While I getting my act together after a very nice week-long road trip I wanted to share a car that I once owed and that for all too common reasons let it go to a new home.
1974 was about the time the U.S. government’s fossil fuel consciousness began to kick in, choking the horsepower out of the muscle car. But this car was an exception. Here’s its specs.
Gran Torino Sport
VIN: 4H38Q107971
Body: 65R
Color: 3D
Trim: DB
Trans: U
Axle: 9
DBO: 75
Date: 08/73
Vin Code: 1974
VinCode Body Serial = Gran Torino Sport 2dr HardTop
VinCode Body: Medium Blue Metallic
Seat: Balmora B/Cloth & Corith (L/B Bench)
Trim Code: Med. Blue
AxleCode = 3.25:1
DSOCode: Phoenix
Assembly Plant: Lorrian
Undercarriage is aerodynamic ball joints are much larger than other Torino’s of the same vintage
Transmission is unique (Minus the traditional “Humped” housing)
Engine is 351-V4 Cobra Jet (Not a Cleveland)
9” rear end
10.5:1 ratio
Came with a 3500 Stall Speed Torque Converter.
This was an amazing car.
Unless you are an expert on the Torino what you won’t know is that the 351 V4 Cobra Jet for 1974 was only one of 300 engines made that year. It took me nearly two years of research to find this out.
I sold this car to a nice guy up in Green Bay. Here is a before shot:
People love their cars. Some people love only a specific make or model. I case you haven’t noticed I have a thing for Corvettes and thing for Mustangs (yup Ford and Chevy). I enjoyed this comment from a guy who left it on my Facebook
Andy from my Facebook wrote this:
Part of the reasons why I Love Corvettes, the heritage, history and traditions. To some it’ ll be just be a car, to others it’ s part of their lives. A true Corvette owner/enthusiast will appreciate all aspects of the Corvette, from whateve…r generation. They may have a least favorite but none should be hated or looked down on, because without the last there would be no present. I Love the great community behind this Car, it makes owning one so much better. Owners all across the world willing to give others a helping hand, worldwide Corvette events are held, some over 500 owners attending, a lot for good causes. To me, that’ s something very special because this doesn’t just represent a “Car”. It represents a special select group of individuals willing to enhance the past traditions, that is Loyalty!!. I plan to hold onto it for as long as I live. Something this special is hard to come by and shouldn’t be let go. Just felt like sharing this thought!! Have a great Sunday.See More
Brent worte: Beautiful and well written Andy!
Tim Sweet – As a previous owner of a C4 and the new owner of a C6. You are right on Andy. Save the Wave!!!!
Yes I’m playing catch up with these. I’ll have another engine series coming up. Enjoy.
9/19/1970 – The Pinto debuted
1970 Pinto
9/21/1895 Duryea Motor Wagon Company was created. One of the first companies in the US to build gas powered cars. Their first was the one-cylinder “Ladies Phaeton”.
a one-cylinder "Ladies Phaeton"
9/23/1969 – Here’s a biggie….the debut of the Dodge Challenger.
1969 Challenger (this is the TA)
9/24/1909 Virgil Exner was born in Ann Arbor, Mi Who? Oh..you didn’t just ask that!?!?!?! Car designer for Chevy, Studebaker and Chrysler.
One thing I really hate is a leaky car. I don’t like it when stuff leaks inside the car and I don’t like it when stuff leaks out of the car.
I have a friend that alway says…”Hey…old cars leak. That’s just what they do.” To this I normally just respond with “Yeah…I guess so.” I say this because he has pride in his work he does on his cars and I’m not going to poke at him about it.
What I want to say is “Bullstuff!!!!” Not this day in age, there all kinds of reproduction parts and hoses that can be molded and even entire businesses that make custom hoses. If it’s a gasket that’s leaking you can make your own, there’s all kind of gasket material on the market.
