My Younger Brother

[Condor]

I remember when I was twice as old as he was, but now days percentage wise he's getting a lot closer... He was always a hot rodder, and several years ago he built this 65 Ford Fairlane into a street rod. Ran it a lot down in Pomona Raceway. He finally ran out of steam and sold it. And found it again. Here's a youtube of the car, and if you'll notice they ain't speaking english... It's amazing, but the thing ended up in Sweden... Yah... And yes it his car. The decals in the rear passenger window are the dead give away.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Condor

[BlueSky]

Condor, that's a 64 Galaxie, the big Ford. The Fairlane was the mid-size. My girl friend in 1964 had a new one.

[Condor]

Condor, that's a 64 Galaxie, the big Ford. The Fairlane was the mid-size. My girl friend in 1964 had a new one.

 

Yeah what do I know.... I figured someone would chime in and correct my WAS.... :-) Thanks I do know coming off the line he's get air under the front end ... I think those kids in Sweden were impressed...

[BlueSky]

I never had a car powerful enough to lift the front wheels but I had loads of fun drag racing my 65 300hp 327cu in 4 speed Chevelle on the drag strip. Running down the quarter mile with open exhausts speed shifting trying to beat the guy in the next lane was one of the greatest thrills of my life! My car would do about 100mph in a quarter.

 

When I was looking for a car for my stepson, we test drove a 2004 Mach I Mustang. The Mach I that year had the DOHC 4.6L engine and the PO had installed full length headers and a Borla exhaust system. That car gave me heart palpatations bringing back memories! I bought a Miata for my stepson which was what he wanted but I thought very seriously about buying that Mach I for myself!

[Venturous Randy]

Wow Blue, that brought back a lot of memories. In 1968, while in high school, I bought a 64 Chevelle 327 four speed car. It served me well thru four years in the USAF and later on I picked up a 65 Chevelle that had a 4:10 12 bolt posi. I had built a very warmed over 327 as I was getting out of the AF and moved it over to the 65. That was a pretty quick car. I later on rebuilt the 327 and put it in a 72 240Z that I had already put about 50K miles on with a 350 Chevy. The 327 has been rebuilt again to a 331 and is now in my son's 65 Chevelle. He is now 48 and bought his 65 when he was 16. I have now picked up another Chevelle project car.

We also have six Miatas in the family.

Randy

 

[Dragonslayer]

When I was in high school the gang would take the family car if allowed to drive to the local drag strip on Sundays and race. I remember we would flip the air filter cover over so it would sound cool when we kicked the four barrels in.

 

I always seemed to win. Did I mention that the family car at that time was a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Dragonslayer

[Kretz]

Remember when you could get under the hood & actually DO stuff. Flow inlet & outlet ports, mess with carbs, add new bits, remove unwanted bits? Not like now where everything is computerized & you daren't touch anything for fear the thing will never run again. Or the bloody check engine light will be forever on.

[BlueSky]

yep, the last time I pulled the engine out of that 65 Chevelle it took one hour from shutting off the engine to having it swinging. I had just done a minor rebuild on it because I scorched a rod bearing running it wide open in the desert outside of El Paso where I was stationed and rebuilt it at the Army craft shop. The ace mechanic working at the shop advised me to install the rear main seal backwards so I yanked it again to replace the rear main seal again the right way. And the same ace mechanic steered me wrong on the valve seals so I had to disassemble the heads and install the valve seals correctly. So, having recently pulled the engine, I knew exactly what to do next. One hour to pull it and 45 minutes more to replace the rear main seal and then on to the heads. It initially cost me $98 to get the crank polished, block heads and intake tanked to clean them, rings installed on the pistons, new cam bearings installed, and I ground the valves and installed new rod and main bearings. Total cost $98 in 1968 and then had to spend a few more bucks on gaskets and rear main seal. But, I was getting $125/month PFC pay after taxes and a savings bond and I was working 16 hours/day on the weekends pulling kp for other guys for $10/day to pay for my engine! I just wish I had that kind of energy today.

[cowpuc]

I loved getting to be part of those days long gone by too!! I used to "tune" my Macher to each tank of fuel and each particular day of drag racing the other boys by tweeking my distributor just to the point of spark knock and then backing it off just slightly to get the ultimate performance out of it.. Always carried one of the bent distributor wrenches down in that little pocket next to the body stiffner across the shock towers just for the occasion..

