The transformation continues on my 1976 Corvette StingRay (#ProjectSR76), and the interior color change from the ugly factory gray to place is nearly done. Take a look at the before and after.
With the upholstery on the seats complete and the carpet in place I’m going to start dying the gray interior parts that do not be replaced. For this video I’ve pulled the metal bracket that holds the manual light pull and the bottom cover for the steering column as well as the side section of the console cover.
Then next thing I need to attend to was the power steering leak. It is a really troublesome part of many older cars and this 1976 Stingray is not going to prove to be an exception, in fact, it quite adapt to gushing power steering fluid.
Wrapping up the oil pan gasket and what’s next for the 68 RoadRunner?
Take a look:
I have to add my note and this might rub someone the wrong way but I am going to toss it out here.
I took my 1970 Mustang to a shop run by a guy I trust with my cars. After getting the Mustang back I leaked from two spots. When I asked his mechanic about the said “Old cars leak.” That phrase really irritates me every time I hear it. This day in age with all the improvement in gaskets from rubber to rubber coated metal to make your or form you own, this just no reason for your car to leak. After the incident above, I took my Mustang home and replaced the gaskets and drove it for about a week and then went back to my friends shop and had the mechanic look under the car…it was bone dry.
Unless you have a part that can’t be found there is almost no reason, given all the options, for your old car to leak. Having said that, Bill makes a good point – there are times when a leak, a non-engine killing leak, becomes to expensive or time consuming to fix. But if I know Bill, you’ll be seeing a video with him fixing all the leaks. (;^o)
Did you think I sold #ProjectSportsRoof? Nope. I’ve been busy and I’ve been serving as editor to another cool project – my constant reader Bill’s ’68 Plymouth RoadRunner (#ProjectBeepBeep). However, I have been doing some work on the sports roof and in this video you’ll see a little bling under the …
I’d like you to take a look at one of my constant readers classic muscle car. First let me say that Bill has been an a long quest to find a car to replace this car: Back in the day. It was a long search with lots of phone calls with many …
Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids) for Week of April 30th 2017
May 1, 1954 – American Motors Corp Formed
Formed from Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson merger. It was still referred to as Nash-Ramber and then AMC Ramber though the 1950’s. Styling didn’t change in the next few years and 1955-1956 Ramblers were badged as both Nashes and Hudsons, with no visible difference between the two. Rambler became a marque in its own right for the 1957 model year. The Nash and Hudson makes were continued as senior model only through 1957, after which all of AMC’s offerings were marketed as Ramblers.
1958 4 Door Rambler Ad
1958 Rambler Statesman – 2Dr.
May 2, 1918 – Chevrolet becomes part of GM.
GM was started Billy Durant by using the financing from his Durant-Dort Carriage Company to take over Buick Motor Company. He changed the name to General Motors (with Buick eventually becoming a separate brand later on). He soon brought in Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland company. He started Chevrolet (in partnership with famous Swiss race car driver Louis Chevrolet) to help off set the financial issues as a separate company. Durant eventually started purchasing more Chevy stock and eventually took control and folded Chevy into GM.
May 3, 1948 – Willys Jeepster Phaeton debuts.
These were mostly powered by the Inline 4 Cylinder, L-head engine. (134.2 cid, bore 3.13, stroke 4.38, compression 6.48:1 for about 63hp). Power got to the wheels via a 3 speed transmission. All the Willys had the same wheelbase length of 104″ with the total length of the Phaeton being 174.8″. Production was not well-defined through out all the models offered but approximately, 10,326 Phaeton were build.
1948 Jeepster Phaeton
May 3, 1949 – Packard’s 50th Anniversary 2000 Gold Packards.
These were Dealer Driveway. These weren’t “gold” cars but they were painted in a special paint code of Gold. Each were powered with 327 c.i.d., 150 hp engine. The number of ’49 2000 Gold Packards produced was about 600 (some say 1500) . The event was held at was the Utica Proving Grounds. Currently none are known to exists although you can see a few “gold painted” 49 Packards pop up from time to time.
Here is a 49 Packard – painted gold. Is it one of the Drive-Aways? Slight chance.
Packard’s Utica Proving Grounds.
May 4, 1923 First Le Mans 24 hour race.
The first Le Mans 24 Hour race was held just outside Le Mans, France. Initial the race was limited to ‘production’ cars and two drivers, now they require 3 drivers per car and the of course these cars aren’t in your dealers show rooms. The race was won by one of the French teams – André Lagache and Léonard driving a Chenard et Walcker with 3.0L I4 engine.
This is an awesome looking car!!!
May 6, 1928 Chrysler debuts the De Soto. The De Soto wasn’t available to the public until 1929. It sported an L-head six cylinder engine, displacing 174.9 CID and producing about 55hp.
Here are your Auto Factoids #AutoFactoids for the beginning of June, 2015. May 31, 1927 – Ford produced the last Model T. There is some debate as to actual …
(via Auto Factoids for the Week of April 23, 2017 Mazda, Ford, Lamborghini). Tagged: autofactoids. Source: average-guys-car-restoration-mods-racing.com.
AutoFactoids | Auto Factoids for the Week of April 23, 2017 April 25, 1970 – First Mazda in the US I remember seeing the first Mazda cars in the U.S. I was 12 or …
Feb 25, 2015 … Got a few huge debuts this week’s Auto Factoids (#AutoFactoids), so lets get started. Feb 23, 1954 – Ford shows off the Thunderbird for the first.
Well it’s been a long week getting her back on the road. But she drove well enough given her condition.
I am looking for opinions on kits for front suspension rebuilds, mine is shot. At this point I’m probably looking for the cheapest most comprehensive kit given my pony’s condition.
