dallashistory

Friend of mine collects classic cars and trucks and restores them. He's been doing it since he was a kid. His father owned a steam cleaning business in downtown Dallas, and he used to buy old cars from junk yards and restore them. Recently he rebuilt a Ford Bronco and hot rodded the engine, bored and stroked and all the fancy gear. Took him years to get it the way he wanted it. The point was to have something to work on. He lives in California now and should have better things to do with his time. I live in New England where it would be great to have a project to work on in the garage so I thought about buying an old M37 and restoring it. Found this guide book to the project on the web and thought it was interesting.

http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Ahl/M37.htm

After reading through the web site and thinking more about the time and money involved, I'll probably opt instead to restore an old Corvette, Jaguar XKE, Lotus or some such, but I still thought it was interesting reading.

Best,
adam

Actually, something like an M37 would probably be a better project than a E-type (though not near as pretty or exciting to drive) in terms of expense, parts availability and ease of access to the everything. I wouldn't want anything to do with a Lotus, except maybe a 7 or Super 7 - too fragile, hard to get at things, parts availability, etc..

Lots of folks are fixing up military vehicles. There is a place here in Virginia that sells armored cars. if i had the extra change I might buy one

I was going to ressurect the thread on Old Cars; and tell the story of our families' 1995 Taurus Station Wagon, the Blue Goose. This is perfect.

When we evacuated for Hurricane Rita, we took the pickup truck and left the paid-for and older Blue Goose behind. I did take the step of moving it out into the open next to the driveway, in the event the trees surrounding the driveway were knocked down by the storm.

Here is an arial photograph taken by the Weather Bureau shortly after the storm. Our house, with the Blue Goose clearly visible next to driveway, is in the middle:



The fire department in the nearby town of Port Neches clocked the winds at 160 MPH with gusts to 180, coming from the bottom to the top in the above image. The roof on the house was old, and about a third of the shingles were ripped off. A large tree that sheltered the end of the driveway, the back yard, and the garage was knocked over; along with other trees in the neighborhood. The fencing around our back yard and the yard next door was knocked down; and all of the car covers in the neighborhood were blown away or knocked down. The garage door was bashed in and a window was broken. The wind glued leaves so firmly to the front door that you had to scrap them off with your fingernail, and even forced water in through the weep holes along the foundation (or so it looked from the inside.)



The Blue Goose survived all of that with only a single shingle stuck between a side window and the door, and some water intrusion through the back hatch/window. We moved it along with the rest of our stuff in September/October 2005; only to have the motor freeze damaged during the winter storm of October or November 2005.

I managed to drive the Blue Goose up on ramps in our garage, where it sat gathering dust until last year. My son-in-law and I managed to load it onto a trailer (with no winch or come-along) when we moved last April, and moved it to our new home.

When we moved yet again last November, we had it sent to a shop in Dallas to have a new motor put in. It suffered yet another indignity when a tow truck backed into it while it was at the shop; damaging the driver's door. There was a side benefit, however, in that they replaced the drivers side mirror that my daughter broke off back in 2002.

It was a testimony to my wife's budgeting skills and a major milestone that we paid cash for the new motor this month. This, after being laid off for four months in 2005, and my daughter's wedding in 2006.

I cleaned up it good a couple of weekends ago; it looks near new inside, outside, and in the engine compartment. It still needs some work; the A/C went out several years (may convert it to R-14 instead of fixing the old system), and the heater core in the dash must have been freeze damaged because there is a coolent leak in the firewall area. But the Blue Goose is drivable again; and my two boys love it; they love in particular the rear facing jump seat in the very back.

When I was looking at paying for another motor, I contemplated having the 24 valve 3.8 liter V-6 from the Taurus SHO installed instead. But, the transaxle may not have mated with it, and it turns out there would have been some other issues. But, others have done it:

http://www.klimesgroup.com/showagon/pics.htm

In fact, Car and Driver did it back in April of 1993. Resulting wagon could do 0-60 in 7.5 seconds, pull 0.8 on the skidpad, and max out at 120 MPH:

http://www.klimesgroup.com/showagon/cdarticle.htm

However, the SHO was also the only one in the Taurus line to have problems with the cruise control catching on fire; that is one feature from the SHO that won't come over...

We had an '86 Taurus Wagon, with the 3.0 push-rod (NOT the SHO DOHC from Yamaha) engine. One of the car magazines tested it and IIRC, the wagons topped out at something like 114 mph, and the sedans at around 120. The SHO sedans would get something like 140....

