Our Automotive Future?

So much has happened in the American auto industry lately it has been difficult to catch up. As it stands, Chrysler decalred Chapter 11 and is in the process of becoming a part of Fiat Spa. GM is getting ready for bankruptcy and who knows what conglomerate will eventually buy it out. Right now they're talking about the US government owning it on paper for a quick turnover and fresh start. Have you EVER known the government to do anything quickly? I think it's interesting to watch this new playing field develop. We're almost back in the early days when the playing field had a shake down. By early days I mean the 1910-1927 era. Of course, there were shakedowns in the 1950s too when Packard, Desoto, Nash and Studebaker all took dirt naps.
I think we'll find Italian cars will make a comeback in USA. Fiat owning a piece of Walter P allows it to incorporate Fiats into the product line. Eventually a US plant will be built escaping the tarriffs and duties such cars would face presently. Alfa Romeo recently suggested they were re entering the market after a prolonged absence in the 1980s. This could get interesting!Now whether public acceptance of said vehicles will occur, that's another story.
Meanwhile we should prepare by learning how to drive like Italians. In actual fact, that would be mean learning how to drive motorcycles. It's by far the major form of personal transport there.Now in America we have this problem called winter. We can adapt by operating snowmobiles. Think about it, what kind of traffic jam could possibly happen with snowmobiles? They're small, very manoeverable and some of them are insanely fast. Of course I wouldn't want to tangle with 18 wheelers. I guess we'd have to make tractor trailer snowmobiles. Motorcycles and tractor trailers also pose a problem. I guess the solution there would be a dedicated truck lane. The motorcycles would be forbidden to use that except for entry and exit. It could work in theory but then reality comes along and wrecks it. Maybe that's the whole problem with the automobile, reality finally caught it with it.I'l be watching car ads more closely now. They've been selling fantasy for decades. The whole scene has gotten ugly in Detroit. How are they going to deal with a Big Two and A Half? How do they sell a 2010 Dodge Giovanni GT? Will Americans learn to enjoy Asian made Chevrolets?
We live in interesting times.

PHS Presents: 5 Things You Didn't Know About Camaros

1. The wrap around rear window was supposed to appear in 1973.
Engineers were having trouble with the window popping out as the adhesives used weren't able to stick to the glass in driving conditions. It wasn't until 1975 that they found a butyl sealant that did the trick.

2. The Z/28 hood decal on 1974 Camaros has a factory defect.
The white background isn't supposed to be visible at all. It should've been clear tape to show body paint color. The master decal was sent to the manufacturer with white in the background and was printed that way.

3. You could order a high performance 327 Camaro four speed car in 1967 and 1968 which was virtually and SS 327 package.
This option was RPO L30. It wasn't marketed in ads nor promoted. What happened is if you ordered a 275 hp 327 with four speed transmission, a group of mandatory features were added to make it a budget performance car. The transmission was a Saginaw instead of a Muncie but you also got a 12 bolt axle ( some cars came with 10 bolts), single traction bar, dual exhaust, wide profile tires, high torque starter motor, special distributor, Quadrajet carb with good cylinder heads and forged steel crankshaft. The 1968 versions featured staggered shocks, multi leaf springs and proportioning valve for rear brakes. One of the best budget bombers out there.

4. 1975 Camaro, the difficult one to restore.
1975 was a strange year for General Motors. Many cars had one year only parts which makes restoring them tough to do. Camaro interiors are a good example. GM secured a line of interior fabrics and vinyls with special patterns that weren't repeated the next season. 1975 was also the year they added a leather interior option. It wasn't repeated either.

5.A hard to find Camaro: 1971-1972 SS 396When was the last time you saw a real one? They don't pop up as clones often.

New Engine Oils for Flat Tappet Cam Cars!

About a year ago, I wrote about recent changes in engine oil packages that pose threats to older, flat tappet camshaft operated car engines. In essence, manufacturers removed zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) from oils to minute trace amounts in order to satisfy upcoming regulations for new diesel and heavy truck emissions. Word is new trucks will be running catalytic converters and Zinc is known for fouling them up. Car manufacturers years ago switched to roller camshafts for mass production and those style cams don't require added zinc protection the way older, surface hardened gray iron camshafts do.
The results of using the recent formulated low zinc oils have been catastrophic. Camshaft failures inside of 300 miles is common, especially on new engine builds. Older engines with a bit of zinc embedded on the lobes will stay protected for maybe one oil change cycle but then they're in danger. When I last wrote about this topic, the suggested solution was to add engine oil supplement (EOS) or use a synthetic grade motor oil. Since then, another alternative has arrived.
Union 76 HIgh Performance Motor Oil, Kendall GT-1 High Performance Motor Oil 20W50 and Phillips TropArtic Racing Motor Oil 20W50 are being reformulated with more ZDDP starting in March 1, 2009. These oils will contain 1200 ppm of zinc which is the required amount to provide cams with antiscuffing, antiwear and oxidation inhibition.
Some Questions and Answers about engine wear and ZDDP
Q:Why do the older camshafts wear out quickly without ZDDP?

