Author Archives: Tim Sweet

A century (plus) of speed: The countdown to the 100th Indianapolis 500 begins | Hemmings Daily

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The front-engine roadster era ended with Jim Clark’s 1965 victory in the Lotus 38

In 1909, a gravel and tar racing track was constructed in Indianapolis, Indiana. Initially, the events hosted by the track were relatively small in scope, but primary owner Carl Fisher had bigger plans for the facility. After repaving the surface with 3.2 million bricks and offering a $25,000 purse, the track played host to its first 500 mile race on Memorial Day in 1911. Next May, the facility will host the 100th running of the fabled event, factoring in the two years lost to World War I and the four years lost to World War II.
Chase the link below for the complete article on Hemmings.com

Source: A century (plus) of speed: The countdown to the 100th Indianapolis 500 begins | Hemmings Daily

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

indianapolis 500 history

What you need to know about the Indianapolis 500

Helio Castroneves lost last year’s race in what was the second closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history, but he is still poised and hungry for a 4th title at Indianapolis Speedway. headshot Steven Loung May 22, 2015, 1:05 PM. headshot Steven Loung …

Auto Factoids for the Week of Nov. 1, 2015 – Packard Week

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Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for the first week of Nov. 2015. I’m going to call this Packard Week (like Shark Week only on wheels)!!!   Here is why:

Starting right off on the Nov. 1st 1955 Studebaker’s Hawk showed up on the car scene.

  • They when on sale in 1956 and came in the Flight Hawk, Golden Hawk and Power Hawk and Sky Hawk. As you may know these were tough time for Studebaker/Packard so the Flight, Power and Sky Hawk models were only available in 1956.   The power plants for these cars ranged from Studebaker’s old straight 6 cylinder bored and stoked to displace 185 CIDs for the Flight Hawk, and their OHV 259″ V8, which came in a 2bbl and 4bbl configuration (180 HP and 195 HP ) for the Power Hawk to the Sky Hawk’s OHV 289 CID with the Golden Hawk sporting Packard’s 352 CID (5.8 L – V8) that managed to produce 275 BHP. That is pretty good power in fairly light car.

Sky Hawk

Sky Hawk

Flight Hawk

Flight Hawk

Golden Hawk

Golden Hawk

Power Hawk

Power Hawk

On Nov. 2, 1935 we have two events.

  • Cord’s 810 debuted as did the Fords’ (Lincoln’s) Zephyr. Cord 810 was a beautiful and advanced car. It was the first US designed and built front wheel drive car with independent suspension and sported a set of very cool hidden headlights (operated with a crank on the dash-board) – another US first!! It was power by a Lycoming 289 V8 (125HP) and had a 4 speed overdrive transmission.
1935 Cord 810. This the Sportsmen Convertible

1935 Cord 810. This is the Sportsmen Convertible

  • The Zephyr was produced under the Lincoln sub-brand and was powered by 267 cu in (4.4 L) L-Head with 110 HP. It sold 15,000 units in its first with was over 50% of all Lincoln sales for 1936.
1936 Zephyr

1936 Zephyr

Continuing on with Packard Week, on Nov. 5, 1863 John Ward Package was born.

  • Before building his first automobile in 1899, he successfully operated his own business, Packard Electric
John Ward Packard

John Ward Packard

On Nov. 6 is a very busy day in Automotive history we have 3 major mile stones.

  • On this day in Carlo (a.k.a. Karl) Abarth was born in Austria in 1908. He was ultimate gear-headed business man!!! Started out designing bicycle and motorcycle frames in Italy as a teenager for Castanga, then back to Austria and motorcycle racing where he managed to become 5 times European champion. After begin seriously injured in a racing accident he gave up racing, designed a sidecar and started a company with Ferry Porsche (and couple other guys) that was eventually called Cisitalia. They produced the Tipo 360 F1 prototype – which was a flop. Later on he founded the Abarth & C company that eventually produced racing cars with the scorpion logo then moved into the production of performance exhaust now called Abarth. He should the company to Fiat and they named a car after him.

