Thursday, April 25, 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
there are some cool new inventions that I haven't seen at SEMA... this is a remote controlled sun shade that mounts to the roof rack rails
I kid you not, if these come down to where I can afford one, someday, I'll get one. Keeping the sun out of, and off of, the cab keeps the temp down inside your car by 30 or 40 degrees I've found from using a reflective car cover that only gets the cab covered down to the beltline. I've posted about it https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/09/i-am-very-very-happy-with-this-heat.html
it takes something nice to pull your Ferrari to the races... and owning a Buick dealership in San Fran in the early 60s, was all it took to afford it
the Brand X at Lions... thanks Larry W! (not what you sent, I know, but, really cool and gleaned from that video) This was a combo of Kurtis, AK miller, a junkyard Corvette chassis, and Dougs headers
Jack Lufkin and his “Brand X” Corvette
13:1 compression, Isky 505-C cam, Hilborn port fuel injection, a Mallory Mini-Mag fired the mix, and a special set of square-port headers by Doug vented the exhaust.
Kurtis’ shop built the custom body, which was meant to be a replica of a ’62, but the proportions seem all wrong. That’s because it was treated to a 6-inch channel, and the lower edges of the body tapered inward towards the full belly pan.
ran a 193.44 mph class record at the salt,
nabbed the NHRA quarter-mile speed record in the BM/Sp class at 131.95 mph,
and the NHRA half-mile record at 151.51 mph.
nabbed the NHRA quarter-mile speed record in the BM/Sp class at 131.95 mph,
and the NHRA half-mile record at 151.51 mph.
Lufkin worked with Ak Miller, whose engine building skills and talent behind the wheel made him a fierce competitor in virtually every form of wheeled motorsport
The foundation for this race car was a ’60 Corvette chassis Lufkin found in a JUNKYARD. He drilled lightening holes wherever he could, and had Frank Kurtis (legendary Indy car builder, among other things) construct a beam-axle frontend with stock spindles and brakes and an Indy-type torsion bar suspension. Lufkin retained the Vette’s rearend, swapping ring-and-pinion gears as needed—tall 3.08s for Bonneville, 4.11s for the half-mile drags, and 5.12s for the quarter.
It was subsequently sold to Doug Thorley of header fame who campaigned it Modified Sports classes.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/corvette-hot-rods-picture-thread.545759/page-331
Once there was a time when drag racers could build anything that wasn't mentioned in the rules... then Vance Hunt pissed off the rule makers, and they made a new rule: "If it does not say you CAN do it, you CAN'T"
This is really a twin engine dragster... that is some fuel go-cart engine that spun the blower. I shit you not. The belt came off and that's when the dragster was put on the trailer.
Why? To win in the "twin engine" class they once had.
I decided in 1962 to run the AA class. I got a fuel go-cart engine from a friend, adapted it to the front of my 392 Hemi, and sat down with a rulebook to make it legal. I covered it up with a blanket so as not to cause a problem until qualifying started.
We made the first round of qualifying and my driver JL Payne ran a very good pass with both engines. We pulled back into the pits and in about six or eight minutes, Tice showed up and he was so mad. He said, "Take it OFF." I told him that his own tech people said it met every rule in the book. He said, "If you run "IT," your car will RED LIGHT!"
I took the engine off and won the race that year. This is one of my deals that worked out OK. I won the race and got my point across. After that, we didn't have to race a bunch of also-ran cars after the real race to get the money.
Early the next season, Tice brought me the new rulebook and told me that it was written for me -- on each page it said, "If it does not say you can do it, you can't."
https://www.draglist.com/stories/SOD%20Feb%202002/SOD-022102.htm
thank you George!
I had a record number of hits (people stopping by the blog) the last two days. No idea why
On Monday there were 59,800, and yesterday 84,500. But nothing really shows why, and I wasn't flooded with comments from new people.
Strange, huh? Most days are 15,000 to 40,000
It's rare, but about once a year in my email I see something thrilling, and similar to this "subject line" that I just had today: "My Great Uncle was the Top Turret Gunner on the B-25 Tondelayo"
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in reference to the B-25 Tondelayo post https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2023/07/whoa-i-just-learned-today-that-mikes.html my great uncle was Staff Sergeant John (Jack) Murphy, who was the top turret gunner on the Tondelayo. He had some hair raising stories about his time serving in the South Pacific.
