Doug's Corner

>> From 02/08/2021
Caught the Chevelles talking trash:
Well its umpteen degrees cold and snowing this morning and I went out in the garage to do a few things. And immediately I sensed something strange. The song, “The Ride” by David Allen Coe was playing softly and I noticed my Chevelle radio was glowing, glad it’s on a battery tender. As I got closer I saw it was locked on to AM. I walked up to some sort of program where my Chevelle was talking over the air waves. I don’t know how far AM reaches but realized she was talking to a network of other Chevelles. “I remember the days before we cared about salt lighting reduction (rust holes). My owner jumped in me and fired me up, zinc vitamins and all, every day and every cold morning you can think on, rain to boot, drove me everywhere. None of these new radials, good old bias-ply tires. Were you abused regularly by my owner’s son when he got the keys? Half a mile from the house a regular smoke show! And now? Oh it’s my 70 year old owner. But now it’s on big ol’radials with an array of power adders. You know cams, manifolds, puffers out to blowers. And now we got Nitrous. Wow its Viagra for cars!” Another Chevelle piped in about a wiring-otomy it had a few years back. “Some are successful and others not, depend on the wiring surgeon I guess.” If that front seat could talk, car fumes and perfumes you know. One of those touring models spoke up on a trip on Route 66 thru the Grand Canyon and onward to California. That sparked another telling about how happy his dog was to hang his head out in the wind. Then the roundy rounder days and all of the ¼ mile hot spots they spent time at. “I can’t believe I didn’t like history class back in the day.” It was all about the party back in the day, lots of bars and night life, car seats and raising families, picnics, cruising, time at the lake, power tours and car shows. “Darn I wish it would warm up, I miss those days.”
“Wake up Doug you were dreaming!”
Doug
PS I added the link for the song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2hJLa0T-Sw


>> From 06/06/2020
Doug’s Corner - I’m sending you a link for a short eleven minute video. At 1.08 and 2.02 there is a good shot of my ‘66 Chevelle steering column in that ‘55 Chevy. That cam is worth the price of admission. Our Chevelles are moving art. When I did my car it would have been easy to buy an aftermarket column but no way as cool. Look at Richards’s car, that 67 Steering wheel is beautiful. Today’s soft vinyl wheels lack any beauty, only function. Think of how Steering wheels have evolved; the early Banjo spoke wheels are my favorite. Followed by the bake-light painted factory wheels with chrome horn rings used in many hot rods. I miss the perforated wraps for the skinny wheels, you can’t find them. The Brodie Knob (Spinners) was super popular in the 50’s-60’s (baby boomers can still remember, our kids don’t). How about the riveted wood wheels in Corvettes and SS Chevelle. Who can forget the 60’s when the metal flake and solid colored Grant wheels were so popular. Now a days my favorite new design is the cut down tri five factory looking wheels, which is a redesign to fit the function of power steering but keeping with the fabulous GM Designs. How about the futuristic wheel which is a 50’s-60’s factory wheel with the top or bottom or both cut out, dangerous but looks cool. Welded chain is poplar in rat rods, wait for it, hot rods get chromed chain. We have come a long way since the first rock was pounded round. Air bags will never replace our rolling art.
https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9iV1r7Jj5I

>> September 19, 2019
Well I got some inspiration today. I was reading a 25 year power tour article in the new November 2019 issue. It takes the reader back to the 70’s. “I’m a kid from the ‘70s, a time when there was no cable TV or Internet. If we wanted a story, we read a book. If we wanted to expand our imaginations, we’d play outside, and if the weather went south, we always had our toys. In my case, that meant a collection of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars that I’d been collecting since I was able to talk. Upon arrival to my grandparents’ home, my classic Matchbox carrying cases (you know the blue ones with the yellow handles) would immediately be emptied, and that glorious green carpet served as the rally point for little Mikey’s very own power tour. Around one hundred cars and trucks would be lined up single file, and for the rest of the day I would torture the household with the best engine sounds I could muster.”

Wow did that take anyone back a half a century. It was the 60’s for me. I got to thinking those miniature Hot Rods and Custom cars were our dreams of yesteryear. They were the someday I’m going have a Vette, Jag are Custom car; hey that’s me, I have built and owned all three and then some. I bet anyone reading this that had Hot Wheels or Matchbox has had their share of cool rides also. Here’s what I did this morning. I got on EBay before the Christmas rush/ sold out and bought a collector case for my soon to be six year old grandson and new granddaughter. Becky and I are going to have a Walmart power tour picking out a bunch to get them started. Hopefully this will keep the kids interested in the culture. The Grandson is fascinated with the Chevelle. We had a trophy on the table that has a 57 Chevy for the top, that got his attention. Grandma answered the 50 questions that followed.

