We Haven't Had A Good Car Thread In A While...........My '67 Chevelle

not too shabby....

.... for an "old" man. Very nice and very clean run there sir!
 
jackie schmidt said:
Dave, I figure that things making an honest 500 HP at the flywheel.

Nice run.
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Thanks Jackie

Supposed to be 555hp and about the same torque. The car is an original 340hp----409, 4 speed, 4:11 gears, bench seat, and in dash tach. The guy that built the motor has built over 500---409's. I bought the motor that is in the car now for $1300 in 1990. It is a 1965--425hp block with 1963---690 heads with the big valves. Someone told me that this motor could have been the first one built for the 65 year. I also bought another block and heads for $1400 in 1990. 1962 matching numbers 409hp block with the 690 heads. I bought the car in 1988 from my duck hunting buddy for $2750. Interior was shot and the body needed paint, but had virtually no rust, had to replace 1 spot of sheet metal the size my fist by the rear quarter. I took out the original 340hp 409 and put in the 65 block. The original motor had been overhauled and when the block was decked the serial numbers went away several years ago. . Back to the 2 blocks------i took the heads of both engines and put each complete engine in a 55 gallon barrel...................then filled each with used motor oil. Every one laughed at me when i did that, but when i took the engine out of the barrel, guess what, no rust. After 20 years of marinating, i took the 425hp engine out and sent it to Jack Gibbs in California. Bored .030 to 472ci, with an Eagle 4" stroker crank, Insky 636 rocker roller cam, and dual 500 Edelbrock carbs. The 409's flew apart pretty regularly back in the day. Top ends and rods mainly. Today with the new technology the weakest part is probably the 2 bolt mains. I'm leaving the line at around 6 grand. The 4 speed Doug Nash tranny is beefed up to withstand 600hp, driveshaft is bulletproof, and has a 4:33 Quick Performance rear end, with M/T 28X10.5 slicks. I drive this car on the street regularly. I set the best time ever with the car on my birthday. My whole family was to celebrate my birthday the day after i raced. The all came to the strip and when i came down the return road, suprised me with all the Grandkids holding signs wishing me a happy birthday. What a great day........................:)

Thats my story.

Later
Dave
 
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My last muscle car was a 1972 429 Ford Torino. All the numbers matched on the car so I pulled the motor and rebuilt it and stored. Found a 429SCJ and had a 522 cu in stroker motor made. It was 12.5 to 1 compression, roller cam, lifters and rockers, pro- fogger NOS, manual valve body C6 with a modifed Super Hole Shot 3500 rpm converter by B&M. And a detroit Locker diff. I had the stock wheels cut in half and widen just enough so everything would still fit in the stock wheel wells, to keep the stock sleeper look. That car was quick once it was moving down the road but anything below 40mph or so forget it, just up in smoke. :)
A friend of mine had a ERA kit cobra built about 25 years, "took first place at Cobo Hall" doug nash 5 speed, stroker 427 side oiler 4- 2 barrel Webers carbs. Crazy fast! But not fast enough! :) He end up having a lingenfelter 620 cu in made for it "Sweet Jesus" was that car fast. We were racing a tubbed out Rousch built mustang down in Detroit on one early Sunday morning and he was going up in smoke at 100 mph! It's amazing most of us are all here after those days! LOL
 
Dave, talk about priceless. Those Grandkids cheering and giving Grandad the Kudos.

When I was planning my latest engine project, I came real close to having Walden build me an all aluminum "W" motor. I chickenned out, mainly because I have "Rat Blood" in my veins.

But if I do build another car in the future, it is going to have a 409 based engine in it. With all of the modern components, they are just as bullet proof as a Rat, and for appearance, the only thing that will rival that "look" is maybe a first generation Hemi.

My wife and I are heading to Pearland tonight for a Nifty Fiftys Cruise. Just a bunch of motorheads getting together and swapping lies. Life doesn't get much better than that.
 
ok trivia since jackie brought it up.....
crusin'
AMERICAN GRAFITTI.......about the graduating class of 1961 of modesto high school...modesto california....
when they went to shoot the movie, the town had changed so much, that they had to go out of town to shoot...
ceries and a couple of other still small towns...
the scene where they chain the police car was in a used car lot...that family went on to be a decent sized dealer...datsun/nissan..
the drag race scene...was on ??? paradice road........right near where i worked in 1965 and 66......
crusied with my cousin in a red mga......( modesto outlawed crusing about 10 yrs ago)

it gets worse my mom went to modesto high. harve presnell was 2 yrs ahead of her( think lead in the The Unsinkable Molly Brown. on broadway and local lead in the music man..76 trombons...trouble right here in river city)....
harve presnell took my sister to the new york opening of american grafitti...

now back to out regular scheduled cruise....sat eve at your fav drive in FAST food joint.........
 