In that post last year I wrote these two paragraphs:
Returning from the mission over Rabaul Papua New Guinea, roughly fifty Japanese fighters intercepted the B-25s of the 500th BS in a running air battle that lasted seventy-five minutes and resulted in the loss of two B 25s
During the escape, turret gunner Murphy was credited with five victories, plus four others credited that crashed into the sea, attempting to attack the bomber skimming the surface of the ocean, and misjudging their attacks. It successfully returned to base with heavy damage.
painted by Jack Fellows
The pilot, 1/Lt. Ralph G. Wallace would emerge victorious from an epic struggle to fend off Japanese Zeroes while keeping his aircraft aloft with only one working engine. https://irandpcorp.com/products/ordeal-of-tondelayo/
I just had an idea for a race car team name
Walter Mitty's Race Team
In the same humorous was that Steve McQueen used the fake name Harvey Mushman when registering for motorcycle races
but have you seen the unusual circular rollercoaster that was at Coney Island in 1918?
look at it in the video.. very interesting design!
in the video, skip the first 48 seconds
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
wow, is that a Stratos used a clothing store prop?
Someone's store decorator had one hell of a big budget!
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10225496847548284&set=a.1617402035143
the government felt it needed new helicopters to transport the Pres off the yard... so it blew 5 billion tax dollars, without checking to see it the expensive waste of dollars new choppers could do the job. They can't.
Instead of verifying that the new bulletproof taxis could successfully operate on the White House lawn... (in the words of Sikorsky's rep: "to validate and ensure the aircraft meets that specific operational requirement) the govt blew 5 billion dollars instead buying 20 new helos that won't be used.
That's probably 500 million potholes that could have been fixed, or 25000 miles of repaved highways
So... the the Lockheed Martin / Sikorsky VH-92 Patriot has such hot exhaust, it kills the lawn. It's an issue that was initially identified in 2018.
Older VH-3D Sea King helicopters will continue to transport Biden from the iconic, traditional South Lawn takeoff spot.
The govt sought to replace these aging aircraft with the newer VH-92 systems under the $5 billion program, and has already secured 20 of them from Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky's parent company.
In early 2021, the Department of Defense's operational testing and evaluations office determined that "the damage was found to be primarily due to engine exhaust, auxiliary power unit exhaust, and discharge of aircraft fluids onto the grass."
For about 40k, they can install a damn landing pad in the White House lawn where for decades helos have landed, and will continue to land, and NOTHING else occurs...... and then they can use the new helicopters... I bet some asshole politician is determined to NOT allow that to happen, and instead, insist on blowing more tax dollars on some other half ass solution
this is nuts, a 65 Merc made into an RV... the Great Dale House Car is a car/camper conversion built of Denver, Colorado in the 1960’s. Estimates say there are a dozen of them still on the road today.
.webp)
a 2009 Solstice... damn, I didn't even know a 350 would fit in that engine bay! well, a 364cu in with 355 hp and 384 torque
this popped up on Facebook, in Montana... and sold for 65k.
I bet that rockets with the LS6 engine... shame it's not a stick shift though.
Wow, a Local Motors Rally Fighter is up for sale... I've never seen one sell used! At 31 k miles and 80k... it's not priced to move
I hadn't heard that LM went out of business in 2022. Well.. it was a really cool try at getting a non contemporary car company to flourish without a distribution system.
the federal Department of Justice issued a warning to the NYPD to stop illegally parking police cruisers on sidewalks... for a good reason, but not as simple as "be professional, stop breaking the parking laws, you mooks!" Instead, it's quite legal... the federal law about the sidewalks must be clear for wheelchairs! Huh! I like that!
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a letter to the police department last month warning that illegally parking in that manner is a violation of the American with Disabilities Act, and gave the NYPD two weeks to respond and comply
You'd expect that the police department would comprehend what that means... that they are acting illegally, have been busted, and must toe the line, LEGALLY, and learn how to PARK
When confronted by CBS news, the police relied on the excuse it will not accept from citizens who illegally part, and I quote "there is limited parking space near its police stations."
So, the lack of parking justifies illegally parking as far as the NYPD is concerned, as long as it benefits them? It seems that is the only excuse they have. Mighty damn weak.
