There are some areas of your drag, oval or road course beast that are weak areas for the stress of 420 hp and 400 ft-lbs of torque. Here is a great way to eliminate one. Chase the link at the bottom for the complete story from Chevy Hardcore!!
When considering the essential parts list for a race car build, we tend to think of exhaust headers, cylinder heads, turbochargers and so on. While it might not be the most glamorous piece of the puzzle, the starter is an absolutely vital component in your build – if it kicks the bucket, you’re dead in the water. And though it may not see the same sort of prolonged stresses that a driveshaft or set of tires sees on race day, it’s still contending with plenty of abuse from heat exposure and demands of high performance components which typically operate far outside the design specifications of an OEM starter.
But it was Dreyer’s government which plumped for an unlikely Nürburgring buyer: auto racing parts company Capricorn with a head office not far north of the circuit in Düsseldorf. Her transport minister, Roger Lewentz, said at the time that it was …
Roo Motorsports, the new Aussie NASCAR team based in Salisbury, plans to enter the truck-racing series next year and perhaps the Nationwide series in the future. Roo held an event, complete with satellite link to owners in Australia, earlier this month …
Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for the last full week of May 2015.
May 26, 1906 Mauri Rose was born in Columbus, Ohio. Rose still holds the 2nd spot for the most Indiana 500 wins. His first win was in 1941 but he didn’t finish in the car he left the starting line in. The first car was a Maserati and developed mechanical issues and he moved to a Wetteroth/Offenhauser car. He managed two back-to-back wins in 1947 and 1948, driving one of a Deidt/Offenhauser Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials.
Mauri in the Maserati were he started in pole position in his first win.
Muari in Wetteroth/Offenhauser car
Mauri in the Blue Spark car!
May 29, 1946 Kaiser-Frazer produced its first vehicles. Kaiser-Frazer’s plant was located in Willow Run Ypsilanti, Michigan. The company was formed when the two purchased the defunct Graham-Paige (of which Frazer was once Present, prior to WWII). There first cars were called the Frazer and Kaiser, one a mid-level luxury car and the other an innovative front wheel drive model.
The two parted ways in 1951 and the company name was changed to Kaiser. They went on to design some fantastic cars like the Darrin (named after one of the designer – Dutch Darrin. Bill Tritt was the other part of the team.) and on to the Jeep fame with Willys-Overland.
1950 — Johnnie Parsons. 1949 — Bill Holland. 1948 — Mauri Rose. 1947 — Mauri Rose. 1946 — George Robson. 1942-45 — No races, World War II. 1941 — Floyd Davis and Mauri Rose. 1940 — Wilbur Shaw. 1939 — Wilbur Shaw. 1938 — Floyd Roberts.
The Manhattan has been honored by the community and is the first hot rod to win the people’s choice award two years in a row at the annual Kaiser Frazer Club National Convention. Share This Article. Facebook Twitter Google+ Email. Author: Christopher …
Members of the Binghamton Kaiser Frazer Club will bring vehicles, Reilley said. The Seward House Museum, at 33 South St., will showcase several cars, including the Seward family’s own Packard. There will be automotive memorabilia for sale and, if you …
I’m a bit old school about driving like feeling the road (yeah even the pot holes!!) and not floating, making a car hit the curve just right and shoving the clutch pedal to the floor and find the next gear! That’s all part of the enjoyment for me. But paddle shifting is here to stay and I’ll be disappointed if the clutch pedal disappears from all new cars.
I’m sharing this article from Mind Over Motor as it hits on some key points I can relate too when it comes to this “new fangled” 🙂 way of changing gears.
Mind Over Motor
I am someone who has publicly lamented the decline of the manual transmission. But I’m also someone who has enjoyed the merits of modern paddle shift gearboxes in many cars.
I find myself very much split on this issue, so lets take a look at the various reasons why shifter paddles are replacing a gear lever and a third pedal in some of our favorite cars.
Note: To clear this up right away, by “paddle shift” I mean cars with automated manual gearboxes, either dual-clutch or single-clutch. I am in no way talking about anything like a Toyota Camry with the “sport package”, which has paddle shifters as a marketing gimmick.
1. More versatile on the road. (Having your cake and eating it too)
If you had something like a Lamborghini Diablo back in the mid 1990s chances are you had a lot of fun out on the open road. However, when you got into town and hit traffic, the heavy clutch made driving the car more of a $250,000 chore than an enjoyable way to spend a weekend afternoon. Considering the average speed of traffic on most roads is around 25-30mph, you’d be spending far more time putting along slowly than stretching the car’s legs. It’s a wonder why most owners hardly ever drove their exotic cars.
Today, Lamborghini only offers their cars with a paddle shift transmission. The sales numbers spoke for themselves, once paddle shift was offered back around 2004, demand for manual Lambos simply fell off.
