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timkingsbury

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  1. timkingsbury
    February 6 1932   my good friend and second Dad, the Grand Master of Flathead Mopars -  George Asche was born.     Yesterday was his surprise Birthday Party and today
    is George's 85th Birthday!     The picture below  is rumored to be when George Graduated High School, but I think really that should be a diploma of future Flathead Chrysler, Desoto, Plymouth, Dodge/Fargo's mastery !    In the background is his Dad's Dodge truck which George still owns today!
     
    Happy Birthday George!
     
    Oh and if your wondering what George was up to for Birthday. Well  -  Lunch with his Boys at the shop (George III,  Rob and Tim), then building some carbs up, then over to the machine shop for some consulting as the AoK dual carb intakes were rolling through 7 different station.   The picture of  George with the prototype and the very first one to be completed which of course is his birthday present.. lol   A few pictures of the Dual  Carb (23 1/2" USA small block) and Triple Carb (25 1/2" Canadian  Big Block) intakes going through  the steps,  and being test fitted on blocks setup with exhausts so that every intake has been checked for a perfect fit.
     
    Then it was off for Supper in Knox (Horse Thief Capital of the World) and  back to George's shop and setting up tomorrows trip, which is believe it or not, were heading down to pick up George's Uncle Harry Hiens -  #90 who is in the Nascar  Hall of Fame. Harry lives in Mars PA.  Were bringing him up to check out the AoK intakes and take George's newest 1929 Desoto  for a ride!
     














  2. timkingsbury
    Shirley Muldowney's Mom,  Mae Scarborough Roque passed away today, in her 100th year.  
    I had the chance to chat  With Mrs Rogue. What a wonderful lady. How proud she was of her "little girl" putting those boys in their place on the track. In her 100th year
    She had quite a life. 
     
    Our condolences to Shirley and the entire family
     
     
     
    Mae Scarborough Roque
    JANUARY 3, 1918 - JANUARY 9, 2017


  3. timkingsbury
    We hear from people regularly who want another opinion on something, or feel the general forum doesn't fit their needs because they want to ask - where can I buy ???? Or is "$x" to much for this or that.
     
    This is not a replacement for the buy and sell section of the forum, and for what it costs it is hugely under utilized. But if you maybe need a picture of a part you want to use to put up on that section asking to buy one, maybe we or a member can help you with it.
     
    Post away and we will see if we can get you some help.
     
    We maybe delete and restart this thread if it goes stale, but will try and provide folks a fair amount of rope.
     
    Tim
  4. timkingsbury
    Well folks as 2016 starts to wind down we reflect on the year and what a different year it has been. It seems like just yesterday the new year started and here we are in December!
    What a magical month December is. The countdown to Christmas is well under way. Santa Claus parades throughout the world. Cities and towns lit up every night with fabulous Christmas light displays. School kids and churches putting on Christmas plays and pageants. Hopefully hearing the sounds of coins and bills dropping in to the bottom of the Salvation Army red kettle drums and other charities receiving support for all the great work they do.
     
    The elves at the North Pole working furiously to satisfy the wishes from the tons of letters arriving at the North Pole. Hockey fans counting down the days until the IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Championship tournament begins (Had to throw in some Canadian Hockey influence here)  and visions of getting your Mopar out next spring dancing in many automotive enthusiasts  head.
    I am sure every Mopar fan has made their list of parts they hope to find under the tree Christmas day, and I am sure a lot of good Girls and Boys will find a few Mopar related items boxed up for them.   I definitely know the AoK boys shipped a lot of stuff to the North Pole recently as, well we subcontract to Santa for some of those harder Mopar items that his elves have a difficult time to make!  lol

     
     
     
    We often get Christmas cards and Christmas wishes, many come in different forms as technology evolves.   Here is one of our favourites containing a lot of our favourite things -  a Fargo pickup (great for hauling presents), a little Mopar Period Performances additions, and of course that it has Santa !
     
     
    On behalf of the Asche family; George Jr and his sons  George III & Rob,  the Kingsbury family; Tim   and his son Dan, collectively  known as the AoK boys, we wish one and all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Years!
     
     
  5. timkingsbury
    In this sport its funny how many times ones path crosses with a kindred spirit, This blog entry is of just such a person, whose daily driver, and I do mean year around daily driver, got another performance improvement. Not its first and not its last.
     
    Proud to have a good friend of the AoK boys document his baby's latest performance update.
     
    Here we go - As Fred started out -

     

    "Hey all, had a suspicious package arrive today at the local Canada Post Office inside the General Store.
    Much to my thrill, a AoK Asche Dual Intake/exhaust, BBI carbs, and a A833 adpater plate was in the box, T5ers eat your hearts out..
    Now the big plan for phase 1, pull stock manifolds, clean up engine paint and make all nice and purdy.
    The new duals will be installed, with George Asche carbs and linkage, these are the large cfm truck carbs too.
    Hope to get a lot more punch out this old 238 engine, gonna be kool.
    The A 833 trans, have 1 in the wings, not sure how well it will be with my current 3.23 gears, but do think it should be just fine.
    I am not sure if I will be pulling the head, and having it shaved, but that is a possibility.
    The final plan at some future point is the ultimate 265 hot cam, shaved head, will definitely push this little old Fargo along real nicely...."
  6. timkingsbury
    Folks - I started to write this note on Monday on what was the 80th Birthday of my good friend, George Asche's wife June's 80th birthday. June has been in extremely poor health for the last 14 months and has surpassed all of the medical experts estimates. The last few weeks have been a struggle but when I dropped by to visit with flowers as I have done for now close to 20 years, she smiled, thanked me and tried hard to carry on a conversation. She was a very cool lady. She was both extremely talented musically as she was up to Nascar races and what Mopar projects were going on around the AoK world.
     
    So I started my blog entry to pay tribute to the lady who called me her third son, which always got a both smile from both of us as I would say, I am always proud to be your oldest son, even if I was your last child..
     
    Well, Monday was her 80th birthday and on Monday we started the celebration of her life as God called her home on her birthday. I apologize as I should have put up notification of her passing, but I just wasn't feeling
    up to it. On Wednesday evening there was a celebration of her life and the outpouring of love and support
    was incredible to see.
     
    At the end of the evening the count of the people who visited, was some how appropriate, being the magical Mopar number of 426!
     
    Thursday was her funeral service and it was a terrific service appropriate for just how special June was.
    It was an overflow crowd and was followed by a reception at the local church with enough food to feed a large army.... and I am not kidding.
     
    Here was the notice in the paper.
     
    http://www.fallerfuneralhome.com/obits/obituary.php?id=608005#.V18oeWWOgfE.facebook
     
    For those wondering how George is, I would say this. George and June have been married 60 years later this month. The loss of a spouse is a life changing event, but I know George well and he is at peace that his beloved June is today in a better place. June, like George was born again, and all of the family and close friends know that while June's time on earth has ended, her impact will go on forever and she is with God today, and likely either playing a guitar, piano, or watching a Nascar or NHRA race in heaven. George who was at June's side in the end as he has been on a constant basis during the last chapter of her life, I think finally got
    his 1st full nights rest in over a year this week.
     
    For those wishing to send a note to George, since I was asked today, George's address is 1693 Fertigs Road, Fertigs PA, 16364
  7. timkingsbury
    I was asked if I could start a Nostalgic Chrysler Flathead Racing thread.
     
    Of course, Plymouth, Dodge, Desoto, Fargo and Chryslers are all clearly included as are things like a friend
    of the families who have a Flathead Chrysler in a Model T Ford.. If it has a Mopar Flathead in it, well it likely
    belongs here.
     

    Of course from Stock Car to Drag Racing, Walter Chrysler's engineers have had their fingers in the racing pie pretty much since
    the birth of the Chrysler Corporation.
     
    Along the way the "up and coming" Flathead Chrysler earned its reputation for taking on and blowing away the competition with
    V8's and more.
     
    Along the way, I hope this becomes a spot those who once had closely guarded secrets on how they got a "little more" out
    of their Flathead Mopar might finally tell all..
     
    I know from the AoK racing family the 50s were the start and the golden age for George Asche and Eddy Kingsbury. George who
    in the 50's would campaign his 1929 Desoto, powered with a highly modified 265 Chrysler in the famed "Flying Mile" on Daytona beach
    where he would go undefeated. George raced V8's and even a v12, in a competition that say a big Chrysler Hemi. In the end George
    whose top speed was 142 mph.. Yes 142 mph would become the gold standard at the Flying Mile that season. While there is no longer
    Drag Racing on the beach, George still owns the 1929 Desoto, and it still has no problem meeting all the speed limits in North America.
     
    On the north of the 49th Parallel flathead racing say the building engines driven by some legendary stock car racers, among those the Legendary Jimmie Howard who was one of the 1st Canadians whose full time job was racing stock cars. That also saw the very 1st multi-carb car in stock car racing history, when Wellington Motors in Guelph Ontario received their 1st "nudge nudge wink wink" dual carb, dual exhaust manifold set
    that went onto a stock car in the spring of 1952. Armed with the Chrysler Engineering parts Manual supplied by my Grandfather, my Dad
    waited for inspect to defend the usage of the dual car and dual exhaust combination as it technically met the rules of the day.
     
    So as promised.. here is the start of the blog entry..
     

    If you wish, post away.. if you want to email me stuff that you want me to post on your behalf or as part of the blog, feel free
    to send them to me at - fargopickupking@yahoo.com
  8. timkingsbury
    In this chapter: Its locked down, who knows and who cares how much HP it has, its time to take this puppy to Toronto International Dragway ! Lol.. the NHRA 1/4 mile track, not the now Toronto International Airport !
     
    What had started off as a young guys spotting a dream car in a junk yard, had really become the ultimate family project in my family . Really made possible by my Dad, and both Grandfathers playing significant roles, as did a great deal of the family. I fully realize without the support of my Mom and Grandmothers in the background, the project would have long ago ground to a halt!
     
    By its initial completion I think all of my relatives were aware of the project and many had contributed. I likely also used up all my birthday and Christmas presents for a decade along the way.
     
    Heck even my 1st cousin got involved. She and her friend came over washed and waxed the car without my knowing. They had just left a note with a smiley face on it and a note "Finally clean and ready to roll! Don't forget to take your favourite cousin for a ride.. hint hint!"
     
    My Dad had spent what I thought was a lot of time "tuning the elephant" as he would say. I am to this day still suspicious he was just delaying the launch date until he had a day off.
     
    One Saturday morning which was really only a couple of weeks after the interior had been put in, Dad said to me - "want to go for breakfast with grand-dad. I said sure. I walk out got in his pickup and he yells as he is coming out of the house, to move the truck out to the road. I remember like it was yesterday thinking what does he want to do that for. I moved it out and came back to the house as he had went back in the house. We had a garage that was integrated into the house and had bedrooms over top of it. Usually Mom's car was in one side and there was "stuff in the other bay" What I didn't realize is Dad had brought up the Challenger and parked it in the garage. It seems everyone else in the village did.
     
    Dad heard me come back in the house and yelled from the garage, - "I am down here, lets take this one"..
     
    I remember thinking, take what one, Mom's car? Why would be want to take that. I walked down and there with the garage door rolled up was Dad sitting in the passenger seat of the Challenger..
     
    Wow.. talk about a kid at Christmas.. I walked over opened the drivers door and said - "when did you sneak this in here" and who cleaned it?" He smiled, handed me the note my cousin left and in I got.
     
