Monthly Archives: February 2014

The Bridgestone Project – Prequel I

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Thought I toss out some details on the Dual Twin Bridgestone 175 that I am about to begin the restoration.

Bridgestone was a Japanese tire maker and desired to move in to manufacturing first bicycles and then motorcycles after World War II to compensate for the sagging tire market. So in 1946 Soichiro Ishibashi began production of bicycles and then looked to motorized them.  So they partnered up with Fuji Seimitsu Kogyo (is now Fuji Precision Engineering Co., a subsidiary of Nissan) to produce clip on motors for bicycles. By the mid 1950’s they were developing and producing motorcycles and eventually separated from Fuji Seimitsu Kogyo and moving to their own plant. Bridgestone even had a racing department which, in part led to their development of the Dual Twin.

The 175 Dual Twin did well in racing and on the street, as did the other Bridgestone models.  This lead to the exports to the U.K., other Asian countries and eventually to the U.S.  by Rockford Motors in Rockford Illinois.

 

So what is the 175 Dual Twin?

It was the first motorcycle equipped with a dual rotary disc valves for fuel induction.  It had (has) aluminum alloy cylinders, kick-start; dual transmission 4-speed rotary shift gear allowing the bike to be shifted to to a 5-speed gear while running or when stationary with the “sport shift lever’, large brakes hubs and totally enclosed carburetor for protection against water and dirt.  It has a max speed of 80 miles per hours and can get to a ¼ mile from a standing start in 18 seconds (this is without the racing tune…oh yes…they were race-able!!).

So let me stop right here for a minute.  I had no idea what a rotary valve was, ok let me be very honest I’ve never worked on a motorcycle before, lawn mowers – yes, motorcycles – nope.  I have worked on bicycles and car engines, so how hard can it be?   (Famous last words, usually spoken very early in the planning stages of such projects.)

So what is a rotary valve?  It is where the intake opening is controlled by the spinning of a disc that has cutouts that allow air/fuel mixture in and then closes the opening. The discs attach to the crankshaft.  The crankshaft disc is a close-clearance fit in the crankcase and there is a cutout which lines up with an inlet passage in the crankcase wall at the proper time.  Here are a couple of images:

 

Intake Valve Disc

Intake Valve Disc

This a dual disc valve set up (a newer Suzuki Rg500 engine)

This a dual disc valve set up (a newer Suzuki Rg500 engine)

 

I have more coming up on the Bridgestone Project so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

NOS Bridgestone Motorcycle 175 200 Ignition 12 Volt Coil Pack …

NOS Bridgestone Motorcycle 175 200 Ignition 12 Volt Coil Pack. Loading… d. h. m. s. day. hour. hours. FREE shipping. See item description. Calculate. Approximately: (Enter ##1## or more). (Enter more than ##1##). Your max bid: You’ve …
1969 Bridgestone 175 Hurricane Scrambler road test | Vintage Road …

As printed in Motorcycle Sport, 1969. 1969 Bridgestone 175 Hurricane Scrambler road test 1 · 1969 Bridgestone 175 Hurricane Scrambler road test 2 · 1969 Bridgestone 175 Hurricane Scrambler road test 3 …

Details of McLaren 650S supercar emerge ahead of Geneva

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Details of McLaren 650S supercar emerge ahead of Geneva.

“The 650S receives a tweaked twin-turbocharged V8 similar to the 12C, but develops 641 hp versus the latter’s 616 hp.”

Oh only 616 HP in the 12C…..darn it!!!!!  🙂

This is the 650. Nice looking car. I've never been a fan of Lambo Doors.

This is the 650. Nice looking car. I’ve never been a fan of Lambo Doors.

mclaren 650

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

SergioJCabrera

McLaren 650S Spider desvelado en render – Motor y Racing http://t.co/j6yBx6SIo6 vía @motoryracing

This is the McLaren 650S

It’s been teased, it’s been partially leaked, but here it is in all its glory: the McLaren 650S. Here’s what you need to know. The 650S is not the long-rumoured ‘baby McLaren’, the car codenamed ‘P13’ set to do battle with the Porsche 911, but rather …

mclaren 650mclaren 650

Factory Fast: Dave Bridgewater’s 2012 COPO Camaro – LSXTV

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Though Dave Bridgewater already had three big block 1969 Camaros and an LS1 Swapped 1969 Firebird that he and his team maintain and race regularly at drag racing events around the country, he still wanted something more to add to his already awesome collection. That something more would most certainly be a Camaro of some sort, being that Bridgewater seems to have an undying love for the pony cars.

When the factory drag race COPO Camaro was first announced, “I signed up for it right away,” Bridgewater recalls. “But I got a call later on letting me know that they were all sold out.” After seeing videos on the internet of Dave Connelly testing the Cagnazzi COPO Camaro, he knew he needed to have one in his stable. With all of them being spoken for already, Bridgewater wasn’t going to let that get in the way of him owning a 2012 COPO Camaro.

