Saturday, December 31, 2016

be careful out there!

snow chain type products you might consider if you need to drive through areas that require chains



the music can be annoying, and there isn't anything else to listen to, so turn on the radio while watching this video

here is the list of the products in this video:
Zipgripgo
autosock
michelin easygrip
Mita tire chain
Spikes Spider
anti skid chain from Sunsky
Silent Spike

if anyone has other recommended and proven product you can swear will save the day, let me know in the comments section

when mechanics are goofing off and have mastered the trigger control on an air impact gun

https://www.facebook.com/MechanicMeme2014/videos/1211088282305559/
I can't find this on youtube, or I'd just embed it.

Pretty good fun, enjoy!

an obscure and practically unknown airplane, the C-82 Packet, was the plane in the Jimmy Stewart movie Flight Of The Phoenix

Don't let co-workers borrow your tools

Friday, December 30, 2016

The latest episode of The Grand Tour is a 2 part, and yesterday part 1 was released, tomorrow is part 2. Here is the first

440 6 Pack cutaway engine in the Steve Juliano collection

the 1971 Rapid Transit System Road Runner show car... has a strange colored set of taillights, but there was a good reason


The light would light up green when accelerating, yellow when the gas pedal was released, and red when the brake pedal was pushed

the rusty remains of the #48 Dodge Charger Daytona. Its best finish was a fourth place at the Texas 500 on Dec. 7, 1969. One of several cars in the #48 stable, it was sold early in the 1970 race season and gradually fell into obscurity.

be careful out there, danger lurks around every corner, and forgotten grocery item

an ability we didn't have to pay to have designed into the F-17, that came in handy and saved lives, a sonic boom



in March 2003, two F-16 pilots were called to assist 52 British special operators surrounded by 500 Iraqi troops — meaning the friendlies were outnumbered almost 10 to 1.

The Iraqi troops were pressing the attack, pinning the Brits down and preparing to overrun them.

Thinking fast, one of the pilots climbed to high altitude and then went into a dive, quickly building up sonic energy around his plane as he neared the ground with the massive amount of sound energy surrounding his cockpit, he broke the sound barrier and pointed the bulk of the energy at the ground where he believed the Iraqi troops to be.

 Lynch pulled up a mere 3,000 feet from the ground, sending the massive sonic boom against the troops below.

https://www.americangrit.com/2016/12/30/time-f-16-pilot-saved-ground-troops-sonic-boom/

Sources differ on it's originality, but this Bengal Charger is a good reminder that in the muscle car era, dealerships made some of their own models cooler than the factory


this is Rich Grushinski from Scott Township, PA and Chrysler Power Magazine says it's an original, but the local newspaper says it is a tribute

The second generation Charger was all-new for 1968 and so were the Cincinnati Bengals. Dodge dealer Tom Kneer decided to create his own special edition Dodge Charger in the team’s colors and learned from the team HQ that the team’s uniforms would be black with orange and white stripes and helmets would be bright orange with black “Bengal” lettering.

So he placed the order with Dodge for 50 1968 Chargers. Tom scanned through the paint samples in Dodge’s color guide and discovered an orange used for Michigan state fleet vehicles that he dubbed Tiger Orange.

Black vinyl tops and dual black stripes around the trunk rounded out Tom’s specifications for his Bengal Charger. Most cars were ordered with the 318 or 383, none were ordered with the 426 Hemi.
He had a few 6 cylinder cars built for marketing purposes and an estimated 10 - 12 R/Ts.

Because Tom was purchasing so many cars, Chrysler agreed to throw in the black Sport Stripes for free. In 1968, Chrysler put Sport Stripes on the Charger R/T only. Since most of the Bengals were not R/Ts, obviously, an exception was made. For this reason and because they were free, the stripe does not appear on the broadcast sheet but instead was part of the special order processing along with the orange paint.

Tom ordered 100 chromed  “Bengal Charger” fender badges, but no other body modifications were made to the car. The fender badges were made in Cincinnati and were mounted on the cars when they arrived at the dealership.

The ad mentions that 30 cars are available out of the 50 that were built, as some were already chosen for specific customers, like the Bengals team owner Barry Buse and the quarterback received one to drive for a year.