Clyde Howard wrote:We had an '86 Taurus Wagon, with the 3.0 push-rod (NOT the SHO DOHC from Yamaha) engine. One of the car magazines tested it and IIRC, the wagons topped out at something like 114 mph, and the sedans at around 120. The SHO sedans would get something like 140....

Thanks for pointing that out; the Car and Driver "version" of the Taurus SHO wagon was "drag limited" (whatever that means) to 130 MPH, not 120 as I stated. I don't know what "The Thumper" max speed was; though it did place third in two SHO competitions. "The Thumper"'s owner went a bit further in his modifications, and had stiffer springs and a larger anti-roll bar installed which lowered the body by 2.0 inches. He says these modifications made it corner more like a sedan than a wagon.

Found a couple of "SHO wagons" on the web based on the third generation (1996–1999) of Taurus and Taurus SHO; in both cases, they apparently took the entire front end of a Taurus SHO from the "B" pillar forward, and grafted it on to the rear end of Taurus SHO wagon. I have no idea how well they performed.

I always thought the idea of "sleeper" sedan like the AMG Mercedes modications were neat, the wagons even more so. My other favorite was the AMG Hammer modification of a Mercedes 300TE wagon. Very, very few were built, and they were mega-expensive ($175,000 in 1987); but the one Car and Driver tested pulled 0.85g on the skid pad, and a top speed of 183 MPH. 0-60 in 5.2 seconds; quarter mile in 13.6 seconds @ 109.5 MPH. (Those figures may be for the sedan, but the wagon was only a little slower.)



(More pictures at http://www.500ecstasy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=999 .)

Today I just noticed a TV commercial for the new Mercedes CL 65 AMG... It shows this beast smoking tires and 'drifting' sideways across the screen. Would make a nice little 'around the town car'.

This version is an absolute top-of-the-line model, not in the least because of its power source: a six-liter AMG V12-Biturbo engine, which produces an astounding 450 kW/612 hp and at least 1000 Nm torque. The new Mercedes-Benz CL 65 AMG, besides the S 65 AMG and SL 65 AMG, is the third model which uses the powerful V12-Biturbo. This engine pushes the coupe to great achievement: an acceleration to 100kmh in 4,4 seconds, in 13,3 seconds it will hit the 200kmh mark. The top speed has been electronically limited to 250kmh. Peak performace of 450kW/612hp is available between 4800 and 5100rpm. The torque of 1000, which is also electronically limited, is available between 2000 to 4000rpm.

And, if you have kids, dogs, and huge grocery runs; or just love blowing away Porsche 911s with a station wagon , there is the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Wagon.

Let us suggest a solution (not that we would actually recommend this sort of sociopathic behavior, but if one were so inclined, it would be possible): pick up the kids in an E63 wagon. Pull up to the curb, brake-torque the Benz, start the rear hides a-boilin', and invite the laughing bullies to climb in. Lift the brake, mash the gas, and lay a two hundred foot patch out of the school parking lot. Let the rears gather traction and you'll rocket to 60 mph in four seconds flat on your way to one very-difficult-to-clean back seat and a 12.5-second quarter-mile at 115 mph. In the time it takes the young ones to sing the ABCs, the E63 will be whipping along at the 155-mph governor. No way the parents in the pristine SUV are cooler...when was the last time the carpool included mud bogging or rock crawling?

The E63 is a mild evolution of the E55 gonzo-wagon. The supercharged-and-intercooled 5.4-liter V-8 from the Mercedes mothership is gone, replaced by AMG's own 6.2-liter naturally-aspirated mill. In the grand AMG tradition of model names that may or may not actually relate to engine displacement, these two are close enough. Although the new engine gives up 62 lb-ft of torque to the old, supercharged V-8, there's an extra 38-hp on tap and 800 additional rpm before redline, tallying a screaming 7200. The 6.2 negligibly outperforms the old car in every acceleration test, reaching 100 mph in 9.5 and 150 in 23.5 seconds; 0.2, and 0.5 seconds quicker. The 12.5-second quarter-mile time is identical between the two cars, but the 63 carries one extra mph through the lights.

