Helen has requested that we get some pics of wheels on the site. Being that I build cars, I felt obligated to put up my old drop top Chevy. I restored every square millimeter of this car inside/outside/upside down.
Believe me there was a point in time where I questioned if there was ever a chance for it to be called a car again. I did everything myself and it's a riot to drive.
Unfortunately there are long gaps in between when I can take it out for a drive due to the north east's climate.
I have been working on cars for 20yrs now, so if any of you guys have any car question's there is very little I haven't come across at least twice. (http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/utsniper.gif) (http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/utshock.gif)
(http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/utminigunleft.gif) (http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/shockwhore.gif)
sorry the pic came out so big. I tried to fix it. I'm a bit of a retard when it comes to computers.
Nice to know you can still get raised white lettering on the tires :)
Very nice car! No need to rip with it either, you can cruise 10 miles an hour down the street, and lean back and think, "this is MINE!".
As a joke I'm thinking of taking a pic of my piece of junk monza in the same kind of setting, beautiful country road, but I'd have to get creative to find one in the city.
Good job on the car.
I have run the plate. I know who you are and where you live. Make it easier for both of us and please just leave the car out front tonight with the keys it. Thanks! LOL
Don't panic. I'm kidding. Great looking car. Great work. Welcome to this forum. Where did Helen say he wants pics of cars?
Great job on that camaro. I like the subtle custom touches, inside rear view mirror and grille emblem. What motor are you running ? North east car ? Much panel replacement ? I replaced(not me, bodyshop) just about every panel on my '69 SuperBee, with mostly nos parts.
Thanks for the compliments guys. Helen spoke about putting wheels up during a fragging session one night. The grill emblem is actually a NOS piece I found on E-bay. Mirror was only $20 more than the reproduction piece I knew I wouldn't like. The car was from Virgina most it's life so it wasn't real bad, but it was so heavy molested by a bunch of guys in the motor depot on an air force base that I had to out a lot of lovin' to it.
It's got all Gm panels on it, some from other cars, some NOS that were on it when I got it. I just finished putting a different rear axle in it with a posi and gears this weekend. Tranny is a 6spd stick I pirated from a '97 camaro, also the complete disc brake system. It stops pretty damn good! It's got a 350 w/ aluminum heads, headers, cam... you get the idea. Engine sounds like trouble, scares old people and little kids.
(http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/firedevil.gif)
(http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/utminigunleft.gif) (http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/utminiright.gif).
Your 'Bee sounds nice Stiv... I like Mopars too.
What is NOS? makes me wonder also if Helen wasn't talking about him wanting to see your bike if you one and by that I still have to get more granular and say "bicycle"
Quote from: 2D2F2E22202235470What is NOS? makes me wonder also if Helen wasn't talking about him wanting to see your bike if you one and by that I still have to get more granular and say "bicycle"
New Old Stock :)
Something that was made back in the day but never sold, so it sat on a warehouse shelf. Then the internetz came along allowing us to find and buy original unused parts.
So I'm proud to have NOS on my bike instead of reproduced items, just as I'm sure any car owner is when restoring one.
Nice, Camaro is my choice of old cars also.
My wife and I and an ex-son-in-law used to do Street machines.
We got a number of 1st and 2nd and 3rd place in class trophies too at shows.
Good Fun!
Someday, I hope to get back into it. ;)
Hook, post a pic of one of the cars you did.
This duster was by far the most work we did on any of the cars we worked on and showed.
My ex-son-in-law (and his dad) ponied up about $17000.00 for parts, and work, etc., done on this '79 Volare Duster.
That was back about 15 or so years ago.
We had many, many hours of hands-on work put into this car by my ex-son-in-law, my wife and by me.
It was originally an old clean stored car that his dad bought for a driver for his kids some day, and it had 30,000 miles on it is all.
Very clean and nice car, but it only had a little slant-6 in it with 90 horse power tops. LOL
We did a lot of work and rebuilding, etc., over the years.
