Remembering your V8 Muscle car........

[transam]

1 minute ago, G Rex said:

"It probably had a Carter AFB 4 barrel carb....🤗......Folk did fool around with changing to a Holley carb...😋"

 

 

The original Carb was 4 Barrel Carter Thermoquad (750cfm) - but many owners (including myself) swapperd to Holly 850s for a bit more oomph & better cold starts.

The main source of problems with the Jensen was the electrical system. (Lord Lucas - The Prince Of Darkness).

It was not a great car in Australia , if the temperature was more than 20C, and you were doing less than 50kph it would boil - every time!!!

 

The under hood space was very tight for the Mopar big-block...

 

[transam]

5 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

At that time my BMW 323i had 145HP or something in that 140 region. It was a lot of fun.

I think the world is going crazy with all those absurd HP numbers. Who needs that? Who can handle it? As far as I see for 90% of drivers 100HP max is more than enough. 

The problem is a Trans Am second gen weighed a lot, that is/was the problem at the time. On my '76 it took 2 people to take off and carry a door, same for the back and front bumper, a trolley jack was needed, they were solid rubber with a girder inside.......😆

The big-block with a TH400 auto needed a crane........😋

[OneMoreFarang]

How about those things? Did real people drive something like that in the USA?

 

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How about those things? Did real people drive something like that in the USA?

 

 

Yes, and the UK, and your birthplace......

[Eloquent pilgrim]

 

That pure American brother, dull-eyed and empty-faced

Races Sundays in Jersey in a Chevy stock super eight

He rides 'er low on the hip

On the side he's got "Bound for Glory"

In red, white and blue flash paint

He leans on the hood telling racing stories

The kids call him Jimmy the Saint

 

 

From …. Lost In The Flood - Greetings From Asbury Park N.J.

[EVENKEEL]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

 

I had a '79 and I would have been better off financially giving it away the day after I bought it.  Worst car I ever owned, and a cheap Toyota of recent vintage would handle better and probably beat it on the track, for sure in the curves.

 

My dream car as a kid was a 70-71 Torino GT with a 429.  Today, I look back and cringe that I even wanted one.  The only cars that handled worse were the Mopars.  Any Mopar.

 

Who cared about handling. mine could smokem on demand.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

Yes, and the UK, and your birthplace......

I don't know where you think I was born, but I can assure you we didn't have cars like that on the streets. 

 

When I started work in a small company, they described it like that: Drive along that road, and when you see lots of BMW parked in the street then you reached our office.

That was an accurate description, so I parked my BMW near all the other BMW. 

[transam]

My friend's 1969 Plymouth 360ci had the original electrics, which was a bit questionable, plus a points' distributor, but then came a long PerTronix, they made electronic kits for anything, even complete distributors. I fitted one of their kits in the 360 dizzy, well over 20 years back, it is still working OK.

A must for a Jenson 440...🤗

[SAFETY FIRST]

5 hours ago, transam said:

members who messed about with muscle cars

Aussies had many V8 muscle cars.

 

I'm a Holden V8 guy. 

 

HQ Statesman V8 5sp

Toarana's 308 & 253

WB panel van 253. 

 

and some 6cyl. HR 192, triple SU's 

 

I had a couple of Ford's

XA, GT 351, 

XB 302 

 

And a Triumph Stag, sadly she didn't like the Sydney hot summer days. 

 

In the '80s I imported a 77 Transam, black T top, 4sp. from California.

An importer, from Beverly Hills in Sydney organised the import for me. 

 

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't know where you think I was born, but I can assure you we didn't have cars like that on the streets. 

 

When I started work in a small company, they described it like that: Drive along that road, and when you see lots of BMW parked in the street then you reached our office.

That was an accurate description, so I parked my BMW near all the other BMW. 

Every country has hotrods, in Europe, Sweden, Germany, hundreds.

I went to a friend's in Hat Yai, he said come and look at this, jumped in the car, drove through some wild country to a shed, in it was a 1940's Ford with what looked like a Ford 289/301 V8 with 2 x 4 barrel Holleys on a tunnel ram, a couple of Thai guys messing with it, wow, I thought....

[transam]

5 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Aussies had many V8 muscle cars.

 

I'm a Holden V8 guy. 

 

HQ Statesman V8 5sp

Toarana's 308 & 253

WB panel van 253. 

 

and some 6cyl. HR 192, triple SU's 

 

I had a couple of Ford's

XA, GT 351, 

XB 302 

 

And a Triumph Stag, sadly she didn't like the Sydney hot summer days. 

