Tucson Cars and Coffee

 

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Tucson Cars & Coffee July 2012

We were lucky enough to have a cloudy morning for this month’s Cars and Coffee. The diffused light that the clouds provide makes my job really easy! Enjoy the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 Jul This entry was written by Otis, posted on July 15, 2012 at 13:49, filed under Automotive, Photography and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. View EXIF Data

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Mustang II Diaries 3

http://mustangiidiaries.blogspot.com/

Trunk Before & After

My first major project was the trunk area. The weatherstripping as you can see from the picture (left) was dry rotted and peeling and I didn’t like how the backs of the tailights were exposed. I found out that standard coupes didn’t come with anything but a simple gray trunk carpet and a round piece of wood covering the spare tire. I wanted a cleaner look, so I purchased a plastic panel that came out of a 1978 Ghia to cover the taillight assemblies.
There was some rust around the trunk lid, so after removing the old weatherstrip (a nightmare!) I used rust treatment on the visible rust, and painted around the trunk lid and in the weatherstrip channel with white Rustoleum.
The next job was to install new weatherstripping, which I got from SSC Enterprises, but it did not go as planned. The weatherstrip dried all twisted in the corners and sticking out of the channel. I was so disappointed because I’d spent forever prepping and painting areas of the trunk and channel only to have the weatherstrip installation botched. I had to pull up the ruined weatherstrip, which thankfully did not cost a lot, but still, and scrape the adhesive off (again!) & repaint. Grr. Fortunately, around that time, I’d picked up a dremel tool with a wire brush and that made it a little easier than the first time.
After this setback I decided not to make a second attempt. Plus the next job would have been to replace the roof rail weatherstrip, which was supposed to be even trickier. So after ordering another package of trunk weatherstripping, I took the car to a body shop nearby and they did the trunk and roof rail for $95.
The last step was to find a jack assembly. The car’s original assembly was missing, so I bought a used one from another II owner and the jack assembly is now complete and correct. Plus I bought a new reproduction jack instructions decal and affixed it in the right spot next to the spare tire.
Here are the after shots:

Posted by Denice at 1:19 PM
Thanks for reading.
Tim

Mustang II Diaries 2

Engine Work–Part I

When I first got the car, it had to warm up forever or it would stall. At stop lights, I had to be careful to feather the gas pedal to keep it from quitting on me. I enjoy an occasional adrenaline rush, but not at every intersection!
Anyway, our first order of business was to get the car running better. This would end up taking a while as we troubleshooted/fixed/replaced/fiddled with different parts of the engine over several months.
First, we ordered a rebuilt carburetor and my dad and I installed it. With the new carb, the car ran strong on straightaways with no hesitation but ran rough at slow speeds. After that, we did a tune up, replacing the spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor.
Next, I drove the car to my brother’s place and he adjusted the fuel/air mixture, fiddled with the vacuum advance tubing, and reconnected the kickdown rod. The hesitation was 99 percent gone after all that. When I drove home I got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and the car never stalled or overheated. Yay!
The last piece of the puzzle was the fuel pump, which was going bad. As soon as we replaced that (only $30), the car ran better than ever. Now I can drive it without worrying about being stranded (although I do have roadside assistance through my insurance so I can get a tow home if that happens).
Update: Even though the car is more reliable and runs smoothly now, the engine leaks oil, and could use a reseal. I’m hoping to get this done in September/October 2010 (more on this later).

Posted by Denice at 11:22 AM

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Mustang II Diaries 1

http://mustangiidiaries.blogspot.com/

In November 2004, on a whim, I purchased a 1977 Mustang II off eBay. I don’t know the first thing about restoring old cars. But I had one of these when I was a teenager and it’s always owned a piece of my heart.There have been times when I’ve thought to myself–What were you thinking! I’m a mom of twin 6-year-old boys, with no extra money, and no mechanical experience! But I just love my car. Whenever I’m stressed, I drive it around town and I feel better.

