Greetings Fellow Members,
I hope everyone is doing well despite the frigid conditions. I’ve been waiting for cooler weather to get some projects done, but this is ridiculous! The weather patterns have been crazy lately. Unbearable heat in the summer, hurricanes, cold fronts, torrential rainstorms, floods and more, crazy fires and winds… I can’t help but think that all the rockets puncturing the atmosphere have something to do with our weather conditions! This is leading up to the reason that I’m bellyaching about the weather. It’s cutting into our cruising time!
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t always take the Olds out for a cruise, but I would do it more often, weather permitting. I took the 442 out this morning for a show. It was 36 degrees when I left the house, and it warmed up into the 60’s later in the day. Guess what? I lived thru it! And, I had a great time! It made me think; our cars were made to withstand most nasty weather, and I’ve decided to learn to deal with it and make the most of enjoying my car while I still can.
I need to do a lot of work on the 442; maybe the more I drive it will inspire me to get off my butt and get busy with it! I have a new Vintage Air system to install, I also need to swap out the engine. When I bought it, it had and still has a 350 engine in it, the oil pressure is a little low and it runs hot probably due to a bad head gasket. Although it runs like a striped ape, it’s supposed to have a 400 engine. It just so happens I found a complete 1968 442 engine and transmission through a friend of a friend who crashed his car sometime around 1970. He had the wrecked car in his yard until the City of Tampa cited him and he had to get rid of it. He pulled the motor and transmission and stored it in his garage….for 48 years! I guess it was meant to be. iI’s been stored in my shop for over two years, time to get crackin’! I recently purchased a new Tremec 5 speed transmission and hydraulic clutch to put behind it. The current 4 speed is nice, but it’s not good on the interstate. At around 65 mph I’m turning right at 3,000 rpm. The new transmission has a .68 overdrive which makes it much better for long trips and should help me sneak past a few gas stations! For now, I’ll drive the ol’ girl as is and still more often until I’m ready to take her out of service for the upgrades. I hope to get another one of my projects going first so I still have an Old’s to drive. I’m thinking maybe my Drunkie The Clown 1966 Delta 88 would be a good one to get back on the road.
I really didn’t know what I’d write about this month. I guess the point of my article is that we can always find an excuse not to get out and enjoy our Beautiful cars—be it weather or mechanical, but the bottom line is…we have them for a reason…to enjoy them! If you haven’t had your Olds out for a while, go out and fire it up! If it needs a little work, get ‘er done! And remember…rain is only water; a jacket will keep you warm; and sunglasses, a hat and shorts help when it’s 95 degrees!
Time to wrap things up! Until next month, remember, keep those rockets fired up and rolling!
John