Picking this up this Sunday
It's a 1959 Humber hawk, fitted with a 468 ci big block Chevy V8, modified 700r 4 speed auto box with manual valve body and b and m ratchet shifter, jaguar xj6 based front steering and arms space framed front end with Gaz coilovers, Jag/Daimler back axle, unobtrusive roll cage, 6 seater 2 bench seats with custom dash and all autometer gauges.
Griffin rad with dual fans.
Painted Mercedes lanarite blue with some small modifications to aid in making it look more similar to a 55 Chevy.
Engine is supposed to have a lunati cam, it has uprated inlet and 800 CFM thunder carb, Dyno plot showing crank 280 hp, 360 lbft from 2012, car was originally built 15 years ago and still looks really well with just a few small paint imperfections

Fuel gauge doesn't work and has only 2 front seat belts so got gauge to fix and fit 4 more 3 point seatbelts, then check it over before I try it in anger and see where we're at

Ideally I'd like around 500 hp 500 lb ft motor but it must stay civilised and driveabke with decent power from idle so may have to compromise or fit a bigger cube motor

Some pics

 

Some more pics the missus took Sunday when we viewed it











I didn't spot any rust but above the rear bumper on the seam there is cracking on the paint, my mate has a standard 56 Humber hawk and that has cracked paint in the exact same place so I'm wondering if they flex abit there maybe ?
Even the missus and kids love it which is a big bonus

 

You defo deserve it with all the hours you put in....well done to you.

 

Nice mate love the colour were these used as taxis?

 

They were used as a police car I think

 

Cheers bud wanted something like this for years

 

Now stick a hellcat engine it lol

 

Fuck that lol, it would be undrivable with my rs6 engine in it rwd lol

The 454 in it is what sealed the deal, it's like the 55 Chevy with the 454 in it from the film 2 lane black top

 

Was a good film

Break out the tin of grey primer!

Meant to be the same car used in American Graffiti if i remember correctly...

 

Couldn't bring myself to paint it primer grey lol

 

This motor would be ideal I think

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...=1570909939670

502 ci 502 hp 567 lbft, and being a genuine GM crate motor should be spot on and pull from any rpm, if I want it just gotta check the engine dimensions and that it will fit but I'm hopeing being a 502 ci it's not a tall block and standard height same as a 454

 

Love the hot rod style !

 

Just got back had a good drive home bar the rain

Loads of grunt of idle

All temps good but a little worried about oil pressure, 20 psi idle, 32 psi driving and doesn't go above that

Will get a manual gauge on it and check and put some 20w50 in it

Well happy though so far

 

Have checked and adjusted valve clearances, fitted new plugs and tried it up the road





Have a misfire now and won't idle, went to pull off her leads and the ends just fell off 2 of them so gotta wait for new HT leads to arrive and hope they sort it, felt strong today though motor pulls well

 

That's quality mate. I love cars like this. Does it drive ok or is it a bit of a bone shaker.

 

It's pretty good mate for a 60 year old car

Only had 10" of vacuum, found a leak today from the torque lock up vacuum switch




After blanking that off have 19" of vacuum now, very mild cam in it, just need new HT leads now and some dry weather to try it again

 

Love the video it sounds the bollox

 

Cheers mate it's going alot better already with just new plugs and valve lash adjusted, now vacuum leak has been found and sorted should go even better

I was all set on buying a zz502 crate motor but I may not need it now, it feels strong, once it's set up and I'm happy with it it's going on the ramp to have the intake manifold and sump taken off, inlet is leaking a little oil and I'd like oil pressure to be a little higher so we will check big end and mains and the oil pump

I don't want a big cam motor as it's a street rod and I want it to have full grunt straight off idle

 

Another revelation with the car I was looking at the air filter and I thought mmmmm looks kinda small, so I took some measurement and did some digging and it's the filter of a 3.0 Capri lol

It is tiny, problem is I don't have any more room for width but I do have height room, so after alot if digging I found a k and n high flow air filter that is 50% taller aswell which I'm sure it will need being as it's 7.5 litre

 

Sounds like it was being strangled.

 

I think it's got to be as it is, just by changeing plugs and doing valve clearance it revs noticeable better above 3000 rpm and the air filter should help it out even more, it's always had this air filter on since built and on the Dyno plot in 2012 the hp started dropping off at 4400 rpm and torque peaked at 3700 rpm which seems to low to me even for an old V8

 

Lucky escape today, was heading out to fill it up with super unleaded as could only get premium crap when I picked it up

Got to top of my drive and it starting missing and I could hear a tapping, so got it straight in garage and pulled rocker cover off, no 1 exhaust valve rocker nut had backed of and was flush with top of stud totally if the locker !





