Vintage Car Thread - Discussion and Parts Requests

[HeyMoe]

Here is a link to a few Bel Airs for sale....if you want to drop that much cash!!

http://classiccars.com/listings/find/1962/chevrolet/bel-air

 

[jamespowers]

I really like being around people who know that 58-64 Chevys had X-frames. Not safe maybe, but sure fun to drive... As the Beach Boys said," "She's real fine, my 409 ... my four-speed, dual-quad, Positraction, 409..." Getting rid of my '62 bubble-top 409 ranks as one of the worst decisions of my life.

Just don't wrap the 409 around a tree. It could be detrimental to your health.

 

[David Conwill]

The 409 won't wrap, it'll come right into the passenger compartment. My dad knew two guys who died on the same tree in nearly identical 1965 Biscaynes: The first one went too fast around a curve and the second guy died showing his girlfriend what had happened to the first, about a week later.

 

[jamespowers]

The 409 won't wrap, it'll come right into the passenger compartment. My dad knew two guys who died on the same tree in nearly identical 1965 Biscaynes: The first one went too fast around a curve and the second guy died showing his girlfriend what had happened to the first, about a week later.

What do you call that area? Dumbass Curve?

 

[LizzieMaine]

My mother drove a '61 Chevy Biscayne into the side of a house when the brakes quit as she was pulling in to the station to get gas -- pedal went to the floor and we just kept on rolling. She threw my sister and me to the floor -- we were all riding in the front seat, and we ended up under the dashboard, which crumpled over us. We got out OK, but the car looked like Frankie Yankovic's accordion when they hauled it out of the house's living room.

We must've hit the house about 15-20 mph. The house wasn't in any too good of a shape either, but the car was totalled.

 

[vitanola]

Haha! I used to have quite the repertoire of Tin Lizzie jokes, but people didn't appreciate them so I've started to forget.

That particular joke always comes to mind when I am trying to start my Ford on a cold winter morning, or rather it did until I installed a Jack Rabbit Clutch and switched to multi-viscosity oil. Now the machine has a positive neutral, and I don't have to jack up the driver's side rear wheel when cranking the thing on a frigid morning.

 

[jamespowers]

That particular joke always comes to mind when I am trying to start my Ford on a cold winter morning, or rather it did until I installed a Jack Rabbit Clutch and switched to multi-viscosity oil. Now the machine has a positive neutral, and I don't have to jack up the driver's side rear wheel when cranking the thing on a frigid morning.

You use that on cold winter mornings in Michigan?! :faint:

 

[AtomicEraTom]

My brakes went out in a busy intersection in my '60 Bel-Air once upon a time (as they did frequently, even after a new master cylinder) and I had to throw the son-of-a-gun into park going about 10 mph. The old Powerglide wasn't too fond of that!

That car met its demise against a TrailBlazer which was going about 45 and I was at a stop. She hit me right in the passenger front corner. The frame buckled (it was rotted pretty bad underneath) and the lip of the hood was at the wingnut of the air-cleaner. Still ran, though.

My mother drove a '61 Chevy Biscayne into the side of a house when the brakes quit as she was pulling in to the station to get gas -- pedal went to the floor and we just kept on rolling. She threw my sister and me to the floor -- we were all riding in the front seat, and we ended up under the dashboard, which crumpled over us. We got out OK, but the car looked like Frankie Yankovic's accordion when they hauled it out of the house's living room.

We must've hit the house about 15-20 mph. The house wasn't in any too good of a shape either, but the car was totalled.

Since I was 16 (I'm 22 now) I've managed to have a couple X-Frame cars, a 1958, 60, and 63. Just inquired about a pair of '64's today. They weren't bad cars, but then again, I only ever dealt with one in a collision, so the frame never came into question. They are super prone to rot, though!

I've been on the lookout for a 409 cars for years. My dream one would be a '65 Impala SS in lavender, with the white top/interior mated up to the automatic trans. They don't come around too often!

