Features I Have Old Car, Because It's An Old Car

Which actually proves my point.

Fuel milage in the high teens would almost double my fuel costs.

65 mph is barely fast enough to keep up in the right lane on route 78 in the morning commute. Going slower will get you run off the road.

I'll reiterate my point that I would prefer not to drive in those conditions on manual drum brakes, especially with a single jar master. Not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that's more work than I want to put in on a daily basis.

Also, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, I call bullshit on dusting late model German cars, or frankly, most any late models. Your 235 in factory trim made 108 hp on its best day. Even the most anemic of late model econoboxes make more power. So chances are if you beat someone on the street, they weren't aware you were challenging them to a speed contest. That doesn't make it uncool, just not fast.

 

I don't want you to think I am arguing-

However you did not read my first post.

My car has a 261 Chevrolet 6 not a 235 and it is nowhere close to stock.

Also my car is a 150 no radio, dealer installed heater and weighs in the 3,200-3,400 LBS range, you don't need all the power in the world it move that kind of weight around.

I understand fuel mileage needs to be a concern with old car because everyone whats to drive their old however it does need to be the main concern.

Don't forget to get the mileage these new car claim they are getting, they have un-godly high gears.

So even at high way speeds I can stand on it and accelerate very quickly.

Top speed I can't keep up however at a 1/4 at a time, they just can't keep up.

I don't make a habit of this kind of thing.

When someone looks over at my car with contempt, I feel the need to school them on American Hot Rodding

 

Tell 'em all to pound sand, Robert!
Some people JUST DON'T GET IT!

Back to the original post; no whining.

 

Lots of people have said "What a great tread this is!"

Please lets keep it that way, and not get it it locked!

Thank- You,

Robert J. Palmer

 

Thank-You very much.

I only truly care about opinions of to groups-

The older like guys you, @mike bowling , @33sporttruck, Dan Henke and my dad. Guys who may not been there in the very early days, but rode their to the gas stations to see what was being done and when the got old enough built their own cars.

I also value the opinions of fellow young guys (and girls) like @volvobrynk, @tinsled @patmanta @wheeldog57 , and @Pinstriper40. Guys who like myself study old magazines, old builds, and talk to the people who did it.

 

Now just a second there, buster! Who you callin' old?

I learn from the OLD timers too! ( you have to be over 70, I'm only 67 , and I've only scratched the surface on 60-70 years of knowledge.)
I just got off the phone with a good friend in California who was at the flats right after WW II. Now HE's got some good intel! I'd talk (listen) to him till the cows come home! Funny thing is, I learn from young guys too- I went to the ROG with a gang half my age who fielded 4 cars , and I had a great time!

It makes me happy to meet guys like you that are young, enthusiastic, and still have dreams to make come true ( instead of the old, jaded, and seemingly very angry piss-ants that invade good threads with negative baloney).
Keep On Rockin', Kiddo!

 

That's intended as an insult.

My dad is going to be 68 in February, and I don't think of him as old.

 

Hey Mike,
Did you ever notice that old gets older as you reach the age you
thought was old 'till you got there!
I can wait to get old!
66 is the new 36!
PS, the picture is a year old!

 

Mike
Older just means that you are of a numerical higher value then me and Bobby. Lol
Old is when you hold you self back from the fun stuff by saying that you are to old. That's a self for filling profesy.

and mike, why did you post a pic of your dad?
This place is the fountain of youth: 90 procent or the people on here sound the same age!!!
If it wasn't for the story of what people did on 59, that show people's age.

But to me age is more about accumulate knowledge, if have to learn stuff other people remember.

 

A year ago my dad and I were talking to a guy about ten years younger than my dad.

I said I was "looking for Posi case for my car."

He said "I' am so over the hi-performance and racing"

My dad looked him in the eye and said "God I hope I never get old like that!"

Found a rebuilt "P" case with new 3:70 gears at the Lebanon Valley fall swapmeet for a very good price!