District U.S. Attorney Damian Wiliams cites a recent study that found city vehicles block sidewalks or crosswalks outside 91% of NYPD precincts.
This has almost nothing to do with wheels, it's the claw they'll be using to hoist debris out of the Port of Baltimore. But it is construction, and I do cover that.
A 200-ton salvage grab arrived in Sparrows Point over the weekend to clear wreckage from the bottom of the Patapsco River. The Dutch-made hydraulic grab has four independent claws that together can lift more than 1,000 tons. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
A massive hydraulic grab arrived in Baltimore over the weekend as officials planned a Thursday opening of the deepest alternate channel yet for vessels to travel through the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Officials plan to open the 35-foot channel for only a few days to let deeper-draft ships through. Traffic won’t be let through next week as crews enter the next stage of operations, which will involve lifting steel off of the cargo ship that struck the Key Bridge last month as well as using the grab to clear debris from the Baltimore harbor’s 50-foot shipping channel.
In response to the vessel owners’ petition filed in U.S. District Court this month seeking to limit their liability...
the mayor an city council argued that Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. “put a clearly unseaworthy vessel into the water," and they called the companies’ actions “grossly and potentially criminally negligent.”
The court filings also take aim at the ship's crew members, accusing the company of staffing the Dali with an "incompetent" crew that lacked proper skill or training, "was inattentive to its duties" and "failed to comply with local navigation customs."
the governor didn't have the spine to signal whether the state would get involved
The Welch Motor Car Company was the first American car company to introduce an overhead cam shaft. (thank you Gary!)
General Motors Corporation was busy acquiring numerous automobile firms. Welch cars, with their many innovative and patented features, attracted GM's attention and was bought by mid-1910
thank you Jon T for telling me about the memorial to an Army biplane that went down in 1922, on the Airplane Monument Trail in the Cuyamaca Forest, high up on the way to The Japacha Ridge.
It's a Liberty V-12 engine (I've posted about them before, many of you are familiar with them) if you don't recognize it... what a perfect way to anchor a memorial to some flyboys, with a significant airplane feature of their era, from a crashed twin seated Army De Havilland DH48 that crashed in Dec 7th 1922.
Erected on
May 22, 1923, and refurbished later in 1934 and
1968
The backstory goes that on December 7th, 1923 two military officers had left Rockwell Field, North Island https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/02/rockwell-field-historically-important.html in a twin-seat Army DeHaviland DH4B model biplane one morning to inspect cavalry posts throughout the Southwest.
Behind the controls was 26-year-old pilot First Lieutenant Charles F. Webber navigating the plane. Sitting in front of him in the forward passenger seat was 55-year-old Colonel Francis C. Marshall.
First Lieutenant Webber had returned to Rockwell Field in February 1922 after a short stint in the Philippines, and became the chief test pilot and officer in charge of flight training.
A decorated World War I veteran, the Sioux Indian Campaign, the China relief expedition and the Philippine insurrection, Colonel Marshall had been promoted to Brigadier General during WW1 in command of the One Hundred Sixty-Fifth Field Artillery brigade, American Expeditionary Forces, in June 1918 he accompanied his troops to war-torn France. In October-November 1918, Gen. Marshall commanded the Second Brigade, First Division during the Meuse-Argonne operations. Reduced in rank to Colonel in the peacetime army, he was acting as assistant to the newly appointed Chief of Cavalry on a fact-finding inspection tour of cavalry posts throughout the American Southwest.
Within two weeks they had logged almost 4,000 miles of exploring and mapping potential air routes. This was arguably the most historic use of DH4Bs
Having just completed an inspection
tour of Troop F of the Eleventh Cavalry based at Camp Hearn near the United StatesMexico International Boundary in
Imperial Beach, he was now on his
way eastward on a three hour flight
to inspect an ROTC cavalry unit
at Tucson, then the Tenth Cavalry
base at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
Rockwell Field’s base commander, thirty-six-year-old Major Henry “Hap” Arnold had personally instructed Lieutenant Webber to turn his aircraft around and head back to Rockwell Field if conditions prevented him from flying over the mountains, due to the the rugged mountain and desert route between San Diego and Fort Huachuca, where no fewer than nine military aviators had reportedly vanished without a trace
Rockwell Field’s base commander, thirty-six-year-old Major Henry “Hap” Arnold had personally instructed Lieutenant Webber to turn his aircraft around and head back to Rockwell Field if conditions prevented him from flying over the mountains, due to the the rugged mountain and desert route between San Diego and Fort Huachuca, where no fewer than nine military aviators had reportedly vanished without a trace
Many pilots attempted to locate the crash site when the two failed to reach their destination that day. By December 17th, their search had grown to the largest combined air and ground search in U.S. military history during peacetime.
