I must say that from the 1940's to end of the 1960's the American car makers built some of the greatest looking cars ever. Even though I love Jap cars, particularly Toyota, I find that American cars of that era just do something else for me. After Toyota my favourite car is Ford. :drool:

I agree, but fords suck.

I do like Fords very much & there were some great Australian Fords built in that era that also do it for me.

While my main automotive interests were sports car and open wheel racing around the world, I was 18yo in 1967 and I was about as much of a motor head as you could be, so you might imagine that I had and still have a great appreciation for a lot of the American cars from that era. As far as domestic cars, my preferences were always more for Mopar stuff, not just hemi's but also 413 wedge, the hot max wedge cars, 440's, etc. and also for Chevy's of course since they were so dominant on the streets and drag strips. There were a few nice small blocks along the way too. I was never a Ford guy but they made some great cars too; the Thunderbolt Fairlanes, big block 428 and 429 CobraJet stuff and others.

In spite of this interest, I don't think I even realized they made cars in Australia until a few years ago when I started watching the V8 Supercar races with Holden Monaros and the Aussie Fords etc, along with other sedan racing from there, not to mention the big rig trucks on road courses which are wild stuff.

Maybe strange maybe predictable, while my friends were driving all the American Muscle stuff, my first street car was a '67 XKE Jag, and my present choice of the best all around performance muscle car I can afford is the '95 MkIV TT I now have, which in almost every way is the best car I've ever owned.

Old american cars rock, someday I will have my '61 Impala SS convertable...someday.... :wub: :wub:

I can't say I like the cars just till the '60s, I have a special place in my heart for the '70s Firebirds/Trans Ams. My Dad has a '78 and I would love to get one someday :headbang:

Excellent reply there Nick.
Just to give you an idea or the Australian built muscle cars of the 1960's & 70's & the latest versions I have included some pics.
In the 60's & 70's the only car makers in Aust. were Holden (GM), Ford & Chrysler. All these cars were unique to Aust even though the body styles were slight copies of American Fords & Chryslers & American & English GM designs. Holdens main car was the Kingswood, later renamed Commodore. Fords main car was the Falcon, still so named & Chryslers main car was the Valiant. Chrysler finished production in Aust in 1980 when Mitsubishi bought out the finance stricken company. In this early era Holden was always the biggest seller by far but now the best selling cars in Australia are Toyota followed by Holden then Ford then all of the other Jap & Korean brands.
Holden, Ford & Chrysler had a muscle car production race in the late 60's to the late 70's. One after the other would release a new muscle car at lightening production speed, a bit like the space race. These cars the Holden Monaro (327 & 350 Chev engines), Ford Falcon (302 & 351 Aust Ford engines) & Valiant Charger (265 straight 6 with triple side draught carbs). All of these cars were raced on Aust race tracks & particularly in our most major & famous road race, Bathurst. These pics are fairly in chronological order of production release.
I'm sure that if you do a google search regarding the history of Aust cars you would find it to be a very interesting history to learn about.

Sorry, I couldn't fit all of the attachments in the 1 reply so here's the rest.
These are pics of Holden's & Ford's latest Aust muscle cars.
These days the production quality of the Ford (powered by Ford 5.4L V8) outweighs the Holden (powered by Chev 5.7L V8). In the old days their production quality was fairly on par.

I thought the last "Amanda" pic might be a hot Aussie babe, but alas it's just a car :(


...someday I will have my '61 Impala SS convertable...someday.... :wub: :wub:

I can't say I like the cars just till the '60s, I have a special place in my heart for the '70s Firebirds/Trans Ams. My Dad has a '78 and I would love to get one someday :headbang:


I like some but not all of the "new design" retro street rods being done by people like Foose and Coddington, etc. and my latest HotRod mag has a pic of one of their latest works in progress, a '61 Impala bubble roof. I'm sure it will have a 500+ci big block crate motor and other modern goodies but retain the basic classic look.

My neighbor who lives across the street has an "old" Firebird, I think his is a late '70's or early '80's but I'm not sure of the exact year, he says it's kinda rare and fast with the turbo V8 but he hardly ever rolls it out of the garage so I can whoop ass on it with my Supra ;)

My cousin in Toronto has a very nice stock Firebird with the original 455 Superduty monster motor.