Restoring my old Mustang–just keeping it running–hasn’t been easy. For a girl who never even
changed oil before, I had a LOT to learn. Progress is slow and I’m not quite ready to rebuild an engine, but I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.

A Girl Gets In Over Her Head Restoring a 1977 Mustang II

Friday, July 2, 2010

New Wheels!

Pretty soon after getting my car, I decided to switch out the spoke-y hubcaps for some cooler looking wheels. Looking through an old Mustang II brochure, I saw a white with red stripe Cobra II with white lacy wheels and liked the look. Matching wheels to paint is not a look that appeals to everyone, but I thought that white wheels would be unique and add some personality to my otherwise ho-hum coupe.
I bought a set of 4 vintage white lacy spoke wheels from another II owner, along with four chrome center caps. As you can see from the pic, above, the wheels needed a lot of work. They’d been sitting in someone’s garage for years! I had them stripped down to the metal and powdercoated white. The picture below shows the powdercoated wheels and new tires mounted on the car. They look SO weird without the pinstripe! At this point I was thinking, hm, maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.
Locating someone to paint the pinstripes was more challenging than I thought. Apparently pinstripe painting by hand is a dying art. But I did eventually find a guy who owned a sign business (Shane’s Signs) in Manassas, VA who could do it. When I saw the final product I knew I had made the right decision about the wheels.
I might change them down the road but for now, I think they add a lot to the overall look of my coupe.

Transitioning to Modern Transmissions Prt 3

 

Posted By John Katz, June 25, 2012 in E-News, Engine & Drivetrain

Part 1  http://wp.me/pKHNM-1cL
Part 2  http://wp.me/pKHNM-1cL

From www.hotrodandrestoration.com

Switch Shifters

With manual transmissions in demand, it isn’t surprising to find that a fair number of vehicles—particularly muscle-era vehicles—that left the factory with an automatic transmission are being rebuilt with a manual. Frederick estimated that about 60 percent of American Powertrain’s classic muscle car customers are replacing an automatic transmission with a manual.

“[The conversion] is time-consuming, but not terribly complicated,” Frederick said. “Most of the parts bolt in.”

“It isn’t for the faint-of-heart or for anyone short on patience, but it’s do-able,” Hill added. “It’s just a matter of working through the process.”

Obviously you’ll need a pedal assembly; fortunately, according to Hill, there are a lot of aftermarket units that work quite well.

“That also gives you the option of using a hydraulic release bearing instead of a mechanical clutch linkage, which, depending on the application, can have some advantages,” Hill said. “It’s going to take a longer or shorter drive shaft. It’s going to take a different yoke on that driveshaft. The power bushing in the motor for the transmission input shaft may have to be changed. The starter could be affected by the diameter of the flywheel you put into the vehicle.

“You start at the back of the crankshaft and start matching componentry as well as possible—and if you can’t match it, then you have to compensate for it,” Hill continued. “I don’t think we’ve ever run into something we couldn’t convert, as long as we’re talking about American muscle.”

Many of the same issues crop up even when swapping one manual for another—for example, the customer who has a 454 and a Muncie and wants to put a modern six-speed in it.

Like many other projects, it’s significantly easier with older (i.e., pre-computer) hardware. If either the engine or the transmission came with computer controls, it gets a little more involved. And keep in mind that even some modern manuals now have computer controls—the GM transmission that comes with the LS engine, for example, with its skip-shift function.

Of course, some customers will want to go the other way and replace a factory manual with a new, high-tech automatic.

“It’s most important to make sure you have all the correct components—and that you make the finished job look appealing to the customer,” said Poff of TCI. “It’s the mounting that’s most likely to give you trouble.”

According to the experts, you’ll need to ensure that you have the right crossmembers and that there’s enough room inside the tunnel.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution; every application is unique,” added Poff. “But once the physical installation is accomplished, it’s pretty straightforward to make everything operational.”

Either way, Nichols suggested finding out from the customer how critical it is to keep the car looking original, versus the cost to locate and install all of the correct original components.