If you remember back a bunch of post ago, you may recall my power steering issue with my C4 Vette. Oh…yes…my poor old vette (which now has a new home), leaking everywhere!!!!. I hated that, but it was all fixable, right down to having a place in town customize a power steering hose ( it didn’t actually get that far, the oddly shaped hose turned out to not be the issue.).
The reality is that chasing down a leak is sometimes difficult, almost always time-consuming and the likelihood that it will be expensive is high. So, no old cars don’t have to leak.
What old cars do do (that’s just as funny to type as it is to say) is vibrate. My ’70 Mustang is mostly stock parts, with the exception of polyurethane motor mounts, and it will shake stuff loose, is it a pretty raw machine. A good portion of leaks can be attributed to that alone.
A few weeks ago, I notice a dime sized dot of oil in my driveway….errrkkk….no I’m not a neat freak, my drive has spots (been meaning to get it power washed), but with my older cars I like to keep an eye out for issues. So I climbed under the car and looked around and it appeared that the leak might be from the oil plug it’s self. So I grab my 5/8 ” open end wrench and gave it a bit of a crank. Now you have to be careful, especially with the type of oil pan I have (aftermarket chrome) as it can get out of shape if you over torque the drain plug and really leak. I wiped down the pan so I could tell later on if there might be another leak.
Chrome Oil Pan and Plug
A few drives later I noticed another dime size drip. Only this time it was a bit further back. OF NOTE: My driveway is sloped, and pretty good incline at that. This causes a bit of a problem determining exactly where liquid might originate, that whole gravity thing, ya know. This drip did seem a bit further back then the last.
Again I check the oil pan and this time the oil pan gasket between the engine and the block. Nope no oil. So I go topside and start checking the valve covers. And sure enough there, there appears to be a leak in the rear of the left value cover. Not really a big deal, looks like it’ll just need new valve cover gasket, this 302 engine is wide open in the engine bay with lots of room (nothing like the 84 Vette was to get to).
Lots of room in this engine bay to work.
Valve Cover, you can see the bit of oil grunge along the bottom.
I then recalled that FelPro gaskets were used and I specifically chose the type used on drag cars, designed so that you can pop the valve covers over between heats to make adjustments. This particular set of valve covers that I purchased when restoring the car came with bolts that tighten with an allen wrench.
Screw with allen wrench (or hex wrench).
Just in case:
Allen Wrench/Hex Wrench
Hexagon end of allen wrench
So I thought…to myself (really….can you think to anyone else?) “I wonder if they are all tight?” Sure enough they were all loose. Hence the oil leak. I tightened them all down, wiped down the engine where I could reach and drove it a couple of days. No leaks!!! Now I make it a habit to check those every so often. This is BTW a good tip if you drive your muscle or vintage car.
Now the latest leak, I noticed a couple of days ago. I check the liquid laying in my drive (only about the size of a quarter) and it was power steering fluid. I’m thinking oh…NO..not again!!! I didn’t even look under the car and went straight to the computer and did a quick search for new power steering parts for my 70 Mustang. What I found wasn’t horrible, as in, well no retirement for me, got to fix up this ‘stang, but bad enough price wise to see if it was repairable.
So I crawled under the Mustang (or hunk of iron, as my wife calls it…or maybe she was calling me the hunk :^ ) and took a look. Yup, there was a leak but it appeared to be coming from the flared steel hose fitting going into the power steering unit.
Steel hose and the leaky mess.
A couple turns with a 1/2″ open end wrench and again wiped down area. I keep checking back to see if any new leaks appear.
I can say… right now…. that my 70 Mustang doesn’t leak….I don’t think!!!
So now I stand corrected, sort of. Old car do leak, hey new cars leak!! However, they don’t have to stay that way.
Tips:
1. Check under your muscle or vintage car for any liquid (hey…it’s ok if is just water from you AC..usually) on a regular basis.
2. Get under the hood and after your ooo’ss and aaahhh’s at your magnificent creation, tight things up. ( I always ooo and aaahhh!!!)
