Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 1955 Hot Rod Article " Soup That Chev! "

While surfing around the net,I came across this 1955 Hot Rod Magazine Article by Racer Brown.

http://www.selectric.org/55chevy/soup.html

Lot's of great stuff from Frank McGurk and I really like the prices they quote.

Nice post

Dear Chris;

That engine today costs around $4,000 to build.

In 1955 gas was 30 cents a gallon. A burger, fries and a coke were 97 & you could register your car for $12.00.

Happy trails.

I was only a wee lad during those days but remember those ads. I was still fiddling around with putting a lawnmower engine on my Flexy. The California guys know what I mean. That thing would fly. A flexy was a "California sled" A true flexible flyer sled that had ball bearing wheels, steerable handle and I quote "Brake tabs" to stop. Only sold in Calif. for us poor snow deprived kids.

My dad had a 51 Plymouth coupe and had a local SF hotrod garage install a dual manfold and strombergs on the flathead six. He was my inspiration. Most all of his vehicles came or had installed mutliple carb intakes. He was in the motor pool during WWII in Pacific and souped up everything he drove utilizing "found" parts. I guess I inherited his passion for hot intakes.

The cars I remember my dad having with mutiple carbs were;
1951 Hudson Hollywood Cpe with 7X, 1951 Plymo with dual Strombergs, 1954 Merc SunValley with tripower, 1957 Olds Super 88 with J-2, 1965 Olds 98 with 425 nailhead and dealer installed dual quads.

My cars with multiple carbs were;
1958 Impala with 283 Powerpac and dual quads, 1967 Olds f-85 with 250 and clifford dual carb intake, 1962 Austin Healy 300 with tri-carb,
1974 Datsun 710 coupe with a 2000 motor and 2-webers, 1940 Buick Century with '41 compound carbs, My 1940 Chevy Coupe first with the 216 babbitt pounder and fenton dual intake and now with the 292 with offy tri-power. I guess I'll continue the passion.

Nice to see those old articles. Thanks for the memories.

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

I always wondered, how many souped up 261s have been built, because of this article alone...?

I did a post in the Tech Tips forum a while back, showing graphs to the dyno numbers published in this article....

261 performance gains


...got mine ready now for installation into my coupe.

I'm doing the same thing. My motor will be very close to the one in that article. Dual strombergs with a McGurk intake/Corvette exhaust manifold. I am also increasing the stroke, using caddy pistons/292 rods, as well as using Langdons HEI. The machine work on the block has been done as well as the balancing of the pistons, rods, and crank assembly. Now to get the 848 head done and finish assembly. Then the swap. Hopefully, I'll have it running in my truck by spring. 4k is about right - maybe then some.

hey ElCaminoGuy - that article is from squirrel's website. He posts a lot on the H.A.M.B. is great. he knows his inline stuff.

I still have a vivid remembrance of seeing the May 1955 HRM on the magazine shelf at the local drugstore in April of 1955. I had been a Chevy six fan since about 1950, but I was beginning to switch my allegiance to the Chevy V-8, especially after its impressive performance at the Daytona Speed Week in February. However, after reading that article in the May 55 HRM, I became hooked on the 261. I built up my first one in the summer of 1958, another in 1960, another in 1962, another in 1966, another in 2005, and there are three more sitting in my retirement home awaiting rebuilding and a suitable vehicle to call home. I read and re-read my copy of the May 55 HRM until was falling apart and almost unreadable. About a year ago I picked up a better copy on ebay.

I just checked out squirrel's posts on the H.A,M.B.; nearly 10 posts a day for several years - most impressive! I did not see much, if any, inline stuff on his links. Did I miss something?

No Squirrel does not have a bunch of inline posts, but he has helped me with anything I have asked: suspension, driveline - the whole shot. and he has such a grasp of this its like he ate a parts manual or something.

There is probably nothing on his links - its all in his hamb posts

to: Old Bert, and others
You may want to check out the articles on http://www.webrodder.com/ (if you haven't already) about the "Stovebolt Stroker Chevy Six".
Look in the "ALL Tech Articles:" and scroll down to "Stovebole Stroker Chevy Six". This is really an excellent article. It is still on-going and is now up to "part 8".
I hope when this guy gets done, he will put the complete project into a book form or something.

I haven't been able to access that site since last week. I have all the chapters up to 5 and would like the latest ones.

go to web rodder, tech articles, engines, page 24 for articles you are wanting

Memories? A Flexy-Flyer would stop pretty fast if you removed the brake return springs so that all your pressure went to pushing the little tabs on to the skinny tires. Front wheel brakes and steep hills made face plants easy! How many of you guys run across an old car magazine at a swap meet and remember when you got that Mag or worse remember articles or pictures that are in it before you pick it up? I can't remember how to login here but other things are there.I think it's Old Timers Desease!