Amen! I don't care about EV or ICE, I care about FREEDOM. ... View more

Hey Rob; Good story! I read, a long time ago and many times since, to 'buy what you really like and enjoy and you'll always have somethgin you like and enjoy'. I always thought that was sound thinking and have tried to follow that in many parts of my life. Sometimes I, like you, didn't adhere to that thinking and got kicked in the shins pretty good. Then I, as the saying goes, 'dusted myself off and started over again'. Times like that really hurt, but you hope it might build up the depth of your wisdom, so you might not be quite so naïve in the future. So far it's worked for me. ... View more

Mr. Smith; if that's really your name... 🙂 You're one of my great heroes. I love, understand and would love to be a part of a similar build. I'd do it with one of my Chevelles, but while they are somewhat rusty, they're just too nice to do that with. So, this Summer, I'm looking for a really beat up Chevelle or Tempest to do somethgin similar. Several of my friends are in too. In the mean time, until I find that car, we'll be working on putting a fuel injection system on my buddies '66 Chevelle. Finishing the body off the frame re-build of another buddies '67 El Camino. Doing a six cylinder to v8 swap (the V8 is a 41,000 mile original, from the aforementioned '67 El Camino) on my beat up '64 Chevelle 4-door. I drive it everyday in the warmer months. Now that I think about it, there's a '63 Chevy C10 around the block. It hasn't moved it years... I wonder if it's for sale? ... View more

Those intakes were called the Max Ram. Very cool to see and excellent torque in use. The Ramchargers were doing somethgin like this on their car called "High and Mighty" back in '60 or so. ... View more

Hey Nik; That sounds like the perfect time to paint it black and gold, then put a supercharger on it and let's find out how many pieces we can break the crankshaft into? 🙂 🙂 🙂 ... View more

That's funny right there; I tell you what... 🙂 ... View more

Wow! I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.. UGH! I grew up in an AMC family, but that's just not good looking at all. ... View more

I believer that was a tag line for Ziebart of Rusty Jones, or possibly some other spray on rust preventative company, in the early 70's. Good marketing. 🙂 ... View more

Yes! Heading to Tee Public right now to have one made. 🙂 ... View more

I'm hoping at least some of the racing will be televised! ... View more

Once again Cam, after reading your current essay, I am glad to have never purchased a New car. Many years ago, I had ventured into a Dealer and looked at a new truck, but just couldn't get my arms around the value of a piece of equipment that lost 30-40% of it's value when I drove it off the lot. That's a bit different now, but the current offerings from car manufacturers all combined give me a case of the yawns. I've found, over the years, that I prefer to purchase something older, for a much smaller amount of money, then modify and upgrade to my hearts content and then I have something I really want to drive. I do like the whole boxer concept though, I've never owned a boxer powered car. Maybe it's time to work on a Corvair? ... View more

Good article Rob; Love the pics! I'm more of an American muscle and hot rod guy. I've owned a lot of different makes and models over the years. What I keep ending up with, long term, is GM A-bodies from the mid sixties. I've had my '64 El Camino for over 20 and my '64 Chevelle more door for 17 or so. I have a '67 El Camino in my shop, right now, in two major and a LOT of smaller pieces. It will be back together and running an a couple months. I've owned and worked on a lot of '64-67 Pontiac Lemans, Tempests GTO's, a few Buick Special/Skylarks and even the occasional Olds Cutlass/F85. I've had and built several Camaros and Firebirds and occasionally even a couple Impala's and other larger stablemates, but I keep ending up with A-body cars. I get where you're coming from, I have a huge stash of parts, and accumulated knowledge on these cars and I really enjoy how they drive and work; especially after you update a few things like shocks and springs, sway bars, tires and wheels and even fuel injection on a couple. That makes it easy for me to pull the trigger on a new purchase that's in the monetary ball park. The only problem for me is that monetary ball park is getting smaller and smaller, because too many other people love them also. Still they're really what I like, so I keep going back to them. ... View more

