Jeff Porter
Elio Addict
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- May 20, 2014
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A Mustang with a 2.3L 4-cyl? Wow, interesting! A friend back in the day had an '83 Mustang and the engine was huge, was WAY too much engine for the car in fact.
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What Was Your First Car?
- Thread starter TCBronson
- Start date
A Mustang with a 2.3L 4-cyl? Wow, interesting! A friend back in the day had an '83 Mustang and the engine was huge, was WAY too much engine for the car in fact.
wizard of ahs
Elio Addict
1958 Chevy Impala .............mine was Black
AND....it wasn't in this good a shape !!!
Of course, I only paid $300
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AND....it wasn't in this good a shape !!!
Of course, I only paid $300
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TCBronson
Elio Addict
Thanks for your service! My dad was in the Air Force before it was called the Air Force, 26 and a half years. He was on a ship going to Italy to fly B25's when the war ended.
TCBronson
Elio Addict
They say the cars that we grew up with will be the future collectibles. Maybe you should try to find one of those Dodge Daytona Turbo Z's!
I had three uncles in the Army Air Corps in WWII. Two Pilots and a mechanic.
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Lil4X
Elio Addict
1952 Dodge Wayfarer. Bottom-feeder business coupe in its day. This one is identical to mine except that mine had whitewalls. I did a "junkyard restoration" replacing any corroded bits and treating it to a respray in the factory color.
Factory specs included an in-line, five-main-bearing six-cylinder engine with a displacement of 230.2 cubic inches, with a 7.0:1 compression ratio, fed by a Stromberg two-barrel carburetor. Horsepower output was 103 hp, with 190 lb-ft of torque at 1,200 rpm; the top speed was reportedly 75 mph, with 0-60 coming in roughly 25 seconds. Mine, with a lightly-milled head and cold air induction and a side exhaust did a bit better. A three-speed column shift and conventional clutch, the effects of which were mitigated by a Chrysler-developed "Fluid Drive", aka a torque converter that softened engagement of the clutch.
The body was actually built by Briggs (who built the bodies for Packard), who produced a rugged, if heavy, body with sufficient compound curves to foil random dents. It was a tank. The frame was equally rugged and the independent front coil spring suspension and Hotchkiss rear drive was all mounted in rubber that gave it a smooth, rattle-free ride - unusual for a bottom-of-the-line car.
This was the car that I bought for $200 while in high school and served me well for four years until my Junior year in college. I overhauled the engine, repainted the car, replaced the seats with Volvo buckets, but the basic car ran trouble-free for years in heavy use. In it's fourth year the fluid coupling began to weep fluid onto the clutch face, and after replacing a couple of $40 clutches, I found that changing the fluid coupling would cost more than the car was worth. I traded it and $1200 for an almost-new Plymouth Valiant and never looked back.
A vast improvement over the Dodge, with torsion bar front suspension, a real three-on-the-floor transmission, and the big 225 cu in (3.7 L) Slant-6 engine (developed for the larger full-size Dodge and Plymouth). Odd, if "unique" styling cues were the "wing" fenders, tailfins, and a stamped (fake) spare on the decklid. It was a nice package that I drove through three more years of college and into my first year of grad school when I was seduced by a '67 Mustang. Obviously, I wasn't alone.
__________________________________
But there is an interesting footnote to those early Valiants - they had a competition history. They ran in a special class in NASCAR - and were driven by, of all people, guys named Richard Petty and Marvin Panch. The "Compact Car" class included Ford Falcons and Chevy Corvairs, but the class was anything but stock. With heavily modified stock blocks, the Compacts put on quite a show, but sadly the difference in performance between Plymouth, Ford, and Chevy entries was just too great. Ford and Chevy needn't have showed up.
In their first race, Valiants won the first seven places on the Daytona road course, and their "HyperPac" of factory engine upgrades could be purchased from your local Dodge/Plymouth dealer for about $400. Not intended for street use, they were a truly miserable experience in urban traffic. They were blazingly fast with an advertised output of 148 hp that was probably about half of the actual output. All top-end power from 10.5 compression, a wild cam, long intake and exhaust runners and a Carter 4-bbl AFB carb necessitated a high-idle setting which made it all but undrivable on the street. It might not have gotten you to the mini-mart and back, but it did produce some amazing numbers at the track, so a number of rival speed merchants (notably Offenhauser) began supplying go-fast parts that were a little more tractable for the street.
