Back in the 60's and 70's there were alot of guys that said their car would turn 11's 12's whatever crusin the main or at driveins. A solid 14 second car would shut down 90% of them.
In '63 I bought a new 427 Ford. Took it to the drags right out of the box and did 14 flat. Not too many faster cars around in those days. There was a guy with a 413 Dodge that was faster though. No 12 second cars that I remember.
So, this means that my stock 100hp flathead v8 will NOT turn a high eight in my '28 frame in the 1/4 mile? Damn it! I better get a new story going....
There was a time when a legitimate 13 second car on the street commanded a lot of respect. I worked with a guy who's 64 283 Chevelle w/headers/& 2bbl ran 12's. Timed it with his wrist watch!....
The claimed ETs of the cars owned back then, related by the faulty memories of the owners today, borders on total nonsense IMO. I know firsthand what it took (money and effort) to get my cars to go 13s back in the day and when I hear guys tell me they were stock with a mundane 383 or 390 or 396 or whatever, but ran 260 Sunoco or they had a good tune up or similar silliness as their reasoning gets me biting my lip at the very least. For some reason lately some guys at shows are throwing around 13 flat as their fantasy ET with stock gearing, heads etc. I have run my cars at some vintage stuff which gets guys asking me my times and then their BS starts. I have asked a number of them as to why don't we all go to a test and tune but no takers. One friend told me he did not have any slicks and I told him I have a spare set that he could borrow but crickets as can be expected.
At the time my 427 was going 14 sec, Gas Ronda had the same car TOTALLY RACE PREPPED and sponsored and he was going 12.50. Don't believe there were that many 13 sec street cars in that era.
-You all know that 59 Chevys rear ends would lift at speed, right? -Worked at Detroit Dragway in the mid sixties..12 seconds was flyin'...factory race teams were all there...but a 14 second street racer was a fast car. -How about the Spanish fly and the floorshifter? -The guy died in the Corvette, that's why it was sooo cheap.... -Worked at the corner Standard station part time and we worked the "muffler bearing" and "kanootter valve" on all the girls drivin' their daddy's cars. -And yes we had a 57 Thunderbird driven by a pretty blonde girl named Candy... and you know the rest of the legend.... -oh, we have Big Foot here in Michigan...many sightings along US-2 in the UP...
Yep it had to do with business and how essential your business was. A flower shop probably was not as important as an implement hauler. Short of doing historical research I would just about bet that most of the cars that got converted to pickup trucks were depression era when one would do whatever to make enough to buy a loaf of bread. Hauling stuff was a way to be self employed during a time when employment was not really a viable option.
em·bel·lish·ment əmˈbeliSHmənt/ noun a detail, especially one that is not true, added to a statement or story to make it more interesting or entertaining.
I noticed that a car that was hot and won alot on the street most times couldn't do squat at the track..My lowly shoebox with a 289 and factory 271hp cam would do 14.00 flat at 100.00 mph flat with street tires; I didn't think I bored it to 427..Lol..My street tires are 12" wide and the lack of engine torque couldn't really bust the tires all to hell..In retro spec I wish I had put the 427 High Riser in that I built for a friend's 66' F'lane when he offered it to me...
I sincerely apologize but I don't remember working with you. Oh, by the way, the watch was a quality one, not just a cheap Timex.
My father had a 66 ford gal with a 428 automatic and the speedometer would read 95 MPH at the end of the quarter mile. The ET at George Rays weren't 100% accurate because the track was a bit shy of the full quarter mile. Its now 1/8 mile.
A few years later, you were astounded that NASCAR race cars, get this, didn't even have speedometers in them! Remember????
Back to crate Harleys. Father of good friend in high school was a glider pilot during WW2 and when the war ended he was sent to Ft. Riley, Ks. When discharged he was looking for a car, had plenty of money, but couldn't find anything that was not way overpriced. Found that he could buy a surplus WLA Harley for $75. He stated it was boxed and had wheels removed, they were there however. Bought one, assembled it and rode it home to mid Missouri. I learned to ride on that bike in 1963. This is not second hand info, he told me the story himself. His son, my good friend, wrecked it in Oct '63 and his father finally parted with it in the late '70's. His stories from his time as a glider pilot included D-Day and Arnhem, truly from the "Greatest Generation".
The emergency stop flap could cause some interesting problems. One morning at the scrap yard when the temperature was 30 below, they decided to use one crane to break cast and they hadn't planned it the night before so we hadn't lit the heater. The 6-71s usually started easy but it didn't want to start even with starting fluid. The operator lit the heater, turned it up and waited about 30 minutes. He took some warm cans of starting fluid out because the ones in the crane were cold. He still couldn't get it started so anothe mechanic went out to help him. The crane was about 150 feet from the door and I was working on a loader in the shop with the doors closed. It sounded like someone had a snowmobile running full throttle just outside the door. Somehow the emergency stop flap had been tripped and by the time they noticed there were a couple of cans of starting fluid in the engine. When it started, it took off over revving and it pushed the pipe that goes to the muffler off. Talk about a screaming Jimmy.
There is no air flow without a difference in air pressure. Air flows from higher pressure to lower pressure.
I planted trees with branches that the entire tree was 10 inches tall when planted. I never cut any branches off and the original v branches are about 14 feet in the air now.
It's like the difference between a fairy tale and a sea story. A fairy tale starts "Once upon a time" And a sea story starts "This is no bullshit".
Are you saying all my friends lied to me? Like Dave with the stock GTO convertible that would hang the front wheels on street tires, my friends dad who bought a ‘62 mustang brand new. Or my uncles ‘40 Willy’s army Jeep still in the crate Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I just last week told a coworker to stfu talking about things he knew nothing about when he started butting in on a conversation about old cars when he began with "a kid in high school was racing me with a '63 mustang....".
If you actually were a metallurgist, you would realize the error in the above generalization. If steels such as low carbon alloys are exposed to H2S or sulfuric acid (battery acid), HE is a common failure mechanism and has to do with when the parts were exposed, rather than how long they were in service. Further, some sulfur reducing bacteria can induce HE via Microbial Influence Corrosion. I’ve written peer reviewed technical papers on the above.
I agree , Engine man. My answers were that it doesn’t “ suck” air or fuel into the engine. The atmosphere pushes air/ fuel. Granted in most instances, problaly doesn’t make any difference. But when I tested fire engines over the years their performance would go up or down with the atmospheric on the day of the test. Bones
Yer funny. I'm not calling anybody a liar, a liar is someone who say, knows for a fact that something isn't true, but claims otherwise. Being misinformed doesn't make someone a liar.
You'll just have to pay closer attention to what you're looking at is all I can say. Keep in mind this isn't a matter of opinion, it was hashed out and proven a long long time ago. That's why it's amusing (sort of) when folks get all butthurt about it. What do you think is more likely: Either you are mistaken somehow, OR, the already proven botanical science of apical meristem cell division is magically suspended in your world?
The Jalopy Journal
