Parking-Lot Spotlight 1955 Chevy Belair

Note: Updated to correct mis-Identification of this parking-lot find.  It is in fact a 1955.  The main details that denote the difference is the placement of the Chevy and BelAir badging and grile.

So I’m lucky. I live in a place where there is not prone to any type of natural disasters, we don’t much rain and it only snow when it’s a cold day, you know where.

It’s also a place were you don’t have to put way your collectible set of wheels, you can drive the year would and a lot of folks do.

Here is my latest parking-lot find.

It is a 1955 Chevy, 2 door Belair.  Yeah, I know it’s a couple years before the super wonderful 1957’s came out, but I like these shoe box cars, with their very clean lines especially the 2 door version and I particularly like the lines of the BelAir convertible.  It reminds me of the clean lines for my 1966 Chevy Impala convertible.

Love the red and white.  Fantastic chrome.

Wheel aren’t ordinal but I think that are great for this car.

Look at the stance! It’s just great.

You gotta love that hood ornament!!

 

All Belair came standard with a 6 cylinder with about 353,00 produced, not counting convertibles.

The 6 was an overhead value, cast iron power plant with a displacement of 235.5.  With a 3 9/16 x 3 15/16 and a compression ratio of 7.5:1
these cars knocked out a whopping 115 hp.  The would breath through a Rochester one barrel Model 7007200 carb or a Carter one-barrel Model
2101S (for the Powerglide auto transmission) and a Rochester one-barrel Model 7007181 for the standard shift.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Car Production Numbers. They Made How Many? 1911

1911 oh… that was a great year!  Well I don’t actually have any proof of that, but there sure were a lot of new car makes that year.  Here the list:

Alpena; ArBenz; Atterbury; Carhartt, Case, Chevrolet; Colby, Crow-Elkhart, Dalton, Gaylord, Havers, Hupp-Yeats; King; Lenox; Mighty Michigan; Motorette; Nyberg: Penn; Rayfield; R.C.H.; Roader; Rogers; S.G.V.; Standard Electric (yes electric); Stutz; Stuyvesant; Virginian; W.F.S.

So who were the leaders for that year?

Ford out-paced all with 69,762 Cars.

Second up was Studebaker/EMF with 26,827.

1911 Studebaker...you can't use just '11 any longer - someone might think this was a 2011 Studebaker

Willys-Overland up next with 18,745 and Maxwell about 2,000 less at 16,000.

One of the 16,000 Maxwells

Buick came in at fifth with 13,389, beating out Cadillac with 10,071 cars.

Hudson and Chalmers finish up the list with 6,486 and 6,250 respectively.

The 1911 Chalmers - look at that stance!!!!

1911 Milestones:

–  International Motor Company was formed (MACK)

– Buick sets a speed record, running 20 miles in just over 13 minutes.

– First Indianapolis 500 was held and won by Ray Harroun in a six-cylinder Marmon Wasp – 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds of drive time.

The Marmon Wasp

Thanks for reading.

Tim

C6 07 Corvette – Fuel Gauge – Video

Here is the follow-up for the Fuel Gauge issue I had with my Corvette.

I had previously added a can of Techron Fuel System Cleaner.  This was the first treated tank.  Today the Vette need filling up and I recorded the incident.

In the second video please excuse the legs shot.

This first is the status as I pulled in to gas up.

[vodpod id=Video.15524740&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fvid299.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fmm296%252Ftimsweet2200%252FVIDEO0069.mp4]

Here you can clearly see the flop and the service notice.

 

[vodpod id=Video.15524738&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fvid299.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fmm296%252Ftimsweet2200%252FVIDEO0070.mp4]
Fuel Issue Vid1, posted with vodpod

After about 20 miles, the gauge when to 3/4 full and a few minutes later it when to full.

After I got home I put in another can of fuel system cleaner.  We’ll see how that works.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

C6 07 Corvette – Fuel Gauge/Low Fuel/Service Fuel System

I haven’t done much writing about my C6 Corvette, mainly because it has really been a great car (still is) even with the technology glitches.

 

However, as you might have gathered from the title there is an issue that I thought I’d jot down along with some possible causes and some preventive measures.

I recently had the problem with my gas gauge flopping round and kicking off the low fuel warning.  Interesting enough it only happened immediately after filling up.  It is an immediate reaction when I turn the car on.  During this most recent incident the gauge remained flat-lined for what seemed a bit longer then it has in the past. I’m talking 20 miles or more with 3 stops full and shut down.  It was accompanied by the engine light, which remained on after the gauge went back to normal and the low fuel warning stopped.

The Vette ran perfectly  during the event so I’m not too worried , but still you don’t want to have to call the flatbed.

So I dropped a note on my corvette clubs site ACE (Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts) http://www.arizonacorvetteenthusiasts.net and to see what they thought.

