Your favorite vehicles of yesteryear.

[johnnyd]

Here's a pic of my Franklin MInt 57 w/the SS Roof

[Power Hungry]

Oh man... I can't believe I completely spaced on the 59 Impala! That car is gorgeous. The bat-wings on it are so cool.

While we're at it, a 57 Nomad would definitely be in my Fantasy Garage. A guy down the street had a really sharp Nomad that was tubbed with a narrowed 9" and was running a 6-71 blown 427. He didn't take it out often but when he did every kid in the neighborhood (including me) would be in his front yard drooling.

It funny that for as long as I've been a "hot-rodder", I've never built anything that was X-71 blown. I've done centrifugal (Paxton, Vortech, Powerdyne, etc.) and twin-screwed Eatons, but never had the opportunity to put together one of those skyscraper blowers with the 4" wide, cogged belts.

One of these days I'll get off my lazy butt and put something really cool together. I'd like to build another 72 Chevelle as the GM A-Bodies are really strong and can handle lots of torque, but the ideal of a blown truck (i.e. an early F1) really gets me excited.

Oh... Sweet bike. You just can't beat a Panhead.

[Dixie Design]

Had a 69 AMC AMX in college, 390, 4 speed. Loved opening it up on the back roads between Savannah and Hilton Head. Mine wasn't as sweet as this one, but a good photo.

[Dixie Design]

Originally Posted by Power Hungry

the ideal of a blown truck (i.e. an early F1) really gets me excited.

My Dad had a 52 F1 when I was real young. I'd give anything to have today some of the cars/trucks that we've both had over the years.

[cleatus12r]

I have always had in my posession a 73-76 Ford pickup of one sort or another.

My family has never owned anything other than Ford trucks and I was raised "right" I guess you would say. The first one (and two, and three) trucks I bought made one good one. I bought my first in Dec. of '93 (at the ripe old age of 14) for $400. It was a 74 1/2 ton shortbox that was in awful shape. But it ran and was fun to beat on. It eventually took on a transformation with 2 other trucks and became a 74/76/79 F-200. I called it my 5/8ths ton because it was a coil-sprung shortbox with 3/4 ton axles (spindles-out on the front). That truck went to Louisiana with me for 18 months worth of Army duty and I sold it in '03 to pay off a motorcycle purchase. It left me with 9 inches of lift and a perfect body with original paint.

The current project is a 73 2wd longbox that I bought in '94 for $200. It hadn't been licensed in 15 years and served fuel-hauling duty on a ranch. I aquired a 76 3/4 ton 2wd about 3 years later and swapped the cab (the original had no floorboards and about 7 lbs. of Bondo in the body from my first bodywork attempt). It's been a work in progress since '94 and it just lost its 3rd engine/transmission (donated it to the Youth Center's 16 passenger bus). This truck was meant to be beat on. I ran 200 HP worth of nitrous oxide for about a year (countless 10 lb. bottle refills) and put a spool in the rear. It ran really well with Holley Pro-jection for nearly 10 years and had an absolutely FLAT torque "line" of 353 ft. lbs. from 1800 to 3200. I built a 3-link airbag setup for the rear suspension and upgraded over the years from a 302 to 390 to the most recent 460. Yes, the transmission swaps are always fun...THANKS FOR THE DIFFERENT ENGINE FAMILIES, FORD!!

Anyway, here is a picture of the truck in its current state. Right now it is engine-less but I have a 91 F.I. 460 and E40D that are going into it so I have the port fuel injection and wiring harness ready for a twin-turbo setup. I'll probably megasquirt it...... The body isn't great, but it's all original and there is no rust. I'd rank it a 7 out of 10 as it sits. One day it will be a 700 HP rocket....but it takes time and money.

[Power Hungry]

Those older trucks have such nice lines on 'em. Can't wait to see the big mill under the hood.

[cleatus12r]

I can't wait to have PORT injection. The Holley Pro-jection worked absolutely flawlessly for 10 years on that '72 460. It will also be a plus to have an overdrive transmission. I am running 2.75 gears but with 24.5" tall tires, I still run an ungodly high RPM at 75-80 MPH.


Do you have any RDTs for Speed Density EEC-IV van 460s?

[Power Hungry]

Limited, but yes. All I need is the PCM code.

[Jackpine]

My favorite has to be my 1969 Mercury Marquis Brougham. I don't have a picture of mine, but it looked sort of like this (without the girl):



except mine was lime green metallic with a white vinyl top and it had black brocade upholstery.

We ordered it from the factory. It had a 429 cu in engine, C6 transmission, heavy duty suspension and cruse control! That car was a joy to drive on trips. Got pretty good gas mileage too, as I recall. About 17mpg on the highway.

The engine and transmission were rock-solid. The alternator was less so, and I seem to remember crawling under the car to replace the starter once upon a time. But it was too late, the ring gear had been damaged too, so I let the dealership replace that.

I traded it when leaded gas was going out of style for a 75th anniversary year Thunderbird. Pretty car, but no match for the Mercury.

- Jack