High performance modding...in the 50's?

&CDFiXER% · May 28, 2017

I was wondering what were 'high performance' mods back in the 50's?

Better carbs? Better intakes? Porting? Cams? Exhaust work?

KARNUT · May 28, 2017

I was wondering what were 'high performance' mods back in the 50's?

Better carbs? Better intakes? Porting? Cams? Exhaust work?

I remember my dad having a fondness for Buicks. He would lower the back and of course exhaust. Friends and brothers would get something new and line up with him l guess he was the one to beat. I remember lots of trips to the salvage yards, and get togethers swapping engines small ones for bigger ones. The sixties of course you could just order bigger engines if you wanted.

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barry G · May 28, 2017

a "truck" engine in a smaller chassis.

dawn of hot rodding. There is no other story.

cams were limited to pointy high vacuum draft sucking.

the flathead remained popular even into my childhood.

isky addons, offenhauser.

a secretive realm was the indy cars. To see offenhauser anything for street was an OMG.

there were other builders , the big luxury coaches.. supercharging for the privileged.

mcullough (father to paxton) showed up in the 40s.

mimicking airplanes was another popluar thing. Extra coolers etc.

so very simple.

&CDFiXER% · May 28, 2017

Good stuff!

I'd forgotten about the supercharged 'roadsters' and all. As you mentioned, for the rich. Weren't there several Hollywood types with these early supercharged luxury go-fast buggys?

I think I have a bit of a handle on pre-war performance, but my knowledge then skips towards the late 60's early seventies.

Thank you. Like to hear any and all more!

sdeeter19555 · May 28, 2017

My grandfather was a mechanic during that era...some of the tweaks and builds they did before the days of Summit Racing and PAW were short of ingenious, and they did it with basic tools and parts mismatched from other cars.

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sdeeter19555 · May 28, 2017

One of the biggest mods wasn't even for power, it was to make that power hit the ground. They would strip gears on a car trans, and there were truck transmissions with old straight cut gears that would fit...they would swap those gears out and sacrifice a little more noise for durability.

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Grumpy Bear · June 1, 2017

Shopping the factory parts books was in. The "Y" block Ford and later FE motors had a great deal of parts interchangeability. Both NASCAR favorites and the required by rule minimum number rules made this pretty easy picking. Really took hold in the 60's.

&CDFiXER% · June 1, 2017

Any of those online? I'd like to see a couple.

Grumpy Bear · June 9, 2017

Any of those online? I'd like to see a couple.

Are you talking to me?

&CDFiXER% · June 9, 2017

Are you talking to me?

Yessir!

I am not even sure what to search for online. There are several Route 66 museums/collections/etc within a short drive of here, those may have some pictures. Other than that, not sure where to look.

Grumpy Bear · June 9, 2017

Yessir!

I am not even sure what to search for online. There are several Route 66 museums/collections/etc within a short drive of here, those may have some pictures. Other than that, not sure where to look.

The books you mean. Well my copy is long gone. I got it at a Mercury dealership and it was printed by Ford Motor Company. diyford.com is a good information source though.