6/2/1899 – Locomobile Co. Founded – they were in business until 1929. They made a lot of cars, I hadn’t realized that. Here are a couple.
1901 Locomobille - Cool..wonder what the 1/4 mile time were??
Love this one..Steam powered????
1923 48 Series Sport
6/3/1864 Ransom Olds was born in Ohio. He developed and build cars named after him, Oldsmobile and REO (his middle name was Eli, hence REO, hey that was a band name REO Speedwagon.
An Reo Speedwagon
I’ve never heard of the next guy, until now and did a little reading.
Barney Oldfield was born 6/3/1878. He was a race car drive, but started out racing bike and wining silver medals in the process. Here are a couple pics:
Early 1900's
Oh Yeah..that Henry Ford standing next to his car.
I attended the Bowling Green Assembly Plant tour today. It was really!!!!! awesome!!!!!
Corvette Assembly Plant Bowling Green, KY
The walk from the parking lot to the plant was filled with the smell of new car. They must pour it out of every chimney and window.
They were building the Z06’s, ZR1 and Grand Sports…a lot of Grand Sports!!! (that is a damn nice car!!!) Amazing!!!! Sorry no pictures were allowed.
Seeing all the parts everywhere and the hanging panels and frames…was a sight to be hold.
The tour was pretty quick..well maybe an hour…but I could have hung there all day!!! I lagged behind the tour group and spoke with a couple of the workers.
At one stop, where they fill the newly married body, chassy and engine with fluid, the tour guide was going blah, blah, blah and I was looking over the cars and one of the guys walked over asked me if I had one picked out yet. He said they seemed to be selling a lot of GS’s. I asked him about the fender stripes and he said they normally just get tossed in the back and the dealership installs them. He asked me if I liked the wider body and I said what’s not to like!!!!
We watched them marry up a Zo6’s mufflers, while another guy stuck in the tail lights and then on to the chassy. Tire position was at a stop.
Actually got to watch a new Grand Sport come off the line and run over the ‘suspension’ activation section (floor) and then into the section where they align the headlights.
We got to see a Z06 enter the final test chamber where they run 200 + tests in two minutes. This one passed.
It was MOST EXCELLENT!!!! (Wayne’s World).
The NCM was good, but the plant tour overshadowed it…by far. I’ll post up pics from the NCM in the next post.
Brooklyn bridge opened for traffic on 5/24 1883 and the Golden opened 5/27 in 1937.
Race car driver Mauri Rose was born 5/26/1906 currently in the racing hall of fame, placed second in the 1927 Indy 500. Actually won the Indy in 1941, but that was a tough victory, spanning two Maserati-powered Elgin Piston Pin Specials cars, after the first one had mechanical issues. He tossed a fit and the car owners pulled one of the other drivers on the time from the race and give Rose that car.
The Pin
Elgin Pin
What powered that thing?
Power Plant
The first Kaiser-Frazer was produced 5/28/1946 – cars weren’t sold until 1947.
Sometimes old car parts break…that’s the nature of things old. However, most of my Mustang’s parts are only 3 years old or so.
So sometimes new parts break when they are used in a restoration along with existing older parts. This was the case with the power steering hose failure.
If you haven’t read my entire 130 posts thus far (why not???…toe tapping…toe tapping), you might not have picked up on the fact that my 70 coupe started out life with a 9.1:1 compression 250 straight 6 “power plant”. Now it’s a fire-breathing 302…ok…no fire..but a 302 none the less.
I won’t go to all the trial and tribulations of the 6 to V8 conversion..right now..but soon, but here it’s necessary to share what I know. It is not an uncommon practice to be swap out a 6 cylinder for more power. You can quite often, pick up a 6 banger cheaper, than an a v8. Just as often difficulties arise in the course of the improvement. eerrrkkkk…There are some people who believe it was blasphemy replacing the 250 – there weren’t that many made that year. There is a small group of guys that were a bit dismayed when I didn’t keep the 6. (I am too..now.) That group has done some amazing things with a 6 cylinder, that make my 302 ‘Stang look like a pedal car!! I have their book so some, I’ll post up the details when I get back in town….End of eeerrrrkk
After looking at the broken hose, which was bent and cracked near the flared end.
