Bonneville: The Final Frontier
May 22, 2025
THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
EXTREMELY SUBTLE
When you’re located far to the North, as in north of the United States border, it isn’t always easy to gain the attention needed to grow a hot rod shop through creative statements alone. Then again, quality workmanship is difficult to miss and is rarely overlooked by knowledgeable people.
SUREFOOTED MUSTANG
As much as it rankles Blue Oval fans, the early Mustangs used the same suspension as the Falcon and the Comet. It brings to mind cars powered by little six-bangers, dubbed “economy cars,” and not meant for the performance-minded-like a ’60s version of a Geo Metro or Yugo. Those who drove them loved and abused them, and quickly determined the limits of the factory suspension—especially with any power under the hood.
ON BORROWED TIME
When you go looking to make huge power from your 5.0-liter Ford, the limiting factor will always be the weakest link in the chain. In the case of our supercharged 331 stroker buildup, the weakest link turned out to be the production block. Like most enthusiasts, we had no budget for a DART racing block or even a Ford Racing Sportsman block, but we decided to tempt fate nonetheless and go for a big power number on the dyno. Considering that the stock fuel-injected 5.0-liter was rated at a measly 225 hp, even a 300hp buildup would offer a welcome change in performance.
Spotlighter
Right Rod
Installing a Chevy Engine and a Four-Speed Transmission in a Rat Rod Chassis
If you attend car events in California, such as NHRA’s California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield, the West Coast Kustoms show in Paso Robles or the L.A. Roadster Show in Pomona, you will notice that rat rods are a growing segment of the hot rod hobby. Years ago, when they started becoming a common sight at many of the shows, the mechanical aspects of most of the cars were scary at best. You could see cars with no springs, some without floorboards, and many constructed with less-than-desirable stick welding. It is this type of construction that created the name “rat rod.” Fortunately, over the past few years there has been an attempt to upgrade the construction of rat rods, even though the enthusiasts want to use as many original parts as possible.
Author
Jeff Tann
Words & Photography
Building a Safe and Reliable ’28 Sedan Rat Rod
When Amadeus Ramirez-Reynolds started building this ’28 sedan rat rod, he wanted it to look cool, but he also wanted it to be safe and dependable. Amadeus has seen other rat rods broken down on the side of the road, and that’s certainly not the kind he wanted. Amadeus decided to use old parts where he could get away with them, such as on the front suspension. All of the parts he used were in good condition and rebuilt so that they would be reliable. The rear suspension was also done in an old style, but he upgraded the differential to a Ford 9-inch that would be reliable and able to handle plenty of horsepower. Before the rearend was installed it was totally rebuilt, and that also adds reliability to his rod.
Choosing a Chassis and Engine for Reliability
Amadeus decided that it would be cost effective to purchase a new chassis for the rod, because by the time he started with a stock Model A chassis and fixed all of the problems it would cost more money than buying a nice unit from Last Refuge Hot Rods. Amadeus could have used any number of old V-8 engines, but again, for reliability he selected a 350 Chevy engine and totally rebuilt it with a 0.030-inch overbore and a 400 crank, giving the engine 383 cubic inches. The engine also has fuel injection heads and a high-performance cam, and it made more than 400 horsepower on the dyno. The engine is going to be hooked to a Muncie four-speed transmission, and that gives you a good idea of why he selected a strong 9-inch Ford rearend. The Last Refuge Hot Rods chassis didn’t come with engine mounts, so it was up to Amadeus to install them himself. Amadeus contacted Chassis Engineering and ordered a set of engine mounts. The transmission mount will be engineered after the front mounts are installed.
Installing a High-Performance Chevy Engine
The engine installation wasn’t difficult to accomplish, but it did require some special tools such as a MIG welder, a plasma cutter, a 3-inch angle sander, an engine hoist and a 3-inch cutoff wheel. A variety of regular hand tools was also required. When this engine was installed, it was done so that the standard fan could be used, so we will show you how Amadeus installed this powerful Chevy engine.