I think synthetic fuels is a great idea. Of course, if anyone can actually make it work, for a reasonable price, the green people will soon come up with a strategy to cancel and/or destroy the industry, because it goes against their strategy of eliminating individual freedom. 🙂 But, that's free enterprise... ... View more

Excellent story! I dig the car too. MY family has a LOT of Ramblers and AMC's when I was growing up, including a '70 Rebel SST. ... View more

The best advice is to speak with the engine builder! Now if you're absolutely set on running a tunnel ram, on the street, I'd go with EFI! Otherwise the cold starts can be a real pain if the ambient temp gets down much below 65f or so. ... View more

I dig it! Love old wagons, especially the wood sided wagons. Thank you Thomas! ... View more

Agreed on the lack of trunk space Adrian. Not their best effort, especially when compared with the Viper and all the good stuff that came later. ... View more

I need one! Real or not I just want one for the Garage wall. 🙂 ... View more

Wow Norman! Who would've thought my '68 Chevy C10, with the 6 cyl and three on the tree had so much in common with a Porsche! 🙂 So, deep down inside, that old truck was really an exotic German Sports Car. Extraordinary. ... View more

I love it! The only problem is; someone at GM, or whatever they're calling themselves now (GM is far too virile and misogynistic), is already working on an EV Corvette. Nomad is also too toxically masculine. The new car will be called something like Itinerant, or Voyeur or possibly Refugee! The 2023 Refugee: Find your inner Equity in a Refugee! I can hear Dinah Shore singing it now... 🙂 ... View more

Looking at the drawings, pictures etc, of the various vehicles in this article; I see one glaring reason they probably wouldn't sell well. Most of them, with the exception of the 510 and possibly the white convertible, are just not very good looking. (I didn't want to go full negative and call them butt ugly, 'cuz that would just be mean.) The Prowler was ok, but it needed a V8, not a **bleep** little V6. That and better colors and some better looking than the appendages that served as bumpers. The rest are just yuk. ... View more

WOW! I think this just shows how good the chemicals were back in the late 50's. Amazing! ... View more

Ya! Dyno Day is always fun. 😉 ... View more

Dig it! That might be even more fun with a OD 5-speed! ... View more

Love the real wagons! Even better with wood grain sides. In my youth, one of our football coaches would transport most of the team in their Plymouth wagon to games in the area. So their 9-passenger wagon became a 12-14 football player wagon. We were in 3rd or 4th grade at the time, but fully suited up, ready for the game. In a crash I'd take the wagon any day. Particularly if the two machines were in an equal state of non-rust. Those old wagons didn't need a crumple zone. They were strong enough to shrug off any new car like it was a bug. VIVA the 440! ... View more

"Eventually you put childish things aside"; I agree. But, sometimes, later in life, you could be lucky enough to re-discover those early passions and they can transform from childish to child like joys, that entertain and help to inform your perspective; in a way that keeps you young. 🙂 ... View more

Hear, hear! ... View more

Feel free to touch base; if you get into that situation again Sajeev. ... View more

Hey Kyle; Since you start out this missive with; "Cross thread, damaged thread" I think it should be pointed out here that using a tap or die to repair threads is a bad idea. Or as our British friends might put it; "Bad Form". 🙂 Taps and dies are for cutting threads. Many, possibly most, bolts in industry are formed rather than cut . That means the metal of the bolt shank is moved around to create the threads, not cut. One removes the metal and the other simply moves the metal to create a thread. The same is true of female threads, in fewer cases. Formed threads are stronger and tend to last longer. Now if you have a thread that just needs to be straightened, use a re-threader, rather than a tap or die. A quality re-threader will also tend to re-form the threads rather than remove metal. Re-threader sets (they tend to come with both threaders for both male and female threads) are fairly inexpensive and should be in everyone's tool box. Now if you have a bunged up thread, but don't have a re-threader tap or die you can make one. In the case of a bad female thread, just take a new bolt, with good threads, and use a Dremel or similar cutting disc to cut lined along the length of the shank. This will create reliefs that give a place for gunk or loose material to go when you are re-threading a hold. Use some lubricant when re-threading just like when tapping. Any good tapping fluid will work here. Got one that is particularly stubborn? You can always turn the bolt or re-threader into the hole till it gets tight then tap the head with a hammer, then turn a little more. The shock loading will tend to straighten more damaged threads and help them to re-form back into useful threads. Yes, it takes patience and time, but when done properly it will save threads and greater aggravation over time. The same rules and techniques work on trying to straighten out male threads, if you can't find a good new bolt. Now if the female threads are just too far gone, then it's time to break out the Threaded Coil insert as sold under several brand names, but I think that would be another great article at a different time. ... View more

