This blog is gaining popularity. It’s being followed on Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter and the Facebook page.
There are car nuts from 18 different countries hanging out around here. That’s pretty good for an non-commercial blog.
What’s that mean? Means I’m going to set it up a bit. More to come on that.
So thank you all and please submit your pictured and stories and I’ll get them posted up.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
With the upcoming release of the Shelby GT500 Super Snake many people will have an opportunity to put on of these limited edition Shelby’s inside their garage. It’s quite the opposite for the 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake as the person who wins this ebay auction for the only 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake ever produced will have the ultimate limited edition Mustang. The 1967 Shelby Super Snake sports a 427ci V8 with 520 horsepower, a 170 mph top speed and unique triple stripes. The ebay auction is set to end in a week. Check out the pictures after the fold.
Hope everyone has recovered from heavy eating and traveling, I know I need to rest up before Christmas, maybe even drop a couple of pounds ahead of time.
I’m also to attempt to meet my goal of 500 posts before the end of 2011. (Yes this one counts).
I have a couple of contests coming up with some auto related DVD’s to give away and some a couple of parking lot finds, and a feature car or two.
So swing by and drop me a comment.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
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.
“Honey…I found our next vacation spot..hear they got a nice Motel 6 nearby!!!” “Honey…can we go now?!!! The Turkey will keep until next week!!!”
Everybody knows that saying “I’ve died and gone to heaven”, and this applies to most enthusiasts in this junkyard full of old decrepit Ford Mustangs. Especially, the project guy that has an old classic sitting in the garage. I’m sure it could go either way, though, as some might consider this a sore sight with so many wrecked and rusted ponies. This is the Colorado Mustang Salvage Yard.
Soooo, anybody down for some campin’?!
Colorado Mustang Specialists, Inc. began in a two-car garage in 1972. Mustangs were as numerous as hippies on a Boulder park lawn, easy to buy, fix and sell. So, a would be University of Colorado student found a lucrative way to pay his rent and tuition. After graduation the diploma went in a drawer and the horsing around got serious. Wrecked, junked and abandoned Mustangs were cheap and plentiful, so the collection started that eventually led to the worlds largest Mustang salvage yard.
Most recent and exciting to us is the addition of modern fuel injection conversions, for 64-1/2 to 85 models. These conversions and related parts let the novice enthusiast bring his early Mustang into the new millennium with a computer driven, fuel-injected, V-8 power train, meeting todays standards without changing the Mustangs classic design. We predict these conversions will open a fun and exciting new era of Mustang enthusiasm.
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:
[vodpod id=Video.15696452&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
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
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.
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
