Last Indian

Welcome Lew! We love all things Pontiac! As it was before the demise!
To Kiwi’s point, if there is JustA one good thing that came from the demise of Pontiac? It would be that we don’t have to watch in horror; as the Woke GM leadership would surly take it down the same path that they are doing to all the other divisions! Sad, really sad!

35 minutes ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

Gees last indian ! What you say is so true .matter of fact its quiet disturbing !

i for one think hydrogen would make a great replacement fuel , but to produce it defeats the propose!
  

It is disturbing! Yes I have always said hydrogen is the answer, but it needs to be something inert per say! Example: a type of nozzle that some how cracks water, I.E. separates the oxygen molecules from the hydrogen molecules as the water is pushed through a type of orifice! This way there can be no risk factor for an explosion because all you carry is water!

Yet instead we spend tens of trillions on green energy & the destruction of the fossil fuel industry with not a single feasible or tangible idea that can really work!

Fitzy, you have really posted some amazing pictures. We all thank you! It’s almost like taking the trip with you. Very Cool.

Just consider me a snarly old man, as you are a young buck! Since you didn’t build the car & I presume you may not know of all the past history of cars on this planet & neither do I, please don’t take offense. No the Prius doesn’t impress me! Part of that comes from the fact that I had projects I worked on with Toyota, so I know the car up close & personal. There have been cars built long long ago that didn’t need a 600 lb. battery to get that kind of mileage. The Crosley for instance! Built from “39”-“52” got 60 mpg @ 50 mph even better around town! Needed, literally 1 tenth the parts that the Prius has. Needed no fuel pump for instance. In the mean time all these tree huggers really aren’t tree huggers. They’re just pushing the populous little by little in incremental steps into something that they won’t be able to change once they get you where they want you.

In the mean time they’ll fly their private jets, their big gas power cars & live in their mansions that consume tons of fossil energy all while you struggle to pay for your green energy.

Life is tough! Especially if you believe the big big lies & as the above picture says, “But it’s tougher when you are stupid!” 

This piece is not intended to insult anyone, far from it! it’s just an observation & while there is great  accuracy of fact, it is meant to be in some degree tongue-in-cheek.

Have you ever thought about something & then just passed over it? You didn’t take the time or make the effort to become educated! For instance, didn’t you ever wonder how could a 5000 lb. + SUV get a 5 star crash rating & also a Smart car gets the same rating? Well if you did, but didn’t go any further than refer to the above picture, which I borrowed from another post! The IIHS testing methodology is as illogical as any there is. Setup a wall, drive a car into it, rate the results! Really!? So that means that a feather propelled into that same wall should receive a, what 10 star rating! Because that feather is not going to receive any damage. Put another way, I’ll drive the 5000 lb. SUV at you sitting in the Smart car! Do you fell good about that? If you do, see above picture! Of course only after you proudly show your 5 star rating from your coffin.

Do you believe you can burn a gallon of gas to charge a battery & that charged battery will give you more energy than the gallon of gas? Enough energy to take the same vehicle more than 3 times farther then just burning that gallon of gas directly in the engine to propel the car down the road? If so, see above picture! Because that defies physics! 

With each release of energy is work. A portion of work is calculated as heat or friction loss, which consumes a portion of energy. For instance, have you ever used an electrical plugin item or even a battery operated item & noticed that the cord or battery are warm or even hot when done? That’s energy lose or physics at work. It also is a fact that, this heat you feel means that not all the power you used went to the electrical item, but was lost due to friction. So if you think you can consume an energy to make another form of energy & have it not only be cheaper, but more of it, as well as less of what they call “less polluting”, see above picture!

Here is another fact to consider with regard to EV’s & battery operated products. Did you know that lithium is a metal? Did you know it’s not a renewable element? What was here at the formation of the Earth is all there is. Did you know that once processed into a battery it can’t be renewed? I.E. it’s done, dead, no good! So what are the brilliant morons plans for when the lithium is gone? Which ball park figures estimates place at 50 to 300 years, but considering the size & needs of car batteries, which is actually in its infancy stage, will substantially reduce at a much greater rate due to shear volume need!

If you didn’t think this was worth contemplating, see above picture.

Did you know that crude oil has been used for at least 6000 years. Did you know that virtually everything you have, wear, use & see is tied to crude oil? If not see above picture. 

All of these thing have been said over & over again, but most people just seem to be the proverbial bull with the ring in his nose being lead to slaughter! None of these things benefit you! They aren’t cheaper, they aren’t more efficient, they aren’t better for the ecology & in almost every case they use up precious resources that can never be replenished! Ever! If you don’t know that, see above picture!!

