Category Archives: Restro-Mods

Engine Line-UP: Chevy Engines 1971

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If you read any of my pieces on Engines, you’ll know that I enjoy learning all I can about the various makers’ details on their features.  I thought that I might start a series that took a year by year approach to what the US automaker build and used in the cars they produced.

So here is the engine line up for the 1971 Chevys.

 

Of course Chevy had the V8’s in 1971, not yet strangled by smog control, as well as 6 cylinders and 4 cylinders.

All of the 6’s were inline (often referred to as straight 6 – for the pistons all being in a straight line configuration) these were 250 cubic inch displacements – (very similar to the Ford 250, with the exception of the Blue upping the compression to 9.1:1 vs Chevy’s 8.5:1).  These were cast iron with hp running about 145 with hydraulic lifter,  and normally topped with a Rochester one barrel carb.  Any car that had a 6 in it had this engine and it was an option with most any Chevy model.

 

1971 Chev Inline Six (this one is in a Chevy Nova)

Next up is the 4 cylinder used exclusively in the Vega (remember those?). They were inline 4’s with Over head Cams, aluminum block (not iron) and managed to displace 140 cubic inches.  The compression ratio was less than they 6 at 8.0:1 with hydraulic lifters and a one barrel carb.

Vega Four Cylinder

There were 3 basic V8 that year the 350, 400 and the 307.

The 350 cid was cast iron with overhead valves and compression ratio of 8.5:1 with an hp of 245 hp when it was topped with a 2 barrel Rochester carb.  These were widely used in the Biscayne, Bel Air, Impala, and Monte Carlo.

The 400 was cast iron as well with matching stats.  However due to the larger bore  (4.125 vs the 4.00 for the 350) and longer stroke (3.75 inches compare to the 350’s 3.48) it was able to push the hp’s up to 255 (umm..seems like a lot of work for 5 hps) when it was topped with the same 2 barrel carb.

The 307 rounds this out  with its cast iron block and over head valves, it to had the compression ratio of 8.5:1 but with a smaller bore and shorter stroke  (3.875 and 3.5 inch)it bu down roughly 200 hp.  The 307 was used in Chevelle, Malibu, Nova and the Camaro.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Parking-Lot Spotlight 1955 Chevy Belair

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Note: Updated to correct mis-Identification of this parking-lot find.  It is in fact a 1955.  The main details that denote the difference is the placement of the Chevy and BelAir badging and grile.

So I’m lucky. I live in a place where there is not prone to any type of natural disasters, we don’t much rain and it only snow when it’s a cold day, you know where.

It’s also a place were you don’t have to put way your collectible set of wheels, you can drive the year would and a lot of folks do.

Here is my latest parking-lot find.

It is a 1955 Chevy, 2 door Belair.  Yeah, I know it’s a couple years before the super wonderful 1957’s came out, but I like these shoe box cars, with their very clean lines especially the 2 door version and I particularly like the lines of the BelAir convertible.  It reminds me of the clean lines for my 1966 Chevy Impala convertible.

Love the red and white.  Fantastic chrome.

Wheel aren’t ordinal but I think that are great for this car.

Look at the stance! It’s just great.

You gotta love that hood ornament!!

 

All Belair came standard with a 6 cylinder with about 353,00 produced, not counting convertibles.

The 6 was an overhead value, cast iron power plant with a displacement of 235.5.  With a 3 9/16 x 3 15/16 and a compression ratio of 7.5:1
these cars knocked out a whopping 115 hp.  The would breath through a Rochester one barrel Model 7007200 carb or a Carter one-barrel Model
2101S (for the Powerglide auto transmission) and a Rochester one-barrel Model 7007181 for the standard shift.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Vacuum – Tune it up!

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Checking the vacuum on your old car is an important part of a thorough, but most of the average guys don’t bother, or don’t have the gauge.  Most often if you do have the gauge, you might not be exactly sure what the reading might be.  For the recorded I’ve never had a car where the readings were stable.  Normally you’ll get a fluctuating reading that move around.  Below are a few ‘ranges’ and what they may indicate.

