drivesitfar
Well-known member
Here’s to another good year above dirt and a big thank you for all the information and humor you post. Merry Christmas and hope you and yours are healthy and happy.
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium
- Thread starter Bob Heine
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
Lou's Garage
Well-known member
Bob,
Season's Greetings to you, your wife, and all our fellow Garage Journalites.
Lou Manglass
Season's Greetings to you, your wife, and all our fellow Garage Journalites.
Lou Manglass
xtremek
Well-known member
Happy Christmas to you and yours, Bob.
Merry Christmas to Bionic Bob and the fam!
Bob, when you did the intake manifold on the PT Cruiser, was a plastic intake a factory part or aftermarket part? I think the intake on the car in that repair video was a two-part plastic piece.
Bob, when you did the intake manifold on the PT Cruiser, was a plastic intake a factory part or aftermarket part? I think the intake on the car in that repair video was a two-part plastic piece.
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
When I changed the broken intake on Charlie's PT, after the accident, it was 2-part plastic.
@Squankum, I believe it's headed to the toilet, like so many PT Cruisers.
Jon, thank you so much and my wish for you, your wife and your Winter Solstice is the same.
Philip, I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday as well. Those two years down under changed our attitude about the holidays a bit. Australia doesn't have any big November holidays so the Christmas stuff doesn't come out until mid-December and comes down by January 6. They also have their own 12-days of Christmas:
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me,
Twelve possums playing,
Eleven lizards leaping,
Ten wombats washing,
Nine crocs a-snoozing,
Eight dingos dancing,
Seven emus laying,
Six sharks a-surfing,
Five kangaroos,
Four lyrebirds,
Three wet galahs,
Two snakes on skis,
And a kookaburra in a gum tree.
We used to put up Christmas decorations around the middle of December and take them down on January 3rd (to honor my brother) but the last decade or so we leave everything up in the attic. If someone comes to visit, we do put a few things out to trick them into believing we aren't heathens.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours as well.
Jim, I hope you and Pat are having a wonderful day as well. Put a couple of planks on the porch steps and relax.
Merry Christmas to you as well John!
Drives, it seems more and more people are leaving the green side and I hope you are coping with the strain. Just to prove how fragile life is, our oldest grandson had to have a lump removed from his right pectoral muscle. Then his leg turned red with an apparent cellulitis infection and he ended up in the hospital for tests to be sure it wasn't in the muscle.
Lou, Seasons Greetings back at you. Thanks for stopping by.
Kirk, Merry Christmas to you and Robin. Stay on the ground until the $hitmageddon warms up a little.
@Squankum, Merry Christmas to you, your family and all your Teutonic toys. My 2004 PT Cruiser came with a two-piece aluminum intake. There were rumors that the 2005 and up plastic intakes were good for a few more horsepower so I bought one for a fraction of the list price. While I had it torn down to replace the condenser and a/c compressor, I did the swap.
Kay, almost all of the PT Cruisers came with 2-part plastic intakes. I'm pretty sure only the 2003-2004 turbo engines came with a two-piece aluminum one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
45°F 53% outside, 73°F 41% in the garage. Although there's no traditional heater in the garage, the electric water heater, freezer, refrigerator and standalone ice maker seem to do that job. R19 in the ceiling, R13 in the walls and R? 2-inch rigid foam on the three steel doors helps a bit as well.
Stress-free day here. Having celebrated Christmas last Sunday, today is going to be a semi-traditional Christmas feast -- Chinese take-out. I did look outside to be sure the roads were passable and am thrilled there's nothing to shovel on the driveway, not even chilled-out iguanas.
I hope everyone has a safe, sane and wonderful Christmas, with or without family.
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83VillageRepair
Well-known member
I grew up in a salvage yard. I didn't own a set of new tires until I was in my late 20's and active duty.
@83VillageRepair, I spent a lot of time in salvage yards when I lived on Long Island. There was one every couple of miles along route 109. Taught me to be a safer driver when I saw the blood and guts in cars that weren't all that badly damaged.
