Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Thanks for checking in on the progress of Bill’s 1968 Plymouth Road Runner.
If you recall mixed in with some brake updates, Bill mentioned that he had sent out the circuit board for a restored. Here is an update on the status of the dash.
Next up an update on the disc brake conversion – almost done!!!
I’d like you to take a look at one of my constant readers classic muscle car. First let me say that Bill has been an a long quest to find a car to replace this car: Back in the day. It was a long search with lots of phone calls with many …
Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Bill is working on finishing up the brake conversion. Here is a progress update. Note: I forgot to add the credits for these videos: Starring Bill B as himself; BeepBeep as ’68 Road Runner; Wild E. Coyote in effigy Camera Production; Mrs. Bill B and SamB Editing Tim …
Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for Week of April 30th 2017
May 1, 1954 – American Motors Corp Formed
Formed from Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson merger. It was still referred to as Nash-Ramber and then AMC Ramber though the 1950’s. Styling didn’t change in the next few years and 1955-1956 Ramblers were badged as both Nashes and Hudsons, with no visible difference between the two. Rambler became a marque in its own right for the 1957 model year. The Nash and Hudson makes were continued as senior model only through 1957, after which all of AMC’s offerings were marketed as Ramblers.
1958 4 Door Rambler Ad
1958 Rambler Statesman – 2Dr.
May 2, 1918 – Chevrolet becomes part of GM.
GM was started Billy Durant by using the financing from his Durant-Dort Carriage Company to take over Buick Motor Company. He changed the name to General Motors (with Buick eventually becoming a separate brand later on). He soon brought in Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland company. He started Chevrolet (in partnership with famous Swiss race car driver Louis Chevrolet) to help off set the financial issues as a separate company. Durant eventually started purchasing more Chevy stock and eventually took control and folded Chevy into GM.
May 3, 1948 – Willys Jeepster Phaeton debuts.
These were mostly powered by the Inline 4 Cylinder, L-head engine. (134.2 cid, bore 3.13, stroke 4.38, compression 6.48:1 for about 63hp). Power got to the wheels via a 3 speed transmission. All the Willys had the same wheelbase length of 104″ with the total length of the Phaeton being 174.8″. Production was not well-defined through out all the models offered but approximately, 10,326 Phaeton were build.
1948 Jeepster Phaeton
May 3, 1949 – Packard’s 50th Anniversary 2000 Gold Packards.
These were Dealer Driveway. These weren’t “gold” cars but they were painted in a special paint code of Gold. Each were powered with 327 c.i.d., 150 hp engine. The number of ’49 2000 Gold Packards produced was about 600 (some say 1500) . The event was held at was the Utica Proving Grounds. Currently none are known to exists although you can see a few “gold painted” 49 Packards pop up from time to time.
Here is a 49 Packard – painted gold. Is it one of the Drive-Aways? Slight chance.
Packard’s Utica Proving Grounds.
May 4, 1923 First Le Mans 24 hour race.
The first Le Mans 24 Hour race was held just outside Le Mans, France. Initial the race was limited to ‘production’ cars and two drivers, now they require 3 drivers per car and the of course these cars aren’t in your dealers show rooms. The race was won by one of the French teams – André Lagache and Léonard driving a Chenard et Walcker with 3.0L I4 engine.
This is an awesome looking car!!!
May 6, 1928 Chrysler debuts the De Soto. The De Soto wasn’t available to the public until 1929. It sported an L-head six cylinder engine, displacing 174.9 CID and producing about 55hp.
Here are your Auto Factoids #AutoFactoids for the beginning of June, 2015. May 31, 1927 – Ford produced the last Model T. There is some debate as to actual …
(via Auto Factoids for the Week of April 23, 2017 Mazda, Ford, Lamborghini). Tagged: autofactoids. Source: average-guys-car-restoration-mods-racing.com.
AutoFactoids | Auto Factoids for the Week of April 23, 2017 April 25, 1970 – First Mazda in the US I remember seeing the first Mazda cars in the U.S. I was 12 or …
Feb 25, 2015 … Got a few huge debuts this week’s Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids), so lets get started. Feb 23, 1954 – Ford shows off the Thunderbird for the first.
Bill is working on finishing up the brake conversion. Here is a progress update.
Note: I forgot to add the credits for these videos: Starring Bill B as himself; BeepBeep as ’68 Road Runner; Wild E. Coyote in effigy Camera Production; Mrs. Bill B and SamB Editing Tim Sweet AG Car Restoration – www.AGCarRestoration.com
Here’s a look at the proportioning valve.
