Hi everyone, My name is Mike Phillips and I originally joined this forum to ask if anyone knew about a gauge I bought for my 1974 Datsun 620 Pickup Truck. Here's that thread... Anybody using an old J.C. Whitney "Lectra Scope"? I was kindly warned over their about the reaction I might get from forum members for including my old Datsun truck but everyone has been very polite. I took the liberty in the above thread to show my "true" interests, which are not Datsuns, but hot rods, classics and anything with a Big Block Chevy engine, instead of re-typing a new intro, I'll just copy and paste what I posted in the above thread just to let everyone know I'm a wrench-turning car nut... The Datsun truck was my answer to $5.00 a gallon gas a few years ago on Southern California. I lived in Apple Valley, California while I was working for Meguiar's. I worked from home but on Thursdays and Saturdays I had to drive to Irvine where their Corporate office is located and teach their Detailing 101 and 102 Classes. My wife was going to kill me because my daily driver gets about 10 miles per gallon with a tailwind. So I yanked the Datsun 620 out of the Las Vegas Desert for $600.00 and rebuilt everything mechanical, this accomplished a number of things, 1. Wife got off my back as driving 200 miles round trip 5 times a month easily cut my gas bill in half. 2. In California, if you own a car from 1976 or newer, every 2 years you have to have it Smogged. I don't need the Government to help me keep my cars running so I they taught me to NEVER buy anything newer than 1975 3. I'm a "Car Guy" and love turning wrenches, I can work on old/normal cars and trucks, I have no desire to try to work on anything new should it ever need it . Here's my daily driver, it's a 1975 GMC Jimmy, the last year for the factory full convertible. I removed the 350 small block and installed a Generation VI 454 Magnum Engine. Bored .30 over, 750 Holley, MSD Ignition, Airgap Intake, Hedman Headers, 700R4 Transmission built-up by Dana Sniff who also built all Boyde Coddington's Transmission plus thousands of others for racers in SoCal Here's a thread I created for Dana Sniff just a few days ago on the forum I run, 1967 Mustang Fastback GT - 10.27/130mph My truck was rear-ended by a Ford F150 at around 60 miles an hour while I was at a dead stop and she took the hit and is still running, of course I had to remove the bent tailgate and the doors no longer opened so I removed them. Took a little work to track down some old school Slotted Mags... I'm new to HAMB but not new to cars and the car world, this is one of the most favorite rigs I've had, I sold it a few years ago but might try to buy it back... 1966 Chevrolet Milk Truck My Milk Truck had a 396 Big Block Chevy with a mild cam and a Turbo 400 with a Lokar Shifter and was a blast to drive! I met a Milk Truck Mechanic of 25 years at the Pomona Swap Meet one summer and he said in his life he'd seen a lot of different milk trucks but he said he never seen a 1966 Chevy 1-Ton Dually like mine. I regret selling it but the good news is the guy I sold it to still has it and said he would sell it back to me for the same price. After I bought the Milk Truck I pretty much rebuilt everything mechanical except the engine. I had a route where I called on body shops, detailers and dealerships and sold detailing supplies and I also used it when I did Mobile detailing. I purchased and raced a 1970 Sanger Drag Boat, which eventually ran over me and cut my right leg off... kind of ruined what was otherwise another stellar summer on Foster Reservoir in Oregon. Rick Baker purchased new, built and raced this boat on the West Coast in the 1970's and in 1976 he won a National Title running the 1/4 mile in 9 seconds at 122 miles per hour... I've owned 5 - 1959 Cadillacs, here's the nicest one I had, I bought it with 56,000 original miles... My 1959 Flattop at a car show in Lebanon, Oregon This is my best friend Brian's 1956 Cream Puff T-Bird next to the 59 Flattop... I stuffed a 462 Big Block Chevy in a 62 Series 2-door, my neighbors of course keep all their brand new cars in their nice, clean and neat garages, not me. The poles in the below pictures belong to my 16' tall A-Frame Engine Puller that always looks nice in a custom built I owned 2 - 1960 Cadillacs, here's one I was customizing... 1960 Cadillac 4-Door Sedan Deville The below two Blazers are the few rigs I've never put a big block Chevy into, this first one is 1973 2-Wheel Drive Blazer This is a 1973 4x4 Blazer I put a 402 Big Block Chevy and a 2-Ton Military Transfercase into this 1971 Chevy 3/4 Ton 4x4 and also cut the top off and had a custom half cab top made for it. So for now... the Datsun is just my gas mileage, no government regulation, parts chaser... it's also a BMW
The Jimmy is my current daily driver, actually it's my only daily driver except for the Datsun 620 which is in stoarage in Apple Valley, California. Can't tell you how much it is to drive a full convertible big block semi-monster truck everyday... the shot with the doors off and the Palm Tree behind my truckwas taken recently and that's how it looks in the parking lot as I type this message. I now work with Matte Steel from TruckU on SPEED Channel and he has his own business called, TrucksGoneWild.com and he's invited me to bring my truck to some of the Mud Fests he films so I'm going upgrade the Jimmy for mudding while still keeping it streetable...
Cool stuff man, By the way, gotta love your buddies wheel standing 67'. Welcome to the madness you already know so well.
The Jalopy Journal
