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 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.
Here some interesting facts for the new in 2008 LS9 engine.
– It was a combination of upgraded LS3 and LS7 components and took 3 years to develop
– All 2000 units were hand-assembled in GM’s Performance Build Center in Wixom, Michigan
-It displaced 6.2 liters
– Bore and stroke 4.06×3.62 with a compression ratio of 9.1:1
– It had reinforced bulkhead to improve block stiffness and used six bolt steel main caps.
– Of note the headgasketts were cut to the shape of the LS3 but had four layers of steel.
– Remember the “tornado”? That device that was sold and was added to your air intake and was supposed to funnel air into your carb or throttle body, booting HP? Well the LS9’s intake had “swirl ring” to improve the air flow.
– Sported the Eaton R1900 2 rotor supercharger, pumping out 2.3 liters of compressed air, but that’s all – this air was then super cooled by the Behr intercooler, that knocked off about 140 degrees.
– The valve were titanium on the intake side and stainless steel on the exhaust side
– The pistons were forged aluminum and the rods were titanium.
Here’s some output numbers:
At 1000 rpm – 300 hp and 320 lb-ft torque
The maximum was approx. 620 hp coming at 6500 rpm and 595 lb-ft of torque coming at 4000 rpm with nearly all of its top end torque available between 2600 and 6000 rpm.
From square boxes to sloping roof lines to coke bottle shapes, car lines have evolved. Sometimes they just went way wrong.
I’ve had my fair share of cars and their shapes and lines were polar opposites. My 1966 Imapla (my first car) was long and sleek, my next car was a Dodge Dart boxy but with a good roof line. Oh but it got worse, my first nearly new car was ….wait for it…..a Ford Granada. Yes…boxy…maybe a little roof line, but it got me around.
After that a series of car including a ’70 Chevelle (you know those great lines), a European Ford Escort (while stationed overseas) and a 83 Camaro (that had great lines on that one). I owned one more Granada and a VW Rabbit (diesel) and two Toyota Celicas ( like the lies of those), a couple pickups and my two Vettes and my Mustang. They spanned decades and many different design lines.
Some of the worse, in my opinion, were some of the best-selling and some that go for huge money now that they are classic muscle cars.
The absolute worse were the pumpkin or watermelon seed cars (that’s my coinage).
Here’s an example: 1996 Chevy Impala
A far cry from my 1966 Impala’s lines
1966 Chevy Impala
Now, I was looking at the lines of my ’70 Mustang and I’d have to say compared to the ’70 Dodge Super Bee the lines (and include the graphics, moldings and even panel seams) the Mustangs lines are much cleaner.
Here is an outlined image of the Dodge:
Dodge
I tried to be fair with my hand drawn lines. The flow of the graphic and their awkward end as they go to the relatively square door make it almost look like the designers said..”OH Crap!!! We forgot the door!!” The fenders have nice lines, as do the quarter panels, but in total it isn’t smooth. HOLD ON, before any of you Mopar folks get all worked up, I’d own a Dodge Super Bee, in a heart beat, especially if someone parked it out side my house and tossed me the keys…and I drive that 383 like I stole it!!!
Now look at the lines of my ’70 Mustang…(are you sick of seeing it yet?)
70 Mustang lines
Just the forward edge (hinged) of the door being shaped it a big plus in my opinion. The sloping of the roof-line into the trunk is another smooth difference, and keep in mind this is just the coupe, not the fast back for the sports back, relatively speaking my Mustang is rather square compared to it siblings, the Mach I and Boss models. Compare the side window openings. The Dodge is very angular, the Mustang’s has a smoother flow.
I could go on and on, we could talk about the 70’s Volares or the even move into the 80’s and talk about the Ford Fairmonts or Chryslers K-Car (I can hear Bill now!!!) but let me hear from you. What do you have to say about car lines, past or present?
Tokyo 17 Car Design Forum opens for registration. Our Tokyo 2017 Car Design Forum has launched, and the website is open for registrations now. More News …
Hyundai-Kia design chief outlines car design philosophy – Interview. by: Roger Stansfield. Materials at the heart of the Paris Motor Show. 20 Oct 2016 …
I was reading an article recently in one of my favorite periodical…you know…from the best auto magazine publishing company, IMHO, Hemmings, specifically Muscle Machines. The article was entitled Lessons of Originality and written by Terry McGean. I enjoy his pieces in HMM.
This article pointed out the importance of all original muscle car specimens, used as models for restoration and an understanding of how they were built, meaning exactly, how and why they were put together in the manner they were. This is a very valid point.
Terry goes on to say that today’s restorations are often taken too far and lose some of their original character. Again, another valid fact one can’t argue, but…..
For example, my 1970 Mustang coupe’s shock towers were stamped out and the car assembled without access to grease fittings. The towers had to be altered, in most cases just cut with a torch, so that the fittings could be reached. That is a known engineering/factory flaw and is a cool ( I think) characteristic that makes it unique. ‘Fixing’ that by replacing with re-manufactured parts with the cut out already there (I don’t believe these exist..but humor me here..ok..I know you usually do..and thanks for that!!) would be disappointing . It’s not like a safety hazard or something serious.