Our Cadillac CTS-V was manufactued on September 7, 2010 but for some reason the tires were manufactured more than a year later. The rears were manufactured the week of October 24, 2011, the right front the week of December 5, 2011 and the left front the week of March 19, 2012. This car moved from dealer to dealer for several years so I guess they used it as a demo at events. That would explain the "Andy Pilgrim #8 2012" autograph on the front shock tower brace.
The tires arrived last Thursday and because of the holiday weekend and cold rainy weather Monday and Tuesday, the installer is coming tomorrow (Wednesday). Rear tires (285/35-19) are 10.1" wide and 26.9" tall and the front tires (255/40-19) are 8.8" wide and 27" tall. They are directional so the only way to rotate these tires is to dismount them and install them on the other side of the car. Probably not worth the squeeze.
The tires arrived last Thursday and because of the holiday weekend and cold rainy weather Monday and Tuesday, the installer is coming tomorrow (Wednesday). Rear tires (285/35-19) are 10.1" wide and 26.9" tall and the front tires (255/40-19) are 8.8" wide and 27" tall. They are directional so the only way to rotate these tires is to dismount them and install them on the other side of the car. Probably not worth the squeeze.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Mobile Installer?
madison069
Well-known member
Late Merry Christmas Bob!
Regarding Christmas decorations, we didn't put outdoor stuff up, but I made it a point to put interior stuff up. I suspect if it was my wife's choice, they never would have gone up this year. She has become a sort of scrooge lately. Luckily, she was sick Christmas day, so the decoration got to stay up till the 26th. Otherwise, they would of came down on the 25th.
Growing up, the Christmas stuff went up the day after Thanksgiving and didn't come down till after New Year's Day.
Regarding Christmas decorations, we didn't put outdoor stuff up, but I made it a point to put interior stuff up. I suspect if it was my wife's choice, they never would have gone up this year. She has become a sort of scrooge lately. Luckily, she was sick Christmas day, so the decoration got to stay up till the 26th. Otherwise, they would of came down on the 25th.
Growing up, the Christmas stuff went up the day after Thanksgiving and didn't come down till after New Year's Day.
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
That's sad. My stuff goes up the weekend after Turkey Day, and stays until after Little Xmas. Then we ball it all up and stuff it in the attic.
scooterbum46
Well-known member
Drifts - shhh
I'm not so sure that the bio that Bob has fed us is true. With his obvious love of fast cars, a beautiful woman, his addition of a bionic arm, working for IBM, which was obviously a CIA front and that long posting to a foreign country, I'm guessing Bob is really a pseudonym created by one of those Virginia based 3 letter agencies. Heh, didn't he say he lived in the DC area for a while?
Sorry for blowing your cover ,Bob. OBTW, Have a great New Year, wherever they send you...
Gerry
Scott, I have been really disappointed with the service the local tire stores provide. When I ordered the tires from Tire Rack they had the usual 3-star rated stores you drive to along with 20 mobile installers. There are a huge number of exotic and collector cars around here. I saw a Porsche Carrera GT cruising the streets in 2005. The guy I chose is Scott Starr, who has a 5-star rating. He's a little more expensive, $160 versus Tire Kingdom at $120. Tire Kingdom installed four new tires on the PT Cruiser and mounted two of them backwards, resulting in another visit. I had them install metal valve stems and they failed to tighten one, resulting in a loss of pressure and a replacement tire for an additional $115 (valve stem failure is not covered by road hazard replacement). Scott (the tire guy, not you) backed his rig into the driveway and did the job right there.
I was a little concerned when he rolled out a couple of Pittsburgh 3-ton low profile jacks but figured if it's good enough for me, it's good enough. When I checked out the rest of the equipment inside the trailer, I relaxed. He has a high-end touchless tire machine and a Hunter Road Force balancer.
Double-checked the wheels and sure enough, he torqued them to 140 ft-lbs. Took the car for a test drive and it's smoother, quieter and better than I expected.