Proportioning Valve
Proportioning Valve
Comparing the bends in the new brake lines from the master cylinder against the old.
Missing brake lines are in and some dash work.
Note: I forgot to add the credits for these videos: Starring Bill B as himself; BeepBeep as ’68 Road Runner; Wild E. Coyote in effigy Camera Production; Mrs. Bill B and SamB Editing Tim Sweet AG Car Restoration – www.AGCarRestoration.com
Lots of good information here, especially when it comes to ordering parts online. Make sure you know who you are ordering from, return policy and as Bill mentioned any tech help you might need is available (free is always good, too).
More coming up on #ProjectBeepBeep, #ProjectSportsRoof and more.
I’d like you to take a look at one of my constant readers classic muscle car. First let me say that Bill has been an a long quest to find a car to replace this car: Back in the day. It was a long search with lots of phone calls with many …
1968 Ply Road RunnerProject BeepBeep Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Bill is looking at the brakes and gets some professional assistance to help him make a crucial decision. You know if you’ve got a lot of GO…you need a lot STOP. It not an easy decision to alter a car’s originality, especially …
Thanks for checking back in on #ProjectBeepBeep. Having made the decision to convert the front brakes from shoe to disc Bill gets started with this major project for #ProjectBeepBeep. He went with a kit from Dr. Diff and here’s a brief look at some of the contents. Nice shiny new rotors!! Spindle …
Ready for some more #ProjectBeepBeep? Bill takes you through a few tips for restoring your B-Body door panels. Take a look: Great stuff!!! Thanks Bill!!! Have a few Mopar tips – Post them up or drop me a note @ agcarestoration@cox.net and we get you video/tip posted on the site. Thanks for reading Tim Introducing …
Bill takes a look at the heavy-duty brakes that came on the ’68 Road Runner. Bill doesn’t like the stopping power that these give him and even though they are in good shape, he may still upgrade them. Here are a couple close-ups of those heavy-duty brakes: That’s some great information on brake …
Bill continues with his march toward a complete brake system replacement for #ProjectBeepBeep his 68 Plymouth Road Runner. Here is the Bill’s update. There is more coming on the #ProjectBeepBeep and #ProjectSportRoof. Keep an eye out for dates for the new Average Guys’ Car Restoration Live Event on Face Book AG Car Restoration …
I remember seeing the first Mazda cars in the U.S. I was 12 or 13 and I recall thinking – Why? We still had the big 60’s cars and really didn’t see a need for the small cars. The first rounds fo the Japanese imports were well thought of, perhaps unfairly and reliability was an issue. But the Mazda has come a long way. I remember back in 1989-90 when the Mazda Miata (MX-5). It was a “girls” car (so I thought…don’t judgement) and dealerships were charging quite a bit over invoice and getting that price, at least out in California. But have things changed. See the times they put down in SCCA events and even at my local SCCA chapter where I run my Corvette, I don’t think less of this generation of Mazda.
The car had some ‘socialization’ issues and it took a few years to get a good network of dealerships in the U.S. However, by the mid 1970’s Mazda’s were emission compliant and figured out how to get 90 hp out of just 70 cubic inches.
1970 Mazda Luce Coupe
April 28, 1916 – Ferruccio Lamborghini born in Renazzo di Cento, Italy.
Ferruccio Lamborghini
Renazzo isn’t far from Modena, Italy, which is ‘Mecca’ for Italian cars. Ferruccio’s family were grape farmers and didn’t just jump in to designing cars, but started out in the tractor business Lamorghini Trattori. Then he started an oil heater factory that turned into an air conditioning factory. In fact he didn’t start Automobili Lamborghini until 1963. It’s a shame those car never caught on!!
Lamborghini Tractor
2017 Lamborghini Centenario
1963 350 GTV
Note: It takes me a couple of days to put these together – not working straight though, mind you – as I was getting ready to finish this up I ran across an article May 2017 edition of Hemmings Motor News (my personal favorite automotive magazine publisher) on the 1959 Lamborghini DAL 35 Super Tractor. The company is now part of SDF and they also sell other band name tractors like SAME, Dutz-Fahr and a couple of others. According the Hemmings article they use the Lamborghini Bull logo.
April 28, 1953 – Kaiser-Frazer buys Willys.