Power Steering break point
Here is what I learned. The 1970 coupe 6 cylinder has a different power steering package then does the 8 cylinder. Specifically, the difference is the way the power steering pump is mounted and the length of the hose. I recall when the part was getting installed, I was called to determine how we wanted to proceed when it was noticed that the hose, in order to reach the new height of the pump, could possibly come in continued contact with the control arms. This would cause a rubbing between the two pieces against the rubber portion of the hose. The decision was made to double the hose – by cutting a larger hose and enclosing the original in side and using ties to secure it.
This worked just fine while the front end stayed …well old and sloppy. Just recently I posted about replacing the upper control arms and in doing so, tightening up the front end and removing the slop that allowed the clearance to be greater between the two parts. With less space between them, the control arm came into contact with the hose and after several bumps getting in an out of my driveway the hose got crimped and then broke.
Ordered another hose for a V8 and had it installed. Everything functioning properly.
I was about to start the pillar moldings mini project when I ran into a couple mechanical issues.
About a week ago the Mustang began squealing when pushed to high revs. That normally indicates one of several problems.
1. It could be a water pump
2. It could be the power steering pump
3. It could be a pulley
4. It could be a bolt that was holding the alternator bracket to the engine worked itself out and was in contact with the fan belt.
5. It could be a combination of the any of these.
Now the Mustang did, every once in a while, drip some fluid from the power steering control value but it wasn’t a huge deal.
Well, Saturday I went to start her and the battery was dead. It’s over 3 years old and I had left the lights on the day before and had to have it jump started. So off to the auto parts store I went and pick up a new 3 year battery and stuck it. When I started the engine up, it made the squeal and I decided I needed to fix this, before the pillar molding.
So with a neighbor revving the engine I noticed the bolt protruding from the water pump/block ( it passes through left side water pump housing in to the block). With the revs the fan belt would flex and briefly hit the bolt. This bolt was “custom” made when we were fitting everything up to reman’ed long block and was about 7 or 8 inches long.
It took a bit to get that back in place, had to loosen up the alternator’s other two supports and toss a little loctite on the threads and she was good to go…..almost…..
Yeah….option #5 above was the correct answer BTW.
Started it up and there was still a squeal – not the same squeal but clearly an ‘accompaning’ squeal. Shortly after that a power steering hose let go and well liquid does what gravity make it do and I spent the afternoon cleaning the driveway. So there went my allotted time for Saturday. So replacing both hoses seem the best way to go and they’ll be in today. Right now it’s at the shop down the street, I had no time to undertake this task at the moment, will be traveling the next couple weeks.
One of my travels takes me to the National Corvette Museum. I’ll spend an entire day there which include the assembly plant tour.
I grab every book I think is useful in any of my hobbies. I happened to be at the mall the other day and had some time kill and wonder down to Borders books store. Pick up a book entitled “Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Book” 2 Edition by Peter Sessler, published MotorBooks.
This book has engine identification codes, component casting codes, internal dimensions and specs, and power and torque ratings.
It goes back as far as 1952 and covers Fords, GM, Mopar, and AMC, Packard and Studebaker. It includes big blocks and small blocks. There is a lot of information.
I learned from this book that all of the engines possible for the Corvette in 1984 were rated @ 205 hp. The CFI was the main power supplier, but it also had listed a couple TPI’s (engine suffix code ZFC), TBI (engine suffix code ZFJ – supposedly for export only) and a 4v for California (engine suffix code ZFF).
They also inform you of the transmissions that go with the engines.
There are listings for cylinder heads parts or casting # as well as intake and exhaust manifolds as well.