Most swear by Chevron gas with its Techron cleaning agent and some were thinking it might be a sending unit and some said it is a common problem with C5 ( the previous generation of Corvettes).

Here are some comments:
—“Use some Seafoam (Autozone, Checker etc.) per directions on the bottle.  Techron works also.”  My NOTE:  Seafoam is tough stuff, you have to be sure to change your fuel filter shortly there after.

—“Same thing would happen to me with Roxxane II (c5).  It would show empty when I filled her up. I would use 2 bottles of Techron and then one bottle at every fill up for the next 4 tanks.   Problem went away for a while. Then I would use one bottle every 2 tanks and that kept the demon away.”

This one was exteremly helpful……”Well, stop putting gas in it, maybe the problem goes away.”

—“It’s a level sender issue for sure.  If Techron doesn’t solve it, you’ll either have to learn to live with it, or replace the faulty sensor.  Do you have any way to check the codes to see which sensor is unhappy?”  ( I don’t so if it acts up again, I’ll have to take it in.)

—“Two possibilities…. sulphur build up on the sending unit or the sending unit going out.  I understand they are a biotch to change.”

—“My C5 had the problem unless I ran Chevron gas in it.  About the second tank of non Chevron the gauge would go crazy.  I would switch back and the problem went away.”

—“This was a common occurrence on the ‘early’ C5’s. It usually happened when high sulphur content fuel was put in. Some of the fixes were switching gas to adding a bottle of Techron every once in a while.  The real ‘fix’ was a reflash at the dealer.   Apparently the sender was a bit too sensitive, so they slowed it down.

I had the issue occasionally on my 99, but when I put a 2002 Z06 operating system into the computer, it went away.

Since you have a C6, I would expect that the issue isn’t a reflash. My guess would be that maybe you got some high sulphur content fuel or your sender is acting up in some way,     maybe a poor or intermittent connection somewhere along the line.

—“You could try a treatment with Techron and see if that ‘cleans’ it up. ”

—“I was using the Techron trick in my C5. I switched to Gumout Regane Fuel System Cleaner. I t seems to help, although my gauge still jumps to E at times when below 1/3 of a tank. Good luck. It sucks to not really know how much fuel is in your tank. Although a Vette is light in comparison to other cars, I just can’t see myself pushing it into the gas station.”

So there you have a round of discussion on the topic.

 

Now the fuel leveling sensor is used because the C6 had two tanks and this keeps the tanks level.  Which is important especially if you are running auto cross.  Here is area a couple of graphics from http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com:

 

 

 

So you can see that it would a chore to replace.  So I’m going to try the Techron and hope  it works.  I’ve been cautioned that I need the  Fuel System Cleaner – not the injector cleaner.  Here’s a pic:

Get the Fuel System Cleaner.

 

I’ve used my first 12 oz can and I’m currently at half a tank.  I’ll fill it up again in a couple of days (Yes..when you normally drive it like you just stole it you tend to have to fill up – now and again..mostly..again!) and I’ll try to capture the event on my trusty Android.

 

Stay tuned (up).  {someone please say they get that}

Thanks for reading

Tim

 

 

 

 

 

1965 Chevelle – A rare one

Chevy and it’s customer loved the Chevelle, the customers because of the low price and horse power, Chevy because of the sales. Now days a Chevelle is a highly sought after collector car.  Finding a real good one is rare unless you want to play nearly a years salary.

Among those are clusters of the extremely rare.  Within the production of the 1965 Chevelle there is an extremely rare version. That was the year Chevy took its brand new Mark IV 396 engine and hoisted it to the engine bay.  It was the first of its kind (but not the last – the following year the 396 Chevelle became a regular model) with 375 hp and a 4 speed transmission.  This was the special SS model of the Chevelle.

This was Code Z16 and only 201 1965’s were made with engine/transmission and trim, making this one of the rarest of the Chevelles SS.

1965 Chevelle SS Z16

The 396:

The 396 engine

 

I love this combo.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

 

Car Production Numbers. They Made How Many? 1922

It is 1922 and the car industry is moving right along.  Small start-up car companies pop up here and there in the 1920’s.

Here is how they stacked up for 1922.

Top spot was Ford  producing 1,147,028 cars.

Dodge was a very distant second with 152,653 car rolling off their assembly line.

Chevrolet ran in third place with 138,932 cars made.

And finish up the list were Buick with 123,152; Studebaker with 105,005; Williys-Overland with 95,410; Durant with 55,300 and finally Maxwell/Chalmers 44,811.

Total passenger cars produced were 2,274,185 with 269,991 truck being made.

Rickenbacker was a new upstart beginning production in 1922.

Durant produce a car priced at $319 . Ford reduced prices to $298.

