Frosty

Before dashing off to pay for a new battery, trying bringing it into the house and putting it on a battery charger. Last year, my Avalanche's battery was half frozen from the extreme cold we had in January after sitting just for an entire weekend and would not start. I used my digital thermometer and it detect the battery was around 22 degrees. So it maybe partially frozen inside. Bring it inside to warm up over night and put it on a trickle charger to see if it comes back. If you have no luck with it, then take it to your auto parts store to have them load test it for you. If it is bad, then you don't have to waste time dropping off the core charge for a new battery. I am doing the same thing right now for my dad's Buick Roadmaster battery.

Havoc - could this be where the O ring goes?

Stratman - I like your style. "Trixie" Roth - Ed's widow is a friend of mine, and Ed certainly could have come up with this car. I also submit a couple of other kustom car builders that could possibly have built this car too. I suggest builder #1 - Daryl Starbird - the King of Bubble Tops himself I submit builder #2 - Carl Casper

That's a good practice SPRINT6. I have also heard of guys adding an additional piece of 1/4" plate steel to help reinforce the frame / mount point and spread the load just so the bolts don't twist or tear out. Thanks again for curbing the misinformation aspect too. You know, had I though about it a little moer, I should have realized that tech inspection would not have let this car on the track in the first place without meeting certain class rules like seat belts and roll bars. Good catch!

Thanks Sprint6 for clearing the roll cage / seat belt situation up. I feel better knowing that that those things were there and they were used. Obviously it made a huge difference and saved the man's life. So one or two things happened here, in my guesitmation. (1) The safety equipment (e.g. seatbelts or seat or both) suffered a catastrophic failure during the crash and/or (2) the safety equipment was not designed or engineered (properly) to withstand the roll over or lateral G-forces the car experienced in crash in the first place. If I had to guess further, I would bet the twisting of the car body during the 4 roll overs tore either seat belt anchor bolts or the seat itself (or both) loose. That's my guess. The man is lucky for sure...early safety equipment was not as good by today's standards. The cars in those days were not designed for any crash impact tolerance, so I am not surprised the car literally came apart. As a means of comparison just Google the 1959 Chevy Bel-Air crashed into a 2009 Chevy Mailbu by the IIHS.

I took my dad's 2003 Blazer into the dealership this morning. It has 170k miles on it. Holy crap has it been neglected from a routine maintenance perspective. Suffice it to say it will have a complete 30k mile maintenance and 100k tune-up done on it, plus a complete brake and suspension inspection.

Back in the day, we didn't care if they got dirty or rusted. They were our basic transportation. Now they are worth several times more than the original MSRP. We don't want them to rust again or get damaged. Its now become a bit of a significant, albeit, fun investment, as well as a source of much enjoyment. We really don't want to screw it up for either reason. You can put Sta-Bil in a full tank but it is much more effective if it can be mixed. My suggestion would be to get the Sta-Bil in it ASAP to help prevent fuel breakdown. Then, the next time you get it out, drive it a little bit (like you need much encouragement to do that right?), and perhaps top off the tank when your done so the new gas helps to mix the Sta-Bil with the gas in the tank. Sniff...sniff....sniff....that smells like a "Trust Me" !!!!

Obviously we don't everything that happened here... That said, I realize that '55 Chevys never originally came with seat belts from the factory back in 1955. However, anyone that builds, owns, and races a pro street modified car like this has no excuse for not installing and wearing seat belts - especially a 4 or 5 point harness. As stratman clearly points out, only through the grace of God does this guy walk away from this.

A Naval Aviator walks into a bar and takes a seat next to a very attractive woman. He gives her a quick glance then casually looks at his new Apple watch for a moment. The woman notices this and asks, "Is your date running late?" No," he replies, "I just got this state-of-the-art Apple watch, and I was just testing it." The intrigued woman says, "A state-of-the-art watch? What's so special about it?" The pilot says, "It uses alpha waves to talk to me telepathically." The lady says, "What's it telling you now?" Well, it says you're not wearing any panties." The woman giggles and replies, "Well it must be broken because I am wearing panties!" The fighter pilot smirks, taps his watch and says, "Darn thing's an hour fast." And that, my friends.........is Confidence! GO NAVY !!

Ok CUP CAK What is it?

$2.069/gallon by my house. I had to go to my dad's, it was $1.899 by him. Go figure.