8 hours ago, Fitzy said:

It was a bright & sunny 7°C (about 46°F)  this morning when we left Taupo and we trotted off to the Wairakei Thermal Pools - adults only (calm down - it just means nobody under 14) where you can hire towels and soak in a choice of 3 geothermal fed hot pools, of varying heat. Needless to say, we spent most of our time in the hottest (40°C/104°F) and being something I had never experienced before, I had to be coerced to get out and leave. It was glorious - any aches & pains disappear and it was unparalleled luxury. If you've never done it and you have the opportunity,  do it. In this particular place, they had gone to a lot of trouble to line each pool with concrete and the place was tastefully landscaped and if you go early enough, you have the place practically to yourself. When we finally got back to the carpark (me being dragged unceremoniously by the staff with my fingernails digging into the asphalt) it was almost full, so we timed it right.

So the locals were making Fitzy soup!  I bet it had the essence of roasted something! 

Safe trip Pete! Godspeed!

10 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Well, here we are at Taupo. Rain, wind, grey skies, weird locals...

Caught up with Kiwi & "The Boss." He made me go outside with him in the searing icy blasts of wind and made me admire all his toys - see attached pics as proof that we actually made it. In all seriousness, lovely people, beautiful house & property and a killer collection of cars, including his projects. We are going out for dinner tonight and I WILL NOT be drinking that zero alcohol abomination that he showcased. If I had known, I would have brought along a bible for us to study. In fact, with the way the weather is we mightn't even get a chance to go for a blast in one of fhe toys, but we'll see.

You know how you chat to people online and you form a mental picture of what they might look like? Well as usual, he is nowhere near what I expected. I was expecting a dishevelled creature dressed in rags, one eye, no teeth, hunchback scarpering out of an old caravan weilding a shotgun - been living on possums for the last 10 years so as to afford all that shiny metal. But nothing like that...although there were no possums to be seen, so you never know.

To break tradition we had already agreed to post a pic of us so that you may all bathe in our collective good looks. I'm the better looking tall dark handsome one on the right. No, the RIGHT.

Now there’s a handsome pair! Oh you thought I meant Kiwi & Fitzy! No, no the caddy & Plymouth, what else! Great to see you guys together. I suspect there may be a few more pot holes in Taupo before that trip is over.

On 9/12/2022 at 12:35 AM, Fitzy said:

Staying with partner's sister at her house out of town, out of range and nestled between rolling green hills, cows, sheep & horses. Open fire, cold beer, roast lamb in the oven...pretty damn good.

A quick few words on the Prius. This is my first experience of an EV and I have to say that watching the graphic display on the dash of where power is coming from and where it's going is mesmerising. I have a newfound respect for the depth of engineering that has gone into producing a car that seamlessly integrates petrol & electric power. I know EVs are a polarising subject here but amongst the plethora of different EV systems available, I seem to think that a petrol/electric hybrid makes a lot of sense - no range anxiety, ample power and the ability to cruise through an urban area in pure EV mode, thereby lowering emissions where people live. Nothing wrong with driving an EV and keeping the old dinosaur for weekends. I'll stop now.

Will meet up with Kiwi tomorrow and will attempt to drink all his beer. Steinlager for me thanks Chris. 

JustA mazing Fitzy! Been following all your travels really beautiful county! 
As far as the Prius; come to the US & drive one on the freeway here! When you finally stop & get out you will kiss the ground! Also save all the money you can because they break a lot & cost a ton to fix! 
 

Kiwi! When you take Fitzy for that ride two things! Put a $20 on the dash & tell Fitzy he can have it if he can get to it before you hit 4th gear! Also take some ear plugs the screaming & crying might be a little intense!

Well as all of us northern folks start getting ready for our crap weather, it’s that time when we start planning our winter projects. Of which I hope to have several for the Indian. So stay tuned for some updates!

3 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

i just googled nz fuel, and they can have up to 10% ethanol in it.... i am going to go get some additive i feel !

 thank you for the valueble info Last Indian 

Do you have Sta-Bil in NZ? Their 360 product is new & quite good. It also has PEA in it as well, but also removes ethanol.

Think about this for just a moment. Drill a hole in the ground pump out oil & gas out. Use energy (natural gas) to distill it & get all the products out of it that come from crude oil, which includes those necessary to make wind turbines & solar panels. Now ethanol! Use a gas powered tractor to plow a field, plant corn. Use fertilizer to make it grow, which takes carbon based fuels to make. Water it which takes carbon based fuels to deliver it. Harvest it which take a gas or diesel tractor to do so. Process the corn which take energy! Cook the mash to make the ethanol! Finally distill the finished product to get the ethanol!!