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Wow, you fellas have some pretty cool (and fast) cars.

I still have the car I purchased when I turned 23 and graduated from A&P school. A 1970 454 Corvette coupe. Engine was up-graded to an LS7 (old style) which was the L-88 version of the 454. Car has ps, pb, pw, AC, tilt tello, leather, 4 spd, and all of 42K on the odometer.

Tried to up load a pic but it failed for some reason.

RGDS

Bob
 
glynn angle said:
I was a very serious 60's hotrodder. If we had had the parts available back then (and some money) that are available now. But we had to learn to "wrench um" ourselves. Dave, no one could have a better birthday! you semi-old fart !!!
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That's the truth. Back when I was hot rodding in the '60's, and boat racing in the '70's, you had a choice between overworked OEM parts, or gosh awful expensive aftermarket parts.

Now, you open a catelogue and there are 4 pages of just cylinder heads, something for every concievable application.

The CAD-CAM Machining Revolution has done for the Hot Rod World what it has done for the Shooting World. Manufacturers are able to produce very well made equipment at a cost that in comparison is really quite cheap compared to what we used to have to pay.

A good example are Heads, Crankshafts, and Connecting Rods. In 1975 you had to pay as much as $4000 for a totally re-worked set of Air Flow Research heads, actually modified OEM. Now, you can buy the finest there is for around 3500, superior in every fashion, and ready to bolt on. Remember when Carrillo was the only steel rod besides the OEM offerrings? Now, everybody and his Grandmother makes rods, and cranks. A at very reasonable costs. Heck, the entire SCAT Rotating Assembly for my 540 Rat cost less than just a Hank the Crank stroker did in the old days.

Like Ive said, these are great days for Hot Rodders.
 
jackie schmidt said:
Dave, talk about priceless. Those Grandkids cheering and giving Grandad the Kudos.

When I was planning my latest engine project, I came real close to having Walden build me an all aluminum "W" motor. I chickenned out, mainly because I have "Rat Blood" in my veins.

But if I do build another car in the future, it is going to have a 409 based engine in it. With all of the modern components, they are just as bullet proof as a Rat, and for appearance, the only thing that will rival that "look" is maybe a first generation Hemi.

My wife and I are heading to Pearland tonight for a Nifty Fiftys Cruise. Just a bunch of motorheads getting together and swapping lies. Life doesn't get much better than that.
Click to expand...

http://www.348-409.com/forum/index.php?threads/aluminum-409-build.22051/

You can build about any big block cheaper than building a 409. Probably get way more hp for the buck also. Here is a link to the new aluminum 409 block that Bob Walla is putting out...he also makes some nice heads. The guys building this motor know their stuff and have a nice shop to do the work in. I think it will be 520ci and somewhere around 800hp. I think it's going in a 63 Pontiac. That Lamar Waldon engine is pretty pricey for sure.

Later
Dave

When i built my motor i decided to stick with the old school 690 original heads and block. Went with the Edelbrock intake though.
 
The most exciting care I ever owned was a Ferrari 360 Modena. It was the perfect car to own during my many years living as a permanent resident in Northern Italy.

The engine, chassis, and body were all aluminum. Even though it had a mid engine V-8 making only a tad over 400 hp, it was a good performer with a top speed of 189mph because it was both very light and very aerodynamically slippery. A Ferrari is exciting to drive, not only because they look good and perform well, but every time you hit the 8700 rpm red line, you wonder if the engine is going to blow up. And every time you stop, you wonder if it will start up again. That spice of danger is part of the experience. By the way, mine never failed me although I must be said I spent a lot of time keeping it in perfect operating condition and I hate to count the hours I spent keeping it looking good. I did all the work myself and it never saw a professional mechanic in all the time I owned it.

