With the upholstery on the seats complete and the carpet in place I’m going to start dying the gray interior parts that do not be replaced. For this video I’ve pulled the metal bracket that holds the manual light pull and the bottom cover for the steering column as well as the side section of the console cover.
I’ve started the replacement of the interior with upholstery for the seats. I’ve only completed this task on my Mustangs (1970 and 1973). I grabbed some numbers from the old stuff.
This shows what I think is a place to code the date for the upholstery. I’m guessing 1975 is the year the fabric was produced. I have no idea what the TEX is for but the numbers around it could be for marking the month. This appears all over the fabric.
This image show and FR in a triangle. No idea what that refers to (Front Right?)
This one image shows the FR with a date stamp of May 27 1976
Here is a metal seat tag. There is one on the seat bottom and one on the seat back. They have a part number it appears and then LS1 (perhaps the trim level?) “M 1476” (May 14, 1976?)
If you are following a long you know I’m on the hunt for my next project car and boy are my fingers tired and I can’t get this thing off of me:
Maybe WD40?
It’s a lot of work when you search nationwide. Setting up searches on different web sites and on those that don’t offer that feature you are continually recreating the same search. Then there are emails with questions like, “Is it still available?’ and other questions that often get ignored. Here’s an actual example: (Setup – the ad said make an offer)
Now most of you know I love old abandon cars. This one is part of a display in the ghost town Pearce, AZ.
Pearce was a mining ghost town named for Cornishman James Pearce, miner and cattleman, who discovered gold nearby at what became the Commonwealth Mine in 1894. The Pearce Post Office was established on March 6, 1896. The railroad station opened in 1903. By 1919, Pearce had a population of 1,500. The town declined in the 1930s and became almost a ghost town in the late 1940s when the mine closed for the last time.
The Commonwealth Mine became one of Arizona’s major silver producers. Over 1,000,000 tons of ore were produced from 1895 to 1942. There are about 20 miles of underground workings.[11] The mine produced about $8 million worth of silver and $2.5 million in gold at a time when silver was priced around 50 cents an ounce, and gold was $20 an ounce.
They left a lot of mining equipment behind as well as this 1930’s Chevy flatbed truck. This truck my be powered by a 3.2 l straight 6 (that’s 3178 cc or 193 cu in). The bore and stroke would have been 3.31 in x 3.75 in and had 2 valves per cylinder and produced about 60 hp w/ 130 ft-lb of torque. It was topped by a 1 bb Carter Carb. All that massive power was delivered by a 3 speed transmission.
THE SLOW DEATH OF AN INDUSTRY Opinion by Darrell Sitarz
In the 1990s, the American fun kart industry was churning out nearly 200,000 units annually by nearly 3 dozen manufacturers. Today, there are only a handful of fun kart makers still remaining.
So, what has caused the downfall of what was one of the largest portions of the go-kart industry? Some cite the high cost of liability insurance, some say it’s the imported karts or the ATVs while others think it’s because of cost of mandated safety features which added to the overall cost. It may be one or two, or it may be all of the above; so let’s look at it item by item.
COSTS
In the mid-1990s, the US Consumer Products Safety Commission targeted the fun kart industry and asked it to look into setting manufacturing guidelines and to increase and standardize safety features. With those as goals, the American Fun Kart Association (AFKA) was formed by the manufacturers and suppliers and standards were subsequently set. The AFKA was commended by the CPSC on their ability to take on the problem and do what was necessary to help insure public safety. The solution to the safety problem however led to another, that of increasing the cost of manufacturing a kart, the cost of which was, of course, passed onto the consumer. At that time, a few manufacturers decided to cease production feeling they could not compete in the marketplace due to the increased manufacturing costs.
IMPORTED KARTS
With costs rising, some manufacturers went overseas with an eye to reduce costs by importing karts.
“The problem was that the overseas manufacturer would make three vehicles. One was for their customer in the states and two for them to bring over here and sell under a different brand name,” an industry source said. “This would give them a foot hold in the US with a proven design that had historically sold. They could sell it cheaper because it came with their own engine that looks very much like a proven US motor and they don’t pay product liability insurance.”
So in essence, the manufacturers that went overseas were now competing with themselves. The results: more manufacturers went down the tubes.
ATVs
And here’s a strange twist of fate. Back in the late 1980s three-wheel ATVs were banned because of safety concerns in the US. Suddenly wham!, the fun kart industry began it’s upsurge in sales again topping out at nearly 200,000 units annually. So now what’s happened? The resurgence of the “new” ATV, a four wheeled version with more features and major off-road capabilities has also had a hand in the downfall of the fun kart industry. In 2004 for example, 817,000 ATVs were sold which is 4 times the amount of go karts in the industry’s best year.
PRODUCT LIABILITY INSURANCE
The slow death in the industry was caused by several factors, the main one may have been the tremendous cost of product liability insurance. It got to the point that most of the kart makers could not afford it.
