3/1/1988 Pontiac announces the end of the Fiero automobile – Was anyone sad about that?
Pontiac Fiero
3/1/1937 In New Jersey one of the largest dealerships of the era was opened. The Miro Brothers opened a state-of-the-art facility with “one of the largest and most modern showrooms in the country,” measuring 38′ x 40′ . The dealership was service station and dealt for Buick, Packard, Oldsmoble, and REO trucks. The east side of the building served as a Mobil gas station and service garage during the World War II.
As I get ready to start the new round of mods for my 1970 Mustang Coupe, I’m reminded of a couple of issues that came up when I was assisting a fellow Mustang owner doing a trans – transplant.
The first tip is partially dependent on what stage you are in of your restoration.
He has already finished most of the interior when the a transmission he wanted to add became affordable, it was a good deal…saving some $$$$.
He had decided to do the swap and add a short shifter. This of course requires the removal the bezel and the current 3 speed shift lever, which is easily done from inside the car.
Bezel and Boot
In the course of removing those two parts, he found that the opening cut in the new carpet was not going to allow the access necessary. An attempt to ‘widen’ it was successful but left a bit of a jagged slit. Additionally, while removing one of the screws it snagged the carpet and pulled a few loops out. Can you guess what the tip is? Yeah…remove the carpet and if possible make the swap before you put new carpet in.
One other quick tip is to apply a little silicone spray to the shifter to help slide the boot off..oh…yeah…removing the shift knob before the boot is a good idea…..DON”T ASK!!!!!
I love History, always have and I love engines. I find learning about an engine’s history, its development and how and where it was used over time a great past time. (In case you are unsure of my sincerity – check out my to engine series on Mopar’s 318 http://wp.me/pKHNM-gW and Chevy’s 283 http://wp.me/pKHNM-nu http://wp.me/pKHNM-nB http://wp.me/pKHNM
I also find fascinating, the involvement of U.S. car companies with the development of cars for overseas companies.
Ok..this is a larger introduction for a one of my “factoid” entries, but here they are:
– In the 1950’s and 1960’s the main player of Lotus was a guy named Colin Chapman (aka Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman – tossed that in there because in several of my reading variations of his name was used). Mr. Chapman was responsible for such cars as the Lotus 6, Lotus 23 and Elan. Having developed his own engines and now desiring to improve on their racing performance and btw he was also known to be a bit tight fisted with the cash. This all led him to use technology, as it was back then, that was already developed elsewhere. Give that propensity he used Ford engines for his cars and greatly (at least overseas) enhanced Ford’s racing repetition. The engines he used were Ford’s 105e and 109E engines the Cleveland and Windsor respectively.
Fords 105E used by Lotus.
– These two engines were sometimes referred to as the “Kent” engines.
– They were fitted with twin cams designed by Harry Mundy. These heads were aluminum with hemi combustion chambers sporting .375 lift, 264 degree duration shafts, 1.53/1.325 valve with 9.5:1 compression. All topped off with a Weber twin sided-draught carb.
– They were a starting point for Lotus and Ford racing development and were uses for experimental purpose as well as racing.
– Heavy duty use showed some flaws in the engines due to the 3 bearing mains, resulting in broken cam shafts.
– Was the impetus for Ford to developing the 116E engine with 5 bearing bottom ends, which was basis for the Lotus 1600 Twin Cam.
Ford’s 116E soon to be Lotus 1600 with Mundy’s Twin Cams
So I left a couple of photos out of the last post. But I wanted to show (IMHO) a couple stars of the show and one of the strange one.
I covered the Galaxies and 500’s, however, here are a couple more: (Come..on..you would be able to pick just one or two either!!!)
(In no particular order)
Crown Victorian (before the exploding gas tanks and cop lights)
Oh..the Chrome!!
Did I mention the Chrome?
Just look at that smile..I mean bumper!!!
Not really comparable to the Crown Vic – this Starliner was, although not original, very nicely done.
Ford Starliner with a little custom work.
Oh..check out the intake setup on that Starliner!!!!
OK.. I know at least one of my readers will like this next car.
It is a 1965 Ford Mustang Station Wagon. Originally a concept created by William Sibo (designer for Ford Motor Company). He actually built this car from the original drawings. Car is currently owned by Ken Berger. The car now has a 429, rack and pinion steering C-6 auto trans, coil over suspension and power brakes, A/C and stereo system.
No Middle Road - Hate it or Love it.
There you go!
I can’t get past the that rear end….but this helps:
I love attending car shows. Either as just a spectator or participant, I have capital F, capital U, capital N.
Today (2/20/2011) I attend for the 3rd year Tucson’s Fords on 4th Ave. A very good size show for the area, considering it was limited to Fords. This year I was only a spectator the Mustang wasn’t ready for a show (needed a bunch of detailing).
There were a ton of newer Mustangs, nice machines, shinny inter-cooled turbos and all the tubing, all nice machines, no doubt. But there was a huge void of older Fords. I love seeing the 40’s and 50’s Fords and Mercurys.
The stars for me of this show were the Fairlanes and Galaxies. Yes there were 60 Mustangs, Shelby’s, Mach I’s and GT. But the lines of these longer 60’s cars are just some of the best designed, ever.