    I had heard it run what seemed like a hundred times, and even sat in it and fired it up many times, but today it seemed to be a little different.
     
    As the starter engaged and the elephant came alive, it was like she was finally ready to get out of the cage. I remember it seemed like it barely turned over when it flashed up and as I feathered the gas peddle and let it warm up
    you could hear the power. I pulled off the emergency brake and off we went. Pretty much with my foot on the clutch, the other on and off the brake all the way out the drive, down an incline and down to the stop sign.
     
    I am not sure who had the biggest smile on their face, Dad or myself, but I do know it took a lot of restraint not to lite it
    up right there. But I turned right, let the clutch out and barely above an idle, drove it the couple of blocks to the main street. I looked both ways, and as I turned left onto the main street, I heard Dad say "flash it up a bit" which was coincidental as it was straight and pointed down main street I put my foot into it. Oh my god did it go. The front tires came up, the back wheels broke loose and the monster under the hood came alive.
     
    Its about 730 on a Saturday morning, and I am launching the Challenger on the main street of Rockwood. Its a sleepy little village with 995 people at the time, and everyone knows everyone, believe me. The speed limit is at the time 30 mph and well I may have been slightly above that as I shifted into 2nd opened it up for about 10 seconds, and then had to shut it down for the up and coming stop sign!
     
    I looked over at Dad, he was looking at me, both smiling, and he just pointed his finger forward. I took it pretty easy as he rolled out of town and I was wondering if I was fouling the 16 spark plugs(2 per cylinder) as I was moving barely over an idle going out of town.
     
    As we hit the edge of the town, and the ironic sign "Rockwood Settles here", which is ironic as the cemetery is right beside the sign, I down shifted from 3 to 2nd, and hammered it. The front tires came off the ground, the back tires were lite up and the smoke was rolling out the wheel wells and we were off. The front end came down straight and I never took my foot off the throttle, until the revs hit the red line and I speed shifted it into 3rd and again the tires broke loose momentarily. It was pedal to the floor and we may not have had wings but we were flying. Into 4th and I back off as the speedometer was well north of the speed limit.
     
    Dad looks over and says to me - "ok its officially broke in, so you can stop babying it! Butttttttt if your going to drive it like you stole it, we best take it to the strip!"
     
    And so the seed was planted.
     
    We went down and picked up Grandpa Kingsbury who had really long ago finished breakfast. He literally would be up before the crack of dawn, and would have a half a days work done and breakfast made and eaten by 730am. We got down to the farm and he was sitting out on the front porch. He could hear us coming for likely 2 miles but sat there and seemed to enjoy us rolling up the lane. I said, "do you want to drive Grampa" and he chuckled and said, "nah there maybe too many police out." Dad had gotten into the back seat behind me and was wedged in with his feet over to the passenger side because Grandpa was well over 6 foot 6 and with his long legs had the seat all the way back and it well tilted into the back. The Challenger definitely was only a slight step up to a Plymouth business coupe when it came to 3 generations of Kingsbury's in the car. At 6 feet and 225 at the time, I was definitely the smallest member of the family in the car as we headed off to Guelph for breakfast.
     
    I don't remember a lot of the trip in, but I do remember as we pulled into the restaurant's parking lot, my Grandfather Bolton had his car parked right at the front door. During breakfast as more and more of Dad's buddies or employees or Grandfather Bolton's friends arrived it was clear this was well planned. There were no cell phones or instant messaging in those days. Heck, both Grandfathers were on a party line telephone service still in the 1970s.
     

    What started off as Breakfast turned into a 1 car,car show with us sitting at the front window and Dad or one of the Grandfathers out doing a show and tell with the car hood up. After breakfast Grandfather Bolton says something to the effect of "lets talk her out to the strip" and he lead us out to the edge of Guelph where a good friend of his owned the private air strip. I remember thinking there is not a chance they are going to let me take my car out on the strip, but hey I was just driving. We drove in the airport and up close to the middle of the track was and still is a little restaurant. In we went for coffee and as we were being given a table by the window, Grandfather was walking right past the employee only sign, through the kitchen and into the office that was in the back where the owner of the airport spent his Saturday mornings.
     
    Out he came with Grandfather and both sat down and we had coffee. A few minutes went by and he looked over at my Dad and said - "well Eddie, so your boy has a new race car I hear". I cant remember exactly what Dad responded with, but the conversation soon turned to maybe having a little match race down the strip against his Sons Corvette.
     
    His son had a 1967 corvette with a 427 in it. the engine was built by the local speed shop and had a big blower coming through the hood a couple of holley carbs and some crazy velocity stacks on top of that. It looked like something out of a cartoon.
     
    They had a few planes scheduled to take off or land in the next 40 minutes but after that there seemed to be a window.
     
    I just sat there at listened. Heck the car wasn't on the road for 1/2 a day yet and were talking about drag racing it.
    Dad looked over at me at one point and said, well what do you think. You want to take it out for a tuneup and see
    what we have. I do remember saying something like - "well if you think we should be really racing it, and if you think
    I can handle it, I guess".
     
    I do remember him saying back to me that given how I handled it so far, and given the airstrip is real wide, there should be lots of room and he wasn't remotely worried about the engine.
     
    So an hour later we roll out onto the air strip for an old school start and a car parked down the strip at the 1/4 mile marker. To be honest I had seen his son drive the Corvette through Guelph many times, and even had him come up to the lights beside me when I was on my motorcycle. The Vette ran like a complete ****-house with some wild cam and questionable ignition system that seemed more like it was missing more times than it was firing at low idle.
     
    It really wasn't much of a race, as despite the Vette leaving the line early, I was going by him in 1st gear as it was sounding more like a hit and miss motor than some high performance drag racing car, and when I crossed over the 1/4 mile marker he was 30or 40 car lengths behind me. It really wasn't close.
     
    He wanted a rematch and his Dad who owned the strip said, ok but this time if your tires start moving before my flashlight goes on your disqualified and paying for Tims fuel for the next month. This time he most certainly didn't leave early but about the time I hit 3rd I looked in my rear view mirror and couldn't tell if he had left the line yet or not he was that far behind. I crossed over the finish line and I could see him coming behind me, but he was a long long way back. We all wound up back in the airpark restaurant and not only did the owner shake my hand, but he also said to me if I ever needed any high test aviation fuel that all I had to do was drop by to see him and then directed me to
    take the car over and fill it up on him, before we left !
     
    To say I had fun with the car was an understatement. There were more than the odd guy wanting to run me across the lights, but the reality
    was there was nothing even close to touching it. It could pass anything but the gas station, and I pretty much always had the trunk 5 gallon gas cans as it was pretty fussy about what fuel it ran on, and 105 octane fuel wasn't just on every corner.
     
    The car was definitely not a daily driver and the reason was strictly because even with a great part time job, that seemed me really working 40
    hours a week while I was going to school, I just couldn't afford the fuel to drive it all the time.
     
    It wasn't long before Dad and I wound up with the car at Toronto International Dragway. The strip has officially closed as an NHRA track but there
    was still Friday and Saturday night racing taking place and Dad knew the manager Ted Bosma. There was pretty much everything short of top
    fuel and jet cars at the track and there were no sunday racing.
     
    We would drive the car to the track, change the back tires to slicks, and away we went. The licence for the dragstrip to operate seemed to
    have major restrictions. So some how Dad got us in to do a bit of testing early so for several Fridays we got there at 4pm and were able to get a
    few passes. Then came my chance, we were in a Modified Stock class and honestly I am not sure what the restrictions were. I know there were no blowers, and they were always checking the block casting #, but it didn't seem to be an issue with obviously nonstock heads and 2 distributors. Nor did they seem to be testing fuel, or at least not that I remembered.
     
    I have a ton of Friday night and Saturday afternoon drag racing stories, tons of pictures, time tickets and pictures of some pretty famous
    drivers who Dad worked for or with at some point that happened to drop by the track to see "the kid". On thanksgiving weekend we had
    a record 95 degree day with humidity that was approaching 100%. Dad had swapped out in carbs, and components to run Alcohol and in a
    cross over class race with the Pro Stock winner, the Challenger is 9.95 seconds 135.07 MPH in the 1/4 mile to break the 10 second barrier.
     
    Remember this is well before electronic boxes, and this is a 4 speed car, so back in the day, breaking the 10 second barrier was quite a feat. It also got the attention of the tech crew chief.
     
    Shortly after Toronto International would shut down as subdivisions crept ever closer and the one time country side drag strip that was one
    of the 1st to see Jet cars rocket down the track, quickly become under major attack by local politicians and just about as quick faded into the history books. Despite being encouraged by a number of well known drivers and racing teams, probably for the best I didn't pursue the lure
    of a career in drag racing. Lol... that doesn't mean that I don't have a signed ticket by a very famous driver and managed to keep a top fuel car in the lane at well north of 200 mph, but of course, that is another story !
  9. timkingsbury
    Howdy Folks -
    Well while we are awaiting the first lot of intakes to be cast George has been busy working on various linkage combinations.
    Here is the 1st look close up of the finished prototype AoK dual carb intake for 23 1/2" USA flathead mopars. This one has - prototype linkage being developed for trucks or 1933-1938 Cars
    Notice the left carb linkage bar has been cut short, and is not hooked to the left carb. That is strictly for prototype purposes It shows how
    the serial number and linkage block provides the spot for stock linkage components to be mounted and then integrated with the new AoK linkages.
    You will notice for this version we are using the outside "wings" to linkeage mounts on the outside. For newer cars where we want the linkage
    rail mounted on the inside the inside "wings" will be used and the outside block will just be the serial number plate.
    Of course the final linkage for older cars and trucks, will have a longer linkage bar and the same connection to the carb as you will
    see on the right carb. Of course on the carbs you will see a mounting spot for cars and for trucks. They actually connect in two different spots.
    I can tell you George has the linkage working perfectly. You would just use your stock brackets for trucks and older car applications and the AoK linkage will just integrate with it to give you the desired upgrade from the single to dual carbs. Oh yes, and hot debate on the name.. Our original intent
    was to have the writing read from the passenger side although you may notice it was reversed to be read from the other side.
    Oh and the cat is out of the bag, as the prototype wasn't supposed to have the name on it yet.. lol.. so lets say George was a little surprised
    as he didn't authorize his name on it.. That one I own although he smirked and lets just say he appreciates the tribute!
    so the "AoK George Asche Jr Ltd Ed" intake development is pretty much complete.






















  10. timkingsbury
    Well it has been a while since we last checked in with the progress report on the New AoK intake.
    As does happen some things just throw a curve ball into a project and the water jacket feature was our
    curve ball. We have a perfectionist as our pattern maker and while it didn't increase in price, he most certainly
    put in a ton of extra time trying to come up with a solution to the water jacket "perfect solution".
    The perfect solution really became comprised of two factors.
    1) We asked if it was possible and if so how much of a deal would it be to have 1 set of molds, that allowed
    for the creation of the intake without and then with the water jacket.
    We were doing that based on a pretty much split down the middle in response from customers on what they would
    ideally like to have.
    2) Was is there any difference in having the water tube integrated on the outside or the inside.
    If it is on the inside it would look better as things are a little more hidden and we don't have any issue
    with the it interfering with linkage required for vehicles needing linkage on the outside of the intake such as trucks.
    So between #1 and #2 we went from being a couple of weeks ahead when we were ready for a 1st cast early in January, to
    being a month or so behind. Lol.. welcome to the world of trying to make as perfect a part as you can.
    Now for the good news: The final molding (not just the prototype molding) is now finished and what we hope is the final intake
    before going to production with be cast this week.




