Have another 2X4 engine to build with a different distinctive valve cover. This one is going in a Model A sedan with a 4 speed.
This is a Buick 401.
This is a Buick 401.
DIFFERENT ENGINE PROJECT
- Thread starter La Hot Rods
- Start date
Never got this far into a nailhead.
Has some interesting architect in it.
Has some interesting architect in it.
Way cool…….Your’s……..????
No, this belongs to an older gentleman that knows most all the older guys I know in the machine and hot rod/race car scene.
wristpin
Well Known Member
Before I could do that, I'd have to lay out the story behind that car, and it's a pretty long story. However, I will put it on my to-do list. I appreciate the interest. One thing for James, if that is a factory 2x4 intake, use it! It is better than all of the aftermarket stuff, I hear.
It is a factory intake.
No worries about tread jacking, can't say I have seen one thread that hasn't been.
No worries about tread jacking, can't say I have seen one thread that hasn't been.
OK, here's the first installment. Remember the past is pretty fuzzy. In HS, I met a guy I will call T through mutual friends. He was a car guy, and had a 37 Chev sedan with an SBC in it. We became pretty close friends. In fact, my first 409 found its way out of one of my cars into that 37 but that's another story. We both went in the Army, T was an 11 boom boom and I went off to my MI assignments. Were were both in Vietnam at the same time and we kept in touch as best we could. He had gotten married earlier, but it didn't last too long. We both finished college, he was an Art major and I went into what became IT. We always had cars which we could barely afford at first, his always were a lot more thoughtful than mine but not as fast. T never got into the Harley thing, but I did. Oh, and both of our fathers were WW2 vets. There is a story here, trust me.
Nailheads are bad a$$!!!!!!
Second installment: Sometime, probably early 90's, T shows up ay my house with this model A. Quite a shocker; he had been driving and working on a very nice 41 Dodge coupe, first a flathead 6, then a 360 Mopar; very nice finished car. It was down the road. The Model was a highboy, pretty rough, on a custom A-style frame (TCI? P/J? who knows). Showed some builder skills but definitely not finished. The 401 had a single 4 barrel, didn't really run well at all. I was kind of shocked, but T began working on it, it got the red rim treatment, very nicely built 401, 2 Eddy 500s. It kinda grew on you as it became his car. I helped out occasionally, but the "vision" was a moving target. I was an observer. I did ask about a sticker on the windshield; it was his dad's paratrooper unit from WW2, which I thought was cool. It went through several "hot rod" phases, and I often wondered where it was headed.
Third installment: Must have gotten sidetracked somehow. T mentioned that he was getting another car, a real nice '39 Chevy, and that maybe the Model A would need to go down the road. I told him that depending on the way things were going, I would probably be pretty interested. He also dropped another bomb on me, that he was seriously ill from the big C, probably an Agent Orange issue, and had a few years left at best. The '39 had showed up, and it was one of the best builds I have ever seen as far as street cars go. It was also a lot more usable than the Model A, as it has power everything, A/C, FI, SBC, so he went through a litany of wheels and tires until it was perfect for him, and it really was. So we started talking about the Model A and made a deal
and I began taking care of safety items, got rid of the column shift, cleaning up plumbing and wiring a bit and I added some stickers to the windshield which represented his dad's WW2 unit, my dad and mom's WW2 unit, his and my Vietnam units. It's a lot of stickers, but he liked it so it stays.
and I began taking care of safety items, got rid of the column shift, cleaning up plumbing and wiring a bit and I added some stickers to the windshield which represented his dad's WW2 unit, my dad and mom's WW2 unit, his and my Vietnam units. It's a lot of stickers, but he liked it so it stays.
had 2 401's, both were in a 64 Electra 225, both were good used engines, mileage unknown, both lost #7 piston at 85MPH.
Fantastic torque, really smooth, the first engine that lost a slug, I literally thought I ran out of gasoline, hiked 10 miles to a gas station to get a gallon of gas, went through the process of starting and realised there was a rod sticking out the block. Still have the rod on the garage wall.
Fantastic torque, really smooth, the first engine that lost a slug, I literally thought I ran out of gasoline, hiked 10 miles to a gas station to get a gallon of gas, went through the process of starting and realised there was a rod sticking out the block. Still have the rod on the garage wall.