An article in the January 2002 edition of Muscle Car Review states that only three of the unique Chargers have been accounted for in recent years. The simple way to see if a 68 Charger MIGHT be a Bengal, is to look at the paint code. It must be a 999.

Jeff Warner, a Central Ohio native, discovered the first one in 1992, his particular BENGAL is also uncommonly loaded with options. Galen stated; "This is one of, if not the highest optioned '68 Charger I have ever seen! Whoever ordered this car must have said, order everything on the list!"

https://tommyscarblog.com/2012/10/30/1968-dodge-charger/
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,32703.0.html.I
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/giant-mopar-gallery-carlisle-chrysler-nats/104-1968-dodge-bengal-charger-front-profile/

Special Order "999" paint codes were codes assigned for a vehicle for paint colors that were not officially available for that model vehicle for a given year. When a car line was planned and introduced, a number of colors were designated as being available for that car. Dealer information and paint chips were distributed, assembly lines were readied with paint mixes and instructions for the paint departments for the identified set of paint codes.

The way a 999 car was order was that any one with a fleet account (dealerships, or large purchasing agents) could order any Ditzler color for any vehicle for some additional small fee ($75-100). When the 999 order was placed, some notation as to which actual color was written on the order. The factory would have sent the car down the assembly line with papers that also reflected that special paint color.

While the parameters of the 999 special order paint mean that there were probalby some unique orders that mades a "one off", for some years, there were common 999 orders. 1968-1969 999 Orange cars would be one of these commonly order special colors. There were probably a few hundred 999 Orange cars built in 1968 and 1969. For 1968 and the beginning of 1969, these were Omaha Orange which is the same orange used to paint early 1964 race hemi's (Ditzler code DRA60436). At some point in the 1969 model year, the special order 999 Omaha Orange became the EK2 Vitamin C Orange which would be standard color for 1970. The is per a 4/7/69 TSB stating that begining approx. Feb 1, 1969, EK2 "Vitamin C" Orange would be available for Belvedere models. http://www.autohobbydigest.com/999.html

4 of the known 999 cars that were not Bengals were painted silver, a Petty Blue, a Rallye Green and Bahama Yellow.

Clair says:
I own the 1968 Bengal R/T. I found it just outside of Hazard Kentucky in 1993. It was made to look like a Dukes car; when I went to look at it, it had little football helmet stickers in the back window and had the Bengal Charger emblems on the fenders. When I popped the hood and seen the 999 code, I knew there was something special about the car, I just found the only R/T that was known to exist. It had the build sheet behind the back seat. It coded out as 440 with AC, automatic with white interior, and the sheet said SPECIAL HANDLING JOB at the bottom of it.

The other 3 Bengals all have black interior. I took it to the Nats right after I bought it (1993)  and then tucked it away for thirteen years while raising kids and building a house. Then had the car disassembled and bead blasted but ran out of motivation and it's just sitting waiting for NOS parts since 2006. As for the other 3, the 383 car was recently restored and is in Texas, the 318 car with the low miles was sold to a guy in Missouri, and the 318 car in Saskatchewan Canada was nicely redone into a R/T clone. That's the one next to the jet.





These badges are for the 1972, and the 1968 Bengals, and were pulled out of the trash by a dealership employee in 1976 when the dealership had a thorough going over before getting sold.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,32703.100.html

Happy 75th to the Jeep

Veterans to Technicians Program


Veterans to Technicians aims to connect highly skilled former military personnel with challenging and rewarding new careers as Audi certified service technicians, service consultants, shop foremen and parts specialists in dealerships across the country.

Veterans with proven automotive skills are prioritized, though the program also provides opportunities for veterans with experience in power generation, aviation, welding, electronics, hydraulic systems and maritime systems.

Veterans are ideal employees for Audi dealerships because they are viewed as a natural fit for the brand: the skills, experience, maturity, integrity and work ethic they bring to Audi ultimately translates into a top-level service experience for the customer. These skills are especially valuable today as Audi seeks more technicians to match record product growth.

https://www.audiusa.com/newsroom/news/press-releases/2014/05/audi-veterans-technicians-program-reaches-milestone-helping-more

did you hear about the automatic transmission they tested on the M38 Jeep during the 50s for the civilians? It had a push start ability


the Borg Warner T 90 was found to not be civilian friendly, so an effort was made to develop an automatic trans that would mount into the small Jeep.

