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Which means "Evil Twin". Lets see your projects where you change boring into fun or create the fun from scratch.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:09 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:17 pm
Posts: 17
Having a girl friend and getting engaged started a new phase of my life, but I ran through cars so quickly I don't remember them all, but some memorable experiences remain. My car rental job afforded me the opportunity to pick up new cars from all types of dealers, and have a different one at home each night. Not bad as I was almost 20 years old. My car mechanical expertise began improving with all the practice breaking and replacing things on the rental fleet.
And one item I failed to mention is the home my parents bought in Queens NY had pits in the garage. It made me very popular with the automotive crowd
and I never realized how easy I had it pulling up a few 2x4's and able to stand up working underneath the cars.

I talked the owner of the rental car company into buying a tow truck. Easily done when the tow bar I was using to tow a Camaro from upstate NY across the Tappan Zee Bridge, slipped off one side of the towed cars bumper and it ran into the back of the towing car. Having a Tow Truck also made me popular. I even took it to WOODSTOCK. Yep I went to Woodstock the day after the concert to retrieve my buddy's 65 GTO which he rain skidded into something driving to the concert. Kind of interesting was the fact that after the bodywork was done it turned out have bent a rod from the impact. His insurance company wasn't happy replacing the engine. Then someone stole the car the day it was finished and he had taken it home.

My favorite place had become the local Jamaica, Queens, junkyards, they have since been replaced by something called York College. i could spend days there and one notable purchase ($300.00) was a recovered theft red 1966 GTO. The body was perfect, but missing was interior, transmission and intake manifold.I found a bought a complete tri-power manifold, Tempest interior and a 4 speed. Put it together and took it to Manheim Auctions, Bordentown NJ along with some rental cars being auction. It sold for $1100.00 which was to become my first wife's engagement ring. The car was the better investment.

Having a pit in the garage had it's memories as well:
I asked my friend Bob to lay some rubber in the driveway with his 327 Chev motored Plymouth Valiant with slicks that didn't look like they fit under the car.
He revved it, popped the clutch and something went BANG. No rubber laid, but a broken Chev rear axle. The challenge was that the spline had twisted inside the carrier and he made a puller using a sack filled with snow chains. It worked!
Another friend wanted a Corvair I had, but it was a stick. So the pit mad it easy work. Out came the manual trans-axle and in went the automatic. I didn't have to weld pedals like was done for this 308/412 conversion.
Clutches, flywheels, transmission swaps the pit made easy work of it.

But the Pit lesson I remember the most was changing the transmission fluid and filter on my dad's 69 Impala. And with the pan off, I reached up and clicked the transmission out of Park, and since the car was on an incline it took off down the driveway. So I reached up to hold the car and grabbed onto the sway bar, and it dragged me out of the garage and down the driveway on my belly like a carton character.
That was probably the Lesson...


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