A: Older flat tappet cams such as the 428 CJ, Ram Air IV, LS-6 and LS-5 and other high performance engines were surface hardened only. A car with high spring pressures and not enough zinc in the oil can wear through the protective surface very easily. Pitting, uneven lobes, severe wear patterns appear very quickly. As the camshaft profile changes, power loss occurs.

Q: Other than losing a cam and lifters, are there other dangers?

A: Yes, we've seen a few of these engines stripped down last summer and witnessed camshaft bearing wear and lopsided bearing journals. A significant amount of displaced metal appears in every case. If the metal isn't found in the oil pan, it is somewhere inside the engine block, in an oil gallery or pump main. In such instances the reccommended procedure is to tear down and flush the block to remove loose metal. That's the only way to assure no further contamination. At the very least, the cam bearings must be changed.

Q:My engine is a fresh rebuild. I lubed the camshaft with the factory supplied lube. Do I need this EOS additive?

A: After you've done your initial engine break in, You drop the oil pan plug and change to fresh oil. It doesn't matter which brand you pick, likely it will have less than 1200 ppm of zinc. That protective goo on the cam is for the most part, gone now. It did its job during break in. You still need to use EOS or one of the new formulated oils at the top of the article for protection.

Q: My car is street driven and I use 10W30 oil. Wouldn't switching to a heavier grade of oil reduce horsepower?

A: In more recent engines where tolerances are tighter, say a 4.6 Ford or the last of the 5.0 Mustangs, you might lose some power. The 5.0 liter Cobra engines from 1985 and up used roller cams so it's not an issue the way flat tappet cams are. If you want to keep using 10W30, try an additive instead.

Q: Where can I get EOS additive?

A: General Motors Canada has the additive for sale. It's been reported the product is no longer in service at US dealerships with an invalid part number. Likely lots of dealers have old stock available. Competition Cams sells bottles of their own brand. Either will work fine. ZDDP or zinc is the ingredient you want.
See also "Flat Tappet Camshafts Need Zinc!" from April 18, 2008

PHS Interviews: Sean Mattingly of UltimateGTO.com

Pontiac GTO fans have been visiting UltimateGTO.com owned by Sean Mattingly for years. A megasite rather than a simple portal, almost anything related to the first US muscle car is there if you look hard enough. It has over 16,600 pictures of real GTOS, Tempests and Lemans from every year. This year, TUGTOPS is expanding with new features, so we thought it was time for another interviw with Sean Mattingly.

PHS: TUGTOPS recently celebrated its 12th Anniversary. When you first started, did you think it would ever get this large?

SM: In 1996, no. My computer at the time had a tiny 40 Meg hard drive, and going on a quest to collect a photo of evey GTO seemed impossible. In the beginning, I was only saving photos of 1968 GTOs on large 5.25 inch floppy discs. I think I fitted 8 photos on each floppy. It seems pitiful today compared to the fast commercial server I'm on with Terrabytes of storage space. What surprised me is how many "car nuts" would contact me from around the world with tales of their GTO lust. If you can get high on car enthusiasm, this is it.

PHS: My favorite section of the site is advanced picture search. I use it all the time for research purposes. Do you have a favorite part of the website; one that still gives you lots of pleasure to this day?

SM: The Advanced Picture Searcher is my favorite too. If people haven't seen that, they're missing out on my buddy, Jeff Klein's, brilliance. He's helped database every photo on the site. Easily a decade before other sites even thought of organizing pic galleries with "tags", we'd built a searchable database. If someone needs to search just for GTO "pedal cars", there's a dropdown box on the screen to see 24 pics of pedal cars. If you get a hankerin' to see lesser known models like the "Custom S", Advanced Picture Searcher will show you 63 of them in 2 door hardtop, convertible and 4 doors. See right there, you might have learned something interesting if you didn't realize there was a four door "Custom S" that resembles your GTO.
One of my daily pleasures is reviewing photo comments. Every day, web visitors leave comments on the cars. Usually, they have favorable encouragement for the car's owner. Once in awhile, a guy will find a pic of his long-lost GTO and tell the owner, "Hey, that's my old car! My Dad made me sell it when I got my first speeding ticket. Good to see mny old car is still alive."