Cody, when the kids were growing up we did the whole decorating thing and cringed at the electric bill (we had no stinkin' LED lights). We also had holiday parties with lots of friends, neighbors and family. Now our friends and neighbors have moved away, and our kids have their own kids, some of whom have their own kids as well. Thankfully they all gather at our son's house so our house is just the two of us. We know exactly what the boxes of decoration, artificial trees, lights and wreaths look like so we just look at each other and nod.
Kay, my mother was like that. She put out all the decorations and painted a Christmas theme on the picture window on the front of the house every year. Like a lot of people on Long Island in the '50s we outlined the house with colored lights (that weren't wired in series). Didn't get much snow most years but when there was, a snowman greeted people on the way up the front walk. Sometimes it was a very small snowman.
Gerry, I thought we talked about this. What happens in the Emporium stays in the Emporium (until there's no room left). That'll teach me to share my secrets.
Everybody, I hope you have a Happy New Year as well.
Wreckster23
Well-known member
I've a story for near every single time I've gone to a shop the last 3 years, even for something simple as an inspection or oil change. I'm just waiting for the transmission to grenade, I'll replace it then and finally be rid of the "normal" rattling from the clutch packs.
Happy new year Bob and all. Come next year, I'll have a new garage of my own, fresh for cleaning up. Not to mention a lovely little house ripe for... decorating. At least it is all led these days.
Happy new year Bob and all. Come next year, I'll have a new garage of my own, fresh for cleaning up. Not to mention a lovely little house ripe for... decorating. At least it is all led these days.
LeonardY
Well-known member
I have a friend like your wife.
My stuff goes up the week of Thanksgiving outside and inside. But I don't turn on the lights on the outside until Friday. They come down usually late in the first week of the New Year.
Growing up my parents wouldn't put up decorations outside. They would say it just wastes energy. Just a tree inside. Mom would buy ornaments from Macy's at the end of the year and not remove the price tags. Then the following year put them on the tree. If you came over and liked one she would sell it to you for the price on the tag.
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Grizz1963
Well-known member
Looking at the mobile rig and service you got/get it surprises me the fixed premise businesses do not learn from them, sure, they have a mass of customers and losing one hurts less, but surely increasing sales is a better route for everyone.
I love these mobile businesses.
Sally’s new car has a big dent, made by the wind ripping her door out of her hand and whacking a huge crease into it when it hit a bollard next to the parking space.
My S10 has a smallish dent in the lower swage line of the door, where my garden wheelie bin hit it after storm winds drove and threw it against the door.
So a mobile paintless/painless dent remover will be called in to fix one or both.
Yes, it may cost to have him/her come out, but service is worth paying for.
I love these mobile businesses.
Sally’s new car has a big dent, made by the wind ripping her door out of her hand and whacking a huge crease into it when it hit a bollard next to the parking space.
My S10 has a smallish dent in the lower swage line of the door, where my garden wheelie bin hit it after storm winds drove and threw it against the door.
So a mobile paintless/painless dent remover will be called in to fix one or both.
Yes, it may cost to have him/her come out, but service is worth paying for.
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gearhead1960
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Bob,
A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family!
I will definitely look into the mobile installer next time I get my tires from Tire Rack. Being in the business early in my career, it confounds me when the tire places can't do a install competently!
A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family!
I will definitely look into the mobile installer next time I get my tires from Tire Rack. Being in the business early in my career, it confounds me when the tire places can't do a install competently!
driftpin
Well-known member
We live just over a mile from The Collection, one of the largest if not the largest multiple dealerships. https://www.thecollection.com/ If you can't find something there you'd like, heaven help you and your taste in vehicles. Now, paying for it, that's another question. Frequently, as I'm driving in the area, one of the mechanics is 'road-testing' one of these high-buck cars. That, or a customer is coming or going, in their Italian, British or German $$$$-mobile. Yesterday I saw passing me from the other direction, an AUDI R8 cabriolet, just gorgeous.