As with so much else in hot rodding, the best results generally come from purchasing and installing complete systems.

“That goes for any product from any company in this business,” Frederick said. “We say, ‘Look, we have a turnkey kit. We figured it all out, and all you to do it plug and play.’ Buy it all from one source and you know all the parts are going to work together.”

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

1923 American

I’m finishing up the my piece on Mustang Muscle in the Mid 70’s I thought you might enjoy this form Olds Cars Weekly.   (www.OldCarsWeekly.com)

 

By Brian Earnest

At the age 89, it seems Susan Manherz’s friend Bud has managed to outlive all of his siblings and immediate family members. During his advanced years, Bud didn’t see many members of his clan, but there were a few of them around. As late as the 1970s, he had at least two other close relatives still kicking.

These days, though, Bud is a true octogenarian orphan, at least until a long-lost kin comes out of the woodwork. Bud is only a car — a 1923 American — but the way the Manherz family talks about its colorful personality, you’re not so sure.

“If you look at him, it looks like the car has lips!” Manherz joked. “He just has personality. You know, sometimes when you’re looking for a car and you see one, it’s like, ‘That’s the one.’

“I know it sounds crazy to some people… He’s a little cantankerous at times. And he can be difficult. That’s why he’s Bud. He’s just a car with a lot of personality.”

The 1923 American touring became an official member of the Manherz family back in 1990 when Susan and her husband, Mike, stumbled across the car at a now-defunct collector car dealership in Gaithersberg, Md.  The couple hadn’t been looking for any car in particular, but the idea of a 1920s car sounded appealing and “my husband has an uncanny knack for sniffing out old cars,” according to Susan.

“I think the man had traded in three cars for a new Jaguar, and the American was one of them. We looked in the door and just saw the top of this touring car that stuck up above everything … of course they were closed that day, but the next day we went out there and we just kind of nabbed it then. We took him for a test drive and he needed some tinkering and stuff, but we knew right then that we wanted him.”

At the time, the couple had no idea how rare the car was or that they might never see another American. When they began doing some homework on their own car, and the American brand, they soon discovered that Bud was pretty much one of a kind. “In the 1960s there were three Americans known to exist, and all the owners knew each other,” Manherz said. “One was an earlier car that wouldn’t look anything like ours. It had a painted radiator shell and it was smaller. We haven’t been able to track it down. The man who had it died in the early ’70s and nobody knows what happened to the car. The [third] car was the same year as ours, but it was pretty much a parts car. It wasn’t complete. The guy who had it sold it, I know, and we’ve never found out what happened to it.”

Much to their delight, the Manherzes have been able to find out plenty about their own American, however. They are the fourth owners and they have been able to retrace much of Bud’s tire tracks prior to 1990.

“It was purchased new by Frank Ritter on June 9, 1923, from Adams Motor Company of Rochester, N.Y.  We still have all the original manuals and correspondence that came with the car when new,” Manherz noted. “Each owner of the car knew the previous owner. I know the original story of how the second owner got the car, and his son is still living and I talk to him on the phone… He bought it in 1955 and it had been up on blocks since 1930. The car was always in New York until we bought it, so he’s lived his whole live where it’s cold.”

There have been many car-building companies with the patriotic “American” moniker in their titles. One of the more successful early ones was the American Motor Co. of Plainfield, N.J. The company built cars from 1916 to 1924 and was also called American Six and American Balanced Six. Louis Chevrolet was vice president and chief engineer of the company during its early days, and in 1918 the Americans carried an “O.K. Chevrolet” signature badge to show that they had passed muster with the boss.

The company merged with the Bessemer Truck Corp. in 1923 and became the Passenger Car Division of Bessemer-American. That arrangement didn’t last, however, and the company quit building automobiles in the spring of 1924.

American was known mainly as a builder of solid, medium-priced cars with six-cylinder engines. The first offering in 1917 was a simple five-passenger tourer, but by 1923, five models were on the menu, including the big five-passenger tourer priced at $1,850.