My cousin in Toronto has a very nice stock Firebird with the original 455 Superduty monster motor.


I nearly bought an '81 Firebird with a 455/4-speed car a few years back. Just couldn't get quite enough money together for it :(

but fords suck. :biggun2: :hitcomput
I think not.

http://host.jwcinc.net/1170501/Nick%20and%20cars.JPG

Some Ford's are ok ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Loki89t/DSC01146.jpg

I was always fascinated by American cars! Maybe it's because over here in Malta they are very rare, so we never really had our share of yank muscle. Those who owned any American car here were always considered lucky by fellow enthusiasts.

My favourites from the muscle car era are the Chevelle SS and the Gran Torino GT, though I love Chargers and 71 Camaros.

I like a lot of newer ones too, but a couple of my favorite oldies ...I can't believe there's even a Ford in there!!! ;)

Craig Sutton's '64 Thunderbolt:
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/427fairlane/images/indexpic1.jpg

OK, if angelfire is gonna be that way, try this link:
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/427fairlane/

And one of my all-time favorites, the Ramchargers:
http://members.tripod.com/~photobybob/doorcar003.jpg

Likewise for the tripod crew:
maybe try this link: http://members.tripod.com/~photobybob/doorcar003.htm

I was a Mopar Fanatic the day I saw the winged warriors at riverside as a kid camping next to the race track. I have had three Chargers a 70 500 with a 383 Magnum 4-speed pistol grip, a 68 383 auto, and my last was a 68 440 500hp auto I restored over an 8 year period. Once I had the last one done I drove it everyday to work six days a week for two years 100 miles round trip. After two years it needed another complete restore. So I had always wanted a powerful sports cars and since I knew cars I knew a Supra with an inline 6 and daul overhead cams was for me especially since I got whipped by every monster miata, wrx and supra I raced in my charger. It felt it was time to back to a handling machine such as the Fiats I had owned in the late 70's. I wouldnt trade my 89 N/A for any stinking muscle car ever again since I have the best of ALL car worlds in my Supra, comfort, power, and handling.
Geezer

ahhh, the mammaries ...errr I mean memories

I was also pretty much a Mopar whacko most of the time. As stupid as it might sound to me now, I came damn close to putting a Hemi into a '62 Vette just because I wanted a Hemi in everything. Out of due respect, I always capitalize "Hemi" and "God". In about 1970 or so, one of my best friends had a '68 440 R/T Charger. It sure seemed quick back then against most things. Back then it wasn't a "collector" car, just daily transportation. Now my '95 Supra would cream that car and I'm upping the ante by another couple hundred horsepower as we speak. I was 21yo in 1970, so among my buddies there was the Charger R/T, a Hemi GTX, a couple Road Runners, a couple of 396 Chevelles, LT1 Vette, a variety of GTO's, a hot Plymouth 413 wedge I forget the year, '40 Ford w/worked 283, '57 Chevy sedan delivery with a highly worked 327 and straight front axle used to lift the front on the street, a couple early '30's street rods, and my daily driver was a '67 XKE Jag. I always liked handling too.

Wow, this is honestly something I can say I NEVER liked, not that i lived back then or anything. As far as the cars as a whole, I think they are primitave, heavy, oil barge sized land crawlers; but it was the 60s I guess, it would be primitive.

Yup I agree although my last charger was lowered, poly urethane busings front and rear, huge front and rear sway bars, awesome MSD electronic ignition, awesome carburation, putting out 500hp and still getting 15mpg city it just wasnt a sports car with nimble like handling. I also agree it was primitive kinda like how the 87-92 Supras are compared to todays Technology in FI, Brakes, Suspension And HP output in many high quality sports cars. BUT our little supras are built like brick poop houses, go like a bat out of heck, handle decent and the main plus are CHEAP FUN.
Geezer

I suppose along the lines of what you guys said is why I was driving that '67 XKE roadster I mentioned above instead of powerful behemoths.