    It will be shipped to us to be checked over, then machined to make sure it is 100% in line with the specs.
    Then assuming its two thumbs up we will go into production casting the intake without the water jacket.
    No, don't panic, we will then insert the add on mold piece and be able to cast the intake with the water jacket.
    So we are making progress and the there are some great things coming from the process but it is taking time.
    Expected shipping of intakes to customers... still shooting for April time frames.
    ******************************************************************************************************************************
    Appendix:
    This is a picture of our AoK triple for the big block. It has a set of AoK headers made from a stock exhaust manifold.
    Customer wanted white !


    These two pictures are the AoK triple on Tim Kingsbury (my) 1949 Plymouth Business coupe. It gives you a good idea what the headers
    look like mounted on the car. Personally I prefer the look over other headers as it provides more of a period look and provides the same performance results.




  11. timkingsbury
    Its part 4 over time.
    Lol.. some pictures of the engine bay, the fuel block you will see on the fire wall as custom made by Dashman's Hot Rod and Speed Parts. They make super cool stuff.. You can get an idea on their ebay account (items for sale) or check out their website or give them a call.
    http://www.ebay.com/usr/68rrman
    http://www.dashman.net/
    Oh yes, they are the supplier of the fuel distribution block and other cool stuff on the Worlds Fastest Dinasour !
    Also pics of the beautiful restored hubcaps by hubcap.com , the alternator Rob built and the waterpump view of the dual pulley system
  12. timkingsbury
    Part 3 - 1st car I purchased! .. Out comes the engine and the rebuild begins!
    We left off in my story with Mom knowing and surprisingly wasn’t quite ready to kill me. Of course my Mom is about 5 foot 2 and 120 pounds, and at 16 I was 6 feet and 220 pounds, but then, even I knew if she had it in for us Dad and I would be dead, lol figuratively speaking of course.
    In any case, the week after Mom found out about the car and we had the little family show and tell, Dad and I started on the motor. Off came the hood, and off came the intake. Dad shock his head, and soon off came the passenger side head. Not happy with what he saw, off came the other head.
    I remember Dad saying, well we have a project here alright, and off he went to get a engine tree as Grandpa called it. It was and adjustable frame that went over the car and that you could put a chain fall from a mounted hook and pull and engine. It was something Grandpa had made and it really was a heavy duty piece of equipment that could be taken apart and moved by 1 person, however assembled had no problem to pull a big motor out of a tractor or bulldozer. Up went the engine tree and before he left the hemi was out of the car and sitting on the barn floor, with its 4 speed transmission coming with it.
    The heads went into the back of Mom’s Fargo pickup that we had driven to the farm and home for supper we went. Mom of course wanted to know if it was back running yet, and Dad with a straight face said, nope, we need to freshen it up a bit.
    Lol.. yah freshen it up a bit was one way to put it.
    After supper Dad and I were in his shop attached to the house, and disassemble of the head took place. What we saw wasn’t pretty. Numerous valves were burnt, there were seats cracked and it was pretty clear, the engine had been driven hard.
    The next day Dad took the head to work and when he got home, the report wasn’t good. Both heads had cracks, the one with the blown head gasket and the most burnt valves was warped, cracked and pretty much not repairable.
    Next thing to move up from the farm to the shop was the short block. We knew there was antifreeze in the pan, so the question was, how long had it run with antifreeze in the pan and what there the bearings like.. Lol..well pan off and a couple of caps off, and it wasn’t pretty. Bearings were ruined,crank was damaged, rods were marginal, 3 pistons were damaged, and things were not looking well.
    Everything got checked for cracks, damage,and in the end Dad would say – well son, at least the block isnt cracked.. So much for this hemi needing a head gasket and away we go. This went from that to a rebuild, to a major rebuild, to the need for a lot of new parts.
    The truth is the list of parts was extensive. New crank, rods, pistons, rings, cam, heads, valves and on and on.. So with my part time, after school and summer time job at Rockwood hardware on the go I was literally saving nickel I could for parts. A couple more part time jobs and I was certainly putting in the hours.
    I think both Grandfathers, a couple of uncles, and heck even my Mom was feeling sorry for me. When people asked what I wanted for my birthday or Christmas, out came the parts list.. lol
    Dad help me find a good crank courtesy of his Chrysler contacts, and I sure lots about modifying a perfectly good crank to make it better. In Grampas shop we bored out the block and Grampa pulled some stings to get me a set of top fuel h-beam rods that actually were likely worth more than I paid for the car. I quickly learned there are balanced rods, and well there are rods my Dad and Grampa were willing to accept as balanced. Out came a rod balancing tool Grampa first built in the 1930s and that had undergone a few modifications and I got to watch the master at work. A so called balanced set of rods, under went about 30 more hours of work Partly it took so long as I was undergoing training Grampa and Dad style and partly because it started to become the pursuit of a perfect set of parts.
    At one point in time, Dad went into his parts room in the shop and out he came with a set of heads. These were no normal Hemi Heads and they had already undergone extensive modifications. Dad said to me, “well if were going to do this, then lets really do it”.. and it was really game on.
    I remember one Saturday morning, it wasn’t even light and Dad was waking me up to head to his shop. Assembly was about to start. It was more than a little father-son time, as Grampa Kingsbury was already in the shop with everything lined up ready to roll.We started assembly and after lunch Grampa Bolton arrived with the “mystery cam”. I say mystery because he and Dad were back and forth of cam specs, and Grampa had cut and parkerized 3 or 4 cams, had them put in the block checked things and out they came again.
    So he had mystery cam #7 as it was known because he had it wrapped in an old hockey practice jersey of mine, and you guessed it, it had a #7 on it.
    I figured I was there to make coffee, run for stuff, but oh no.. I most certainly was under heavy supervision, but the expectation was I was to by the chief assembly guy. By Sunday afternoon, the engine was complete and hooked up to a test bed Dad had for testing engines.
    I figured ok, lets fire this puppy up…. But oh no.. It seems I was the only one that didn’t know this was going to be a command performance. So we cleaned up,went home, got ready and headed to Grama and Grampa Kingsbury’s for Sunday night dinner. It was darn near a family reunion with aunts and uncles and cousins. After supper was over the two Grama’s standing at the head of the table asked if anyone wanted to go see what ‘Tim, and the cast of automotive tinkerers were up to”. I am sure I blushed a bit and my Grampa Kingsbury burst out laughing as my Grampa Bolton rolled his eyes and my Dad just shook his head. So everyone loaded up, and off to Dad’s shop we went.
    I thought it a little odd for about 20 people to have interest in test firing my engine, but what the heck.. So we all arrived in the shop and fired up the monster. With open headers dumping into hoses going outside,2 huge 4 barrel carbs on top, it definitely barked as it was 1st fired. The heads we were using had 2 spark plugs per cylinder so when my cousin said- “no wonder this thing is so loud. A v16 is so cool”…
    Of course that lead to my mom commenting that “no wonder it is so expensive” … and so the misinformation continued. Thanks Mom!
    Then came the real reason everyone was there. It wasn’t really to hear the engine start up, it was because my aunts and uncles had got together and had the interior redone, had it put into the rolling chassis, and they had brought it up from the farm and rolled it into Dad’s shop after we had left for home. It was a few days before my birthday and well “Happy Birthday!” was the theme as my Uncle got me over as he pretended to look in the car for the 1st time.
    So there it was, the engine done, the car done, it was just a case of getting the engine bolted back up to the transmission, and sliding the “big elephant” back into place!
    In the next chapter: Its locked down, who knows and who cares how much HP it has, its time to take this puppy to Toronto International Dragway ! Lol.. the NHRA 1/4 mile track, not the now Toronto International Airport !
  13. timkingsbury
    Thanks for all the awesome responses I have received from members with pictures of intakes, brochures and
    information as I keep putting together spotters guides on intakes and overdrives.
    I love the shout outs and stories behind your cars. They are great and should be up on the reference area as
    testimony to life lessons, great people and the stories behind their cars.
    From my super sleuth http://p15-d24.com/user/5770-61farnham/ from the other side of the Pond in England
    To Bob http://p15-d24.com/user/22-bobt-47p15/ from Missouri with incredible cars the challenge thrown at his family by mother nature
    and their perseverance. Id love to see all of his items I have seen up in a blog entry.
    To http://p15-d24.com/user/107-fargos-go-far/ for his help with intake pics, and his "Shout out to the AoK team" video that
    I couldn't resist putting up on youtube.

    or Ice Road Truckin... in a 55 Fargo pickup truck with a 251 flathead 6

    Cruising on a cold snowy day in the Interlake District Of Manitoba Canada.
    and last but definitely not least.. http://p15-d24.com/user/7710-charleyd/ scored a copy of the October 1952 Hop Up Magazine
    article which gives a big thumbs up to the Nicson intake and I will put it up under that intake thread as well as here.










    Keep them coming folks.. If you have pictures with intakes, maybe car brochures that show overdrives (Mopar of any division), overdrive information, corrections to what I have in the blogs, whatever. Oh and if you have a posts somewhere on the forums from years past I should check out or want to share about your car, projects etc, please keep them coming. I'm definitely Lov'n them
    and I don't care if your guessing, or speculating on hp or how things work, if it is framed as your best guess, I am ok with that.
    The goal remains the same. To overtime put together some resource documents that others can look over and get information
    without some massive trolling of the internet, books, and resource places. Aka your one stop shop at the p15-d24 site.
    Tim and the rest of the AoK boys.
  14. timkingsbury
    As referenced in my blog thread - The Rough Field Spotters Guide for Mopar Overdrives
    http://p15-d24.com/blog/17/entry-79-the-rough-field-spotters-guide-for-mopar-overdrives/
    One of the great articles I would like to refer to, is one that I have been given
    Permission from “the living legend” - Jim Benjaminson to use here.
    Of course if you are not a member of the Plymouth Owners Club here is the place to
    Do that and catch other cool stuff and articles
    http://www.plymouthbulletin.com/index.htm
    FROM THE PAGES OF...


