The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Big lies and stories

Here's an olds story that IS true. A friend of mine has a 1981 Olds Delta 88 with over 540,000 documented miles. When he bought the car, he got all the receipts and teh like from the original owner that went back to the first gas fill-up in 1981 a week after buying the car. When he bought it in 1998, it had 525,000 miles, and the original 307 was still running like a clock, but it smoked out of every gasket from the oil leaking. Yanked the 307 and dropped in a 455 with the stock 200R4 tranny, 3.73's in the rearend and kept it computer controlled with the carb and distributor. Now, unless you know what to look for, he pops the hood and you're staring at a stock-looking delta 88's engine bay. He says "you wanna race?" and blows your doors off with high 13 second timeslips. That's a stock 455 running headers in a 3800 lb car with over 540,000 miles. It's fun to ride with him when he embarrasses corvette and mustang owners that think they have fast cars

Oh yeah, and the late 400's (68-70 I think?) were a designing disaster. They had a HUGE stroke and a weeny little bore. I'm not surprised that you beat him. If he was running a stock 72 442, you'd have been left at the stoplight wondering where he went as you try to clear the tire smoke from your cabin. How does 500 lb-ft from the factory grab ya? If that car was modified, that owner should be embarrassed. There are small block oldsmobiles at about 380CI that are running 9's NA. With nitrous, the two fastest oldsmobiles on the planet are running 8.20's using NASCAR olds blocks. Even with a 455 and C heads, if they're not running 12's on the street, something is wrong.

MIght as well add some photos:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_b/270797_81_full.jpg
500,000 mile, 13.9 second delta 88

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_img_b/270797_82_full.jpg

The blue car is running a 382 CI small block based on a gas 350. He just hit a new best of 9.82. The black malibu wagon behind that is running a 468 olds and was running 11's at the time of that photo. Both photos were taken in August at the [censored] MIller Olds Powered Open.

Well yeah, if it has 3.08-3.36 gears and about 300 real HP to push a aerodynamic barn door like a 64 Chevy through the air.
I had a 64 Impala,300-327 4 spd, 3.55 gears back when the car was 2 years old,just do 120 flat out.on the 1/4 mile drags,low 15's at around 90 mph.The only new car I ever owned was a 69 Super Bee, 440 6 pak 4spd,4.10's.Would do 120 at 6200 rpm,mid 13's 1/4 at 105 mph, stock with cheater slicks.

Reminds me of a real story from high school. One gal I knew took her dad's Corvair out on a weekend night, put a couple hundred miles on it. After a few drinks she decided to go out in the country and drive it around in reverse to lower the miles. All of a sudden the odometer reset to all zeros.

I can still imagine the converstaion.

Connie, what happeded to the odometer o the Corvair?

I don't know, dad. I was driving around and it just turned all the numbers to zeros.

64 Impala, 283 I rebuilt in HS, cast iron powerglide out of my 62 Bel-Air, not sure what the gears were, All I knew was that the car went and stopped.110 mile trip in an hour and 15 minutes with a 10 minute lay over for water in the radiator.
101 to 38 to I-5....OH,, it has worn retreads on it too (dumb kid,,, LUCKY KID), Passenger never said a word all the way there

I had a VW bug that was clocked at 108 by a Porsche. My speedometer didn't work, the front end was sloppy and the brakes needed to be pumped up. But, it had a great 1600cc engine I built myself.

My '69 Javelin would bury the speedometer a ways past 140. May not have been real accurate at the top end, but you knew you were flying. 343, Carter AFB, Turbo 400 adapted from a Jeep truck, not sure of the rear end gears. The tach was a little over red line, though, red line was 4500 if I recall...

That thing would stop too, Dual caliper front disks. I loved it. I was much younger and dumber back then. I'd be scared to death to go that kind of speed now.