I bet Hot Wheels with a collectors case are the top Christmas pick this year.

PS:
Q: Do you know what is a Millennial thief deterrent is.
A: A Stick shift.

Doug

>> September 7, 2019
Hey I just gotta share. When I put my car together I used a Edelbrock 1406 600 cfm carb that has served me well. After several tries to eliminate a dead spot from idle I decided to try something new. Edelbrock has a new kid on the block, it’s the AVS2 Series Carburetor. After talking with Edelbrock tech support about their new AVS2 carb I decided to give one a try. As advertised the AVS2 takes Thunder Series Performance to a new level, and it did. The new AVS2 model 1906 carb has annular boosters that lay horizontal with eight equally spaced orifices that deliver better fuel atomization in place of the old style down leg boosters that I had on my old 1406. The new carb did eliminate my dead spot and increased my power from idle to cruising speed. I now have instant smooth throttle response when you step on the pedal, it is like I added fuel injection at a fraction of the price. Anyone need a used 1406.

LOL Doug

>> June 4, 2019
 Alright, David shamed me into getting in gear on my next article. I have been holding back on it because I wanted to get this right. Most of you know I really enjoy Roadkill TV Show hosted by David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan. Hot rod magazine, July 2019, has David Frieburger’s take on Road-Trip Tools that I thought was worth sharing. Looks like the United States started a transition to metric system around 1975. For the gear head the nuisance started then and required us to go back and forth to the tool box as metric bolts started showing up on our rides. If you are pre-1975, you’re golden for a bag of simple road trip tools; Frieburger recommends and I am quoting “maybe there’s a handmade hammer that looks like it survived WWII. That’s gold. Imagine the glory of repairing your hooptie at the side of the road with a vintage monkey wrench that was engraved by “Hardy” at one time and “Case” later on as you wonder which one of those he-men cut and ground the handle into the shape of a Prybar. What tools do you need most? That’s a question I get asked often so here goes.

First, it’s forgivable to get brand new staples such as zip ties, but beware of the super cheap ones that break in your hand. You find the better ones at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Ratchet straps can be remarkably handy to hold hoods to roofs or serve as temporary motor mounts. A handful of hose clamps can also be cleverly employed to do anything but clamp a hose. And there’s duct tape, of course, though I rank it below zip ties and ratchet straps. Once you start the pawn-shop hunt, you may not get everything you need in one shop, so you have to prioritize. The most critical tools are Vise-Grips and you should get more than one set. In addition to being used to remove stubborn fasteners they can do stuff like crush off a leaky brake line or fuel hose, replace a window crank or trans shifter, or hold together a couple of pieces of metal that need to be welded. Hunt for old Vise-Grips as they are no longer American made. For other pliers, get dikes, Channel Lock, and needle nose in that order. Next up, a Crescent wrench and then combination wrenches. As for size priority, it goes like this (for the American cars I always drive): 1/2, 9/16, 7/16, then everything else, Get two of each, as a luxury. Only once the wrenches are handled do I worry about socket sets and I usually stick to 3/8 drive, selecting deep sockets before regular ones. After that, you only need one good flat screwdriver and one Phillips. Then it’s off to the fun stuff like a good hammer and prybar.”

I thought it was a well thought out advice for Hot Rod subscribers worth sharing. Taking the above advice plus some metric wrenches if you have a newer hot rod and the chances of sitting alongside the road get slimmer. I am really proud of my friend Jack Blackwill. Years ago his RV transmission had a major seal go bad. They put some tools together dropped the transmission and repaired and reinstalled it to get back home. That’s cool. If you have a bag of tricks or something to share concerning road trip tools lets share them at one of our meetings. Or maybe we can set a date for one of our meetings to show and tell.

Doug

>> April 14, 2019
I know it’s a free flashlight but you might take a closer look when you grab your free one at Harbor Freight. There are a couple to choose from, the one with the mirrored reflector is my favorite. The second option has a rough mirrored finish that does not produce near as much light and the magnet is weaker on that one. The image shows the difference on the mirrored finish. This is information to help you be a more informed harbor freight consumer and hopefully laugh a bit.