I think this one is worth the $30.00.
This is a great transition to introduce an up and coming feature for this blog.
I love engines…(duh). To me the history of development, what was used when and where and maybe even why can be fascinating. I’ll be tossing out specs and the like and hopefully some, ” I would have never guessed that” information. Now, I don’t have this all in my head, it will be researched stuff or some experiences. (My 1974 Torino was a good case study..tell you the story soon).
One of my favorite things are abandoned cars. Every year I get the Hemming calendar of abandoned vehicles and look forward to various car publications that have a section where they highlight these photos.
One of my fondest memories growing up was playing across the road from where we lived with an old Plymouth, 1950’s vintage that was left in the field. I remember my dad saying after I asked him if it would run, that it needed a carburetor. My brother and I tried to fashion one out of can and some metal fins from an old ice tray. This was back in the late 60’s, we were pretty young.
Out here in the southwest you use to be able to see them all the time. The desert really knew how to tear down a car. As late as the mid 90’s you could still find them along the side of the road of major highways and if you dared to head out in to the mountains of southern Arizona, trek up the nearly impassable mining roads you’d find them. There would be anything from the 1930 to late 1950. Some would be sitting right beside the road or a mine and many could be down the mountain a ways, not a road in sight. When they died the owners left ’em where they fell. But often, since the road was so narrow, they would push them off the side and down the mountain.
During the mid 1980’s and early 1990’s I spend some time in the mountain, looking for ghost mining towns and generally in join the trips with relatives. You would find abandoned car dotting the dirt roads that wound up and down the canyons. Somewhere in the mid 1990’s the Forestry Department started fencing off the old abandoned mines and as part of a plan to allow the areas to return to their natural state, blocking off the mountain roads to make impassible to all but the most daring 4 wheelers. eeeerrrkkkkk….I’ve been places in a 1970 Monte Carlo that some folks with 4 wheel drive won’t go. Part of that initiative was to haul out the old wrecks that had been there for decades. So a lot of them are gone.
I recently began look for abandoned cars as a hobby and photograph them. So I thought maybe some of my readers might what to join in and catalog the wrecks and their locations and well as photographs.
Then I thought, maybe a contest would be fun. So I’m looking for the readership to email me photos of abandoned car that you run across. Of course there are some rules.
What qualifies as an abandoned car? I’m going to be pretty liberal here and we’ll extend the criteria to include neglected backyard finds as well. It has to appear to be pretty much untouched and neglected.
Two more rules:
You have to provide a general location and it has to be an original photo, not snagged from the internet.
Here is one example.
The house in the photo had been empty for some time according to the locals in Tombstone, Az. These three cars were in the back yard covered with weeds, trees and debris.
This a 1950's Chevy pick up. I wasn't allowed to get any closer.
Next in the same yard was this:
Chevy Monte Carlo
And this Ford coupe:
Ford Coupe
I’ve one more good one..but I’ll save that for later.
For the first two individuals writing in with a good photo of an abandoned or neglected car, I have a DVD from the Hot Rod Magazine Library “Dream-Build-Drive” collection.
You can email it to me (timsweet@cox.net) or post to my Facebook page (look me up: Tim Sweet).
So let’s get to my runs. As I mentioned, there were 2 sets of runs, one for time and points and one for just time. Each was five trips on the course.
One thing they have you do is of course walk the track which is to get you someone familiar with the corners. I walked it twice. Once on my own and once with the novice “coach”.
This is my second auto cross. If you’ve been a constant reader you might recall that was on Jan 25 2010 and it was mainly corvettes. We rented the area and set up our course. I did fairly well there for my first time. But this course was different. A lot tighter corners in a row and two sets of very tight slalom. Nothing a vette couldn’t handle with the proper speed and a good surface..this was not a good surface, however.