American began calling its machines the “Smile Cars” in 1920, claiming that the cars provided millions of miles of happy motoring in the three previous years. Or maybe it was because the funky split front bumper resembled a mouth with a set of prominent lips. 1920 was also when the company introduced its 249-inch Hersehell-Spillman six-cylinder engine that provided 60 hp — a very respectable output for a middle-tier machine at the time. That figure grew to 66 hp when a 289-cid version of the Hershell-Spillman six was introduced two years later.

The wheelbases also grew to 127 inches and by 1923 you could get artillery wheels painted to match the body, or wire or disc wheels. According to Manherz, the cars were offered with a 25,000-mile “Around the World” warranty.

“Our car is an American model D-66 with the 66-hp, six-cylinder, 289-cubic inch motor.  It has a 3 ½-inch bore x 5-inch stroke, and there is a Kellogg tire pump mounted on the transmission,” Manherz said. “We still have all the original manuals and correspondence that came with the car [when new].”

The second owner gave the American some needed repairs and TLC back in the 1950s and took the car on the 1955 and 1963 Glidden Tours, according to Manherz. The third owner purchased the car in 1965.

The Manherzes have never given the American a complete restoration, but they have worked hard to keep the car looking nice and running well — which hasn’t always been easy. Most of the leather in the window-less tourer is original. New carpets and a new soft top were installed in 2009. Following the 2009 AACA Fall Meet in Hershey, Pa., where the American got its Senior Award (it had earned a Junior Award earlier at Gettysburg), the couple had the valve seats and springs redone.

Susan, who gets most of the seat time in Bud, noticed the difference immediately after the valve work. “I always drive it. He’s my boy,” she laughed. “After we did the valve job, he’s full of power! It’s actually kind of scary. He’s running on all six and he’ll snap your neck back … When you think about it, it was a pretty powerful car for that time. The only drawback is the two-wheel brakes. You’ve gotta remember with all that power, you gotta stop! But it’s a fun car.

“It drives pretty nice, yeah. It kind of drives like a limo, or a crew cab truck. It has a big turning radius, but it truly is enjoyable to drive. What’s neat is that big fat steering wheel. You can really grip it. It’s fun.”

The Maryland winters are certainly milder than Januarys in Rochester, so these days the American is pretty much a year-round machine. Its owners are not shy about taking it out on any day of the year when rain isn’t in the forecast. That sometimes means bundling up with an extra hat or sweatshirt, but Susan insists that the car is comfortable even on chilly days. “Hey, with those side curtains you don’t get cold!” she joked. “Actually, on the carburetor it has a thing that you can turn so you’re not sucking in outside air. You’re just running off warm air from the manifold and he stays pretty happy that way.

“He likes it better when he gets out every two weeks or so. He’s never really put away for the winter. I have an oil pan heater in the winter to keep the oil heated up. Otherwise we put cardboard up by the radiator and we go out … It seems like if the atmosphere is humid or anything you’ve got to fiddle with the carburetor and if you don’t have it just right, he’s going to be finicky changing gears, or wanting more gas. You can usually tell before you leave the driveway how he’s going to be!”

The couple also has a 1937 Packard touring sedan and 1953 Packard convertible, “and those cars get driven,” Susan said.

The American makes regular appearances at cars shows in its area and participated in the 2007 AACA Vintage tour for cars born before 1928. Mostly, though, he is a Sunday driver, rolling easily around the local neighborhood with that familiar shiny mouth in front and smiling passengers inside — even if it’s a little cool outside.

Not many people who see the car probably realize it is the ultimate orphan, the last survivor of an obscure breed. He’d probably look great in a museum somewhere, or lined up alongside other ultra-rare survivors of various ilks. As far as the Manherzes are concerned, though, he’s a permanent member of their family, and he’s not going anywhere.“Oh, we’ve had lots of people [try to buy it],” Susan said. “No, he’s not for sale. You figure, I could never get another one. If he was gone, he’d be gone for good.