Nashville, TN to Memphis, TN, 214 miles- - - -2 hours even! Memphis to Little Rock Air Force Base, 123 miles- - - - -1 hour, 15 minutes! I just barely made roll call, after spending a little too long at the girlfriend's house, a little east of Nashville. Oh, yeah, the car? A 1964 Rambler 9-passenger wagon, with a blueprinted, balanced AMC 327 engine!
Jerry

How about hauling 20,220lb (CGW) with a 3/4 ton pick-up.....

I had about 9,000lb in my 48 chev. 3/4 ton a few weeks ago.
F48

This is great stuff,I'll be right back, gotta find my waders,it's getting deep

yes on the 20.000 lbs trailer behind A 3/4 ton
chevy only wen I did it, it did have a ton of springs in the back and it had 1 ton axles out of 86 chevy 1 ton 4x4
Igot up to 50mph once but it was littel to fast

This is a list from period road tests, then scroll down to modern muscle cars and then to imports.
Tire smokers
During the Musclecar heyday, the manufacturers "tuned" the cars before giving them to magazines for testing.As Truckedup said, many couldn't match the book times in when totally stock.
I'm searching for top speeds in my old car mags, so far the fastest automatic is a 3.55 geared Hemi Dodge,136 mph at 6200 rpm.A 70 Chevelle,454-450hp,3.70 gears,is the fasted 4 speed , 132 at 6500 rpm.
Almost all the 4 speed cars came with 3.23-4.10 gears,most had rpm limitations of 6000 rpm due to beathing(camshaft) in stock form.With a typical 26-27 inch tire,140 mph was well beyond the engine rpm limits.Automatic cars could have 3.08 gears on some models, with the slippage in the transmission, the top speeds were the same as stick cars.

You guys! 0 to 140 in a 1/4 mile and 14 seconds? You call that acceleration? Yawn.

I have done the ole 0 to 300 in 300 feet and 2 seconds. It wasn't a car, though ... Oh, is this about cars??

Oh. Sorry. Really, though, if you don't get tunnel vision with spots and hit at least 4 G's, it ain't acceleration.

My current project involves 3 engines at 6,000 SHP each. It will be able to lift 6 of your muscle cars chained together to 10,000 feet density altitude on a standard high/hot Day. Oh yeah, and doing 120 Kts. Let's see your 442 do that.

:p
John

What a load of horse hockey...waders for sure....aptly titled thread...who's responsible for this?...I'm still tryin to figure out which is the more fantastic... 8 or 9 sec 1/4 mile times or 3/4 ton pick-ups hauling 10 ton plus loads...oh wait...the 110mph VW...wonder if that was a bus or a regular beetle...((M)) are ya sure that was a Porsche timing ya and not the Star Ship Enterprise?

Fast Truck, While yr digging, find the stats on that Challenger in Vanishing Point. Was that a hemi or a 440 6 pack? All I remember is I wanted that car SOOOO bad.

They don't say in the movie at all, except to say that it's got "a little extra somethin'" which, I believe they later go on to say is a supercharger. The real cars were quite different. All were ordered with black interiors, but one was white, one was green originally, and I can't remember the other color. THe two that they used for the racing scenes and all had 440's, the one they jumped had either a 383 or a 318, I can't remember...

Here's something on the Vanishing Point
Many 440\'s and a Camaro
Top speed depends on many variables, gearing,weather,engine condition and such.
You could just buy a used 2002 SS Camaro and out accelerate,far better brakes and handling , just about any classic muscle car. And the late Camaro will do an honest 150+ mph, and get 20 mpg while cruising at legal speeds with the AC on.But the old cars do have a rough and ready style of their own.

The Vanishing Point car is a 440 Six-Pack 4-speed. The Fox 1996 remake used the same motivation, but not the identical car from the original movie. The original 1971 production uses four cars, one being a 383 automatic. The 1996 movie uses a 440-6 for the close-ups and three 440-4 cars for stunts and the highway runs. Ted Stevens in Alabama provided the cars for the remake and currently owns them.