Here are several pictures of it in various different stages of its journey to a very nice, trophy winning, Street Machine.
*pics here*
And a few more of this puppy...
Yep, I am the guy with the mustache. ::)
Note: The engine pic in the middle (blue engine) is the First build up.
The RED engine is the last build up.
The Red engine block is Candy Apple Red 3-part epoxy paint that was very expensive.
The "gold" parts on the engine and car are all gold zinc anodized.
A few more Work pics...
Had to show the cool work we did - me and my wife. ;)
Note: that is 3/8 inch aircraft grade "braided" fuel line - very pricey.
Just the fuel line from the rear to the engine was well over $400.
A few other cars we worked on and showed a bit ...
A 1970 Buick Grand Sport with the Cold Air package, etc.
We had put all the orig wheels back on it before we sold it so it looks alot better than this picture shows.
This car has the 455 cu. in. V8 with 350 HP and 520 ft-lbs. of torq. (factory), and it only had 62K original miles. Originally from Arizona)
LOTS of tear the street up power! WOW!!!
This pic is in my Old House's drive way.
===
1972 Mustang Mach I - Super Built - about 450+ hp - Very powerful and fast - in a straight line anyway, as my 80 Camaro with a slightly built V6 would overtake it on a curvy road race.
Mustangs like this just could not corner well! (my ex-son-in-law's car)
Now for one of my favorites - a Camaro of course...
A 1970 and 1/2 (1970.5), RS / Z28 combo package (both RS and Z28) Camaro - Rare! (belonged to Hook's ex-son-in-law's dad)
More horse power than either the Z28 or the RS.
I drove this one to shows and drive ins a lot! - Turned a lot of heads and opened a lot of spaces in drive in lots!
It had the extended "European" front and nose - the nose was about 7 inches longer than other Camaros, and it had the Euro amber "fog light" turn signals.
It had a 350 cu. in. small block V8 with 375 HP, 4 speed close ratio "rock crusher" transmission and a 5.88/1 posi-traction rear end.
Top speed was about 90 or so mph, with that low gearing, but it got there SO Fast, - it was almost impossible to shift this car fast enough to catch up with the engine's rpm - no lie!
The car "crackled" when it was idling, even with its stock dual exhaust.
A few more of this great car...
Some other cars we also worked on and showed - sorry (no pics) :(
1981 Camaro Berlinetta 229 V-6 2bbl. (this was Hook's own car)
1985 Z-28 305 TPI, t-tops, a/c (this was Hook's oldest daughter's car)
1980 Camaro 229 V-6 with a Holley Dominator Intake and 450cfm holley 4bbl., 3 speed manual, and power brake delete option. (rare - was Hook's own car)
It also had Z28 dual exhaust and Z28 style spoilers, etc.
1967 Firebird convertible, custom silver, orange, yellow & red "flames" paint. Black convertible top and Black interior. It is built up for Street/Strip/Show.
Had a very built up all Chrome small block Chevy engine. (belonged to Hook's ex-son-in-law's dad)
1973 Firebird, 454 cu. in., built up for Show, very nice. (belonged to Hook's ex-son-in-law's dad)
The guy he bought it from, well his daughter & her Husband owned a detail shop and plating so he got it all done cheap.
The guy bought the car brand new and right away he redid it all.
It still has about 5k orig. miles on it. repainted dark navy blue metallic, dark blue interior w/ Riccaro seats. ooohh!
If you could have one back right now in mint shape what would you take? I have not read your text yet as I am passing through in a big hurry.
This is my favorite post ever :) :)
Geez so do you still own any of these? I envy you that you got to drive some of these beasts, especially that 1970.5, I like that shape of camaro. I'd love to have a car that rumbled.
btw I always imagined you with an eye patch heh.
here's a couple of my work in progress. I did not do paint or bodywork, cause I got no skills in that area. I did totally disassemble and re-assemble everything, including engine assembly(not the machine work).