 

In the '80s I imported a 77 Transam, black T top, 4sp. 

 

The Triumph Stag V8 was a disaster, though my brother-in-law has just bought one in the UK, I said, I hope its got a Rover V8 in it, he said, no, but it is all OK......😬  ........

[SAFETY FIRST]

3 minutes ago, transam said:

The Triumph Stag V8 was a disaster, though my brother-in-law has just bought one in the UK, I said, I hope its got a Rover V8 in it, he said, no, but it is all OK......😬  ........

It was a long time ago, it had original motor, V8, alloy 3.0lt. I think. 

 

Very unreliable, I had to get it towed a few times.

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

It was a long time ago, it had original motor, V8, alloy 3.0lt. I think. 

 

Very unreliable, I had to get it towed a few times.

 

That's the one, it had an overheating problem because, if I remember correctly, the water pump was higher than the rad cap....🤪

Many destroyed their engine, so in went either the Rover V8, which it should have had in the first pace because British Leyland were putting it into loads of cars, even the MGB had a Rover V8 version, or the Ford 3.0lt V6, which was a cheap get you out of trouble fix...🤗

[dingdongrb]

I was spoiled, I grew up just a few miles down the road from one of the best and most popular dragstrips in the USA.

 

As a teen we would ride our bicycles out the back roads then sit and watch the cars as they passed the finish line.

 

To top it off my Aunt and Uncle worked in the tower so many in our family always received free pit passes.

 

I still remember hearing the roar of the engines on Sunday afternoons all the way into our little town even though the dragstrip was several miles away.

 

Not only did the dragstrip hold events like The Spring Nationals it also was home to several Van-Slams...

 

The days of Big Daddy Don Garlits and Shirley Muldowney are now just  memories.

 

While still keeping in touch with some of my hometown friends I see on Facebook some still have the racing spirit.

 

The attached pic is one of my favorites. A close friend growing up in the area who built this monster from the ground up and did a little racing during his days.....  RIP Jimmy!

 

[transam]

5 minutes ago, dingdongrb said:

I was spoiled, I grew up just a few miles down the road from one of the best and most popular dragstrips in the USA.

 

As a teen we would ride our bicycles out the back roads then sit and watch the cars as they passed the finish line.

 

To top it off my Aunt and Uncle worked in the tower so many in our family always received free pit passes.

 

I still remember hearing the roar of the engines on Sunday afternoons all the way into our little town even though the dragstrip was several miles away.

 

Not only did the dragstrip hold events like The Spring Nationals it also was home to several Van-Slams...

 

The days of Big Daddy Don Garlits and Shirley Muldowney are now just  memories.

 

While still keeping in touch with some of my hometown friends I see on Facebook some still have the racing spirit.

 

The attached pic is one of my favorites. A close friend growing up in the area who built this monster from the ground up and did a little racing during his days.....  RIP Jimmy!

 

Is that a Pontiac..?

[Mike Lister]

5 minutes ago, transam said:

Is that a Pontiac..?

That's a goat, either that or a Grand Prix or Bonneyville, circa 66

[transam]

Just now, Mike Lister said:

That's a goat, either that or a Grand Prix or Bonneyville, circa 66

Yes, I thought it was.......😋

[Smokin Joe]

12 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

That's a goat, either that or a Grand Prix or Bonneyville, circa 66

 GTO's have been mentioned in a few posts. I had a friend who had one when we were in High School in 1974 while I had a Chevelle SS with a 396 in it.

 

In all these years since I have never known what GTO meant. Finally looked it up and was pretty surprised. GTO - Grand Turismo Omologato (Grand Touring Homologated). Then I had to Google Homologated.

 

I may be the only one here that didn't know that. But a much worse example of my car knowledge was when I bought a BMW 325 i convertible when I retired from the military. I had always wanted a convertible, and wanted a 4-seater. I was taking a buddy for a ride soon after the purchase and he said something about "Bavarian Motor Works". I looked confused because I didn't know that that was what BMW stood for. I took a lot of ribbing for that.

 

 

 

 

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Smokin Joe said:

 GTO's have been mentioned in a few posts. I had a friend who had one when we were in High School in 1974 while I had a Chevelle SS with a 396 in it.

 

In all these years since I have never known what GTO meant. Finally looked it up and was pretty surprised. GTO - Grand Turismo Omologato (Grand Touring Homologated). Then I had to Google Homologated.