The wild disparity in performance between rival makes didn't make for a great fan experience, so the formula was quickly abandoned. The abortive "Compact Car series" remains, however, as the great-grandfather of the Xfinity cup.
Factory specs included an in-line, five-main-bearing six-cylinder engine with a displacement of 230.2 cubic inches, with a 7.0:1 compression ratio, fed by a Stromberg two-barrel carburetor. Horsepower output was 103 hp, with 190 lb-ft of torque at 1,200 rpm; the top speed was reportedly 75 mph, with 0-60 coming in roughly 25 seconds. Mine, with a lightly-milled head and cold air induction and a side exhaust did a bit better. A three-speed column shift and conventional clutch, the effects of which were mitigated by a Chrysler-developed "Fluid Drive", aka a torque converter that softened engagement of the clutch.
The body was actually built by Briggs (who built the bodies for Packard), who produced a rugged, if heavy, body with sufficient compound curves to foil random dents. It was a tank. The frame was equally rugged and the independent front coil spring suspension and Hotchkiss rear drive was all mounted in rubber that gave it a smooth, rattle-free ride - unusual for a bottom-of-the-line car.
This was the car that I bought for $200 while in high school and served me well for four years until my Junior year in college. I overhauled the engine, repainted the car, replaced the seats with Volvo buckets, but the basic car ran trouble-free for years in heavy use. In it's fourth year the fluid coupling began to weep fluid onto the clutch face, and after replacing a couple of $40 clutches, I found that changing the fluid coupling would cost more than the car was worth. I traded it and $1200 for an almost-new Plymouth Valiant and never looked back.
A vast improvement over the Dodge, with torsion bar front suspension, a real three-on-the-floor transmission, and the big 225 cu in (3.7 L) Slant-6 engine (developed for the larger full-size Dodge and Plymouth). Odd, if "unique" styling cues were the "wing" fenders, tailfins, and a stamped (fake) spare on the decklid. It was a nice package that I drove through three more years of college and into my first year of grad school when I was seduced by a '67 Mustang. Obviously, I wasn't alone.
__________________________________
But there is an interesting footnote to those early Valiants - they had a competition history. They ran in a special class in NASCAR - and were driven by, of all people, guys named Richard Petty and Marvin Panch. The "Compact Car" class included Ford Falcons and Chevy Corvairs, but the class was anything but stock. With heavily modified stock blocks, the Compacts put on quite a show, but sadly the difference in performance between Plymouth, Ford, and Chevy entries was just too great. Ford and Chevy needn't have showed up.
In their first race, Valiants won the first seven places on the Daytona road course, and their "HyperPac" of factory engine upgrades could be purchased from your local Dodge/Plymouth dealer for about $400. Not intended for street use, they were a truly miserable experience in urban traffic. They were blazingly fast with an advertised output of 148 hp that was probably about half of the actual output. All top-end power from 10.5 compression, a wild cam, long intake and exhaust runners and a Carter 4-bbl AFB carb necessitated a high-idle setting which made it all but undrivable on the street. It might not have gotten you to the mini-mart and back, but it did produce some amazing numbers at the track, so a number of rival speed merchants (notably Offenhauser) began supplying go-fast parts that were a little more tractable for the street.
The wild disparity in performance between rival makes didn't make for a great fan experience, so the formula was quickly abandoned. The abortive "Compact Car series" remains, however, as the great-grandfather of the Xfinity cup.
Dad: US Navy
Uncle: US Navy
Great Uncle: US Army
Grandfather: US Army
Stepdad: USMC
Myself: USAF
Me: USAF
Cousin: USAF
Cousin: USAF
Cousin: USAF
Us boys all Air Force. I am trying to talk two of my kids into Air Force post high school.
Thank You all for your service.
Uncle: US Navy
Great Uncle: US Army
Grandfather: US Army
Stepdad: USMC
Myself: USAF
Me: USAF
Cousin: USAF
Cousin: USAF
Cousin: USAF
Us boys all Air Force. I am trying to talk two of my kids into Air Force post high school.
Thank You all for your service.
I've got a Pinto engine in my garage with an Offenhauser manifold. Other goodies also. It was my first "Dunebuggy" creation.
Not superfast but reliable.
Rouse got his start with building the "Pinto engines".
Not superfast but reliable.
Rouse got his start with building the "Pinto engines".
Buckeyejake
Elio Addict
First car I drove was a 1963 Mercury Comet. Three on the column. My first owned vehicle was a 1963 Ford Econoline Van. Painted it red, white and blue and named it the star spangled vanner. The year 1972.