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Banger BashFour-Hole Fun at the 2001 Antique Nats From the February, 2009 issue of Rod & Custom By Tim Bernsau Photography by Tim Bernsau
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 This 27 Model T, originally...  This 27 Model T, originally a touring car, is owned by Bill Nielsen and was driven on Sunday by Bill Jr. The car was originally built in 1996 for the Antique Nats, and was finished the night before the event. Nielson modified the frame and narrowed the body 8 inches.  Bill told us the engine is...  Bill told us the engine is a 30 Model A block with an original Winfield cast-iron head, a Winfield cam, and Winfield carbs, which were converted to sidedraft. The 38 Lincoln side-shift transmission relocates the gear shift 3 inches to the right and 31/2 inches forward for more leg room. The car, which won the Real McCoy award at Pleasanton its first year out, gets driven all over the place. It was running mid-17s at 71 mph at the Nats.  When Jim Cox bought this 29...  When Jim Cox bought this 29 Model A nine years ago, it came complete with a colorful history. Originally built in 1952, the car had a bunch of owners before ending up in a wrecking yard for several years. Remarkably, the car remains virtually unchanged after almost half a century.  The full-pressure Model B...  The full-pressure Model B engine (1932-1934) was overhauled a few years ago and features a Harmon and Collins cam along with a Cragar head and two Stromberg 81s, which replaced the original updraft Winfield carbs. Jim told us that Chevy 1.88-inch big-block exhaust valves were an easy replacement for the original valves. The car is driven about 3,000 miles a year, including reliability runs. Jims daughter raced it here and was runner-up in her class.  The 32 B block in this...  The 32 B block in this 30 Model A speedster is equipped with an original cast-iron four-port Riley valve-in-head, designed by George Riley in the early 30s.  Its the overhead-valve...  Its the overhead-valve setup that allows us to get as much power as were getting, owner Art Moore told us. The head took an engine that probably originally had 50 hp and had it running 180 hp. These heads were used competitively until the mid-50s.  Art, a member of the Four...  Art, a member of the Four Ever Four Cylinder Club, bought the body and Model A frame at a garage sale and shortened and narrowed the frame. Hand controls and a Chrysler 904 automatic transmission allow Art, a paraplegic, to drive the car.  Olive Moore, Arts...  Olive Moore, Arts wife, has been driving and racing this 26 Model T for four years. The car is an unusual combo of old and newa modern variation of a traditional rod. The Wescott body rides on a TCI chassis. The engine, however, is a bona fide 32 B block, like Arts, but with a repopped version of a four-port Riley head, built by George Butler using the original pattern. Other modern features include the Chevy S-10 five-speed transmission, Ford 9-inch rearend, and four-wheel disc brakes.  Look familiar? Drag racing...  Look familiar? Drag racing pioneer Joaquin Arnett of the Bean Bandits drove this exact same dragster into racing history back in the early- to mid-50s at the earliest NHRA races, including the first Pomona Valley Timing Association Southern California Championshipsthe first NHRA sanctioned drag race. According to Mike Shundo, shown here with fellow Bean Bandit Jerry Freitas, the four Stromberg 97s have been converted to fuel injection. Its great to see this historic car still running, and this incredible club still active.  Its not a four-banger,...  Its not a four-banger, but Mike Van Zettens flathead-powered Model A, probably the lowest vehicle at the event, was just finished and out for the first time, and looked like a heckuvalotta fun. Now chopped and channeled, the car, built by Julio Hernandez (aka Lefty), was a stock four-door sedan a year ago. The 53 Merc motor has Harrell heads and a Harrell manifold, double 97s, and straight pipes. Mike also brought his 235ci-powered red 52 Chevy.  The Foxy Lady Special, now...  The Foxy Lady Special, now owned by Bud Sheldon, was built in the mid-30s and campaigned at tracks up and down the West Coast. The chassis was built by Clyde Adams, and the original ball nose was replaced by this track nose 50 years ago. Since the original engine was a 220 Offenhauser, Sheldon thinks the car may have been the Offenhauser Special driven by Hal Cole. Sheldon bought it from racer Hank Becker a couple years ago. It had also belonged to four-banger head designer Joe Gemsa, who built the Model T engine.  eff Chiodos grandfather,...  eff Chiodos grandfather, Elmer Chiodo, used to race in hillclimbs and on the wooden track at Gilmore Stadium in Long Beach, California, in the 30s, and was the inspiration for Jeffs stunning 27 Track T. The frame and glass body are aftermarket parts, but the car is built mostly with traditional technology.  The essentially stock Model...  The essentially stock Model A block runs a counterweighted crank, high-compression Winfield head with a single Stromberg 94 carburetor, and custom headers. A 4-inch dropped axle and quarter elliptic leafs are mounted on top of the frame to bring the front way down and to keep the car from bouncing. Chiodo added cool vintage-style friction shocks at all corners.  The Mancillas brothers, Eddie...  The Mancillas brothers, Eddie (driver seat) and Al (orange T-shirt) started racing in the early 50s, and were well known at all the drag racing breeding grounds from Carlsbad to Bakersfield.  This roadster was originally...  This roadster was originally built in 1968 on a Model T frame with a flathead engine. Al built this tube frame to reduce weight, and built this Model B four-hole engine when the flattie blew up. He created the cast-aluminum head with two plugs per cylinder. When he couldnt get any more out of the normally aspirated engine, he added the turbocharger and saw performance leap from consistent 96 mph top speeds to 105. The cars best time is 118 mph. The Mancillas also fabricated the adapter to convert the transmission to a Chrysler Torqueflite automatic. Art Moores yellow Model A also runs one of these adapters. Most impressive is the fact that this car is 90 percent homebuilt.  The Mancillas team also runs...  The Mancillas team also runs this cool little 31 Coupe, which ran 76 mph in the high desert of LACR. The 214ci engine, with four-port overhead-valve conversion, is fed by a pair of 350-cfm Holleys. According to the M Bros, many modern Chevy V-8 over-the-counter components can be adapted to these early bangers, including valve guides, seats, rocker arms, and valve covers.  Al modified the valve cover...  Al modified the valve cover with several Lexan panels in order to view the rockers and make sure the spray bar above the rockers is getting oil to the proper locations. Trick, huh? Its a real live version of the kind of hot rodding most people only see in old photos. For the Four Ever Four Cylinder Club, its not about remembering the action of yesteryear. Its about living it right here, right now. The Antique Nationals is where theyve been doing it for more than 30 years. Four Ever Four was established in 1954, and started hosting four-banger races a few years later. These events became a necessity as club-sponsored races began losing ground to officially sanctioned programs with no room for four-cylinder classes. The first Antique Nationals was held in 1970. This years meet was held on June 3 at the Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale, California. Racing at the Antique Nats is restricted to 54-and-earlier body-style vehicles (and Ford trucks through 56). Participants showed up from all over the West and from as far away as Australia and New Zealand to race in classes including Flathead Eliminator, Vintage Flatheads, Model Ts, Model As, Vintage Motorcycles, Whizzer Bikes, Gassers/A Gas/Altereds, and Unlimited. There were plenty of flatheads, early overheads, and small-blocks on hand, but we paid most of our attention to the banger cars to see what hot rodders in the 30s, 40s, and 50s were doing to make them run, and what traditional hot rodders are still doing to them today. The 2002 Antique Nationals are already booked for June 2 at the Los Angeles County Raceway. For more info about this event or the Four Ever Four Cylinder Club, call 323/222-6247.
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Nitro Revisited
It’s odd how seemingly random things will trigger memories from our youth. For some,...
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