Odds and ends

We just recieved the latest issue of Hot Rod magazine and thought it had a few interesting things in it to comment about. First is the report on the Cash for Clunkers program. I thought it was a silly program began for no other reason than to artificially inflate the sales numbers for the automakers. Most people said that as long as it left antiques alone it was alright. Well now it comes out that some pretty desireable rides also got clunked. I won’t mention them all here, but some were-

1 Buick Grand National GNX
1,007 Chevy Camaros
131 Chevy Corvettes
209 Chevy El Caminos
24 Ford Lightning trucks
1,611 Ford Mustangs
107 Ford Taurus SHOs
3,060 Ford Thunderbirds
571 Pontiac Trans-Ams and Firebirds (including 1 20th Anniversary car.)

Now that seems like a whole lot of collector/potential collector cars, some of which had one-off engines, that are gone from the market. If anyone can explain to me how this program helped anyone but the automakers I would appreciate it.

Another article that got my attention was the Drag Week article. On the cover of the magazine in inch high letters is “1,000 HP+ 25 MPG”. The car in question is a 79′ Mustang that had a average et of 9.37 for the quarter mile running a turbo four-banger. In the Drag Week article is a diesel-powered 94′ Mustang that had an average et of 10.08 in the quarter and got 38 mpg. Wow! Big speed and big mpg, what a deal.
Comments are always welcome.

Cars in the bible

Sometimes having an imagination can be a curse. A friend sent me the following bit of wisdom that got me going-

Cars existed way back in the time of the bible. It is written in scripture.The bible clearly states, that Moses had a ROD, and his brother Aaron had a ROD too. God must have had one also because David in the 23rd Psalm says “Thy ROD comforts me”.

People assume that WWJD stands for “What would Jesus do?”. I think they stand for What would Jesus drive? One theory is that Jesus would tool around in an old Plymouth, because the bible says his father drove Adam and Eve out of the garden in a Fury. Later in Psalm 83:15 David tells us that the almighty clearly owns a Pontiac and a Geo. The passage urges the Lord to “pursue your enemies with a Tempest, and terrify them with your Storm. Perhaps God favors Dodge pick-up trucks, because Moses followers are warned “not to go up a mountain until the Ram’s horn sounds a long blast”. Some scholars believe that Jesus drove a Honda, but didn’t like to talk about it. In the gospel of John, Christ tells the people “For I did not speak of my own Accord.”
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I wonder if they had cruises back then?
Comments are always welcome.

Kind of a rant

As the song goes “you can’t always get what you want”. The local
election proved again that those who spend money on mailers and
auto-dial phone calls are going to win. I was hoping Keith Meyer
would win a seat but it just wasn’t to be.

The two people who read this blog may have noticed a change in
when the postings go up. Since the wife works 3rd shift she likes to
get on the computer when she gets home and lately I haven’t been
getting up as early as I used to. Perhaps I’ll do posts later at
night for the following day.

On another note I was wondering what the Cash For Clunkers program actually costs us taxpayers. If you use Google there are a lot of hits for “cash for clunkers cost per vehicle”. I looked at a few
before I settled on Edmunds.com
They seem to put more effort into the research so it made more sense
to me. They looked at normal sales during the years previous to the
program and then figured how many cars over that were sold. According to their figures these vehicles costs us $24,000 each. If that is true somebody should be very happy.

Obamacare doesn’t look like it is doing too good. It seems a lot of
our citizens don’t want the single-payer system of health care. Only
our government could take this problem where 10% of our population is uninsured, some by choice, and figure a way to penalize the other 90%. Those who favor the idea cite Medicare as an example of socialized medicine at work. Now that Medicare is getting cuts to services and Doctors taxed in this bill, how does it help?

I’m also getting tired of hearing that the Republicans aren’t offering
an alternative. The Republican suggestion is the only way to actually
lower our medical costs. The Obama/Pelosi bill can only raise them. I’m
sure glad these lawmakers just gave themselves a raise before they began wasting our time.

On a sad note, our car hobby lost another member. Steve Smit of Moline passed away Monday. He was a member of the Quad Cities Cruisers and did a lot to keep the club going. Our condolences to the family.
Comments are always welcome.

New Trans Am?

