Antique & Classic Cars Blog

In a prior post I mentioned this plan of swapping the top of one classic carburetor with another’s of the same model. That was this afternoon’s project.

If you thought all carburetors of a certain model were the same, you’d be right, if you weren’t wrong. The 4GC–predecessor to the muscle-car era’s “Quadrajet” was used in many GM cars with differences depending on the year, car model, division and engine size.

Carb in the car is clean but with a hack fix by the fuel line fitting, right.

Top of free carb is about the same, with bigger fuel line fitting. The casting is a little different–note three ribs by choke’s butterfly valve lever, lower center (choke missing from free carb).

Mine is from a Buick 215 even though my engine is an Olds. Because I had to create throttle linkage for an engine-swap, I had no existing linkage to worry about.

JB Weld: a blob of this stuff won’t enhance esthetics, but it’s handy.

A “soft plug” (plugging fittings not used in a given application but in the casting for others) fell out of this carb, however, and I plugged the hole with JB Weld, duct tape of the automotive world.

But at the end of the day, I’d rather not rely on the stuff. So the plan was to swap in the top from a 4GC friend Tom Porter gave me when he cleaned out his old engine shop (which formerly belonged to well known MN racer and engine builder, Tommy Adelmann).

Linkage different but nothing insurmountable.

The free one came from a larger displacement application, as suggested by the big fuel-line fitting (and come on, what isn’t bigger than a 215?). Still, the basic shape, size, and mounting holes were the same.

There were enough parts between the two to make the levers work.

Alas, things that appear to be different may be more different. The “new” top had a longer power piston–the rod that releases more fuel when you stomp on the gas. The carburetor body on the freebie must have been deeper.

We were prepared for surface differences but they were different more. Power piston on left is longer, so that top won’t bolt onto present carb body. (It was a real hassle to hold both of these pieces with one hand.)

You can swap out the power piston if you have a new one of the correct size, but I didn’t wanna get too crazy. For one thing, I couldn’t find a threaded barb fitting for my fuel line that mated to the big receptor fitting on the donor carb.

So…the two tops went back to their original homes. There are two more options–buy a scrap 4GC with the same fittings as mine, or take it to a carb pro, drill out the JBWeld and put in a proper replacement soft plug. Car’s running well, so this project sits down on the list.

Re: the below post. Of course, you could always call it quits on the leaf watching idea and use the freeze as an excuse to view a bunch of car movies all at once. Colorful cars haulin’ holy buckets can match leaves in many people’s books of fall fun.

Here’s a list before you head to the video store (remember to ask for your Motormouth discount. There is no such discount, but if you look sure enough about it, they might knock something off anyway): Bullitt, Gumball Rally, Vanishing Point, Fast and the Furious (go crazy and watch the Roger Corman original if you can find it), Le Mans, Smokey and the Bandit; while you’re at it–if you need something for the kids, try The Love Bug or Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang; if you want something not for the kids, try Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill. If the motorcycle urge strikes you, there’s always World’s Fastest Indian. Enjoy.

Many brightly colored leaves are still clinging to the trees, but they won’t for long.

They’re talking about a freeze tomorrow morning yet that shouldn’t by itself take down the remaining fall colors. If you haven’t taken that fall-color-watching drive, this weekend’s about the last good shot.

See ‘em or lose ‘em.

Driving behind a Jeep up Portland Avenue today provided opportunity to study a curious stylistic touch–the taillights were confined in tiny cages. Was this to protect people from a taillight attack? Or is the idea to protect the lights themselves?

A quick Google search uncovered no reports of rogue lighting going into a crowd all claws and teeth. Thus, the tiny cages must be intended to protect the taillights from harm.

But from what?

The only obvious risk to a road car’s taillights is another vehicle plowing into them. No wallet-sized cages will fend off that–they’ll join the lights on the list of things crushed (and cause a different-shaped dent in the Jeep).

About all a small cage with horizontal bars will stop is thin vertical things like brush or a cornfield, and only then while backing up. As a precautionary measure, it’s extraordinary, like wearing a football helmet or shoulder pads around the office.

More likely it’s just style, which doesn’t need to make sense. After all, when is a necktie functional? Only when that drop of pizza sauce or Italian dressing would otherwise have hit your shirt.

With the sun out both weekend days, wrenchers trying to beat the winter took advantage. I stole a few hours to fix a gas leak from the carburetor and fix the custom shift linkage on my V8-in-a-TR6 project.

Factory linkage for the TR8 gearbox puts the shifter back too far–note disassembled handbrake to make clearance.