Reaction from Army headquarters in Washington was swift. The war department issued instructions that “the search for Colonel Marshall and Lieutenant Webber be [conducted] with every facility at the command of the government in an effort to clear up as rapidly as possible the mystery surrounding the fate of the two officers.”16 Army Chief of Staff, General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing personally ordered that other air units be made available.
Reaction from Army headquarters in Washington was swift. The war department issued instructions that “the search for Colonel Marshall and Lieutenant Webber be [conducted] with every facility at the command of the government in an effort to clear up as rapidly as possible the mystery surrounding the fate of the two officers.”16 Army Chief of Staff, General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing personally ordered that other air units be made available.
Three days after they were reported missing, Lieutenant Webber and Colonel
Marshall were the focus of what would become one of the most comprehensive
combined air and land search and rescue missions instituted by the United States
government at the time.20 During its peak, between December 12 and 19, forty
military and two civilian aircraft, with almost 100 pilots and observers, would fly
along the 1,500-mile U.S.-Mexico border region between San Diego, California,
and El Paso, Texas. Included were every available flight officer and airplane
stationed at Rockwell Field.21 In addition to the aircraft under Major Hefferman’s
command, planes from two aerial attack groups at Brooks and Kelly Fields, San
Antonio, Texas, and the Ninety-First Observation Squadron from Crissy Field,
San Francisco, took part in the search. Major Arnold dispatched spare parts, spare
motors, and other equipment from Rockwell Field to the interim operating base
at Camp Stephen Little, near Nogales. This way, if any search plane was forced to
land or crash, as several would, reserve airplanes would rush replacement parts to
the site in order to repair the plane
There had been one valid tip to the last moments of the flight, the manager of the Oak Grove Store at Descanso said that a local cowboy, entered his store and told him about an airplane on the afternoon of
December 7, between 1 and 2 p.m., flying over Green Valley north toward the
Cuyamaca Ranch. He specifically remembered that the plane’s engine “seemed to
be working badly and the airplane was flying at such a low altitude it would have
been impossible, in his judgment, for it to have gone over the Laguna Mountains
safely.”
It wasn’t until May 4th, 1923, almost a year later, that the wreckage and pilots were discovered.
A local ranger named George W. McCain was riding on horseback along Jamacha Ridge in Cuyamaca when he discovered them. A memorial was soon dedicated e. Led by Prentice Vernon Reel, civilian supervisor of the
base’s aero repair shop, the men, carrying digging tools and sacks of concrete,
hiked up from the nearby road to Japacha Ridge. Here they mixed the concrete
and poured it into a rectangular wooden form over the half-buried Liberty
engine. While the concrete slab was setting, they placed several small pieces of the
wreckage, and a small rectangular bronze plaque that Reel had cast in his machine
shop.
in 1934 civil engineer Charles Carter stumbled upon the monument while surveying the park’s boundaries. Carter then notified the unit leader of a Civilian Conservation Corps construction camp at Green Valley Falls. One of these construction projects involved the development of , the Japacha Ridge Trail, led from the newly built Green Valley Falls Picnic Area to the Airplane Wreck Monument site. Completed in the summer of 1934, the one and one-half mile “Airplane Monument Trail” hugged the southeastern spur of Japacha Peak before leading up and over “Airplane Ridge,” where it continued northward to the West Mesa Trail junction. At this point it descended northward down to a point overlooking the Japacha Creek where Webber and Marshall had perished. The CCC crews, which at times consisted of segregated African American workers, cleared brush, moved and split large boulders, widened and leveled the trail, and built at least three stone ramparts along the way.