“The manufacturers were not supported by the insurance companies that would accept premiums and not fight the cases but would make settlements and in turn would raise the rates for all kart manufacturers,” a reliable industry source told e-KMI. “Lawyers would represent the karts owners because they knew there would be a settlement and they would get paid. Getting hurt today is like winning the lotto but even better because it is tax free! People don’t have to accept responsibility for their actions because there are lawyers that will represent you know matter how stupid your action was because “we will get you something”.”
One or a combination of all of the above have taken their toll with the fun kart industry. But whatever the case may be, the industry appears to be in serious difficulty and is looking for answers, if there are any?
The following is a partial list of US fun kart manufacturers which have gone out of business or have ceased fun kart production since 1990.
Action Fun Karts
Avenger
Bird
BKS
Brister’s Design and Manufacturing*
Brister’s Thunder Karts
Clark Karts
Chief Karts
FKL
Fun Karts LA
Hamilton Brothers
Hang 10
Hoffco
Karts International
K-C Manufacturing C., Inc.
Klipper (not producing fun karts but still making promotional go-karts)
Midwestern Industries (acquired by T & D and now producing promo karts)
Minati (Brave Industries)
Murray*
Moto Machine
Performance Industries
Polaris (never made karts but had Brister make karts to test the market)
Robron
Simplex
Scat Fun
Tiger Industries
Trampolking
USA Industries
Yerf-Dog*
I remember seeing the first Mazda cars in the U.S. I was 12 or 13 and I recall thinking – Why? We still had the big 60’s cars and really didn’t see a need for the small cars. The first rounds fo the Japanese imports were well thought of, perhaps unfairly and reliability was an issue. But the Mazda has come a long way. I remember back in 1989-90 when the Mazda Miata (MX-5). It was a “girls” car (so I thought…don’t judgement) and dealerships were charging quite a bit over invoice and getting that price, at least out in California. But have things changed. See the times they put down in SCCA events and even at my local SCCA chapter where I run my Corvette, I don’t think less of this generation of Mazda.
The car had some ‘socialization’ issues and it took a few years to get a good network of dealerships in the U.S. However, by the mid 1970’s Mazda’s were emission compliant and figured out how to get 90 hp out of just 70 cubic inches.
1970 Mazda Luce Coupe
April 28, 1916 – Ferruccio Lamborghini born in Renazzo di Cento, Italy.
Ferruccio Lamborghini
Renazzo isn’t far from Modena, Italy, which is ‘Mecca’ for Italian cars. Ferruccio’s family were grape farmers and didn’t just jump in to designing cars, but started out in the tractor business Lamorghini Trattori. Then he started an oil heater factory that turned into an air conditioning factory. In fact he didn’t start Automobili Lamborghini until 1963. It’s a shame those car never caught on!!
Lamborghini Tractor
2017 Lamborghini Centenario
1963 350 GTV
Note: It takes me a couple of days to put these together – not working straight though, mind you – as I was getting ready to finish this up I ran across an article May 2017 edition of Hemmings Motor News (my personal favorite automotive magazine publisher) on the 1959 Lamborghini DAL 35 Super Tractor. The company is now part of SDF and they also sell other band name tractors like SAME, Dutz-Fahr and a couple of others. According the Hemmings article they use the Lamborghini Bull logo.
April 28, 1953 – Kaiser-Frazer buys Willys.
Kaiser-Frazer car production was a mixed bag in the 1950’s. Some typical 50’s cars were produced and some exciting like the Henry J and the Kaiser Roadster of 1954 and the Kaiser Darrin. The Frazer name had faded away by then and Kaiser purchased Willys for $63,381,175 and formed the Kaiser Willys Corporation. They exited the passenger car market to focus on utility vehicles, including the Areo-Willys. Kaiser took their business overseas to Argentina, Israel, Netherlands and continued make utility vehicles until 1962. By 1963 the company was called the Kaiser Jeep Corporation and was sold to American Motors in 1970.
Last of the passenger cars Areo-Willys
April 29, 1959 – Ford builds 50,000,000 car.
That car was a 1959 Ford Galaxie that came out of the Dearborn factory. It was a white 4 door sedan with the 292, engine. It was actually a Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie and the first time Galaxie was used on a Ford car. Fast forward – but not too far – and the Fairlanes, Fairlanes 500, and the Galaxies were to become monster muscle machines in the mid to late 60’s!!!
Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie – 50 Millionth Ford
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for another episode for Average Guy’s Car talk.