There are times where I hear in the yard, some distinctive sound coming from not far-away, the V-10's and the flat-12's are at 'full-chat' through several gear changes, and the forced-induction tweets as a pop-off valve opens are easy to discern.
Proof of the variety of exotics you see here:
Our son and I (wife also) have a car project going. The engine which I yanked that was in the car has been sitting in storage, on an engine stand. It's a 1968 SBC 327 4-bbl, a Tonawanda (NY) casting w/a cast-iron block, heads, and intake manifold sized for a Rochester Quadrajet. Nothing hi-performance, I think I found it was a 250 HP rating, from the block casting # and valve sizing and compression. We had some social media marketplace-type ads online, and got an interested buyer. We made a date for the buy.
He showed-up with a cherry-picker and a U-Haul full-size pick-up, and soon-enough the engine was securely in the bed. We were shooting the breeze, I told him about our project, and he told us what the plans were for the engine. He only needed it for the block, everything else is destined for the scrap pile. Here's what it's going into, once the build is done, using the cast-iron short block we sold him. The SBC short block will now be period (and year) correct for the chassis/body. Back in the day, you may have seen this car competing at Bridgehampton, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, Riverside or Ontario.
Here's why he needed a new block.
And to round-out the pics file, some shots of the Hewland transaxle, suspension, space-frame and bundle of snakes exhaust. Not sure, I'm guessing those are Hillborn injectors and Lockheed calipers, which would have been period-correct.
What is this car?
Well, if you go back to The Collection website link, and use that, it's one of the marques shown. But, which one?
Oh, and this is a street car now! Talk about exotics you'll see on the streets of south Florida!
The rich are different from you and I, they have more money, and more-expensive toys (check the background).
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@Wreckster23, most of my adult life I tried to find mechanics and shops that I could trust. Early on it was more about places and people I could afford. Sadly, I stopped looking about the time I realized I could afford to have work done. Bought our 18-month old PT Cruiser (with 271 miles on the odometer) from the dealer and brought it back for the "complimentary" 1,000 mile service. Crawled under the car after I drove the 8 miles home and there was dust on the oil filter. Cadillac dealer added $300 core charges to a $5,500 transmission repair but didn't give me the old parts.
Happy new year to you and I look forward to your new garage and little attached house.
Leonard, maybe it's the weather. It feels weird to display snowmen and bundled up old men when it's in the 70s or 80s. Used to go to the boat parades and watch participants sweating in their Ho-Ho-Ho outfits. Australia didn't help when you see this on Boxing Day (December 26):
Rian, I don't understand the mentality. Talking to Scott about his business, he started it about five years ago, doing service (oil changes, brakes, tires, etc.). When COVID hit, he couldn't handle the business and had to add five rigs with a guy running each. When people returned to more normal patterns, his five guys quit and left him holding the bag. He is still busy as a one-armed -- OK, he's doing all right but he can't find anyone who wants to do the work.
Back in 2005 we had a couple of dents in the PT Cruiser and we took it to a paintless dent removal place. For $180 he made it look perfect again. Now they are mostly mobile and my neighbor had one come and take care of the dents on his leased Mercedes. An earlier lease return cost him $2,000 in "excessive wear and tear" but this time the lease place didn't charge him a penny.
Mark, I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and I also hope y'all have a Happy New Year.
I don't know what the installers get paid but it appears the stores have one or two competent mechanics supervising or doing the alignments but the guys doing the tire changing appear to be disposable minimum wage people. When I had to have the fifth tire on the PT Cruiser two months after the first four, I didn't recognize a single guy doing tires.
