Going for walks, seeing some cool cars.

[Michael Jewels]

#1) Excuse me for being away so long.

And Mike you have a very good memory.

Yes, The Hills Brothers car was a 70 - 71 silver Nova.

I don’t know what it had in it, but rumors were it was a 427.

In about 2 years, perhaps 12 times I saw it race, it never lost.

It even got to the point where no one would race them because of their reputation.

This all took place on North Conduit Blvd and 150th Street, which is the northern border of JFK airport.

I saw many other races there.

And sometimes, after the races, which would now be 2am, my friends and I would go to the Airport City Diner to get something to eat.

This is the diner featured in the Movie, “Goodfellas.”

Remember the scene where Robert DiNero kicks over the phone booth?

That was right outside the Airport Diner.

A little trivia.

Ok, I owe you all the 440 engine being blown story, but I have to charge my phone.

I also stumbled on a mini car show on Cross Bay Blvd, so I have about 8 new pictures to post.

I’ll be back a little later.

Mike

 

[6thplanet]

View attachment 7514659

Memphis in the 90's.
Notice the "Winston" banner in the background.

Ha! Those were the days. Free carton of cigarettes at the Top Fuel races....back when I was a smoker.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Oh, and Mike, congrats on going 8.20 @ 170mph!

That’s berserk!

I think the fastest any of my friends went were the high 11s.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Now, onto today’s accidental find.

Some of you may remember the red Mustang that I posted here a few times.

I usually ran into that car when I was on my way to my favorite Pizzeria.

Today, I ran into these two cars.
I’ll leave the experts to identify them.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Then, after pizza, I can walk home a few different ways.

I was all set to walk home a certain way, when I get this overwhelming feeling to go a different way.

So, I went with that feeling.

After about a block, I see a bunch of people hanging out on a corner.

At first, I thought it was a traffic accident; then, I look closer.

This is what I found.

 

[Michael Jewels]

 

[Michael Jewels]

 

[Michael Jewels]

In the far background of most pictures, you can see the A Train
station.

 

[kesslari]

@Michael Jewels you hit the jackpot!

 

[Mike N]

Now, onto today’s accidental find.

Some of you may remember the red Mustang that I posted here a few times.

I usually ran into that car when I was on my way to my favorite Pizzeria.

Today, I ran into these two cars.
I’ll leave the experts to identify them.

View attachment 7515862View attachment 7515863

Blue car is a 78-79 Malibu. Very popular at the dragstrip being a semi lightweight car with a full frame.

One of the many cars we rolled out of our race shop was an 81 Malibu with a Pro-charged 468, T56 trans, 9" F**d rear and Baer Brakes at all 4 corners.

That car went on the Hot Rod Power Tour in 2001 or so and received a three page spread in Hot Rod Magazine.

Pretty cool that three of our cars made national magazine and/or TV coverage and a fourth car won "Best Engineered" at the 2002 IHRA Empire Nationals.

 

[Mike N]

Ha! Those were the days. Free carton of cigarettes at the Top Fuel races....back when I was a smoker.

Winston's were just a stale Marlboro.

 

[6thplanet]

Yeah, but....free.
Heck, back when Marlboros were getting near $4, I switched to Pall Mall. Wasn't a real picky smoker, nor a heavy smoker, pack every 3-4 days. Don't miss that bad habit.

 

[kesslari]

Now, onto today’s accidental find.

Some of you may remember the red Mustang that I posted here a few times.

I usually ran into that car when I was on my way to my favorite Pizzeria.

Today, I ran into these two cars.
I’ll leave the experts to identify them.

View attachment 7515862View attachment 7515863

Top is one of the new fangled Prius. (Priuses? Priapus?)

Bottom is a early 1980's Chevy, I think. Maybe Malibu or a 2 door Caprice? @Mike N would know better. (EDIT - oops, Mike nailed it!)

 

[BassicJazzy]

Top is one of the new fangled Prius. (Priuses? Priapus?)

Bottom is a early 1980's Chevy, I think. Maybe Malibu or a 2 door Caprice? @Mike N would know better. (EDIT - oops, Mike nailed it!)

Prius drove by me in parking lot of grocery store yesterday, sounded like a top fuel dragster. I thought "What....?" Took me awhile to realize the catalytic converter had been stolen and the owner hadn't replaced it yet.

 

[Michael Jewels]

The death of a 440.

You’ve heard me talk about my friend, Joe and the fact that I spoke of him very highly as a mechanic.

Well the following story transformed him from a good mechanic to a great one.

The time, 1976. I was nineteen years old, and so was my friend, Joe.

Being good with tools, and always looking to build a street-sleeper muscle car, Joe frequented a lot of the speed shops in Queens.

At one of the shops he saw an ad for a 1966 Charger.

It’s former owner told Joe that it had been gutted so the car was as light as possible, and that it had a healthy 383 in it.

The price was right, so, Joe bought it.

Not being a Street registered car, he had to get the car towed to his garage. By garage, I don’t mean a car repair business, just a garage in which to store a car.

He drove it around the block a few times, and the car was an animal, almost uncontrollable under hard acceleration.

He drove it around the block one too many times, and his father caught him, and told him he was going to take the car and the garage away from him if he did it again.