    Borg Warner Overdrive Transmission
    by Don Frolich
    The first production offering of overdrive on domestic automobiles was on the 1934 Chryslers and DeSotos, an event no doubt greatly overshadowed by the radically-new Airflow theme offered that year by those same two marques. It’s perhaps ironic, then, that this option was not available on Plymouths until mid-year 1952 production an, only a few years before its popularity would wane in favor of the ubiquitous automatic transmission and a resurrection of the 4 speed manual box.
    Detroit had tried to compensate for the power and RPM limitations of the early thirties engine by means of four speed transmissions, but these were expensive. Moreover, drivers apparently were then unwilling to cope with the additional shifting necessary to take full advantage of them. In the fact, surveys showed that a great deal many 4 speed owners seldom, if ever, used all four ratios in normal driving.
    The 1934 Chrysler and DeSoto overdrives (Borg-Warner units, developed in conjunction with Mopar engineers) offered a good compromise solution to this problem, and between 1935 and 1942 eight other marques jumped on the bandwagon with the same Warner overdrives, which soon acquired reputations for both high speed and economy.
    Both as originally conceived and in its later generation format on the 1952 Plymouth, the overdrive was essentially a small case bolted to the back of the regular 3 speed transmission having a planetary gearset, which when engaged, reduced engine RPM’s by 30 percent at a given car speed.
    The first overdrive had no "kickdown" feature; once above the engagement speed (45 mph on the 1934’s) you momentarily let up on the gas to engage the overdrive, at which point the car was locked into that drive ratio until you again dropped below engagement speed. It could be locked out manually by a dashboard cable, but only below engagement speed, thus the engineers’ trade-offs in selecting the engagement speed were formidable problems. Too high, it would seldom be used; too low, the car would always be lugging, with very poor responsiveness in traffic, especially at higher attitudes.
    The fully automatic electrically operated version was introduced in 1939, and its final form, first appeared in 1946, was operationally unchanged but was simplified and less bulky that its ancestors.
    Having pioneered the use of overdrive, it‘s surprising what a meager use Chrysler Corporation made of it over the years. Chrysler and DeSoto offered it from the 1934 to 1940 (and 1941 eights); it next appeared in the fifities on Dodge and DeSoto (until 1956) and Plymouth (through 1959) Dodge trucks could be ordered with overdrives from 1954 to 1956. Most independents relied heavily on the overdrive from the thirties until 1963; Ford and Mercury used it from 1949 to 1963; and Chevrolet (the only GM user) from 1955 to 1963.
    The basic element of an overdrive is a single epicyclic or planetary gearset, consisting of: (1) a central, externally toothed sun gear; (2) a set of smaller externally toothed planet gears arranged around (and meshing with) the outside of the sun gear, their "axles" collectively supported by a carrier; and (3) an internally toothed ring gear surrounding (and meshing with) the several planet gears. A planetary gearset is in constant mesh. And it can be made to step rotational speeds up or down, or even reverse direction, by judicious choice of which of the three elements is driven and which is prevented from rotating.
    For example, if the planet carrier is made to rotate around a fixed central sun gears, than the planet gears "walk" around the sun gear and at the same time revolve about their own individual axes as well (just as heavenly planets both spin on their own axes and also travel around the sun, hence the nomenclature). The planet gears in turn drive the ring gear (output) at some rate faster that the input speed (1.4 times as fast in the overdrive).

    Planetary Gearset
    As used in the overdrive, automatic shifting from conventional to overdrive and vice-versa is dependent on an electric-solenoid-operated pawl which can be made to hold the sun gear stationary, an over-running clutch on the output shaft, and three electrical circuits: control, solenoid and kickdown. The control circuit (Fig. 1) closes the overdrive relay when: the ignition switch is on, the dash control handle pushed in (engaged), car speed is above the approximately 25 mph (sensed by a governor switch on the transmission output), and the kickdown switch plunger in not depressed.

    Fig. 1 Control Circuit
    The solenoid circuit (Fig. 2) simply provides current to the solenoid when the relay is closed.

    Fig. 2 Solenoid Circuit
    When the kickdown switch (Fig. 3) plunger is depressed, two things happen: (1) the normally closed contacts in the solenoid circuit are opened, de-energizing the solenoid; the solenoid spring attempts to withdraw the pawl but the engine torque holds it in. (2) A normally open set of contacts is closed, which completes a circuit from the ignition coil to the solenoid and thence, inside the solenoid, to ground. This interrupts engine torque so the solenoid can retract, which in turns opens the ground contact inside the solenoid, thus immediately restoring ignition function and thus engine power. On the upshift into overdrive, the free wheeling effect of the over running clutch when the accelerator is lifted unloads the torque path (drive line) sufficiently for the solenoid to engage without ignition interruption.

    Fig. 3 Kick Down Circuit
    As the interchange list indicates, several fifties era Mopar overdrives can be interchanges directly with the transmission assembly (with extension) on many non- overdrive cars back at least to 1941. The overdrive units themselves are all the same; also the transmission in overdrive equipped cars is essentially the same (as non-O.D.) except for a rail which runs internally from the transmission to the overdrive and serves to lock out the overdrive whenever the car is put into reverse, otherwise the over-running clutch would not transmit reverse torque to the rear wheels.
    Thus if you find an overdrive transmission that seems correct in most details, but differs, say, transmission input shaft, you can interchange parts between the two transmissions. However don’t try to attach just the overdrive part onto your non-overdrive transmission: it can be done but is tricky, requiring special machining of the case and some other parts.
    In addition to the complete transmission-overdrive assembly, the following control parts are required to complete the conversion: the solenoid, control lever, and governor switch, all of which fasten into of onto the overdrive housing: the control cable and dashboard handle; a kickdown switch and bracket, which mounts on the carburetor linkage; and the overdrive relay, which mounts under the hood. Try to get the wiring harness also, either to use of for a pattern for replacement. On my 1949 Plymouth, I mounted the kickdown switch through the floorboard but under the mat just to the left of the clutch pedal pad, so I could get kickdown without dumping the carburetor accelerator pumps, or if I wished, go from second overdrive to high "overdrive" by rolling my left foot outward so as to hit the kickdown as I depressed the clutch for the shift. Later, to accommodate my wife, whose natural action when she wanted more power was to press down the gas pedal, not the left floorboard, I added a second kickdown switch in the conventional location on the carburetor. The normally closed (control circuit) contacts on the two switches must be wired in series, and the two sets of normally open (ignition grounding) contacts connected in parallel.
    Anyone who makes the conversion should be aware that a given replacement overdrive (or any other) transmission may have come from a car with a different rear axle ratio, especially since in most years standard ratios were different for cars with and without overdrive. Usually, just replace the speedometer drive pinion in the new transmission with the one from the old to correct the speedometer. Also, be certain that the solenoid circuit is wired with No. 10 wire, and that it is protected with a 14 amp fuse at the battery terminal on the relay.
    As to standard rear end ratios, from 1949 through 1952, the 118-1/2 " wheel base cars used 3.9 except the 4 door wagon used 4.1 and the 111" wheel base cars uses 3.73. In 1953 and 1954, non overdrive cars used 3.73 and overdrive, 4.1. A car with 3.73 gears may no work too well with the overdrive: what with Dr. Fed’s Magic Elixir, the Great 55 MPH Hoax , you may never drive fast enough to avoid lugging the engine in overdrive. My ’49 with 3.9 gears seemed to be just fine, but of course I drove a lot then at speeds that are now illegal.
    Note the effect of the 0.7 overdrive ration on overall drive gearing:
    Rear Axle Ratio Overall ratio in O.D.
    3.54 -> 2.48
    3.73 -> 2.61
    3.9 -> 2.73
    4.1 -> 2.87
    4.3 -> 3.01
    The literature is somewhat contradictory on transmission interchange, so judgment and especially visual comparison is important. The swap should work on any standard transmission Plymouth 6 from 1941 through 1956. However, it appears from the interchange listings for the short wheelbase P-17, P19 and P-22 cars a transmission with a shortened extension housing was used. So to use the same drive shaft as the larger cars would mean that installation of an overdrive would require shortening or switching the driveshaft. On the other hand, as far as I can tell, the 1952 P-22 was available with overdrive, yet the interchange listings show no short drive shafts to accommodate the extra length. So on this switch, your guess is as good as (probably better than) mine.
    One warning after you have successfully completed your conversion: in order to lock out the overdrive while moving, depress the accelerator so as to be sure it is kicked down to "underdrive", then while continuing to accelerate simply pull out the control handle. It can be engaged at any time- just push in the control.
    In these days of ever-increasing gas prices, especially on tour cars, this conversion makes a lot of sense. It can also save wear and tear on the engine, and add considerably to the flexibility and thus your pleasure, in driving the car.
  15. timkingsbury
    Sharp Speed and Power Equipment - Al Sharp
    First up a vintage decal from Sharp Speed and Power Equipment.


    Yes this is the Al Sharp who under the banner "Sharp Engineering" Sponsored (and built the Hemi Heads) for the famous - "Mooneyham & Sharp 554 1934 Coupe" that can today be found be found at Don "Big Daddy" Garlits Drag Racing Museum oh and of course of the famous Hot Wheels collection !
    It seems Al Sharp acquired the Fenton intake patterns at a bankruptcy auction from Aaron Fenton. He used the Fenton intake patterns to cast the Von Esser, Jet, Ralph's muffler Shop, Don Cherry and others.
    Among those patterns he casted Plymouth/Dodge small blog intake under his own name "Sharp" and for Douglas Speed Shop (D & S on those intakes being Douglas and Sharp)
    Al Sharp had worked for a pattern maker before he joined the Navy and spent World War 2 in the Navy. When he got out he founded SP pattern service. I am lead to believe SP stood for Sharp and Pilkington (Gordon Pilkington).
    I believe the SP tops were designed for the Stromberg 97 carbs by the SP pattern service.
    So the reason why Sharp Intakes for the flathead Mopars perform like the Fentons, seems to be because they are the exact same except for the name/markings !
    What I didn't know until very recently was after Al Sharp passed away in the fall of 2004, the Sharp brand continued and on July 26, 2013 the "Sharp Speed and Power Equipment" Brand has been sold to H & H Flatheads/Navarro Racing Equipment.
    Here is a picture of Al Sharp holding a flathead intake, the above aforementioned drag racing coupe.




    Here are a few shots of a Sharp intake for a 23 1/2" USA small block courtesy of http://p15-d24.com/user/3672-deathbound/














    I have recently spoken to a member who has a D&S branded intake and it was he who jogged my memory about Sharp intakes as I had posted a picture of Al last year in response to another thread.
    While it is not really this thread/concept, it may be a good idea to do a piece or thread on the Legend Al Sharp and his partner and Racing Legend Gene Mooneyham. Gene a member of the NHRA hall of fame passed away January 2006, only a few months after Al Sharp.
    But to Sharp or D&S intakes, heads, instructions, advertisement or other documentation please bring it
    forward!
    Tim
    Update: Here are some pictures from http://p15-d24.com/user/5770-61farnham/ of his D & S intake and right below I will put the Fenton so you can see just how similar they are ! Amazing








    The Fenton -


  16. timkingsbury
    In creating this spotters guide for Flathead Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler, Desoto, Fargo intakes
    my hope was to show related information, pictures of various intakes, and attach any technical information
    and perhaps vintage ads for them.
    I am starting it here in hopes of putting something together with the help of many members and then maybe move it to the technical archives.
    If there is lots of information coming forward, then maybe it becomes a given thread for each different intake
    For now will do it as a grouping.
    Why do it here ? Only because I or someone can edit and compile.
    So 1st up Eddy Edmunds stuff - in my mind the Godfather of custom Mopar flathead intakes..
    Attached the picture of 3 of the Edmunds intakes.
    the dual carb Chrysler, Desoto and Dodge Truck (25 1/2" flathead) and the Edmunds triple for the
    Chrysler, Desoto and Dodge Truck (25 1/2" flathead)
    Courtesy of : http://p15-d24.com/user/296-ralph-d25cpe/
    The Edmunds instruction manual pages with Linkage








    Courtesy of: http://p15-d24.com/u...5770-61farnham/
    A 1st generation Edmunds dual carb intake for the Plymouth and Dodge (23 1/2" flathead)


    A 3rd generation Edmunds dual carb intake for the Plymouth and Dodge (23 1/2" flathead)




    Courtesy of http://p15-d24.com/user/6715-dwest999/
    Here is a 2nd generation Edmunds dual carb intake for the Plymouth and Dodge (23 1/2" flathead)
    with integrated water and for two barrel carbs. This is the Edmunds "Pancake" Intake