Great quote from Dirty Harry: "Man's Got to know his limitations..." 🙂 ... View more

Hello Sajeev: I am not currently a professional engine builder, but I was for many years. Now I do it for fun or the odd customer that understands and is willing to pay for that level of Quality. When I build engines, not only do I always, prime the oiling system, I always hand crank the engine and make double sure every bit of oil passage had full oil flow and pressure before starting the engine the first time. I also test ran and did proper cam break in on every engine. Later in my career, roller cams became common, so the break in became a simpler affair. In some cases, after doing the break in, on my run stand we'd also take the engine to one of the local engine dyno shops and do a full cycle of running and testing before handing it over to the end user. No it's not inexpensive, to do it that way, but I never had a problem and always had happy customers in the end. ... View more

So, Toyota bought Subaru and Mazda? Wow, my plan to become completely ignorant of the current Automobile Companies and their products is working extremely well. 🙂 Oh, look, it's' time to go work on the '67 El Camino that's currently in the shop. ... View more

Excellent story Rob! Once, many years ago I was 'gifted' a mopar. After a short period of time, I kept hearing a voice, deep inside my head saying; "no!" A few years later; there I was looking at a '72 duster with a slant six that wasn't really running, but wasn't really rusty. I bought it, got it running and considered keeping it, and again there was a voice inside my head saying; "No." About two years later; here came a '69 Chrysler 300 with a 440 and 727 automatic, but the engine had caught on fire, the transmission leaked and the rear end had a hole in it. Then I heard the voice in my head yell: "HELL NO!" 🙂 Later I'll tell you about the time I had to 'assume the position' under the dash of a Mustang... 🙂 ... View more

Wow, Cam... I thought we were friends... Dig the Miata though. If you ever want to sell it cheap, I need a new off roader for dirt racing. ... View more

Well said! ... View more

The AC looks like a mash up and I do mean mash up, between a Bricklin and an X19. Ugh! Good job on the part of the Kansas legislature. I almost wish I could afford a Land Rover to get in on that sweepstakes. Pretty cool! No matter where you 'construct' the battery for the EV, most of the expensive raw materials ae coming from one place. ... View more

Is a Quarry filled with Canyon's an Irony? I do find it funny. 🙂 ... View more

Love the car! I could make my favorite LS joke here, but I shant. 🙂 It sounds like the fuel filter, on the carb, might be in backwards. Don't ask me how I figured that one out, once, a long time ago. It could also be the float is set too low or possibly a needle and seat that is stuck. Mikes Carburetor is an incredible resource! As an alternative, if absolute originality isn't that important to you; a guy could switch out to an Edelbrock carb. They are a new evolution of the WCFB's younger brother the Carter AFB. The current Edelbrock and Carter built AFB have a dual bolt pattern, but you might want to make sure the butterflies are in the correct positions when bolting to an original intake manifold. ... View more