 

No matter where you are or what you are driving Robert, someone is going to tell you what they would do to your car. A guy I never met told me that my paint on the Chevy " looked ready for a re-paint" over the summer at a swap meet. I asked him where his car was. I stunned him. I asked him what car he drove to the swapmeet that day, he walked away. I built my car for ME. I love it the way it is. Thanx for this post, Ron

 

P.S. @Tony Martino -

What was Henry Ford like as a boy?

 

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

There is something to be said for opening the hood, being able to actually SEE what is broken and go to the tool box for the baling wire and duct tape.
Those two roadside staples have gotten me home many times. I always carry duct tape but around here if you have pliers you can find wire (lots of fences lol)

 

On my roadside repair this fall my friends and I did take a stonewall apart, for use as make shift wheel chocks and jackstands.

We did replace everything!

 

I daily drove this 26 miles each way, six days a week.
It was a good stocker with 100k miles on it at purchase.

It was a Maroon car with white interior, 121ci 4 banger, one carb, 4 speed and 4.11 gears. About 80 hp and gave 23 mpg. Running 165/80-15 on 4.5 inch stock steelies.

I played a lot around with it, before blowing it apart.

After the complete rebuild I went to breaker - less ignition. Helps with cold starting and raises the RPM range, and the point we could get 10 years ago was no good! This is the thing I did that made the car the most reliable and dependant as a mule.
And with 120 reliable HP, it's no dog I traffic (at 2530 lbs), but not muscle car fast either.
And running on 195/75-15 on 5.5 steelies, lowered with a rake and bilstein shocks, it handles very well.

With twin 2bbl carbs I get 28 mpg, after I installed the 4+OD.

I love this car, and mostly get nothing but respect. But people mean that I molested a perfectly good car for no reason. Lol

I drive it in the summer time as often as I can, and I love it.
But with factory discs in front, 120 hp in 121 ci banger with OD and 4.10, means I can keep up with modern traffic, and slow back down with it all day. It has seat belt and all is in good shape. Its a pleasure to DD. Its semi OT, but it's way better then my DD VW diesel.

But I drive 38 miles twice a day and full cost a shit load more then you pay. But it's still a pleasure to drive.

 

Let me predicate this with "mine is mostly bone stock and I like it that way" but to each his own. JUST SO THEY DON'T GO TO THE CRUSHER! What a waste. Any collector, restorer, modifier is at least saving some history. I bought mine with the intention to flip and make a little and get something else, but it kinda grows on you. I wish I had the money when my boys (25 and30) were younger to fool around with an old car. Now, they love to go with my wife and I when we take the old car out. It was a shock to them to see how the older cars really drove. They thought all the steering wheel action in the old movies was fake. =]

 

After all, we are the ultimate recyclers!
I saw a guy today offering the sawed
out sheetmetal from his '32 Ford chop!

 

First I have to admit, I agree with you Joe, there's call and purpose for modern cars for effortless commuting, business travel, etc.If you have to do lots of miles most every day all throught the year - Especially here up nort, the cold, snow, mist, etc makes it quite hard to enjoy everyday use of 50...75 yrs old car. Even more so, I do not want to expose my pride & joy to the salted roads; I've seen enough many times, what that stuff does to frames & bodies. Thus I drive my gems on summers only. Further, would I try to modify my old car for everyday all year use by transplanting modern drive train and AC to old looking sheet metal shell, I would at the same time dilute the pure joy of driving 1940's car as it is in real - a time machine. Thus I prefer to keep it real and have a modern car when I need disposable means of hectic travel.

Then I want to argue with you on what you said in the below quote. Disclaimer: I am really not interested in prooving the performance on streets, nor do I pick my cars on grounds of performance, but prefer relaxed cruising.

My point, power does not make a fast acceleration, TORQUE on right rpm range does.
I once had a bone stock model A Ford. What did it had on the 200cid four when it left the factory in 1930 - 40hp?
In 2005 when I owned it, I bet at least 10 out of those 40 horses had already escaped. Yet it was surprisingly rapid from 0 to, say, 40 mph. Loads of torque on low rpm range.
Modern engines produce the peak power on high rpm and small engines of the econocars on quite narrow rpm range.