A two-ton wagon is never going to carve corners like a Lotus, but good luck fitting seven complete people into an Elise. The E63's 0.84 g is good enough to suck barf out of baby's mouth and directly onto the outside window, thus protecting the leather.

deleted dup. posting

All this reminds me of the tired old 1949 Chevy Panel Van I bought for $100 at a car lot on Ross Avenue in Dallas in the early 1960s. It was near death at the time with many, many miles on the odometer. I fixed the motor and sold it for, I think, $200. Here's one I found on the internet that someone fixed up.

http://www.classictrucks.com/features/0 ... index.html

A few years later I bought a stock 1955 Chevy Nomad wagon and put a 327 hot rod motor in it. It was fast (near 13.0 second e.t. in 1/4 mile), but the body was completely un-restored. I sold the motor out of it to a racer I met at Arlington State and sold the body separate to Ben of Hot Rod Exchange. He fixed up the body and put a big block chevy in it. Might have been a 409, can't remember. Anyway it was for show, more than go. Looked something like this after he finished with it.

http://www.cars-on-line.com/34254.html

Nomads for sale online.

http://www.cars-on-line.com/nomad.html

Best,
adam

I don't have a clue what you guys are talking about

However I love James' story of his Blue Goose. Remember our long rambling thread (now gone, I think) where I told Ronnie that we name our cars? I am glad to be reminded that in this world of mechanics, science and technology the human element of love and commitment is still there---love the Blue Goose story!

All this reminds me of the tired old 1949 Chevy Panel Van I bought for $100 at a car lot on Ross Avenue in Dallas in the early 1960s.

My dad used to tell a story about one of the Ross Avenue used car dealers named "Goss Used Car Sales".... He had a motto, "Buy from Goss on Ross... the Trading Hoss".

One time in the early 1950's Goss took a Cadillac convertible and removed all but a small seat for the driver... and loaded a live horse in the car. He drove all over downtown with the horse and his famous motto on a side banner.

Back to the subject of the tread.... while out running last week, I looked up to see a 'pristine' E Jag cruise by with the top down. Looked just like the picture below. It put lust in my heart as I watched and listened to it accelerate away.

I remember those dealer stickers on the back of those Goss on Ross Cars back in the 70's.

Goss on Ross "Hope You Get Home!"

Let us suggest a solution (not that we would actually recommend this sort of sociopathic behavior, but if one were so inclined, it would be possible): pick up the kids in this Ford F-850. Pull up to the curb, brake-torque the Ford, start the rear hides all four of them, a-boilin', and invite the laughing bullies stand in front. Lift the brake, mash the gas, and lay a two hundred foot patch tarmac and bully pieces right out of the school parking lot. Let the rears gather traction and you'll rocket to 20 mph in 10 seconds on your way to one very-difficult-to-clean under carriage. In the time it takes the young ones to say three Hail Mary's, the 850 will be whipping along at 155-mph max with no Hi-Po brave enough to stop you.

No way the parents in the pristine Euro trash kraut-wagon are cooler...when was the last time the carpool included mud bogging or rock crawling, or mountain climbing.

(Dog and dog walker available at extra cost)

Mike

Back to the subject of the tread.... while out running last week, I looked up to see a 'pristine' E Jag cruise by with the top down. Looked just like the picture below. It put lust in my heart as I watched and listened to it accelerate away.

I once owned an E-type. The worst car I ever owned. For every ounce of pleasure there was a pound of pain. Had I been you Mike I might have spit on the wheels or worse...
The more I think about it I think it was the worst anything I ever bought.
I traded it straight up for an Alpine Tiger with a Ford 289 HP loaded up front. Not as sexy as the Jag but it always started and never left me sitting dead at a traffic light smiling sheepishly


.

Ronnie wrote:Mike

Back to the subject of the tread.... while out running last week, I looked up to see a 'pristine' E Jag cruise by with the top down. Looked just like the picture below. It put lust in my heart as I watched and listened to it accelerate away.

I once owned an E-type. The worst car I ever owned. For every ounce of pleasure there was a pound of pain. Had I been you Mike I might have spit on the wheels or worse...
The more I think about it I think it was the worst anything I ever bought.
I traded it straight up for an Alpine Tiger with a Ford 289 HP loaded up front. Not as sexy as the Jag but it always started and never left me sitting dead at a traffic light smiling sheepishly


.

Hmmm . . . one word - LUCAS!

[quote="awh]Hmmm . . . one word - LUCAS![/quote]

Lucas, the Prince of Darkness!

The father of a friend of mine in high school owned a 1950s Jaguar Xk-150 sedan. A beauty of a car, with real wire knockoff wheels, wooden dash with toggle switches. Two-tone exterior, in fantastic shape.

He sold it when he needed a more reliable car for commuting. Later, he bought another XK-150, but it was nowhere near the other car; had plain steel wheels and a white exterior.

He bought a Studabaker for my friend and himself to restore, but I don't think it ever got anywhere. Never knew what happened to it.

There are a few Studes I wouldn't mind having, but not a lot.