Abarth Race Car

Abarth Race Car

Logo

Logo
  • Edsel Ford was born in 1883 in Detroit, MI on this same day. Often only known for the Edsel sub brand he was instrumental in design and development of the Lincoln as well. But we all love the Edsel.

1959EdselCorsair

  • To finish up Packard Week the first Packard car was test driven on Nov. 6, 1899.
The first Packard

The first Packard

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

#AutoFactoids

Auto Factoids for the Week of 5/10/2015 – GM and Corvair

Here is this weeks AutoFactoids (#AutoFactoids). May 10, 1923 – GM names Alfred P. Sloan as president. They didn’t just pick from the streets. He was actually, a draftsman for a bearing company, Hyatt Roller Bearing.

Auto Factoids for the Weeks of March 15 and March 22 2015

Here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for the week. Actually, I’ve combined two weeks because I forgot last weeks and this week’s was limited. So let’s start off with the week of the 15th (’cause going in chronological …

Lisa’s 1973 Mach I Restore!

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I love it when a fellow car enthusiast shares their projects.

This is Lisa’s 1973 Mach 1

1973 Mach I

1973 Mach I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saved after sitting in a junk yard for 21 years.   WAY TO GO LISA!!!   Daunting project to be sure…but you GOT THIS!!!

Lisa73MachI-b Lisa73MachI-c

Lisa wrote:

“Thank you. That is the stock engine out of the original car. The car sat in a junk yard for 21 year before I got it, I thought for sure that it would be too far gone to do anything with but I was completely wrong. The fluids still looked new and once we had the engine out and sitting on a pallet, we rigged it so we could see if it would turn over and sure enough it did. Mine is also a 2v with a 4brl intake. ”
“I wanted to rebuild the engine as affordably as possible so the cam and lifters and the valve guides and seals are the only thing new other than the valve covers which I had to get because sand blasting the factory ones was pointless. The oil pan a friend of mine bought for me after I helped him install his transmission.”
My husband and I own a performance shop that also does machining and I was able to learn how to do the machining on my heads and block to save money on labor. I’ll definitely keep you posted as I progress. I hope you decide to get that mustang and restore it. I would love to see pictures.
You can definitely use my pictures on your blog.”

Here is the engine for Lisa Mach I.

So nicely done!!

Getting ready for some paint!!

Lisa73MachI-Engine2

So nicely done!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa, we are looking forward to seeing the progress on this beauty!!!

Oh…and google #ProjectSportsRoof or just stop by http://www.agcarrestoration.com/ and you can follow the progress on my 1973 Sports Roof.

Thanks again for sharing your project.

Tim

#ProjectSportsRoof

 

1973 Mustang Project SportsRoof – Exterior Walk-Around

Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof.  I run my car projects much like I run my IT projects.  You always have to know where to start and know the end game.   As with any project that isn’t being built from scratch, in other word, you have to work with what you’ve got, …

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression, Rods and Heads

Thanks for check in on #ProjectSportsRoof. If you remember a of couple months back, shortly after bringing the ’73 Mustang home, I conducted a compression test on all the cylinders.  The 351C was running rough (to put it mildly) and smoked like a pile of tires on fire (only the smoke …

1973 Mustang Project Sportsroof – Engine Walk-Through.

Next up will be the install Pertronix system and cap and rotor, then plug and wires. Thanks for reading and drop me a note. Tim. #ProjectSportsRoof. projectsportsroof. 1973 Mustang Project SportsRoof – Interior Walk-Through.

 

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression, Rods and Heads

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Thanks for check in on #ProjectSportsRoof.

If you remember a of couple months back, shortly after bringing the ’73 Mustang home, I conducted a compression test on all the cylinders.  The 351C was running rough (to put it mildly) and smoked like a pile of tires on fire (only the smoke was blue).  Clearly there were some issues.

