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Post by Volktales on Jun 14, 2020 22:23:47 GMT -8
This is what my good friend Terry (of Canadian HotRods Magazine) has going on in his garage...   Today was yanking the engine out of Terry's 1962 Canadian Pontiac Strato Chief. This car is factory equipped with a GMC truck type engine and Powerglide two speed automatic transmission. Terry intended on cruising around in it like this for awhile, but the water pump failed and he could not find a replacement for this oddball engine. Not a problem as Terry is Mr. V-8, and one of those will end up in the old Poncho....  The car is, erm, a bit rough, but he loves it! What do you think you are gonna get for $300? And it actually ran beautifully smooth, too. It's future will be a vintage drag car theme...  Terry's long term project is this 1962 Chevrolet Bel-Air "bubbletop". This is his all-time dream car, and he intends to get a 409 cubic inch engine for it someday. It currently has a well built 350 in it with Muncie 4-speed trans. This combo is going to be installed in the '62 Pontiac. Keep in mind, Canadian Pontiacs of this era used Chevrolet engines from the factory, so this is just fine and dandy...  This 1970 Dodge truck is Terry's daily summer driver, and is getting an aftermarket port style fuel injection system installed on it's 318 engine. This is much too small displacement for Terry, so expect a big block in the future eventually... Terry also has a cool '62 Ford Country Sedan wagon long term project, and a '57 Ford Sedan Delivery drag car. He has it bad, just like us VW people... Always fun, though... |
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Post by tony on Jun 15, 2020 7:55:44 GMT -8
Mmmmmmmm …… love the old car smell! lol! 😎
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Post by Volktales on Aug 20, 2020 20:18:55 GMT -8
Sooo, Terry has finally acquired another "company" vehicle. In a normal year, he would be attending various car shows throughout the country, and keeps a vehicle at his Dad's place back in Ontario for the shows in that area. And to advertise his magazine, the vehicle has to be something old and eye-catching of course. And this is what he finally got his hands on...  Yup, it is another '60's Mopar, this time a Dodge panel van! Apparently he has wanted one of these for some time...  And completely solid it is, given it's life in sunny California. Amazing old sign-writing too, but that will be going. Terry needs to repaint it and put it back to work under his own company logos.  He does have the bumper too. These things are a bit of an acquired taste. But hey, he can tell everyone he has a "split window van"!  There is a tired old 318 under the cover, with automatic trans. This van was previously owned by one operator for decades, and was last licensed four years ago. Terry had a fun time getting it here however...  Terry doesn't do stock, and vintage Cragars are mandatory!  Looks cooler already! Terry bought this thing some time ago, just before the COVID restrictions on US travel hit hard. After hoping and waiting for the border to re-open, he had to admit defeat and get it shipped and brokered across the border. This cost as much as he paid for the van, and did not exactly make him (or his wifey) very happy... He will get over it. Eventually... |
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Post by tony on Aug 20, 2020 20:35:25 GMT -8
Nice!👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿
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Post by Volktales on Mar 14, 2021 20:16:53 GMT -8
So my hotrod friend Terry is still at it...  This is the frame and drivetrain that is going under his '62 StratoChief. Now has a four link Hotchkiss rear end, Muncie four speed, and a hot 350 Chevrolet small block. It is getting there...  Love those rims and tires!  And Terry's latest. A 1978 base model Camaro. A tad rusty...  Well what do you expect for a whopping $250? The future is a race car and will be stripped down soon...  Mmmm, tasty in there... Way too far gone to save this one... Rear axle is barely attached underneath, so Terry has a bit of welding to do... Lots of fun! |
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Post by Volktales on Mar 28, 2021 17:29:05 GMT -8
Sooo, I had lunch with Terry this weekend (McDonalds of course), and then helped him install his aftermarket flywheel onto his built 350 engine.  Ooooh, shiny! This thing was a slight interference fit on the end of the crank and was fun to get it on. Next up is his aftermarket clutch, and like our crummy aftermarket VW parts, nothing fits properly in the hot-rod world either... |
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Post by Volktales on Oct 5, 2021 19:56:52 GMT -8