I'm very very sorry I ever sold that car, it was very excellent at anything you'd expect from a sports car ...and when I bought it in 1971 it was at about the low point of it's market value so mine in perfect condition with 38k miles on it cost me $2200. Contrary to "popular opinion" ...uninformed as usual... with a few minor tweeks to the infamous Lucas electrics, I never ever had a reliability issue with it. That 4.2 liter DOHC inline 6 motor with triple SU carbs was a piece of automotive art work and excellent performance to back it up

http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Jaguar/65_Jaguar_E-Type_Rdstr_DV_06-PBI-0Engine-03.jpg

and I always liked how the whole front clip just tilted forward and I could literally stand in the engine bay and reach anything.

My MkIV Supra in my distorted mind is sort of a modern Japanese techie version of the XKE.

There are many great points on this thread. It’s good to see the import crowd appreciate some old school cars. I for the most part like classics as they still impact the design of cars today.

For instance:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c12/reflexx2/porche.jpg

and


http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c12/reflexx2/mustang.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c12/reflexx2/jag.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c12/reflexx2/cobra.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c12/reflexx2/ferrari.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c12/reflexx2/alfa.jpg

And probably the most recent:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c12/reflexx2/gt401.jpg

Lets not forget my POS I just can't seem to let go:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c12/reflexx2/small-right.jpg

Ron, you are into Capris???

I rarely find people into euro Capris there in the states!

I've been into them for over 10 years now. And I still have a mk1 and a mk2!

Yes and have been for years. This is the only one I have left. My next favorite is the 1973 I had with the 2.6. This one is pretty tired but she is getting slowly renovated. With any luck, by the end of summer it will have the twin 13g's on it.

F ucked On Race Day.
Found On Road Dead.
Am I the only mother nucker that has listened to these my entire life and figured they were bs and then found out that they weren't????? Dodge???? PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE AS IF! BLASPHEMY. Chevy..., ok...., alright. If they could just build a transmission that would roll 150,000 miles before it had to be replaced. We should at minimum be speaking of nissan and honda. Honda is all of dead in the water. Nissan will put the v8 in the titan and in the q45 but not the f ucking maxima. I personally am tired of sending e mails to help these f ucks. I guess someone somewhere finally found my stockpile all revolving around the altima. Now...., we have the altima ser. Still f ucking waiting for the maxima ss. Ya feel me??? I knew that atleast some of you would. Now. let's bitch about toyota. trd is a mother f ucking joke or atleast as far as the 3rd gen. supra goes. I'm not a mechanic folks...., Just a driver and I personally find myself sick of toyota's lack of enthusiasm for all things fast and twitchy. The mr spyder???? How many of you are souping up your camries??? corolla's??? exf uckingzactly. I am also tired of a lack of people pulling together for a common thread, especially when all of us here have atleast one thing in common. Now let me say..., not everyone on here seems to come across as snobby for lack of a more degrading term. Some of us are more than pleasent to read. I tend to teater back and forth a bit. But ya. Sick and tired is where I am at right about now. I want a muscle car the burns rice!!!! I want a neo traditional hot rod. I want the pipes cut short with a hole in the hood to channel air to my f ucking intake and I want to watch the gas gauge fly to empty and not have to worry about it because gas should not cost over a dollar fifty a f ucking gallon. I can't be the only one. I want a bench seat just so my girl can squeeze my leg when she is scared so i don't have to move my eyes from the road to see her make that face she makes when i pass somebody at mach 1. I want a 6 speed stick in everything made wether it has 3 cylinders or 12. I want a kill switch with a rip cord and an ejector seat so if I do happen to get thrown from the vehichle it will stop before flipping sky ground sky ground sky ground 8 times so maybe if I am able to walk after landing I can drive my ass to the emergency room. I want a sign in the back that tells your wife to stop riding my ass or im'a hit the f ucking brakes. the list just keeps going on and on. I digress

in the event no one got that....., fords do suck and led zeppelin still f ucking rocks

I got some of the stuff you wrote but, generally, what the hell are you going on about?? I agree that toyota have become quite a disappointment over the last 3 or 4 years but I also think that GM products, don't care where they're made, are absolute garbage & have been for many years (particularly aussie holdens)! I can only speak of Australian Fords & conclude that they are excellent cars & don't bear any resemblance to American Fords in looks or build quality. They are an excellent build because Ford Aust have actually adopted toyota build standards substantially & applied the systems & standards to their vehicle building in recent years.