DOES this really sound like good way to reduce carbon emissions? Especially when in fact ethanol actually produces more than twice as much CO2 per energy output as compared to gas or diesel. Tell me these people aren’t pure evil!

10 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

oh Last indian, i would really like to know your thoughts on this ! i for one have a number of motors that i am feeding unleaded fuel! and i do worry about not using additives in them, i do have harden valve seats in all of them but that is it !

Oh I guess I should clarify that statement a little better! Unleaded fuel of itself really has little impact on old cylinder heads or engines for that matter! Once the change to unleaded really gained ground the OEMs, through extensive testing, found it became evident the valve recession could occur under the right conditions. So the switch to hardened valve seats came to pass. 
The real problem though was & is alcohol! Before unleaded it was rare to have alcohol in fuel & if it did happen, it was usually short lived. As leaded fuel disappeared & the ill informed tree huggers grew so did alcohol in the fuel. 
So it goes like this, alcohol in the fuel in a non computer controlled car typically causes a lean mixture, which cause combustion & heat issues! Also alcohol absorbs water, which along with the fact that it has zero volatility it also is incompressible! This raises cylinder pressures & can cause detonation due to an unstable fuel mixture. This is what Spikes engine saw & what caused the damage. Computer controlled engines due things to control these issues, but old school engines can’t. 
For me alcohol in the fuel is a no no! First, & I’m not a tree hugger, it bad for the in environment for several reasons! Two it’s bad for combustion engines! And three it’s not cheaper! 
This is why I use the additives that I do! One removes the alcohol from the fuel. The other replaces some of the needed chemistry that helps the combustion system.

So nearly all old lead burning engines can burn unleaded fuel without issue, but alcohol in the fuel not so much!

51 minutes ago, Spike said:

This head with the blowout between the two cylinders can be fixed BUT finding someone with the skills that’s prepared to do the job here in Western Australian has been fruitless! They have ether retired or not interested to help! That’s why I tried my luck buying this secondhand motor I previously posted.

Sad! The last of the true craftsman are almost gone! 

1 minute ago, Frosty said:

Guilt shaming me Justa? Tsk tsk tsk! You becoming my bro wife or somthing? LOL!  

It's not like we are seeing a ton of V6 blower build photos either....justa saying buddy.

Hey! He’s been very busy! Broke truck, a broke car, oh make that two broke cars , ok make that two broke cars & a son in law broke car! A well pump broke! A tree fell on my garage, I can’t find the right parts, Geessss! 

12 hours ago, Spike said:

Below is a of photo why I find myself in this predicament… the offending head…

 

Again, even that is fixable! But you are correct to take the best path that fits your budget. I’m JustA saying, (that’s a term we use here because of our buddy JustA6), those parts in a world of ever depleting & limited parts of their kind have value because they can be fixed! 

25 minutes ago, Spike said:

Below is a of photo why I find myself in this predicament… the offending head…

 

That’s from running non leaded fuel & not using an additive to resolve the lack of no lead in the fuel!

13 hours ago, Spike said:

Cool, it took me over 12 months T find this old motor & the owner had no history on it. A complete gamble for $1000 (AUD). Still I would have paid the $1K just for the head if it came down to it. What the video didn’t show wat the crack in the block (I ain’t no mechanic) so I missed this crack crap! 

Ok, for instance, that’s the water jacket side. So you will, presuming it’s not something you do, find a shop that knows how to weld cast iron, it take a special welding rod. The expansion plug will need to be removed. The crack will need to be grooved the entire length & even into the plug area. Than the plug area will need to be rebored to the proper size so a expansion plug can be re installed. Additionally before doing this the block will need to be clean thoroughly to remove any contamination of oil & antifreeze that might effect the adhesion of the welding.

15 hours ago, Spike said:

G’day Last Indian mate 👍🏻, (I’m just learning how to navigate this cool website).

yeah, with a little TLC and mechanical wizardry I reckon we should be able to bring one of the heads back to life. I only need the one to replace the “too far gone head” and if I’m lucky I’ll have a couple more internals from the 401 parts motor to sell on and try to recoup a few bucks back in the kitty.

Cheers Ringo64 👍🏻

Spike, even the head that had damage from the bolt can be fixed if need be! There are several ways in which it can be restored, so don’t scrap it unless you really don’t need it. Backup parts are always a plus.

Welcome to the Pow Wow Spike! If you can’t find other heads you should be able to salvage the 401’s, but that will take machine work which cost money. So if you can find another set of heads that would be the ticket.

Always loved the “69”! Big American iron! Like riding on air!