Here is the top 25 motor oils available. This quarter, there are a lot of changes to the list. For those of you living in the United States, it looks like the very best oils to use assuming that a 5W30 is your oil weight of choice should be Amsoil,… Continue reading
It’s that time of year when I have an assortment of things going on, most of which are important in their own right but none of which are going to stop the world from turning either. I have been working on a spare Powerglide, three different things on the house,… Continue reading
Well, I am probably going to piss off a few people, hoping more than a few but at least a few. Time and time again, I hear all of us old hot rodders lamenting the fact that the younger generation isn’t all that fired up about the cars and bikes… Continue reading
For years, I have read trade magazines written by and for professional mechanics. I especially enjoy the articles describing difficult-to-diagnose repairs. Symptoms such as an engine failing to start or stalling leads to methodical, meticulous testing of systems and individual parts. The clues often point to an electrical or computer… Continue reading
It’s been extremely busy over the last few weeks, with the holidays upon us and all of the rushing around I have been neglecting a lot of things including this blog site. We are now just a few weeks from Christmas, 2017. Halloween (my favorite holiday) and Thanksgiving seem to… Continue reading
I remember my first timing light, it wasn’t much to talk about and how accurate it was is something I will never know. It was a cheap tool and didn’t last very long but the Motors book I had said the Ford engine had to be set at the following:… Continue reading
Thanks Dremel Tools! I had to return my Dremel Multimax for repair after it quit on me during a remodel job I was doing. I wasn’t mad at the tool or anything like that, I have had it for a very long time and it has taken a pretty good… Continue reading
I have spent the last few days cleaning up my garage space, moving stuff around, trying to position Elvira and GT350 in workable locations, thrown out some junk but in the end, I am not sure I really gained anything at all. That could be the end of the story… Continue reading
We are here at VMP for the Mid-Atlantic Championship. The race primarily consists of the top 20 in points in each racing class from local area dragstrips. Last night’s part of the event was lost to foul weather but today is at least dry but very heavily overcast. Phil is… Continue reading
Here is the top 25 motor oils available. This quarter, there are not many changes to the list. For those of you living in the United States, it looks like the very best oils to use assuming that a 5W30 is your oil weight of choice should be Valvoline, Mobil… Continue reading
Starting with this post, I will be placing little trinkets of information that I find out or simply discover in my day-to-day life around cars and their supporting cast. As I add a tip or trick or both in the future, I will update this post so that it appears… Continue reading
It didn’t all go the way we had planned but I am okay with it. I finally got back in a racecar and down the track thanks to my son, Phil. The original idea was to hit Richmond Dragway’s Old Dominion Duels event and run the Camaro in the Top… Continue reading
Charlie’s Garage is now open to the public. It’s a minor side venture in doing some basic automotive repair for people that don’t want to deal with a dealership or get run over by the local garage. Most of the work performed is your basic minor repair stuff from spark… Continue reading
Sometimes it’s their own trailer, other times they just end up in the back-40 somewhere and slowly are simply forgotten about. Normally they hit a certain point and restoration becomes an almost impossible task. Rust, cylinder corrosion, valve spring deterioration, sneaky mice and other rodents, oil that has simply sat… Continue reading
Yep, this is the one that none of us that are involved with motorsports ever want to talk about – its a forbidden subject simply because its not going to happen to us. But it does, tragically it happens too often and more tragically still, there might have been some… Continue reading
There’s nothing like rebuilding your hot rod save for that wiring job you now have to take on. In my case this is Elvira right now and with the circuits that I am changing, adding and deleting all at once, the wiring looks like a colorful pile of spaghetti –… Continue reading
Here is the top 25 motor oils available. Please remember that not all of these oils are available in all areas. Also any racing oils listed are not intended for long-term street use. Using race oils in street cars equipped with catalytic converters can damage them. 1. 0W40 Mobil 1… Continue reading
It’s a bit funny but I have probably explained the following procedure to a few friends a half-dozen times in the last few weeks. And honestly unless you too are a diehard drag racer using a GM style automatic transmission and converter setup, the information here is probably worthless. But… Continue reading
I suppose any progress is better than none at all but I am thinking that glaciers are moving a little bit quicker than my progress on Elvira. Since the last post about Elvira, we managed to get the engine mounting T-Bolt straps corrected, the engine/transmission and rear end coupler aligned,… Continue reading
If you run MSD ignition components or are even thinking about using their stuff, I have a nice PDF book for you. I just found this recently and now keep a copy of it on my computer for use at the track and garage. No longer do I have to… Continue reading