Philip, I'm no expert but that looks a lot like a 1968ish M1C McLaren, based on your comment about your engine's build year. Some early M1A McLarens came with Oldsmobile engines while later ones came with much more powerful 327 small block Chevies. I suspect vintage small blocks in buildable condition are becoming hard to find. I assume he found a more common pair of double-hump heads for it but even those are rare.We live just over a mile from The Collection, one of the largest if not the largest multiple dealerships. https://www.thecollection.com/ If you can't find something there you'd like, heaven help you and your taste in vehicles. Now, paying for it, that's another question. Frequently, as I'm driving in the area, one of the mechanics is 'road-testing' one of these high-buck cars. That, or a customer is coming or going, in their Italian, British or German $$$$-mobile. Yesterday I saw passing me from the other direction, an AUDI R8 cabriolet, just gorgeous.
There are times where I hear in the yard, some distinctive sound coming from not far-away, the V-10's and the flat-12's are at 'full-chat' through several gear changes, and the forced-induction tweets as a pop-off valve opens are easy to discern.
Proof of the variety of exotics you see here:
Our son and I (wife also) have a car project going. The engine which I yanked that was in the car has been sitting in storage, on an engine stand. It's a 1968 SBC 327 4-bbl, a Tonawanda (NY) casting w/a cast-iron block, heads, and intake manifold sized for a Rochester Quadrajet. Nothing hi-performance, I think I found it was a 250 HP rating, from the block casting # and valve sizing and compression. We had some social media marketplace-type ads online, and got an interested buyer. We made a date for the buy.
He showed-up with a cherry-picker and a U-Haul full-size pick-up, and soon-enough the engine was securely in the bed. We were shooting the breeze, I told him about our project, and he told us what the plans were for the engine. He only needed it for the block, everything else is destined for the scrap pile. Here's what it's going into, once the build is done, using the cast-iron short block we sold him. The SBC short block will now be period (and year) correct for the chassis/body. Back in the day, you may have seen this car competing at Bridgehampton, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, Riverside or Ontario.
Here's why he needed a new block.
And to round-out the pics file, some shots of the Hewland transaxle, suspension, space-frame and bundle of snakes exhaust. Not sure, I'm guessing those are Hillborn injectors and Lockheed calipers, which would have been period-correct.
What is this car?
Well, if you go back to The Collection website link, and use that, it's one of the marques shown. But, which one?
Oh, and this is a street car now! Talk about exotics you'll see on the streets of south Florida!
The rich are different from you and I, they have more money, and more-expensive toys (check the background).
Those McLarens weighed around 1,700 lbs so a 550hp small block Chevy was plenty powerful. The car, sitting empty in a garage doesn't look small but seeing the car being driven is almost comical. It looks like a go-cart with a body. Here's a video of a trio on the track:
McLaren M1B Lapping At The Nurburgring GP Circuit | SuperCars.net
Today, a video was posted that allows us to revel in the awesome sound of an American V8 in a British chassis, as two McLaren M1B's lap the Nurburgring
www.supercars.net
That intake isn't a Hilborn setup. It looks like a four Weber 48 IDA carburetor setup and the manifold looks like an Inglese. Here's Jim Inglese standing next to one of his small block Chevy setups. He does make an EFI version that looks exactly the same but those are much newer.
I learned a lot about Weber carbs with my Fiat X1/9. When I got the Weber 40 Dual DCNF setup, everything was wrong with it. The chokes (venturis) were too big and it was jetted for a much bigger displacement engine. It would bog, stall, take forever to come alive and blow black smoke like it was a diesel. Smaller chokes and the proper jetting and the car was a docile street machine that ran like a scalded dog when you put the pedal to the metal.
Although I'm from the other world (the one that cooks and eats the food they buy and pays taxes), it turns out I can afford one of those M1C McLarens. A 1:43 scale model is $208.64 plus shipping from the UK. I'll probably buy another Milwaukee M12 or M18 tool instead.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Happy New Year Bob! All the Best to you and Liane for 2023.
driftpin
Well-known member
Bob, yes, I was lazy and didn't try to look for any pics of induction systems. I knew that one of the engine builders of the time was TRACO (Travers & ****) and that they sometimes would use Hillborn. The Webers used on many motorcycles were 40 DCOE or thereabouts.
Yes, it's a McLaren. The owner has it plated, so a 'street car.'
