This engine and trans pulled from a car that had been pushed over a cliff at one time here in Pa. USA- tossed my torch head town and cut the mounts- then winched the engine up over the cliff with my buddies wrecker and extended boom yesterday- at first the entire CAR was coming up as the engine was stuck in the ch***is, until we had the front bumper sticking up over the edge of the cliff- did you ever see a '49 Olds 4-door 88 dangling from a wrecker over a cliff ? I shoulda got video- anyway one guy on the brake pedal to keep the wrecker from going over- another guy working the winch controls, and I walked over with a big bar and pried some on the motor- CRACK !- out she came. Great score. Only about 100 feet from a major highway- but not visible from the road- and had been there for at least 35 years. Had the car not been pushed over the cliff, it would not be there today- someone would have grabbed it long time ago.
My gramps gave me that !!! I just havent had time to go get it. Thanks for pulling it out for me. Great score !!!
Totally cool. My first hot rod engine (after a flathead) was a 303 olds. Hook up a standard trans, 2 deuces on a Fenton manifold, pertronix ignition and cruise.
great find, great story at getting the find. i have an article and some pictures about airlifting a 1910 peerless off of a mountain side! i think i know where it is...
I'm picturing those bottles laying down in the back of the truck, the wrecker dangling an olds from a single cable, and the ***ault on the engine bay with a pry bar. There should be an honorable mention for a Darwin award at least! Something tells me there were loaded guns and empty beers in the area too
torch issue- that was to transport them- and I forgot the bottle caps at home. They were used standing up- then wheeled away. But thanks for the acetylene laying down warning- I can count how many times I've used tanks lying down on one hand, and wouldn't use all my fingers. Nope- no beer- but I am an NRA member with a carry permit. I'll get some pics of what's left of the car- this car was almost completely sideways, the brake drum was facing straight up and I was standing on it while hooking up the chain. The only thing keeping the car there was 2 large trees. Now the car is staying near the top of the cliff, with just the front bumper sticking up over the top visible. Had to cut off the hood, front fenders, to get at the motor- after the last bolt was cut for each part, they would just fall down the hill by gravity by themselves- cut and zing, the hood falls 100 feet tumbling down the hill end over end. My hat fell off from gravity too, had to climb down and get it. Now the fun part- all the torch cutting was done during a wind/rainstorm. When I woke up that morning at 5:30 AM I was laying there thinking, do I really want to go through all this risk and trouble to get this thing ? But I HAD to have it ! On the way home in the truck, I was actually pinching myself thinking wow, I'm in one piece, uninjured, and I got the 303 ! is this thing HEAVY- it tipped over my engine hoist on the concrete pad in front of my garage, when I removed it from the truck bed. Stood it up on end. I've had 455's with TH400 trans on that hoist before with no problems, it's a 2 ton hoist, what gives ? Maybe improper hookup points ? after the car fell free, it didn't go far- got lodged in trees again- it's actually high enough up to grab with a rolldback and pull up. But there's nothing of any value left except for the rear axle, drums, some rear tail light/trunk trim. I didn't have any rims/tires handy to fit it- otherwise we may have just taken the entire hulk- but there's no tires on it and we were using a conventional wrecker, not a rollback can you believe the mechanical advance in the distributor still works, even though it had no cap on it ? advances and returns. And the throttle linkage still moves freely in the mount/joint on the intake. pics to follow of the car
Actually I've got 2 shingles hanging on the wall here. But thanks for the safety warning- points well made. Motorheads are known to take risks from time to time though, like driving 140 mph on a public highway- or transporting torches with no caps.
great story , good luck with your project it looks in the picture that the lifting arm on your hoist is extended too far out
Now check the thread on tips for un-sticking and old motor. I guess being sideways acted as a bit of an umbrella all these years.
Actually Peerless was a company that made aftermarket stuff for Model-Ts. Their radiator shells said Peerless on them tho so they fool a lot of people.
dropped by today for a few pictures- for the s****book- that pile of junk downhill is the 2 fenders, door, and hood- what's left of them
The Jalopy Journal