Last time I checked, we get our oxygen from plants and other green organisms. Those organisms get their lively hood from C02 and give back oxygen, that we breathe. It seems, to me, that more C02 would tend to make a better atmosphere for plants etc. and that would make more oxygen for us. Yes, this is a bit oversimplified, but so is the 'science' of Global warming, Climate Change, Evil Rebuplicanism, Climate Denial, et al. The fact is Climate is always changing and will always change. Get used to it! What is the climate, today (right this minute, right where you are) supposed to be? Why is it supposed to be that? Shelter was sought, refined, built and changed by humans to suit their needs over time. The same thing happened with food and clothing. This is all natural. People and animals and even plants change over time, to adapt to their environment or Climate. Back in the day, the loss of people, animals or plants etc., over time, was considered 'Natural Selection'. Apparently that 'science' is lost on us today. I'm all for people making a living, but I'm not for doing it by the force of bad government fiat. Not only is that dumb, it goes against everything this country and it's Constitution stand for. ... View more

Love it! What a future this portends! ... View more

Agreed, well said and explained, Sajeev! ... View more

An excellent reply. Here, here! Whenever I hear a busy-body use the word 'Science' I want to splash them with really cold water and hope that might help them wake up from whatever dream or nightmare they are living in. That is something Doctor's used to tell parents to use on very small children who were having fits of anger etc. It worked exceptionally well the three times I saw it used. Unfortunately, I don't think it would work, nor do I think I'd stay out of jail for long. 🙂 ... View more

Jack: I had a really vicious, tongue in cheek, Diatribe here with all sorts of things written about you; including terms like Alarmist, Bigot, Racist, Narcissistic, White Supremacist, ICE Supremacist, Global (warming, climate change, cooling, etc) denier et al, but when I read it back to myself, out loud, I was afraid someone might take me seriously and you might get in some sort of Government Agency sponsored trouble. In my opinion it was really funny, but you will have to reassemble it for yourself, because I'm probably going to be too busy being cancelled by all sorts of Tech Giants that I didn't know exist, on platforms I don't even participate in. 🙂 Well such is the life of reading a Jack Baruth column and, to some extent, believing in the sanctity of the Constitution of the United States of America. As of today, March 1st; I can't find any info regarding the Felicity Ace and whether it's still burning. I found one report, that it was still burning as of four days ago. I peripherally know of one person whose EV started on fire in their attached garage, and it did a LOT of damage. This a poignant article that will likely go mostly unnoticed except by us few. I like the 1984 reference too. Keep it coming Jack! ... View more

I think that car invented the word "Swoopy". ... View more

Wow... That's... Wow... Neo Classic is right. I like the colors, even though the dark color is on the top. Not sure I'd want to be photographed anywhere near that 'Neo Classic'. There's just WAY too much Excalibur involved there. ... View more

Now that's a "cool" story! 🙂 Need more of this type of history lessons. Thank you! ... View more

I always thought Polestar had somethgin to do with strip clubs? 🙂 ... View more

For a second there I was thinking this the opening to a joke or a racing team... 🙂 ... View more

Larry: I'm not a 'Ferrari' guy and really not a 'Dino' guy, but I have done many an engine out etc on a lot of old cars. I'm along with you for the ride. Looks like fun to me. "a quarter-mile into my first around-the-block excursion, when the GT4 sputtered, stalled, and coasted to a stop." For a moment there I thought you were working on a Mopar. 🙂 Oh, that's not nice... I had somethgin similar happen to me on a test drive, when I had left a vise grip on the fuel line. I laughed out loud when I realized what I'd done. I'm sure you've already spoken to, your friend, Marc Trahan, regarding the possible valve problem. That's one of those things where Ai'd talk to a few well versed people and see what they had to say. In the end, if the engine does fail, then it's just the right time for an LS swap! I had to throw that one in. 🙂 ... View more

Pretty sure you have the problem surrounded with help from Mike at Mike's Carb parts! Love his website. So much good info on all kinds of carbs. When I was younger; we just thought of a WCFB as being a good excuse for an AFB conversion. Or even better, a new manifold and a Holley carb. 🙂 ... View more