3. Get the car up in the air “”SAFELY”” and check the fittings you can’t see or reach from the top side.
4. Chase down the leaks and clean the area to make checking for a continued leak easier.
This site is getting a lot of hits and as all of my readers know it’s not a commercial enterprise..as in I don’t sell anything, nor do I have sponsors. I do it for fun.
A few months back while I was surfing the web I ran across a web site that offered to find small “Mom & Pop” racing teams sponsors for their companies. I read the site and I thought it was a really cool ideal. Then I got to thinking, which is often a laborious effort, and more times than not ends in some sort of less than optimal situation, I’d like to do something like that. Small draw back…..oh you know what’s coming…..Average Guy, Average budget….hell most of the time I can afford my this hobby of mine either. So there won’t be any cash involved. (Hear that?!?!!??! That’s the sound of internet browsers slamming closed!!!)
Well if you are still with me, here is what I’d like to do.
I’m going to add a portion to this site called “Mom & Pop’s Racing Corner. I’d like to feature the small racing teams from anywhere in the in the world from time to time. What’s in it for me? Nothing. What’s in it for the racing team? Some recognition outside their local areas. Maybe you get noticed pick up a sponsor or even a couple fans!!!
So if you want to play here is what I need:
1. Name and size of your racing team
2. Details on the vehicles you race…i.e., cars, and trucks (other types might be considers but NO…ABSOLUTELY NO…..LAWNMOWERS!!!!..unless they are really cool) like engine, mods, horsepower, transmission, you get the idea.
3. Type of racing (oval, drags, drifting)
4. A brief paragraph (or longer if you desire) on history and resent racing results and even next event you are going to attend.
5. Include some way for a reader to contact you. (email, facebook or other social media)
6. Include some pictures. At least one of your vehicle. It would be really cool to show the driver(s), owner(s), pit crew, engine builder, stuff like that.
I’ll select one every two weeks or so, depending on the response and run the information in that corner.
It’s going to be fun to introduce these small racing teams and learn more about their cars and their type of racing.
You can drop me a comment here and I’ll get back to your or just email me directly at timsweet@cox.net with your information.
This should be fun.
Thanks for reading
Tim
My Coupe taking of from the line. Before the new paint!!!
But in its place is the 400 hp LS2 powered 2007 Corvette.
She has a 6 speed manual trans mission, Z51 suspension, leather and power everything, key-less entry and starting and a host of other cool stuff. I’ll go into more detail in the next post.
I thought I’d miss the ’84 more then I do, it will be going to a good home and hopefully will stay a Crossfire. The ’84 goes with twice as many miles on it then when I bought it, lots of new, original parts and some improved and a really awesome stereo, it’s a better car then when I got. It deserves to be a show car and not a daily driver/grocery getter/race car (drags and auto cross)/show car. But it did them all very well, with the trophies to prove it. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about that middle ground technology that was a huge advance from the older cars, a first of its kind in many ways and a stepping stone to technology that is in the replacement Vette.
I’ve heard from a lot of guys (pssstt…when I use the word “guys” I mean all genders….just wanted to be clear ) that really miss driving their older Vettes, there’s really nothing that can capture the rawness of that kind of driving. I’m bit luckier then those guys because I can still jump in to my ’70 Mustang (thanks to a very understanding better half) and get that feeling of old school nothing but metal and tires driving. I think that alone makes it easier to let the ’84 go.
Thanks to the guys up at Dynamic Crossfire Solutions in Chandler, Az (http://www.crossfireinjection.net/) and all the guys in my Corvette club – Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts (ACE) http://arizonavette.net/, they helped a ton with my learning curve…HEY GUESS WHAT GUYS….I’m going to have a bunch of new ‘stuff’ to learn.
So get ready loyal readers, (all three of you!!!!). I’m going to take my average skills, average tools, and now below average budget and take on new technology.