He even yelled at me for not stopping him.

End of part 1.

Part 2 to follow.

 

[Mike N]

Yeah, but....free.
Heck, back when Marlboros were getting near $4, I switched to Pall Mall. Wasn't a real picky smoker, nor a heavy smoker, pack every 3-4 days. Don't miss that bad habit.

Cigs were 55 cents a pack when I started smoking and they just hit $4 a pack when I quit.

Couldn't imagine spending $15 for a pack of Marlboro's now.

Neighbor smokes the cigs from the local Indian Reservation...... $3 a pack and they smell like rolled up dog crap. At least when I smoked, they were name brand and tasted good.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Death of a 440

Part 2

So, Joe agreed not to drive the unregistered car in the neighborhood anymore; he did become almost possesed with making the car faster.

He checked the compression, and I think it was 12:1 so this was very good.

So he thought, what can I do after a bigger carburetor?

A bigger, more race oriented camshaft!

He ordered it, and when it arrived, he asked me if I would help him install it.

I said yes.

Remember, I was no mechanic, but understood engines, so I was just a decent helper.

The day we installed it, we started early, about 9am.

We were done by about 2pm.

It was time to start it and see what the new camshaft added.

He took the tachometer from the driver’s compartment and mounted it on the firewall backwards, so it was facing us on the outside of the car.

So why is this called death of a 440?

The engine was a 440, not a 383.

The guy he bought the car from had mistakenly told him it was a 383.

He started the engine, and right away, we both knew something was wrong.

As soon as he started it, the engine sounded like a diesel.

That mechanical tap-tap-tap sound.

As he revved the engine, the tapping got louder.

He revved it to about 4,000 rpm, the engine made a loud bang, stopped dead, and then spun the opposite way for 3 revolutions.

What had happened, was the tapping sound was the valves kissing the pistons.

When Joe finally composed himself, and pulled the engine apart, 3 of the pistons had holes in them.

Another thing he didn’t know, was that the cylinder heads had been milled, which brought them closer to the pistons. Add to this, the high racing specs of the cam, and the clearance was all wrong.

I referred to Joe as a very good mechanic, so how did he make this mistake?

1) The guy he bought it from told him it was a 383, and he never checked this out. Previously, he worked almost exclusively of GM cars, so he was unfamiliar with Mopar engines.

2) He was in a rush to get the car on the road.

Before this, Joe was a good mechanic, after this, he became a great one, because from this point on, he questioned everything and everyone.

That’s the story.

The first and only time I ever saw an engine destroy itself.

Mike

 

[Mike N]

Death of a 440

Part 2

So, Joe agreed not to drive the unregistered car in the neighborhood anymore; he did become almost possesed with making the car faster.

He checked the compression, and I think it was 12:1 so this was very good.

So he thought, what can I do after a bigger carburetor?

A bigger, more race oriented camshaft!

He ordered it, and when it arrived, he asked me if I would help him install it.

I said yes.

Remember, I was no mechanic, but understood engines, so I was just a decent helper.

The day we installed it, we started early, about 9am.

We were done by about 2pm.

It was time to start it and see what the new camshaft added.

He took the tachometer from the driver’s compartment and mounted it on the firewall backwards, so it was facing us on the outside of the car.

So why is this called death of a 440?

The engine was a 440, not a 383.

The guy he bought the car from had mistakenly told him it was a 383.

He started the engine, and right away, we both knew something was wrong.

As soon as he started it, the engine sounded like a diesel.

That mechanical tap-tap-tap sound.

As he revved the engine, the tapping got louder.

He revved it to about 4,000 rpm, the engine made a loud bang, stopped dead, and then spun the opposite way for 3 revolutions.

What had happened, was the tapping sound was the valves kissing the pistons.

When Joe finally composed himself, and pulled the engine apart, 3 of the pistons had holes in them.

Another thing he didn’t know, was that the cylinder heads had been milled, which brought them closer to the pistons. Add to this, the high racing specs of the cam, and the clearance was all wrong.

I referred to Joe as a very good mechanic, so how did he make this mistake?

1) The guy he bought it from told him it was a 383, and he never checked this out. Previously, he worked almost exclusively of GM cars, so he was unfamiliar with Mopar engines.

2) He was in a rush to get the car on the road.

Before this, Joe was a good mechanic, after this, he became a great one, because from this point on, he questioned everything and everyone.

That’s the story.

The first and only time I ever saw an engine destroy itself.

Mike

Both engines share the same camshaft dimensions and the lift/duration of a 383 cam would be less than the 440, given the almost 60 cubic inch difference between the two engines.

He must have misaligned the timing marks for the pistons to kiss the valves in that situation.

 

[MJ5150]

We stumbled across this collection on a farm in the backwoods of New Hampshire. I asked him how he acquired all of these cars. He said he saw them in people's yards or barns and offered to haul them away. He had to pay $200 for the one with the flames though.

-Mike

 

[Michael Jewels]

Both engines share the same camshaft dimensions and the lift/duration of a 383 cam would be less than the 440, given the almost 60 cubic inch difference between the two engines.

He must have misaligned the timing marks for the pistons to kiss the valves in that situation.

I never thought of the timing mistake.

Good analysis, Mike.