Kaiser-Frazer car production was a mixed bag in the 1950’s. Some typical 50’s cars were produced and some exciting like the Henry J and the Kaiser Roadster of 1954 and the Kaiser Darrin. The Frazer name had faded away by then and Kaiser purchased Willys for $63,381,175 and formed the Kaiser Willys Corporation. They exited the passenger car market to focus on utility vehicles, including the Areo-Willys. Kaiser took their business overseas to Argentina, Israel, Netherlands and continued make utility vehicles until 1962. By 1963 the company was called the Kaiser Jeep Corporation and was sold to American Motors in 1970.
Last of the passenger cars Areo-Willys
April 29, 1959 – Ford builds 50,000,000 car.
That car was a 1959 Ford Galaxie that came out of the Dearborn factory. It was a white 4 door sedan with the 292, engine. It was actually a Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie and the first time Galaxie was used on a Ford car. Fast forward – but not too far – and the Fairlanes, Fairlanes 500, and the Galaxies were to become monster muscle machines in the mid to late 60’s!!!
Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie – 50 Millionth Ford
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for another episode for Average Guy’s Car talk.
Hope you all had a great Turkey Day!! Here is the line up of Auto Factoids for the first week in December!!! Nov 30 1960 De Soto ceases production. The last De Soto produced were really the Chrysler Windsor, most did not sale, even though dealerships continued to received cars after the …
Here are your Auto Factoids #AutoFactoids for the beginning of June, 2015. May 31, 1927 – Ford produced the last Model T. There is some debate as to actual date and it’s said that the 15th million Model T rolled off the production line on May 26th, 1927 and the Henry …
Kaiser-Fraser formed July 26, 1945 – The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was the result of a partnership between automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer and business man Henry J. Kaiser. In 1947, the company acquired the automotive assets of Graham-Paige. Interesting enough, Kaiser had no automotive business experience. In 1953 the company became …
Here is your #AutoFactoids and Car News Now for this first full week of September 2015. Auto Factoids Sept. 7, 1954 – Production of Ford Thunderbird begins 1955 T-Bird 2002 Thunderbird Sept. 8, 1903 Preston Tucker was born in Capac, MI. While dubbed “Tucker Torpedo” during production no ‘Torpedoes’ were produced. Beautiful …
Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for the first week in Feb. 2015!!! I think we can call this Kaiser Week as 3 of our factoid are related to the Kaiser auto manufacturing. In fact the month starts right off with Kaiser factoid. Feb 1, 1947 – Graham-Paige sold out to Kaiser. …
Got a few huge debuts this week’s Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids), so lets get started. Feb 23, 1954 – Ford shows off the Thunderbird for the first time. Although the Thunderbird wasn’t available until 1955 it was in design. Originally it was going to be called the Vega!! 1955 T-Bird Feb 23, 1967 – …
April 16th, 1908 – Oakland car company sold it’s first car. Oakland was formed in 1907 by Edward M. Murphy. He was originally a buggy maker and then sold a 4 cylinder car designed by Alanson P. Brush. It was a 4 cylinder car.
I believe they actually began producing cars in 1907.
The mother of all debuts, the Ford Mustang was on April 17, 1964. Little did any one know what a success that little car would be. There were 3 engine available for the 64 1/2 Mustang, the 170 inline 6 cylinder, the 260 V8 and the 289 V8. There were 97, 705 hard tops produced and 28,883 convertibles.
1964 1/2 Vert
1964 1/2 Coupe
April 17, 1969 another Ford debut the Ford Maverick. Just 5 years the Mustangs release Ford tried again to capture the magic my debuting the Maverick. The Maverick was offered only in two door platform on a Falcon chassis and sported only one engine, the 170 cid. That engine was called the Falcon 6 cylinder with produced about 100 hp. Over 127k were produced in the first year.
1969 Maverick Clay moc-ups. I think the top model would have been a great look. Although it did look a bit like the Mustang
Lincoln becomes a separate division of Ford in 1955 on April 18th. It came in a Custom and Capri series. It took the form of 2dr, 4dr and convertible. Believe it, or not the 4415 lbs car was considered “Sport” model.
Two door Capri
18 April 1964 Sunbeam debuts the iconic Tiger. The Sunbeam Tiger a collectible car. It only came in a convertible with 260 V8.