My friend Tom Porter, who rebuilt my ‘62 Olds F85 V8, is an ace fabricator and he and I figured out a way to take 6 inches out of the factory setup. The stock TR8 shift linkage uses a long shaft with heim joints on both ends. The bottom of the shift lever goes through one, and a pin at 90 degrees with the shaft protruding from the gearbox and which shifts it by going in and out and side to side, goes through the other.

Factory linkage uses a shaft with heim joints at both ends.

After shortening the aluminum housing by six inches, we didn’t have room for even one bracket for the shaft to pivot in. Instead Tom welded a heim joint to a forked piece of steel, welded a square bar to the base of the shift lever, and I drilled the fork and the square bar for a pin. The back portion of this setup pivots on only one axis, while the fork swings side to side with the shift lever. This allows the new shortened piece to be suspended without a braket in the aluminum housing and to still move the gearbox shaft in and out and side to side. It seemed slick and moved smoothly, but once fitted I couldn’t get reverse gear.

Inner weld was interfering with the heim joint, preventing it from swinging far enough to engage reverse.

Doh! The cause was some buildup from the weld, which I had overlooked. Once filed back to be flush with the housing, the shortened “remote,” as gearbox builder Rover calls the linkage, worked fine.

Shortened remote (top) positions shift lever six inches further forward than stock unit.

The forward placement is necessary to accommodate the stock trim piece, which surrounds the lever.

TR8 gearbox now has shift lever exactly where stock TR6 lever emerges.

Proper lever placement will allow the car’s interior to be indistinguishable from a stock TR6. Only the V8 engine note and much faster acceleration and top speed will distinguish this rodded ‘6 from a factory example–that is, until I throw in a Muncie four speed and NOS mid-’60s Hurst shifter.

Fuel leak fixed (for now) with JB Weld.

Made one further fix. The top of my Rochester 4GC carburetor had a hole near the fuel line fitting. Some piece may once have gone there long ago, or a factory plug fell out. I had drilled and tapped the hole and stuck in a plug, but fuel still seeped out. JB Weld made for a quick fix, but I won’t leave it that way. Although that stuff hardens like a rock, I don’t fully trust its purchase in this situation, where I’ve pushed a blob of it into a tapped hole. The hardened plug could, conceivably, pop out after sustained exposure to pressurized fuel. (Gas shooting on top of your hot engine is bad.) I have another 4GC so I’ll pirate the top from that one. A few fittings are different, but it’ll work. That project will likely turn up on these pages.

Keep tinkering.

In the comments to the Zen(n) and the Silent Errand post, Shae Singer mentions an electric Porsche Speedster her employer, Aspen Electric Cars and Carts, owns.

Thought y’all might like a picture. It’ll do 100mph, which, in a car that small, outta cover it.

Another shot of the ‘lectric Porsche. (Brunette not included; other restrictions may apply.)

Here’s some other road tots to tempt the reader who prefers small and silent over big and booming.

A ZENN (right)… photo: Andrew Wilz

…and a California roadster by Shae Singer (left). Photo: Andrew Wilz

If you’re wondering about winter, they have some of that in Aspen. They got that snow and mountains thing too.

It’s Friday, you’re working. Are you working? Ok, you’re at work. Physically. But your mind is planning your Halloween costume, wondering about dinner tonight, trying to remember what’s at the dry cleaners and how long the dog’s bladder can hold out if you grab a beer after work before his evening walk….

You need a break! Nothing serves your employer better than relaxing your brain–the whole reason they hired you–with some car trivia. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for The Man. Here’s some movie and TV vehicles. Can ya name ‘em? We’ll start with an easy one:

1. What did Steve McQueen drive as Frank Bullitt?
2. What do the villains chasing and shooting at him drive?
3. What British drop top does Maxwell Smart drive (seen in the opening credits of Get Smart?)
4. Name the car in Vanishing Point. (Extra credit: this is not the car they actually crash at the end. Name that one)
5. Peter Fonda mans a tough set of wheels in Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry. Name it.
6. What A$# kicking American muscle car does Gary Busey share driving duties with in Gumball Rally?
6a. What’s Raul Julia pilot in Gumball?
7. Car in Back to the Future (eeeeaasy one).
8. What kind of bike did Fonzie ride (come on–this was a Friday fun from a couple weeks ago).
9. Dean Martin played Matt Helm in a short lived 1960s TV series. What’d he drive?
10. Tougher: what car was the Batmobile based on (I’m talking the real Batmobile here, the Adam West one.)
Bonus question: In what film does a scary bloke comment that the lead is driving “the last of the V8 Interceptors” ?

