Tag Archives: Chevrolet Impala

Mustang Upholstery Part II

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

The next step is to remove the seat from the car.

For the Mustang the studs pass through the track and the nuts are under the car so a little space is need.  Since most average guy’s don’t have a lift in their home garage, so I pull out the trusty 2 ton floor jack and a jack stand.

As most Mustang owners know, they were built with subframes.  When jacking up the car with a floor jack place it on the frame, or use the standard scissor jack that attached to the seam at the rocker panel.  Either way once it’s in the air, DO NOT FORGET to put the jack stand under the car. Yes it actually takes longer to do the set up then to remove the bolts…but take the time to be save.

2 Ton Floor Jack

Floor pan plug that protect the bolts and studs.

These plugs pry out very easily.  I was able to get them out with just my fingers.  Once they are removed you’ll have access to the nut.  The distance between the opening and the nut requires an extension and the length of the stud requires a deep socket.  These were 1/2″.  The Mustang was raised in Arizona (get it?  First reader to drop a comment explaining “get it” wins a DVD.)  and all the plugs are in place.  This kept all the road grime and what not off the studs and nuts, they separated easily.

When you are done you should have this many parts.

When I purchased the Mustang I was told that the upholstery was replaced at some point. (Keep that in mind for later as well.)

[vodpod id=Video.11743606&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fvid299.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fmm296%252Ftimsweet2200%252Fremoval1.mp4]

 

As you can see in the video I wasn’t able to get the seat out of the car. I initially I figured it was because I couldn’t pull out level enough for the studs to clear the holes due to the fact that I was holding the camera. However, after putting it down I still shouldn’t get the seat out. So I climbed back under the car and found that there was a second nut on the right rear stud. I’m guess it was doubled up, when the last installer wasn’t sure whether they already but one on? And of course you can see by the previous picture that those two nuts not the same as the others.

Part III will be coming up in a day or so.
Thanks for reading.
Tim

Auto Factoid 6/13/2011

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Nicola Romeo is credited with setting the foundation for Italian car maker Alfa Romeo.  What a lot of folks don’t know is that  Alfa was a car manufacturer before Nicola came around.

Afla stood for Anonima Lombardo Fabbrica Automobili and began production in Milan in 1910.   They actually produced French cars (the Darracq) under a license, all hand built.

Darracq 1906

 

Nicola had an engineering degree from Turin.  He first worked with mining equipment and eventual purchased Alfa’s plant in Portello.

His management skills and love of racing helped build this car .company in to a lasting enterprise.

Although, apparently their latest offering to the U.S. market of the Giulia, was not well received, design wise and the parent companies Fiat–Chrysler killed it until 2013.

Giulia - see ya in 2013

 

Thanks for reading.

TIM

Parking Lot Spotlight 6/13/2011

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comment

Here is another cool  car sighting.

This one was in the parking lot of the a local auto parts store Checker’s or O’Rielly’s….or….all those mergers are making hard to have common name that everyone can related too (remember when there was just NAPA….can’t find them very often).

1969 Chevelle 454 Restored shell

This 1969  Chevelle  was merely as shell…oh but is extremely well done restoration.  The paint was excellent (makes ya wonder why it was being dragged round uncovered), the inside of the shell had been as expertly sprayed as the exterior..it was almost a shame to put in the interior in there.

Reproduction gauges and not much in the way of interior yet.

The badge on the car shows that this car housed or will house 454.  But however, the 454 didn’t show up on the scene until until 1970 so this must be a retro fit.

You can see the big power plant is missing.

It looks absolutely ready to for dropping that monster engine back in and hitting the strip.  Hey I don’t even mind the wheels!!!

Didn’t find the owner (or driver) , part store was crowded.

Of course this isn’t a 1970, I’ll update the data a bit later.

Some 1970 Chevelle facts:

– The 454 was produced between 1970 thru 1976.