The GM aluminum 215 cu. in. V8 had Buick, Pontiac and Olds versions. REPCO in Australia and NZ built a version for 'Black' Jack Brabham, who campaigned very successfully with it. He's still the only driver/owner to win F1 championships with his own car. Before that, Coventry-Climax and BRM were using in F1 a 1.5 litre inline-4 DOHC adapted from a portable fire engine pump used by the London Fire Brigade. When the F1 went to 3 litres, Coventry-Climax dropped out.
Versions of that aluminum V8 were used in many British Leyland BMC products, including Rover (3500GT), MG, Land Rover and I think Morgan, TVR, and Marcos. Since it had a large bore to stroke design, and an efficient cylinder head, it was tolerant of a variety of compression ratios. Being lightweight, it was a package that was able to meet 1 HP/Cu. in. and surpass that in competition, and it was capable of withstanding forced induction.
As for the 327, in that McLaren, I just want to go for a ride in it, once it's built. I suspect they will go with a modern set of cylinder heads (like Brodix) in aluminum, as the 'double-hump' 'fuelie' heads have seen their day. I suspect the only use on a racecourse for this car will be exhibition laps.
I recall you mentioning about the X-19 and your efforts to troubleshoot the issues you had, and the fact that once squared-away, it was a lot of fun. One of my MI college friends showed up for the new school year with a chartreuse FIAT 850 Spider (body by Bertone) which I recall was about 850cc. In the cold MI winter, I saw him opening the rear hood, and adding oil as he began the ritual of making it useful for transportation, the engine humming away at something between 2000-3000 rpm. Another friend from school later also had one of those for awhile, but I'm sure he liked his Austin-Healey 3000 Mk II (twin-carbs) more, though it was a design rooted in the 1950's as the 100-4 and the 100-6.
Yes, it's a McLaren. The owner has it plated, so a 'street car.'
The GM aluminum 215 cu. in. V8 had Buick, Pontiac and Olds versions. REPCO in Australia and NZ built a version for 'Black' Jack Brabham, who campaigned very successfully with it. He's still the only driver/owner to win F1 championships with his own car. Before that, Coventry-Climax and BRM were using in F1 a 1.5 litre inline-4 DOHC adapted from a portable fire engine pump used by the London Fire Brigade. When the F1 went to 3 litres, Coventry-Climax dropped out.
Versions of that aluminum V8 were used in many British Leyland BMC products, including Rover (3500GT), MG, Land Rover and I think Morgan, TVR, and Marcos. Since it had a large bore to stroke design, and an efficient cylinder head, it was tolerant of a variety of compression ratios. Being lightweight, it was a package that was able to meet 1 HP/Cu. in. and surpass that in competition, and it was capable of withstanding forced induction.
As for the 327, in that McLaren, I just want to go for a ride in it, once it's built. I suspect they will go with a modern set of cylinder heads (like Brodix) in aluminum, as the 'double-hump' 'fuelie' heads have seen their day. I suspect the only use on a racecourse for this car will be exhibition laps.
I recall you mentioning about the X-19 and your efforts to troubleshoot the issues you had, and the fact that once squared-away, it was a lot of fun. One of my MI college friends showed up for the new school year with a chartreuse FIAT 850 Spider (body by Bertone) which I recall was about 850cc. In the cold MI winter, I saw him opening the rear hood, and adding oil as he began the ritual of making it useful for transportation, the engine humming away at something between 2000-3000 rpm. Another friend from school later also had one of those for awhile, but I'm sure he liked his Austin-Healey 3000 Mk II (twin-carbs) more, though it was a design rooted in the 1950's as the 100-4 and the 100-6.
harley jim
Well-known member
Happy new year Bob
hewey
Well-known member
Happy new year Bob! All the way down under we've had news reports of frozen iguanas falling from the trees in your neck of the woods.
sawduststeve
Well-known member
Happy new year Bob
Let it be happy and healthy
Best wishes
Steve
Let it be happy and healthy
Best wishes
Steve
Grizz1963
Well-known member
And another wish for you two to have agreat year ahead Bob.