Here are the links to the posts were you can view the compression tests – RIGHT BANK – LEFT BANK.

To summarize, the cylinders topped out like this:

Cylinder 1 (Left Bank) – 130

Cylinder 2 – 25, 35, 60, 90 (Fail!!!)

Cylinder 3 – 140

Cylinder 4 – 135

Cylinder 5 (Right Bank) – 160

Cylinder 6 – 155

Cylinder 7 – 160

Cylinder 8 – 140

Clearly cylinder 2 has a serious problem and it could a host of things.  Since it was so bad, I didn’t feel it necessary to conduct a wet test and just planned out pulling the heads.

Well the time came to get take care of that and it wasn’t long to disassembling that it was clear what was wrong with cylinder 2.

What the....?

What the….?

At first we thought…”Hey Cool!!! Extra parts!!” But of course that’s just not the case!!

Tappit-3

 No extra parts.

It couldn’t be that the tappet just rolled there. Something else has to be an issue.

Oh…maybe…one of these was the problem?

Rods

Ya Think???!!!

Close inspection of the piston in cylinder 2 showed no signs of impact. As it appears thus far, that the bottom end of the engine is in good shape and the compression numbers for all the other cylinders and we bolstered that assumption with a visual inspection.

Think the heads need to be rebuilt and machined?

That’s coming up.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

#ProjectSportsRoof

IMG_20150923_162001327_HDR

 

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression Test Part I

Thanks for reading. Tim. #ProjectSportsRoof. projectsportsroof. 1973 Mustang Project Sportsroof – Engine Walk-Through. There is a quick walk-through of the 351C tucked between the fenders of the 1973 Mustang Sportsroof.
1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression Test Part II

#ProjectSportsRoof. projectsportsroof. 1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Compression Test Part I. I’ve done all the clean up and all the adjustments necessary to get a good reading on the health of the ’72 351C engine in …

 

Lingenfelter Unveils Wide-Body Kit For The C7 Corvette

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I think this kit gives the C7 an awesome look…not that it needed it.

The kit widens the all-American sports car by roughly two inches either side. It consists of wider wheel arches as well as a new front splitter and rocker panels. Lingenfelter also adds a carbon fiber hood extractor to give an aggressive, tuner look. With the kit installed, you’ll be able to install 20-inch wheels rocking massive 335/25 size tires.

And to ensure that your C7 Corvette has the go to match its new show, Lingenfelter offers a supercharger package that even with mild boost pressure will see the stock 6.2-liter LT1 V-8 spit out 624 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque. Along with the supercharger, in this case an Edelbrock E-Force TVS2300, there is also a high-flow exhaust system incorporating Kooks headers and cat-back Corsa pipes.
Chase Motor Authority’s link to read the rest of the article.

Source: Lingenfelter Unveils Wide-Body Kit For The C7 Corvette

Thanks for reading.
Tim

lingenfelter c7

Lingenfelter Reveals Widebody C7 Corvette

Well known tuning company Lingenfelter has just unveiled its range of upgrades for the C7 Chevrolet Corvette including a widebody kit and a range of performance modifications. As for the bodykit, it isn’t quite as insane as the widebody kit offered by …

 

1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Fender Fitment – Extensions I

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With still some adjustments need on the fenders, I need to tackle the fender extensions.   If you recall the first video at the beginning of the fender fitment series of post you can see that the there’s no way it will fit (view the link HERE).

As I fitted them up here is what the left site looked like (this is after the altering the hole):

 

Gap

Gap

Pretty large gap.

Pretty large gap.

The right side was better with almost no adjustments to the holes.

Not to bad right out of the box.

Not to bad right out of the box.

Almost acceptably gap

Almost acceptably gap.

This video clearly shows the difference in quality of the fenders.  Quality control measures are that great.

Clearly the right side was much better formed then the left.

With a little more adjustments with a body dolly I was able to close the gaps.

Thanks for reading.   Next up “What caused the compression issue?”