Paddle shift basically solved all the issues described above with the Diablo. Now, in an Aventador, you can rip your way into town and then just put the car in automatic mode when you hit traffic. You have a car that is a ferocious supercar when you want one, but is also just as easy to drive as a Toyota Camry when you don’t. You are no longer writing a six-figure check to put yourself through misery. And I agree, that is a major plus, especially in cars that had very difficult manual gearboxes like most supercars did.
Chase the link below for the rest of the article and come back and let me know what YOU think!!
Paddle Shifting the 997. Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Paddle Shifter. Created by Holinger, supplier of gearbox components to Porsche AG, this paddle shift system is designed specifically for the 997 GT3 Cup, replaces the tunnel-mounted sequential …
Paddle shifters are the ultimate “cool factor” of a car. For people who experience paddle shifting for the first time, you might as well be Mario Andretti. They look super cool on the car, and are functionally genius. However, there …
The automatic features several shift modes, as well as manual paddle-shifting, and the manual transmission features automatic rev-matching for drivers who haven’t yet mastered the heel-toe shift method, and it has a no-lift shift feature allowing you …
Nestled in the engine compartment is Audi’s familiar, silky-smooth direct-injected 2.0L TFSI turbocharged four-cylinder engine, mated to a traditional six-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic paddle shifting. The engine churns out 200 horsepower …
You may have noticed the big announcement that ROUSH Performance made last week: that our all-new 2015 ROUSH Stage 3 Mustang is producing 670 horsepower and 545 lb-ft of torque. That’s an incredible 235 horsepower and 145 lb-ft over a stock 2015 Ford Mustang 5.0L.
With 134 horsepower per liter, the 2015 ROUSH Stage 3 Mustang overshoots the competition with the most horsepower per liter when compared to Dodge’s most powerful offering in the segment (114 horsepower per liter) and the 92 horsepower per liter rating of another well-known supercharged 6.2L GM engine in the segment.
Power is important, but high horsepower numbers don’t mean nearly as much if you’re trying to move a ton of weight. The RS3 is again at the top of the ranks with the lowest weight per horsepower of the competition (approximately 5.70lbs per horsepower) compared to an estimated 6.32lb/hp* and 7.10lb/hp respectively.
– See more at: http://www.torquedmag.com/2015-roush-stage-3-mustang-670-hp-on-tap/#sthash.Vzt4t6cz.dpuf
Roush has announced the final output of its prodigiously powerful supercharged RS3. Is it the latest to join the “700-hp Club?” Find out at Car and Driver.
Tired of Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat owners having all of the fun at the drag strip? For any sixth-generation Mustang owners out there, famous Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] tuner Roush has a package that may just …
Sam Schmidt, who has been paralyzed below the shoulders since slamming into a wall 14 years ago, always believed he’d never drive again. On Sunday, he will–in a Corvette he will control by shaking his head and gnashing his teeth.
Schmidt was a promising driver with 27 Indy Racing League starts when he went into the wall at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Florida on January 6, 2000. He knew he’d never race again, but one year later he returned to motorsports with his own team, now known as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. He’s enjoyed a measure of success as a team owner, but driving seemed out of the question.
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Sam Schmidt took a spin around Indianapolis Motor Speedway last spring, his first time behind the wheel since being paralyzed in a racing accident in 2000. He had a tougher challenge Sunday: Navigating the twists and turns of the …
Just got this out for the week!! Here is your Auto Factoids (#autofactoids) for April 12, 2015.
April 13 1965 Pontiac 10-millionth
The car was a 1965 Catalina.
1965 4 door Catalina the 10th Millionth Pontiac
April 13 1904 Caddy assembly plant burned to the ground. More info on this site: http://www.car-nection.com/yann/dbas_txt/Factq-s.htm
April 14, 1927 First Volvo is produced
1927 Volvo “Jakob”
It had wooden (ash and copper beech) underpinnings, sheet steel panels, leather upholstery, live axles and long leaf springs – loosely based on an American design. It had a 4 cylinder engine that produced 28 hp.
April 16, 1908 Oakland motors sells its first car.
I believe they actually began producing cars in 1907.
April 17, 1964 Ford Mustang debuts
1964 2+2 – My favorite of the under 1968 Mustangs.
4/17/1969 Ford began selling the Maverick. <cricket…..cricket…> Come on..it was a good car and getting more and more collectible!!!
1964 Maverick – Proper mods and you’ll have a monster street car!!
April 18, 1955 Lincoln becomes a separate division of Ford. Lincoln started out as a separate brand in 1917 with its plant at 6200 West Warren Avenue in Detroit, Michigan and was name after Abe Lincoln. They began business by producing Liberty aircraft engine with pistons purchased from Ford for WWI. After the war the re-fitted the plant and produced luxury Ford bought the company in 1922. April 18, 1964 Sunbeam Tiger Debuts
It’s a light week for the automotive history. April 5, 1923 Firestone introduces balloon tires. Everything we’ve accomplished with our rides has greatly depend and relied on Mr. Firestone’s improvement. It was a combination of …
Thought I’d share this technology. I have a Stage 2 Spec in my Corvette and has served me well on the street and auto cross. Chase the link below to get all the details.
