Show off yer Vintage thingy with wheels
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Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
I'd sleep with one eye open tonight, if I were you.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
So, I go away for half a day and come back to find out that the vintage wheeled thing has degraded to push lawnmowers (sorry JW, but standards must be maintained 
)
So, to try and get us back on the right track here is the crown jewel of my hoard of 2-wheeled iron.
1939 Indian Four. This bike has a storied past. It was originally found half buried in a field in Watkins Glen, NY. A friend bought it and then paid several experts in their respective field to build it into the bike it is today. The restoration took long enough that the engine was rebuilt once and then gone thru again before it was started for the first time. Unfortunatey, my friend suffered from depression, had a series of truly awful tragedies in his life and ended it all one night with a .41 mag. I bought the bike from his son, who sucked all the money up his nose, which he also did with his inheritance and then died of cancer at 26 because of all the drugs he'd put into his system. I actually struggled with owning the bike for the first couple of years because I kept thinking of the sorrow that surrounded it. But, it also brought my friend a great deal of joy when it was done and had been a lifelong dream of his to own one. So, I took the high road, got over the bad kharma and carried on. I'm just the current custodian of this truly wonderful machine. And yes, I ride it regularly.
This is the day my friend brought it to the gent (another friend) who would do the final assembly on the bike. This is what they dug out of that field. The story was it was originally in a barn with another one. And the barn collapsed and was taken away. They left the bikes behind. This one was the best of the two.
Here she is in all her glory. Scored 98-7/8 Points and is an official AMCA Winner's Circle Machine.
)So, to try and get us back on the right track here is the crown jewel of my hoard of 2-wheeled iron.
1939 Indian Four. This bike has a storied past. It was originally found half buried in a field in Watkins Glen, NY. A friend bought it and then paid several experts in their respective field to build it into the bike it is today. The restoration took long enough that the engine was rebuilt once and then gone thru again before it was started for the first time. Unfortunatey, my friend suffered from depression, had a series of truly awful tragedies in his life and ended it all one night with a .41 mag. I bought the bike from his son, who sucked all the money up his nose, which he also did with his inheritance and then died of cancer at 26 because of all the drugs he'd put into his system. I actually struggled with owning the bike for the first couple of years because I kept thinking of the sorrow that surrounded it. But, it also brought my friend a great deal of joy when it was done and had been a lifelong dream of his to own one. So, I took the high road, got over the bad kharma and carried on. I'm just the current custodian of this truly wonderful machine. And yes, I ride it regularly.
This is the day my friend brought it to the gent (another friend) who would do the final assembly on the bike. This is what they dug out of that field. The story was it was originally in a barn with another one. And the barn collapsed and was taken away. They left the bikes behind. This one was the best of the two.
Here she is in all her glory. Scored 98-7/8 Points and is an official AMCA Winner's Circle Machine.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Mines gold/tan, with the 351, but otherwise the same thing. Darn good truck!
Cadillac Jeff
Well-Known Member
Cadillac Jeff
Well-Known Member
fiver
Well-Known Member
man,, you guys must be doing sumthin right.
i only get about 8 maybe 9 with the 302 in the Bronco, using mid-grade fuel.
my scout got 13.4 with a carburetor and electronic ignition, with the points system it got just under 12.
i chalk most of it up to the transmissions they have.
the AOD in the Bronco sucks even with a shift kit, and the torque is maybe 2/3rd's what the scout had.
you'd think the taller [mustang] Cobra intake and injection system would help [and it kind of does with the RPM's being lower],,, but not with the fuel mileage.
i only get about 8 maybe 9 with the 302 in the Bronco, using mid-grade fuel.
my scout got 13.4 with a carburetor and electronic ignition, with the points system it got just under 12.
i chalk most of it up to the transmissions they have.
the AOD in the Bronco sucks even with a shift kit, and the torque is maybe 2/3rd's what the scout had.
you'd think the taller [mustang] Cobra intake and injection system would help [and it kind of does with the RPM's being lower],,, but not with the fuel mileage.
Rick H
Well-Known Member
I guess this counts. A '79 CJ-7. I purchased it as a rust bucket, rebuilt the 258 I-6 with Offy intake manifold and 390cfm holley 4 bbl. ported head (gained about 500 usable rpm in each gear), 3 speed, trans got new brass and seals, Moser axles, fiberglass body, new springs poly bushings, home made bumpers (5" C-channel), welded patches and redid frame, pretty much rebuilt the entire thing. Served as my primary hunting vehicle from '92-2004 when I sold it to a buddy. He is still driving it.
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Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I've gotten a high of 12mpg in the F350 x351 with the auto tranny. Putting the hubs in freewheel makes a huge difference. In winter, 7-8mpg is the norm.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I've always thought the CJ Jeeps, especially the older 4 cyl examples, would benefit enormously from a good 5 speed tranny. The 5 speed in my 91 Toyota pickup made that little 4 banger 22R a very usable machine. I always thought the 3 speed in the CJ's was about 2 gears short of what we needed.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Nope, the car was created to have that small V8 from the start. Actually, the car was designed to be built around a V8 powerplant. If you know about Brit bikes, you'll know the name Edward Turner. He was the brains behind the SP250. Here's a wiki article if you want to read all the gory details. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimler_SP250
By pure coincidence, there was a BMW Isetta parked in the local diner last Saturday. My buddy TC has one, too. Did not stop to see if it was his. So small that he parks it sideways against the back wall of his garage. He used to take it to the local drag track when his Corvette club would go for the day to run their cars. He would run the Isetta. Said he'd wind it out and was done shifting before he got to mid-track. Then he'd open the sunroof and wave to the crowd as he went down the track. It was always a crowd pleaser.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
I always liked CJ's. But here in NY, the bodies would simply dissolve from the salt. I remember sitting behind a guy I worked with at a stop light on the way to work one frigid upstate NY morning. I was toasty warm in my 280ZX (another car that dissolved in NY) as I watched him clearing the inside of his windshield with an ice scraper while waiting for the light to change.
