Chrisman Coupe for sale!

One of my all time favorite coupes! Seriously... can you imagine hauling major ass down the salt with your face about 16-inches away from the windshield in this severely chopped 1930 Model A coupe with a mid-mounted 331 Chrysler Hemi!!!??? WOW!!

Here's some pictures I've collected of the car from the internet. The details of the auction as well as a great description of Lloyd Chrisman's Coupe are here:
http://www.rmauctions.com/FeatureCars.cfm?CarID=r235&SaleCode=JG08

in the $400,000 to $600,000 range?? Seems low to me! I would expect more.

Hemi update!

Mystery SOLVED! She's got forged 392 pistons in it and has been bored to 4.040! WHOA! I would say this block is at it's very max. It appears as if it was only fired up and run a little bit since it's rebuild, however long ago that was. Everything looks great though. Just need to figure out what cam is in it now. Hoping the front of the snout has marking on it. Otherwise a dial indicator might be my friend in this task.

EDIT!! Now I'm thinking, based on the markings I see on the pistons, that these may actually be just replacement CAST 392 pistons, not forged.

So that's good news then. If anyone knows what these "W" blocks can be bored out to, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know! Email me at scootermcrad@yahoo.com

New Hemi in the collection

Okay, here's the scoop. So my buddy Brian tells me he's got this 354 he's picking up and wasn't planning on keeping it. It's complete, it's a runner and the price is right. Came complete with a 727 transmission and Hot Hemi Heads adapter and starter. Looked to be gone through already, so I jumped on it. This will shave some time off my build. I'll still go through it after the car is together and on the road, but I just want to get this thing on the road and start the shake down process.

Here's the details... It's NOT a 354... well, not really. It's a VT motor which tells me it's a Dodge Truck motor. That's right! They put Chrysler engines in Dodge trucks! Not sure of the reason, but they did. Maybe the Red Ram 241 just wasn't enough for big trucks. Anyway, turns out it's a 1956 Chrysler 331, however... there is a "W" cast into the block (I have no idea what it stands for) and I guess somehow signifies that it's a 354 block only bored to 331. That's good news for extreme over-bores. Someone replaced the heads with 1956 354 car heads, adjustable pushrods, spin-on oil filter, aluminum timing chain cover and BBC water pump. Sounds good, right? Well, looking down the bores of this thing through the spark plug holes, I saw something that got my attention. The pistons say 392 on them!! **gasp** That's a 4.00" diameter piston! If those are trully 392 pistons it would be a .060" overbore which put this block almost to its maximum. However, I've been told the 4" bore is safe with the "W" block. That's good news. With the low-deck Hemi stock stroke and a 4" piston, that puts me at a total of 364.4 cubic inches! Now all I need is some 392 High compression pistons and a bitchin' cam and I'll have a pretty unique motor!

Heads come off tonight... I'll update with what I find in the cylinders.


This letter lets me know I've got something a little rare!

Where do you do your design sketches?

I still feel like I'm on vacation living in Huntington Beach... I hope that never goes away. Probably inevitable though! HAHA! Oh well... at least I found a nice place to sketch ideas for motor mounts... :)

Quick Sneak Peak @ Progress

So any of you that build stuff know how bad stuff looks when you're right in the middle of fabrication. YOU know what's going on and what's going to happen next, but to the common spectator it really just looks... well... unfinished. This seems to be especially true in the world of car building. People see something unfinished and they automatically assume that it's going stay that way. Very strange. I guess that's why I've been reluctant to share any progress lately. I have tons to do on this build and in the stage it's in right now it sorta' just looks like crap. But, what the hell; I'll share anyway...

Again... lots of fab work and reinforcing to do before this ever sees the streets! Guess you'll have to keep an eye on the blog for the updates so I can prove it to you!

Next on the list... finish boxing and reinforcing cross member, cut new split bones, finish the frame K-member, shock mounts and redo engine mounts... just to speak of a few tasks...
Original front cross member arrangement
New arrangement
shock mock-ups
now you know why there's that notch behind the cross member

ATTN Early Hemi guys running Offy 6x2!

Is anyone else running this Offenhauser 6x2 on their early Chrysler Hemi? I would like some performance info and setup tips. The log balance tubes look really small. Looks like they have plenty of meat to open them up.

Would like to hear any tricks or tips for these manifolds and if you had an vacuum requirements, where you pulled from.

ALSO! Did anyone have interference issues with their Dizzy or Magneto? Thinking some modifications might be in store if I want to run a Magneto.

If anyone has anything to share, please email me at scootermcrad@yahoo.com and make sure to put "HEMI 6x2" or something to that effect in the subject line.

Thanks!
Scooter


This picture shows the potential ignition interference

Army of Carbs

Because one or two just isn't enough!!

Oh yeah! TGIF!

Off topic Fridays...
Classic!! Don't forget to put on the foil!
Jungle Pam... still wondering if you guys are breathing out there... :)
Something I should learn how to do...
Listening to what?? Zombie rules!

Tools...

Okay, I can hardly contain myself! I've been slowly pickin' up tools that I need to get some REAL metalshaping done. Today the shrinking discs came in from Wray Schelin. They even came with a DVD to give me the 101. Last week some nice thumpers came in and a couple weeks before that some Martin body hammers, a new file and a couple of REAL old Heller curved files came from an Ebay score. I'm pumped! I'm ready to learn some new stuff! Small chance we may be borrowing an English wheel up here at work for some other projects as well! WOOHOO!
shrinking discs
panel beaters
body files

Sneak peak...

So after several weeks of interruptions, thanks to freelance work, I finally got to address some cross member issues last night. When I started the frame it was setup up for a Posies "Heavy Duty" Super Slide series spring that was 2-inches lower than stock. The spring was great, but that put the front end at a scary height WITHOUT the Hemi being fully built. It was actually just below the scrub line! WHOA! So I talked with posies and found out that they had the same spring but with an inch more arch to raise things up a bit. Since Posies has amazing customer service they did a straight swap for the spring. Very cool of them! HOWEVER! This meant that the crossmember I made wouldn't have the correct shape. Had to ditch it and start over. Wasn't so sure I liked how the old one worked out anyway, so all problems solved.

I carefully cut out the shape of the new cross member, reinforced the frame and cut out the old cross member. Then I trimmed off the extra material on the frame, tripple checked my measurements and angles (cross member will be set to 7 degrees at ride height) and tacked it in place.

I got a little further, but you're just going to have to wait and see what I did until next update.
The old setup with the super low spring
You can see the shape of the new spring has way too much arch for the old crossmember
The cut and unwelded crossmember
Tacked in place (hint: the front "wings" will curve around the side and provide additional support as well as form a nice curve on the corners)
My Optrel space helmet! HAHA! Best tool investment EVER!

Summer Salt

I'm excited for Bonneville this year!! I collected these pictures from various places. Not my photography.
Heaven??

Bobby Green's tanker.