Hope you all had a great Turkey Day!! Here is the line up of Auto Factoids for the first week in December!!! Nov 30 1960 De Soto ceases production. The last De Soto produced were really the Chrysler Windsor, most did not sale, even though dealerships continued to received cars after the …
Here are your Auto Factoids #AutoFactoids for the beginning of June, 2015. May 31, 1927 – Ford produced the last Model T. There is some debate as to actual date and it’s said that the 15th million Model T rolled off the production line on May 26th, 1927 and the Henry …
Kaiser-Fraser formed July 26, 1945 – The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was the result of a partnership between automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer and business man Henry J. Kaiser. In 1947, the company acquired the automotive assets of Graham-Paige. Interesting enough, Kaiser had no automotive business experience. In 1953 the company became …
Here is your #AutoFactoids and Car News Now for this first full week of September 2015. Auto Factoids Sept. 7, 1954 – Production of Ford Thunderbird begins 1955 T-Bird 2002 Thunderbird Sept. 8, 1903 Preston Tucker was born in Capac, MI. While dubbed “Tucker Torpedo” during production no ‘Torpedoes’ were produced. Beautiful …
Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for the first week in Feb. 2015!!! I think we can call this Kaiser Week as 3 of our factoid are related to the Kaiser auto manufacturing. In fact the month starts right off with Kaiser factoid. Feb 1, 1947 – Graham-Paige sold out to Kaiser. …
Got a few huge debuts this week’s Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids), so lets get started. Feb 23, 1954 – Ford shows off the Thunderbird for the first time. Although the Thunderbird wasn’t available until 1955 it was in design. Originally it was going to be called the Vega!! 1955 T-Bird Feb 23, 1967 – …
It always cool to stumble upon a car show regardless of size.
TMC (Tucson Medical Center) opened up a new office just down the road. My wife is a commercial interior designer and does a lot of work through her company for at the TMC facilities.
We were aware of the Grand Opening for this new building but we weren’t there’d be a car show. Here a few of the cars that showed.
You just could walk past this 1959 GMC 100 Pickup. So nicely restored.
Love the steel painted rims!!!
Lots of Chrome on that front end!!
Still being powered by the straight six! The golf club hood prop is a custom touch!
Sparse interior but 100% effective.
Here is a great looking 1962 Ford pickup – still sporting its original V8.
Are you kidding me? Look at this beautiful 66 Malibu!!!
327 Engine (245hp) with Factory Air!!!
Back end jacked up just right!!
There is a lot of tire on that back axle!
That’s all original interior folks!!!
Here are a few more Chevy’s
Beautiful Super Sport w/vinyl top
Wow…is that a BLOWER on top of that power plant?
And another BLOWER!!
56 Chevy Sporting a huge radiator
1980 El Camino – In great shape.
Beautiful Impala…OH…YES..that a Corvette LS3 engine!!!
If you are going to have only one Mopar show up, you want it to be the GTX!! Take a look:
Plymouth Belvedere GTX.
Yes that is a 426 Hemi….going to find two carbs under that air cleaner.
Clean and original interior.
Here a few more of the cars that showed up.
Thanks to my wonderful wife who didn’t mind an interruption in our errands to spend a few minutes at this show.
Coming up more on #ProjectSportsRoof and #ProjectBeepBeep and keep an eye out for our first Facebook Live event.
As with most car guys, I have an active eye for cool cars. I could be walking down the street or driving anywhere and spot a cool car that needs it’s picture taken.
Last Sunday was one of those days. Driving past a gas station that I drive by every day my “cool car spidey senses” kicked in and I had to stop.
The cars were there supporting the opening of a local hair and nail salon. Now I’m not one for gets his nails done…but if they can keep cool car set up out side…I’m might might stop in for a perm!! (If I start growing hair again!!!)
Take a look at the cars that showed up.
Love this line up!!! Reverse opening door on this coupe!!!
Love this rod!!!!
No bright work on this 40’s era car. Great lines for this coupe!
Check out the painted steel wheels…Love that look!
This T-Bird is in original condition.
Love that 390 Engine!
All original ’57 T-bird – 312 engine in awesome condition and it’s driven.
This was my favorite. (No not the SUV) It’s the ’69 Ford Ranchero Fairlane 500 (yes that’s a real thing!)
Love the stripes!!
Interior is as it was when it rolled out of the factory – radio delete, no A/C.
I have to say I loved the 69 Ranchero Fairlane 500. It had the 351C engine. I spoke with the owner who has several classic cars and really loves them, in particular, this Ranchero. I understand why!!!
Wow where has 2014 gone?! It’s almost Oct!!!! But that’s a good thing here in the southwest, because that means its peak car show season and there “ain’t” nothing better than that!!! Being a veteran car show participant, both as a spectator and entrant, I attend many hot, dusty car shows …
It’s monsoon season in Tucson and hence we are in a drought as far as car shows go. So today was a great day – clear blue skies, with thunder storm beginning to pop up over the mountains (yes we have mountains in Az). My son is a photographer and I’m …
I kid you not…this is one of the most enjoyable car shows. You get to park your classic, muscle, racer, import or special purpose vehicle on the grass (yeah…lots of it) – no nasty dirt or melting tar parking areas. Grab that blanket out your trunk and spread out …
