Tag Archives: Shopping

It’s Spring Time….and Beehives are the Buzz Part 1

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No this isn’t going to be one of those talks and no we aren’t going to run out and hung a tree, ok…if you must…go ahead I’ll wait…..(insert bored whistling)……(more bored whistling)…..Ok…are you done?!!

As I get closer to getting the heads on the Mustang, I’m going to have to begin picking any changes I want made to the CJ heads. While cruising the web checking out options, I ran across this piece (Corvette related but springs are springs as far as an engine is concerned) and there are some good tips here.

Good reading.

Beehive Springs Sound Great, But Will They Work For You?

by on April 18, 20

Quick! What the fastest moving component in your engine? If you’ve taken a hint from the title of this article, you probably guessed correctly – it’s your valve springs, those tight little bundles of joy that open and close your engine’s valves.

Beehive springs come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The benefits of moving to Beehive springs where possible (and today few situations are not Beehive compatible) are many.

Beehive springs, such as those offered by COMP Cams, offer a huge number of benefits over stock-style cylindrical springs; reduced valve spring mass, faster valve acceleration, increased valve train rigidity, reduced valve train component stress and a whole laundry list of other positives.

Best of all, the word has gotten out and folks all over the country are using them for a wide variety of applications from street performance to extreme racing endeavors. That’s a really good thing.

Along with their success has come some confusion over exactly which beehive is right to purchase. Currently there are over a dozen beehive spring styles out there, each offering some unique take, be it in the seat pocket diameter, ovate wiring diameter, pitch or internal spring “frequency.” Regardless increased selection has bred some minor confusion, albeit easily cured.

Beehive springs are conical shaped springs that employ this powerful shape in the creation of a spring that can deliver both excellent performance and lowered seat pressures. With lower seat pressure, valve train components (especially the pushrods, rockers and lifters) are less stressed to perform the same work.

This beehive spring weights in at 99 grams, while a comparable conventional spring is 121 grams.

The difference between beehive and conventional cylindrical springs is obvious especially when you compare them in this manner. Note the dramatic difference in retainer diameter equating to less valve train weight.

According to COMP, effective beehive springs can support an additional 700rpm over stock cylindrical springs. How? It just stands to reason that the smaller coils at the top of the spring don’t require as much force to get the valve moving quickly, much quicker than conventional style springs. The higher rpm potential equates to better durability and performance.

There are some very knowledgeable engine builders who don’t understand how a single coil spring can be better than a dual conventional spring.

“Its like watching a race car running 60-foot elapsed times on the drag strip,” stated Bill Godbold, Chief Engineer for COMP Cams. “For example, take two identical cars with equivalent 500 hp engines.

“One has stock suspension and the other a sophisticated racing suspension. The car with the race suspension will get going more quickly and achieves better 60-foot time. The same principle works with beehive spring mechanics.”

 

Thanks for reading.  Part II coming up.

Tim

Did You Know? – 1932 Buick

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The 1932 Buick had a Ride Regulator.  Yup.  It was a manually controlled suspension adjustment system was by moving a six position lever on the steering column.

It also featured a button next to the clutch pedal would activate the vacuum-operated Wizard Control for clutch-less shifting.

 

 

1932-Buick

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Gorgeous ˜Wood Vehicles 1948 – Part III

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Continuing with this series we’ll look at what Pontiac offered up in 1948 as a woody.

In a previous blog entry (Project Pontiac 1949 Silver Streak Delivery Van http://wp.me/pKHNM-Bx) I gave you a look at a Silver Streak owned by a co-worker.

1949 Silver Streak

Well one year earlier Pontiac offered the Silver Streak as a woody.

Side view...love the big fenders.

That is a lot of wood on that woody.

These were low production cars with most being build on the 6 cylinder chassis.

1948 Pontiac 6 cylinder power plant

 

These were the most commonly used power plants mated with an Automatic Hydra-Matic transmission.  It spec’d out as follows:

Cubic Inch         Horse power                   1bbl carb

239.2 93 (68.45) @ 3400 Carter WA-1 (1)

A very limited  were built with 8 cylinders engines.  Interesting enough these 8 cylinders were called “Silver Steak”.  It boosted the specs:

Cubic Inch                             Horse power                         2 bbl carb

248.9 cu in (4,079 cc) 108.00 (79.5) @ 3700 Carter WCD 630 (2)

Total Pontiac production for that year was only  333,957 cars.

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

Toyota Drifter

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These guys are having fun. Just proves you don’t need gobs of HP to have fun   . On a track with safety gear.    Come on…that’s fun!!!!

[vodpod id=Video.16297291&w=425&h=350&fv=video%3Da26ce6b3-f8ae-47e4-801c-9ff0009b6720%26amp%3Bservicecfg%3D386]

Toyota Drifter, posted with vodpod

Selling Cars Part 1

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I love combing through ads for selling cars.  Every now and then you read some really good ones.

1.  ” 1960 Plymouth Fury donor car. Seems to be complete including chrome and emblems. Glass not broken. No bullet holes. Frame and floor pans rusted through. Guaranteed NOT to run. Absolutely as-is. Will help load; no hurry to move. Strip what you want and leave the rest if desired. No title. Worth ~$400 for scrap iron.”

