Winter Projects

[69Z28RSSS]

View attachment 74807

Should be fun. Haven't built a model in years

 

[CaptainKyle]

Just cruised today ! I stopped at the end of the driveway and snapped a couple pictures

 

[desert_max]

Heater working?

 

[CaptainKyle]

Heater working?

Lol this thing has no creature comforts

 

[desert_max]

I figured so. The only reason I asked is that it looks pretty cold in that picture. I lived in Massachusetts for about 10 years What I was in my 20s. We were bunch of motorheads, but hot rods normally got parked for the winter - for a couple of reasons. We didn't want to drive them on salty roads and most of them didn't have heaters either. Trust me that is a bad thing in Massachusetts in Winter!

Of course that brings up another bunch of memories from the past.We had some down right scary winter beaters!

 

[Fire-medic]

I figured so. The only reason I asked is that it looks pretty cold in that picture. I lived in Massachusetts for about 10 years What I was in my 20s. We were bunch of motorheads, but hot rods normally got parked for the winter - for a couple of reasons. We didn't want to drive them on salty roads and most of them didn't have heaters either. Trust me that is a bad thing in Massachusetts in Winter!

Of course that brings up another bunch of memories from the past. We had some down right scary winter beaters!

In Michigan, we called those, "salt cars" or "hunting cars." One of my high school classmates had a beautiful '68 Dart 340, brand-new. His family operated a Dodge dealership in a relatively rural area outside a couple of cities (SW MI). His "salt car" was an early '60's Plymouth Valiant, the highly stylized Mopar with Italian lines, including the faux-spare tire on the rear trunk lid. It was very distinctive as he had painted it Rustoleum yellow. At the first snow flurries, into storage went the 340 Dart, and the yellow Valiant was an easy-one to spot in the high school parking lot.

 

[desert_max]

...an early '60's Plymouth Valiant, the highly stylized Mopar with Italian lines, including the faux-spare tire on the rear trunk lid. It was very distinctive as he had painted it Rustoleum yellow.

I can’t think of a more fitting “salt car” than one of those things. Indisputably in the running as one of the most hideous- looking automobiles ever to come out of Detroit… In my opinion.

I had a diehard Mopar buddy as well. One of his winter beaters was a fairly nice Plymouth amp with the indestructible slant six.

 

[Fire-medic]

I can’t think of a more fitting “salt car” than one of those things. Indisputably in the running as one of the most hideous- looking automobiles ever to come out of Detroit… In my opinion.

I had a diehard Mopar buddy as well. One of his winter beaters was a fairly nice Plymouth amp with the indestructible slant six.

A Scamp?

I think the nickname for the Slant Six was 'Tower of Power.' There was a version equipped with a 4 bbl carburetor. Same thing for the Poncho 250 cu.in. inline-6 SOHC, the H.O. version available in the Firebird sported a Rochester 4-bbl. It probably was available in the LeMans too. Those engines had a possible redline higher than the accessories bolted to it, but the factory redline was lower to protect the accessories.

I actually liked the early 1960's Valiant and Lancer. Chrysler had some great designs after WW II, they put a scare into GM, and pushed them to change their body cycle timeline to compete. Of course, a Chrysler was a premium car before WW II. The Dodge, Plymouth and DeSoto were the lower-priced spread.

 

[desert_max]

Sheesh. I can't even blame that one on auto correct. I'd neglected to capitalize <S>camp. Backspaced and "thought" I'd fixed it. You saw the result.

Anyway, it may sound blasphemous, but the early 60's (with a few exceptions) were not American automaker's finest hours from a body design standpoint. Corvair, Falcon, Valiant were but a few of the clunkers. They improved over time, though. Valiant eventually became Barracuda!

Impala, Galaxy, T-bird, Fury got it right. (And of course the Stingray)

 

[CaptainKyle]

Luckily we don't get much snow so I don't have to worry about the salt problem . I feel for the people that live in that stuff

 

[CaptainKyle]

I made use of more old Vmax parts today made a couple choppers and a fighter helicopter.

 

[Fire-medic]

Looks like a Bell Iroquois to me. Two blades above a box.

desert_max, Im gonna disagree with your 'clunkers' label on the economy cars. For one, they were inexpensive, very simple to repair, and they didn't need much, as they were understressed. I had a '63 Corvair Monza Spyder, all Spyders were convertibles. It had > 1 HP/cubic inch, and a turbocharger with a knock sensor, pretty-exotic stuff for GM and the domestics in the mid-1960's; a flat floor (no driveline hump), and a 4-speed. Yes the swing axle needed a transverse spring, it used the same transaxle design (single U-joint halfshafts) the VW beetle did for years afterwards, and Ralph Nader didn't attack that like he did GM's car. The Gen II Corvair had a great-looking body, and John Fitch made the Fitch Sprint, and Yenko, besides big-block Camaros, had a Corvair Stinger, which could give sports cars of the day a good showing against them.

The Falcon Sprint was available as a V8, and the Mustang was Falcon running gear. Yes the Valiant was the basis for the Dart, and the first-gen Barracudas. The Dart could take a 283, 340, or 383, and dealers built specials like the Grand Spaulding 440, and the Hurst Dart 426. Of course, you had to be dedicated to have something like that. Those big blocks were more dragstrip weapons.

Later in the '60's, Mopar got Dan Gurney to do a Barracuda model with 3-2's, side exhausts, and suspension tweaks. Gurney also did a Mercury Cougar, without googling, I believe it was the XR-7G (for Gurney, natch). and that model was immortalized on one of the James Bond movies. They command a premium when they come on the market.

 

[Bruiser1198]

Those "choppers " you made look like an OCC project , you sure you did not commit copyright infringement ??

 

[CaptainKyle]

Those "choppers " you made look like an OCC project , you sure you did not commit copyright infringement ??

I am sure mine will last longer.LOL

 

[CaptainKyle]

Tinted the windows blue on the Luv truck

 

[desert_max]

Like the look! You gettin' any tire rub in the back on that thing? Looks close in the photos.

 

[CaptainKyle]

Like the look! You gettin' any tire rub in the back on that thing? Looks close in the photos.

Thanks and No issues at all with tire rub

 

[MadMark]

Is that a "4-eye?"

Yes It's a 82 GT

 

[MadMark]

But I got sidetracked and bought an 04 Harley-Davidson crew cab 1 ton . It came with $11,000 in receipts in motor work . I put a 3-in lift in the front 1-in in the back with 35 " tires . I put a 4" turbo back stainless steel exhaust with a muffler with dual outlets. This truck has 136k , the motor work was done 20,000 miles ago. This is a rust free truck.

 

[MadMark]

Im with fm ill take the mustang any day over anything Chevrolet lol i have a 19 f150 with the 3.5 v6 twin turbo almost 400hp stock it runs real good it eats the v8 f150 up all day long and has 70 ftlb more torque then the v8