  17. timkingsbury
    Well there it was, the 1st car I ever bought, a 1970 Dodge Challenger... I knew it was a major project, but I was thinking - "well I can get parts to fix this over at the scrap yard at no extra cost and the body looks good." So I was quite pleased with things.
    I was off for home and Grampa who I thought was heading to the other barn to feed the livestock was busy jacking the car up and removing the wheels, just after I left. He was also obviously on the phone with Grampa Bolton.
    Home I arrived and my Dad was still at work as was Mom. I remember clearly thinking I best get to Dad first, so I got on my Motorcycle and headed to Dad's shop. I rolled in and walked into the shop where Dad was busy on a project for the Guelph Police, building what was known as Valiant pursuit package. It was a factory 360 police package. Dad and a couple of his team were taking the engine and transmission to the next level..
    It wasn't unusual for me to arrive at the shop, although normally it would be after school. Dad was working the 4 to 12 shift so it was a little unusual for me to be at the shop that late in the day. So it wasn't long before Dad said, to me "so what up".. Well Dad, I bought a new car and I remember like it was yesterday his reply - "a new car, you don't say"..
    I went on to explain that it wasn't exactly new, it was just new to me and that it was really a used car and it had some mechanical issues.. Well it wasn't long before he knew it was a 1970 Dodge Challenger and like every Dad likely would do he said, do you have any idea what the insurance will be on this car. Woops.. well I did think about it, but no
    I hadn't checked that.
    Then came how much did you pay for this car and how did you pay for it. I learned many years earlier, you may as well spill the beans, so I told him the whole story, right down to the loan manager who turned me down. The only good news is Dad couldn't stand the guy either, and Dad was about as impressed with the Loans managers lecture as I was.
    But surprisingly I didn't get a lecture about it was too expensive and he did think it was a great idea to get any parts we could get from cousins John for the car for free, but as he pointed out there are a lot of things on that car that likely wont be found in the wrecking yard. Oh and he would have preferred it was a Plymouth Cuda ! Lol
    Dad did also suggest I not break the news to Mom until he was home.
    That was good advise and for the next few days I was chewing off my finger nails, and trying to think if I would ever get to drive the car. Not only was Dad likely right and the parts I would need likely wouldn't be at the wrecking yard, despite it being the biggest yard for likely 100 miles, but the insurance was likely going to be out of reach.
    The day after Dad knew, I did what every young guy would do in my circumstances.....skipped school and headed to the farm to work on the car... lol what did you think I would do?
    I drove down to the farm, parked the motorcycle and headed for the barn. About 1/2 way down to the barn I noticed
    the lights were on in the barn. I remember thinking that is odd. Well surprise surprise, as I walked in the man door there was Grandpa hard at work on the car. He had the tires off the brakes all apart, the drive shaft out, the rear gear set out. Wow.. Grampa just looked up and said, well you want to go get on some farm cloths or you going to ruin those ones.
    Being the only grandson, I had my own bedroom in the farm house. It was my Dads old bedroom and I had
    cloths there so when I was working somewhere on the farm, I had cloths that if they got ripped or greasy it wouldn't be a problem. So I got changed and when down to the barn for the update.
    Grampa who was not a licenced mechanic likely could rebuild anything and definitely repair a car to not only have it pass the mechanical inspection, but usually had them repaired to the condition it would have come from the factory in or better. Its seemed the brakes were in terrible shape, brake cylinders were leaking lining was pretty much gone and when he was checking the rear end oil it smelled burnt so he tore it down. I remember thinking oh boy this car has been run hard and put away wet and were going to wind up rebuilding it completely.
    So we worked away and come lunch I asked Grampa if he checked the engine. "Nope, that is for you and your Dad."
    Early in the afternoon we were off to get parts. I assumed we were heading to wrecking yard, but noper... we were off to Wellington Motors where we got 3 or 4 boxes of parts. I mentioned Grampa that I didn't have any money yet to pay for the parts and he laughed. That is ok, I will add it to your tab. As it turned out Jean McLean had dropped of $1500 so the car was really only $3000, but I wouldn't find that out, until well after I had broke the news to Mom that I had paid $4500 for a car that was torn all apart and the engine didn't even run.
    Grampa Kingsbury had phoned up to Grampa Bolton and I am not quite sure who he called or what took place, but what I know is we sure got a heck of a deal for parts. By supper we had all the brakes completed, tie rod ends replaced and grandfather had the rear end gear up into his machine shop in the driving shed and I am not sure what he did to it, but I do know it was back in the rear end casing, the axles back in and the u-joints replaced. I called home and left a message with my sister that I was working at the farm so I would have supper there. That was not an unusual occurrence.
    Over supper we talked about what all the car needed and he said - "well when your at school tomorrow I will head to John's and see about tires, and we need a rim as the front rim was bent" and he had a list of other parts he would try and find.
    The next day, you know I headed to school... lol.. are you nuts, I was at the farm by 7am.. But Grampa was up at 430am had the chores done, had finished breakfast and he was loading up the truck. He smiled when I pulled in as I remembered , and off to Johns we went. It would be the 1st of dozens of trips to the yard. We couldn't find the rim that day and a few other things, but Grampa left a list of things for John to keep his eyes open for. Surprisingly we found brand new tires that had been full sized spares that were in the trunks of cars. That got brand new tires for the front of the car and Grampa had called Gampa Bolton about back tires. In the afternoon Grampa Bolton arrived with a brand new set of firestones for the back of the car, plus another pair on rims for spares. I had pulled out the seats and pulled out the carpet and was over with a garden hose and a bucket of soapy water cleaning the carpet and seats. As it turned out they were in good shape, just incredibly dirty.
    By supper, the carpet was hanging by a swing beam in the barn dripping water, and the two Grampas had the car
    up in the air using the rope system for the hay wagon in the barn. Sort of a red neck car list I guess. I really do wish I had taken a picture because it was hard to believe. Once it was up In the air they had put stands that Grampa had welded up and put under all 4 corners and they were pulling out the transmission. When it was on the ground and remember it didn't run, Grandfather Bolton wasn't happy with the way it shifted.. So out it came. It was a 4 speed manual transmission. Grandpa Kingsbury loaded into the front of Grampa Bolton's car for him to take home.. lol.. yes it really was the front, as Grandpa Bolton was driving a vw and it was rear engine with a trunk in the front. About a week later the transmission came back along with a new clutch and rebuilt or built pressure plate that definitely had some factory unauthorized modifications. To be honest I don't remember and didn't write down exactly what he had done, although I am positive Grampa would have given me a very detailed description of what he had done.
    So a week and a half had gone by and still Mom didn't know about the car. Dad had the day off and down to the farm we went.. When we arrived, into the house we went to see Gramma and Grampa and Dad announced
    we were down to see the new car. Grampa pipes up and said, well its down in the barn in the same spot as when John dropped it off.
    The way he said it, I remember thinking he is suggesting the car is exactly as it came, but I knew there has been a ton of work done. I am pretty sure Grampa was lessening the blow given what I had paid for a ridden hard and used often sports car.
    Down to the barn we went, Grampa with us and Gramma who never ever was down to the barn, was right behind us.
    She too was coming to see her only Grandsons new car. So in we went and Dad started to look it over.. He slide under the car and constantly was mumbling... "ah hah".. we still hadn't opened the hood and he says, so is that is the way you bought it. I looked at Grampa and then at Dad and said, well Grandpa Kingsbury and Bolton may have helped work on it a bit.
    I had forgotten the tranny was still out of the car and was over to one side of the barn in the tack room. Dad then says, so next question. do I need to check out the brakes, rear end, and front end on this car. Grampa says, of course you do, I am not a mechanic and Earl the Squirrel (my grampa Bolton) doesn't have a mechanics licence so who knows what we have screwed up. Dad just laughed and inquired who did the brakes.. Grampa fessed up and told him what all he had done. Dad looks at me and said something like, "well its a good thing your grandfathers have your back."
    So up went the hood finally and Dad took off the rad cap, then pulled the dip stick, shook his head and said, well Son, we have some work ahead.. This engine is smoked.. There is antifreeze in the pan, the 1 cast iron header was visibly cracked so it has been really hot and I will bet the head gasket blew on this head. There was also oil in the radiator so the engine has to come out. Well I don't know it to be a fact, but given the Grampas' didn't put the tranny back in the car I suspect they knew what was coming.
    So after a pretty close inspection, we were off for home and well.. yes you guessed it, time to tell Mom.
    We arrived home and I think I pretty much stalled and waited for supper. Then you know, I was busy eating, then well I am sure there was something on TV of great importance. You see while my Mom is only about 5 foot 2 and maybe 120-130 pounds, and at 16 I was 6 feet, 225 pounds and was not someone most would want to try to bully around and my Dad was likely about 240 pounds and had forearms on him that would blow you away... Even Dad and I combined, we were not about to take on my Mom... finally I thought I had gotten out of telling Mom as she said she was going to go get ready for bed and Dad pipes up and said something to the effect of - "Tim wants to tell you about the new car he bought".. talk about letting the cat out of the bag,..
    So it was quite a discussion, and yes, what about insurance, how much did it cost, how did you pay for it, and a huge list of questions came from Mom. I can tell you the CIA, FBI and even the Canadian Mounties combined couldn't interrogate as well as my Mom could.
    The good news is I lived to tell the story, although I have to tell you a few times I thought I was dead, and my Dad was there trying to be supportive, but hey lol there was only so much he could do. I think it was the fact that I had paid more for a used car that needed work, that Mom and Dad had paid for a brand new 1971 car. Of course they got it through an employee discount program and well, it had a slant 6 in it, and mine had a hemi, but of course I wasn't mentioning that because that would have opened up the discussion about how much gas this thing used.
    Sunday we were going down to the farm for supper and Dad asked Mom if she wanted to go early to look at the car.
    So down to the farm we go and really, truly taking Mom to look at a car that wasn't running really wasn't exactly a great idea even though Dad and I thought it would be.. lol
    We all went into the house and after an hour with Grampa not saying to much, I asked Mom if she want to see the car. Down to the barn we went, and honestly it really wasn't as bad as I thought.. As Grampa, Dad and I looked on Mom opened up the door, got into the car and remarked that at least the car was fairly clean, and then muttered but of course for $4500 it should be. Then Grampa who really wasn't exactly a shrinking violet at about 6 foot 6 and 285 pounds says in a low voice. "Oh it was only $3000. Jean McLean dropped it by $1500.. Now I was excited about that news and Dad was nodding like he was impressed.. Mom... nope. she just says, so you just about over paid for the car by $1500. Now how do you respond to that one.. Easy... I think it is in the Kingsbury DNA when
    your Mother takes a shot like that.... you.......... of course, you stand there, say nothing and pretend your a statue !
    Because there is nothing you can say that doesn't get you in more trouble. She then looks down kicks the back tire (honest she really did) and says- "well at least it has good tires so it couldn't have been driven to hard"..
    Again, Kingsbury DNA ... statue.. you don't say ****..because there is no way you can win or improve your position..
    I don't remember, but I can pretty much bet all three of us Kingsbury Men were nodding..
    So Mom knows, Dad knows, the car is $1500 less than I thought..Grampa Kingsbury and Bolton have helped fix things up.. we just have the engine to do... we should be away to the races right... well not quite.
    End of chapter two..
    In Chapter 3.. Out comes the engine and the rebuild begins. Keeping in Mind, how bad could it be... lol...
    Punch line - "At least the block isn't cracked!"
  19. timkingsbury
    So this isn't about a flathead and to my one grand father, he like Richard Petty would turn up his nose as it wasn't a Plymouth ! lol
    I have tried to recreate the conversations from my diary posts and what I can remember of conversations. Most of which I think I remember very well... lol.. Whether I did.. well at least two of the people in this story are still alive (besides me), so maybe I will run it by them sometime!
    My 1st car, was a car my Dad purchased for me. It was a Plymouth with a slant 6 and an awesome car. The guy had painted it red with a white stripe like a Starsky and Hutch car which of course annoyed all the Ford fans. This wasn't my 1st vehicle as that was a Suzuki 250 Hustler motorcycle and the reason for starting with a motorcycle is you could in 1976, get your entire licence the day you turned 16 for a motorcycle. For a car, it was at least a three week process, so the day I turned 16 I was at the licence bureau when they opened at 8am. By 930am I was a fully licenced motorcycle driver !
    But back to my story.. During the summer, I was on the motorcycle all the time, and I have no idea how many miles I put on, but it was a lot that summer. During the summer I got my drivers license and got to drive the Fargo at the farm for Grampa Kingsbury, Dad's pickup to the track hauling a trailer with tires, fuel and parts and had the Plymouth if it was raining hard and I didn't want to pull the Suzuki out of the garage.
