Big Block Bantam

[Todd]

Cool! A rat motor in a rat rod.

 

[bob w]

Yes Todd, the rat motor looks very big in between the rails. With aluminum heads and intake manifold and headers it probably isn't much heavier than a mouse motor.

 

[05snopro440]

With the engine and trans mounted I was able to cut out the firewall bell housing area and drop it in place.

Snopro, I usually run about 5 degrees of caster, which is what it is at now. On my dragster I run 10 degrees. I'll probably settle for about 7 degrees on this one. The radius rods are '40 Ford and had the spring in front of the axle. That's why they are beefy on the upper boss.

YesterdayI was welding without gloves and when I finished I grabbed the ground clamp. It was very hot. Upon closer inspection, the clamp was quite corroded. I disassembled it and polished it all up. Replaced the bolt that holds it all together. Wow! What a difference. I actually moved down a couple heat ranges. Now, the ground clamp does not heat up.

Spent most of the day on the Renault making a driveshaft hoop and tweaking the trans tunnel.

Thanks for the info Bob! 7 is probably more than enough. Everyone I talk to seems to have a different idea of what ideal caster is. Not everyone actually puts road miles on their vehicles though... So I'm just trying to figure out what I should run on mine. I had one guy with a duece coupe tell me that everyone should run 11 as a minimum. His car had less than 1000 miles over several years...

5-7 seems like a good place to start for a street vehicle.

This is going to be an awesome car when done.

 

[bob w]

A Pleasant Suprise


When my brother had the 468 big block built he intended to put it in a Chevelle wagon. In the pile of parts I got from him were coated headers. I assumed they wouldn't fit the Bantam. I tried the driver's side header and it fits. Saves me a lot of work. It's going to be a noisy little bugger inside though.

I disassembled and cleaned the 8 3/4 Mopar rear end so I can get it narrowed.

 

[donsrods]

The helmet should help knock some of that noise down ! Looking good, Bob. This thing is going to be a blast to drive.

Don

 

[old28]

Headers look like they were made for the car.[cl

I would invest in some good heat/sound material for those floors.[S

You are really moving on this build. It may be your best build yet!!!!! and you have built some nice rides already. Keep up the good work.[

 

[smallfoot]

That's a stroke of luck, having something fit, as is! Nice work Bob![P

 

[Willowbilly3]

When I built the front cross member on my rpu, I thought I had calculated for about 5-7 degrees, ended up with 9-9 1/2. More is better than not enough, just makes harder steering.

 

[Bamamav]

Just put some long collectors out to the rear axle to push some of that noise behind you. Then invest in a good pair of earplugs for the rest!

 

[bob w]

Welded the rear wishbone brackets on, installed the front discs and put a set of Ford aluminum spare wheels on the front. It's half a roller now.

Took the rear axle housing to a friend for narrowing. Don is a a master builder and machinist. In his shop now are a nostalgia fuel dragster that he built a full aluminum body for and a hydrogen peroxide powered snowmobile intended to go 300 mph in 1,000 feet. He's making chassis modifications and building a full body for it. It is a used top fuel dragster chassis.

 

[bob w]

In his spare time Don is building this single seat race car from scratch. He is fabricating everything; a arms, spindles suspension etc. The engine is a V-12. Don started with two Toyota Supra cylinder heads and made his own crankcase. He had Scat make a crankshaft. It is injected and has twin turbos. Not your typical hot rod build for sure.

 

[bob w]

 

[Todd]

Holy sh.......

 

[jott]

seem that scat will special make about anything. I know a local machinist that wanted a more efficient Gm 6 cylinder for his old kaiser jeep truck so he made a spacer for the top of the block and sleeved the cylinders. He then had scat build a set of rods for it that are the longest set of rods scat has produced. He says by using such a long rod it puts very little wear on the sides of the pistons and rings.

 

[old28]

SOUNDS & LOOKS like your buddy Don has a need for speed.[cl[cl

Must be nice to have that kind of building talent [

Nice Thanksgiving too all

 

[bob w]

Well, enough of that super builder stuff that I could never match. I picked up this Mopar steering box off of Craigslist to use for cowl steering. Spent almost two hours cleaning it. Next step is to install the rear end so I'm just prepping things for their eventual installation.

Don will narrow the rear end and tack the ends on. I'll bring it home and weld the suspension brackets on. Then it goes back to Don for final welding of the ends in his fixture. This assures the rear end is straight.

 

[soltz]

[cl[cl
[P

 

[jfg455]

Holy sh.......

That's about on par with my reaction! A supra motor with 6 cylinders is a beast now he wants double that?? is right!

Oh...nice work BobW! [cl[P

 

[bob w]

I picked up the rear end Monday from Don even though I did something to my ankle and could hardly walk. I sat on my butt and nursed my ankle till today. Welded the coil spring pads and the ladder bar mounts to the housing today.

 

[donsrods]

Old age ain't for sissies, is it, Bob ? I know only too well. I can sneeze and hurt myself.

Hope you feel better soon. I like your rear end too. (THAT DID NOT come out well ! )

Don