The sources for performance parts back in the day were also amazing.. Kmart use to sell headers, heads, cams, Mickey Thompson valve covers, Holley 4 barrels and on and on.. Bought a brand new set of Craiger SS's from them for 35 bucks a wheel and the rears were 10 inchers = had em in stock!! All the normal, everyday stores had packages of points/condensers hanging on the shelves.

Also, around here, the build shops were rampant.. We had full time 3 blue printers.. Also, having a crank ground or valve's resurfaced was an everyday - back yard mechanics operation..

My oh my,, how times have changed.....

[BlueSky]

I wasn't knowledgeable enough to recurve the distributor advance for maximum hp on my Chevelle back then. I did know that if I bumped the idle setting from 8 degrees BTDC to 14 BTDC it would cover the quarter mile a full second quicker which was a huge hp increase.

 

By the way when I changed the spark plugs in my 2002 F150 5.4L V8, I took my time because they are so hard to get to and I spent about 8 hours just changing plugs. The dealer charge was $240 for labor and $10 each for plugs so I decided it was something I needed to learn how to do. The same Motorcraft plugs were $2.79 ea at Advance Auto Parts.

Edited November 4, 2017 by BlueSky

[Yammer Dan]

I had a 56 Crown Vic and rebuilt a 312 for it. Tuned just right it was fun to play with!! Good thing rear tires were cheap back then!!!

[Kretz]

This was my first car, (stock photo) 1962 Ford Anglia 105E a 4 cyl in line, whole whopping 997cc! (Never for a second thought I'd have a bike bigger than that!) LOL

I remember taking the head off, grinding valves, flared the I/O ports, took the head in to college to skim it but the workshop tech wouldn't help me set it up. Hi flow exhaust system & manifold. Did a number of other things too, Boy could it move, not like the cars you guys had back then I guess, but it was way faster than my friends 1200cc "Super" Anglia. Sadly it did what many cars did back then, it just started to rust & fall apart, but it was a good introduction to driving. I didn't have the space or time to save it.

Edited November 4, 2017 by Kretz

[Condor]

Great remember when stories... Which reminds me... :-) My Dad bought Mom a brand new '59 Impala Convertible for her birthday. Being frugal he got it with a 283/2 and 3 on the tree. I took it out on a date and got into a street race on Huntington Blvd in Pasadena with another car. At the next stop light the engine developed a big time miss. I feigned ignorance when I got home and said it just started missing... So Dad took it back up to the dealer, and they under warantee ended up putting another motor in it. I suspect they stuff a 327 in her because my brother won quite a few trophy's at the Erwindale Drag strip with it.. They finally challenged him and he left and never went back. That thing hauled as$$... Wish I had it now with the prices they're bring at Barrett Jackson!!

[Kretz]

You guys had way cooler cars than we did in the UK!

Know what you mean about prices, I've been looking (just looking) for something that could be a simple/ easy project, but there's nothing out there that I can afford!

[BlueSky]

Great remember when stories... Which reminds me... :-) My Dad bought Mom a brand new '59 Impala Convertible for her birthday. Being frugal he got it with a 283/2 and 3 on the tree. I took it out on a date and got into a street race on Huntington Blvd in Pasadena with another car. At the next stop light the engine developed a big time miss. I feigned ignorance when I got home and said it just started missing... So Dad took it back up to the dealer, and they under warantee ended up putting another motor in it. I suspect they stuff a 327 in her because my brother won quite a few trophy's at the Erwindale Drag strip with it.. They finally challenged him and he left and never went back. That thing hauled as$$... Wish I had it now with the prices they're bring at Barrett Jackson!!

 

I also had a 59 Impala 2 dr hdtp that I traded for my 65 Chevelle. It had the 283 cu in 4 barrel engine rated 230hp. And it had 3 on a tree with electric overdrive. After you got over about 35 or 40mph if you let up on the gas it would go into OD. The OD rear diff on that model was a 4.11 which really gave it a kick. I embarassed many cars when I raced them because of the quick revving small block and 4.11 gears. Chevy offered the OD from 55 to 61. I had a problem with that car though. Chevy went to coil spring rears in 58 and it took them several years to figure out how to attach them to the car. They initially had two lower arms and ONE upper arm on the right side. I think it was 61 before they used two upper arms. Anyway, drag racing with that 4.11 caused the bracket that the upper arm was attached to to be ripped from the frame or at least it started ripping off. I got it welded back about 4 times before I traded the car.

