The newsletter is a monthly collection of stuff of interest to car hobbyists. If you wish to submit an article or photo please go to the Submissions Page for info.
From Fred I'm beginning to love global warming. My last electric bill was lower than it has been in years. And this nice weather is great for driving the old car that used to collect dust during the winter months. The 13th Annual Polar Bear Run (article and link to photos below) was attended by 70+ people driving vehicles from every decade from the 30s to the present. The temperature was in the mid 60s and it was sunny and pleasant. We've got more great car events to look forward to this year. Next on the list is the Asphalt Angels show. I'm looking forward to "car season".
~ Fred
I recently bought some parts from a guy with quite a collection of vehicles. The photos are from his "private stock"
Take a look - couple of Thunderbirds, a Plymouth sedan (1940?) and a mid-50s Ford panel
News You Can't Use ~ 100% True
Instant Karma? The Fisker Karma electric hybrid $100,000 cars are being recalled for a possible battery coolant leak that could cause the cars to turn into flaming Karmas.
A drunken man dressed in a Darth Vader costume was walking down the middle of a street in Orlando when someone called the cops on him. He refused to behave and the police tased but due to the leather costume that didn’t work. Pepper spray did work and he was arrested.
Washington State police pulled over a guy for doing 82 in an HOV lane. He did what so many others have done and that is adding a fake passenger so they can drive in the HOV lane. His fake passenger was a skeleton. The skeleton was fashionably dressed in a sweatshirt and yes his seat belt was buckled. At least the speeder didn’t get a seat belt ticket.
A family leaving in an apartment building called 911 late on night because of falling debris and smoke. Police discovered that a car had landed on the roof of their apartment building. Apparently a man was driving very fast and hit a curb sending the car to the roof. He broke his leg when he jumped from the roof but was unhurt in the accident. He was found about a quarter of a mile away. And yes he did have some outstanding warrants. A special crane was brought in to get the car off the roof.
Delaware drivers are mean suckers. A woman lost her leg in a hit and run accident 25 years ago and had to use a wheelchair. She was trying to cross the same road where the accident occurred years ago when a car hit her ejecting her out of the wheelchair where she was hit by two more vehicles. She was dead at the scene. None of the three vehicle drivers stopped and none has been found yet.
Nice flames
Midtown Manhattan has a median daily parking rate of $41 – the highest in the US.
A man and his wife were from Canada vacationing in Washington State. She suffered a medical condition so he decided to drive several hundred miles back to Canada. He called OnStar and the dispatcher got him to stop at a police station about 20 miles from the border. Police got the woman to a hospital but she had died in the car. No one is sure why he kept driving instead of stopping for help.
Wild West style train robbery occurred in Brazil. Thieves greased the train tracks and caused the train to skid and slow. The thieves then used a tow truck to remove the loot. And the loot was 55 tons of corn.
A Pennsylvania lawyer tried to argue that marijuana found at a traffic stop did not belong to the driver of the car. There were three other people in the car. Unfortunately the lawyer’s argument didn’t work well when the arresting officer stated that the driver asked "Can I have my weed back?"
A man asked a woman out for a date at a movie theater and she said yes. But he didn’t have a car so they used her vehicle. During the movie the guy got up to get something from the car and she gave him the car keys. He never returned apparently stealing the car. She called him for two days asking that he return the car before she called police. They found the rented car in a Walmart parking lot and later arrested the guy. He had served over a year in jail for auto theft previously.
Two 1973 Torino fastbacks and another Ford panel in the background
Monthly Rant ~ Power Block Muscle Car Show ~ What Were They Thinking
I was watching the Muscle Car TV Show on the Power Block one Saturday and was surprised when I saw the intro piece. One of the guys on the show had his head leaning over a carburetor shooting flames. Then the announcer made a “joke” about missing eye brows.
Later in the show I saw the whole scene. The two guys were trying to get a BBC 396 engine newly built to run in their lime green Camaro project car. The engine not only cranked funny but when it did run it was obvious that several things were wrong.
One guy was cranking while the other guy was turning the distributor with flames shooting out of a carburetor with no air cleaner. It was a dangerous situation. In fact I recall several years ago a guy in Richmond was pouring gas down a carburetor to try and start an engine when the engine backfired catching him on fire. He died a while later at a hospital. Fooling around with flames shooting out of a carburetor is very dangerous.
The Muscle Car Show guys kept playing with the Camaro until they got it running. It still didn’t sound right to me. And there was no comment on the insanity of doing what they were doing right there on TV where a lot of young and inexperienced car hobbyists can see it.
Here’s what they should have done. Make sure the number one cylinder is on the right TDC (TDC occurs twice in the four cycle engine) by looking at how the valves open and close. When the intake closes and the piston is at TDC that balancer should be near the TDC mark. Move the distributor until the rotor is pointing at the number one on the distributor cap. You may have to pull the distributor out to get it aligned right. Next pull all the plug wires off the plugs except for number one. In fact I don’t put in any plugs except number one. Have someone crank the engine – it won’t start on one cylinder – while you use a timing light to set the timing. This is done at cranking speed and if you have all the other plugs out the engine will crank fast and you will get the timing very, very close.
The next step is to make sure the carburetor is adjusted close to correct. I try to put it on an already running vehicle to make sure everything is okay with it. If you can’t do that you can look at the paperwork that came with the carburetor and set it as instructed. No paperwork – check the all knowing internet for instructions.
I have an old small 9-inch diameter chrome air cleaner that I put on engines when I’m going to start them for the first time. If there is a backfire it will hit the top of the air cleaner and not my face. The small air cleaner allows me room to adjust the carburetor.