The available space was one big problem, but Allison ( a division of GM since 1929) wanted to be the supplier for potential millions in profits if they snagged the contract to supply the transmission.

Their prototype was named the "Allison Automatic Torque Converter", and the 2nd oil pump at the rear of the trans allowed for it to be push started.

The prototype Jeeps were sent to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, but the auto trans was terrible, and broke down a lot. A quart of oil was leaking, on average, every 800 miles.

The Dispatcher Magazine, March 2015 issue http://norris-banonis.com/dispatcher.html

1936 Bentley Sedanca coupe by Windovers, nice car, incredible tool kit


It was exhibited it at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1983, 93, and 2003


http://swarfs.tumblr.com/



http://www.rmsothebys.com/az17/arizona/lots/1936-bentley-3-litre-sedanca-coupe-by-windovers/1701577

vintage Harley Davidson advertising posters are getting scanned so they can be purchased once again

Thursday, December 29, 2016

this is new... snow at Bonneville.... making it, the Bonneville Snowflats!

someone has a really mean girlfriend he shouldn't have broken up with, she fights dirty!


notice the cover bolts are still in the housing. They didn't fall out, and the cover didn't fall off.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1631935880418477/

Another reason to respect the Chaparral in 1967

Unlike the other car makers, the Jim Hall racing operation wasn't based in the middle of a race car building center. (think Los Angeles, Indianapolis). It was a small outfit in Texas, where there was no racing infrastructure, or resources.

It was competing with Ferrari, Lola, etc... and here is the part to be impressed by... the 2F Chaparral was the fastest lap at Sebring, Nurburgring, Spa, and Daytona. Plus it took the pole position at Monza and Nurbrgring

But though it was the fastest, it was doomed by a lousy Chevrolet bearing in the tourque converter transaxles. 

the only driver I ever heard of that owed the team driver to not drive!

Roger Penske was smart, and experienced, and put a buy out clause in the contract he signed drivers up with... and when Chris Amon bailed before the 1966 season started, as he was a driver for Scuderia Ferrrari in F1as a second stringer, when Bandini was killed in Monaco, and Enzo called him up to primary. Amon had to bail on Penske, but not without paying for the inconvenience. 

Can Am 1966, it's easy to understand why those who were winning the series, were in the lead

After Riverside and onto Las Vegas (5 down 1 to go)  it was clear that the driver/engineers were the only ones in contention for the championship.

How about that, engineers that were into racing. Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Jim Hall, John Surtees, Bruce McLaren, and Mark Donohue.

I wonder if anything similar has happened in any other race series in one year, that the best in the field were all full time professionals in the same other career field outside racecar driving?

quite a Cragar collection!

Big John Mazmanian's AG/S

a gas station owner would love to see these cars pull up now, with gas over 2.50 a gallon

prototype Charger 500

Motorcycle thieves prevented from getting away with the bikes



Drift Trikes in the UK, at Cheddar Gorge Dec 2016 ( the music is NSFW rap)

a 1940 Ford cutaway chassis and running gear bought from Iowa state university in 1994, it was offered to the Henry Ford Museum who declined to accept it, thinking they already had one. They don't, they have an Oldsmobile.


a trainer and driver’s education instructor at the university that was employed by the school from the 1950’s well into the 1980’s claimed that he was very familiar with the chassis and that he had, in fact, used the chassis as a teaching tool starting in around 1957. They used the chassis for decades until sometime in the 1980’s.










http://www.fordbarn.com/2015/01/21/the-1940-ford-cutaway/#more-849

pennyfarthing group photo

Horacio Pagani, the billionaire whisperer


Builder of the Zonda and Huayra, he had a humble and obscure beginning in Argentina in 1955.

He studied Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering at different universities, then worked on various projects, including furniture design, motor-home and camper design and construction from the mid 70s to the early 80s.

He moved to Italy in 1983, and by '84 he was working with Lamborghini on the various versions of the Countach and Diablo.

Lamborghini wasn't smart enough to get the machinery needed to build some parts themselves, so he split, and went into business making parts that Lamborghini, and other companies, needed at that level of supercar engineering. (Ferrari, Nissan, Renault, Aprilia)

Pagani made 33 cars in 2014.

http://www.autobytel.com/auto-news/features/celebrities/who-is-horacio-pagani-123188/