I really like being around people who know that 58-64 Chevys had X-frames. Not safe maybe, but sure fun to drive... As the Beach Boys said," "She's real fine, my 409 ... my four-speed, dual-quad, Positraction, 409..." Getting rid of my '62 bubble-top 409 ranks as one of the worst decisions of my life.

 

[vitanola]

You use that on cold winter mornings in Michigan?! :faint:

Many years ago when I was running a Ford coupe as my principal machine I spent a winter doing contract work in Montana. Most of the other contractors were driving mid-to-late 1970's General Motors products, which being a decade or a decade-and-a-half old were awfully hard to start on frigid (-20F) mornings. On the other hand my Ford was no more difficult to start at -20 than it was at 30 degrees. Three or four minutes to jack up the rear wheel, get the engine spinning over, prime, turn on the ignition, get the engine running for a minute to warm the oil, then apply the parking brake to free up the clutch. Take the machine down of the jack, and run off. On the other hand my co-workers, with their Oldsmobile Delta 88's and Buick Centuries might take as much as a half-hour fitzing and fussing with balky automatic chokes and cans of Ether.

 

[jamespowers]

Many years ago when I was running a Ford coupe as my principal machine I spent a winter doing contract work in Montana. Most of the other contractors were driving mid-to-late 1970's General Motors products, which being a decade or a decade-and-a-half old were awfully hard to start on frigid (-20F) mornings. On the other hand my Ford was no more difficult to start at -20 than it was at 30 degrees. Three or four minutes to jack up the rear wheel, get the engine spinning over, prime, turn on the ignition, get the engine running for a minute to warm the oil, then apply the parking brake to free up the clutch. Take the machine down of the jack, and run off. On the other hand my co-workers, with their Oldsmobile Delta 88's and Buick Centuries might take as much as a half-hour fitzing and fussing with balky automatic chokes and cans of Ether.

I dunno. Sounds like about the same amount of time to me.

 

[rjb1]

That '62 409 bubble top listed for $89,995 is what makes me so sad.
My '62 started as a dealer-sponsored Super Stock with all factory-original performance options back in 1962. People kept racing it as it went downward in NHRA classes as time progressed. It was a D/S when I got it.
It still had the original lettering, decals, numbers on the side. Since it's entire life was spent as a drag car, and it was always towed to the track with the driveshaft disconnected, it accumulated almost all its mileage 1/4 mile at a time.
I got it with less than 1000 miles on it and sold it the same way after a summer of racing. Ran out of money and sold it for what I paid for it : $500.
See why prices of $89,995 make me sad?

 

[David Conwill]

Ouch. Of course, at that price, could you afford to enjoy the car if you owned it today?

Buy a '62 Biscayne and a 396, built a hot rod for the street. It's not much of an investment, but could be just as fun as racing the 409 Bel Air.

 

[rjb1]

I think I could enjoy having a $90000 car even if it didn't move an inch.

However, you have historical ESP: My younger brother in those days had a '62 Impala with a 396. Very good vehicle just for fun. However, needing to keep ahead of him, I had a '68 442 Olds with a 427-Corvette engine.
My dad had a welding and structural steel company and was somewhat of a car enthusiast, so we had a great place to build hot rods. Everyone I knew or was related to had vehicles like this back then.

 

[jamespowers]

I think I could enjoy having a $90000 car even if it didn't move an inch.

However, you have historical ESP: My younger brother in those days had a '62 Impala with a 396. Very good vehicle just for fun. However, needing to keep ahead of him, I had a '68 442 Olds with a 427-Corvette engine.
My dad had a welding and structural steel company and was somewhat of a car enthusiast, so we had a great place to build hot rods. Everyone I knew or was related to had vehicles like this back then.

I would drive the $90,000 car. it is just a car after all. Having it sit ruins the seals and the battery dies. Drive them like Jay Leno does.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Oh, what cars used to go for. It's like when you hear stories about how they were taking wings and nose cones off of Superbirds and Charger Daytonas, because they wouldn't sell on the lots in their factory appearance. Six-figure cars, now.

