LIL' Mac

In my opinion Mike 57 probably hit the nail on the head. Lash. My self, I am a zero lash, mechanical lifter kinda guy, with what I build anyway. A couple of other things that come to mind.......Proper break in lube,proper break in RPM and amount of break in time. Also, geometry and combination is EVERYTHING. For example, I have seen motors that people had honkin' cams and valve springs, BUT then used cheap pushrods, lifters, etc. Wrong length pushrods, etc. If it aint right, I guarantee you something in that valve train will suffer. Finally, I only use QUALITY parts. I would rather use a high dollar used hard part, than a crappy cheap new one. Any day. And I do, if they are nice enough. I like Crane, Jesel, etc. I have never had a Crane lifter fail, in almost 40 years of building. I refuse to use C.C. lifters, EVER. I use some of their other parts, but not lifters. I'm sure other guys will disagree, and that's ok, just MO. I will spend 3 times, or more, of what average lifters cost, when I buy them. They are the engines heart and worth every penny. JUST MY OPINION. Sorry to ramble, hope this helps.

I put a pair of the 50 series flowmasters on my '55, and in my opinion they are great. I am running a radical 406 smallblock with headers. Tamed it alot, just what I was after. Still somewhat loud, but much more streetable. Although I haven't been able to drive it much yet, but did run it down the road. A work in progress. I was shocked it wasn't louder than it is. My two cents.

Exactly Sam. IMO, anything 220 and under is fine. All the years I worked in a garage, most cars as I recall ran 220, and then the fans kick on, IF I remember correctly. Has been awhile. Like you said, the warmer the better, to a certain degree that is.

Murphy, the firing order on my '55 is 18736542, so that shirt would not apply. I used a Howard's 4-7 swap circle track cam in that motor. Have to swap the wires.

Picked up an awesome Knight at the flea market today. He is about 5 feet tall, and is all homemade. Has a Honda Catalytic converter sticker on the underside of stand. I asked Joe aka; TOPPLESS72 to put some pictures on here for me. Figured he would be great for club meets, etc.

A one - way fuel filter in the carb should help with this. In the inlet side of the paper filter, there is a plastic flap. You can see it when you take the fuel line off at carb. If you just see a hole, you have a regular filter, not a one way filter. If that does not help, your carb may be leaking down, from the plugs in the bowl wells. Hope this helps.

Great looking boy! Looks like he is checking out a Hotrod. Going to be a car guy I'll bet.

The suspension pictures look great Dennis!!! Looks VERY nice. I put new wires on my car, getting it ready for the Eastern Meet. The wires are NOS, brand new 40 year old Delco wires(date coded '74). Man it sure does run great. Have alot of other things I would like to get done before Somerset. Only one more week!!!

Was actually yesterday. Installed a period reman. water pump. A correct 811 casting. Also started attempting to do some clean up on her for the eastern meet!!! Almost here, going to be fun.

MAN, that is SMOKIN' for a big door slammer!!! I had a '69 4 speed Chevelle back in the 1990's that went 11's, and I thought that was movin'. I have never went 10's(almost 9), but I heard it is a whole other experience. Have fun, and stay safe.

I switch out tire/wheel combos on my Monte quite often just for a different look. I have a NOS set of Goodyear H-78-14 poly belted tires on a set 14" ralley wheels. The H-78-14 bias on the 14" ralley look great on the front of the Monte. You have to be looking at them close to even realize they are 14's, because the "H" series tires were so tall. I had them on there for about a year. I just put the 15" BFG poly's back on it. They look great too with the fat sidewall's the old tires had. I will probably run the 14" Goodyears on the front to the Eastern meet in Somerset. I collect old school NOS sticker tires when I can find them. GRANTED, poly don't handle great(like a radial) , BUT they are just sweet lookin', and were original equiptment. And IMO as long as there is NO rot on them, why not.

Drove the Monte for the first time since October today. Man she sure did run sweet, it felt FANTASTIC

Aaron, I've said it before, I'll say it again, that is one sweeet SS. And that is a great view you have too. Dig the 8 track I have only started my Monte and backed it out of the garage thus far. Planning on washing tomorrow and taking the first ride since October

Hi Aaron, hope all is well with you. I think originally they had a slight molded bend , if I remember correctly. I remember that when I worked in a garage in the late '70s throughout the '80's , the bypass hoses were the ones that blew first, most of the time. My car has been replaced with what looks like a straight old piece of hose. I'm sure someone that is more up on it than me will chime in.

Hi Glen. They are actually 7/16". 11 MM is just a hair tighter than 7/16", and may work better in this case since they are hard to remove. You have to use the opened end of the wrench. The key is, having a high quality wrench. I have been a mechanic for 38 years, and I can tell you there is no substitute for quality tools. Especially when it comes to wrenches. So get a quality wrench( Snap-on, Mac, or even cornwell). If you don't have one maybe you can borrow one. Take your time and make sure you can get all of the wrench you can on the bolt before loosening. Just don't get excited, PATIENCE is the key. Hope this helps.