PHS: Looking over the Wide Track era, Pontiac added many new pieces to keep the GTO a front runner. At one point, the image solidified and people perceived GTO to be the best performance intermediate available. Sales statistics suggest that happened in 1966. In your opinion, what were the strong and weak points of the 1966 GTO?

SM: How can a person explain love at first sight? Even if one of these cars was sitting in the middle of a junkyard among many other makes, it's the first one you have to walk up and examine. Even the King of Sweden adores the 1966 GTO and drives his in parades. Of course, I have a photo of that along with 1,282 others. I've tried to gauge the popularity of different model years using weekly poll questions on the main page. I asked people what year they prefer. If you thought 1966, you'd be close. In polls conducted from 2001-2003, the '69 GTO won. From 2004-2006, the '67 GTO was most popular. In the past three years, it has been a tie between 1969 and 1967.

PHS: The GTO along with the Mustang, was one of the first muscle cars to be restored in the late 1970s. Your website has remarkable tools for the restorer from vintage pics and many variations in trim and options, links to Performance Years forums and a large dealer list by zone. How did you start a zone list file? Dealer codes are only seen on build sheets, sales receipts and PHS documents.

SM: I started the Pontiac Zone and Dealer Code list as a side project. It's located under "Text Topics" on main page. For the most part, car owners contributed their codes via email and I add them to the list. Some of my helpers will walk around car shows and jot down zone codes and dealer names from window stickers and send them to me. I was sure someone would volunteer a printed complete list. No such list has surfaced. Since 1996, I've had people liquidating two different estates tell me they thought such a book or document was in their dad's collection. Neither of them were able to produce a master list. So until one appears, we have over 1,050 user submitted codes with towns and notes.

PHS: Sean, you're adding more features and content this year. What can visitors expect to see on TUGTOPS soon?

SM: I'm adding more GTO pics and picking out bigger images for "Picture of the Week." The backlog of unposted material is huge. I've probably 2,500 to edit and database. I'll post some news items on GM and the current demise of the Pontiac brand. I wish there was positive news to report on that.

PHS: Like most people, you have a day job, tending operations for radio stations in Indiana and doing a DJ drive as well. Is it difficult to get spare time?

SM: The site is set up so I can administer it from pretty much anywhere. It helps when I'm on the road. I can't make a career out of GTOs can I? If I made UltimateGTO.com my main business, the site would have to be plastered with ad banners. I'd never do that to my fans. It's a fun hobby site, I'll keep it that way.

PHS: In the summer, you've toured all the drive in theaters of Indiana and posted photos of many. Is there anything you'd like to do with your GTO that you haven't tackled yet?

SM: I caught the drifting bug at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. I'd like to do a perfect 360 degree spin. GTO drifter, Rhys Millen, showed me how it's done there. I keep trying but can't get it just right. For some reason, my non power brake car has trouble nailing it back home. I can make a few passes in my '68, but then the cops have to come and watch...

PHS: From my perspective, once prices at auctions topped $50,000 for decent GTOs, it hurt the hobby. We saw less GTOs and other real muscle cars appear at cruise nights and owners became reluctant to drive them. I haven't seen a real hemicuda in four years. What is it like out your way? Do people still enjoy their cars the way they used to?

SM: Here in the Muncie, Indiana area, land is cheap. The countryside is flat farmland with plenty of pole barns. You know what's in those barns, tractors and old cars! I don't think people are overly scared of driving them around here. The towns are small, traffic is light, people are still polite. Heck, I still drive my GTO down to the shopping center to get a haircut. Nobody messes with the car. Just today, I saw a shiny 1966 LeMans at Subway. There's a lady who works at a fast-food place with a purple metal flake GTO with skulls hanging from the rear view mirror. I also know a guy with 5 CanAms in his side yard, all in driveable condition.
With today's technology, if you wreck your classic beyond hope, who cares? With the internet, you could find another one and have it in your driveway in about a week. Searching for cars and parts has never been easier with the internet. In my opinion, it makes no sense to try to "keep the miles off" a car. Life is short, put ON some miles flying down country roads in an old-school car made without any computers in it! Enjoy the hell out of it and yes, use it up without remorse.