    About 2 miles from the Kingsbury farm (where I live today) is a car wrecking yard which is owned by a cousin. Of course in the area we seem to have a lot of relatives, the reason being as Grampa would say ... a horse and buggy could only travel so far..
    I was over picking up something for Dad or Grampa I am not sure which and there just being towed in, was a nice looking 1970 dodge.
    Sporty, Green, Vinyl top and it immediately caught my eye. I went over, didn't see any damage to body panels although there sure wasn't much rubber on the back tires.
    As I was collecting whatever I had came for, I said to my cousin John McLean, hey I see you just got a new Dodge in. He laughed and said, you don't want that Tim... its not a Fargo or a Plymouth, and your Mom would kill us if we sold you that, although your Dad might smile.
    I said ok, so what would that cost. John said, that one might just be a little to expensive for you. I said - "well it looks pretty nice".. he said well it is body wise, but it lost water, overheated and blew a head gasket and that is going to be expensive. I thought, expensive.. my Dad is an engineer, my Grandfather Bolton is an engineer, and my Grandfather Kingsbury could just about fix anything even though I am not sure he graduated from grade 8.
    I said, well John how much ? His reply $4500.. and I went oh.. I worked at a local Hardware store and did manage to save a few dollars, lol.. plus money helping both Grampas and Dad, and I likely had $2 grand in the bank. I said, well John, can I give you a deposit and see if I can round up the money. John said, look Tim, you want it, I will hold it till you can pay for it. How much money you got saved. I told him close to half, and asked how much of a deposit did he want. His answer, no I wont take a deposit. I will hold it
    until you tell me you don't want it or you can pay for it.
    So off I went... My Mom was the bank manager at the local bank so she is the 1st one I asked. Mom, I have some money saved for a car. I need to borrow about $3000 to get it. She smiled, and offered for me to go talk to the loans manager. Well that was a setup.
    I went in, talked to him about buying a car, and to make a long story short he told me he would take my application, but he didn't think he would approve it given my job at the hardware might pay the loan but that I was still going to school and I was also playing hockey during the winter, which paid $50 a week playing for a team in the OHA so he thought I should save my money.
    Lol.. and they didn't have any idea that this car didn't even run.
    So next up time to talk to Grampa.. I knew if I talked to Dad it would get shut down by Mom and would come out it needed work, big time work. So Grampa Kingsbury was next up. I went over told him the whole story, that the car needed work, was over at cousin Johns and I needed $2150 to buy the car, and wanted to borrow another few hundred to get it running. Well Grampa did what Grampa would do.. Well go warm up the truck.. lets go see this car.
    So over to McLean's yard we went. The Dodge wasn't where it was earlier in the week but Grampa didn't care.. Into the office, found out where John was in the yard, then Grampa headed to their house which is right beside the yard. He went in to talk to Johns wife and Mom for a couple of minutes. John's Mom was a Kingsbury, and then out to the yard we went.
    Grampa who was a large man, about 6 foot 6 and 280 pounds was easy to spot as he we walked across the 100 acre yard and John yells over.. well well its the Kingsbury Boys and I see you brought the big guns Tim.. Grampa just smiled. He then said, well John,
    I hear you have my Grandsons 1st car here somewhere. John said, well maybe.
    Grampa then said, well, how much are the parts to fix this car. John said, well I don't have that engine anywhere in the yard, but tell you what Charlie (my Grampa's name).. if you or Eddy (my Dad) or Earl (my other Grandfather) or Tim want to come out to the yard, anything you can find in my yard that you want for this car you can have for $1. So I do have what would be needed to get it on the road, from another engine, a rad, tires etc, but I just don't have exactly what is in that car.
    Grampa said - ok well I see.. and you want $4500 for this car. John started to explain how rare the car was and Grampa just help up his oversized mitt (hand).. John stopped.. Grampa said, John, don't try and sell us. I am just asking. John said, yes, if it was anyone but you guys it would be a lot more. Grampa said, ok John. Drag it over to the farm and Ill bring you over the money on Saturday.
    So there you have it.. my 1st car.. Grampa didn't look at it, he didn't see it, he didn't ask a lot of questions. Now maybe I was his only grandson had something to do with it, I am not sure.
    On the way home I said, I will get you all the money I have Grampa and are we going to the bank to borrow the money. Grampa said, oh no.. you go get your money sometime and I will get whatever extra we need. Then we need to break this news to your Mom and Dad and well, we maybe in a bit of trouble.
    I dug out the money I had at home, and then withdrew everything but $10 at the bank and down to the farm I went. As it turned out with a cheque I hadn't cashed, I had a total of $2300. So I needed $2200 to close the deal. Grampa and I went over to the Junk yard and into the office we went.. There was John and his wife and Grampa said well John I came to pay for the car. Johns wife Jean said, car, what car.. .. Grampa and I said nothing, and John started to explain about the car he got from a Ford Dealership that was a trade in, and they called him for an engine and when he didn't have one, nor did any other local yard he wound up buying it.
    She just smiled and said, ok and how much did you sell this car to your Mothers Brother and his grandson.. John told her $4500.. She looked at him and said, $4500.. really.. Poor John was on the defensive. Grampa looked at John then looked at Jean, Johns wife and said, well here is Tim's $2300 he has saved and here is $2200 I am loaning him. You folks can discuss it after we leave and if its $4500 ok and anything different, leave me a note in the mail box if I owe you or you owe us !
    Grampa then looked at me and said, lets go look at this car you just bought. So back to the farm we went, and down to the barn we went where John had tucked it away. I said did you check it out Grampa and he said, not before you were here to show me.
    So we swung open one of the big barn doors and Grampa proceeds to look under it, open the trunk, open the doors and everywhere except under the hood.He looks at me and says - "you do like green don't you". I said, well for cars, yes, tractors no. He laughed.
    I asked him if he wanted to see the engine, and he said, well if you want to show me, but I know what is under the hood. Given all the trim badging and markings were removed from the car, I was curious if he really knew. So I said so you know its a slant six Grampa? He smiled and said, so have they upped the cubic inches of the slant six to 426 cubic inches.
    Obviously the gig was up and there under the hood was the legendary elephant that was a 426 Hemi.
    That's it for part 1.
    Now looking back, does this qualify as a barn find ? Lol
    In part 2 : Explaining this to Dad... maybe a lot easier than explaining it to Mom !
    Also, the tail of "Kingsbury's stick together" and the $1500 rebate from McLeans.... making the purchase price $3000.. That was good news, lol, would have been even better if it came before I told Mom I bought a car that didn't run for $4500!
  20. timkingsbury
    Part 4 – The Plymouth gets trailered to AoK headquarters and is parked beside the “World’s Fastest Dinasour” & “Calling In Favors”
    Well the Plymouth wasn’t home long and pictures were shared with my friends and the ideas and discussion of what the plans were for her.
    In what I will call the round table discussion with George and Rob Asche we kicked around the idea of building a race engine that would still be streetable. We had just finished off the Velociraptor or the Worlds Fastest Dinosaur engine, and well we did have some spare parts.... tee hee
    When we were in the design of the dragster project, Dad had called in some favors from some of his drag racing friends and colleagues and we were able to get several sets of Venolia Forged top fuel pistons made, complete with HardTuf coating on them. Those and sets of custom Plasma Moly Gapless rings actually cost more than the 1949 Plymouth was new ! Actually a lot more come to think of it !
    So with the pistons and rings at up to .125 over bore and a 1952 Dodge 265 Truck Engine, the start of the project was in hand. I loaded up the Plymouth in my enclosed car trailer, and headed south/east to AoK Headquarters, where the Plymouth was tucked into bed beside the Rear Engine Dragster.
    George and Rob pulled down the truck engine and the legendary and in my opinion the best Flathead Mopar Engine builder alive started the build process. Here are some of the highlights.
    The engine after hot tanked and checked for cracks and defect, was decked with about .20 removed from it. The block was bored and new custom valve seats and valves installed. The crank quick was perfectly balanced from Chrysler back in the day, was prepared with a few racing tricks, and nos 265 rods were balanced to the gram. Clevite 77 Bearings were secured, as was a brand new brass water tube. Not that the water tube being brass had a lot of a performance impact, but it was a rare part that had long ago been set aside for a special project. I will also attach a picture of the oil pump beside am OEM stock oil pump. It has been built, and I say built because it was NOS when we tore it apart and made a few mods to it ! Its all about getting some oil flow to an engine which we expect will touch north of 6,000 rpm !
    A 1956 dodge 265 truck head was prepared, shaved .80, and modifications made to cc the head to 70cc’s. In the end the engine is about 10.5 to 1 compression ratio. A new custom cam with 435 lift was prepared for the project. This of course is a lot less lift and a lot less compression than is in the rear engine dragster but it isn't exactly streetable !
    When the engine was in the discussion phase I really wanted to have a George Asche custom made triple from a stock intake used. That was really for sentimental purposes, but I got over-ruled, lol and of course an AoK triple carb intake was used for the project.
    George prepared 3 carter ball and ball carbs – model E9K1 which were original equipment for the 1956 Dodge 4 ton truck with factory dual carbs as stock equipment. These carbs are stock 1 11/16” throttle bore and 1 11/32 Venturis. Interestingly it was this throttle bore and venturi size that Lee Petty used in his 1949 Plymouth. Mind you he used 1 and well, we have 3 for this engine !
    When finished these fully matched carbs sported over sized Grose Jets. Sadly Ansel Grose of Stoneham, Middlesex, Massachusetts who made the worlds best carb jets is no longer with is, and so far it does not look like anyone has taken over the business. Too bad, because his jets were unreal and the Kingsbury and Asche stashes of them is definitely pretty limited.
    While George and my brothers (Rob and George III) were busy on the engine, I was on the prowl to try and put together the ability to put air-conditioning on the car. We found a dual belt pulley from a past project and using 6061T6 aircraft gear grade aluminum had dual belt pulleys made for both the crankshaft and water pump pulleys.
    Now I am sure your now thinking, air conditioning, how are you doing that with 6 volts..
    Well the truth is for a number of reasons, we decided to change to a 12 volt system. Brighter lights, a better wiper system etc etc.
    Which of course brings up one of my many Christmas presents from George. Lol.. Hidden away from plain sight would be an upgrade from a vacuum wiper system, from a late 1940’s Chrysler George completely rebuilt an electric wiper system for the car.
    By now I am sure you can see this “build a high performance flathead” project got a little wider scope.
    “Brother Rob” would specially build the high amp 12 volt alternator for the project. Something he and George III do regularly as they have for the last decade or so taken over the Family Business – Asche Mechanic and Asche Mechanical Distributors.
    If you want some starter, generator or automotive electrical component rebuilt, they are definitely the boys for the job. Some time I will do a blog entry on their diamond in the rough business.
    I believe “Brother George” actually built the starter for the car for the project. I will attach a few pictures of the engine as it was built, and may have to put up a few other parts just to get the pictures up.
    I think we were about the fall of 2013 when the engine was complete and was set aside, actually I believe right beside the dragster, as if it was a spare engine.
    Somewhere along the way I acquired a 1953 Chrysler Windsor with a 265 ci motor, and while it wasn’t the motor we wanted for this project it did yield some donor parts. The rear end gear set or Pumpkin, which was a 3:54 ratio was a far more “highway friendly” set of gears than what came with the Plymouth. As well Chrysler’s being a much heavier car had bigger brakes, so the thought of much more power and speed, naturally shifted into the need to upgrade the brakes. So the Plymouth brake system was converted to Chrysler 12” brakes and that also required different rims to handle the bigger drums.
    Again George and Rob would be the master behind the project and restored all of the parts, as well as brass sleeved the master cylinder (poor man power brakes) .
    While that was taking place, down in George’s work shop a specially prepared 1952-56 Borg Warner R10 over drive was prepared. The top secret 1940 cluster and 2nd speed gear set was used for the project. I call it top secret because it’s a not widely known fact that the 1940 only gears give you a much faster 2nd gear. It was a trick used by one Lee Petty back in 1949 and does indeed make a huge difference. The r10 can be set up as 6 or 12 volt, this one obviously being 12 volt.
    Shortly after the piece of art, that would be the overdrive was completed it was coupled up to the engine.
    But not before we pulled out another mopar secret; that being the pressure plate and clutch setup of a 1956 plymouth and went to Fort Wayne Clutch for the project. Now AoK doesn’t do anything 1 off very often, so a dozen of these special heavier spring clutch and pressure plate system were made and the 1st of which was put into the plymouth, along with another secret, a custom modified flywheel which provides the perfect balance for a high performance engine.
    The Plymouth's new heart was put in, and you can see the engine here on Youtube as it was fired up. While everyone wanted me to do the honors, I couldn’t take that smile away from Rob and you can see him fire it up as George smiles in he back ground and of course I am running the video.

