Tag Archives: Ford Motor Company

Engine Line-UP: Chevy Engines 1971

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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

New for 2003 Fords Model T-100!

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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

Vacuum – Tune it up!

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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

 

Car Production Numbers. They Made How Many? 1901

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This is it. The beginning of it all.     What were they making in 1901?

The top producer was the Locomobile car company with a total out put for the year 1,500 cars.

Winton was second with 700 cars.

Oldsmobile (ahh one we’ve heard of!!) was third with 425.

White came in fourth with 193.

Autocar was next with 140.

Knox was sixth with 100.

Rounding out the bottom was Packard and Stanley with 81 and 80 respectively.

 

This is a 1901 Winton Racer..what's the guy in the front doing?

 

 

1901 Autocar

 

The 1901 Autocar has a shaft-drive engine, powered with a water-cooled, two-cylinder, horizontal-opposed engine in the front of the car. The gasoline tank and battery box were under the front seat.

Thanks  reading,

Tim

Mustang Upholstery Front Seat Finale

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So what I’ve I been doing lately car-wise?

Finishing up the front seats of Mustang and putting them back in the car.  Yes, I know I should have gotten all the new carpet and the heat and sound deadening but  I didn’t.  They are easy enough to remove so not really a big deal.  I did notice while the seats were out just how thin the carpeting actually was, there is nothing between it and the floor pans, I’ve got to get those done…soon…soon.

Here’s some shots of the final production.

Drivers seat

 

Passenger's Seat. This is the one I just finished.

 

 

 

Tim

Car Production Numbers. They Made How Many? 1922

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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

2015 Mustang – No V8?!!!

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I was just reading about the 2015 Mustang (yeah..they are planning it now) in the Oct 2011 Motor Trend.

It’s going to look great with a lower angled windshield and it will be lighter, but it will begin to lose it’s muscle car images, at least
underneath.

From the Motor Trend web site. 2-15 Mustang

The live axle will be gone, replaced with an independent rear suspension.  Not really what you want to take to the track.  There was talk that the live axle might live on in factory drag packs, but the tooling would be expensive and perhaps not cost-effective.   We’ll see what actually happens.

Ford Live Axel

Independent Suspension.

But this is not focus of this blog entry.  What I really want to mention was a side bar in the article.  It is entitled “Icons on An Icon”  “What should the next Mustang be?”  Those interviewed were Jack Tenack who was a designer for Ford and global design vice president ( He actually drew the first proposal for the 1965 Mustang); Chris Theodore who was chief of Ford Motor Company’s North American product development  (he left after a disagreement over the
suspension for the 2005 Mustang with Phil Martens); Tom Gale who had nothing to do with Ford at all, he was Chrysler design chief (now retired).

Generally Mr. Tenack stayed true to form, basically wanting small changes to the next issue of the Mustang, reinforcing the muscle car
image.  He thinks all-wheel drive should be added as an option…that’s not horrible.

Mr.Theodore wants the new Mustang to have a 4 cyclinder…WHAT???  Yeah, get this, he’s like the V8 engines reserved for ‘specialty models”…can you say  …hiss…boo???  “Hey, the 70’s called they want their paradigm back!!” Of course he led the charge to replace the live axle.

Mr. Gale thinks that we need to copy Europe and thinks the Mustang needs to be smaller.  He says the Camaro is more similar to is predecessor then the Mustang is to its predecessor.

Drop me your thoughts.  No V8?   Live axle?  Smaller ‘Stang?

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Cars You Never Heard Of! Part 3

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I want to cover two more cars in this part.  The first will be the TVR S3..?? ..yeah…me too!  The second will the Caterham Seven.

TVR S3 was put up against the Triumph TR4 and frankly there is nothing I know about a TVR S3..so here we go.

TVR S3 C

TVR engineering started back in England in 1947 with the first TVR being produced in 1949.  Here’s the 2nd TVR built:

#2 TVR

Through out its history it used all types of engines include the Ford Kent engines and even a Buick engine  (3.5 litre Rover V8).

The S series was produced between 1986 – 1994.  The  TVR in this article had steel spaceframe chassis and a fiberglass body.  The engine was an iron, overhead valve, 2936cc 12v V6 with electronic fuel injection.  This power plant cranked out 168 hp and 170 lbft of torque.  The suspension was an independent double wishbone with rack and pinion steering.  This all combined to let the car reach its top speed of 135 mph.

In the comparison, the TVR S3 beat out the Triumph TR4 in Driving, Practicality, Character, Value and Usability 42 to 32.  The price of the TVR S3 is about 4000 Euros with the Triumph at 13,000 Euros.

The company was sold to a Russian buyer in 2004 and after a not so great start the company halted production.

For a full history on the TVR – check out  http://www.tvrsseries.com/

Next up is the Caterham 7:

Caterham Seven

The Caterham Seven is a kit car – you can still buy and build them today. Interesting enough it started out as the Lotus Six.  The next version was the Lotus Seven, however Lotus dropped the production and Catherham purchased the rights to build the kits.  The components are flexible with such pieces as Ford axles and de Dion-axles being used.  The engines used is very expansive  from the  Lotus Twin Cam engine to  Ford’s cross flow engines.  Even Cosworth BDRs appeared around 1983, in 1600 cc 140 bhp (104 kW) form, followed by 1700 cc 150 bhp (112 kW) versions three years later.  In the ’90’s the  common  engine had become the 2 litre Vauxhall HPC, as fitted to the Vauxhall Calibra, putting out 165—175 bhp.  Motor cycle engines have been also used with the likes of the GSXR1300 engine used in the Suzuki and the Honda CBR1100 engine.