Or the lack thereof. Funny how something that is so basic and normal to your life is a minor cause for alarm when it goes missing. A few weeks back our Rheem tankless water heater decided to take a dive on us. I had installed the unit about 8-9 years… Continue reading
Well, it’s March of 2017 now and I have made some progress on my race car. Per normal other things have come up that interrupt the work on it but I am not complaining. Some of this is money producing while other stuff is just a choice I make at… Continue reading
Here is the top 25 motor oils available. Please remember that not all of these oils are available in all areas. Also any racing oils listed are not intended for long-term street use. Using race oils in street cars equipped with catalytic converters can damage them. 1. 0W40 Mobil 1… Continue reading
The Wear Protection reference categories are: • Over 105,000 psi = INCREDIBLE wear protection • 90,000 to 105,000 psi = OUTSTANDING wear protection • 75,000 to 90,000 psi = GOOD wear protection • 60,000 to 75,000 psi = MODEST wear protection • Below 60,000 psi = UNDESIRABLE wear protection The… Continue reading
Continuing with the motor oil information: In recent years there have been entirely too many wiped cam lobes and ruined lifter failures in traditional American flat tappet engines, even though a variety of well respected brand name parts were typically used. These failures involved people using various high zinc oils,… Continue reading
There is a blog about motor oils that is simply second to none and I want to share that with you: https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/ The information itself is something that you have to read through, compare and comprehend to fully understand his testing methodology. I have been studying his information now for… Continue reading
Well the new year arrived a few days ago, Ms. Carey made a mess of it and did the typical thing – lets blame someone else so since Dick Clark isn’t around to defend himself anymore lets pick on his business. Sound familiar? Moving on, with the jeep project completed… Continue reading
With the Jeep unloaded and parked in John’s garage, I wanted to take a little time and do some fine tuning. The carburetor was still being a bit of a pill and I think it was due to the normally aggressive nature of Holley units. This model series having started… Continue reading
This was turning into some kind of Chess match, myself versus the Chinese. In today’s global economy it has become very difficult to purchase American made automotive parts. Most of that work has been shipped off-shore due to the lower cost of personnel. I dare say if you walked into… Continue reading
Time, that’s all we need is more time. I had reached an interesting point in the project where the engine was in, some of the accessories were bolted into place and I was faced with a lot of wiring decisions to make and execute. Usually on a car project you… Continue reading
It all started as a bit of a lark really. I was helping my son-in-law John with an oil leakage problem on his new toy a few years ago, an older CJ5 Jeep. Looking at the engine compartment, I mentioned that what we really should do is just give up… Continue reading
Over a long period of time, I have read and posted on a lot of different forum groups. All of them have been car related and either in the category of trying to provide someone help from my own knowledge or obtaining information about something that I am working on.… Continue reading
Well after more months than I care to count, the Monza is just about ready to go out the door finally. Sure, there are a few bits to take care of but the list is getting shorter and doing so rather quickly. At this point, I am really waiting on… Continue reading
It’s a long story and they resolved some of it but we’re still having issues. Someone else on the Tri-Chevy.com forum said something about not bashing a vendor and I do get that but damn it they are very willing to take your cash for the product so they do… Continue reading
Not too sure of the mileage traveled but the first few months of 2016 have definitely been busy so far. We made the run from central Virginia to Jacksonville, Florida to visit with my daughter and her family for an extended week. Certainly had some fun and enjoyed ourselves. We… Continue reading
Ah, a little bit of downtime – thought I would try and get an update posted before the next bell rings and all hell breaks loose again. I am currently sitting in a Micky D’s in a strange city – but they have free WiFi so what’s not to like?… Continue reading
I just finished watching a documentary on Steve McQueen and the making of his movie – LeMans. The name of this is Steve McQueen & LeMans. As anyone who is familiar with the movie would know, I paraphrase one of the most moving lines in the movie as the tag… Continue reading
The Internet can still be a cool place to be sometimes. While browsing around, I found these free T-Bucket chassis plans. They were last updated around 2008 and some of the information such as part numbers might not be correct but the idea is that they give you a good… Continue reading
Wow – the holidays are here and we are down to Christmas already. It’s amazing how this time of year just seems to fly by unless you’re 5-10 years old and are just dying for Christmas Day to get here now! When we last left here I was working on… Continue reading
A quick update on the trailer project. With good weather in the forecast, I was able to make some plans for the trailer and stick to them finally. As I previously mentioned, everything that sits in the trailer has to be placed outside so that I can work on the… Continue reading