    The picture of her shortly after rolling out of the garage, still had the hood off and looking like it was ready to go to the drag strip.
    The rims were all prep’s and powder coated red as was a number of pretty famous Mopar Stock cars in the 50’s. Thanks to Lorenzo Martinez of Hubcaps.com they restored a set of 1949 full hubcaps to NOS condition. I cant say enough of their work, it was absolutely unreal
    The steering wheel which had cracked over time needed attention, and here is another AoK secret. . Koch’s steering wheel restoration took car of the restoration of the steering wheel and it came back better than NOS !
    http://www.kochssteeringwheels.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=3&idproduct=4
    Another neat part that obviously didn’t come with the zero-optioned car was its clock. In one of those urban myth stories my Dad had been following up a lead about a 1949 Plymouth that was specially built for the man who would be the Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.
    Well 2 years ago, one of Dad’s friends called me from Saskatoon Saskatchewan, where Diefenbaker is buried and told me that he had located the 1949 Plymouth my Dad was looking for. It was located near Neustadt, Ontario which ironically is where Diefenbaker was born. Neustadt is super close to where I live so out I went to check it out. It is in the heart of a German Mennonite and the black 1949 Plymouth was living behind a barn of an Mennonite family who make old style wooden windows. They have no electricity in their house or telephone and have an old d21 Allis Chalmers tractor with the wheels off sitting on blocks, running a big generator to run the power for the window plant.
    When I inquired about the car, the owner said to me that it was John Diefenbaker’s 1st wife’s and he had actually tried to give it to a couple of museums over the years. Sadly the car had the front suspension rusted out, the engine seized. Now you would think with such a story, and little proof in hand of the story that the price of the car would be out of sight. No sir. The price was pegged at what the car weighed and the price of scrap !
    So home came the 1949 Plymouth, and while many I am sure are rolling in their graves, the 1949 clock was pulled from the car, gone over and will find its way into my Aunt Thelma’s Plymouth. Aunt Thelma was a big Diefenbaker fan and I thought it was a fitting and appropriate upgrade for the old girl.
    The car with temporary dual exhaust on it was taken out for a couple of test runs. OMG talk about a car that can smoke tires.
    I think that is where the project sits at the moment . Still to come is a brand new end to end stainless steel dual exhaust system with a pair of specially made polished stainless steel mufflers courtesy of another friend.
    As well, while the car has few miles , never saw winter and I doubt it saw rain very often, a lot of the chrome was done over pot metal on those cars and so a great deal of the pieces need to be replace or rechromed. The pursuit of air-conditioning is still ongoing with that challenge right now being I can’t find a small enough unit to fit under the dash… grrrr..
    As well Rob in looking really close at the wiring, a lot of it is old and brittle, so he is busy rewiring the car in a lot of places. I call it a labor of love that you couldn’t even ask your Brother to do, but he is a man on a mission !
    In the future, I may freshen up the interior and touch up things here and there.
    As things progress or change I will try and update the blog, and who knows we may test it out to see if it is faster than the average Echo ! lol
  21. timkingsbury
    Well the pattern is complete! Attached are a couple of pictures. The one with the blue cores was just before Christmas, and the other two were actually taken last week.
    The 1st intake will actually be cast tomorrow and then a 2nd one will be cast with the integrated water tube early next week. It will be made with its own mini foam core for the water tube. The tube will be on the inside, or block side of the intake. In that way it becomes easy to make it optional, without changing the outside appearance.
    Those two should be off to the machine shop early next week. Once that work is completed and everything is checked and double checked dimension wise, we will be doing some testing to confirm our flow numbers and other factors. George will then get into finalizing linkage and all the stainless steel pieces will be manufactured, machined etc and ready to mate up with the completed intakes.
    Then assuming everything goes well, and there are not too many changes, we will give the thumbs up to start casting the 1st real production batch of intakes, then off to the machine shop. Right now I think we are still on track for delivery in March/April time frames.
    When they are done as we a have said, we will ship them based on 1st paid for, will be 1st shipped.
    As I have said before, If your concerned they will be sold out and you won’t get one, don't worry about that.
    But if you one of those people that has to have one before their buddy has one, well then get your order in to get in the line ! Right now there are about 1/2 dozen ordered. Yes there are many times that in terms of people inquiring about them and expressing interest.
  22. timkingsbury