PHS: Everyone it seems has a favorite GTO. If you won the Powerball Lottery and money was no object, what model GTO would end up joining your 1968 hardtop?

SM: I might get some kind of pace car. The Indy 500 is south of us. I regret Pontiac never made a Pace Car edition GTO. They should have made a Hurst GTO pace car, darnit! One of the orange and white Camaro convertible Pace Cars would be cool.

PHS: What are some of the big changes you've seen with GTO owners since you've started this site?

SM: People used to write in telling me how "rare" their car was. Now they can browse through pictures, look at maybe 45 pics of cars with the same paint and roof color. Suddenly it's not so rare, plus they can correspond with other owners. It's great to see people sharing stories and info about their GTOs.

PHS: A great feature you have is continual updates on news items related to GTOs. You've covered car crashes, street racing arrests, notable auctions. What's the strangest story you've seen involving a GTO?

SM: There were so many. A lady won a new GTO on "The Price is Right" game show. The prize car they delivered had been previously wrecked and repaired. They didn't disclose that to the lady and she sued. Another one is the Police Chief in tiny Boones Mill, Virginia, with his 2004 GTO patrol car. He's in the news for ticketing speeders or fighting with the mayor and the town council. Last one I saw, he bought a good size yacht at a surplus auction. Not having a lake for his new yacht, he built a pool for it in the front yard and puts it on display as a lawn ornament. OMG the photo is hilarious.

PHS: Your early hobby car experiences are documented in the website.At one time, you bought a GTO. What made you buy one over say, a Trans Am or Chevelle?

SM: Since junior high I liked Pontiacs. I would go the public library and read all the car mags they had. When shopping for my first car, I tested a used Smokey & the Bandit TA. It was way out of my price range. I also admired the Buick Grand Nationals. Instead, I veered off to the GTO world and am thrilled with it. My wife won't let me buy any additional cars with one exception. She says I can bring back a '77 Bandit Trans Am anytime. I just might do that someday as a surprise!

PHS CollectorCarWorld thanks Sean Mattingly for
taking time to answer our questions. For more info,
pictures about the first muscle car, visit
http://ultimategto.com

Chrysler Brinkmanship,Cerberus style

Cerberus, the three headed dog to the gate of Hell and guardian of Chrysler, is playing brinkmanship with the CAW and Canadian government. Representatives through an unnamed source within the company has claimed the company cannot afford to match the terms of the present CAW deal as negotiated with General Motors this year. The source said it would be more feasible to move the entire tooling from Canada to USA and continue making vehicles there instead of matching the deal.
It seems to me they are bargaining in bad faith without adequate back up.As they are in default on previous loans as it stands, a good case can be made for the government to seize assets and force a shutdown of the Canadian subsidiary until proper reparations are made in full. As a private company, Cerberus doesn't reveal proper accounting for assessing true financial status. Looking at Chrysler from the outside we see a very dim picture. The last major retooling was for a full size truck, a limited market V8 performance car and relatively large displacement V8 engine. None of this augers well for a future where gas will be expensive and a hard hit North American market. The smaller cars are adequate but larger models are either old or not fuel efficient to face the new reality.
Looking at their cash liquidity situation, we see nothing but trouble as well. In a private enterprise situation, a company must either adjust and pare down efficiently or suffer the consequences. Since auto makers here don't really operate in a private enterprise model with unions and government regulation, it stands to reason proper adjustment should be made in their business plan to compensate for those factors. It is clear now no one had done so at Daimler Chrysler or Cerberus. In light of such spectacularly bad management, LaSorda have the nerve to demand major changes to suit their poor business model.You are wasting time!
It's time for the feds to walk in, lock up the plants and take possession for nonpayment of loans and suspect business activities.
Cerberus should have studied Classical History more. They would have learned that Hercules defeated Cerberus and brought it from the Gates of Hell. He used his bare hands to do it. They would have also learned that Cerberus was easily mollified with cake as Psyche learned as she went down to bring back a beauty charm for Venus. Sibyl also bribed the mangy mutt with cake as well. So we have a dog that acts as a bully, is defeated bare handed and can be bribed with cake. How fitting! Well we tried the cake already, let's send Hercules down.
FLASH!! Workers have seized a Chrysler parts manufacturing facility in Windsor, Ontario to prevent loss of tooling and vital componentry needed to complete vehicles and force a fair job loss settlement procedure. The revolution starts now.