I sure hope the people watching that TV show have better sense than those on the set. I am still surprised that a guy was leaning over a backfiring engine shooting flames setting a bad example instead of showing their audience how to adjust a new engine before starting it for the first time.
Another Thunderbird - there are plenty of them here
1959 Ford retractable hardtop
13th Polar Bear Run
The 13th annual Polar Bear Run was held on Saturday January 28th. We journeyed from Hopewell to Market Place Antiques in Gloucester. This place will bring back memories. It even features an old 1930 Dodge in the store. After shopping the polar bear participants went to Ginney's Place to enjoy a $6.99 all you can eat buffet and the food was great with lots of variety. On the return trip we stopped at a combination indoor outdoor flea market. It was a good trip on a nice sunny day in the mid 60s.
Kool Site of the Month 1957 Ford Dot Com - more info than you'll ever want on the 1957 Fords
Video of the Month - Car Wash
1967 Cougar XR-7
Impala convertible still has most of its 327 engine
Gas Prices Continue to Go Up
Usually January is one of the months where gasoline prices are low. There is less traveling and therefore less demand which can mean lower prices. However this January gas prices have continued to go up. At least one gasoline station in America has hit the $5 mark on gasoline - that was in California. California gas prices are the highest in the nation because of state tax and a special blend that is required to reduce pollution. Average gas prices were about 28 cents a gallon higher than last January. President Obama called for an end to big oil subsidies during his State of the Union address and once again called on Congress to pass a national renewable energy standard.
Here is a quote from the speech: “We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It‘s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising.”
Obama asked for a $36.5 billion tax increase for oil and gas companies to be phased in over 10 years. This was when the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. His request was ignored. Currently many in Congress want more domestic production of oil and gas. Plus the Obama veto of the Keystone pipeline has not sat well with members of Congress. If the big oil subsidies were ended gasoline prices would certainly increase.
Early 50s Cadillac coupe is not missing too many parts
1960 Starliner - there is another one that runs
American Ethanol Partners with NASCAR Teams On January 26th American Ethanol announced at the NASCAR Preview fan event in Charlotte, N.C., that it will continue relationships with Richard Childress Racing and RAB Racing for the 2012 season. Austin Dillon, 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion will drive his number 3 Chevrolet with American Ethanol serving as the primary sponsor for six races of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series. The paint scheme of number 3 will be American Ethanol's colors. "I'm proud to carry the American Ethanol colors in NASCAR," said Dillon. "Growth Energy is committed to clean air, and as an avid outdoorsman I truly appreciate their desire to protect our nation's air and water for future generations. I commend the work they do and I am looking forward to representing American Ethanol, Growth Energy and the National Corn Growers Association."
American Ethanol will be an associate sponsor for the entire RCR team of drivers. These include Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Paul Menard. Kenny Wallace will drive the number 09 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for RAB Racing and has partnered with American Ethanol. "I'm honored to represent American Ethanol. I not only talk about American Ethanol, I truly believe in it. I've been to the farms, I've met the families, I've been to the ethanol plants, and I've been in the hallways of the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C., in support of it. I believe it is our job to cut down on dependency of foreign oil, and American Ethanol is a major part of that," Wallace said.
"American Ethanol is in this for the long haul. Through our partnerships with Austin Dillon and Kenny Wallace, we are telling NASCAR and its fans that American Ethanol is committed to the sport," said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, which led the effort to create American Ethanol. "These drivers are ideal ambassadors for the American Ethanol team and will help tell the story of how American-made ethanol creates jobs, cleans our air and fosters energy independence."
"American Ethanol is getting a lot of positive attention because it's a good fit for NASCAR's green initiative, and because of the increased horsepower on the track," said NCGA President Garry Niemeyer. "Our partnership with RCR and RAB Racing will assure continued success in letting the American public know that if ethanol can stand the stress these drivers put it through, it's good for the family car, too."
From the Agri-View website: "Growth Energy, a coalition of American ethanol supporters, filed the petition to the federal government, called the Green Jobs Waiver, to increase the allowable blend of ethanol in fuel from 10 percent to 15 percent, or E15. In 2010, NASCAR embraced the desire for greener, American-job-producing fuels when it announced its decision to move to Sunoco Green E15 for NASCAR's three national series.
Representing a wide array of ethanol supporters, from farmers to bio-engineering firms, American Ethanol was established by Growth Energy in partnership with the National Corn Growers Association and others. By establishing a marketing partnership with NASCAR starting with the 2011 racing season, the same year that NASCAR switched its fuel to Sunoco Green E15, American Ethanol aims to educate and inform the broader American public about the benefits of U.S.-made ethanol."
Just because some NASCAR teams have partnered with the ethanol industry does not mean E15 is ready for use in all cars and trucks. There is mounting evidence that ethanol can harm engines and other car parts. Plus some "green" activists believe it causes more pollution than ordinary gasoline. NASCAR has accumulated 1.3 million miles with Sunoco Green E15. Apparently big ethanol has made a partnership with NASCAR to push the E15 fuel.
Don (The Snake) Prudhomme and his Army funny car
Congress Ends 30 Year Ethanol Subsidy $2 Billion Yearly Applied to Debt In December Congress not only let the 45 cents a gallon ethanol subsidy expire it also let expire the 54 cents a gallon tariff on imported ethanol. This means a savings of about $2 billion a year and the good news is this will be applied to cutting the national debt.
Corn is not the best producer of ethanol, sugar cane is much better. Corn was used to produce ethanol in the US because we produce so much of it. It will be interesting to see if imports of ethanol start coming in from countries like Brazil where ethanol has been used as an automotive fuel since the 70s.
