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American Graffiti... if the cars were real in '62

12K views 32 replies 25 participants last post by  1971BB427  
#1 ·
The Favorite Car Movie thread got me thinking. We all love AG. But if the cars portrayed in the movie were supposed to be on the road in 1962, what engines would they have had, and how would they have modified them?

The 454 commonly referenced in the car used for Falfa's '55 didn't exist at the time (1962) but it fits perfectly for Two Lane Blacktop, which takes place years later.

So, given what was available in 1962, what would Milner really have done to make him the fastest car in the Valley, and what would Falfa really have used to try and beat him?

Then again, what would *YOU* have run in '62 to take Milner's title? Budget? Two versions, take your pick: Home School on the Cheap, and/or Top o' the Line Dollars be Damned. Remember, these are supposed to be drivers, not dragsters.

Me? I don't know enough about back then to offer an intelligent answer. But I'd like to hear yours.
 
#2 ·
I'd probably have my 1938 Plymouth and play a minor supporting (if any) role. In real life, the high fliers crash early.
 
#8 ·
:confused0006: Interesting question! Having lived through that time and being into cars, I would think that if Milner had the bucks, he might consider one of the hotter 327s...... But they were newly introduced in '62 and were not readily available in wrecking yards and had yet to prove themselves in racing. So I believe in real life, Milner would have stayed with a 283 based high winding mill, likely bored out to 301. He had a definite weight advantage with the deuce coupe. All he needed was to put that power to the ground and not break anything nor miss a shift.

As for the '55...... That's a hard one. As you say, the 396/427 and later...... 454 big block engines were not available at that time. I doubt Falfa would have run either a 348 or a 409. The 348 would not beat a 'built' 283 based engine in a drag car and there was a weight penalty involved as well. The 409 had been out for a couple of years and were arguably somewhat available. But they did not have a reputation for staying together in serious racing. The consensus back then was that you had to turn some serious revs to make power with a 409 and at those engine speeds, they tended to come apart.

Falfa's dilemma would be how to beat a much lighter car. His choices would be to supercharge a 283 based small block and hope he could get it to stay together...... Or to swap in an available big block that would get the job done even though doing so would add about 100 lbs. right where it was least needed (over the front wheels) and would require installing a stronger transmission and rearend as well.

There were several GM engines which had a reputation for making good power and staying together...... The Buick nailhead and the Pontiac would be at the top of my list. Olds and Caddy engines were strong runners as well, but there wasn't as much in the way of speed equipment available for them back then. I swapped a 'built' Pontiac into my '56 Chevy in the '70s and it was definitely a runner.

But...... If I were going to swap another engine into Falfa's '55 back in '62...... It would have been a MOPAR. Either the early hemi or the 413 wedge would have done the job. Both were proven in racing and had a good reputation for winning races and staying together. The first car I built as a kid was a DeSoto hemi powered Henry J. That engine made big power for its displacement and was practically indestructible.

I also swapped a 413 wedge engine from a 1960 Plymouth police car into a '55 Chevy in the early '70s and it was a strong runner. It was faster than my new '69 Nova SS with the L78 375 HP 396 (which was the same engine as the 425 HP 427 'Vette engine except for smaller diameter pistons). The 413 wedge engine was also a better fit in a '55 Chevy chassis than a hemi would have been.

So that would be my choice if I were Falfa and wanted to swap an engine that was available in 1962 into a '55 Chevy that would beat a lighter small block Chevy powered '32 Ford coupe. And if he brought it up to '62 Max Wedge spec, I have no doubt it would outpower Milner's small block powered '32 coupe.

On the other hand, if Milner dropped a 'built' early hemi into his deuce coupe...... All bets are off!

Best regards,

Harry
 
#9 ·
Back In The Day

From what I remember the early 409s had a bad reputation when they first came out. We tried to get our hands on the big hemis or caddy engines. The Pontiac 421s where a great engine wining NASCAR races. Nobody I knew could afford them at the time. There were also alot of flatheads that ran pretty hot.
 