Balloon tires were introduced.

Hey fuel gauges began being installed in dash in 1922.

1922 Durant Star - An attempt to undercut Ford's prices

1922 Rickenbacker 4 Door

I love this one:

1922 Chrysler Panel Truck

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Car Production Numbers. They Made How Many? 1950

Folks seem to like this segment so let’s continue with 1950.

19 major car makers existed back then and Chevy topped the production totals with 1,498,590 units followed closely by Ford with 1, 208,912.  The rest of the field were all less than have that.

Plymouth – 610,954

Buick – 588,439

Pontiac – 466,429

Olds – 408,060

Dodge – 341,797

Studebaker – 320,884  (Don’t ya wish they would have made it?  I would love to have seen their innovation continue.)

Mercury – 293,658

Chrysler – 179,299

Nash – 171,782

DeSoto – 136,203

Hudson – 121,408

Cadillac – 103,857

Packard – 42,627

Lincoln – 28,190

Kaiser – 15,228

Croslely – 6,792

Frazer – 3,700

Of note:

This was the last year for the Old 6 cylinder 76 models, while their Rocket  88 set speed records at Daytona – averaging 100.28 mph.

Packard began selling the only automatic transmission ever developed by an independent car maker.

The Rocket 88 - record setter.

 

Can a pick a Frazer out of a line up?  Me either. Here’s one.

1950 Frazer Manhattan Convertible

How about a Crosley?  Yeah I could do that one.

Crosley Hot Spot - circa 1950

And what did a automatic transmission look like in 1949?  Here is the Packards Ultramatic.

The looked a lot like todays automatic transmissions

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Product Review – Griot’s Garage – Long Lasting Tire Dressing Closure

So you’ve read my review and I promised to drop a note as to the “Long Lasting” part of Griot’s Garage’s – Long Lasting Tire Dressing.

Now is has rained nearly every day since I applied the dressing.

So take a look at the tires with 2 applications and 3 applications.

Tires with 2 applications of tire dressing

 

Here is the tire with 3 applications of tire dressing

 

Here is what I think as a wrap up.   Long lasting to me doesn’t necessarily mean just duration, but can it stand up to everyday driving – oh—yeah…just in case I failed to mention, the  Vette is my daily driver.  It lived up to the Griot promise.  I’ll continue using this product.

Thanks for reading

Tim

 

Transformers The Movie – Do We Love Our Cars?

Do we love our cars or what?

I recent attended a showing of the latest Transformers movie (“Dark Side of the Moon“) and if you know anything about this series or of the cartoon of years gone by, you’ll know that the main characters are machines that turn in to robots.  Most of these are vehicles, cars, trucks, semis and even military aircraft.

The car group included a lot of chevys this time, a Camaro  which is one of the main stairs, an Impala and a Corvette (actually a representation of a prototype Corvette).  The  Corvette transformed into a rollerblading robot – which I thought unfitting of my favorite car.

There is the human hero and of course a hot model as his object of desire.

When the hot model was threatened or in harm’s way you could hear the audience get involved.  But when an evil robot was about to execute the Camaro character the audience got really vocal.   Kids cried at that images, thinking that the Camaro was about to get wacked,   forget about the girl….just don’t hurt the car!!!

Yes we love your cars.  Oh and the good cars – the Chevy‘s– saved the world again.

But that’s movies and you can just enjoy it with no lasting harmful effects..unless you are me or  maybe it wasn’t me but the subliminal messages.  I left wanting a Camaro, but not just any 2012 Camaro, but a yellow with black striped bumble bee Camaro.

It must be subliminal messages, I had the same desire after watching Will Smith zip through the empty streets of New York City in the 2007 Shelby GT500 Mustang in his move ‘I Am Legend’ yes the red with white stripes.

2007 GT500 Mustang

2012 Camaro

 

You know you want both too!!!

Thanks for reading…and go hug your car!!!

Tim

Car Production Numbers. They Made How Many? 1939

Let’s jump up 13 years from 1926 to 1939 and see what the numbers look like.

1939 shows Chevy in the lead for production numbers with 577,278 units produced.  Ford is about 100k behind at 487,031 (half of what they were producing in 1926).  The rest of the makers finished up like this:

Plymouth                                 423,850

Buick                                       208,259

Dodge                                     186,474

Pontiac                                   144,340

Oldsmobile                           137,239

Studebaker                             85,834

Also in 1939 Mercury came on the scene with its 239 CID V8 making about 95 hps and hydraulic brakes.

Lincoln-Zephyr only sold 650 pieces.

Part of the Studebaker’s 85k cars were its light pickup truck, the Coupe-Express was powered by the Commander Six, knocking out 90 hps.

 

 

1939 Studebaker Coupe Express

 

Thanks for reading

Tim