Jags (at least the earlier ones) were genuine PITA to own and operate. Teh guy who was my landlord for some years is a car guy. HE talked aboiut an XK-140 roadster he had. Said it took him several years to get all the working and switches and gauges replaced and every gasket located anywhere replaced. All with American components. After that, it wasn't bad except for trying to keep the SUs synchronized so it would run right.

Guy at Fort Knox when I was there had a 66 or 67 E-type (coupe, and not the 2+2). Prettiest thing you ever saw. Except it started making funny noises in the rear end and he made the mistake of overhauling it himself. My God - I'm not sure how many CV joints it had (except it seemed like at least two a side) and a bunch of roller bearings and needle bearings here and there and everywhere. It took him about three months in the Post Hobby Shop and untold moments of great frustration to get it rebuilt and re-installed. It still made funny noises, but seemed to work OK...

LUCAS!

If it were only that. The day my car was made the quality control folks must have been on strike. Both seats came loose because of broken bolts. The thing reeked of mildew, caused by convertible top
that went up and down but never converted. The trunk or boot smelled the same. The wheel spokes required constant attention and the jack, if that's what that thing was supposed to be, couldn't lift much over a few pounds.
The shifter came off in my hand once while I was in first gear and miles from home.

Then I turned right around and got another English car, the Alpine. It wasn't very well made either but the drive train was pure Yankee and never failed me. And it was really really fast if not really really sexy.

Jags (at least the earlier ones) were genuine PITA to own and operate.

A number of years ago, we lived in Boca Raton.... the land of the beautiful people and even more beautiful cars. There was an Specialty Automotive Service shop there run by a guy who only worked on Jags, RRs, and MBenz.

He had made it 75% of the way through med school and took a summer sabbatical to Europe. Over there for larks, he went to a Jag mechanics school in Coventry.... he enjoyed it so much that he delayed coming back and went to MB school in Stuttgart. He decided that he could make more money and have less stress as a mechanic than a doctor and opened his shop in Florida.

He was brilliant at what he did and had a loyal following of 'cost is no object' customers... who were desperate to keep their temperamental cars running. He made a wise and profitable career choice.

Ronnie, i recall a Fraud 289-powered Sunbeam, known as the Tiger. It was a factory engine swap for the stock 4=banger in a little two seater called an Alpine - Chrysler's (they'd bought the Rootes Group as well as Simca in France) "answer" to the AC Cobra. Which was Carrol Shelby's "factory" engine swap of a Ford 260 (hot-rodded with a flock of Weber carbs), later changed to a 289, for the Bristol 2-liter straight 6 (licensed copy of the pre-war BMW six from the 327/328) in an AC Ace. The Cobra worked a LOT better.

Are you sure you didn't have a Tiger instead of an Alpine?

Clyde

Are you sure you didn't have a Tiger instead of an Alpine?

It was an Alpine Tiger and it was no fraud. It was never meant to compete with the Shelby cars except maybe some 260-289 Cobras. Alpine even consulted with both Shelby and Ken Miles on the Tiger.
My car had a 289 cid HD Ford V8 up front that was a replacement engine put there by the previous owner. Tigers were campaigned both in the US and Europe with some success. My car was a Tiger Mk II of which less than 600 were produced.
It was a fun ride to have at a fun time of my life.


There were some later models with Chrysler's 271 cid V8s or so I heard.

I was referring to the source of the engine - the Fraud Motor Company...

There seems to be a Sunbeam Alpine Owners Club with piccies, tips, and much information on several series of two-seat cars built by Sunbeam (a brand of the Rootes Group). All with 4-cyl engines of differing displacements and characteristics over a number of years of production.

And a separate Sunbeam Tiger Owners Club, which has piccies, technical information, tips and such on a car that looks like an Alpine, was built by Sunbeam, and came with an engine acquired from the Fraud Motor Company.

I think the tequila has crossed some of the wires in your memory cache...

I think the tequila has crossed some of the wires in your memory cache...

I'm sure you're talking about some long past event!

You know, we have strict forum rules concerning PUI.

I've mentioned the Toad Hall sports car museum before. It's part of a bed and breakfast place on Cape Cod, Simmons Homestead Inn. I've stayed there. Very nice guy named Bill Putnam runs it. He used to race SCCA sports cars. The museum houses dozens and dozens of sports cars. He has a great collection of single malt scotch whisky as well. The museum has a 1966 Tiger which is still licensed and driven on the street (for lucky patrons).

http://www.toadhallcars.com/OtherEnglishCars.asp

http://www.simmonshomesteadinn.com/

http://www.billputman.com/scotch.htm