Standard Vacuum Gauge

These are for V8’s only:

–  A good reading will be between 15 and 22 in. hg (a steady needle).  Closing the throttle you should see a 5 notch drop and reopening it should settle back previous span (15-20).

– If you get a reading where the needle has a swing 4-5 in. hg ethier side of normal, you are looking at a possible simple carb adjustment.

–  If the reading is higher than normal you need look at replacing your air filter or check to ensure your choke is not stuck.

–  Low reading would be fairly steady reading around 5 hg will have you looking for a vacuum leak on the intake/carb area.  Look for poor connections at the carb or any “T” or “Y” or straight though connection.  Baring that look for cracked hose.  You know I hate vacuum leaks.  I recently restored a 1984 corvette with the Crossfire injection set up.  Rather than chase down a single spot, I just replaced them all.  That was a lot of vacuum hose and tucked in some stuff spots.  But you are working on something bit older, like my 1970 Mustang, replace it all, it’s going to go back sooner or later, especially with the kind of temps we have out here in the Southwest.

–  If you get a reading that between 8 and 14 you are looking at a timing issue at the least to leaking piston rings at the worse.  Do a compression check for the leak and use your timing light before you tear it apart.

–  If the needle is swinging (unsteady) between 14 and 19 hg that indicates valve guide problems.  That going to be a valve guide problem.

Thanks for reading

Tim

 

Car Production Numbers. They Made How Many? 1922

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It is 1922 and the car industry is moving right along.  Small start-up car companies pop up here and there in the 1920’s.

Here is how they stacked up for 1922.

Top spot was Ford  producing 1,147,028 cars.

Dodge was a very distant second with 152,653 car rolling off their assembly line.

Chevrolet ran in third place with 138,932 cars made.

And finish up the list were Buick with 123,152; Studebaker with 105,005; Williys-Overland with 95,410; Durant with 55,300 and finally Maxwell/Chalmers 44,811.

Total passenger cars produced were 2,274,185 with 269,991 truck being made.

Rickenbacker was a new upstart beginning production in 1922.

Durant produce a car priced at $319 . Ford reduced prices to $298.

Balloon tires were introduced.

Hey fuel gauges began being installed in dash in 1922.

1922 Durant Star - An attempt to undercut Ford's prices

1922 Rickenbacker 4 Door

I love this one:

1922 Chrysler Panel Truck

Thanks for reading.

Tim

2015 Mustang – No V8?!!!

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I was just reading about the 2015 Mustang (yeah..they are planning it now) in the Oct 2011 Motor Trend.

It’s going to look great with a lower angled windshield and it will be lighter, but it will begin to lose it’s muscle car images, at least
underneath.

From the Motor Trend web site. 2-15 Mustang

The live axle will be gone, replaced with an independent rear suspension.  Not really what you want to take to the track.  There was talk that the live axle might live on in factory drag packs, but the tooling would be expensive and perhaps not cost-effective.   We’ll see what actually happens.

Ford Live Axel

Independent Suspension.

But this is not focus of this blog entry.  What I really want to mention was a side bar in the article.  It is entitled “Icons on An Icon”  “What should the next Mustang be?”  Those interviewed were Jack Tenack who was a designer for Ford and global design vice president ( He actually drew the first proposal for the 1965 Mustang); Chris Theodore who was chief of Ford Motor Company’s North American product development  (he left after a disagreement over the
suspension for the 2005 Mustang with Phil Martens); Tom Gale who had nothing to do with Ford at all, he was Chrysler design chief (now retired).

Generally Mr. Tenack stayed true to form, basically wanting small changes to the next issue of the Mustang, reinforcing the muscle car
image.  He thinks all-wheel drive should be added as an option…that’s not horrible.

Mr.Theodore wants the new Mustang to have a 4 cyclinder…WHAT???  Yeah, get this, he’s like the V8 engines reserved for ‘specialty models”…can you say  …hiss…boo???  “Hey, the 70’s called they want their paradigm back!!” Of course he led the charge to replace the live axle.