I didn't notice it when I did valve clearances, so I took a 11/16 socket and extension in my hand and could also easily turn no 4 rocker aswell ! Could of been nasty, I've ordered crane locking nuts I will change them all before I run it again

 

We're cracking on with it now, intake gasket had failed in exhaust crossover area and was blowing oil up the intake manifold studs !
Just waiting on gaskets and new rocker nuts so can put back together




But before stripping it we checked and found a few leaks that have been sorted, and I've ordered a proper flywheel cover for it, but hot start on the ramp it was kicking back hard on cranking !
So thought I'd better strip distributor and see what's going on in there as must be to much advance at cranking.
So strip dizzy and found one of the weight arms for mech advance the bushings had failed and it's worn half way through the shaft, all looks to have been caused by the retaining e clip had come off !
Can't buy the parts for them anymore so have had to do a workaround but seems to work ok now on the bench

 

Rockers all set up today for the last time

Air filter finally arrived it's a good bit taller and free flowing, I pushed the old filter up tight to my mouth and I couldn't blow through it at all ! I'm hopeing that's the biggest reason for the low hp and rpms due to a massive air restriction which it 100% was

 

Got it all back together again today, no more kick back hot start but getting huge spark scatter which I believe is distributor mech advance jumping, so I've got that off again gonna up the spring pressures and tighten the other arm up

But prooved how bad air filter was, with old filter it has 19" of idle vacuum, new bigger k and n filter 16" vacuum "
And you can stand behind it at idle now and it doesn't choke me to death with fuel fumes lol

 

Got the distributor sorted bent spring hangers so full advance is in by 3k rpm that's sorted, but still had terrible hot idle and start, and would run rough til I blipped throttle then would clear, figured that out tonight somebody had set the msd controller to activate 20 degrees of ignition retard to come in at 500 rpm and kick out at 1200 rpm, meaning it was trying to start at 10 degrees btdc !
I've sorted that and it starts and runs perfect all the time but I think it's slightly gimped the flexplate or something as it has a tight spot when cranking !
Also checked oil pressure with my gauge in rail 40 psi hot idle, 50-60 psi when I blip the throttle so that's all good



No 8 is leaking on exhaust header so I've ordered new gaskets, starter motor is shimable so I'm thinking about shimming it out a few though to give a little more clearance and trying it, getting close though it's gonna run so much better I'm sure

 

Shimming starter hasn't helped, tighter or looser has made no difference, so I got part number of it it's 2 hp for a SBC so I don't think it's up to the job when she fired it's to much for it I believe. So I've ordered a 3 hp high torque mini starter to try.
Also double checked today my timing mark is bang on tdc which it is

 

Shes keeping you busy, nicejob your doing sorting through it all

 

It is mate the new starter motor arrived today I had to hack it about abit to get it clear the header but it's on and it starts in a instant now hot or cold, the old one just wasn't nan enough as I expected
New header gaskets on and no leaks, just need HT leads and seal kit for the brake master and should be ready to try it out when it's dry enough

 

Enjoyed reading you progress so far..lol at the capri air filter.

 

It's baffling anyone would think a 3.0 Capri air filter (standard) would supply enough air to feed a 800 CFM carb on a 7.5 litre V8 lol
At 5000 rpm with a paper filter they require a 14" X 3.5" paper filter, it was fitted with a 10" X 2"

I'm hopeful it should be around the 350 hp 450 lbft mark now which will be ideal

 

Got the new msd HT leads on today, got stereo and amp working sounds great.
And fitted these electric valves, it has 1 silencer each side at the back, so have trial fitted 2 valves Infront of the silencers for straight through exhausts




Just need to fit all the wiring but it sounds great on open pipes
Also got my widebands on idle was 11.5 afr !
So made sure it was on the idle circuit (which it was tbf) and set it at 13.9-14.6 that's as close as I can get it as it fluctuates 0.7 lol

On the last Dyno run it did afr was 10.9 but with the new air filter flowing better it will lean that out some I'm sure

 

Looking forward to the outcome

 

Got the engine finished today all is good, went to bleed brakes up and pedal on the floor and air constantly rising into brake reservoir, so have had to order a new master cylinder now, getting a teesy bit pissed off with it now considering it was supposed to be a spot on car ready to go !

 

I love the ideas of these electric exhaust valves. I was thinking about putting one on my V6 Monday when I used to own it lol.

 

Can't beat a big block Chevy sound with open pipes on headers

 

New chrome flywheel cover fitted to go with chrome sump




3 hp mini starter, it's incredible how they get so much motor power in such a tiny starter that fits in my hand !




The 2 electric exhaust valves for open pipes




And a couple of engine bay shots, just master cylinder left to do and it's time for trying it out, set total mech advance at 36 degrees for now

 

Brake master cylinders for Lucas girling Sierra's are now discontinued but luckily we've managed to reseal and reuse the old one, bled it up today and got over a coffee cup full of water out of the system ! Won't happen again as it has a proper cap now.
Flexplate was hitting the starter Bendix nose when in reverse so had to shim abit more clearance there, it must flex forward when in reverse.
Weve got the seats out now sorting out the seatbelts

 

Just got home from maiden voyage




Brakes feel alot stronger, torque lockup works in all gears, and part throttle on primarys is perfect, but full throttle it feels like a read bad lean bog and it doesn't fully recover if I keep my foot in it

I think the new air filter is hossing in that much more air that it's way lean now, I'm gonna get it to a tuner and Dyno now, I've got 2 engines to get rebuilt so no more time to work on it myself

 

I’d love something along these lines,maybe 1 day!