While I’m not too happy with the direction this administration
is taking our country I’m glad there are an imaginative few
among who still ask “what if?” These people give new meaning
to the old adage “when life gives you lemons make lemonade”.

When I heard the White House nixed GMs plan that included
saving the Pontiac brand I thought it was the end of the line
for a piece of American history. Now it appears the brand may
make a comeback. While the reintroduced GTO fell flat due to
bland styling, when the new Camaro came on the scene some of
us wondered about a new Firebird.

In the December 2009 issue of Hot Rod magazine is small story
about Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) and their
plan to build a concept 2010 Trans Am for the SEMA show. Based
loosely on the ‘71 Trans Am and powered by a 455ci V-8 made
from a Camaro the car has potential. It’s rumored that if the
car gets a good response at the show LPE will produce the car.

Then I opened an email that had a link to a story about a 2011
Camaro based Trans Am. At first I thought it was a little more
detailed version of the Hot Rod story. Turns out another group
called ACS Creative Services is also working on a Trans Am.
This is the group responsible for the HHR SS, the Malibu SS,
the Cadillac STS-V and XLR-V in partnership with GM.

While the website is short is specs, by the pictures this
version will also have the shaker hood. If you wish to
salivate as I did the website is here.
Comments are always welcome.

T-5 behind a flathead

I’ve been busy working on some things so I thought I’d address a
problem some of the older car people have been asking about. Even
some with stock vehicles have wanted a piece on putting a T-5
transmission behind a flathead. This post isn’t meant to answer
all questions on the subject just to give a general idea of what’s
involved.

If you locate a Mustang T-5 transmission and wish to hook it up to
a 49′ and newer bellhousing the project is relatively simple. The
two bottom holes will line up, one top bolt hole will have to be
redrilled and for the other an ear or bung will have to have to be
welded to the bellhousing.

If you have a GM T-5 and want to hook it up to a flathead there are
several places to get adapters. Cornhuskers Hot Rod and Speedway
Motors both sell the pieces. A non-Mustang Ford T-5 can also be used
but it is more work.

The input shafts will vary with three basic sizes, Ford, Chevy V8,
and small Chevy. When using a modern transmission behind a flathead
the input bearing retainer may have to be shimmed as the input shaft
is smaller on a T-5.

Just about any clutch disk will work provided it clears the flywheel
bolts. We’re told the Astorvan clutch disk works well, and some say
the best option is to have the correct hub installed on a flathead
clutch disk.

People who have done this conversion know one of the weak points of the T-5 is the shifter. The stock shift handle doesn’t have positive
stops making it easy to over shift the transmission. This results in
the bending and cracking of the shift forks and could hurt the synchros over time. An aftermarket shifter with positive stops is recommended.

There are two choices when it comes to throwout bearings. The easiest in a stock frame is to use the stock bearing. Hydraulic throwout bearings can be used with custom frames but we’ve heard both good and bad comments about this setup.

As for oil, all NWC T-5s use 70WT Gear Oil or Reline MTL.
All WC T-5s use ATF.
Don’t use gear oil in a WC T-5. Use a quality synthetic oil and change
every 15-20k.

If you decide on a T-5 you have to go to an open drive. Several people are working on adapters for a closed drive but as far as I know it hasn’t been perfected yet. For an open drive you can convert the banjo rear to open drive with kits from Speedway or Hot Rod Works and others. If you do this the stock radius arms won’t be strong enough and some modifications will have to be made.

And that’s the basics of putting the overdrive T-5 behind a flathead.
Comments are always welcome.

Cruise-in information

Tonight at Northpark mall is the Toys For Tots cruise-in. Weather permitting things start at 6 pm. If you bring a new unwrapped toy
worth at least $5 you will get a ticket for a $100 cash drawing. You can do this if you bring a car or even as a spectator. There will be
United States Marines there to accept the toy donations. There
will still be a $2 donation to attend the event as the host club,
the River Valley Classics, have expenses to stage the event. So
if it doesn’t rain and you’re looking for something to do, you can’t
beat the price. As always it’s good music, good food, nice people,
and great old iron to gawk at.

This Cruise-in has had nice weather all year and I hope it holds out for this one. It may not be the warmest, but if the rain holds off it is well worth a look. If the rain stays away I’ll go out there to play.
Comments are always welcome.