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Happy new year Bob and here’s to another good productive year above dirt while we grow older together on each coast. Wishing I had your weather at the minute cause 40’s and drizzle is getting old.
Cheers!!
Cheers!!
xtremek
Well-known member
Merry New Year, Bob. In a former life, I got to work on a few of the old Can-Am cars. A couple of Lola T-222 and a Shadow Mk2 (I think it was a MK2). If I remember right, they all had big block Chevies running Kinsler fuel injection. They ran stock blocks and heads. The Shadow ran twin turbos and intercoolers, and they all ran SVRA and CHR. Talk about brutes
Geoff289
Well-known member
That home grown F1 engine run by our local F1 hero the late Sir Jack Brabham, really only used the basic little GM alloy engine block. It had chain driven SOHC heads. It was a real testament to down under smarts and ingenuity (I may be a bit biased).
‘RB620’ V8: Building The 1966 World F1 Champion Engine…by Rodway Wolfe and Mark Bisset
In this Repco article we start with a summary of the events leading to Repco’s involvement in Grand Prix Racing, then identify key team members, the equipment used to build the engines and f…
primotipo.com
Sir Jack is one of only two Australians to have won the F1 championship and he did it three times in '59, '60 and '66. Alan Jones is the other, who won for Williams in 1980. As it happens this is the same as the number of Americans who have won the F1 championship - Phil Hill in '61 and Mario Andretti in '78 but you guys have more than 10 times our population.
driftpin
Well-known member
madison069
Well-known member
Happy New Year Bob!
stillp
Well-known member
Don't forget the Triumph TR8!
Pete
rmack898
Well-known member
I think ( but I may be wrong) TVR , especially the Griffith used Ford power.
The most fun car I’ve ever driven was a Griffith in the late ‘70’s with a 289 and a 5 speed box. I’m grinning just thinking about it.
The most fun car I’ve ever driven was a Griffith in the late ‘70’s with a 289 and a 5 speed box. I’m grinning just thinking about it.
Seagoon
Well-known member
TVR started with Ford power - the 1500cc 4pot then the 1600 crossflow, the 2.5 litre six pot then when they started going bigger they used the 289 in the Griffith because it was mostly sold in the States but used the Rover (ex Buick) V8 in Britain because it was easier to get spares. In the last few years they built their own straight six and V8 which was a very ballsy move for such a small firm.
Philip, I lusted after an Oldsmobile 215 engine when I owned the Triumph Herald because it was the only V8 that could possibly fit in that tiny engine compartment. By 1968, when I inherited the Herald, there were very of those aluminum V8s in the junkyards I visited.
Thank you Jim!
Hewey, sorry to be so tardy. Happy New Year to you and yours. The iguanas in our yard slowed down in the cool weather so Jasmine dispatched #21 and #22.
Steve, may you and yours have a healthy and happy 2023 as well!Happy new year Bob
Let it be happy and healthy
Best wishes
Steve
Rian, we could all use a great year! I hope yours is rewarding and secure.
Drives, I hope 2023 brings you and yours health and happiness.
Kirk, Happy New Year to you and Robin. I was a huge fan of the big block Can-Am cars. The Chaparral was my favorite, with the giant movable spoilers.
Geoff, I gained a real appreciation for the ingenuity and quality motorsports products down under while living there. Friends introduced us to the Outback Challenge (Celia Barry was the first woman to be invited to compete). The ARB locker is a standard around the world.That home grown F1 engine run by our local F1 hero the late Sir Jack Brabham, really only used the basic little GM alloy engine block. It had chain driven SOHC heads. It was a real testament to down under smarts and ingenuity (I may be a bit biased).
