Monthly Archives: September 2019

700 Plus HP – You have to Respect the Power – Kevin Hart’s 70 Cuda.

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I read an account, on Facebook siting TMZ as the source (yes there are 3 problem there, first it’s on Facebook, second it’s TMZ and third it’s TMZ), that the guy driving Kevin Hart’s Cuda is suing Kevin and in turn Kevin is suing SpeedKore for not having enough/proper safety equipment.  Specifically, that the car didn’t have airbags or safety harnesses.

The post goes on to lament the concern that this case may lead California to require that all classic cars be outfitted with current safety equipment.  Should that be the case then classic car collecting and driving would become affordable to just about everyone. Unfortunately, that might not be that much of a stretch.

This brought several thoughts to mind that I’ll share.

I’ve raced my cars, my 1970 Mustang appeared in several charity drag races.  Both of my Corvettes were auto crossed informally (car club sponsored and in SCCA events. )  One of the keys is understanding the ability and power of the car and your driving ability!!!    

At one event a fellow car club member had just purchased a C6 Z06 Corvette with 600 plus hp.  He was a newbie when it came to Corvettes and horse power.  In his first auto cross he lost control of his Corvette and drove through a fence at a well known race course/school here in Arizona.  He had no idea the power of the car and turned off the traction control, something newbies should never do.

Now, I don’t know the driving experience of the guy driving Kevin’s Cuda, nor do I know what driving skills Kevin Hart has for such a powerful car, but I guessing very little for both. At least not enough to request a proper harness be installed.  Of course, if you have the money, you can spend it on anything your “heart” desires, but should you?  Should you by a powerful device without the proper skill set to operate it?  I’ve owned and fired weapons before, I guess purchasing an armored personnel carrier with a .50 caliber M2 machine gun and a 40 mm Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher should be fine.  I can drive a truck and have fired M16s….ya…I’m good.

Point is you must understand the car’s capabilities as well your skill level and respect it’s power and what that can do.

My second thought is related to regulations restricting the equipment and driving for classic cars.  There is a continued eroding of protections for the hobby and the industry.  With knuckleheads like Kevin and his friends we could be doomed.

There are small organizations out there lobbying to protect/preserve the rights to own, collected and drive this cars.  But I fear that they are too small and under funded to mount a long term fight.

Kevin, you are very funny guy and I enjoy your shows, but this is not funny.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Image result for speedkore charger

 

kevin hart car accident

Abandon Cars – 1930’s Chevy Truck

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Now most of you know I love old abandon cars. This one is part of a display in the ghost town Pearce, AZ.

Pearce was a mining ghost town named for Cornishman James Pearce, miner and cattleman, who discovered gold nearby at what became the Commonwealth Mine in 1894. The Pearce Post Office was established on March 6, 1896. The railroad station opened in 1903. By 1919, Pearce had a population of 1,500. The town declined in the 1930s and became almost a ghost town in the late 1940s when the mine closed for the last time.

The Commonwealth Mine became one of Arizona’s major silver producers. Over 1,000,000 tons of ore were produced from 1895 to 1942. There are about 20 miles of underground workings.[11] The mine produced about $8 million worth of silver and $2.5 million in gold at a time when silver was priced around 50 cents an ounce, and gold was $20 an ounce.

They left a lot of mining equipment behind as well as this 1930’s Chevy flatbed truck.  This truck my be powered by a 3.2 l straight 6 (that’s 3178 cc or 193 cu in).  The bore and stroke would have been 3.31 in x 3.75 in and had 2 valves per cylinder and produced about 60 hp w/ 130 ft-lb of torque.  It was topped by a 1 bb Carter Carb.  All that massive power was delivered by a 3 speed transmission.

 


 

Thanks for reading.
Tim

73 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Head Gaskets Continued

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After taking the #ProjectSportsRoof out for a power test and having the distributor die, I discovered that the head gasket on the left side did not hold.

So in this video I’m attempted to re-torque and see where that takes me.  Oh and then there was a small issue upon restarting.

 


 

Thanks for checking in!!!
Tim
#ProjectSportsRoof

 

Gravity Beats Everything – McLaren 570S Spider

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I’m trying to wrap my head around this.  Maybe a reader can help.

I reading an article in Car and Driver  entitled  “Gravity Wins – The Final Moments of Flight 570S.”

This article lays out a crash of a McLaren 570S Spider on Route 33 in California.  Car was driving by a journalist and the author of the piece is not listed but does state he was in the passenger seat.  The passenger was was Sean Evans

The article goes on to chronicle the event.  The author goes into great detail explaining the crash labeling the sections as “Launch”, “Flight” and “Impact”.  He even gone as far as enlisting the help of a NASA JPL engineer to explain all the forces and speed etc., with cool phrases such as “…our flight time….about 3 seconds” and “…Priellis last touched asphalt.”  He states “We started the right-hand turn a 78 mph…”

I’m just going to stop there.  You can read an even more dramatic article here:  https://www.menshealth.com/technology-gear/a26990660/mclaren-supercar-crash-safety/?src=socialflowFBCAD&utm_campaign=socialflowFBCD&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-media&fbclid=IwAR1LWwzl9L5vxppBsZg9-v55eP6fE3uU9mg8o2AEgzqC-JFz8vSXQgib3RQ

I can’t decide what annoys me more.  The fact that an journalist was driving a car he did not have the skills with nor the respect the for it’s power necessary or the fact that the speed limit on Route 33 in California is only 55 mph an these knuckleheads we traveling at 78 miles an hour!

Let’s not mention the fact that Car and Driver published the article at all. Oh and the kicker, it include a pic of the wrecked 570s with caption – “My old man is television repairman. He’s got the ultimate set of tools.  I can fix it.”   This show a total disrespect for the public, those of us that drive sports car safely on public streets/roads and real journalism.

One more example of the stupidity of a writing thinking his journalistic skills with writing about sports cars, actually mean he can drive one.

Shame on Car and Driver for giving these knuckleheads space in their…cough…cough…”Intelligence, Independence, Irreverence” periodical (that’s from their cover).

You can’t be gravity and you can’t fix stupidity.

Here’s a pic from Facebook of the Spider.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

The Color of Cars

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The other day I was reading, yet another list of cars that someone had owed.  Of course that always makes me think of my past rides (in some cases losses).  I’ve recently lost my C6.  Long story.  Short version – catastrophic transmission/clutch failure (while racing) and a small fire in the rear.  So the C6 is added to my list of past rides.

Today as I was running some errands in my red Ford Sports Trac,  I was trying to recall how many red cars I’ve owned.  So here the list of cars and colors.

1.  1966 Chevy Impala Vert, 283, automatic – Red

2.  1969 Dodge Dart, 318, 3 speed manual – Blue

3.  1970 Chevelle, 350, automatic – White

4.  1971 Buick Skylark – 350 automatic – White

5.  Two Toyota Celica – blue/silver blue

6.  1974 Ford Torino, Cobra Jet, automatic – blue

7.  1984 C4 Corvette – 305 Crossfire, Automatic – Red

8.  1970 Ford Mustang – Bored .o40  302, 4 speed manual – White

9.  2007 C6 Corvette – LS3 – 6 speed manual – Black

Those are gone.  My 73 Mustang is red – or will be red and my 04 Ford Sports Trac is red.

Thanks for reading.