Tim

#ProjectSportsRoof

1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Fender Fitment Part I

Nothing But Curves – Should have packed the Vette!!!!! Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). We stripped the old fender and retained all the usable parts. Next we are going to fit the new fenders up to the …

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Fender Removal

In case you didn’t notice, the fenders that were on #ProjectSportsRoof look as though car had driven into a half pipe at a skate park. Left Fender – major.

1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Fender Fitment Part III

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Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof – the fender edition  (:^o).    Here is the next set videos that show the fenders on the 1973 Mustang.

 

There’s more coming up on the fender extensions but here is how the other fender fit.

 

The gaps need to be addressed with some shims  and a little persuasion, but these are going to be near perfect!!!!

 

Thanks for checking back in with the project.   Don’t forget to drop me a note.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

#ProjectSportsRoof.

1973 ford mustang sportsroof

The Automobile and American Life: Cars in Film: A List

Gone in Sixty Seconds 1973 Ford Mustang Sportsroof “Eleanor”. Horatio’s Drive 1903 Winton. Iron Man 2008 Audi R8. Lawrence of Arabia 1920 Rolls Royce. Lemans 1970 Porsche 917K; 1970 Porsche 911S. Mad Max 1973 …

 

 

Has the Mercury Marauder gotten better with age?

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I’d have to say that I like the look of the ’03 Marauder – remind me a lot of the when Chevy brought back the Impala, the look similar.

Maybe lowered a smidgen, and some wider tires (low profile?…maybe) and a little tuning (you know there’s more HP to be dragged out of that V8 – it would be an awesome ride!!!

2003 Marauder

2003 Marauder

Check out the test drive.

https://youtu.be/SFxI2MWYGJ4

In a recent Retro Review, MotorWeek reminds us why Mercury was cool for a hot second in the early aughts.

Source: Has the Mercury Marauder gotten better with age?

So I’d say yes, I think it would be cool to own one.  However, I’d take the 1969 Marauder any day!!!

1969 Mercury Marauder

1969 Mercury Marauder

 

What do you think?

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Why The Mercury Marauder Is A Future Classic

Before I start talking to you about why the Mercury Marauder deserves future classic status, I want to start by talking about biology. Specifically, evolutionary biology, and the concept of the “apex predator.” It’s science-learnin’ time! An apex …

 

1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Fender Fitment Part II

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In these next two videos, you’ll see just how ‘off’ these fenders are in some areas and surprisingly how well they fit in other areas.

If you have an experience or a hit for anyone taking on this part of a restoration – drop a comment here and we’ll share them.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading.  Lot more coming up.

Tim

 

1973 Mustang – Project Sports Roof – Fender Fitment Part I

Nothing But Curves – Should have packed the Vette!!!!! Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). We stripped the old fender and retained all the usable parts. Next we are going to fit the new fenders up to the …

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Fender Removal

In case you didn’t notice, the fenders that were on #ProjectSportsRoof look as though car had driven into a half pipe at a skate park. Left Fender – major.

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – Money!!

#ProjectSportsRoof will be the way I want it, which I haven’t nailed down yet, so suggest way by dropping me a comment (got your crate motor idea swimming around in my head, Bill) and that will happen fast or slow and cost …

1973 Mustang – Project SportsRoof – This Just In #4 Gauges

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Just before heading off on vacation, I sources a set of used gauges for the Mustang (#ProjectSportsRoof).  These are out of a 1973 Mustang and fit in to the dash.  If you recall there is a current set of gauges in the Mustang, however they are a newer connected set wedge into the slot where the original single gauges go.

Here is the current configuration.

Here is the current set of gauges. These individual units will look much better.

Here is the current set of gauges. The individual units will look much better.

 

Drop me a note if you’ve had to clean out the hose for oil pressure gauges.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

1973 Mustang Project SportsRoof – Interior Walk-Through

Welcome back to the #ProjectSportsRoof. As the discovery process continues we move to the interior. Now each area of the car (engine, body, interior,