These are favorites for the SCCA and other grass-roots racing.

Thanks for reading.

Tim.

When New Technology Meets Old Cars

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When you work with and/or drive classic cars there is a never ending battle between old school and technology. Do I leave the points and condenser in or do I go all electronic? Do I update the suspension with coil-overs or go with stock suspension? Upgrade the interior to cloth or go with the vinyl? Many of us face those battles all the time. But there’s one clash between old and new that we just can’t to anything about and that is when new non-car technology clashes with old cars.

Back in ancient times the man went out to gather or kill something to bring home for dinner. That hasn’t changed much, especially in my household. Every week I strike out into the jungle to visit the local gatherers’ spot and cart home something for dinner. The only killing going on is my checking account balance.

Today was the day for our weekly shopping, so I fired up the ’70 Stang and headed out, ready for the hunt. After I was done scouting for “sales” and had enough provisions to last seven moons, the clerk (oh, they don’t call them that anymore…’associate’ is the correct term) took my hard earned provisions(HEY!!!..its tough shopping at the mega grocery – carts speeding around like herds of prehistoric lizards, tar pits of jelly on the floor, ill tempered rival tribes in the gourmet isle…yeah…it’s tough!!), stuffed them in to about 20 plastic bags and dumped it all into a cart. On the way out of the store a couple of clerks….excuse me…associates…said have a ‘nice day’ and ‘thank you’, as I tried to push the squared wheeled cart to the parking lot and my car.

 

As I popped open the trunk on the Mustang, I remembered the floor of this cavernous opening is covered with the new vinyl (original material) I installed a few months back and nothing else (I don’t carry a spare for drag strip purposes and it wouldn’t work with the tire size anyway). I looked at the contents of the squared wheeled cart and realized that by the time I got home, my gatherings will be all over the place, even if I didn’t drive like I normally do. If I tied them shut, the bags are still going slide everywhere, including into the quarter panel wells, creating a dripping plastic bag full of wine that just moments ago were grapes.

My next option was putting the bags inside, on the vinyl bench seat in the rear and the on front bucket set. Still the vinyl was going to let everything slide side to side and drop down on the floor.

 

Then I remembered back to when I shopped with my mother as a kid and the vinyl seats in our old Chevy Biscayne. The saving grace there were the old school paper bags that stood up straight and were packed heavy to stay in place. Their square shape allowed for the use of effective load master techniques that kept them on the seat or upright in the trunk. Then I thought,”I should have gone with the cloth over the vinyl.”

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Muscle car

Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobile s The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as ” …
American Muscle Car

about muscle cars . Each episode provides a timeline of each vehicle’s history beginning with its first year of production to its most …

The Art Of Design – Creating The Mustang Of The Future

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The Art Of Design – Creating The Mustang Of The Future.

Posted by on August 23, 2011 – Viewed 440 times – 4 Comments

yasiddesign Ford_Mustang_concept_REAR___yD

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Some people are visual creatures and some are more in tune with the mechanics of life. I am a visual creature. The shape and colors of things are what I see first. So the whole idea of designing and drawing cars just fascinates me. Since this is a Mustang enthusiast website, thinking of what the next Mustang will look like is a mini obsession of mine.

Back in September of 2009, I started following a blog on the design of the new Mustang for 2014. And what appeared on that blog just blew me away.

Now I realize that Area 51 exists for more than just concealing a crashed alien space ship. It is also a test area for military vapor ware that we may see 20 years or so after it is new, you know, after it becomes obsolete and is no longer top secret. Well, getting a glimpse into the design studios of a major car company is like getting a tour of Area 51. You may see things that amaze and confuse and things you may have thought only existed in someone’s twisted imagination.

So how would it feel to get a whole truck load of sketches of the 2010 Mustang, drawn by one of the designers, just months after the new design was introduced? Yeah, it was pretty special. Rob Jensen was one of the designers of the 2010 Mustang, specifically, the GT500. Now, maybe you have seen these sketches before. Maybe they amazed and confused you back then, as they were way too “artsey” for a production car. But some parts and pieces of them made it onto the 2010 cars and some of them were left on the drawing board, literally.

For the Mustang Enthusiast in the crowd that leans towards the visual, stunning design side of cars, please enjoy the collection of sketches in our gallery below. Some are from Rob Jensen, some are from others on the Ford Mustang design team. Still others are designs by professional artists and amateurs that put together some very impressive Future ‘Stangs.

One thing to keep in mind, if you are seeing it here, out in the open, then most likely it looks absolutely nothing like the next Mustang will look. Think of this as the Area 51 Museum of Mustang design. If you like something you see, give the artist some love as I will try to provide links to as many of the artists as I can. If there is another artist out there that we need to know about, definitely put them in the comments or drop us a line.