1. This installation required an engine hoist and an engine sling. Since all Chevy engines mount the same, a bare block was used, but it was hooked to the scattershield bellhousing and the four-speed transmission that actually will be used.
2. The engine was lifted to clear the front crossmember, and then it was lowered after it cleared. Amadeus hoped that the engine would fit without modifying the firewall to a large extent.
3. The engine was installed and the radiator was set in place, but without modifying the firewall the engine was sitting at the wrong angle. Some modification would have to be made to get the engine sitting correctly.
4. Amadeus marked the width of the recess that would have to be made. He marked the right side first and then the left, making sure they were the same.
5. Using a piece of curved cardboard as a guide, a line was drawn where the firewall would have to be cut.
6. Following the line that was just drawn, the firewall was cut with a plasma cutter. It’s fast, easy and leaves a very clean cut.
7. After the firewall was cut, the engine was finally sitting at the correct angle. Since the engine will be equipped with a mechanical fan, it made sense to mount it high in the chassis so that the fan would sit in the center of the radiator.
8. The radiator was set in place and the engine was lowered or raised until the fan hub on the water pump was dead center.
9. After the engine was sitting in the correct location, the fan and the radiator were installed to make sure there was good fan-to-radiator clearance.
10. When the engine was in the perfect location the frame mounts were not touching the frame, so they couldn’t be welded on. There were some longer lower frame mounts in the spare parts bin, so they have to be used.
11. The holes in the new frame mounts were too small, so they were drilled to size.
12. The old frame mounts were disconnected and the new, longer mounts were installed.
13. The new frame mounts are about 1/4-inch longer per side, which was all that was needed to connect the engine to the frame.
14. Before the engine mounts could be welded to the frame, the engine had to be at the correct angle. Here the angle is being checked, and it is perfect for this application.
15. A section of heavy U-channel was set against the front of the engine, and the distance from the left side of the engine to the frame was measured.
16. The distance from the right side of the engine to the frame was also measured to make sure the engine was sitting straight in the frame. Both sides should be the same, so some movement from side to side may be required. The engine mounts that are bolted to the engine keep it centered.
17. A measurement was also made from the engine to the radiator to make sure it was mounted in the correct location.
18. After all of the measurements were perfect the engine mounts were tack welded to the frame. Eventually they will be finish welded to the chassis. Note that the perfect location for the mounts was about one inch down from the top of the frame.
19. Here is the mount after it was finish-welded on. Chassis Engineering makes a steel mount that bolts to the engine and another one that attaches to the frame. A ’55-’57-style rubber engine mount is used as the attachment and insulation point.
20. After studying the rear crossmember and the four-speed, the parts that were needed to mount the transmission were fabricated. The four-speed will be equipped with the standard mid-’60s-style transmission mount.
21. Before the transmission was mounted, a measurement was taken from the frame to the bellhousing.
22. The same measurement was made on the other side of the engine to make sure the engine was centered. When the measurements were made the engine was in the center of the frame.
23. The end of the transmission was resting on a piece of square tubing to get it sitting properly. The angle was checked with an angle finder and it turned out to be perfect for this application.
24. The rubber transmission mount was bolted to the transmission with two 3/8x3/4-inch bolts.
25. After the rubber mount was connected to the transmission, the steel plate was bolted to the rubber mount. In this position, the plate rests squarely against the existing tubular crossmember.
26. The plate was tack welded to the crossmember. It was aligned so that the entire plate could be welded to the tubular crossmember.
27. Strength is essential, so the mounting plate required gussets on both sides of the mount. One of the gussets is being installed with a MIG welder, adding strength to this installation.
28. Here is the finished mount with the gussets installed. This mount is very sturdy and strong enough to handle the torque that the engine is capable of producing.
29. After the engine was mounted the heads were installed, and it was obvious that the way the firewall was modified wouldn’t work, so it was cut out again in a rectangular design. This will also make it easier to fabricate a recess.
30. The radiator was mounted in place, and here you can see the clearance between the fan and the radiator. There is about one inch of clearance, and that should be perfect to keep the air flowing through the radiator.
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