See more:

Factory Fast: Dave Bridgewater’s 2012 COPO Camaro – LSXTV.

r-camaro

COPO Camaro

COPOCamaro

This is what makes the COPO GO!!!

 

Thanks for reading

Tim

 

First 2014 Camaro Z/28 and COPO Camaro Bring Over $1.3 Million At Auction

Two of the most enthralling auctions witnessed at the recent Barrett-Jackson event in Scottsdale, Arizona were those of the very first 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and COPO Camaro. Tgether, they brought in over $1.3 million, and the best part is that all …
Veterans Charity Raises $700000 from 2014 COPO Camaro at Barrett-Jackson

To refresh you on the origins and hardware on the COPO Camaro, the original COPO Camaro originated with the Pennsylvania dealer Yekno Chevrolet, founded and owned by Don Yenko. In order to have a unique product not available at other dealers, …

copo camarocopo camaro

 

National Corvette Museum Sink Hole- Restore the Vetts?

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Keeping the proper prospective, (no humans were harmed) but it’s a shame to lose those beautiful one of a kind, historic cars.

So what’s next?

Apparently they believe the rest of the National Corvette Museum building it’s self is sound as is the rest of the grounds under the 184-acre Motorsports Park, which is opening in August.

But what should happened to the cars?

Should they be restored?

Should they stay as they are and preserved?

Let me know what you think.

 

Give me some feedback and I’ll send it on the Museum folks.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

1 and Half Millionth Corvette

1 and Half Millionth Corvette

 

 

National Corvette Museum Sink Hole – Drone Camera Inside the Hole.

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Well, I almost didn’t want to see this.

 

The Blue Devil might be fine.  The others….yikes.

 

 

Thanks for viewing.

 

Tim

Sinkhole swallows 8 cars at National Corvette Museum in Bowling – wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports

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Sinkhole swallows 8 cars at National Corvette Museum in Bowling – wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports.

Having been there multiple times I’ve see each of these beautiful machines.  Hope they are salvageable.

BOWLING GREEN, KY (WAVE) – Eight cars were swallowed by a sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green Wednesday morning, according to the museum’s executive director.

A statement released by the museum said their security company alerted them at 5:45 a.m. that motion detectors were going off in the Skydome area. When officials arrived, they discovered the sinkhole.

Crap!!!

Crap!!!

Wendell Strode, the executive director, said the hole is approximately 25 to 30 feet deep and about 40 feet wide. The Bowling Green Fire Department secured the area for the time being.

Strode said the one millionth Corvette, which was donated to the museum by Chevrolet, was among the cars that fell into the sinkhole.

The statement went on to say “it is with heavy hearts that we report that eight Corvettes were affected by this incident.”

Those cars include:

  • 1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
  • 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors

    Blue Devil

    Blue Devil

The other six vehicles were owned by the National Corvette Museum including:

  • 1962 Black Corvette
  • 1984 PPG Pace Car
  • 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette

    1 Millionth Corvette

    1 Millionth Corvette

  • 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
  • 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette

    The Hammer

    The Hammer

  • 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

    1 and Half Millionth Corvette

    1 and Half Millionth Corvette

No one was injured as no one was in or around the museum at the time of the collapse.

None of the cars affected were on loan from individuals. The museum remains open, but the Skydome section will be closed until further notice.

Strode said structural engineers would assess the stability of the surrounding areas later today.

2014 is the museum’s 20th Anniversary and officials said they “look forward to re-opening the Skydome exhibit area very soon.”

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

sulthinar

Sinkhole swallow eight cars in National Corvette Museum: Sinkhole collapses part of domed section of museum; d… http://t.co/bsPByrsnfy
Cars fall into sinkhole at National Corvette Museum

(CNN) — Eight Corvettes fell into a sinkhole that opened up beneath a section of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky on Wednesday. The sinkhole, about 40 feet wide and about 25 to 30 feet deep, appeared before dawn under the skydome section of …
BREAKING: 8 Vehicles Swallowed by Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum

UPDATED 7:40 AM — It has been confirmed that 8 vehicles were swallowed by a sinkhole at the Sky Dome at the National Corvette Museum. The sinkhole is estimated to be around 40 feet wide and 20-30 feet deep. The Museum is open for the day, although …
BREAKING: 8 Vehicles Swallowed by Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum

UPDATED 7:40 AM — It has been confirmed that 8 vehicles were swallowed by a sinkhole at the Sky Dome at the National Corvette Museum. The sinkhole is estimated to be around 40 feet wide and 20-30 feet deep. The Museum is open for the day, although …

 

 

Chrysler Too Late to the Party

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A couple posts back I wrote on my chance meeting with the Maserati – Chrysler TC Club….no it’s fine go back and look…we’ll  wait.   (Insert whistling sound.)   One response mentioned that the Maserati/ Chrysler TC was …”two years late to market.” (Bill  February 10, 2014 at 12:00 PM).