Note, in the '71 movie, it is a '69 CAMARO that plows into the bulldozers! It is obvious in the close-ups, plus the Challenger had Rallye wheels on it; the Camaro had chrome reverses on it. The Camaro was basically slingshot into the dozers at about 110 mph. The remake actually destroys a Challenger.

Check out the above link for more info, too.

A '55 Chevy truck is driven by the old desert guy who meets up with Kowalski, who takes him to the revival for gas.

And yes, that is why they are so cool. When someone buys a new camaro and puts flowmasters on it to make it sound cool, I'm not impressed. When someone cruises by in a 72 Cutlass Supreme with that hollow sound you can only get with a set of super turbo mufflers and a hot cam, it's rather impressive...mmmmm...old cars...

I think the ones I like most are the sleepers, the ones that look and sound like luxury cars and will blow the doors off most anything.

I love the sound a stock 4 bbl Olds Engine makes, when you floor it, with the air cleaner cover on upsidedown.

You fellas heard the one where some fella riding a British twin blows the mirrors off a Kawi 2-stroke triple?! :p

[img]http://www.norcalspeedshop.com/_offsite_images/whopper.jpg[/img]

Secondary howl from those quadrajets is probably one of the best sounds you could ever hear. Slam on the gas pedal, the burble goes to a roar, then once the secondaries open completely, it sounds like you've got a lion under the hood. Lovin' every minute of it!

I had a Kawi triple when I was in Cuba... it usually only ran on the outer two cylinders.... but occasionally (when i least expected it), the middle cylinder would start to fire.. it was like a rocket ship.. sure was fun to ride.. and kept me on my toes. and thats no lie.

Norse,you a wise guy??
Yup, whup em every time drag racing, the 500 triples that is.Very few riders could bring them off the line, you had to drop the clutch at 7000 rpm,spin the rear tire to avoid wild wheelies,which slows ya right down.If the narrow powerband Kawi engine bogged just a bit, the front wheel came up.My old Triumphs were easy to ride off the mark with the wide torque band,clutch pop at 6000 rpm while twisting the throttle wide open,some wheelspin, fan the clutch lever to control the burnout. Piece of cake.

There is a story that surfaces over here every now and then how a harley sportser which was bought cheap was actually Elvis' old bike. Apparently had a plate under the seat stating as much. Never have seen it nor has anyone I know but still a very persistant rumour.

Oh yeah got another one.

"I will have a truck by xmas"

Just wont be this year. :rolleyes:

I pulled over 36,000 about 12 times with an 86 3/4 ton fjord 4x4. Had a 351 w/4 barrel (all stock) with 33" tires (31s would have been better). Pulled gavity boxes filled with corn. Had to use 4 low to get it going, went 20 mph (any faster and the wagon would start hopping). It cost a lot less to run a pickup than to run a magnum series tractor. The old 656 gas job brakes were messed up and couldn't get the wagons rolling out of the field.

Years ago, when I used to work in a small town Chevrolet dealership we had multiple warranty claims on the 1 ton 4x4 owned by the local farmers co-op. They traded trucks every year and we were new to this dealership and town. Worst part was once we traded for their truck nobody would buy it. And of course, Chevrolet took notice of the high number of warranty claims.

One day I went up there with the Chevrolet rep to talk to the co-op director about the problem. While we were waiting our turn, here came the truck in question... with a railroad car full of grain at the other end of the chain!

Naturally, that was the last time Chevrolet would pay a claim on them. They switched to the other brand truck and an out of town dealer. Seems everybody in town 'cept us knew they pulled grain cars with the trucks.

BradB, Hah! Thanks for sharing that one.

man, I've really enjoyed this thread... good stories in here.

