I hope you can view this article. Has some great cars – although the saying “keep the shiny side up” doesn’t really translate – these just don’t have one.
I’d love to spend time wandering around Cuba, just to look at the cars.
The Cars of Cuba: Photos and stories from Havana.
This is from Hagerty Insurance Company.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Mother Natures Car Customization Service
From: http://autoholics.com
Mazda sure makes great struts.
The tree also took out the “No Logging” sign.
Thanks for reading
Tim
I just recently picked up a copy of GMs new Performance catalog and all I can say is WOW!! But we’ll dive into that in a future post.
Gracing the cover was the latest and greatest COPO Camaro. You remember those special order packages. Well they have brought it back and factory racing just jumped up and shouted “LET DO IT!!!!”
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There’s car art (art with cars) and then there’s car art (art on a car).
Here are a couple interesting pieces.
The first is in Prescott, Az. Prescott is beautiful city in up-state Arizona where we love to hang out. It features a beautiful town square that would rival any of them back East. That square is the venue of some very enjoyable events, include a collector’s car show and an all Corvette show, every year.
Walking a few blocks away from the square is a parking garage with one side depicting an a mural.
Mural in Prescott, Az
Notice the cars?
Here’s a close up:
Mural in Prescott, Az
Great art work!!!
Let move to the other end of the spectrum. I’m keeping in mind that “Art” is in the eye of the beholder..nah…that’s not working here!!!
Bisbee, Az is nearly the complete opposite of Prescott, Az. In fact, it’s even located at the opposite end of Arizona. Tucked in to the mountains, near the border of Mexico, it is very interesting mining town, turned tourist town. Bisbee sits in a time warp stuck between the 1960’s and mid 1970’s. Gives all the feel of the VW bus generation with a huge variety of artist’s, art galleries and old mining camp homes built into the side of the mountains. No..this ain’t the travel channel…so here’s the Art on the Car.
It appears to be a….why YES!!!…it is an El Camino. Ya..know….I can’t really say any more…you look at it…and give me some feed back!!!!
El Camino - Art'ed out
Yup...eactly...WTF!!!
Well..ya know....it was cheaper than going to MACCO for a paint job
“nough…said”!!!
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Coming up will be a series of posts as I rebuild the original 3 speed transmission. This is the original 3 speed transmission from my 1970 Mustang. I’ve replaced it with a rebuilt 1965 4 speed transmission from a Shelby Mustang. (See that in a post coming up.)
I’ll start the tear down after the Christmas holiday.
Transmission Tag
That cable is the speedometer cable
Thanks for reading.
I have 14 CD/DVDs to give away.
So I’m going to give the next two individuals that sign up for my feed a copy of the DVD Classic Automobile Films.
If you are reading this, grab my feed and then send an email too:
timsweet@average-guys-car-restoration-mods-racing.com
Include the address you’d like to have the DVD send to. It’s that easy.
I don’t share any information with anyone, nor do I keep that type of information, even for my own purposes.
Oh yes this will be an interesting series.
We are going to start of with a well-meant attempt by Chrysler to meet the oil crises from 1973 to 1980. Introducing the Cricket!!!!
1973 Cricket
This car was actually a US spec’ed Hillman Avenger.
It featured the Avenger’s 1.6 liter pushrod engine. This car’s top speed was 84 mph and took a merely 19.8 seconds to get to 60 mph (I bet you were thinking 100 mph!!).
The car was horrible slow and because it was detuned for as part of the US requirements it ran poorly.
Here some of it features:
– Quick Rust fenders and body parts
– PVC coated foam interior for safety
You are going to want one after you see this ad:
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Thanks for reading.
Tim
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
All new for 2003...almost.
Yes that’s correct for the 100th year of production Ford build a total of 6 Model T-100 to commemorate the year.
These weren’t restored cars, they were all new parts. The bodies were made in Sweden, coupled with available aftermarket. The engine, suspension parts, transmissions were created from the original drawings.
Model T Reproduction Engine
The T's transmission - could replace the original unit, however the gear pattern is not the same so the internal will not match up.
For more check out the PDF below.
http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/T-100.pdf
Thanks for Reading.
Tim
Photos courtesy Corvette Mike of New England
Many, many 1978 Indianapolis 500 pace car replica Corvettes were mothballed with hopes of the cars turning into super collectibles, so finding a low-mileage example today isn’t hard. In fact, there are seven for sale in the December issue of Hemmings Motor News. One, formerly on display at the Corvette museum in Bowling Green, has just 116 miles on the clock. Another is advertised as having been driven just 700 miles. If you want a car you could actually drive, there’s a 1978 Indy Corvette with 22,900 miles.
Unfortunately, the demand predicted for these cars back in the Disco Age has yet to arrive. If you like ‘Vettes, you wouldn’t kick a 1978 pace car out of your garage, but as Corvettes go, these are considered lackluster performers and too many were built for them to ever be considered rare.
According to the Corvette Black Book, the original plan was to make 300 of the black and silver ‘Vettes. Mike Yager’s Corvette Bible claims 2,500. Had Chevrolet stuck to either of those figures, Indy Pace ‘Vettes would probably be more collectible today. But for Chevrolet, the profits these cars were raking in must’ve been as irresistible as coke at Studio 54. The Indy cars received a lot of hype, so demand went through the roof and Chevrolet cranked out 6,502 copies – more than one for each dealer.
With a base price of $13,653 compared to the standard Corvette base price of $9,446, the Pace Cars were expensive and profitable because they were loaded with “mandatory options.” Power windows, power locks, removable roof panels, rear window defogger, air conditioning, tilt/telescoping column, AM-FM radio with 8-track (or CB radio at extra cost) – all were included. Even this probably doesn’t help the value of these cars as luxury tends to be the exact opposite of what Corvette collectors crave today: radio delete, heater delete, oversized fuel tanks (when they were available), manual transmissions. You get the drift – racing-related stuff on a Corvette is hot. Stuff that you would normally associate with a Caprice Classic is not.
Anyway, receiving almost as much press as these cars received when new is a barn-find pace car offered for sale by Hemmings advertiser Corvette Mike. The car has been all over the Internet due to the fact that it has only 13 miles on the odometer. It’s even covered in an authentic layer of scurvy storage grime.
The pace car’s bonafides include a CB radio, Gymkhana suspension and the 220hp L82 350, all of which are cool. The fact that it’s an automatic makes it a little less so. Check it out for yourself over at Corvette Mike’s.