Answers at the bottom of this entry

——————————————————————————

Answers to the 11/2 Friday Fun: Car Trivia

1)  A blue fiberglass dune buggy
2)  Yes. Chitty Bang Bang, which was actually a series of cars built and raced by Count Zborowski.  http://www.chittybangbang.com/chittybangbang_car.html
3) 40 inches high.
4) Pinking
5) Made of magnesium
6) A corruption of the letters G.P., for general purpose (vehicle). A character on the cartoon Popeye with the power to go anywhere including through walls.
7) The British A.C. Ace. False. Race engines run wide open can be hampered by back pressure, but at lower engine speeds having some back pressure helps with exhaust-gas scavenging and improves performance.
9) “Deuce” comes from the number, or more accurately year, ’32. The Beach Boys are singing about a ’32 Ford coupe (which came with a flathead V8 and is the quintessential hot rod).
10) a) 60 miles per hour. (Remember, this is average speed: the piston comes to a full stop twice with each revolution to change directions between upward and downward motion.)

Outside Linden Hills Co-Op recently was a tiny car–so small it was parked where the bikes go. Its name? Zenn–zero emissions, no noise. This road tot uses a standard 120-volt outlet and recharges fully in eight hours; 80% charge in four hours. With a top speed of 25 miles per hour, one could easily ask who would want one. If you’re a city dweller, ask how many of your errands in a week are exclusively run on surface roads. The speed limit on Minnehaha Parkway is only 25 mph.

Some people argue that electric vehicles make no sense because the pollution then comes from the power plant. First, that’s true only when you’ve gotten it from such a plant. Wind, water and solar don’t create hydrocarbons, and many cities allow consumers to buy “off the grid” power generated exclusively by such alternative sources. The second relevant question is how much? Shae Singer, at Aspen Electric Cars and Carts in Aspen, CO, notes that recharging an electric car for 8 hours uses no more electricity than an electric garage door consumes raising and lowering the door for two round trips. It goes up and down when you leave for work, up and down when you return; add one grocery run later (up, down, up, down) and you could have recharged your urban errand runner from “empty” on the same amount of electricity–enough juice to drive 35 miles.

These mini rides aren’t the only answer to reducing fuel consumption and dependence, but like the burgeoning scooter population, they’re an answer–a bigger one than their size suggests.

Little plug here for a shop anyone in the Twin Cities who owns or wants to own a British car should know about. On November 3rd from 1-5pm, Quality Coaches is having an open house with music and refreshments to celebrate 35 years in business. Anything Moss Motors carries you can order from Quality for the same price as the catalog and you can look at cool cars and projects in every direction while you do it–classics, race cars, a rare Devin kit car on MG chassis with Buick aluminum V8 power…. Plus customer cars of every stripe always worth a gawk.

Quality’s a source for even out-of-production parts, as owner Mark Brandow has a lot of those around. I know because the front license plate holder on my MGB GT, the bumper mounts and lower shock mounts on my TR6, and various other doodads and gewgaws came from there. I’ve also had mechanic Randy troubleshoot a problem for me in 30 seconds because he knows these cars inside out. If you got a Brit or are thinking about one, stop by on the 3rd and meet your best local parts and information connection for British cars.

If the falling leaves and chilly nights have you lamenting another classic-car season gone, maybe a winter tinkering project would ease the frost-bitten blues. A car I always thought excellent as a starter project–when you don’t have a wheelbarrow full of cash and unlimited covered space–is the MG Midget. For good looks, low cost, mechanical simplicity and modest garage-space requirements, it’s hard to top. They’ll even accommodate fairly long legs but not people with a linebacker build.

Midgets are plentiful, parts are easy to come by (from Moss, Victoria British, eBay, Roadster Factory), the Haynes manual will walk you through most any repair, and they even move pretty well because of their light weight. My friend Tom Cotter, whose interview appears below, even races one in vintage events and has a blast (though you’ll pay real money to build a race engine).

If you’ve often thought about fixing up an old car but have been afraid to take the plunge, something cheap and simple like a Midget is a pretty good test case to see if you like it. They’re not great candidates for concours restorations because their value has not risen like most of their contemporaries’, but that’s what makes them good starter projects. Finding a complete, non-rusty one with an engine that runs or at least turns over, is a solid starting point. I like the chrome bumper cars with the 1275 cc engine, say from ‘69 to ‘73. Common repairs include brake master cylinder, wheel cylinders, fuel pump, lever-arm shocks, gas tanks rust out, there’s always a few bad connections to sort, the handbrake may be frozen, carbs gummed up, water pump, thermostat, exhaust system, etc.–all simple yet satisfying repairs for winter evenings and weekends.

Look around a while and you should be able to find a good project for under two grand.