#14 ·
It would have had to been either a Chevy 292 or 301 sb. Those engines were considered 'big' back then and many were some real screamers.

Having a tunnelram on ANY engine on the street was considered outrageous then, so I would imagine Milner would have pumped alot of gas to afford one.
 
#20 ·
In 62' I was eleven and the two guys in the neighborhood, who were racers used what ever they could afford to go faster. One had a 55' Chevy with an Olds engine, the other a 52' Chevy with a "fraud" 312. Is there anyone from that time, that actually knew about Milliner's yellow street rod I wonder ? Or was the film glorifying the events ?
 
#22 ·
The Milner car was meant to be based on cars that Lucas remembered from his childhood. Apparently it was meant to be channeled over the frame, but time/budget did not allow.

I was just doing a bit of searching and found a link to the original script, it says:

"Suddenly, there's an ear-splitting roar and they all turn as a yellow '32 Ford deuce coupe--chopped, lowered and sporting a Hemi-V8--bumps into the lot. The low slung classic rumbles and parks at the rear of the drive in."

http://www.weeklyscript.com/American Graffiti.txt
 
#25 ·
I would have to say most of the cars especially Milner's coupe were period correct, a small block with a Man a Fre would have been a hot set up as would a 3x2 or dual quads most likely 4 Stromberg 97's or J2 Olds carbs Rochester aka (2GC's) A Hemi in a coupe would have most likely been a 392 or a 331 but Hemi's were/are heavy as snot and in a light weight car like a coupe all the weight to the front and none on the back wheels a small block car would blow it out of the water. Steve's 58 (Ron Howard) could have had a 327 if they took it out of a Corvette but that would have made much sense to put an engine like that in a gunboat like a 58 Impala more likely it would have had a 348 or a 283. Well Bob Falfa and his filed car would have had a 409, 348 but as many have said the 09's were boat anchors compared to the small blocks but the fastest car in the Valley had to have something impressive in it of course. If I'm not mistake the actual car had a 454 in it. One thing I do know is that they had a number of problems keeping the couple running on the set. One of the problems was the car kept loading up because Milner (Paul LeMat) wasn't allowed to open the car up and blow it out so it kept loading up the plugs. Another really big problem was the car kept getting stuck in between gears and had all kinds of shifter problems as it had "some old worn out piece of crap" This came right from the man's mouth John Milner (Paul LeMat) himself who I met one year at Lead East a big rod run here in New Jersey, he's probably told the Graffiti couple stories a million times over the years. I met him again at one of our local cruises and spoke with the guy who owned both cars Steve Fitch for quite a long time don't know if he still does
Meet you out at Paradise road....




http://www.projectthx138.com/Update%20092209.html
 
#26 ·
292s (.060 over 283) or 301s (.125 over 283) were very popular (and cheap to build) back then. Depending on the cam and compression, they could be pretty potent as well.

Something else that was popular back then were stroker kits. 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 inch kits were available, when used in a 4" bore block would give you 327, 351, or 377 inches.

Back in 1970 a friend bought a front-engine injected gas dragster that had been built in the late 50s. It had a 283 bored to 4" and a 3/4 stroker in it. Because it had aluminum rods it had to have a small base circle cam, as well as a lot of clearance grinding on the bottom of the block. I have never the bottom end area of an engine look so stuffed full of parts like that one did.

I think the 3/4 kits were pretty much racecar only, but I did know of a couple of street cars running 1/2 kits.
 
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#33 ·
There are two scenes in AG where you'll see a white '39 Chevy coupe with "Hemiroid" on the side doors. I know this not because I'm an AG groupie, but because the nephew of the owner asked me if I copied his uncle's '39 when I built mine? His uncle's '39 Chev coupe was also white, and had a 392 Hemi in it. Likely faster than Milner's or Falfa's starring cars, but his car is just in the two scenes. One is at the drive in burger place, and another in scenes cruising town where it's parked at the curb in one scene.
His uncle's'39 got a nice writeup in Popular Hotrodding after the movie came out, and I found a copy of the issue on Ebay and bought it just to read about the car.