My entire front suspension is not suspending, or bouncing, or quiet. Its time for a full rebuild but I’ve been waiting to blow my motor to justify a full car build! It’s been on its last leg for at least 10 years so at this point I’m trying to see how far I can go to prove Ford’s reliability before tearing her down and she just won’t die! A true survivor.
Also I have a mean top end tick I have lots of play in my lifters, I’m assuming that’s the problem. Already replaced the valve caps, but I probably lost one or two again, any tips or tricks to adjust these ticks?
Although she really like cruising at 50 mph everywhere! I had a hard time keeping it under that speed.
Josh,
You will get a lot of opinions and have a lot of options. Basically is comes down to what you want the car to be. If you just want a cruiser I think you can’t go wrong with just building like it came from the factory. I did that with my 1970 only difference is I use polyurethane bushing. Polyurethane bushing improved the ride without ruining the feel of how the car would have handled when it came from the factory. Properly greased the don’t squeak. If you want it a bit better ride you can upgrade components as you go.
I recommend the RPS kit (it is under $300)
Front Suspension Kit, 1968 – 73 Mustang Restoration Parts Source FDSUSKIT3 – RPS – 004 This suspension kit includes new upper and lower control arms with bushings and riveted ball joints installed, new spring perches and insulators and new strut rod bushings with washers.
Replaces that is, boot as in shifting boot. (Were you thinking…since I just got back from the Barrett Jackson Auction.. I was considering getting rid of the Stang ? Nope..but I tell you there were a couple of cars I’d even swap for…that’s for sure!!) When the 4 speed trans got …
If you searched and found or followed my posts on restoring the dash-board of my ’70 Mustang, then you might recall my planning/scheduling issues. As I was taking the old dash pad off, I realized that I hadn’t order the plastic pillar molding. When I finally called a few Mustang parts …
I’ve the pillar post moldings painted and ready to installed. I put on 3 coats of paint. Now I have to remove the dash pad (again) and install. That will be later this week, my Corvette is still in shop and the Mustang is my back up car. Thanks for reading more to …
Ok now I’m excited. The dash pad replacement arrived and it looks great. Here are some pics: I ordered this part from Dallas Mustang, but I thinking I should have ordered directly from DashesDirect.com I’ll check the web site and see if it was cheaper there. When you have an average guy’s budget …
If you follow this blog you’ve no doubt seen my posts on this past January’s Barrett Jackson event in Scottsdale, Az, you might even had caught my Facebook Live videos.
Of course I have to say it’s well worth the price of admission for all that there is to see and do.
One event is the Ride and Drive where you are allowed to drive some of the new cars. They also have a few of the more powerful cars that they only allow you to ride along with a driver, cars like the Hell Cat and Viper and some of the Mustangs. This year I chose to drive the SS and RS Camaro.
The key is to get there early because the line get long and the track gets crowded. We arrived at the right time and got a more personal touch. New for this year was the Breathalyzer test conducted by the Sheriff’s department, a smart idea, considering all the adult beverages available. But it was a bit early for that.
Here’s quick little slide show of my trip in one of the Camaro’s.
The auto cross course they had set up was pretty tight and for the novice this would a challenge and I think it was meant to keep the speeds down. When you attend these you are accompanied by a local drive either supplied by the dealership or by the car company for this event.
I drove the SS V8 LT Camaro first. I found the seat comfortable and driving position was really good. The car had quick response and the V8 really pulled great with hitting the gas. Not as good as my 2007 C6 Corvette but I was impressed. As an SCCA auto cross driver I found this course to be a bit tighter the standard down here at the regional I’ve driven often. The SS proved to be a bit sloppy in the corners at speed and it felt like a bigger car – of course it’s it a bit larger than my Vette. Although I made it round the course with out killing any cones, it would be understandable given how it handled.
Immediately after parking the SS, they had an V6 RS ready and I jumped in. I really appreciated that, having the SS drive still fresh in the never endign, it would make the comparison, a bit more visceral rather than homogenized by the thought process.
These days you know they can get a lot of power out of V6 engine and even 4 cylinders so I was curious to see how the RS’s V6 felt with my foot pressed to the floor. I didn’t have any specific expectations, but I was hoping to feel “WOW – this is a only a V6?!?!”, but I have to say it felt like V6. It was clear the power wasn’t there at the start line. However, it did get up to speed fairly quickly and by the first real corner you could feel it. The corner? Well, let’s say it was impressive. While driving SS the ride-a-long driver bet that I’d find the RS a much better handling car in the tight corners, due to the fact that the engine was set back a bit that changed up how the car made it though the corners. I have to say it was correct.
It’s true that in auto cross that horse power isn’t all you need, in fact, too much can make for rough runs. The key for any auto cross car is being able to handle the corner as the fastest speed possible. The RS made it through the course with much sharper corners and it felt really good coming out of them with not a lot of body roll, it was surprising.
So the V8 SS felt powerful (relatively speaking) – more what I’m use to with my Corvette. The RS felt like a V6 when getting off the line, but had the better cornering than the RS, basically verifying what the ride-a-long driver told me I would find.
It’s not often the average blogger, SCCA racer and car restorer, gets to take ride in or drive the newest cars which I think is a huge gap in what you see in the big time blogs and car magaiznes, so it’s always fun to poke them with the Average Guy’s thoughts when a chance for that experience can be documented.
I love this time of year here in Arizona. Not just because you can work on your classic/muscle car in the garage without feeling like a Christmas turkey in the oven. I love this time of year because it’s Car Auction Season! For the next 3-4 weeks classic cars …