‘RB620’ V8: Building The 1966 World F1 Champion Engine…by Rodway Wolfe and Mark Bisset
In this Repco article we start with a summary of the events leading to Repco’s involvement in Grand Prix Racing, then identify key team members, the equipment used to build the engines and f…
Sir Jack is one of only two Australians to have won the F1 championship and he did it three times in '59, '60 and '66. Alan Jones is the other, who won for Williams in 1980. As it happens this is the same as the number of Americans who have won the F1 championship - Phil Hill in '61 and Mario Andretti in '78 but you guys have more than 10 times our population.
In the 1966 Formula One season Brabham became the first – and still, the only – man to win the Formula One world championship driving one of his own cars. He never won the Indy 500 but within five years his rear-engine design became the standard at the Brickyard. I copied the article so I can go back through it again when I have more time.
Philip, if you google "Hemi powered PT Cruiser," you'll find more than a handful of them. This one looks pretty stock until he starts the engine.
Happy New Year to you Cody!
Pete, I think there were more aluminum 215ci V8s in British vehicles than American ones.
Mac, I never got to drive a Griffith 200 but did get to ride in the passenger seat. That short wheelbase made it feel like an out-of-control go-cart. It would have been a lot less scary in the driver seat. Not a lot of them on the road anymore. The US version was built on Long Island so we saw more of them when visiting my parents in the mid-60s.
@Seagoon, I was a huge fan of V8s in small cars. I was delivering mail in 1964 to a house with an MG TD in the driveway. The owner was out working on the car and explained how 'easy' it was to put a small block V8 in the car. It was a Chevy 327 with 4-speed and narrowed Ford rear end. He had big and little tires on the car and didn't have the engine compartment side panels on it. He had built his own headers with an easy to remove collector plug for the track. He had a dual exhaust with mufflers exiting the rear for driving on the street. I asked if he would sell it and he said $1,800 -- way too rich for me. Looked a lot like this one:
driftpin
Well-known member
The Griffith 200 always reminded me of a frog in its front appearance. The Omega was a much-better looking car, and the guy who promoted it was somehow associated with USA Griffith.
The Cheetah and the Griffith 200 had a similar appearance and design/sheet of paper.
The Cheetah and the Griffith 200 had a similar appearance and design/sheet of paper.
Philip, the Cheetah came out about the time I got my marriage and driver licenses. At the time I was a skinny kid so it was possible I could fit in that car. The Griffith was roomy by comparison. Hemmings has three Cheetahs up for sale. The restored #2 Cheetah has a pair of small incandescent headlights and '63 Corvette fuel injected engine with two radiators. Apparently It had some serious overheating issues on the track.The Griffith 200 always reminded me of a frog in its front appearance. The Omega was a much-better looking car, and the guy who promoted it was somehow associated with USA Griffith.
The Cheetah and the Griffith 200 had a similar appearance and design/sheet of paper.
Hemmings also has a real Cheetah race car that has been made street legal for $490,00. They put vents in the hood rather than the second radiator. You better have tiny feet if you want to drive one of these. Makes the foot wells in Cobra replicas look roomy.
The third Cheeta is a 2016 replica for $125,000. Aside from the goofy modern headlights, it has a 540ci Big Block Chevy engine and air conditioning. Driving my BBC Corvettes I had to have the A/C on with all but the floor vents closed. I could feel the hair on my legs curling when I drove wearing shorts. Can't imagine the heat in those tiny foot wells. Then again, my fat *** would require the gullwing door on the driver side to be left part way open once I fell into the seat and someone with an engine hoist to get me out at the end of the drive.
For the budget conscious, Bring a Trailer sold a fiberglass replica in 2020 for $36,500. It has a 5.3 liter LS engine, TH400 automatic and Corvette C4 suspension and differential. I guess the two pedals in the even smaller foot well means driving barefoot or with insulated socks.
driftpin
Well-known member
I have a copy of an ad for a Cheetah project, it was a replica, not an actual original. I may find it, I'd saved it somewhere. It was someone in Boca Raton (!) who was a recent widow. She just wanted to get some $ back from her deceased husband's years-long project. A non-runner with much work to be completed, and a single grainy picture. I was tempted to go take a look, but I decided not to.