I have been (for the lack of a better word) “fortunate” to work in the auto field for almost 15 years and have come to the conclusion that all cars are pretty much the same. True they are not what they used to be but they are more efficient and safe than those of days gone by. This is what the general public is calling for. We all would like the car that gets really bad gas mileage and handles like a wet sponge and goes like a bat outta hell. But the reality is that the market is so limited as there are only a few of us that will spend the money on a new car that is unsafe and out of date that the big auto makers wont do it, understandably. That’s why there are so many performance shops out there. We can tailor our cars to our liking. But we as Americans like the better gas mileage, comfort, smooth ride and lazy auto transmissions because we have become lazy. Ever wonder why European cars never had cup holders in them? Cars were meant to be driven and not used as media centers or portable restaurants. If my memory serves me correct, VW was the first European car company to include a cup holder and that was just in the last few years.

Excellent, Farout, Solid and Right on!!!!!!

Excellent responce! Farout, Solid, Right on!

have come to the conclusion that all cars are pretty much the same.
I will mostly agree. They are more alike than not alike. In my professional opinion, there is no Ford and Chevy. It is Ford and GM. It isnt 1966 anymore. And Ford and GM are pretty close. When they want to make a quality product they do.

Before M-B took over Chrysler, there quality of build was terrible. From the time I started in the industry in '96 anyway.

The 5.0 did not give me any trouble up to 175,000 miles when I bought another Supra. Same with everybody that I know that had one. Ash tray door broke, alternator might go, and eventually the water pump seal for the weep hole will probably come un****ed. That was about it despite the serious abuse we put through the engine.

IF......., and it's HUGE if folks I was going to drive a ford it would be a mustang. Probably an old school saleen. I have been burnt by ford and will not go back.

IF......., and it's HUGE if folks I was going to drive a ford it would be a mustang. Probably an old school saleen. I have been burnt by ford and will not go back.
And no other car has ever broken down. You drive what you want, dont mistake my statement. If I could get a reasonably priced C5, I would.

Dude..., Everyone builds a car that brakes down. And then some of these maufacturers are strictly into building lemons. I also think oswald was a patsy. lol

if its not an import its old school chevy or mopar i have owned mustangs and hated everyone of them. ford did do a few things right like the 300 sraight 6 and the 302 and the cobra jets and the 9 inch rearend, and by the way the shelbys are not fords. and newer mustangs are pos cars and yes i have drove them and worked on them.

I agree shelby's are NOT fords nor is a roush. Old school chevy yes! Mopar NO! I think I would find a classic pontiac firebird before I would rebuild the general lee fellas.
Just drive what you like to work on! Your'e going to be the one turning the wrenches not me or anyone else unless you pay them ofcourse. I just think it is a great thing that all of us gear heads can get together and if nothing else, debate the big 3. Nissan is still the smart money, toyota isn't touching the z or even trying to level the playing field.

If that wasn't an open ended barb unto a few of you I do not know what would be. Just being rowdy gents.

not a ford guy but the 68shelby mustang=beast love that car i must say tho my favorite old school muscle car has to be 68 chevelle.

69 camaro z28 with the z motor 302.

Well that's original. Why the 302??? Haven't you herd of the new LS-2 or the old Ls-1. If your gonna do a swap upgrade. I'm beginning to wonder why I even talk to you..., ha a 302 he says.

If your gonna build a chevy you gotta have the horses to back it up and a larger engine is the fastest and probably the smallest pain in the a$$ to do.

And dude it's the maf pro for the Ls-1 that will convert to the 7mge.

in 1969 chevy had a 302 ci small block the dropped in the 69 camaro Z28, the are high reving beasts and very rare, they are known as the z motors hint they only came in the Z28's sorry it's my old school camaro roots showing but i have since shaved my mullet.