“And his personality grows on you. He’s part person.”

Selling Cars Part 2

I love combing through ads for selling cars. Every now and then you read some really good ones.

Here is a guy selling is 1963 Catalina.

This vehicle was a daily driver until the late 80’s.  It was then parked in hopes of restoring it as a show car…The clock is accurate twice a day but the “accessory plug” aka cigarette lighter functions so you can plug your cell phone in and keep track of the other 22 hours in the day…..  There is damage to the front right fender and the back left door.  Both occurred in parking lots as a result of an individual unable to see the land yacht parked in front of them.

Thanks for reading

Tim

 

Agent 47 Harbinger 69-70 Mustang

Ok car and Mustang fans you are going to like this:

BOOM!

Agent 47 Harbinger Mustang for racing or street!!!

Isn’t that wicked looking?

They tried for the look of the 69 TransAm Mustang.

Shelby 1969 TransAm Mustang

The Harbinger is built for track or high performance street duty.  Here are some specs and more pics.  (Check out the racing video too.)

– Limited production of 250 serialized chassis

– Harbingers can be built using a brand new Dynacorn repro body or an existing 69 or 70 Mustang shell. {but it would have to be the fastback or sports back – not my ’70 Coupe  🙁  }

Race spec, low visual obstruction design, 12 point, chassis stiffening roll-cage of DOM steel.

Race proven SLA (double A-arm) Front suspension.

Ultra stable, Bill Osborne designed, V-link rear suspension.

Speedway Engineering 9” full floating rear axle.

Penske adjustable racing shocks with optional weight jacks at all four corners.

Ducted, low drag and lift hood, engineered and crafted by Agent 47.

Come ON!!! Tell me that’s not awesome!!!

Agent 47 designed vintage Recaro style racing seats.

Agent 47 designed, lightweight, Forgeline racing wheels.

Those are nice!!!

Brakes and master cylinders by AP racing.

Check out this set up.

16 lightweight components manufactured using the latest Rapid prototyping technology.

NVH controlled interior with strategic, lightweight, sound dampening materials.

A work of art. Very limited body roll with this set up. Much improved over the original ’69 TransAm

I’m not advertising for these guys, I just really like what they’ve done.  There are parts for Fox bodied and other Mustangs as well.

Here a long racing video (cameras are set up for you can see how the body reacts to cornering).

http://www.agentfortyseven.com/harbinger/index.html

Thanks for reading.

Tim

My Blue Beetle – Posted by Malc

Do you like VW‘s?  Then you’ll love to visit  http://bandwagen.wordpress.com.   This is a great looking bug!!!  I’m glad he didn’t turn it into a drag car.

This blue Cal-look beetle was in my life for twenty two years. I purchased it with a friend back in 1988 with the intention of building a drag-car to enter the recently formed VWDRC. The basic plan was to weld up the doors, cut off the roof, fit a roll-cage and run a more or less stock 1600 engine on methanol and nitros oxide… this was back in a time when you could pick up as many used and running engines as you wanted, for around £50 each! The car only cost us £100 so we figured as long as we got a few quarter-mile runs out of each engine before they blew, it would be fairly inexpensive but fast fun!

As you’ve probably guessed from the pictures, the plans changed drastically when my friend lost interest in the bug. Thank god he hadn’t got around to hacking the roof off! I bought his share in the car and decided to use it as the basis for a Cal-look project. Over the next couple of years I started collecting parts and in 1990 it went into the body shop to fit the early panels, some de-chroming and a respray in Ford electric blue.

Once painted, I rented a small, two-car barn on a local farm with another friend who was also working on a project beetle. The bug slowly  came together over the following eight years. I’d work on it when time and money allowed which wasn’t too often – I was in my 20s and money was tight so there were usually other things that had to take priority, like paying the mortgage and food!