    Happy New Years

    By timkingsbury,

    Happy New Years !
    Well on behalf of all the AoK boys, we wish you a Happy New Years !
    In the last few weeks, after being nudged by a couple of members, we started to blog.
    I figured we would give it a month and see if I got a few followers interested in the ramblings of a group of
    Mopar Nuts !
    We have been sincerely humbled by the responses so far.
    While I cant guarantee I will have the time to post as regularly throughout 2015 as I have the last month, I will try and make sure a month doesn’t go by without some new post as long as you folks are interested !
    If you have suggestions for topics, want us to go down some path or another, please don’t be afraid to
    make suggestions. For me this blog idea was all about giving those interested in a peak into the world of the AoK boys. Without readers, and your interest, this blog will just dry up and turn to dust.
    So what I am saying, is you folks and your feedback, comments, suggestions and ideas are the key to the success of the blog and my interest in doing it for you.
    Thanks again and hope you have an absolute awesome 2015 !
    Signed
    Tim Kingsbury – on behalf of George Jr, Rob, George III, Eric and Evan Asche - the Southern Mopar Nuts,
    & Dan Kingsbury and myself, the Northern Mopar Nuts, who combined are.. The AoK boys !
  23. timkingsbury
    Well as the year is coming to a quick end, a shout out to a great guy and fellow Mopar Nut!
    I am not 100% sure what year it was, but sometime after the earth cooled, my Dad, George Asche and I were hanging out at Chrysler Carlisle (or I guess All Chrysler Nationals) when I 1st met Mike.
    I think we hit it off immediately and as my Dad said, that guy has that same twinkle in his eye as you do.. Full Throttle Trouble !
    Over the years we would see Mike and his buddies, and somewhere a few years ago as we were building the AoK triple Mike commissioned George to build a high end, bore out 265 big block with an AoK triple on it, for the sole purpose of burning tires !
    When we purchased the our AoK dragster, I remember bringing the attached picture to Chrysler Carlisle to show a number of people, including Mike. The picture is as it left the dragsters previous owner. He had bought it from Bartone Racing, sold off the big Top Fuel Hemi, took off the wing and tried to run in a class with a big block chevy. He was never successful.
    In any case, Mike had one look at the picture and it was "holy crap" and his eyes lite up like a Christmas Tree. I know Mike has been around drag strips for a long time, but I like to think between the Mopar only Drag races
    on the super old track associated with Chrysler Carlisle and maybe the Worlds Fastest Dinosaur, Mike got inspired to switch his drag racing from cars to dragsters.
    Now, that may be for many,be out of the frying pan and into the fire but the more I get to know Mike, the more
    I realize he isnt afraid to take on the impossible or the projects that have a lot of other saying -"why bother"..
    A few years ago Mike had brought his 1951 Dodge Business Coupe to Chrysler Carlisle. We had heard him
    talk about it, and the cool part is just how much of it he did. It wasnt a farm the whole thing out project.
    I remember like it was yesterday, over went George, my Dad Eddy, George's son Rob, his Son and myself for super by the grand stand, and then over to the show field we went to have a look at Mike's car.
    We walked up and I think my 1st words were likely like his when he saw the dragster... "holy crap". lol
    What I saw was absolutely the nicest Dodge coupe I have ever seen. The workmanship, the paint, and the interior was just jaw dropping. It was the kind of thing you see on $100,000+ resto-mods that someone plows a
    modern hemi in it etc. But what he had done was keep true to the drivetrain that came with it, and his custom
    changes were things that the Dodge Brothers would have given 2 thumbs up.
    Next when Dad and George gave it a good look over and gave it 2 thumbs up, you know Mike had built a show
    winner in the eyes of the Asche's and Kingsbury's..
    Over time, and as Mike started other projects I had to ask, "So Mike what will it take to buy her!"
    Well, it was clear, it just wasn’t for sale, and you know what, I understand and respect that.
    As time past, I found not the original car that my Dad had, but a 1941 Plymouth that was very close to his 1st car.
    Rob Asche and I had driven 3 days in my race car.. well that is another story for another time.. and purchased the 1941 Plymouth. As we were coming back, having just left a huge pile of US $100 bills for the 1941 Business Coupe I remember sending a note to a few guys, Mike being one. Later on I would find out, that had I asked the day I bought my 41, I could have pried the 51 Dodge out of Mike's arms.
    After a big run of car shows, with Mike finding winning as a regular occurrence I think other projects that cost $$
    and a lack of using and enjoying the Dodge made it available. Unfortunately I just wasn’t in a position to
    buy both.
    I have to tell you I thought about it, and I thought about selling the 41 Plymouth to buy the 51 Dodge, but in the end I couldn’t pull the trigger. Over the last year, for other reasons there just is no chance I can swing the 51 Dodge business coupe still, so when someone posted on the forum looking for a very similar car, I thought, well
    maybe it’s a sign, I can give Mike a hand. So today as we end 2014 Mike has moved from sort of putting the 1951 business coupe for sale, to it is definitely for sale, to the right home.
    And believe me , the right home is the real story. Mike asked me yesterday what I thought he should ask. I gave him a number and to be honest I was a little surprised to see him listing it well below the number I suggested.
    The other super news, is in the process, and with some help of his kids I think, is Mike has signed up and is on the P15-D24 site. That to me is the big win win as this guy is an absolute diehard Mopar Nut.
    Oh.. also below his "brand new slingshot" dragster. Finished to the point he has fired it down the track, been successful and is already spending the off season making more changes. So yes, Mike is way faster than us AoK boy to get to the track... but hey, at least brother Rob (Rob Asche) took the dragster for a spin. Attached is the picture of him in the car, and yes, he literally drove it out of the garage and lite it up on Main Street Fertigs !
    And who knows, maybe the AoK dinosaur may have to square off against the Meier-Mania (my words) dragster !
    of course he has 8 cylinders and we only have 6 so he should give us a 25% head start.. lol.. 25% more cylinders, sounds fair doesn’t it ? rofl..
    Well again, a huge Shout Out To Mike.. and while I am sad in some way to see his car listed...
    http://p15-d24.com/classifieds/item/806-relunctant-sale-1951-dodge-wayfarer-business-coupe/
    Well maybe I can kidnap him sometime and redo the paint of my baby, the 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe..
    To be honest while I can find tons of guys with way more experience, I cant think of anyone I would rather have. Just think in his 1951 Dodge, you get "ground zero" which was the labor of love for hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of hours !
  24. timkingsbury
    In Part two - The 1949 Plymouth raises its head again or the World is a small place contest winner ..
    The 1949 Plymouth would disappear and fall out of mind after Aunt Thelma had passed away. Then in 2009 at my Dad’s funeral a friend of mine told me about an old Plymouth that was for sale that I might be interested in. A couple of weeks past and I really wasn’t looking for project, but after being nagged a few times to go see the car, we embarked on a ride to St Thomas.
    My friend was following directions written on a piece of paper and I remember thinking boy we are closer to London than St Thomas. When we arrived, I thought to myself what a cool old brick building this was and how it looked like a garage or commercial building built at the turned of the century. It really was a large building that had garage doors and enterances on the main street and a side street.
    We walked up to the side door and out came a gentleman, I would guess in his 70’s and I remarked what a cool building he had He said it was his Grandfathers had it built in 1905 by one of the foremost builders of the day and he proceeded to give us a tour.
    It was like a time capsule with several bays of projects that looked like they hadn’t been touched in decades. We then went down a long hall and came through the small office that was obviously for the garage and into what was more an old retail office space. He had offered us a coffee and we proceeded into a small kitchen area. He remarked that this was his Mom’s office really and that is why it was a lot cleaner. While it most certainly was, it looked like it had been pretty much mothballed for years. So as we got coffee, he said - “well you have come to see Mom Baby” and the truth is all I knew was it was a Plymouth. I didn’t know what year, what model or anything really. My friend was quick to jump into the conversation and said, yes we were there to see his Mother’s Baby and then went on to explain what major Mopar fans my family were.
    Later on I found out that my friend had heard about the car from a mutual friend, but heard that its owner really
    only had interest in selling the car if it was going to a good home and apparently he had tossed a guy who looked at it and suggested it would make a good project to put a 350 chevy in it.
    He said, well I will take you over to show it to you. I thought we were going to be going for a ride. Instead he exited that office space in another direction and walked into another part of the building. This part of the building had garage bay doors on a side street.
    As I walked into the garage, coming down two steps my jaw dropped. There in front of me was a 1957 Fargo PowerWagon. But the truth was, while the light blue Power Wagon was pretty impressive it was what sat on the other side of it that caused my jaw to drop.
    There was the 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe and the second I saw it I knew exactly what it was.
    There was Aunt Thelma’s Plymouth. I looked at my friend some how thinking it was a surprise, but nope, no one in the room seemed to know what I knew. I walked over, looked in and there on the odometer was just under 17,500 miles.
    I said, nice garage and he said, oh yes, this is Mom’s garage, which means its heated, clean and only her vehicles get parked in here.
    As he talked it became clear his Mother had passed away and the Power Wagon and the Plymouth had not moved since. On the seat of each were maintenance books, and every year he changed the oil and serviced the car, but the mileage listed had changed only 3 miles since 1989.
    He said, well Im sure you want to hear them run and I hesitated, because the truth was I didn’t need to hear it run. I said, that would be nice, but I hope you don’t mind if I ask how much you want for them. He said, well the Power Wagon isn’t for sale, and the Plymouth, well it might be for sale. If it is it will take “$.....censored” to buy it. I said, well, you say it might be for sale, what do you mean might. He went on to say it was important to him that is go to a good home.
    My friend piped in and started to become my personal marketing department and I stood back and smiled. Then it was time for a confession.
    I said to him, well this isnt the 1st time I have seen this car, and I am almost positive I can tell you a little bit about the car. He smiled and said, oh I would be surprised at that. I went on to tell him the rest of the story and about the time we got to Aunt Thelma’s wedding he was half laughing and half crying. He said, well well, you may know more about this car than I do. About then he did remember where he had seen me before, and that was the MC at Aunt Thelma’s wedding.
    My fear was of course. that once he knew how much I wanted the car, the price would skyrocket. That turned out to be unfounded. Oh and my friend, thought it was supposed to be a 4 door Plymouth with an overdrive. Call it the world is a small place, call it my Aunt Thelma was somewhere directing me to get back her car, or call it blind luck, it really doesn’t matter.
    After 30 minutes of talking and we hadn’t even started the car, he looked at me and said well should I start the car and give you a sales pitch on the car, or are you about to tell me you want the car and it doesn’t really matter.
    I reached out shook his hand and said, I think we have a deal. Then I remarked I actually thought his Mothers was unmarried and didnt have any children. Turns out it was his Aunt, but he, his brothers and sisters and a lot of the neighbors kids all called her Mom. Yes I realize it adds to the confusion when you call your Aunt Mom, but it certainly started to get a lot clearer for me.
    It turned out that the car was driven from a garage on Waterloo Avenue, about 4 miles to the Garage which had the license Bureau at one end of the building and the car was parked inside while she was at work. If it rained, apparently she drove the power wagon home and come the fall the Plymouth stayed in the heated garage all winter and she drove the Power Wagon back and forth to work.
    When she stopped driving, the car stayed at the garage and only really came out when she wanted to go somewhere in her car, like her best friend Thelma’s wedding. Her nephew lived across the street from the garage and when his Aunt “Mom” passed away they sold the house on Waterloo Avenue to settle the estate and he wound up with the garage and everything in it. He was the youngest of his family and so when his Mom and Dad passed away he inherited the small house across the road and with all his siblings moved away he became he Aunts right hand !
    It also seemed his real mother worked with his aunt at the license Bureau and his Dad worked with his grandfather and ran the local gas station and garage. So it all became pretty clear what had happened. Or at least clear to me !
    Part of the deal was the Plymouth could remain in its heated garage until spring. So it got to spend one more winter in its garage, and in April 2010 my wife and I took the Dodge Diesel Pickup that I inherited from my Dad along with my car trailer down and picked up the Plymouth.
    The picture of it sitting on the grass was taken the day I picked it up. He had taken it on to the grass yard across from the garage and gave it a bath before I picked it up. We drove home, and I took it over to a buddy’s garage for him to give it a safety. He laughed as he put it up on the hoist, then took the wheels off to look at the brakes and about an hour later called me and said – So I was going to service the car, but I see by the log book it was serviced 2 days ago. I checked the oil, checked he rear end and the antifreeze and sure enough it looks like it was all just changed. He said, so come pick it up, it didn’t really take a dam thing to safety.
    So up to the Garage we went, got the ownership/title, and went and changed it into my name.The 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe, was back in the family !
    In Part 3 - "So what would my Aunt do.. What would me Grandfather’s do and ultimately what would my Dad do !"
  25. timkingsbury
    So I had a bit of spare time tonight so I wrote part 3.. so a little 2 in 1 night bonus, or extra stuff to put you to sleep !
    Part 3 - So what would my Aunt do.. What would me Grandfather’s do and ultimately what would my Dad do !
    So The 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe, was back in the family and I had spent all winter thinking about the car and what I would do with it.
    While I realize many people would try and make this super low mile car a 100 point trailer queen, that was really not in the cards. Nor would it be to wreck it as some would do by putting a 350 chevy … spit…… or a V8 in the car.
    Definitely if I wanted to there is actually a 1969 426 hemi around here that I could have popped into the car.. but nah..
    Now as for what my Aunt would do.. oh I am very confident I know what that would be. She wouldn’t do anything to it. Oh she might have it washed and definitely would have had it serviced as per the schedule my Dad gave her when she bought the car (and was still in the glove box) but that would be it.
    My Grandfathers.. Well my Mom’s Dad, the Chrysler Engineer, likely would have been the guy, if he was alive, to put in the absolute maximum horsepower he figured the car would hold. He would likely put some supercharged v10 viper motor or something in it with a 6 speed transmission.
    My other Grandfather, Grampa Kingsbury, well he would have went into the back yard and yanked out a 265 Dodge/Fargo motor with a factory dual carb and dual exhaust setup on it and built up a hot rod flathead motor that would be period correct for the generation of the car.
    Finally my Dad, he would have been right in line with his Dad’s idea, but then like my Mothers 1956 Fargo, or his 1941 Plymouth, or several other vehicles, he would have put a 3 speed over drive transmission in it, and just maybe would have moved it to a floor shift like he did with Mom’s pickup. Without question, he would be looking for his good friend George Asche to build the overdrive, as he built the engine. The engine would be as close to a hot stock car or drag engine as he could make it with a Vintage Flathead 6. It also would take advantage of today’s technology and sport the AoK triple intake that was his last performance project before he died.
    So what was my plan… well of course, put in a 350 chevy in it.. rofl.. not a snow ball chance in hell.. I am just messing with you folks !
    The plan was to take a little bit of Grandfather Bolton and use the AoK triple which was the ultra-modern, then take a whole bunch of my Grandfather Kingsbury and use a 265 Truck Engine, which in 1952 had more horsepower than any vehicle sold my any manufacturer in North America.. and of course take a bunch of what my Dad would do including the AoK intake he had a part in.
    Then to add in a little bit of my 20 year old son Daniel ideas and of course use a lot of my 2nd Dad and my brothers (from a different Mother), in George Asche Jr and my brothers Rob and G3 (George III) ideas. Heck I may even use the odd idea from Lee Petty in the project.
    Daniel's was one who thought we should get a personalized license plate for the car, exactly like
    George Asche's 1950 Plymouth and so.. ta dah.. that one was pretty easy to complete !
    "6 in arw" Ontario version, just like George's PA version..
    Next up, Part 4 – The Plymouth gets trailered to AoK headquarters and is parked beside the “World’s Fastest Dinasour” & “Calling In Favors”
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