Sooo, some more adventures with Terry this weekend...  Terry loves vintage drag racing, and some time ago he got his hands on this '60's vintage dragster. He went halfies on it with his friend Kevin, who also has the hot rod bug quite bad. Together they are resurrecting the dragster into something that can actually be raced again. The original frame was too far gone, but has been faithfully copied to modern legal specifications...  Currently that is a small block Chevy backed up by the mighty PowerGlide. Piloting this thing with that rear axle right there looks quite terrifying to me... They seem to be having fun with it...  But the big news is look what Kevin just go his hands on! He has been chasing this rare 1958 Edsel Villager station wagon for years and the owner finally relented...  Pretty wild rear end styling, as the wagon is ready for its first bath in years...  These cars were seen as quite hideous when they were new, but have become pretty cool with the passage of time.  The central upright grill was considered very uncool in the '50's, and was often called "an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon". Other descriptions were less printable...  The offbeat styling was not the only problem with the Edsel. "Tele-Touch" was the other unfortunate issue. This was the '50's, and pushbutton controlled everything was in vogue. Chrysler used pushbuttons to control their automatics, and the mechanical system worked quite well. Edsel's electro-mechanical system did not...  The transmission itself was a conventional automatic, with electric pushbutton controls in the steering wheel hub. The steering wheel turns, while the center hub remains upright all the time. Lots of internal funky contacts to make this work, and the transmission itself has an electric motor on the side that actually makes the shifts happen. System was unreliable even when new, and Ford reverted to a conventional shift lever in 1959.  Speedometer was an oddball "compass" type as well. This was not a popular feature, either.  Even the radio was funny looking. Overall Edsels were not only a fail for Ford, they actually were considered the largest failure in history for any major automotive company. So naturally they are cool today. Kevin loves it! Continued... |
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Post by Volktales on Oct 5, 2021 20:27:39 GMT -8
 And this is what we find under the hood. One of Fords mighty "FE" series engines. This one is the original 361 cubic inch models in a non-original Caterpillar yellow! This family of engines was probably best known for the later 390 ci models, although the 352 ci was common in other Ford models at the time. These engines are very tough, and probably the best part of the Edsels...  Kevin loves his new ride, but look what he had to give up to get it! This is a very rare 1947 Monarch, a Canadian produced model never seen in the US. Like many early postwar cars, this thing was dripping with options when new. And this one is almost completely original including paint and interior! The guy from whom he bought the Edsel, once owned this exact car, and the only way he would part with the Edsel, was to trade this one back. Bit of a bummer then...  Although I am not a four door sedan type of guy, this car was very sweet and there was no way I would have parted with it. Kevin figures he will get it back again in the future as the "new" owner, um, doesn't look exactly healthy... Anyway I do hope he does get it back in the future... Meanwhile Kevin seems happy with his new toy, and hopes to have it back on the road again soon. For his sake, that Tele-Touch better be functioning correctly... So why did the Edsel fail? Ford spent the big bucks to bring this new car to the market in '58, and had very high aspirations for it. This was not a new Ford model, but in fact an entire new division, complete with a new dealer network. Ford did extensive pre-launch surveys and customer clinics to decide what to build. They hinted to the public that this was going to be a new high-tech model with many unique features, marketed somewhere between the lower cost Ford and the expensive Lincoln and some cross-over with Mercury cost-wise. By the time the introduction date was nearing, the public was worked into a frenzy over this exciting new model. And then the public saw it... After lots of waiting in anticipation, what lay before them was a pretty average car, with a downright ugly front end, goofy instruments and shifter, and a real unfortunate name. Most dealers did not want a name like "Edsel", which was Henry Ford's only son's name, and was not a popular choice for most. An economic downturn in 1958 meant car sales were generally stagnant which did not help. Most people happily avoided buying Edsels, and the make of a whole lasted barely into the 1960 model year, before Ford ended the whole fiasco. It is estimated to have cost Ford well over $250,000,000 at the time which is well over 2 BILLION dollars in todays money. Amazing! My Dad once ended up with a huge pile of brand new 1959 factory Edsel manuals that the dealer happily chucked out. Dad kept two of them and the rest ended up in the landfill in those pre-recycling times. I still have the remaining one of course in mint condition, but I am not about to go out and buy the matching car... 4250 |
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Post by Volktales on Mar 13, 2022 18:55:51 GMT -8
 So Terry has been continuing on with his 1962 Pontiac Strato-Chief project. After waiting for pretty much ever, his complete floor showed up and was both welded and bonded in. Here covered with shiny paint (assuming Por15)...  He has more work to do in the inner fender structure, as that is yellow daylight visible where the floor joins the wheel well.  More welding in the trunk area required. In reality his car was worse than my Corvair, so I really don't have a good excuse not to restore it, do I??? |
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