As we run through the middle of the 2nd month of the year, here are your Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids). A light week this week.
Feb 10, 1942 – Pontiac stops car production for WWII
– As you know WWII took a lot of sacrifice on many countries and their citizen and even corporations. A lot of resources were used in producing automobiles, in particular metals that could be used to produce planes and Liberty ships and ammo. That is why the U.S. government asked the car industry to halt production and assist in producing just about anything to support the war effort. Pontiac was one of the last to comply with the request. Pontiac’s main contribution? It was the 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons. Check out what they could do!!!
Feb 11, 1932 – Ford announces new V8 engine
The Model A was history and the Model 18 ruled – with Ford’s new FlatHead V8 in 1932 (also referred to as the Ford Flathead or Flathead Ford or just Flatty). It lived on in the Model 40 in 1933 and 1934. It continued on the 1950’s.
1932 Flatty
Feb 12, 1908 – Start of the New York to Paris car race.
– The race route was from NYC, Albany, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Valdez Alaska, Japan, Vladivostok, Omsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Berlin and finally Paris. It was sponsored by the New York Times and the LA MATIN (Paris news paper) and finished 169 days later.
Oczywiście, trójkołowe motocykle są świetnym rozwiązaniem dla wszystkich tych, którzy z jakiś powodów nie posiadają już pełnej swojej sprawności i nie mogą jeździć konwencjonalnym motocyklem. Skoro to stwierdzenie mamy z głowy, to co musi wydarzyć …
“The East Coast rod is a blood relation of the sports car,” the chairman said, “while the West Coast rod has the style of the dry-lakes roadster, of Bonneville and the whole Ford ‘flathead’ V8 scene, probably what most people envision when they hear …
Jay’s latest adventure takes a deep dive into hot-rodding history with this beautiful 1932 Ford Highboy roadster . But don’t pass this off as just another deuce coupe . No, this car is the deuce coupe. Jay has with him Bruce Meyer, the car’s restorer …
I love engines!!! Not just the big block, but some of the off beat, lower production/limited use, power plants. Of course that’s one of the great things about our hobby – there is a wide variety to choose from.
I haven’t writing a post in this series in some time, but just the other day, while on my hunt for a new project car, I ran across a Mercury project that had a 410 as the engine. I bet even if you are a die-hard Ford guy, you might not have run into this engine. This prompted me to do a little research which further prompted me to write what I found.
The 410 from a 1966 Mercury.
Most engines are derived from an engineered design that came before it. The 410 came in two different series. Produced from 1958 to 1968 it was part of the MEL series. MEL was Ford’s designation for Mercury, Edsel and Lincoln. From 1968 through 1976 it was in the FE series. The early MEL series 410 was used exclusively in the 1958 Edsel Corsair and Citation. It was also called the E-475 for it’s 475 foot-pounds of torque. It sported a 4.20 bore and a 3.70 stroke and a compression ratio of 10.5:1. Top that with 4 barrel Holly and it would produce, finish it off with dual exhaust you’ve got enough power to pull around those big Edsels.
The FE Series 410 was essentially Ford’s 390 (as was the 406) only given a bump in the stroke length (0.20″) to 3.98″ from the 390’s 3.78″. It used the same heads as the 390 (2.04 intake and 1.57 exhaust valves). Topped with a cast iron intake manifold and a Ford carb, it produced 330 horse power.
The MEL Series 410 was, as stated above, only installed in Edsel’s Cosair and Citation and that was only for 1958. That would make it an extremely limited use engine. It was a 4v Carb, produced about 345 horse power and 475 ft-lbs of torque with a compression ratio of 10.5:1.
The FE Series was also used in just two years, 1966 & 1967 and in just one sub-brand, Mercury. For those years the 410 carried a 4v carb produced 330 horse power and put done 444 ft-lbs of torque using 10.5:1 compression.
Production number for the 1958 Corsair was 9,987 units. For the Citation 9,299 units were produced. Together those tells you that there were about 20,286 for the 410 engines produced in the MEL version. I wasn’t able to find true production numbers for the FE series.