–  It produced 450 hp configured with 4bbl carb

–  It was designated the LS6 with 475 ftlbs of torque and 9.0:1 compression ratio

The majority of the Chevelle’s  (approx. 13,000) had V8 in 1970 and approx. 10,000 had 6 cylinders.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Wrenchin’ Tips – Masking

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Having grown up working in my Dad’s body shops, was often given the honorable task of taping (masking) off the areas that weren’t going to get sprayed and areas, like windows and mirrors where you don’t want over-spray landing.   I learned a few tricks that help speed up the process, but more importantly help ensure a good clean paint job.  Removing over-spray is not a fun process.

I’ve tried the machines that merge the paper and the tape, great for straight lines, like the Coca Cola trucks we painted but for tight corners it just doesn’t work.

To save time, which equals a money saver and to get sharp clean lines, outline the areas with thinner tape, 1/4 inch works best.  After that use the tape and paper machine and run that along the previously laid tape.

Here’s one more.

I can’t possibly tell you how much a pain it can be to tape off emblems and name plates and it’s never clean.  Do yourself a big favor, figure out how they are attached to the sheet metal and purchase replacement them.  You know where I’m going… remove the badges and emblems.  That is the only way to do it right.

Clips for my 70 Mustang badges

Thanks for reading.

Tim

NMC – Pace Car Display.

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

This is a great collection for Indy Pace cars.

[vodpod id=Video.9452167&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fvid299.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fmm296%252Ftimsweet2200%252FPaceM-9.mp4]

NCM – Swap out in Main Gallery

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

This is a great show of the main gallery.  In this clip they have just placed the AJ Foyt #8 Corvette on display and are setting up a C6 Grand Sport next to it.

Thanks for reading.

[vodpod id=Video.9084959&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fvid299.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fmm296%252Ftimsweet2200%252FM-6.mp4]

NCM – 1962 Corvette Display

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

One of the  beautiful Vette displays at the Corvette museum.

[vodpod id=Video.9084088&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fvid299.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fmm296%252Ftimsweet2200%252FM-4.mp4]

Engine Mini-Series – Pontiac’s 326 Follow Up

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Charles – Thanks for dropping by and giving us some of your insight.

Here is what he provided:

Hi, i’ve never heard of the Chevy reaction in 38 years of studying GM’s history.  Pontiac was violating GM’s rule of limiting cubic inches of cars smaller than full-size to one cubic to every ten pounds of car’s weight, so cars like Pontiac’s Tempest/Le Mans, Buick’s Special/Skylark, Old’s Cutlass/F85, and Chevy’s Chevelle/Malibu were limited to 330 cubic inch displacement. Pontiac marketed the 336 as a 326, and after some time, someone in GM figured out the actual bore and stroke made 336 cid. Pontiac had to change the 336 down to the 326.  Then for 1964, Pontiac (Thank You – John DeLorean) created an option for the Le Mans, the GTO option, since the standard Le Mans engine obeyed the limit rule, there was nothing in the rule saying you couldn’t offer an optional extra cost, bigger engine.  Can you say 389 cid, 348 horsepower ?,  OH YES, turn it on, wind it up, blow it out, GTO.

1964 LeMans GTO Convertible

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Chevy’s 283 – OH WOW – 300 HP in a What?

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comment
 So I just can’t let the 283 go.  I will find one,  restore it and hang it from my garage ceiling, umm…yeah..I don’ t think the misses will have a problem with that….ok maybe just store it a corner of the garage..or turn it to a coffee table..yeah……um…no.
Check out his 1966 Corvair with 300 hp 283.
Link is here:  http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1012_1966_corvair_corsa/index.html
1966 Corvair Corsa Front Three Quarters In Motion

REVIEWS:

First Drive: 1966 Corvair Corsa

From the December, 2010 issue of Automobile Magazine
By Don Sherman
Photography by A. J. Mueller

The Chevy Corvair’s swing axles and heavy tail are implements of the devil, at least according to Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed diatribe. Paul Siano, the creator of the mid-engine Siano Special, doesn’t buy any of that. He has owned, modified, and drag-raced Corvairs for more than half of his seventy years without suffering a single unintended spinout.