The roads at the foot of my driveway were wonderful, as are most of the roads in Italy. Everybody loves a Ferrari in Italy. Because most Ferrari owners are tax dodgers, La Guardia di Finanza (the money police) stop every Ferrari the see on the road and conduct a mini IRS audit. Therefore, you hardly see performance cars on Italian roads these days. When you cruise through small villages at a reasonable speed but in a low gear to show off the fantastic exhaust sound, little kids scream "Ferrari" as do the old ladies dressed all in black. It really was a "grande macchina".

Unfortunately, the car wasn't old enough to bring back to the U.S. so I was forced to sell it. That was actually a good thing because here in the U.S. people have been taught to hate success and I'm not convinced I could stand the typical pecker-heads "keying" my doors out of pure spite. I'm sure I'd wind up in jail sooner rather than later.

But during my stay in Italy, it was fantastic. If you think zipping over to Monaco for lunch in a Ferrari is a thrill, you are absolutely correct.

_DSC2012-Edit
 
And all I've got is a '02 Z06. When I got it I couldn't believe how fast it was but now, I can't imagine getting into a new Z06 with more HP. Oh well, the wife and I still enjoy taking it for a sunday ride.
 
When in Kalif. a couple weeks ago my youngest Son and I found him a CTS/V. A very very impressive station wagon. I think around 560hp. Wanted Jackie's brothers, but we were a little late on it.
 
Roland's Desoto Hemi

A Desoto Hemi? Really great stuff!
Junior Fuel was an NHRA class for rails with fuel injection and engines smaller than 310 cubic inches. The class was dominated by small block Chevys which were a natural fit. However, the class record for a time was held by a small displacement Hemi and I think it was a Dodge. The early ones were under 300 cubic inches and you could always go up. The handicap with a small displacement Hemi was the weight.
 
the smallest "hemi's" ( fire dome) from the 50's that i remember is is about 354 or some number like that.
maybe some one de-stroked/or added liners.


well i looked it up......276ci/160hp!
 
CMaier said:
the smallest "hemi's" ( fire dome) from the 50's that i remember is is about 354 or some number like that.
maybe some one de-stroked/or added liners.


well i looked it up......276ci/160hp!
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You looked it up so now I had too. Turns out Dodge had two motors over 300 inches [ 315 - 325 ] and I'm sure you saw that too, but elected not to poke me with that info. Thanks! Anyway, getting 40 inches out of a 270 or 276 motor might be a reach. Looking at the charts the 291 inch DeSoto might be a better choice. I do know it was an early Hemi under 310 inches and how they arrived at that displacement I'm not sure,but they didn't call it a DeSoto. On the other hand that was 50 plus years ago and I can't remember where I left my shoe's. I do have my socks on.
 
Car photos

Jackie wanted pictures so here we go. The 53 - 54 Corvette wasn't mine but myself and my future wife (three people will fit) were chauffeured around in it when I got back from a 13 month tour in the Pacific. It was powered by a 283 with a three speed on the floor. The can in his hand isn't soda pop.
View attachment 18100

This is an absolutely cherry 57 we bought in 1965. My wife drove this car (283 powereglide) because she didn't like the beefed pressure plate in the 55. We soon after sold this car and bought a new 66 Chevelle SS which I later used to flat tow the 55 D/G car.

View attachment 18102

This is our 63 split window and that is snow on the rear of the car. The day before we just made it over the pass into Lake Tahoe before they closed the road. The second picture was taken in Monterey, California which was one of our favorite destinations. The picture of the 57 was also taken in Monterey.
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The last picture is the 55 D/G car. I call this one "my office on Sundays".
View attachment 18104

I have more pictures somewhere that I will post later. One is the 40 Ford that's in my sign in logo, and in the lower right hand corner is part of the 66 Corvette coupe which we still have. The 40 Ford now belongs to my son. He was having fun with it until the trans went out last week.
 
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This 1970 Cuda belongs to my good friend, it has original paint, no rust, no dents, original 440 Magnum 4 speed, he bought if for $1900 when we were in high school in the late 70s. It as good as it looks in the picture, he will never part with it. I believe it has a little over 400000 original miles. The crotch rocket is one I rode around on the street in the 80s, my best time at the IRP ET drags was 10.58 at 130 with the small street tire and no bars and street gearing. It wouldn't hang in today's world of 1400cc factory street racers, but it was still a lot of fun.?
 

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