Thirty-four years later, on March 12, 1968, California State Parks again chose to improve the Airplane Crash Monument, which had become a popular hiking destination. Park maintenance workers broke up the concrete slab, exhumed and mounted the Liberty V-12 engine on a new, stone rubble and concrete platform, and placed the bronze memorial plaque on the low platform’s east-facing side.
it was untouched by the October 26-29, 2003 Cedar Firestorm along with hundreds of other archaeological and historic artifacts. Spreading at a rate of 6,000 acres per hour in its first 36 hours, the fire incinerated Cuyamaca State Park.
in 1934 civil engineer Charles Carter stumbled upon the monument while surveying the park’s boundaries. Carter then notified the unit leader of a Civilian Conservation Corps construction camp at Green Valley Falls. One of these construction projects involved the development of , the Japacha Ridge Trail, led from the newly built Green Valley Falls Picnic Area to the Airplane Wreck Monument site. Completed in the summer of 1934, the one and one-half mile “Airplane Monument Trail” hugged the southeastern spur of Japacha Peak before leading up and over “Airplane Ridge,” where it continued northward to the West Mesa Trail junction. At this point it descended northward down to a point overlooking the Japacha Creek where Webber and Marshall had perished. The CCC crews, which at times consisted of segregated African American workers, cleared brush, moved and split large boulders, widened and leveled the trail, and built at least three stone ramparts along the way.
Thirty-four years later, on March 12, 1968, California State Parks again chose to improve the Airplane Crash Monument, which had become a popular hiking destination. Park maintenance workers broke up the concrete slab, exhumed and mounted the Liberty V-12 engine on a new, stone rubble and concrete platform, and placed the bronze memorial plaque on the low platform’s east-facing side.
it was untouched by the October 26-29, 2003 Cedar Firestorm along with hundreds of other archaeological and historic artifacts. Spreading at a rate of 6,000 acres per hour in its first 36 hours, the fire incinerated Cuyamaca State Park.
the source of most of this post is from a 20 page PDF made by the California State Park Historian https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v51-3/pdf/v51-3_crash.pdf
Monday, April 22, 2024
Thanks to Gary L who's fallen into my rabbit hole of job searching and turned up amazing stuff, so I'm going to hopefully reward him, and all of you, with a cool post! Ever hear of the Justice Bell? It was carried on the back of a Model T for 5000 miles in 3 months around Pennsylvania!
Those are solid rubber wheels, with chains... that had to be HARSH on the driver!
The bell was a bronze replica of the Liberty Bell of the revolutionary war fame
Known also as the “Women's Liberty Bell,” or the “Suffrage Bell,” the Justice Bell was made the same size and shape of the Liberty Bell, but with two significant differences:
to the inscription on the original, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” Katharine added, “Establish justice and secure the blessings of liberty” to emphasize her own mission.
In addition, Katharine arranged for the bell's clapper to be chained to the side of the bell. It was silenced—just like women's political voices were then—and would remain silent until women were granted their right to vote.
After the attempt to get the vote in Pennsylvania failed, Katherine turned her attention to the national stage, and continued to tour with the Bell over the next several years at political rallies and events all the way from Illinois to Washington, DC.
it's not a surprise to any car guy that a great paint job is nearly endless prep, and intense scrutiny on the base layers of primer and sanding... but this is a new trick to me to see the scratches that have to be removed before paint (we've all seen WHY! No one misses the deep scratches under the paint and clear)
so, look at this, a powder puff for a guide coat that shows those damn invisible scratches so you keep at it until the primer is perfect, and the car is ready for the color paint: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1108005260479364
He's working on a 72 Demon... I get a kick out of that, I had one with a 340 and 727
The Museum of American Speed will embark on a "Sea to Sea in a Model T" road trip on the Lincoln Highway from New York to San Francisco in a 1924 Ford Model T on June 4th to mark the 100th anniversary
The ten-millionth Ford Car left the Highland Park factories of The Ford Motor Company on June 4th, 1924
Frank Kulick, who attained fame and broke many records as the pilot of Ford racing cars, was at the wheel during the trans-continental trip on the Lincoln Highway from New York to San Francisco,
and a recreation of that same vehicle is on display at the Museum of American Speed after it was donated by the family of the late Dr. Hathaway, who made the same exact trip a total of two times – to mark 50 years since Ford’s own road trip, as well as 75 years.
“Our team is excited to be part of a third trip in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ten-millionth Model T Ford,” said Tim Matthews curator of the Museum of American Speed.
“The Model T Ford changed the world’s landscape and way of life forever. We are excited to take this 100 year old car out of its Museum display and prove it can make this monumental voyage once again.”
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