| Re: Cool Stuff in the Summer of 2020 [message #92091 is a reply to message #92090] |
Thu, 16 July 2020 21:58   |
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Wayne Parham
Messages: 18791
Registered: January 2001
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Illuminati (33rd Degree) |
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I figure since I asked you for pics, I probably should post some of my own. Pics or it didn't happen!
First, my Cutlass. I've had it since 1993. It was stock when I got it, just a good get-around car. Typical 80s American car - Gutless, a faint whisper of better days gone by. Now days, American cars have made a big comeback, but when I built this car in the late 1990s, our cars still sucked. So the mods to that Cutlass made it a tribute to the rumble of yesteryear's muscle cars.
1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
I shoehorned an Olds 455 into the '83 Cutlass. I had to cut into the heater box, and then fabricate a plate that recessed to allow room for the passenger side valve covers. And even though MSD was commonplace by the time I built the Cutlass, I wanted to keep it old school, so it has a dual-point distributor. But you might notice a transistor in a box mounted on the firewall in the photo. That's what drives the spark coil. The points never pit or wear out, because they're just driving the base, so current through them is small. Never a need for a dwell adjustment, like was needed in the old points days. The failure mode is the spring wears out, and it doesn't happen until around 100K miles. Who would have ever thought that would be the failure mode of a set of points?
Oldsmobile 455 w/ aluminum heads and roller cam/lifters
Now a little bit about the Impala. Not much to look at when I bought it. I didn't care if it ran well, and really expected it to just be a rolling chassis. My plans were to go through pretty much everything, so the most important thing for me was that it not have rust. But to my surprise, the little 327 actually runs pretty good. It looks nasty under the hood though. Not a problem 'cause I'm building an engine for it now, and I'll detail the engine compartment when it's out. So for now, the 327 just makes it convenient for moving it around while the body work is being done.
1968 Chevy Impala running roller
1968 Chevy Impala work in progress
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