Ace-Garageguy

No. A 454 is a big-block engine, and has evenly spaced exhaust ports. Late model Corvettes have the trans in the rear.

The upper one has intake and exhaust ports configured like a smallblock Chebby. Timing cover and placement of the distributor drive and thermostat holes on the intake manifold are little Chebby also. That long snorkel on the air filter looks like an early '90s Chebby truck. The trans is GM 4L80 or close relatives. The other engine is missing the heads and other identifiers, but the ports on the exhaust manifolds are even like a Ford, a Chebby LS, or even a Mopar Hemi...though I don't believe the trans is Mopar.

"Octane" is a measure of a fuel's resistance to detonation in an internal combustion engine, nothing more, nothing less. A higher "octane" number is not in any way shape or form an indication that the fuel is more "powerful", as some people seem to believe. Straight ethanol has equivalent "octane" numbers of (RON) 108, and 89.7 (MON). These are two different tests that are sometimes averaged together to give another number R+M/2, 99.15. Adding ethanol to gasoline can indeed raise the fuel's resistance to detonation, but it may also contain less overall energy...making performance and fuel mileage suffer. As stated above, alcohol in fuel can have nasty effects on fuel system components that aren't designed to cope with it. Want to know the truth about YOUR car? Find an engineer inside Ford who knows what he's talking about. Or believe all the "experts" on the internet.

I've never heard that '44 Rosetta Tharp recording before. I mean, damm man. If that isn't rock-and-roll, I don't know what is.

Harry's right. A friend of mine just went through some scary stuff, and he's doing great now. No problems at all...and his deal was pretty severe. We're all pulling for you too.

Believe it or not...really, really...honest...the previous owner of the '47 Caddy convert I did recently had the top bows chromed. Yuck. This '32 Ford cabriolet, owned by Coleman Castellaw (originally built in '63 and known as the Quincy Auto Parts car) was completed by Mills Customs while I was there. You can see it has a contrasting center headliner panel, and pleated white pillars...fully fitted, stitched, etc.

Give that man a cigar! Galore. Pussy Galore.

Look inside some older Mercedessssessses if you wanna see just one example of a full stitched and fitted headliner inside a canvas top. Different color, different material. You could do it on any top if you wanted to spend the coin. One of the '32s that came out of Mills' shop while i worked there had a full headliner on a convertible top, and the Carson top on the '32 he's finishing up for Hetfield has a full headliner too. This is a Rolls, but I've seen similar in Mercs too.

Nope. Here's a hint. She was a Bond girl.

Any guesses who this former ultra-babe is?

Love it. Great looking wood!

Hmmmmm...not one I know right off the bat.

Well, since you asked... I really like both looks for the car. It's a handsome design and looks good set up as either style. The nose-down attitude looks like a seriously fast, modern-setup that hooks-up well and goes like stink...though I think the nose may be just a tad too low. Though everybody does it these days, the sky-high nose on the gasser isn't really the way the cars sat before launch. Think rocker panels about level if you want it to look real and not today's "nostalgiazed interpretation" of a gasser. This straight-axle car sits right. Oh...no wonder. Dick Landy's crew kinda knew what they were doing. Wrong... A good looking, good working street setup needs enough ground clearance so that pesky things like headers don't get bent or torn off on every speed bump.

If all else fails, try half a tube of glue, or silicone bathtub sealer, or drywall screws.

It's working very well for the Chinese and all the US companies that have their stuff made over there to cut costs to the bone...so far.

It's a cool little model, you seem to be doing a great job with it, and we're all looking forward to seeing it progress.

One of the best looking Revellogram '40s I've ever seen. Nice subtle bolt-on customizing very typical of the post-war period. Great work.

OK. I should have said the true "typical early gassers" were US based cars. NHRA didn't allow the Anglias to run as gassers until '63 or so, and then only with an un-blown smallblock engine, owing to the car's extremely short wheelbase (though AHRA allowed big ol' blower motors and NHRA followed suit in '69). The point is that the "gas" classes were always figured on a weight-to-displacement formula in a car that retained its original engine / drivetrain layout, engine swaps were allowed (in the original location) but kept real by the 10% setback rule, and complete body swaps were simply not permitted. The fastest little Bugs did run H and I "gas" (classes that didn't even exist in the early gasser days) but retained the stock chassis and rear-engine configuration, as required by the general rules. If I recall correctly, George Montgomery's "Malco Gasser" Mustang of '67 was the first of the rebodies to run the gas classes, built on a much-modified Willys chassis under a somewhat vague and sometimes challenged interpretation of the then-current gasser rules that allowed late-model production unibody cars to be constructed to race using conventional frames. The car retained the original engine location and front-engine layout, as was still required, and was in fact very close to being a full-fledged funny car...but kept a nodding acquaintance with its street-driven class roots with a "passenger" seat and other little touches.

In case you don't know, there was also a mid-engined version of the Avenger called the Valkyrie, which carried its V8 in the middle, using a bespoke steel tube frame. The car in this video is kinda dorky, with the too-wide tires sticking out of the fenders, but there's potential there.

Exactly.

Anybody recognize this blonde honey?

Lucky they haven't evolved opposable thumbs...yet.

Excellent point.

The old Avenger doesn't HAVE to look like a retard-clown-car. It's idiot builders who make them that way.

Gummy Bears, huh? I'll have to try it. Last 20 or so rats I caught (I live in a wooded area in an old house the critters always find ways in to) couldn't resist Spam's greasy meaty goodness.