-W

I worked with a guy who had been a Ford dealer line mechanic in the early-mid 80s. He swore a customer had a 351w powered 80-something F-truck which got over 30 mpg, when warranty work was done once there was a Ford rep there, & he heard about the truck getting absurd mileage. He said it was an experimental carb, so they installed a new one & destroyed the original, customer went to getting 10 mpg like everyone else. Guy still swears its true. Brian

Actually, I think I said something wrong there. I don't believe they were trading every year, but the drivetrain warranty was longer. I can't remember if it was 3/36 or what. They were having wierd problems like hairline fractures in the transmission output shaft splines and axle splines. I learned later they had installed some kind of extra heavy duty u-joints, so the u-joints held up and the more expensive stuff failed.

A machine shop where I traded in California had a section of 4" driveshaft tubing hung over one of their lathes, with 3 full turns twisted into it. It looked like an hourglass! It had come from a Peterbilt tractor with a 425 HP Cat engine that was trying to pull a bogged-down set of double trailers out of a rice field, loaded with harvsted rice. The driver had already twisted one shaft out of it, and this one was the replacement. When this one was damaged, they installed a super-thick chrome-moly tube and changed drivers. The trailers came out of the muck that time!
Jerry

True story,a guy I know is super cheap, he stopped by one time to let me listen to a knock in his 80's Ford PU with a 300 6 cylinder.I heard the main bearings pounding when he pulled up.I told him he needed a new engine or at least an expensive repair job.He was not happy, said the truck engine should last longer than 130,000 miles.I pulled the oil filler cap,the inside of the valve cover was solid goo, the PCV was plugged, the engine was misfiring badly besides knocking.I asked him when he changed the oil . His answer was he only changed the oil 3 times in 130k miles.I closed the hood.

Hold on to yer seats boys! My local old truck club had a ride on Sunday to Schuyler,VA, the hometown of the Hamner family upon which The Walton's TV show is based on. The director of the Walton's museum (all kinds of Walton's nostalgia) asked our club to come up and display our trucks.

Well, we're standing around 'talking the talk' when the president of our club starts talking about THE FIND. It turns out that last week in a neighborhood in my little town a 1940 Dodge coupe was recovered from a garage...not just any old garage, but an actual building that was built around this one car. The whole car was wrapped up in burlap sacks and then covered with plywood. The car was in pristine condition. Other than flat tires the club president said it looked like it came right out of the showroom. Thirteen thousand miles on the odometer and another club member was present at the uncovering to confirm all this. A local "collector" (interpret buy low, sell as high as possible) bought the car. Pictures were taken so of course I'll get copies and post when I can.

The first classic vehicle I ever owned was a 1955 Willys Jeep with a Buick 225 conversion I bought from a guy over in Garibaldi. I had a friend with me and drove it home to Hillsboro. I checked it over a bit before coming back and all seemed well, but the brakes pulled a little. No sweat, so I filled it with gas and drove it home through Tillamook and over the pass on the Gales Creek highway. After I got home and started assesing it I took off the brake drums and found three out of four brake pistons siezed. My butt puckers up every time I think of flying down that highway seeing what that Buick could do with 5.38:1 gears and one working drum brake on the rear axle.

I had to take this off my 54 GMC because it did not breathe well enough,,,,,,,
Intake and carbs

Nice, Luke.

I had to temporarily remove the Mr. Fusion from my truck because of the Stovebolt Page Lounge closure.

Thank you Norse,,,, I was talking to a person tonight about some interesting things in this world and we were both trying to remember a name which was right on the tip of our brains(small tip at that LOL),,, the name.....TESLA.
-
-

So very interesting how the answers come

Thank you again

Yeah, I'm not surprised there are unscrupulous railroaders who hid boxcars full of pristine automobiles in spurs nobody ever switches, truckers who misplace trailer loads of NOS stuff for later pilfering, and Fed-Ex pilots who taxi up to the ramp with a plane load of nuthin'.

Unless I produce it or own it, there is precious little in this world that I am convinced has not been around the block a few times before I see it in a Polaroid rendition.

Love the stories, particularly when they involve a golf ball or a fish!