Wow cool cars... I thought I was the only gear head who still played UT! Here's a few more pics of some things I've done... sometimes I question my sanity.
Interior is my camaro, 1st time attempt at upholstery. I had to do the skins a few times before I like it. That was a lot of work to do to the bottom of an old dodge, but they are so rare here in the northeast that I felt it was worth doing it to. I'd like to finish it but I'm still recovering from a guy's ChevHELLe project that was a nightmare.
Quote from: 373534383A382F5D0If you could have one back right now in mint shape what would you take? I have not read your text yet as I am passing through in a big hurry.
As with Helen, of the cars I posted here, it would be that 1970.5 Z28/RS Camaro - it was a wild ride!
Yes, it is a very special privilege, not to mention the Thrill, to have been able to actually drive some, or even ANY, of the old "Muscle" Cars.
No, I do not own anything like any of those great cars currently, that was 15 or so years ago.
The only "fast" thing I got now is a fairly fast speed boat. ::)
PS: I have added this very post over at my forum also, and it has a bit more to the text/story.
When I get time, I will update the text part here also. ;)
Thanks!
Oh, and I Love that Super Bee too! :D
Somebody resize the red picture!
Engine on stand.
You could convert the superbee into a dukes car. :) I'm kiddin. Thanks for the engine pic, wouldn't have known otherwise that there would be purple inside. Was the block new too? Or was it the original from the car.
That's pretty good upholstery work DV if you did that yourself.
That engine is so pretty it hurts. Wow!
Quote from: 7B7E7773741A0You could convert the superbee into a dukes car.I'm kiddin. Thanks for the engine pic, wouldn't have known otherwise that there would be purple inside. Was the block new too? Or was it the original from the car.
Block is a '66,heads are new mopar performance parts,car was originally a 383 ci. I bought the engine years ago. The body work and paint was finished in 1997!! and sat for 13 years before I started putting it together :-[
Stiv... I've been humbled by your Hemi. F*@#in sick! BADDEST engine ever made. Make that car run before you can't buy good enough gas to feed it any longer... This is my mild 440 with some home port work to stock heads.
Nice 440. No replacement for displacement !!
Nice work on the porting too! 8-)
Yeah, I certainly miss those old V8's! :'(
I thought these projects were interesting as well. The vette should be ready this summer.
Looking good ! How is it working with fiberglass rather than rusty metal ?
Whose shop is that vette in?
And, an untrained eye is not able to see what work was done to the ports. Just made them larger? Shaped them differently? What is the improvement over the way it originally was? Genuinely curious.
And the blue car, what is that? Chevelle mebbe? Anyways it looks in great shape, unless some body work has been done already.
The '56 vette is in an old man's garage next to his house. I'm helping out with it. At least rust can be chopped out and dents fixed. Fiberglass is another story. I test ran the engine on the frame to make sure everything was happy before it was in the car. He's a pretty cool guy. I'm going to wire the entire car soon...
The porting/polishing is done to increase the volume of airflow thru the cylinder head by enlarging/reshaping the ports and smoothing any casting flash (roughness) to eliminate turbulence of the air/fuel mixture as it rushes into the cylinder. The real reason I posted this pic was due to the fact that I'm overwhelmed/insanely envious of Stiv's HEMI!! DAMN!!!
(http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/shockwhore.gif)
Generally, a stock factory port configuration has some to a lot of restrictions as a result of the casting process. It is cost prohibitive for a manufacturer to correct, 'cause it takes a lot of careful hand work or expensive computer aided machining on each port. By hand it's more of a black art that takes a lot of experience to not go "too far".
I had some careful guidance from another old timer. (http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/firedevil.gif)
The blue car is the "ChevHell"... that damn thing shoulda been scrapped. No more complaining about this 1. There's too many reasons I named it this. It was just... torture (http://birdieman.com/forum269/Smileys/classic/2vrolijk_08.gif) Inside and out...
I made it pretty damn nice though. >:(
The Ungrateful prick...