Thanks for beating me to it! 🙂 ... View more

Yes, the reason it is still in the El Camino is that I haven't had a reason to take it out yet. Runs strong on regular gas.  But I still yearn for that high compression 396, it was fast. ... View more

There seemed to be some new cars available during the height of the pandemic but not now. Seems strange to me. The Toyota and Subaru dealers have cars, but not the Lincoln store I drive past. I get calls from two Ford dealers telling meats are inbound. Tesla says they will build a million cars this year. BTW: How long does it take to build a chip factory? We finally decided to replace my wife's 2011 Volvo with 110k. Bad time to start shopping. The Lexus dealer had us leave a $1000 deposit with the line, "We'll call you when we get one. Then it's take it or leave it". So no choice of color or options on a $50,000 car. Bummer. We have cash, I may just take it, in crisp unmarked bills, to a Ford or Toyota store and get a Escape or RAV4. The heck with what Car and Driver thinks. ... View more

Thumbs up! to those who 'Do & have' Served ... View more

I'm going to be 100% honest and say that I think story is leaving out some really critical information regarding the valve train. I think the biggest and most likely problem a non-professional engine rebuilder will encounter with the head is to damage the camshaft, either by improper lubrication or lifter adjustment. Did I miss anything mentioned about lifters or tappets? How critical is it to use brand new tappets? Can a camshaft be re-ground? What is involved with that in terms of time and expense? Does everyone know about the absence of zinc in modern synthetic oils, and what kind and amount of additive to use for a non-roller cam? I know about the Justice Brothers, but what about everyone else? ... View more

I simply MUST become a convert to that church!  In fact, I'm currently designing the t-shirt that I'm gonna order to give each of my children for Christmas this year,,,  😄 ... View more

I'm thinking there are bound to be other things that really needed updating or replacing that would be encountered with the dash off. But congratulations. Progress is progress, and maybe over time the smell goes away. ... View more

Never had any love for this tool. I generally have had other options that were more successful I use as a go to. The real issues is most impact drivers are not generally well built tools. People just don’t invest much in tools that generally don’t work well. Most are from some u. Named company from China at a low price hence broken bits. Like stated often the fastener is already damaged and often these just create more damage. My small electric impact driver has been a greater help along with heat or lubrication. ... View more

Anymore it is getting best to replace parts vs repair and saving the repair on the removed part once the NOS part is no longer available.  Today many parts are becoming difficult to find and if you can it is best to go new and just save the old part for repair should it not be available.  ... View more

Sales of the Corvair Turbo might have been higher #s wise in production vehicles if that's your yard stick for success, but the Olds as a performance engine (even without the turbo) along with it's Buick Cousin (almost identical except for the number of head bolts) was far more successful from a performance standpoint. The Oldsmobile went on to be the Repco V8 powering Jack Brabham championship formula 1 cars (obviously highly modified), and the Buick was used by Mickey Thompson at Indy. Not to mention the Buick was sold to Rover and powered Land Rovers until 2004! So I'd say that the 215 was far more successful than the Corvair engine with or without the Turbo. ... View more

I don't think you can characterize the Supermono's engine as having a balance shaft. What it had was a bob-weight. It used the same sort of crankshaft as one of Ducati's 90-degree twins. The second connecting rod was perpendicular to the cylinder and was attached to another connecting rod that pivoted from the case. When the engine turned, the vertical connecting rod served to balance the primary shaking force of the cylinder. ... View more

   I can't tell you the most aggravating parts I broke, because they belonged to a friend who I think is getting a Hagerty quote right now and might soon sign up for this community forum.  If he read the true story, he'd know that where his parts went vs. the story I told him did not mesh, and then I'd have to tell him the truly stupid thing I did to break them in the first place, which is why it was so aggravating...   🙄 ... View more

I have a similar story with my '69 Sport Satellite and '79 Camaro. Both long gone but for the pictures. Great story.  ... View more

How long till the government puts a tax on fuel powered racers, and gives the money to E-racers as a subsidy. Just to be fair of course. As far as "grass roots" racing goes, even if you trailer your E-racer to the track, you will need to recharge between rounds. Can you imagine 100 Harbor Freight generators all running at the same time. How about a rule that E-racers cannot be recharged after the first round of racing starts. They would have to be smart about conserving battery power for the final round. Which would be about 25 seconds, at 40 MPH in total silence. I think I would like to see that race. ... View more

We have a couple of these old Manx buggies in our off road club. I was surprised they didn't show a newer version, here is one: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d5/3d/15/d53d1514af8fe481de52b0c55277ba7d.jpg ... View more

As a M/T driver, Miata RF, 46 C truck, and 1 of the few HRV with 6sp in calif, I will agree the manual offers true connection to the vehicle, however, driving 7 gears 400 + ponies on a track, take the DCT or you will be driving one handed. ... View more

Mom took me to the scout camp just outside of town to throw her 5 spd V6 Ranger into a slide as well as learning to control it with the throttle and correct it. It was a snow covered parking lot so it was a lot of fun as well as teaching me how to maneuver a car in less than perfect conditions. I also got to lock the hubs and see how much different trying to correct with the front wheels engaged was. I can tell you.....It is a big difference. ... View more

Just goes to show what a clever guy can do with two scissors jacks, a purpose built transmission jack and a neat and well lit work space. I call that cheating. ... View more

Why not use a boat gearcase oil filler pump?     ... View more

Great catch! Though legally a generic version can be anything BUT a "Vise-Grip". ... View more

Storing that information on a paper list leaves precious space open in your brain for other uses. ... View more