If I had one, it would have to have no top or doors so fair weather car only. Maybe someday if we move and I build my dream garage. But no room to store a fair-weather car currently.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
I suspect a lot of us went thru the "chopper phase" in our youth. Being cool trumped all other criteria. And you were cool and feelin' really good until you hit that pothole or deep manhole with the rigid frame or worse struts and drove your spine up thru the top of your helmet. And then of course, there was the superb handling that they provided. Lot of old bikers hobbling around with bad backs because of those old rigid frames. When I ride my Knuck with the stock pogo seat, the back of that bike is bouncing like a pogo stick on rough roads yet I'm comfy as Hell. I often think what it would be like if I were on the same road with the seat bolted to the frame. Ouch!
BN1 A-H like I had. No driving lights and white seats/top. I was actually 4 speed elec. OD with first 'blocked' but you could cram it into first and walk keeping up with it. Would be worth about 60k$ now.
and unless a collector with lots of space, cost 60k$ to keep it in good condition. Actually I wanted to put a 283 in it. Save 400 pounds. But a good 2.5 turbo 4 would be the present choice. First working auto motor was a 'flat' 2 opposing cylinder motor with power stroke timed the same. Also did the spark plug, carb and LIQUID gasoline.
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Rick H
Well-Known Member
The Jeep 258 inline 6 was a torque monster. Made all the torque in the world but would not rev. at all. The usable power curve was maxed out at 3600=/- rpm in any gear. When I rebuilt mine it got cleaned up (.030 over bore) and we massaged the heads. Intake side was port matched to the Offy maniforld and cleaned up, runners smoothed and straightened a bit but not enlarged. The exhaust side ports were tiny (thus the high torque per displacement). We ported and polished the exhaust side straightening runners and enlarging as well. All valves treated with a good 3 angle valve grind. We were able to keep a broad power range (keeping stock camshaft specs) and gained good usable power output to 4200rpm +. Replacing the Carter BBD 2 barrel carb with he small 390 cfm vacuum secondary Holley 4 bbl. really helped drivability and fuel economy as well. Losing about 1000 lbs of weight with the fiberglass body, doors, hood, windshield frame didn't hurt either. The loss of weight more than made up for whatever we gave up in low end torque. The 3 speed with the 2.6:1 transfer case did extremely well. The flexible power band from off idle to 4200 rpm made it very drivable. 1st gear low range you could throw a brick on the gas pedal and walk alongside the jeep.....not much use except for pulling stumps or Suburbans that get stuck in a ditch.
I would pull a small covered utility trailer full of gear to the Upper Peninsula at 75mph and get 15 mpg. I could putz along the mountain roads and two tracks in 4 wheel 2nd gear or low range 3rd and still get 15 mpg. I liked it when up north hunting but the 8-10 drive to get there was hard. Even with the Chevy bucket seats the cranky little thing would beat you to death on a long trip. Ride quality was not a strong point.
BIG fan of the inlines, especially sixes, and that 258 is CLASSIC!
INLINES, I've run - that I can remember:
I6, 223 CI Ford, '64 half-ton (high-school beater/work-truck)
I6, 225 CI Dodge, "Slant Six," '67 half-ton (high-school beater/work-truck)
I4, (3) 1.8L B18B Volvos, 142s and 144s (wonderful, basic set of reliable and comfortable wheels)
I4, 1.9L Opel Kadet (surprisingly fast)
I6, 258 CI AMC, '76 Hornet Wagon (great engine hobbled by a terrible electrical system)
I4, 1.5L Toyota, 82 Tercel (35+mpg going cross-country, loaded like a 3/4 ton truck)
I4, 2.4L NapZ, '85 short-bed, mini-truck (like a flippin' SLINGSHOT!)
I6, 300 CI Ford, '76 half-ton (13 mpg regardless of conditions, but would start from a dead stop in third gear)
I4, 1.9L Isuzu, '85 Trooper (like a prefab, metal garden shed for an interior, but easy on gas and a basic "workhorse" - like an old Continental 4)
I4, 2.4L NapZ, '90 short-bed, mini-truck (TURD with an automatic)
I4, 2.0L Mitsubishi/Dodge Colt Vista (Classic "sleeper" - homely, dumpy-looking, but serious "attitude" when you put your foot in it)
I6, (2) 4.0L Cherokees - love the snot out of these engines. Enough grunt to slog through snow, mud, pull a trailer-load of firewood, snappy in traffic and no slouch on the freeway. An amazing 22 mpg on the freeway, but about 17 mpg for day to day driving.
I don't think I've ever had a vehicle titled to me, which wasn't in inline four or six. My wife had a 2001,... I won't even utter the name of that "flat-four," water-cooled POS with all the gushy commercials. It was a dog turd on wheels with leaky heads and it was a happy day when someone hit it and totaled it. Had an '85 of the same make, which was a neat car, but someone ran into that one too.
I like me my inlines, especially sixes and "station wagons" with 4WD.
JWFilips
Well-Known Member
While not vintage ...but vintage to my photography career!
Enjoy
Did the photography and the Photo Comp design
also another one
One of my most favorite cars I ever photographed...Not allowed to show the final Photos but I have one with my son posing with it.
He was only 16 years old & i had him take the day off from school! He got to drive it in and out of the studio!
Enjoy
Did the photography and the Photo Comp design
also another one
One of my most favorite cars I ever photographed...Not allowed to show the final Photos but I have one with my son posing with it.
He was only 16 years old & i had him take the day off from school! He got to drive it in and out of the studio!