Non-rant thursday

It’s thursday and I usually do some rants. But I feel I’ve been
ranting enought lately and besides with the economy as bad as it
is illegal Americans are trying to sneak into Mexico.

The Woodward Dream Cruise has been going on for quite a few years
now and I always enjoy looking at the coverage of the event. If
you’d like to see pictures of the event, go here. Looks like there was a good variety of cars.

A friend sent me a short video about a kid power parking. It is
well worth a look even though it could be longer. To take a look go
the video.
It should put a smile on your face.

All of us have heard “they don’t make them like they used to”. We
found an interesting video in which the Institute for Highway Safety did a crash test with a 1959 BelAir and a 2009 Malibu. It shouldn’t be a surprise which one came out on top, but if you just have to know you can go here.

That is my non-rant, if you have one feel free to rant away.
Comments are always welcome.

What a weekend

I don’t know about anyone else but we had a great weekend. The weather could not have been better for us car guys. I went to the Northpark cruise-in with a good friend and we had a ball. The place was hopping, the cars and trucks were some of the nicest around,
the people all seemed to be in a good mood and it’s no secret I like the music. If I heard correctly the charity was King’s Harvest.

Then on Sunday we stopped by the St. Mary’s Car Show to enjoy the cars, the people, and the food. Once again the weather was perfect and everyone had fun. The wife and I ran into more old friends than a person has a right to have and had a great time. Our son and daughter-in-law joined us for a while and that was good for me because then he could answer all the questions about their wedding. We didn’t get any pictures because I forgot the camera again. One of these times I might actually remember to take it with me. When that happens I’ll post a few.
Comments are always welcome.

Weekend stuff

The weekend is here again and there are a couple of things I’d thought of to pass along. As always there are many things going on in our area and I don’t mean to slight any not mentioned. These are
just some things of interest to myself.

Tonight is the Northpark Cruise-in starting at 6 pm. The River Valley
Classics will once again host the event in front of the Sears store. It should be a beautiful night to get out and enjoy the cars, people, music and weather. The admission for spectators is $2 but they don’t turn you away if you don’t have it.

Tomorrow is the Car Show for Kids behind the Davenport Hooters.
I’m not sure of the hours or spectator admission costs, but it is for
charity and 3-D Sound will be there with all the music. This show
is supposed to have some really nice rides on display.

A smaller event tomorrow is little car show at St. Mary’s Church.
The Church is on the corner of 6th and Fillmore in Davenport and
the car show is part of a fund raiser. Things usually get going
about noon.

If you know of something else going on this weekend let us know.
Comments are always welcome.

A few things

The wedding is over and I think everyone survived. I know my mug
hasn’t been in that many pictures in my lifetime up to that point.
That could be why I don’t go to many weddings. If the pictures the
wife took turn out I may put a couple in a later post.

Now I’ll mention a few unrelated things and get busy playing
catch up again. Next weekend, September 11th and 12th is the date
for the Branson Auction. Once again they have some neat cars on the auction block. They have the only 1935 Auburn 851 Boat-Tailed Speedster made without sidepipes or a supercharger, a 1931 Cadillac 355-A Fleetwood roadster with a V-8, a 1936 Cord 810 Convertible Coupe Sportsman and a 1937 Cord 812 Supercharged Phaeton, a 1929 Cadillac 341-B Sport Phaetom with a V-8, and a bunch of cars from the ’50s, 60’s, and 70’s.

I found some recent numbers concerning who actually owns GM.
GM Ownership-
U.S. Treasury 60.8 percent
UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust 17.5 percent
Canada and Ontario Governments 11.7 percent
Original GM Owners 10.0 percent

Our president keeps insisting his government wants nothing to do with automotive industry but has effectively stripped the rightful owners of the company. I have to wonder if it is even legal to take a company from the owners like this.

Then the news that Van Jones has resigned because of a smear
compaign. What a joke, show these guys the words coming out their
own mouths and they still blame Republicans.

This month in Motor Trend magazine a columnist is wondering how the
fuel economy will be measured on the Hybrids. It looks like nobody
knows yet. We’ll have to stay tuned and see if they get it worked out.
Comments are always welcome.