After a final push it was all together and driving in 1998 and I made it along to the Stonor Park VW show that year. Things have been updated and changed over the years including the addition of the 4″ narrowed beam in 2009 which was just before I decided to sell it. This beetle only covered 8,500 mile in the 22 years that I owned it which must be some kind of record! It’s still fairly local to me and owned by a friend of the guy who bought my ’72 Bay-window camper, but as they say, that’s another story…

Body:
Pre-67 front and rear valances, early wings and lights (US-Spec fronts containing orange indicators)
Long-bonnet and glass W-decklid.
Cal-look window rubbers.
De-chromed with smoothed/hidden catches on front and back lids.
Grey tinted one-piece door glass and matching rear side glass.
Stainless-steel blade bumpers.
Bodywork and paint by Paulespury coachworks in 1990 (still looks great!)

Running gear:
New front suspension set-up fitted by Sayed @ Batts VWs in 2008 comprising of:
4″ narrowed and adjustable front beam, custom built by Gavin @ Trailer Queen Restos
CB Dropped spindles
New KYB Front shocks
Long-travel ball joints
Rear…
Adjustable Koni shocks.
New IRS gaiters
Type 3 IRS Gearbox
UVA Adjustable rear spring plates.
Copper brake pipes fitted throughout
Standard drums and disks re-drilled to Porsche 5-stud (VW 4stud fitment still retained as well)

Wheels & Tyres:
Fully-polished early Porsche fuchs, 5.5×15 fronts and spare with 185/55R15 Continentals
Original deep 6×15 rears with 185/65R15 Nankangs

Engine:
Built by Sayed @ Batts VWs and fitted in Feb 2000 (only done 6K miles!)
1641cc fully balanced.
Twin 36 IDF webber carbs with hex-bar linkage.
Engle 110 Cam.
040 Cylinder heads.
Hi-volume oil pump.
Remote oil filter with braided lines.
009 Distributor and Bosch blue coil
Polished, louvered stainless firewall.
Engine tinware painted electric blue.

Interior:

Grey vinyl/velour high-back sports with matching side panels and rear seat.
 Grey carpets.
Grey cloth headlining. 
Short-throw T gearshift.
 Custom painted speedo.
Grey sports steering wheel. 
Fire extinguisher. 
80s Pioneer cassette player with 4x speakers on custom rear parcel shelf.
 Auto-watch Alarm & immobiliser.
 Billet dash knobs and door handles/window winders and buttons.
 Additional oil temp gauge.

 I say…Nicely  done!!!

Thanks for reading

Tim.

It’s Spring Time….and Beehives are the Buzz Part 2

Resistance

If there is one challenge to the beehive revolution, it’s the perception of the masses. While most engine builders and performance enthusiasts know that the beehive works to improve their engines, many don’t realize the true benefits. Some established enthusiasts are confused and concerned that the smaller valve retainer and single spring used in the beehive system are capable of handling the same high performance loads carried by the conventional spring with two coils.

Beehive springs are a precision component just like any part you select for your engine. Using a tech line expert to help find just the right Beehive springs is critical to your engine’s ultimate performance and durability.

“There are some very knowledgeable engine builders who don’t understand how a single coil spring can be better than a dual conventional spring,” stated Thomas Griffin Head valve spring engineer for COMP Cams.

“The fact is the beehive springs, by virtue of the ovate spring shape and a variety of internal upgrades is compatible with virtually any application where a dual spring is used. That includes some engines with mechanical roller camshafts. The key is to review the required camshaft load and assess the aggressiveness of the camshaft.”

The key profile consideration of a camshaft can be denoted in the camshaft profile section. By reviewing the duration specs for your potential camshaft at 0.050-inch lift and again at 0.200-inch lift, the shape of the lobe can be projected. These are the key figures engineers use to determine beehive spring compatibility. Currently beehive springs for camshafts measuring up to 0.750-inch lift are available.

COMP Cams engineers used a Spintron machine to determine exactly what happens with valve spring dynamics at all levels of engine rpm. This high tech sensor was installed after cutting the cylinder head to make room. The Spintron data noted improved performance at reduced valve seat pressures, among other benefits previously mentioned.