Referred to Sunbeam Tiger MKII or Series I
On April 22nd back in 1954 Hudson and Nash merged to from American Motors Corporation (AMC). This would mark one of the last independent auto makers and brought us such coolness as the Marlin, AMX, Javelin, Rebel and don’t forget the Pacer and Gremlin. Here are two examples of the AMX from a local car show here in
Hope you all had a great Turkey Day!! Here is the line up of Auto Factoids for the first week in December!!! Nov 30 1960 De Soto ceases production. The last De Soto produced were really the Chrysler Windsor, most did not sale, even though dealerships continued to received cars after the …
Here are your Auto Factoids #AutoFactoids for the beginning of June, 2015. May 31, 1927 – Ford produced the last Model T. There is some debate as to actual date and it’s said that the 15th million Model T rolled off the production line on May 26th, 1927 and the Henry …
Kaiser-Fraser formed July 26, 1945 – The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was the result of a partnership between automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer and business man Henry J. Kaiser. In 1947, the company acquired the automotive assets of Graham-Paige. Interesting enough, Kaiser had no automotive business experience. In 1953 the company became …
Here is your #AutoFactoids and Car News Now for this first full week of September 2015. Auto Factoids Sept. 7, 1954 – Production of Ford Thunderbird begins 1955 T-Bird 2002 Thunderbird Sept. 8, 1903 Preston Tucker was born in Capac, MI. While dubbed “Tucker Torpedo” during production no ‘Torpedoes’ were produced. Beautiful …
Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for the first week in Feb. 2015!!! I think we can call this Kaiser Week as 3 of our factoid are related to the Kaiser auto manufacturing. In fact the month starts right off with Kaiser factoid. Feb 1, 1947 – Graham-Paige sold out to Kaiser. …
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I’m finishing the re-positioned shifting rod above the transmission’s cross member.
Next I’ll need to go top side and give the selector a try. If that is working properly, hitting the proper gears I can spin the torque converter and properly torque its connection to the flex plate.
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
I’ve done all the clean up and all the adjustments necessary to get a good reading on the health of the ’72 351C engine in my 1973 Mustang. The next step is to check the compression. First up was to warm the car a bit and then pull the plugs. Here’s what the …
This is the wrap up on the compression testing for the 1973 Mustang w/ a 1972 351 Cleveland power plant. You’ll might have notices that I referred to the remote tester, which is my code for remote starter…yeah…that’s it!!! All of these tests were dry test and I should have done a …
Welcome back to Average Guys’ Car Restoration and an update on Bill’s 1968, 383 Plymouth Road Runner, dubbed #ProjectBeepBeep.
Bitten by a need to get his muscle machine back on the road with the superb stopping power of a disc brakes, Bill burns the midnight oil. Check it out:
New Steel line in place and rubber brake hose connected up.
Calipers in stalled and seated (custom seated – with a hammer)
Portioning Block – shinny and new!
Bill gives you an update on all the work done this far on #ProjectBeepBeep and the disc brake conversion.
1968 Ply Road RunnerProject BeepBeep Welcome back to #ProjectBeepBeep. Bill is looking at the brakes and gets some professional assistance to help him make a crucial decision. You know if you’ve got a lot of GO…you need a lot STOP. It not an easy decision to alter a car’s originality, especially …
Thanks for checking back in on #ProjectBeepBeep. Having made the decision to convert the front brakes from shoe to disc Bill gets started with this major project for #ProjectBeepBeep. He went with a kit from Dr. Diff and here’s a brief look at some of the contents. Nice shiny new rotors!! Spindle …
Ready for some more #ProjectBeepBeep? Bill takes you through a few tips for restoring your B-Body door panels. Take a look: Great stuff!!! Thanks Bill!!! Have a few Mopar tips – Post them up or drop me a note @ agcarestoration@cox.net and we get you video/tip posted on the site. Thanks for reading Tim Introducing …
Bill takes a look at the heavy-duty brakes that came on the ’68 Road Runner. Bill doesn’t like the stopping power that these give him and even though they are in good shape, he may still upgrade them. Here are a couple close-ups of those heavy-duty brakes: That’s some great information on brake …
Bill continues with his march toward a complete brake system replacement for #ProjectBeepBeep his 68 Plymouth Road Runner. Here is the Bill’s update. There is more coming on the #ProjectBeepBeep and #ProjectSportRoof. Keep an eye out for dates for the new Average Guys’ Car Restoration Live Event on Face Book AG Car Restoration …
It’s past time to get it in gear and get the transmission back in shape to get the power from the newly bored out .040 351 Cleveland to the rear wheels.
With the help of my nephew Josh (thanks Josh!!) the transmission was effortlessly (ha) in to place…almost.
Here a more current status video.
All Bolted in.