That didn’t occur to me about the TC but I had just finished reading an article in Hemmings Motor News the Muscle Car Profile section – 1969 Plymouth Baracuda 383.  It was written by Terry McGean.

The article chats about the 383 and the Formula S package.  But the article starts out by saying  That Chrysler peeps are pretty sure they started the “pony” car craze by revamping the Valiant line of cars to come up with the Baracuda just before Ford released the Mustang.  And that is the case but unfortunately the A-body wasn’t up to par with the Mustang and the Camaro in the performance department and both cars left the Valiant platform in the dust or as Terry wrote “…Ford mastered the art of re-skinning an economy model as a sporting coup, or else these cars would have been called ‘Fish cars’…(I’m inserting a chuckle here.)…From there Plymouth seemed to be chasing the Mustang and not long after the Camaro and Firebird twins.”

This ties in to what I thought about when Mother Mopar came out with the Charger.  It was a horrible attempt at recapturing the ‘pony’ car era. Ford had already re-invented the Mustang buy then and Chevy gave the C6 Corvette a retro ’60’s style shape and then came the Camaro and still Chrysler didn’t have the answer, until the Challenger.  That was nicely done and I love it, but it was still late to the party again.

I thought they might make a hit with the ‘Dodge Dart’, I considered that a pony car of sorts, but instead we got a Dodge Neon.

'65 Cuda

’65 Cuda

'65 Mustang

’65 Mustang

'65 Camaro

’65 Camaro

 

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

plymouth baracuda

rarecars

Rare 65 Plymouth Baracuda (East Bend ) $4000 http://t.co/yi6ZSjs7Fb http://t.co/qW3XHkYLLY
1965 Plymouth Baracuda | Collectible – Classic Cars | Plano

Make: Plymouth Model: Baracuda Year: 1965 Body Style: Sedan Exterior Color: Red Interior Color: Red Doors: Four Doors Vehicle Condition:… Collectible – Classic Cars Plano.

plymouth barracuda 1965

 

Parking Lot Spot Light – 1965 Caddy DeVille

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Spotted this 1965 DeVille outside a local CVS.  Nice long  2 door convertible, as god intended Caddy to be configured.

There were about 19k Caddy DeVilles Convertibles produced in 1965.  These were all powered by a 429 cid, V8, overhead cam, iron block engine.  The bore and stroke were 4.13 x 4.00 with a compression ratio of 10.5:1 and topped with the a Carter 4 bbl (Model 3903S) it produced about 340 hp.  That’s not much considering the weight of the car was over 4500 lbs.

 

191

I love two vertical headlight look on most cars.

193

Still sporting fins. The back of this car is just as impressive as the front and that’s not always the case.

187

Love a two door DeVille

This one is a daily driver and could use some freshening but it is a fine automobile.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

 

 

 

 

Auto Factoids for the Week of Feb 9, 2014

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Here are your Auto Factoids for the week!!!

 

2/10/1942 Pontiac stops producing cars for World War II

Eventually all the U.S. car manufacturers halted production, but many turned to creating something else for the war.  What did Pontiac  make for the war effort?

Pontiac began making an anti-aircraft gun for the U.S. Navy  in its sheet metal plant and produced Bofors automatic field guns for the U.S. Army.

Swedish Designed Bofors

Swedish Designed Bofors

Pontiac also supplied front axles for the M-5 tanks built by Cadillac and air-launched torpedoes for the U.S. Navy.

Air Launched

Air Launched

M5 Tank by Cadillac and parts by Pontiac

M5 Tank by Cadillac and parts by Pontiac

 

2/11/1932 – Ford develops it’s new V8

It as developed from 1926 to 1932 and was known as the ‘fatty’.  Compared to the straight 6’s and the straight 8’s it was. It was a flat head V8, the first of its kind.  Economically produced and was first installed and sold in the Ford Model 18  but the car was referred to as the “Ford V8”

Beautiful!!!

Beautiful!!!

I love the look of these sedans. (Quit hacking them up!!!)

I love the look of these sedans. (Quit hacking them up!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You pony car guys should really appreciate this innovation or else your Mustangs and Camaros would be a lot longer up front!!

2/12/1908 – New York to Paris Auto Race

The race was won by George Schuster driving the Thomas Flyer.

Car that won the first New York to Paris race

Car that won the first New York to Paris race

2/15/1929 – Graham Hill, British race car driver was born in London.  He raced with Lotus, BRM, Brabham, and Hill

racing teams. Graham didn’t pass his drivers test until he was 24  years old.  He died when he a plain he as flying crashed in England.

 

2/15/1944 – SCCA  (Sports Car Club of America) was formed – I am card holding member.  It’s a great experience

 

Thanks for reading

Tim