That '62 409 bubble top listed for $89,995 is what makes me so sad.
My '62 started as a dealer-sponsored Super Stock with all factory-original performance options back in 1962. People kept racing it as it went downward in NHRA classes as time progressed. It was a D/S when I got it.
It still had the original lettering, decals, numbers on the side. Since it's entire life was spent as a drag car, and it was always towed to the track with the driveshaft disconnected, it accumulated almost all its mileage 1/4 mile at a time.
I got it with less than 1000 miles on it and sold it the same way after a summer of racing. Ran out of money and sold it for what I paid for it : $500.
See why prices of $89,995 make me sad?

I've always been happy with my move to the luxury of fuel-injection for the winter vehicles, but I will say that my old carbureted '87 Caprice Estate never let me down. -30 and it would fire up with little extra effort beyond extra pumping of the gas pedal, and that was after sitting all night outside.

The only time it ever gave me any grief is my very own fault. I'd stop somewhere and forget that the engine was warm, so I didn't need to pump it and would, of course, pump it and flood it out. Pop off the air-cleaner and pour some Gumout down the carb and it would pop right over, but people would always think you were driving a junker.

Many years ago when I was running a Ford coupe as my principal machine I spent a winter doing contract work in Montana. Most of the other contractors were driving mid-to-late 1970's General Motors products, which being a decade or a decade-and-a-half old were awfully hard to start on frigid (-20F) mornings. On the other hand my Ford was no more difficult to start at -20 than it was at 30 degrees. Three or four minutes to jack up the rear wheel, get the engine spinning over, prime, turn on the ignition, get the engine running for a minute to warm the oil, then apply the parking brake to free up the clutch. Take the machine down of the jack, and run off. On the other hand my co-workers, with their Oldsmobile Delta 88's and Buick Centuries might take as much as a half-hour fitzing and fussing with balky automatic chokes and cans of Ether.

 

[David Conwill]

I would drive the $90,000 car. it is just a car after all. Having it sit ruins the seals and the battery dies. Drive them like Jay Leno does.

The exact point I make to everyone who says to me "I'll bet you wish you were going to that Lambrecht auction, dontcha?"

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I would drive the $90,000 car. it is just a car after all. Having it sit ruins the seals and the battery dies. Drive them like Jay Leno does.

[video=youtube;Lf8miprLH60]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf8miprLH60[/video]

 

[jamespowers]

Oh, what cars used to go for. It's like when you hear stories about how they were taking wings and nose cones off of Superbirds and Charger Daytonas, because they wouldn't sell on the lots in their factory appearance. Six-figure cars, now.



I've always been happy with my move to the luxury of fuel-injection for the winter vehicles, but I will say that my old carbureted '87 Caprice Estate never let me down. -30 and it would fire up with little extra effort beyond extra pumping of the gas pedal, and that was after sitting all night outside.

The only time it ever gave me any grief is my very own fault. I'd stop somewhere and forget that the engine was warm, so I didn't need to pump it and would, of course, pump it and flood it out. Pop off the air-cleaner and pour some Gumout down the carb and it would pop right over, but people would always think you were driving a junker.

I have a picture somewhere of a couple of old Duesenbergs on a used car lot back in the 1950s with $500 price tags on them. :rofl: Now that was a DEAL! I asked my father why he didn't buy one. He said they were big; you couldn't get parts for them and they were old fashioned. :rofl:

I hate accidentally flooding a carb. It happens once in a while.....:doh:

 

[jamespowers]

The exact point I make to everyone who says to me "I'll bet you wish you were going to that Lambrecht auction, dontcha?"

I wish I was going with a few million in my pockets.

 

[jamespowers]

[video=youtube;Lf8miprLH60]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf8miprLH60[/video]

Jay Leno's Garage is one of my favorite things about the web.