My first run was a darn right awful. I look like some crazed speed demon with a severe hatred for orange cones. I over drove every tight corner. My second run wasn’t much better, I didn’t even hit the first corner and then a took a cone for a ride under the vette.
So now I feeling like a knucklehead. I had the oldest car there and maybe the one with the most torque, but certainly not the most horse power. My third run was better and I took along one of the novice coaches but I still had a CD (course deviation) on the backside by missing the second slalom set of cones. I dropped off the novice coach and my 4th and fifth runs were clean as far as CD’s go but I still got a cone on each run.
So here is how it end up in the first set of 5 runs.
My next runs were much better. I did have on CD and I did get a cone, but the times were getting better. The 5th run below I took a cone and spun on the back side of the course.
1. 51.643
2. 53.146
3. 52.622
4. 51.645
5. 54.188
So I ended the day with the following times and points.
PAX Time Points
46.260 753
43.575 796
PAX time is like a handicap in golf, it takes the class of your car and the skill level reduces your time to keep you somewhat competitive.
Not bad for my first real “formal” event.
By the end of the I was worn out. That is a lot of driving, in the heat (ok..only 88 degree..little hotter on the course).
The vette performed perfectly, no over heating issues (one of my biggest fears) and nothing broken, did have to rub out a few cone marks….but I showed them whose boss!!!!
You’ll notice a lack of pic or vids on this one, didn’t have my son along as a camera man, and when I wasn’t running they put you to work resetting cones.
The name of my blog includes “racing”. This isn’t meant to be watching on TV and reporting back, it’s meant to be my events. My blog title also includes “Average” and includes budget as well. (You might as well include ‘time’, as in average amount of time to spend on the hobby.)
I just finished running a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) event. It was a blast!! I’ll get to my times in a bit, but first, let’s talk about cost of this particular event.
Straight up to join SCCA there is the yearly fee for the national membership and there is the fee for your regional membership. Total cost here was $80.00. Now the events are not free. In my regional club which run events in the Tucson areas and Phoenix as well, they have to offerings. They have a round for points and time and they have the time only round. There are separate prices for each.
Today when I showed up (you can pre register and save ..I think…$10.00) filled out all the paper work and went to pay. The fellow taking the money asked if I wanted “time only” and I’m thinking…do I only want to be timed…so I said “No.” and he said “That will be $30.00.” So I paid.
Now I have co-worker who talked me into joining SCCA and he attends regular events at the local drag strip – the auto cross is held in the huge drag pit/parking area. He cleared up my misunderstanding and said if I wanted the “full” experience I need to go back and say yes I wanted the ‘time-only’ round as well. That cost me another $10.00.
So putting this together we are at 120 big ones this month to race. Not too bad, I’d have to say.
There are more costs and I’ll get to that in next portion of this subject.
I’ve worked on the gas delivery systems in my Vettes and Mustangs. This always involves removing gas lines from the carb or throttle bodies and of course the possibility of leaks after re-installing them. One of the last things you want is gas leaking here and there in your engine bay..NOT GOOD!
I’ve always use teflon tape to wrap the threads.
Teflon Tape on one of the Corvette’s fuel lines.
This helps seal the connection, and sometimes with older cars you need that was the threads aren’t bad enough to replace….errk…Getting new fittings and flaring the gas lines is sometimes necessary and can be a pain..but if threads are really worn, take the time to do that. Yes..I know cutting the lines and get correct type hose and some clamps you’ll be fine…but it won’t look as good and since both of my car are trophy winners at car shows, I try to keep them looking professional.
Using the tape does have a of couple drawbacks. It can form a lip around the gas line opening, partially blocking the flow. Additionally, pieces can tear off during installation and get into the system. So some companies offer a thread sealer in a tube, which is made of Teflon in paste form. I’m using that next time I have to go into the fuel systems. I know that Permatex makes some (what don’t those people make!?!?!!?!). They call it thread sealant and it comes in different “models” like High Performance and High Temperature.