Chevy "Z" trivia: besides the Z-28 there were other Z's

Search if you have to, but first see if you know without searching: what is a Z-11? a Z-16?

damn you nick make me think and research when i have no time.

yea man i hear yea on tht muscle car qoute and yo if ur interested in it i got a 1969 ford fairlane 500 with a 351 windsor needs work looking for $700

is the fairlane a hardtop or 4 door? any pics?

So basically Nick here is interested in your introduction to the world of pimping spectacular. See man you gotta talk it up. Hell that phrase I just dropped made it worth $1,700.

my fairlane is a hardtop vinyl 2 door auto matik with a c4 tranny and b/m shift kit and a 2700 torque converter in it besides that its a typical old car rear passenger floor is rotted out butt i riveted in a patch and has hood pins and blown rear main seal not a hard job just takes time...

i've always had a spot in my heart for dodge challengers, i just love the way they look

my wife LOVES chevelles

but hey... all things considered with what I want from a car, my first car (that I myself paid for, last couple were given to me if i could fix em) was...is... will be... heh... a supra.

You have already spent at least 5 grand that you don't know about yet. lol.
Again. Welcome to the club.

You have already spent at least 5 grand that you don't know about yet. lol.
Again. Welcome to the club.

:9:

Thanks, but I hope you mean joyful upgrades and not unexpected repairs. I mean, I got it as a project car but I still need it as a daily driver for a couple months haha.

Or I'll bum a corvette off my uncle or something. Corvettes arent all that bad.

Unexpected repairs and upgrades.
You should be able to keep it running.
The first thing I would do is pull the cam covers off and retorque the head bolts. After changing the oil and giving in it an all out tune up.
New plugs and wires are almost a given along with a new air filter and yes.

The K&N is worth the 50bucks.

You know all of this though right? You seem too atleast.
Let us know if you need any small parts. You may be surprised at what some of us have lying around.

Good Luck.

If the hg isn't blown that should put you in good shape for a while.

You want to torque stock bolts to 70 /75 ftlbs. Forget the 59lb BS.
I torqued my ARP studs to 85.

Unexpected repairs and upgrades.
You should be able to keep it running.
The first thing I would do is pull the cam covers off and retorque the head bolts. After changing the oil and giving in it an all out tune up.
New plugs and wires are almost a given along with a new air filter and yes.

The K&N is worth the 50bucks.

You know all of this though right? You seem too atleast.
Let us know if you need any small parts. You may be surprised at what some of us have lying around.

Good Luck.

If the hg isn't blown that should put you in good shape for a while.


Thanks for the info, and yeah I've read about the whole blown head gasket things, I was either gonna re-torque it like you suggested or go with the 1.2 tri-metal one (since its NA) but I didn't want to go about all the hassle of checking warpage and machining and such. Obviously the filter, plugs and wires are one of the first things. On these particular engines, do you have to pull out the cams to get to the head bolts, like my last car? That was a complete PITA. And I've only done the cooling system, turbo mods and electronics before on my friends, so I havent been opening it up much (he got a mechanic shop to do the head gasket).

(EDIT: As a going-away present I got 4 grand :) looks like mebbe something will happen muahahaha)

Anyway sorry, more on-topic: I want a new challenger hahaha.

If you retorque the bolts you won't have to change anything unless it's already bad. If you replace the hg, You have to have the head done and you at minimum have to lap the block.

I put a 2.mm HKS stopper MHG on my 91 na. A bunch of other $hit as well.
I pretty much just finished getting the engine together and the vaccum hoses lined out.

I like the new look of the super bee. But I am afraid mopar is trying to re-use the same "look" too damn much.

Congrats on getting yours back together.

Yeah they use the "same look" a lot, for sure. But its probably one of my favorite looks. And I mean, even if you don't like american cars, a 6.1 HEMI EFI on a 2door that has a MUCH better suspension setup than the 60s/70s cars... thats nothing to laugh at. What is it, something like 450-ish hp and near-that torque on a N/A? Yeah its pretty heavy but with that power... its not all that slow, and probably handles decent if not a bit better.