It’s not that often that I get out to a car swap meet. Here in Arizona you are in for a hot time…tempature-wise, do to the lack of shade. Car parts so hot you’ve got to have oven mitts to handle ’em. But the are still fun.
Down the street at the local drag strip they had one this weekend and I thought I’d pass on a few of the gems they had for sale. There was a bit of a car show there as well.
You could pick-up some ‘Field Fresh’ projects like this coupe:
“Trailer Not Include”read the sign
Love the rear window
The floors are solid.
$3500 and the cob web are no extra charge.
Or this Pick-Up:
You could also find some project that the owner just couldn’t finish…some with some very extensive ‘restoration damage’ like tons of bondo holding the fender together.
This Chevy wasn’t the worst, but it had a lot of bondo.
This Dodge pickup wasn’t horrible. It would make a nice starter project.
This Plymouth Barracuda was pretty stripped down.
I actually think the owner had a lot of the parts laying on the ground for sale separately.
This ’65 Chevy is has been lowered and that’s about all.
Lot work left on this project.
Some cars did find new homes:
This Dodge found a new home.
This Imperial looks like it’s going to its new garage under its own power.
I love this car!!!!
Going to need some interior work. This one sported the push button shifting.
I know the owner and this car has had the best care. It is an AZ car and is always garaged or covered when it’s not moving and it DOES move.
What’s under the hood?
GM’s Generation III V-8 engine as configured in the Corvette. It is the all-aluminum 5.7-liter (350-cubic-inch) produce up to 350 horsepower in the two-seat sports car.
100% Stock. More Pics To come.
Interested? Call me at 520-405-5314 or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
Asking $9k. That’s a steal in this condition. This isn’t my car, but if you buy and don’t like, I’ll buy it from you!!!!…Actually, I ought to buy it myself!!! I”m going to think about that some.
She looks great with the T’s off!!!!
Engine Pic1 – SOOOO CLEAN!!!
Engine Pic 2. Nicely Maintained!!!
Perfect Stock Interior!!!
Room for 2 in the back. Although it doesn’t look like anyone has ever sat back there!!!!
Interested? Call me at 520-405-5314 or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
As I collect more design specs (yes I used design, because it is an art) for what I figured would be a pretty straight forward head swap (my Cleveland 302 heads with 351 Cleveland Cobra Jet heads – some machine works – yes). But to get the most I’m going to look at changing up the cam, intake, rods, etc.
One thing I’ll be unwavering in selecting is a harmonic balance. There is a lot of vibration in my bored .030 302 and I need to get that under control. So I might over spend a bit here.
So let’s get down to it. The balancer is basically a damper for the combustion pulse shock that hits the crankshaft. It’s meant to help control the vibration and increase the crankshaft’s life span. Ideally you’ll need the heaviest for your engine, for example the small blocks (Ford) a 289 or Boss 3o2 balancer will work. We are talking the real parts (as opposed to unreal…no…) used or new old stock. For larger blocks you’ll need to find aftermarket balancers to fit those monsters. Pick the right balancer and you can even see a power increase and a smoother running engine. Remember the heavier they are the increased chances that you’ll put stress on the crankshaft and many crankshaft end (snoot) has been broken by a too heavy balancer.
This is a harmonic balancer for a Dodge. Remember street use doesn’t necessarily required a balancer. Get to your local Hot Rod shop if you need some suggestions.
Since the Mustang goes to the drag strip now and then I’m going to look at the aftermarket balancers.
Every now and then I have to toss in a reminder that this blog for the average guy, especially when it comes to upgrades, processes and selecting the right parts. Average Guy, Average Budget and you need to be careful to select what you need and not to waste that hard-earned cash.
This next series is for those of us that are dying to up grade the exiting power plants in our cars. Some of the selection hints or tips will seem to lean toward my Ford 302, but they will apply to your ’57 Chevy or even your ’74 Dart.
In this series we are going to cover all the major engine components from bearings to harmonic balancers and pistons to flywheels.
Well I wasn’t present for the 1956 year but it was an interesting year. Lincoln and Continental were separate makes and interestingly enough the Clipper (a model of Packard) tried ‘independence’ on for size. Oh…and there were some very cool show cars.
The finished out with Chevy and Ford way out in front with 1,567,117 and 1,408,487 – respectively. They were followed over 500,oo behind, were Buick with 573,024, Plymouth with 571,634 and Oldsmobile with 485,458. The rest of the field looked like this:
Arguably the best known American automotive legend of the second half of the 20th century, Carroll Shelby was many things to many people. Driver. Builder. Trailblazer. Husband. Father. Grandfather. To the automotive world though, he was known simply as “Shelby.” And so it is with heavy hearts that we report that Carroll Shelby has died at the age of 89.
Whenever a well-known gearhead dies, whole communities and car clubs mourn their passing. These days such passings seem all too common, as many of the men who helped push automotive performance into the mainstream are well past retirement age. Yet that hasn’t stopped these trendsetters, like Shelby, from continuing their work on amazing performance cars.
Born in the small Texas town of Leesburg, one of Shelby’s first driving experiences was as a pilot and trainer in World War II aircraft. After the war, like many G.I.’s, Shelby entered into the racing world, competing for a number of teams and brands, among them British companies like Allard and Aston Martin.
It was Shelby’s experience with small English cars that would lead to his most famous creation; the Shelby Cobra. By taking an AC Cobra and stuffing a Ford 289 V8 engine into the lightweight chassis (though Shelby’s first choice was Chevrolet), Carroll Shelby helped create an automotive legend that was a powerful and nimble performer. The Shelby Cobra would be sold in limited numbers during the 1960’s, and today such cars are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Shelby Cobra is also the most imitated car on the planet, with dozens of different kit car companies popping up to reproduce it.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention Shelby’s other efforts, most famously the Shelby GT350 and GT500 Mustangs. The late 1960’s were Shelby’s heyday, though come the 1970’s Shelby withdrew from production cars and focused on smaller scale projects. The Shelby name did not reappear on a production car until Dodge tapped him to help improve the performance on their turbocharged Charger compact and Dakota mid-sized pickup. Shelby also attempted to build his own supercars, the most recent one being the Shelby 1000, a 1,000 horsepower GT500 that will go down as one of the last cars Shelby himself had a hand in building.
At 89 years old, Shelby was no spring chicken, though this wasn’t his first health scare. Over twenty years ago Shelby received a heart transplant, leading him to found the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation. In recent months it has been rumored that Shelby was in a coma, and he was forced to miss the 50th anniversary of his most famous creation, the Cobra.
Shelby working with Editor Mark Gearhart at Baer Brakes in 2007.
Shelby’s passing isn’t just a loss to the Ford family, but the entire American auto industry. Shelby’s vehicles not only pushed the envelope on performance, but inspired competitors to step up their game. This was especially true in recent years, as Ford brought Shelby back into the fold with the new generation of GT500 Mustangs. With the 2013 Shelby GT500 making over 660 horsepower, and the recent debut of the Shelby 1000, at least Shelby went out on a high note.
Shelby’s influence on the American car industry cannot be understated, and in more than one way he was a truly larger-than-life figure. At auction, cars bearing his mark bring hundreds of thousands of dollars, and his name recognition among gearheads is second to none. What his passing means for Ford’s own plans to carry on using the Shelby GT500 name, we don’t know, but his legend is not like to fade anytime soon.
Today the motoring world lost one of the last legends of an incredible era. Carroll Shelby, you will be missed.