Back to the model A: The performance was not the important thing for me, but the feel and experience of the long stroke, big displacement, high torque flathead four was. Powered by a 80's SBC it would have been not a model A any more. Not to me. Because model A is more than just a cool old looker - it has a strong 1930's character to it.

 

A LOT more. Common mistake that folks believe that if you can lock the brakes, that's as good as it gets. Unfortunately that is FAR from the truth. Locked up brakes not only lose control of the car, but they also INCREASE the stopping distance. Why do you think new cars (and many forms of race cars these days) have Anti Lock Brakes? It is a matter of simple physics, and the idea is to apply as much braking force as possible without locking up the brakes. This is done with leverage, the reason why race cars have huge diameter rotors - lots of leverage to stop the vehicle along with the ability to modulate that pressure just this side of locking up. Small diameter drums go from merely adequate braking to lock up quite easily, while leaving the true stopping power in between.

 

I know of no racing series that uses (allows) anti-lock other than Sports Cars, and F-1

Yes and what R.P.M. is the horsepower made?

750 H.P. sounds great but it is useless if it is made in 6,000 plus R.P.M. range.

A oval track, or drag race engine will turn those type of numbers but not likely in a street car.

The cam in my engine makes all it power in the 2,000-5,000 R.P.M. range

 

[QUOTE="Robert J. Palmer, post: 11306779, member: 257566"]I don't make a habit of this kind of thing.

When someone looks over at my car with contempt, I feel the need to school them on American Hot Rodding[/QUOTE]

 

Now we're talkin' HOT RODS!!!! ( wire coathangers are cool too, if you're not in the "outback")

 

This is all just another rehash of the 'Real Traditional' vs 'Traditional type' debate.... The pro-street/street rod guys don't generally come here anyway (or are quickly ran off) and modest changes for safety/reliability shouldn't be cause to look down your nose at others... and don't materially change the 'flavor' of most cars IMO anyway. While you young guys are 'living' the past era that many of us grew up in, we've BTDT. I owned/drove a few 40s cars and more 50's than I can remember and all had shortcomings of one sort or another... a prime reason we modified them. We're just smarter about the mods these days, that's all....

It's YOUR car, build it the way you want. There will always be somebody who will try to tell you what you did 'wrong', if it's constructive criticism maybe you should listen, if it's just criticism well then learn to deal with it...

 

Back to regular programming...I Have Old Car, Because It's An Old Car. A Chevy 1949 1/2 ton, dd/only vehicle, '56 235ci, Fentons, dual 2x2 Carter-Webers on a modified 50's period Edelbrock intake, '69 3sp+od, '57 truck 3.90 rear, 215 85R 16's on stock wheels no tubes, oh yeah, 3 on the tree.

A couple people have chimed in regarding their really tough one hour commutes each way in heavy duty traffic at high speeds...I live in a small town and wouldn't be caught dead driving around the major metro areas with distracted drivers, speed, etc. Driving in general no matter where you live has much more risk.

People stop me almost every day and tell me how much they love the truck, waves from inside their own cars (which are really hard to see from the slanted glass and the anti reflective and tinted windows). I can't stand having other people do work on a vehicle that I can do for myself, thankfully my truck is bone simple. In 20 years of driving it I've had 3 or 4 catastrophic failures...a broken fan belt (replaced on the road with one underneath the seat), alternator failed 500 miles from home and picked one up at a flaps (maybe 1 hour total time), Transmission failure , rebuilt a spare, took a week off from work and there was a tow involved.

Happy trails to you...

 

People always ask me when are you going to paint your car ( never)

 

You had to know this was going to turn into a drama thread........just live and let live!!.......

 

Regarding that beutiful car, I would never ask about paint. That's just an insult.
Do you have more pics

 

Right! Exactly! That's the difference between good drivers and exceptional drivers. Computer driven ABS is a tool for the masses. That's another thing I like about driving my old cars........DRIVING!

 

Hey Carz,
That shoebox looks like one my son had back in '07.
Did it come from Kingston NY at one time?