a friend of mine is building this car,this is his story,to see the whole thread,you can go here: http://www.realoldspower.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=56151&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 That is my dad's 53 Stude that he built for B/Gas in 1959. At the time, he was a wrench-bender for a dealership in Louisville, and "acquired" a new and complete 389 pontiac for the car thru a minor amount of warranty fraud. He set the engine back 10% per the B/Gas rules, filled the dash with s-w gauges, mated a 3-speed manual box (Borg-Warner T-85N) to the 389, and welded up the spiders in the stock 4.56 rear. The 389 was roughly 12:1, idled around 1600, and would turn about 7500 before pulling a gear. He had run 3x2s, 2x4s, and single 4bbl setups on the 389 from time to time. The 389/3-speed setup was mounted via front cover and bellhousing as was common at the time He was dating my mother around that time, and she has said that if he took her for ONE MORE terrifying ride thru an A-P parking lot - she was going to dump him because of it - and .... I would not be here to tell about it. They were married around 64, my brother born in 66 As you can tell from that pic in 2001, the car was in primer and getting ready for paint (this was 1969) the last time he ran it. He was backing the car out of the garage to shoot paint on it and it began to load up a bit. He popped it open to clean it out - and the throttle stuck. The tach pegged and it popped a head gasket. He pulled it down to check it out - the ensuing mess included two rods with 1/4" bends in the beams. . Due to supporting/raising a family - not to mention coaching baseball, etc... the car was never repaired nor painted. The only time the car had seen daylight was the move from his garage to barn around 1988, and the move to my barn/shop in 2001. From time to time, more 389s had been acquired cheaply, mainly for lower-end parts to put it back together. Turned out I wouldnt be needing them, unfortunately. Id been brewing a plan to put it back as it was, but held back since his health was really not going well around 2006ish. A few years ago, his right leg was amputated due to poor circulation (same week I was a juror on a murder trial, you cant make this **** up). Somewhere along the line, he signed the car over to me, thinking hed never finish it and maybe I could enjoy it. He regretted never putting it back together as a driver like he wanted. Over the years, Id get him talking about the car, and all he planned on doing, down to the color combo and everything. The 389 was a 1959 block, without the usual BOP pattern. Cant put a th350/400 behind it without an adapter, and making a rear trans xmember. Hed mentioned doing a 9 ford rear too. Well, I put together a plan: 455 pontiac, Th400, and 9. And give it back to him, completed, as a surprise with everyone on hand thats helped me do it. My dad has NO IDEA the car is being put together. My mother and brother are financial contributors, and I am doing the mechanical labor stuff and all of the planning/purchasing/parts chasing. Step 1 was getting the old engine and trans out, and then getting the car plus donor Ford 9 to the shop that did the cage and ch***is work on my 64 (Jim Unger Racing on Lucille Dr in north Dayton):
Very, very cool story!! Hats off to you for making a long, lost dream come true; for both of you!! Robb
Kick *** car with a kick *** story behind it. Now get it done and post dad's reaction and burnout videos.
this is not my car,it belongs to a friend in dayton if you follow the link in my first post,you can see more up to date progress.
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