[Condor]

I also had a 59 Impala 2 dr hdtp that I traded for my 65 Chevelle. It had the 283 cu in 4 barrel engine rated 230hp. And it had 3 on a tree with electric overdrive. After you got over about 35 or 40mph if you let up on the gas it would go into OD. The OD rear diff on that model was a 4.11 which really gave it a kick. I embarassed many cars when I raced them because of the quick revving small block and 4.11 gears. Chevy offered the OD from 55 to 61. I had a problem with that car though. Chevy went to coil spring rears in 58 and it took them several years to figure out how to attach them to the car. They initially had two lower arms and ONE upper arm on the right side. I think it was 61 before they used two upper arms. Anyway, drag racing with that 4.11 caused the bracket that the upper arm was attached to to be ripped from the frame or at least it started ripping off. I got it welded back about 4 times before I traded the car.

 

We didn't have the OD or 4.11's, but one thing I do remember is I didn't have to grab second before 70 mph. Never did make it into 3rd in the quarter.... On the spring issue Chevy made to cruise not race... Can't remember what set up my '56 2-dr had in the rear... Another one I wish I still had. 265/2 power glide. I have a few great stories about that one too....

[BlueSky]

We didn't have the OD or 4.11's, but one thing I do remember is I didn't have to grab second before 70 mph. Never did make it into 3rd in the quarter.... On the spring issue Chevy made to cruise not race... Can't remember what set up my '56 2-dr had in the rear... Another one I wish I still had. 265/2 power glide. I have a few great stories about that one too....

 

This is going to sound weird but I had a 56 Chevy Convertible, the first car that I bought at 19 yrs old. It was dilapidated and an ugly dark green and white. I had it painted red and white inside and outside with new upholstery and carpet. I rebuilt almost everything about that car in the 9 months I owned it before trading it for the 59 Impala. It was my first engine rebuild because of a cracked piston. That car taught me to buy clean low miles cars.

[Venturous Randy]

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=110821

This was my first car, (stock photo) 1962 Ford Anglia 105E a 4 cyl in line, whole whopping 997cc! (Never for a second thought I'd have a bike bigger than that!) LOL

I remember taking the head off, grinding valves, flared the I/O ports, took the head in to college to skim it but the workshop tech wouldn't help me set it up. Hi flow exhaust system & manifold. Did a number of other things too, Boy could it move, not like the cars you guys had back then I guess, but it was way faster than my friends 1200cc "Super" Anglia. Sadly it did what many cars did back then, it just started to rust & fall apart, but it was a good introduction to driving. I didn't have the space or time to save it.

Wow, kretz, after sharing memories of my Chevelles in post #5, you post a picture of a 1962 Anglia. My first car, which was the one before the Chevelle was a 1961 Anglia. I learned to drive on the road in my mom's 1958 Anglia. Yep, that brings back some memories too.

frandy

[Condor]

This is going to sound weird but I had a 56 Chevy Convertible, the first car that I bought at 19 yrs old. It was dilapidated and an ugly dark green and white. I had it painted red and white inside and outside with new upholstery and carpet. I rebuilt almost everything about that car in the 9 months I owned it before trading it for the 59 Impala. It was my first engine rebuild because of a cracked piston. That car taught me to buy clean low miles cars.

 

Mine was a 2-door hardtop. It was also sorta a wreck when I bought it... very cheap!! In my yoot I used to work in the data processing center for Allstate Ins Regional in Pasadena CA. One of the guys came in one day with his hand in bandages. Asked what happened and he sez while checking the coolant on his '56 Chevy, it was still under pressure, and the live steam scalded his hand. He had just gotten back from Tijuana after having the whole interior upholstered. Nice job. All black tuck and roll. The car had new paint. Pepper green. Anyway, about two weeks later he tells me that the car was side swiped while parked on the street and he was inside at a party. Couldn't even open the passenger door. And.... he was getting sick and tired of the whole thing and the first guy that came up with $100 bill could have it. I asked if my check was OK, he agreed, and wrote it out on the spot. The car looked great except for the POW!! It was in the passenger side rear quarter panal and a piece lipped over the edge of the door. I took it home a beat the crap out of the lip and free'd the door up and it worked fine. My wife drove that thing for about 3 years commuting to work. Then one night on the way home from Pasadena during the WATTS RIOTS it blew the lower radiator hose, and she was too scared to stop. When she pulled into the drive way it was Rice Crispy time. Snap, crackle, and pop..... I let it cool down over night, but the rings were fried and it never ran the same. I sold it to my barber when we moved to Northern Cal for a new job. Never did a thing to it while we owned it. I some times wonder if it ended up being fixed up and I might have even seen it selling at Barrett Jackson for around $50,000???