Now that it’s all bolted in place, I need to work on the getting the kick down road back in place. That’s coming up next on #ProjectSportsRoof.
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof. I run my car projects much like I run my IT projects. You always have to know where to start and know the end game. As with any project that isn’t being built from scratch, in other word, you have to work with what you’ve got, …
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
Well it’s been a long week getting her back on the road. But she drove well enough given her condition.
I am looking for opinions on kits for front suspension rebuilds, mine is shot. At this point I’m probably looking for the cheapest most comprehensive kit given my pony’s condition.
My entire front suspension is not suspending, or bouncing, or quiet. Its time for a full rebuild but I’ve been waiting to blow my motor to justify a full car build! It’s been on its last leg for at least 10 years so at this point I’m trying to see how far I can go to prove Ford’s reliability before tearing her down and she just won’t die! A true survivor.
Also I have a mean top end tick I have lots of play in my lifters, I’m assuming that’s the problem. Already replaced the valve caps, but I probably lost one or two again, any tips or tricks to adjust these ticks?
Although she really like cruising at 50 mph everywhere! I had a hard time keeping it under that speed.
Josh,
You will get a lot of opinions and have a lot of options. Basically is comes down to what you want the car to be. If you just want a cruiser I think you can’t go wrong with just building like it came from the factory. I did that with my 1970 only difference is I use polyurethane bushing. Polyurethane bushing improved the ride without ruining the feel of how the car would have handled when it came from the factory. Properly greased the don’t squeak. If you want it a bit better ride you can upgrade components as you go.
I recommend the RPS kit (it is under $300)
Front Suspension Kit, 1968 – 73 Mustang Restoration Parts Source FDSUSKIT3 – RPS – 004 This suspension kit includes new upper and lower control arms with bushings and riveted ball joints installed, new spring perches and insulators and new strut rod bushings with washers.
Replaces that is, boot as in shifting boot. (Were you thinking…since I just got back from the Barrett Jackson Auction.. I was considering getting rid of the Stang ? Nope..but I tell you there were a couple of cars I’d even swap for…that’s for sure!!) When the 4 speed trans got …
If you searched and found or followed my posts on restoring the dash-board of my ’70 Mustang, then you might recall my planning/scheduling issues. As I was taking the old dash pad off, I realized that I hadn’t order the plastic pillar molding. When I finally called a few Mustang parts …
I’ve the pillar post moldings painted and ready to installed. I put on 3 coats of paint. Now I have to remove the dash pad (again) and install. That will be later this week, my Corvette is still in shop and the Mustang is my back up car. Thanks for reading more to …
Ok now I’m excited. The dash pad replacement arrived and it looks great. Here are some pics: I ordered this part from Dallas Mustang, but I thinking I should have ordered directly from DashesDirect.com I’ll check the web site and see if it was cheaper there. When you have an average guy’s budget …
It always cool to stumble upon a car show regardless of size.
TMC (Tucson Medical Center) opened up a new office just down the road. My wife is a commercial interior designer and does a lot of work through her company for at the TMC facilities.
We were aware of the Grand Opening for this new building but we weren’t there’d be a car show. Here a few of the cars that showed.
You just could walk past this 1959 GMC 100 Pickup. So nicely restored.
Love the steel painted rims!!!
Lots of Chrome on that front end!!
Still being powered by the straight six! The golf club hood prop is a custom touch!
Sparse interior but 100% effective.
Here is a great looking 1962 Ford pickup – still sporting its original V8.
Are you kidding me? Look at this beautiful 66 Malibu!!!
327 Engine (245hp) with Factory Air!!!
Back end jacked up just right!!
There is a lot of tire on that back axle!
That’s all original interior folks!!!
Here are a few more Chevy’s
Beautiful Super Sport w/vinyl top
Wow…is that a BLOWER on top of that power plant?
And another BLOWER!!
56 Chevy Sporting a huge radiator
1980 El Camino – In great shape.
Beautiful Impala…OH…YES..that a Corvette LS3 engine!!!
If you are going to have only one Mopar show up, you want it to be the GTX!! Take a look:
Plymouth Belvedere GTX.
Yes that is a 426 Hemi….going to find two carbs under that air cleaner.
Clean and original interior.
Here a few more of the cars that showed up.
Thanks to my wonderful wife who didn’t mind an interruption in our errands to spend a few minutes at this show.
Coming up more on #ProjectSportsRoof and #ProjectBeepBeep and keep an eye out for our first Facebook Live event.