2.   “I HAVE NO INTERIOR AND MOTOR IS ALL THERE BUT STUCK.”

3.  “…have to get rid of all my rides but a bike and my work truck.  I don’t know a lot about older cars like this besides that it runs and drives good and seems like a good deal to me.”

4.  “I purchased this car in late 2010 as a project car for my son and am now selling it due to his lack of fulfilling his obligations in order to keep it…..OH SNAP!!!”

Thanks for reading.

Tim

1955 Ford Sunliner


1960 Sunliner

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I love the Sunliner the 50’s and 60’s models. Love the fins and the dual antennas on the 1960 in this vid.  Ford made some of the most innovative and well designed cars in the 50’s and 60’s.  I am a fan.

[vodpod id=Video.16166458&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

Sunliner, posted with vodpod
Thanks for reading.
Tim

Barrett-Jackson and Karl Kustom Corvettes

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Not only is there a ton of beautiful cars at Barrett-Jackson auctions, there are also a lot of venders.  Anything from car care products, to engine builders to custom building shops.

One of those was Karl Kustom Corvettes located in Des Moines, Ia.  I had a chance to speak with Jim Hidy one of the reps for Karl Kustom at the auction this past January.

SWEET!!!!

 

Nice looking car, yes?  HELL YES.  But there some interesting things I didn’t know about these custom Vettes and how they are made.

I spoke with Jim at length and I have to tell you that how I thought these were made wasn’t even close and how they are made was pretty surprising to me.  Jim set me straight.

Great Creation

 

These are of course C6 machines with the look of the  60’s Vettes.  All the great handling and power of the C6 underpinning and classic looks.  I thought ‘how cool they manufacture a body that snaps on the C6 frame.  But that’s not how it’s done.

More coming up in Part 2.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Hurst Competition Plus Shift Kit – Installation of Backup Light Switch – Pt2

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So I’ve gotten the new electrical connection installed on the  switch.  I now need to cut off the old switch and strip the wires.

Ya know it’s hard to take a video while you a squeezed under a car on jack-stands!!!

In this video you can see the striped wires.

Installing the bracket was easy enough except that it wasn’t formed properly and had to be bent.  Keep in mind this is not ‘harden’ steel and too much bending will weaken it and when the reverse lever comes back will just push the bracket backward and not allow the button to be depressed enough to make contact and complete the circuit and turn the backup lights on.

Here it is all installed.

Here it is with the car in the reverse position. You can see the button depressed.

Here is a video shot.

And the intended results:

Now I’d love to tell you that all was well, however remember the bolt and the Sharpie mark I made on it so that I could gauge how far to screw it back in?

Well I was still pretty happy with the progress and I took the car off the jack-stand and started her up and backed out of the garage.  That went well, but there didn’t seem to be a first gear once I decided to pull the car forward, nor second gear.  She isn’t going to move.

So I’ve got the car out of the garage and right at the edge of the drive on the driver’s side. I have to get under the car and tighten that bold a few more turns.  I end up laying partially on the drive way, partially on the rocks (we don’t have grass in your yards here..we have small, gather in you pants when you are laying on them, sharp rocks) and partially on one of your shrubs.  Ok, lets not forget the glowing hot Hooker header pipes..yeah…just back out of the garage…no worries the hair on my arm will grow back.  Any way,  I tighten it just enough to get the car to go into second gear and pull it back into garage.

It had to go back up on the jack-stands for more adjustments, and I had to the switch off once to make adjustments to the bracket.  But success was achieved!!!!!

How I measure success!!!

Thanks for reading,

.im

 

Hurst Competition Plus Shift Kit – Installation of Backup Light Switch -pt1

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A quick recap, I had a 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby manual 4 speed transmission rebuilt and installed it in my 1970 coupe. This included a Hurst Competition Plus Shift Kit. Of course the configuration isn’t even close to the original 3 speed and the old bracket for the reverse light switch won’t go back on.

I didn’t really think of this as the time of the installation so I just zip-tied the wiring and old switch up until I picked up the conversion part for the Hurst kit. This included a reverse light switch and a properly formed bracket. Cost was about $29.00 at the same local hot rod shop I bought the shift kit from – they are car guys not salesmen, which is why they didn’t mention the light switch bracket.

Don’t asks me why I felt the need to take video of the kit still in the package but here it is:

As you can see in the video below.  The switch had two screws as posts for the wiring, new switch..old school technology.   Basically you’d wrap the end of a wire around the screw and tighten, not a great connection for hanging under a car, nor for the amount of vibration the 302 dishes out.  Used the screws and the small ‘lock” washer to hold the electrical connectors in place.  That will last.

 

I’ll up this piece tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

1963 Corvette – Needs Paint

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Looking over my morning emails, I come across my Hemmings daily email.  Love getting these and sometimes I share an article from them.

On the right hand side they spotlight (or maybe as a seller you have to pay extra for the placement) some of the cars that are listed with them for sale.  Today there is this 1963 Corvette:

For just over $15K you can pick this up. Worth it? Tires and rims look new!!!
 
Little elbow grease, super glue and an engine.
Thanks for reading
Tim