Here is my old baby,,,,I’ve had it since 1982,,,,,,turned it Pro Street in 86 . It’s a 70,,,,,E body,,,,,Challenger,,,,did all the mechanical stuff myself . It’s a 440,,,highly modified,,,,,Doug Nash Comp . 5 speed,,(no synchros ),,,,narrow Dana 60,,,,Mark Willams axles ,,,,ladders and Koni coil overs . Cost me a fortune back then ! That’s my son in the first pic leaning against the tires ,,,,,he’s a fine young man ! Tommy
This was my daily early 70s GT 390 solid lifters 456 Detroit Locker. Best time at Motor City Drag way 12.8
We lived in Canada from '73 to '77, and the definitive street machine I remember from that time is a Dart/Duster with bigs & littles, extended rear spring shackles, and slapper bars. There must have been hundreds like that.
@Ned Ludd , that's an OE '72 340 Demon. I'd built the engine to go in the 70, but ended up trading it for the A body, since it had manual brakes. It was a blast, over carb'ed, over cammed, high compression, 391s out back with a sur-grip.
I love the "day two" look on your Chevelle @Moriarity . Not restored, not new, but like they would have been a few years on the streets and a few owners down the road. Speed parts, paint, bolt ons, tires/wheels, suspension mods. You know, hot rodded.
Me too! A 78 white Country Squire, brown interior and fully loaded. With a locker and 391 gears. Don’t know who ordered it originally but dad bought it off the showroom floor!
My dad went out to Francis Ford in Portland to rent a camper for our family vacation (a cross country "Griswald" adventure to Arkansas to see my older sister graduate from Harding University) and ended up trading in the '58 pink and black Rambler on a '68 country squire (no AC). 10 years later, belching blue smoke) he gave it to me when he purchased a 78 Olds 88 (diesel...also belching smoke). I loved my wagon but traded it for a POS '75 Camaro after I graduated HS. This is the only pic I have of it after I added high jackers, tires and wheels and lowered the front by cutting a coil. 390, black guts, craig speakers, an under dash 8 track I bought at GI Joes, and a CB. Yeah, maroon again. My favorite Ford color, dad's too. My mom crocheted me a quilt, red and white stripes, blue border with white stars for the car. I still own the quilt. If that quilt could talk my mom would not approve!
So here is my off subject shitbox, I got hit pretty good back in 2008 in it, without going into detail, the frame had a crack in it and the front sheet metal was wiped out (not my fault, I didn't rear end anyone) and I pretty much got discouraged after I got it looking like a "complete" car again because it's still needed a ton of work. I have had the car since I was a teenager and not only did I drive the wheels off it for about 13 years using it as the official date car, pickup truck, 4x4, commuter and all around cruising car... But I also Street raced the hell out of it (it wasn't fast but it was consistent and it could be most of the ricer cars of the era). Realistically the car should have been and still should be thrown away but I got a lot of memories in that car and I don't think I got my $500- worth of use out of it yet which is what I paid for the car back in the mid 1990s. So fast forward from 2008 until a few months ago and I finally decided to kill the spiders that have been holding it down to the concrete on the side of my house and start working on the car, so I wheeled the engine from the back corner of the garage to the front and proceeded to build a moderately healthy 460 with C9VE heads that I port matched to the felpro gaskets, a pretty big cam, double roller timing chain, a c6 with a killer shift kit and all the typical BS you due to a big block Ford without breaking the bank. I want to keep the 1970s look to the car but I want to put the car on its nuts so it might get air bags finally because I couldn't afford them as a teenager but I'll be damned if I don't do it now also I am going to use the skills I have acquired restoring vintage travel trailers and I'm going to put a huge stereo system in the back of the car that hopefully you won't really notice unless it's turned on (the opposite of what you see professional stereo people do). I got most the radio bits all I got to do is go to home Depot for the MDF but that's another story. So this weekend (for future readers we are in May of 2024) I plan on getting the engine running and installed in the car. Hopefully by the end of this month I can drive it around the neighborhood if not on the actual roadways. I even bought the body work materials and paint, I was thinking 70s street machine if you were a rich kid. Anyways here is the car as of a few days ago when I finally put it up on jack stands getting it prepped for the engine install. I will drive this car again if it is the death of me... What's funny is I look like a middle-aged greaser. I guess I should wash out the pomade and add the Jerry curl because everyone knows the Bee Gees stayin' alive just hits harder in a Continental.
Found a couple more pictures of my X. Figured I might as well document history. First two are when I got her in 1973. Last one is from 1975 as a high school senior:
The '70 in front of my friend's house when I first got it, back in 1981. That's his '69 GTX 440 4 speed on the street and his two '70s in the driveway. Mopars!
I can dig it. My first car was a 68 fastback XL with hideaway headlights. My twin cousins who were 5 at the time thought it was the same car as the General Lee. Lol. Also my buddy's dad had a boat tail 'Riv. Brown with white interior.
I would love to have another one of these. That was my first car, man it was rough. I don't know if I will ever get another one. They are priced way above my means at this point in time.
First of all I would like to say Thank You to Ryan for adding “Off Topic Hot Rods and Customs” to the HAMB. Most of my interests have been “late model” modified although I have been involved with quite a few pre ‘48 hot rods. Back in the late ‘60’s through the late ‘70’s my builds were the ‘64 Comet Cyclone as seen in my avatar (have owned it for 56 years) and two early ‘70’s Comet GT’s. All three of these fell into the Street Machine category. The Cyclone has resurrected into what it is today, the only unaltered items are the body and trim, mechanically it has been completely updated. The Black Comet GT was a 302/ tri power, four speed, it now lives with another owner and has been changed except for the paint and interior. The Yellow Comet GT was a 302/ C4 it has changed ownership at least three times that I know of, it now resides somewhere in Ohio. I have included a few pictures from back in the day, all three of the Comets were fortunate to be featured in a few magazines. (You remember “car” magazines don’t you?) Yes that is “you’re old Dad” taking a feature photo.
I like this OT idea. Seems like a lot of us have OT cars we mess with and I'd rather talk to the folks here than pretty much anywhere else on the internet.
Here is my 70 Chevelle Malibu. I bought it when I was 15 with paper route money and money I got after school working part time doing bottle redemption at a mini-market. The performance parts I got for it were from a local bone yard (all 70's stuff) including Ansen wheels, wide 60's tire on all corners, cyclone headers, and moroso chrome valve covers (cant forget those). I shudder looking at this picture remembering putting those chrome mud flaps in the fenders with sheet metal screws. ----AHHHHHG! The first picture is me at 17. By this time, I painted it a red Volkswagen paint I saw on a VW vanagon....It was the cheapest red paint I could buy, so that's what went on it. The second picture is me 20 years later, same spot (at my parents house) with the car restored. I still own the car and plan on taking another picture in the same spot when Im 57 (6 more years - Gulp!)
The Jalopy Journal