 

I may be the only one here that didn't know that. But a much worse example of my car knowledge was when I bought a BMW 325 i convertible when I retired from the military. I had always wanted a convertible, and wanted a 4-seater. I was taking a buddy for a ride soon after the purchase and he said something about "Bavarian Motor Works". I looked confused because I didn't know that that was what BMW stood for. I took a lot of ribbing for that.

 

 

 

 

I knew both, and your SS was Super Sport, and the 396 was a big-block, though I reckon you knew that...........🤭

[JBChiangRai]

1 hour ago, G Rex said:

"It probably had a Carter AFB 4 barrel carb....🤗......Folk did fool around with changing to a Holley carb...😋"

 

 

The original Carb was 4 Barrel Carter Thermoquad (750cfm) - but many owners (including myself) swapped to Holly 850s for a bit more oomph & better cold starts.

The main source of problems with the Jensen was the electrical system. (Lord Lucas - The Prince Of Darkness).

It was not a great car in Australia , if the temperature was more than 20C, and you were doing less than 50kph it would boil - every time!!!

 

We had a hot summer and in a traffic jam I had fuel starvation, I never had overheating problems. Cylinder lock on the key switch steering column broke too.

 

1 hour ago, transam said:

The Triumph Stag V8 was a disaster, though my brother-in-law has just bought one in the UK, I said, I hope its got a Rover V8 in it, he said, no, but it is all OK......😬  ........

 
My stag had the usual head gasket problems.  Easily fixed with a skim, new gasket and most important of all use the correct antifreeze to stop electrolytic action. I did break the diff on mine.

 

Talking of V8 muscle cars, I migrated to Rolls Royces in my 30’s, really fast off the line and the Bentley Turbo’s after the line too. 

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How about those things? Did real people drive something like that in the USA?

 

 

 

Dunno about the US but i had a 34 Ford Fordor I used to daily for  while.

 

Looked near identical to this one.

 

 

[Smokin Joe]

5 minutes ago, transam said:

I knew both, and your SS was Super Sport, and the 396 was a big-block, though I reckon you knew that...........🤭

 

I did know that at least, although at the time I may not have really understand what big-block meant.  I wish I had stuck that in a barn and left it there for 30 years or so and then retrieved it to have it restored. I sold it for a few hundred dollars instead.

[transam]

6 minutes ago, Smokin Joe said:

 

I did know that at least, although at the time I may not have really understand what big-block meant.  I wish I had stuck that in a barn and left it there for 30 years or so and then retrieved it to have it restored. I sold it for a few hundred dollars instead.

Like most things, if only we knew. Just look at the prices of any Mopar with a 426 Hemi elephant motor in it......A gold mine......😱

[Mike Lister]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

Like most things, if only we knew. Just look at the prices of any Mopar with a 426 Hemi elephant motor in it......A gold mine......😱

You can still buy original hemi crated, must be a fortune now, same engine they put in the 16 wheeler trucks for gawds sake.

[transam]

Just now, Mike Lister said:

You can still buy original hemi crated, must be a fortune now, same engine they put in the 16 wheeler trucks for gawds sake.

The new Hemi crate engines have engine mounting holes now in a preferable position. But, I have been out of the scene for a long time, who knows what is out there now.

They even have after market alloy Pontiac Engines, not the big block Chevy engines with valve covers with Pontiac script......

The last Pontiac 400's were not even Pontiac engines, they were Oldsmobile 403, then sadly everything small block Chevy.....😢

[stoner]

we had a 79 (maybe an 81 i was quite young can't remember exactly)chevrolet caprice classic. would load 2 adults and 4 kids plus all luggage in the car when we went to the airport to head over to scotland. then we got to scotland and it took 3 cars to get us to nan's house. 

 

the caprice was like riding a sofa down the road. very comfy. 

[dingdongrb]

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

That's a goat, either that or a Grand Prix or Bonneyville, circa 66

'66 GTO with a 400......  His father had Firebird.

[VocalNeal]

[kwonitoy]

 

A Different sort of Pontiac.

1969 Pontiac Beaumont, made for the Canadian market, it's a Chevelle with a different grill and some bits inside.

Mine had a 350ci/350hp stock engine

 

Worst decision I ever made, in 1980 I had the chance to buy a 1969 Camaro factory stock 427CI  4 speed for 8,000 dollars. It still had the dealer stickers in the back window. I said no way and bought a new Harley Davidson Sturgis twin belt.

[mogandave]

11 hours ago, transam said:

Like most things, if only we knew. Just look at the prices of any Mopar with a 426 Hemi elephant motor in it......A gold mine......😱

Realistically, old cars are not much of an investment.