NeonLX

I love his early stuff.

Well, at least there's plenty of tire clearance.

Country music just ain't what it used to be...

Wow. Great eye, Mr. B!

...a better shot of the Man and his ram-tuned intake runners:

Sheesh. I still haven't seen one on the road.

Sunrise over Lake Monona. I jumped off the bus to take this pic with my phone. Walked the rest of the way to work. What a glorious morning it was.

Sadly, that ain't me in the picture...it's someone I looked up to while growing up: Ray "Big Ray" Brock, a tech editor & writer for Hot Rod & Motor Trend Magazines back in the 1950s & 60s. He also had his own publishing company, and was, of course, a motorhead through and through. He was an amazing dude. http://www.hotrod.co...ck/viewall.html Besides gearhead tendencies, Ray and I apparently share hairdressers; my dome is every bit as shiny as his. He is far handsomer, however. If I put my own pic up as an avatar, Cheers and Gears members would probably drop dead in shock. On edit: I'm thinking the hood in the pic is from a Super Stock Plymouth, from what I can remember of his various projects that graced the pages of automotive magazines back in the day...

Probably shouldn't admit this, but I kinda sorta liked the early Escort wagons. We tried stuffing a 351C under the hood of one but the back wheels came up off the ground. Probably should have gone mid-engine with it, eh?

There was. Lots of things.

Heh. Haven't dated myself since I was a teenager. Har Har. Yep, those be cross ram manifolds from a 1963 Chrysler 300J, 413 CID V8. The manifolds first appeared in 1960, standard equipment on the 300F. A Carter AFB 4V carb was mounted on each end of these things (8V total). They snaked across the valve covers and mounted to the intake ports of head on the opposite side.The big plusof this setup was that it packed a real wallop in mid-range torque. A similar arrangement was also available on DeSoto, Dodge and Plymouth V8s (383 & 361 engines). The 1960-'61 engines were "long ram" versions, with 30" runner length. In '62, a "short ram" setup (with 15" effective length) became available, which moved peak power further up the RPM scale. Externally, these manifolds looked similar, but the shorter effective length came from cutting the dividers further downstream from the carbs, rather than having the tubes divided for the entire length of the manifold. The car in my profile pic has the "shorter" version installed on the engine, and the unattached manifold is the long version, shown for comparison (both setups were available on the '63 300J). Great article about these intake systems can be found here: http://www.allpar.com/mopar/sonoramic.html

Heh. Think bigger. Them pipes is the focus of attention here...

I loved three-on-the-trees...or threes on the tree...or however you pluralize it. My '55 had it and with just a little practice, I figured out how shift up and down without using the clutch (taking load off engine/tranny when going up, and revving engine up to match speed coming down). Never impressed any chicks with it, but had fun anyway...

Anyone know what I'm fiddling around with in my profile pic?

That truck was in pretty sorry shape, though it ran good. running boards were coming off and there were holes in the box & rear fenders. I'd love to have something like that just as a beater, which appears to be exactly what it was. But I suppose I'd feel really guilty just leaving it as a beater...

Yeah. Drove all kinds of stuff on the farm starting around age 8 or 9. First vehicle I remember driving was my brother's 1948 Willys CJ2A. Got my first car at age 12; drove it home from a relative's house in town on the backroads. Didn't licensed it because we never saw a sheriff's car within miles of our place. Simple times, they were... Another true story...the kid from the neighboring farm and I were the last ones to get dropped off by the school bus. The dude who drove it had only been out of high school a few years. One afternoon, he asked if we wanted to drive the bus. Well, of course we did. Had a great time hustling down the old gravel roads in that bus. It was a Chevy C/60 conventional, IIRC...had a 4-speed trans with 2-speed rear axle. Split shifts, baby!

Heh. Paint the air cleaner and valve covers gold or sump'n'.

I resent that quiz...they ask how much I know about the Chevy cars my parents and grandparents drove...don't they know how old I am??? Sheesh. 10/10 here as well. Thanks for the link to the quiz! P.S. We used to call the '59 Chevy "the bat-winged b@st@rd". Friend of mine had a '59 Biscayne coupe with the 348 & 3-speed tranny. That car would haul!

Wow! You are correct, Mr. GMTruckGuy74! I didn't even notice that 'til you pointed it out... There is a huge amount of automotive knowledge in this place...

Keeping the Malibu Maxx for the duration. Only 90,000 miles on it. Daughter is off to college next fall. Would love an older car, truck or tractor to tinker with but it ain't in the cards.

I love the old GMC logo as backdrop for the more modern one.

I'd actually like to buy that Concord. The only issue with it is the reupholstery job on the front seat--they used a cheap velour-looking fabric that didn't match the rest of the interior. Runs like a champ though.

They're still manufacturing Rocket V8s, and Oldsmobiles to be powered by them, on Mars.

28,000 miles on this 1978 AMC Concord. 258 six/auto trans. No evidence of Rambler rot. Hood is popped open to the secondary latch because the car was locked at the time.

Couldn't get a better shot; people standing all around. The '54 was getting fueled up at the time I snapped this. The ol' Stovebolt sounded like it was idling at 200 RPM.