For most of us, we like our Mustangs to be well-rounded. Many of us can only afford one, so it needs to be able to do a few things other than just getting us from Point A to Point B. Fortunately, we can make a Mustang be good at a couple different types of performance without making wholesale changes. It’s pretty hard to make it great at several things at the same time, but we’re willing to make concessions in order to make it more than a one trick pony. We can take it to the drag strip, that’s easy. We can also take it road racing – which isn’t as easy – but we can still have a blast provided we have outfitted it accordingly with the right brakes. We can even take it drifting.
SPEC Clutches is a company that knows after the act of drag racing, drifting is something that comes natural to a Mustang. SPEC’s David Norton has been involved with drifting since the sport’s beginnings, and knows V8 power mixed with a tail-happy suspension, getting a Mustang to drift isn’t difficult.
… the track kicking butt and taking names. Big thanks goes out to London Chassis Dyno, Kenne Bell, Lund Racing, Revan Racing, Trucarbon, TruFiber, Viking Performance, SPEC Clutches, Jack Hart Body Shop, Bischoff Engine Service, and Bivins Racecars.
The Chrysler 413 is an interesting engine because it lived a long life in multiple roles and a very wide range of equipment. Hot rodders like to think about the hot rodded Max Wedge 413 (that gave way to the Max Wedge 426) and luxury car people like to think of the powerful and smooth Imperials and other cars that were shoved along by it, and finally truck guys will tell you that the 413 was a stalwart gas power plant offered in big trucks until 1979. That is a heck of a run for a mill that showed up on the scene in 1959 and was used in cars until 1965.
The videos below aren’t about floating Imperials or sneaky big Polaras. Nope, the videos below celebrate the most BangShifty application of the engine in the form of the 420hp Max Wedge 413 as offered in a small number of Plymouth and Dodge models in 1962. Combating the Pontiacs and Chevrolets, the “Super Stock Dodges” were quickly recognized in songs and popular culture. The Beach Boys talked about the cars in their song “Shut Down” while Jan and Dean were singing about the “Little Old Lady From Pasadena” who happened to also be driving a Max Wedge powered Chrysler. Rated at 420hp at 5,000 RPM this engine was a harbinger of things to come from Chrysler who really took the gloves off the next year when they expanded the engine to 426ci and later when the Hemi was introduced.
We wonder when the number of gear wars will stop. It’s not something manufacturers are actually seeking to do (outdo one another by having more cogs), but the number is rising – the most recent report says Ford has already patented a 11-speed automatic gearbox; this is one more gear than they publicly announced.Ford had previously officially expressed its desire to equip the 2017 F-150 Raptor (pictured as design study concept below) with a 10-speed unit, but there had been no talk of an 11-speed one until now.However, even if Ford did file a patent, it doesn’t mean the gearbox will get made. Company spokesman for powertrains ambiguously said that “as a technology leader, we submit patents on innovative ideas as a normal course of business. Patent submissions help protect our new ideas but do not necessarily indicate future business or product plans.”
Manufacturers start working on new technologies many years before we see them in production vehicles, and this patent from Ford points toward a new 11-speed transmission happening somewhere in their future. The official patent document was just …
I keep an eye on the several cable shows that relate to cars (“Counting Cars” is one of my favorites). Most of them are short on technical details for restoring but they sure do put out some wonderful cars. Budgets are everything.
I happened to catch a repeat of the other of the shows as they were working on a 1950’s vintage Caddy. They were leaving it mostly stock except the engine and bagging the suspension to be able to lower it.
In the course of the starting up the engine they ran into a couple issues and one left the points and condenser fried. As they showed the fried wire, I wondered “Why keep them?” Seems to me if you are going to chop or lower and bag a classic, why not upgrade one of the weakest parts of the mechanical engine, the ignition system?
Weak Link
I learned from my Dad how to deal with points in particular (basically a condenser works or is gets replaces). He taught me how to gap them and to take a bit of emery cloth to “clean” them up (hey money was tight when I was a kid) and re-gap them. That’s really a lost art these days, but maybe for good reason.
This is commonly called a Feeler Gauge it is used to set the gap on spark plugs and points.
If you are unfamiliar with the gauge or the technique you can still find ‘how to’ videos and gaping specs on-line, that doesn’t negate the fact that these are a common weak link (they will need to be replaced) in the over all functioning of your car’s ability to burn fuel properly.
The 302
Shortly after I installed the rebuilt engine in my 1970 Mustang (re-manufactured long block) the new distributor took dive. I had done research on ignition systems and ran across Pertronix and decided to use one of their Flame Thrower modules and coil to replace everything under the distributor cap. It was a good decision, there is no change to the appears of the engine, everything tucks under the cap and it becomes pretty much trouble-free. I had no issues.
So tell me, would you keep the it old school under the distributor cap for your restoration or give it a chip?