I haven’t check into the availability of parts for either 410 Series, but the MEL would seem unique and difficult source, however the FE shared most of the FE 390 engine. I do know that the MEL series engines had unique cylinder heads. The heads and block were milled at a 10 degree angle, giving them a wedge-shaped combustion chamber.
I did, in fact, pass on the project that prompted this post.
Thanks for reading. And if you have any additional information or want to share your project. Post here or on twitter (@AGCarRestore) or Facebook Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing.
I dont really want to pull the engine out of the car because i got an estimate on machine work, and the numbers are to high for my salary, Is there anything i can do to flush out the coolant ports(im not sure what the technical …
With the introduction of the FE and MEL engines in 1958, lessons had been learned in regards to exhaust valve placement and the new engines remedied this issue by either placing intake valves next to each other at the …
If you are like me you tend to be excited about some portions of the car restoration hobby and not so much with others. Digging in to the engine – love it! Brakes or exhaust – let’s “get ‘er done”! Upholstery – OH…no…no…noooooooooo!!!
Just the thought of damaging the upholstery is sickening, these materials don’t patch well and I can’t stand the thought of driving around with ripped interior…it’s just unacceptable!!! Fixing it just isn’t something I look forward too. I have had success with kits and they are a bit of work, but nothing like what a good custom shop can put out.
You can see my handy work at the links below (some video’s are missing – lost in the cloud when one company bought out another).
So when I ran across the article below, I thought that this is something I would benefit from reading. Even if I’m not going to buy a heavy-duty sewing machine and start my own upholstery shop there will be some good tips to learn. I won’t be posting them here, so chase the link below and bookmark it.
BLOG: Auto Upholstery 101
Harry Weimann
December 23, 2014
I’ve been writing “Interior Insights” articles for over three years now. Most of my articles have been focused on the business portion of the automotive upholstery industry. I’ve talked about everything from customer service, looking for new talent to marketing your business.
Starting in 2015, I will be taking a new direction on article topics. I plan on launching a series of articles that deals primarily with basic auto upholstery.
These articles will reach out to the novice as well as experienced individuals who are interested in auto upholstery and want a better understanding. I will cover materials, tools, specific interior components and techniques used when reupholstering a vehicle. I will also touch on all types and styles of vehicles.
This is a lot of ground to cover and a variety of subjects to address. I would appreciate feedback as I write on new topics each month—areas that you would like to know more about. I have years and years of experience and a true love for the auto upholstery industry; I love teaching others what I know.
He was born Aug. 28, 1935, in Elgin, son og the late Hiriam Sanders and Mary Wooten Sanders. He was in the auto upholstery business most of his life and will be remembered by many. Mr. Sanders is survived by his sons, David Sanders (Kathy), of Gaston …
Harry Weimann, director of education at WyoTech Blairsville and a business owner since 1986, says he wishes he would have learned to look for the appropriate skills long ago. “As a business owner for many years, I’ve hired several employees,” Weimann …
The name Pininfarina is synonymous with expensive and elegant Italian sports cars such as the Maserati GranTurismo, Alfa Romeo Spyder and a log file of Ferraris such as the 365 GTB/4, Enzo, F40 and Testarossa. The global design legend does much more than style beautiful cars though, and ample testimony will appear at auction this week in the form of a little known 1960s concept car. With its four wheels arranged in a diamond shape, the tiny aerodynamic four-seater Pininfarina-X had a drag coefficient of 0.23, indicating that Pininfarina was a long way ahead of the rest of the world in exploring the critical area of aerodynamics, long before it was fashionable.
Pininfarina hatte das Model X ausgiebig getestet und sogar rund 145 km/h erreicht. Damit war der X deutlich schneller, als ein normaler Fiat 110. Trotz des Mißerfolges war Farina von der Aerodynamik in den Bann gezogen und ging abermals auf Professor …
Featured cars include a 1969 Ferrari 365 GTS by Pininfarina and a 1932 Packard Deluxe Eight Individual Custom Sport Phaeton by Dietrich. Details: Jan 14-16. Preview runs 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Auction runs 5-9 …
Here are your Auto Factoids for the last week of Dec 2014.