Pontiac Bandit TA advice and SS 427 Impala resto

I've been busy the last couple of months writing for various publications and conducting the usual appraisals and restoration consulting work. A nice 1967 SS 427 Impala fastback is coming back to life now after a long 18 year slumber in a Nissan Hut. We were able to source original hubcaps, AM/FM radio and decode the buildsheet for the owner. It will look fantastic when the original Honduras Maroon paint is resprayed next month.
You can have a look at some articles I've done for an excellent website called Second Chance Garage. They specialise in enabling car owners to handle their own maintenance and restoration chores. Their practical, well laid out articles show you how, what to do, and in what order. They also give tips and hints on avoiding common errors. Second Chance Garage also covers foreign cars and 1940s classics as well.Check them out at secondchancegarage.com. You can see my articles on my 1980 Trans Am turbo SE carpet installation, plus a couple of exclusive articles on buyer's guides for the 1963-67 Sting Ray Corvettes and the 1968-1972 Pontiac GTO.
For Trans AM Special Edition fans, a complete database of how to articles from my logbook on Dead Eagle is available at bandittransamclub.com web portal. Check it out under the Speed Demon Restoration Articles.
My knowledge on 1970-1981 Firebirds was also tapped for articles on the Auto Blog column, "Breaker,Breaker: Year One Recreates Bandit TAs" article by Dan Roth. Much of the research info was gleaned from two articles I wrote about Bandit TAs located on the bandittransamclub web site under team hoghead links.
I also helped verify the 1st Y84 Fisher hatch top Trans Am which was given to Burt Reynolds in appreciation for promoting the Trans Am in Bandit and Hooperman movies.NPD president, Tim Schmidt, owns this car and can be seen at their Ocala showroom.You can see pics of the car and learn its history at highperformancepontiac.com features on the 1978 TA by Don Keefe.
Right now, I'm going over my new parts for the 72 GTO in anticipation of the upcoming cruise season.

PHS predicts some future American Collector Cars

Suppose you've gotten tired of 1960s and early 70s muscle cars and want to try something new. What would be a good bet in today's uncertain market? I always go by the one maxim that is failsafe. Buy what you love. If you just buy with the aim of selling it later for a profit, the kind of car chosen is different. Resellers aim for a price advantage on a popular make that can be resold for closer to market value. There's a bit of that going on right now.
If I were to bet on the future for classic cars that will appreciate above market norms, these are the cars I'd pursue.
Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 convertibles 1989-1992 This was a very popular car with a frugal engine compared to the 1970s V8 behemoths. They were mass produced and the number one compact seller in Canada for eight years running. A generation grew up with these cars. That's important.A lot of people will have memories of these cars in their youth. It also didn't change much over the years and the engines were pretty good. No one is restoring them right now. In fact, they're just leaving the sphere of ultra hipdom in the tuner world as later model Asian iron starts depreciating enough to become attractive. GM is in dire financial straits today. One tax deduction companies use in tough times is to write off unsalable merchandise via parts scrappage programs. Chrysler did it in the 1980s making classic Mopars of the sixties expensive to restore. Expect a whole bunch of Cavalier parts to vanish from the parts books. If you want to restore one of these with NOS items, start NOW.
Pontiac Fiero: The only one I qualify here are the 1987 true fastback models with hot V6. Otherwise it's a pretty dull car.
Volkswagen Golf convertible: This one surprised me when I wrote it down. On second look, it's a pretty good candidate. Aftermarket support is strong and a number of extra hop up parts are around. The evergreen allure of a convertible makes it cool while the durable engine makes it practical.
If you're hankering for something more exotic and V8 powered but not as obvious as a Mustang Cobra, consider the 2002-2004 Thunderbirds. It's very posh inside, has excellent European lineage with engine and design connections to Jaguar. The 3.9 V8 is just an underbored Jaguar XK mill. I had two of these cars as factory press pool vehicles doing road tests for magazines. My 2003 'bird was Mountain Shadow Grey with Grey hardtop and grey interior.Very classy and quite strong for a GT style cruiser.
The 2005 was a 50th Anniverary Edition in metallic white with beige interior. It was another class act with loads of power toys. The white 'bird had a nasty test week with record rainfall in the springtime. No roof leaks, no problems with traction. Everything worked without fail except for the odd radio miscue. These are classics and they're near the bottom of the depreciation curve. Four more years at the most and they'll start climbing. The tie in with Jaguar during Ford's ownership era makes these Anglo American hot rods in the true sense. I'd take one of these over a Buick Grand National any day.