Siano bought — brand-new — what began life as a 1966 Corvair Corsa after supercharging a Volkswagen Beetle and owning a ’64 Corvair Monza Spyder convertible. He drove the coupe 50,000 miles before ripping out the stock 180-hp turbo engine.

A vintage Crown Manufacturing kit provided the means of upping the cylinder count and moving the engine from the back porch to the rear seat. That package included a tubular-steel subframe, an engine-to-transaxle adapter plate, a new transmission input gear, cooling-system pipes, a new shift linkage, and two new antiroll bars.

Siano’s prize possession is a rare, experimental, 283-cubic-inch aluminum engine block that General Motors pitched out as scrap. Engine builder Bryce Flinn added a roller cam, aluminum heads, and the induction overkill. Siano fabricated the necessary bits and brackets with an emphasis on minimal weight. He also added four-wheel disc brakes, Minilite wheels, radial tires, and a Ron Davis aluminum radiator.

Siano didn’t partition off his eight-pack of Weber intake trumpets, because he’s a patron of the rolling, reverberating, internal-combustion arts. Living with Webers is not for the meek of heart. When cold, they spit and stumble. When they’re up to operating temperature, they fill the interior with a combustible cloud of reversion gases. Smoking is discouraged.

Headphones are available for those rides when hearing preservation takes precedence over the din of a barely muffled Chevy V-8. Only two things keep the whirring water-pump pulley from biting the occupants’ elbows: the flush bolts that Siano installed in place of hex-head screws and every human’s natural preservation instincts

1966 Corvair Corsa Cylinders

REVIEWS:

First Drive: 1966 Corvair Corsa

|
More Photos
1966 Corvair Corsa Front Three Quarters In Motion
1966 Corvair Corsa Engine

When we drove to the test track, Siano’s homebuilt special revealed evil streaks: quick but heavy steering, vague shift linkage, and a throttle pedal that offers yes and no but very little maybe. However, a few miles were enough to establish an amicable working relationship.

Offered the opportunity to redeem itself, the Siano Special settled into stride to post a reasonably impressive performance report: 0 to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds, the quarter mile in 13.9 seconds at 104 mph, and a top speed of 130 mph. More amazing, the handling balance is excellent, offering just under 0.90 g at the limit of adhesion and only a touch of easily controlled oversteer when the fourteen-inch BFGoodrich Radial T/As finally let go. The cobbled-together chassis held firm over bumps, and the dampers kept body motions nicely controlled throughout the testing gauntlet.

Back in the Corvair’s day, GM fiddled with various mid-engine sports cars, only one of which (the Pontiac Fiero) ever made it to a production line. Leave it to a motivated Corvair enthusiast to demonstrate what can be achieved by adding a couple of cylinders and relocating the engine to a more productive location.

The Specs
Engine: 4.6-liter (283 cu in) OHV V-8, 300 hp (est.)
Weight: 2600 lb
Weight distribution f/r: 44.0/56.0%
Drive: Rear-wheel

Engine Mini-Series – Pontiac’s 326 Prt 2

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comment

The 326 was used as the base model for the Pontiac Tempest.  That was going to be the extent of the division’s uses for this engine.
For 1963 and 1964 production years that was the case.

But in the 1960’s GM had a rule that production A-body or intermediate-size car would carry no more than 330 cubic inches and none were to be sold.  Pontiac had the idea that they would bring on the Tempest GTO would have the 389 as its base engine, but GM set the rules.  So the best Pontiac could do was to offer the GTO with the base engine as the 326.

1964 Tempest GTO, Yes you'll find 'em with a 326

However, on the order form there was a check box to order the 389.  This is how the 326 got in to one of the most famous iconic cars of the muscle car era.
1965 was the year and the 326 offered was with 250 and 285 hps in both automatic and manual transmissions.

That’s enough to make it a piece of historical automotive hardware. But there is one more noteworthy pair of shock towers this power plant was mounted between that was the 1967 Pontiac Firebird.  Yup it powered up its second iconic car with a 250 hp version and a 285 hp version.

326 in a 1967 Firebird

67 F-bird

And that, fellow car crazies, was the short life of Pontiac’s 326.

Thanks for reading.

Tim