– Charles Goodyear was born Dec 29, 1800 in New Heaven, Conn. 39 years and 4 days later he developed vulcanization or rubber (Jan 2, 1839)
– Jan 1, 1942 was the date that the us Government banned the sale of all non-essential car and small trucks in an effort to save valuable resources for the war effort.
– Back in 1966 on Jan 1st, Dodge rolls out the Charger.
1966 Charger Love the lines!!!
But it has had some changes over the years.
1969 Charger – Nice!!!!!
1987 Shelby version of the Charger.
2010 Dodge Charger – not a great looking car.
2014 Charger – looks make you want to yawn…but it can move!!!!
– Chevy debuts its first air-cooled engine on Jan 2, 1923.
Copper/Air Cooled
– On Jan 2, 1957 Ghia announced the production of the Crown Imperial limo.
Here is an 1958 Chrysler-Imperial Limo example. That’s a nice looking car!!!
Thanks for reading this installment of #AutoFactoids.
Tim
NOTE: If you’d like to sponsor an Auto Factoid contact me. With thousands of views every day you will get noticed!!!!!
Dec 15, 1861 Charles Duryea was born in Canton, Ohio. He grew up to be an engineer and with his brother Frank, they began production bicycles. By 1893 they test driving the first U.S. gasoline powered vehicle. It was a …
Let’s get right to the glory and the tragic historical events of this weeks Auto Factoids. June 10, 1927 the Graham brothers purchased Paige-Detroit Motor.
If you thought last week was light…this week is weak!! Buick became a corporation back in 1903 back on May 19. It eventually became a major General Motors brand.
Dec 15, 1861 Charles Duryea was born in Canton, Ohio. He grew up to be an engineer and with his brother Frank, they began production bicycles. By 1893 they test driving the first U.S. gasoline powered vehicle. It was a used horse drawn buggy they purchased fro $70.00. It sported a single cylinder 4HP engine with friction transmission, spray carburetor and low tension ignition. The car was then stored in 1894 and found and given to a museum.
Charles and Frank – left to right in there first car.
1894 Duryea
These brother went on to create Duryea “Motor Wagon Company” and produced 13 hand-made cars out of their garage. These were the first commercially produced automobiles in the U.S. This wasn’t their only ‘first’. The Duryea car won the first American car race and was involved in the first traffic accident. Charles and Frank parted ways in 1898 and Charles died in 1938. Frank formed the Hampden Car company. To actually produce the cars brother Frank sought out the services of J. Stevens of J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company. This eventually lead to the Stevens-Duryea cars being produced.
This is the Model C Touring car. Production continued until 1927.
New York City creates the first one way street Dec 17th 1791.
Ford names Lee Iacocca as president 10/18/1970.
Dec 20, 1892 Pneumatic automobile tire patented. The original patented was by Robert William Thomson who invented the first pneumatic tire but apparently never caught on, however, John Dunlap’s did.
Harvey Firestone was born in Columbia County, Ohio on Dec 20, 1868. After high school Harvey worked for the Columbus Buggy Company . In 1890 before starting his own company making rubber tires for carriages. By 1900 he began marketing tires for automobiles and then founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, a pioneer in the mass production of tires. In 1926 he published a book, Men and Rubber:
Sears, Roebuck & Co show off the Kaiser built Allstate, Dec 20, 1951. The Allstate was built on Kaiser-Frazer platform and marketed by Sears. It was a 2 door, fastback and came in a Series 4 and Series 6 with several different trim levels.
Let’s get right to the glory and the tragic historical events of this weeks Auto Factoids. June 10, 1927 the Graham brothers purchased Paige-Detroit Motor.