Mr. Gale thinks that we need to copy Europe and thinks the Mustang needs to be smaller.  He says the Camaro is more similar to is predecessor then the Mustang is to its predecessor.

Drop me your thoughts.  No V8?   Live axle?  Smaller ‘Stang?

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Photos: ROUSH Ford Mustang Sinks In Parking Lot During Hurricane Irene

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Worst feeling ever

Photos: ROUSH Ford Mustang Sinks In Parking Lot During Hurricane Irene.

Photos: ROUSH Ford Mustang Sinks In Parking Lot During Hurricane Irene

Posted by on August 30, 2011 – Viewed 1,662 times – 3 Comments

photos-hurricane-irenes-wrath-on-coastal-nc

As I’m sure you’ve heard or witnessed first-hand, Hurricane Irene threw her wrath against the eastern seaboard with initial landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1. Although predicted to be a Category 3 at landfall, this storm was still nothing less than a monster. This major hurricane realeased havoc from Myrtle Beach up to Maine as it churned along leaving major paths of destruction behind and massive amounts of rainfall. Power outages became widespread up the east coast, (includes my family in Pennsylvania at this current moment). Streams and creeks became raging rivers taking out roads, bridges, one being a 156-year-old hand-hewn bridge in upstate New York. It destroyed houses and stranded people in or away from their homes. Evacuated people are now stranded wondering the fate of their homes and personal belongings. Washed-out roads and bridges have left complete towns stranded without a way to get to or out like these towns in Vermont that have over 260 roads closed.

This storm has caused massive destruction and that has effected some of our own Mustang enthusiasts. Member, RobTRoma from PA, joked about getting a photo of his car next to a hurricane in our Mustang game thread. Featured above, what looks like a very nice ROUSH S-197 Mustang is sinking in a Subway parking lot in North Carolina during Irene’s throw-down. It almost has an ambience of Jaws coming out of the water before Roy Sheider exploded it.


Photo Credit: Jennifer Rotenizer/Journal

Another angle of the ROUSH from NJStangers.com

1967 Olds F-85 Club Coupe Restoration

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I bumped in to Bill Holtzclaw from Cartersville, Georgia, virtually (Facebook) and he shared a few pics and some detail on his restoration of a 1967 Olds F-85.

Bill's F85

“I am doing a full, frame-off restoration on this 1967 F-85 Club Coupe. It has a convertible frame, 442 suspension, steel crank 330, .030 over with W-31 cam and 2” intake valves, close ratio Muncie 4 speed and heavy duty 3.91 posi rear. It is a radio delete, heater delete, carpet delete car with the factory cloth and vinyl interior. The drive train is built and the chassis is being assembled. The interior is done, the chrome and bright work is done. Next, we’ll pull the body and put it on a rotisserie. It will be two-tone Crystal and Midnight Blue.”

“I’ve had a lot of interest in this project from some of the leading Oldsmobile collectors in the country. It is my version of what would have been a 1967 W-31, which was introduced in 1968. All of the parts to build this car back in the day were available as either RPO options or over-the-counter upgrades. The W-30 package was available as an over-the-counter package in 1967. The W-30 cam and the W-31 cam are one in the same, and the OIA kit will work for both small block and big block cars. So, it was a possibility! ”

The upholstery turned out awesome! He used NOS fabric for the seat inserts. The car was a factory carpet delete car with a near-perfect vinyl floor covering. “I cleaned it and had it dyed the color blue (same as dash pad) that I wanted. It looks absolutely brand new! I had seat belts custom made to stock appearance, and the standard steering wheel came out nice, too.”

Check out the vinyl floor covering

“I had the gauges restored by R&M restorations in Greenville, SC. The odometer was re-set to zero.”  The dash bezel was restored by Chrome Tech USA. They repaired the 44 year-old plastic, re-chromed it and then detail painted it. The radio and heater delete plates were purchased from Red Venom Enterprises. “They only make the radio plate, so I purchased two and trimmed one to fit the heater control panel and the PRNDL panel. ”

Bill did the polishing himself

He installed a Sunpro Mini Tach in place of the factory clock. Looks like it came from the factory that way!