1970 Mustang Shock tower with cut out for grease fitting.
But there is just too much emphasis placed on some ‘original’ characteristics, like the correct paint mark or undercoating on parts. Irregular panel alignment or even one of the bigger deals, paint, specifically what is known as orange peel or that somewhat dimpled look to some factory paint jobs, are considered the epitome of originality and should re-create. To me that is just nonsense.
If you were to look at the side of my 07 Corvette you’ll notice the orange peel effect which looks like the surface of …. yes…an orange. This is said to be very important when judging a car in some levels of the business. But back in the days when I worked in my father’s body shop businesses, orange peel was a product of sloppy work. That is Terry’s point as well, that the cars were assembled with much less care, a lot less care than, of course we take with restoration. (More on that in a bit.)
Here is where I personally begin to draw the line about ‘caring’ whether a car is “restored” to original. First, if it’s restored, it’s not original or re-phrased – “It’s only original once!” (Don’t worry I’m going to drag you down that discussion path too far.) Second, small things like the realignment of the doors or hood or other panels doesn’t make it any more unoriginal if it’s restored nor does it distract from the car at all. The art of the restoration is what is really important and minor improvements are nearly unavoidable.
Let me use the restoration (we’ll call it “Part I”) of my 1970 Mustang coupe. I intended to restore it to what was possible back in 1969-1970 then the cars were built. Everything is period, not original to the car (swapped a 1970 302 for the original 250) but available as a possible option. I love the feel of this car, it still performs as it did back then, even with the aligned hood. At this point in its life span the car is as close to original as it’s going to get (it still has drum brakes). I’ve realigned the panels, I’ve replaced the motor mounts with polyurethane. In the next round of restoration the car will enter its “restro-mod” phase. It will take the Mustang way past the line I drew the first time around.
And why not? Hey…come…on, we project so much emotion in on our cars…’She’s just not running right’ or ‘That car just doesn’t like the cold’. Why not project that they all wish to grow and to change to become more than they were?!??! (Too much of a stretch…let me re-read it…..hang on…mmm….umm…………yeah too much…since I already typed it…I’ll leave it…no sense wasting bytes…pls tell me you got that?????)
Terry mentions that the folks building cars back in the 1960’s often cared little about what they were actually doing and of course none of them were as concerned as we are when we restore them. Now I wasn’t at the factories back then, but I bet in general they took a lot of pride in their work. Of course there were those that didn’t and those that did Monday – Thursday, but on Fridays, not so much. This happens in every business. However, back then many things were done by hand and during long shifts, back-breaking work to be sure. Not to mention that the engineering tolerances weren’t nearly as tight as they are today, it just wasn’t a concern. My only experience with the manufacturing side was my visit to the Corvette assembly plant (I’m going back this year) and it’s hard to tell what everyone everyone was feeling that Tuesday, but you could see the dedication to the overall process. Union’s have made a huge impact and as has technology, they both have had negative and positive effects on the business – but that’s another article.
I worry (but not too much) that the purists will ruin the art of restoration. Terry’s article reminds us that preserving original muscles car are important, as reminder of how it use to be done. But I say they shouldn’t be the only measure of a restored car. Restore it to enjoy it.
Let me start of by saying, WOW!!! Of course that’s what I say every year I attend.
There is a lot of things to do (oh, not just car stuff but one of my better-half’s favorite — shopping — everything from jewelry to purses to beds) , people to talk to and cars, cars and cars. Car people are at their best when they are around their cars.
This year was a bit different for me, yes, I sat a watched the auction a bit, I really wanted to talk to some of the vendors (I have a project to work on) and wander around the various staging areas.
Some of my favorite vendors were the Karl Kustom Corvettes. These are re-bodied C6/Z06 underpinnings/platforms and put some of the most popular Corvette bodies the ’63 split window coupe and the 67 Roadster. These are outstanding looking cars and if they perform like the Z06 and I understand the auction price. Oh and it is not just the bodies, they’ll take your old LS3 and knock it up to 599hp and your lame LS7 to 650hp…I’m just saying!!! Check them out at: http://www.karlkustomcorvettes.com/
Normally they have some sort of racing event or car demo, last time I attended -2009 they had 4 wheel drive area to the lasted models of Jeep and Hummer, and drifting demo. This year if you registered with Ford and Chevy (they walk you up to a computer and you punch your information) you were allowed to drive two of their latest models offerings. Since I’ve driving the Mustang and the Corvette before, I opted to drive the SHO Ford Taurus and the 2011 Camaro convertible.
2011 Ford Taurus...Oh..don't laugh..this ain't your daddy's Taurus
2011 Camaro Convertible
Let me say this about the Taurus SHO …Surprising!!!! It doesn’t look like much…but get behind the wheel and you’ll feel the kick. I managed to get the rear end to slide around (much to the Ford reps surprise) on the short track they had set up. That car says “sleeper” all over it, but you’ll shock the guy next to you taking off from that red light on your way to work. (Come..ON!!! You know you do that red light mini drag thing…yeah..ya do!!!)
The Camaro was awesome as well. I pick up one if I had room to park it.
Additionally they had the Bondurant guys there and they’d give you a spinning the their Z06 as well as a racing school out of Utah, that made it known to me that they were a “real” racing school and used real race set Mustangs unlike the Bondurant’s “street’ cars. They had a couple of cars there’s as well.
Here’s a few more pics and I’ll finish up a bit later.
Bagged Restro Mustang
Entry on to the Stage. A beautiful DeSoto on it's way to the block.