You won't move to Florida until your kids and grandkids do. I am jealous that you've managed to drive Black Beauty this late. The snow and cold is flying here but I may still have to break the Lemans out of storage next week and take it to the upholstery shop. Definitely get the Sta-Bil in her.

Some of the joys of living in Michigan my friend. Its always been this crazy, and I can't explain why that it is. I suspect that by Thursday, the price will come down a few pennies a gallon or it will go up a bit more in anticipation of the weekend. Gas prices usually go up near long holiday weekends, so M L King weekend should see a price increase.

I went to the gym this morning, gas is back up to around $2.089 there too. So about a 30-50 cent jump in gas from the weekend.

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates. 'In honour of this holy season' Saint Peter said, 'You must each possess something that symbolize Christmas to get into heaven.' The Englishman fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. 'It's a candle', he said. 'You may pass through the pearly gates' Saint Peter said. The Scotsman reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, 'They're bells.' Saint Peter said 'You may pass through the pearly gates'. The Irishman started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties. St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, 'And just what do those symbolize?' The Irishman replied, 'These are Carols.'

From what I've read, the Corvette Corvair was strictly intended to be a 2-seater. Since early Corvette sales were so sluggish, GM management was reluctant to go forward with a fastback design of the Corvair for nearly another decade. As for a 4-seater, that was the route that the Ford Thunderbird went in the early sixties that took it from a sports car to a full-size luxury car. I know GM has made a Corvette mid-engine prototype and they've studied that idea for the Corvette for years, but they have yet to put it into production. Who knows if they will eventually do it?

Beats hell out of me. It was not that long ago we here the highest in the lower 48 when a couple of Midwest oil refineries were shutdown at the same time and they had to ship refined oil/gas from other parts of the country. Other parts of the country were paying $3.40 a gallon and we were over $4.25. I picked the kid up from school today. It was back up to $1.999 - $2.089 near my house. My dad's neighborhood always seems to be the cheapest in the county. No idea why.

Great looking GA GT you've got there. Welcome!

I saw it for $1.589 near my dad's place this weekend. Ran across this interesting fact today. Using the Consumer Price Index calculator ( http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=0.35&year1=1968&year2=2014 ), if the price of regular gasoline was .35 cents per gallon in 1968, today's price for regular gasoline should be $2.38. Given that calculation, gasoline at $2.20 per gallon is equivalent to .32 cents per gallon. So I guess we shouldn't complain. Just hope it keeps on dropping!

Even more justification for buying a generator and several large gas cans !!!!

Question will be how much will it cost now that it has a slightly bigger engine and larger battery capacity?

Let me guess - this thing is entitled "Old Goats Put Out to Pasture".

This appears to me to be the 2nd '54 Corvette Nomad recreation I've seen or read about. Another one was built to be an exact replica of the '54 Waldorf Astoria Motorama car. The actual Motorama Nomad car was built on a modified '53 Chevy sedan chassis, from the windshield posts forward it was all stock Corvette. https://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/1954_Chevrolet_Corvette_Nomad_Concept It was this Corvette that was the inspiration for the Nomad concept car that came out the same time the Solstice concept came out. The Nomad Concept is now painted black and it is in the GM Heritage collection. In fact, GM unveiled three Corvettes at the '54 Motorama in New York. The coupe would go into production with the Corvette name. The Nomad name would be used on the upscale full size Chevrolet Bel Air line starting in 1955. It is the Corvette Corvair that most people have either never seen or heard of. Clearly, GM would re-use the Corvair name in the sixties for the flat six rear engine subcompact that would lead Ralph Nader to write his book "Unsafe At Any Speed". '54 Corvette Corvair According to the GM Heritage collection website, the Corvette Corvair is only rumored to have survived the crusher after its Motorama / show car life ended. No evidence has been found to show that it survives to this day or that more than one was actually built. The original Nomad is also believed to have been destroyed. https://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/1954_Chevrolet_Corvette_Corvair_Concept

Welcome the regular Monday-Friday work routine.

I had a power outage at my house this morning and my PC, laptop, TV, DVD, iPad and my new surround sound music system were all shut down. Then I discovered that my iPhone battery was flat. To top it off, it was raining so I couldn’t go for a walk, bike or run. The garage door opener needs electricity so I couldn’t go anywhere in the car. I went into the kitchen to make coffee and then I remembered that this also needed power, so I sat and talked with my wife for a few hours. She seems like a nice person.