Great Job - Bill!!

 

Final Product

 

 

Bill is also the owner of a 1967 Oldsmobile F-85 Town Sedan with “Police Apprehender” package.  It has the HiPo 330/320 hp, Heavy Duty Jetaway and 442 suspension upgrades.

Nice!!!

Might be why he’s known as OldsMoBill.  “I am also known as the “Oldsmobile Police”!” Bill states.

Bill, I hope you check back with your status from time to time and thank you for sharing.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Cars You Never Heard Of! Part 2

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Thanks for all the comments and emails on the Part 1 of the Cars You Never Heard Of.

Thought I’d follow it up with the Panther Kallista.   This stems from the same article  in  “Classic and Sport Car” a UK publication.  The article pitted  pricey European cars against less expensive cars and rated them.  It’s over all theme was “See you can get this close to the expensive cars, for less.”

 

1985 Panther Kallista

Kallista was the product of the Panther Car Company and they were built between 1980 and 1990, actually coming on the market in about 1982.  The were a box chassis with an aluminum body.  The engine that was first used was Fords 2.8 V6 which cranked out 2792 cc from its 12v configuration.  The electronic fuel injection helped it deliver 150 hp and 159 lb ft of torque. Top speed was about 120 mph with the help of the 5 speed manual transmission.

It had an independent wishbone suspension, rigid axle, rack and pinion steering with disc brakes in the front and drums in the rear.

In the article Kallista was compared against the Morgan Plus 8 which you can purchase now days for about 35,000 British Pounds (about $70k US) compared to the collectors price of 7,000 BP ($14k US).  In that contest comparing Driving, Practicality, Character, Value and Usability the Morgan was judged with a total of 37 points and the Panther Kallista end up with 35.

I did find one on Ebay with a few days still to go with a current bid of just over $4k.  It’s an 1986, 4 cylinder – not a V6.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

The Art Of Design – Creating The Mustang Of The Future

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The Art Of Design – Creating The Mustang Of The Future.

Posted by on August 23, 2011 – Viewed 440 times – 4 Comments

yasiddesign Ford_Mustang_concept_REAR___yD

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Some people are visual creatures and some are more in tune with the mechanics of life. I am a visual creature. The shape and colors of things are what I see first. So the whole idea of designing and drawing cars just fascinates me. Since this is a Mustang enthusiast website, thinking of what the next Mustang will look like is a mini obsession of mine.

Back in September of 2009, I started following a blog on the design of the new Mustang for 2014. And what appeared on that blog just blew me away.

Now I realize that Area 51 exists for more than just concealing a crashed alien space ship. It is also a test area for military vapor ware that we may see 20 years or so after it is new, you know, after it becomes obsolete and is no longer top secret. Well, getting a glimpse into the design studios of a major car company is like getting a tour of Area 51. You may see things that amaze and confuse and things you may have thought only existed in someone’s twisted imagination.

So how would it feel to get a whole truck load of sketches of the 2010 Mustang, drawn by one of the designers, just months after the new design was introduced? Yeah, it was pretty special. Rob Jensen was one of the designers of the 2010 Mustang, specifically, the GT500. Now, maybe you have seen these sketches before. Maybe they amazed and confused you back then, as they were way too “artsey” for a production car. But some parts and pieces of them made it onto the 2010 cars and some of them were left on the drawing board, literally.

For the Mustang Enthusiast in the crowd that leans towards the visual, stunning design side of cars, please enjoy the collection of sketches in our gallery below. Some are from Rob Jensen, some are from others on the Ford Mustang design team. Still others are designs by professional artists and amateurs that put together some very impressive Future ‘Stangs.

One thing to keep in mind, if you are seeing it here, out in the open, then most likely it looks absolutely nothing like the next Mustang will look. Think of this as the Area 51 Museum of Mustang design. If you like something you see, give the artist some love as I will try to provide links to as many of the artists as I can. If there is another artist out there that we need to know about, definitely put them in the comments or drop us a line.