68 Dart that was around 750 HP, sold it a Mecum in 2013, we called it Bullseye... 1968 Dodge Dart Resto Mod | U90 | Indianapolis 2013 | Mecum Auctions
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I agree. A hotrodder builds a ride that makes him happy. He actually drives it and enjoys the ride. If others like it so much the better.
There is building cars and then there is buying parts.
A restorer is all about making that car like it was when new.
A "day two" guy, restores and makes it like he would have wanted it back in the day WHEN he was actually driving such in that era. That ain't hotrodding, that is just buying some "eye candy"!
The 40s was consumed with War till about '46 as the country tried to get bak to normal. Then the car scene started to happen. Guys coming home from the service started the hotrod craz they say.
I was born in '48 so I was just a brat in the 50s. If a person wanted a cool car in that decades you could buy a new cool one or you had to build it. Most people bought one.
The sixties brings on the drag race craz in earnest. Now you an really buy a new fast car. Then the junk yards are full of wrecks and parts!!!
ir3333
Well-Known Member
I remember back in 1974 when I built my model A street rod. Used Jaguar rear coil overs and made a tool to compress the springs for disassembly out of a bumper jack.Safe, strong and pretty well free.
Yup...powered by a 340!
Yup...powered by a 340!
So I guess that makes me a day 2 guy. Graduated high school in 74, the sweet spot as muscle cars were showing up in the yards. So I bought parts to install on the week end cause my hotrod was my daily driver and I had to get to work on Monday. BTW if you want to define hotrodding its getting your car to work on Monday no matter what!
vntned
Well-Known Member
I’m 37 years old, wasn’t around for the glory days of hotrodding, but I’m working on hotrodding a flathead Plymouth…
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
hmmm. i wonder if buying that intake and carbs is ok with the so called purists that are complaining about the state of hot rodding today..
vntned
Well-Known Member
The intake is a reproduction of the Thickstun intake available back in the ‘50s. The carbs are matching Carter Ball & Ball D6A1 carbs from 1941. They were not easy to find!
Not pictured is the Thickstun side covers and the Fenton repop cast iron split dual exhaust manifolds. Holding out for a good finned aluminum head.
Not pictured is the Thickstun side covers and the Fenton repop cast iron split dual exhaust manifolds. Holding out for a good finned aluminum head.
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
my point was some of the clowns in this thread make it sound like if you didn't cast that intake in your garage you aren't a hot rodder..
HemiSSDart
Dartus Interuptus
Best not to listen to anyone who uses the word "purists" they have a serious issue...
So what would the best block to start with for about 1500hp. If a stock block would work that would be great.
I almost said something when you posted your Snap-On cylinder shorting dwell tach for sale the other day. As you know, I have one of these. They were the control unit for the Snap-On Oscilloscope back in the day. I sold more of these (and the MT-552 load tester) than any other dealer in the Phoenix branch because I would train my customers on how to use them. You could do amazing things with just the meter, especially when it came to adjusting the idle on a carb (remember, gas analyzers were still in their infancy). With a scope, you could detect a worn cam chain, low compression, and worn distributor bushings, not to mention bad plug wires, caps, etc., etc., etc. Pretty soon no one will know how to do any of this stuff, and it’s too bad because it still works. I know there are alternate tools that will do the same stuff, but the old stuff still works if you know how to use it. My high school auto shop had a full-bore Sun distributor machine and I spent a long time working with it dialing in the Prestolite dual-point distributor off of my 65 Dart Go-Go. There is so much stuff that‘s going to be gone. How many people know how to set static timing with an AM radio?
HankRearden
Well-Known Member
That is awesome.
I am working at a GM dealership, out of 15 techs , no one uses a vacuum gauge to tune and diagnose anymore. I've only seen its use mentioned here a few times. You can determine bad valve guides, blown head gaskets, retarded timing, etc with a gauge
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shittyslant6
Well-Known Member
A lot of old hot rodders have gone yes; but I think there is still plenty of "new old hotrodders" hell I hand ported my intake while it was still on the car with a set of hand files my grandfather used for woodworking. probably 90 year old files. My buddy gary told me how to round off the tips on my spark plug electrode to reduce hotspots. there is still plenty around but I think we can all agree that instead of hand filing an intake spending 100 bucks at a swapmeet on an edelbrock one is easier and not much hot rodding ingenuity is involved.
hell the pistons and rods I bought have been modified to handle 9000rpm. the hours gone into those (at a machine shop) is likely more expensive than buying h-beam rods.
its probably just me but I prefer doing things with no money because it forces me to use my brain to achieve the same result as the guy who throws money at something to make it fast.
hell the pistons and rods I bought have been modified to handle 9000rpm. the hours gone into those (at a machine shop) is likely more expensive than buying h-beam rods.
its probably just me but I prefer doing things with no money because it forces me to use my brain to achieve the same result as the guy who throws money at something to make it fast.
I don't know. Maybe it's being overly nostalgic. Maybe not. Used to be, way back when, old guys knew how to make things they needed. That kinda thing has surely faded a little. I worked with an old guy that was an aircraft engine builder and machinist in Europe in WWII. He probably had forgotten more than most younger machinists knew then. He really knew his stuff. Some of that type thing still exists today, no doubt, but I do think it's waning. It's kinda like the crate engine thing. Now there's a lot of people buying crate engines, instead of building and refreshing what they have. Some of it is just laziness, but also a lot is just that they lack the experience and knowledge. Kids today just aren't interested in vocational classes and skills. It's kinda becoming a lost art.
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