Auto Factoids – 1970 Mustang – Ford Assembly Line http://timsweet.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/auto-factoids-1970-mustang-ford-assembly-line/ December 1, 2010. Today is the anniversary of the assembly line created by …
Here is the line up of Auto Factoids for the first week in December!!!
Nov 30 1960 De Soto ceases production. The last De Soto produced were really the Chrysler Windsor, most did not sale, even though dealerships continued to received cars after the brand was terminated.
1961 Windsor
1961 DeSoto
Way before that on Nov 30, 1900 Germany patented an automobile front wheel drive. Although this is a common historic fact, there is some evidence that the first production car with front wheel drive was a French car. There exists a French Patent around 1898 or 1899. The manufacturer was Société Parisienne and the car was the Victoria Combination.
It was a lightweight two-seater trailer,known as a ‘Victoria’, combined with the back axle and mechanical components of a motor tricycle, but this axle was placed in front of the trailer and steered by a long tiller on which the controls were located. The first examples were powered by 1.75 or 2.5 horsepower De Dion Bouton engines geared directly to the differential, but larger engines of this make were fitted as they became available.
1900 Victoria Combination
December 1, 1925 GM purchased Vauxhall. Vauxhall started out as engine manufacturer mainly for pumps and marine use (1857 – Alex Wilson). They began making cars in 1903. Here is a video of a 1903 Vauxhall. They are still producing cars using the Opel name under GM.
One more of it on a road test.
Back 1913 (just over 100 years ago) on Dec 1, Ford fired up the first continuous assembly line.
Ford’s Production Line
And just one day and 14 years later (Dec 2, 1927) Ford began selling Models A off this assembly line.
1927 Model A
Dec 3, 1951 is Rick Mears birthday – one of only three drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 3 times.
Rick Mears in his Formula 1 car
That round out the week. Thanks for reading Auto Factoids.
Tim
If you’d like to sponsor a week of Auto Factoids contact me directly.
I didn’t realize there were models for the stamps!
This is an older article.
The two ’32 Ford highboy roadsters that posed for the U.S. Postal Service’s new Hot Rods Forever Stamps will be shown today at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles during a dedication ceremony of the limited-edition collection.The cars – the red ’32 McGee Roadster owned by well-known collector Bruce Meyer and the black-with-flames ’32 Frank Rogers Roadster owned by Mark Graham – will be at the museum with their owners for the 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ceremony, along with U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and emcee Barry Maguiar, host of the TV show Car Crazy.
El preparador y marca independiente estadounidense Hennessey Cars ha facilitado los detalles principales de los dos kits de mejora para el Ford Mustang GT 2015. Fruto de la incorporación de dos compresores diferentes y de diversos cambios en el motor …
Of course I can’t show you all the cars but here are a few that caught my eye.
This was a very nicely done ’72 Karmann Ghia
I’d vote this one “BEST INTERIOR” it was so well done!!!!
Maybe my favorite Mustang at this show.
Engine compartment was fantastic
I loved this Stang with its “come as you are” attitude.
Paint job is priceless.
Can’t beat an original 289 HP engine.
The sign says “Please Touch”
British cars were well represented with these two well maintained specimens.
This is a well restored and maintained Spitfire 1500.
Check out all that wood!!!
Sharp little car.
This TR6 was a highlight.
More wood!!!!
I’ve always said that sometime there’s even a mini-car show in the parking lot of any car show. Often folks will drive their classic to a car show, thinking theirs is good enough to enter (Dude, just check out the Mustang above!!!) so they keep it out side. So don’t forget to looking around after you park, you might even find a good deal. Check these two:
This Firebird was there and parked outside.
Needs some work but….!!!
Here’s the number.
You can’t see it from this shot but it a Covair Wagon
Thanks for reading. Coming up the main attraction for this car show – 1911 Pierce Arrow Touring Car!!
This weekend I attended the 8th Annual Tucson Classic Car Show put on by the Rotary Club of Tucson. I’ve attend the last 5 of these shows, twice as a participant (once.
