Jump to content

timkingsbury

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    824

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    44

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by timkingsbury

  1. timkingsbury
    So here is the story of my 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe or my entry to the "just how small the world can be" contest -
    Part 1 - The back ground of the 1949 Plymouth, its owner, and its early life !
    My Dad’s first cousin, that he always called "Aunt Thelma" Lewis lived in London Ontario, in a large house on Waterloo Avenue. Her Dad was a builder of large homes and industrial buildings in the early 1900's and by the late 1920’s was a very wealthy man.
    When the stock market crashed in 1929 the Lewis family would loose a huge portion of their wealth, although they still owned several pieces of property. They also had several Chrysler cars and would visit the Kingsbury farm which is located in Campbellville, Ontario, Canada, a place I still live in and am proud to be the 7th generation to live here.
    In 1949 my Dad would actually purchase his very first car from Aunt Thelma’s Mom. It was a 1941 Plymouth business coupe as she had bought her daughter a new Plymouth.
    Dad a 17 year old, was following others in the family in the automotive trade and was apprenticing to be a mechanic at a garage in Georgetown Ontario. The garage owner also had 3 stock cars and Dad was given a chance to work on the oldest of the 3 cars which had not been very competitive in the 1948 season. Dad worked on the engine with the help of his Dad, and his Uncle and the 1949 season would see the car actually win 9 races, including 2 features.
    So Dad was immediately hooked as a racing fan and he noted in his diary that he had read that Jimmy Thompson had finished 10th in the very first “Strictly Stock” race that was held on June 19 1949 at Charlotte Speedway; a 3/4 mile dirt track in Charlotte, North Carolina. This would be the birth of Nascar. There is a clipping of a newspaper that I have no idea from what paper, that stated that Lee Petty, on the 105th lap, rolled his 46 Buick Roadmaster. Apparently is was just after that race concluded that he vowed never to drive a heavy vehicle in competition again.
    Early in the year as the conversation was taking place about buying the 1941 Plymouth, my Grandfather, my Dad, his Aunt Thelma and her Mom discussed what car she should buy for Thelma. Later in life Thelma would tell me that she was going to get a bigger 4 door but Dad had talked her into the much smaller business coupe. On a visit in February of 1949 for my Dad’s birthday, Aunt Thelma was driving her Mom’s big Chrysler. She lived at home with her Mom and worked at a Savings and Loan in London, although the honest truth was she most certainly didn’t need to work. When her Dad had passed away, her Mom had sold an apartment building that he owned for what was a huge amount of money. By huge I mean 1.8 million dollars.
    Dad got to drive the big straight 8 Chrysler as he took Aunt Thelma, her Mom along with his Mother (my Grandmother) into Guelph for lunch at relatives. Some how they wound up a Wellington Motors. That was the local Chrysler, Desoto, Plymouth and Fargo Truck dealers and the dealerships owner was a very good friend of my Grandfathers.
    Before they left that day Aunt Thelma had ordered a 1949 Plymouth business coupe configured with absolutely zero options. In fact, I believe it was a special order car because most Plymouths on lots had at least some options like a spare tire or hubcaps. This one was ordered, with not as much as a spare tire coming with it.
    It definitely wasn’t that she couldn’t afford it, but lets just say she was frugal.
    They would come back to Guelph to pick up the Plymouth on June 4th 1949. I had mentioned the 1st Nascar Race earlier, because while it had nothing to do with why Aunt Thelma had bought her 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe, it was ironic that when Dad got to go to the 7th race of the Strictly Stock (Nascar) season in early October of 1949 (held at Heidleberg Raceway near Pittsburgh PA) guess what Lee Petty was driving. Yes a 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe.
    In the 100-mile event at Heidelberg Speedway, Petty driving his number 42 lightweight Plymouth, was five full laps ahead of his nearest competitor when the checkered flag dropped !
    He was quoted as saying "We figured the lighter car would get through the turns better," . "It would also be easier on the suspension parts. We knew we could win one with the Plymouth."
    The win by Petty would be the largest margin of victory of any race that season. While Lee Petty’s #42 would be the only Mopar in the field, it really didn’t matter when he was 5 laps ahead of the 2nd place car which was a Kasier, 7 laps ahead of the 3rd place car which was a Ford and 8 laps ahead of the 4th place car which would be a Chevy !
    You can imagine how excited Dad was to get back home with the story of how Lee Petty was driving the exact same car as his Aunt Thelma! He was allowed to make the phone call to his Aunt Thelma’s to tell her all about it. To be honest, I doubt it really mattered to her, but she and her Mother were always excited to hear from young Eddy Kingsbury.
    So Thelma would drive the 1949 Plymouth until she ordered a brand new Plymouth in 1959. The 1959 would sport a 250 ci flathead 6 cylinder. But back to the 1949. While it would have been cool if the 1949 had wound up in my Dad’s hands as the 1941 had, Thelma would sell or give the car to her best friend who like Thelma was a spinster who lived at home with her Mom.
    She actually managed a license bureau. When Thelma handed over the keys for the 1949 Plymouth, with tongue firmly in cheek here, it was pretty much worn out, it had so many miles on it. I say tongue in cheek because when she sold it in 1959 it has 5,400 original miles on it and the original tires.
    Interestingly enough I was alive to see her trade in her 1959 Plymouth in 1969 and it had just turned 5,000 miles.
    In any case the 1949 Plymouth would move from 991 Waterloo Avenue London, down the street and across the road to 986 Waterloo Avenue London, where it was driven between May and September each year. From September to May she would drive her Dad’s Fargo pickup truck as her father had passed away a couple of years before she got the Plymouth from Aunt Thelma.
    In 1989 Aunt Thelma, the life long Spinster actually got married. The standing joke when I was growing up and we asked how old she was, she would always say she was 29. So you can imagine how much fun I had at the wedding as I was the Master of Ceremony. The other interesting part was it would be her life long friend that would be her Maid of Honor and what did she come to the wedding in?…., you bet yah, the 1949 Plymouth business coupe! Her nephew had driven her to the Church in the 1949 Plymouth.
    Dad and I went over and had a good look at the Plymouth that fall day in 1989 and as I looked in I noticed it had just over 17,000 miles.
    Aunt Thelma would die just two years later and sadly the 6 Mopars in her garage in 991 waterloo were sold by her new Husband’s kids for a song. My father who actually shared 50% of the estate with her Husband was furious as there were some absolute museum pieces in the garage including a 1948 Chrysler Woodie that Thelma’s Mother had purchased for herself but at the time of her death in 1965 had driven it less than 200 miles in total. But I digress yet again.. lol
    At her funeral in 1991 her best friend was not well enough to attend the funeral so I never did she her again. When Aunt Thelma’s estate was settled in 1992 I actually decided to go knock on the door of her friend. Unfortunately I was surprised to find out that her son had sold the house 6 months earlier and they didn’t really know where they had moved to, but thought she had died. I was definitely puzzled as I said to the new owner, I didn’t realize she was even married.
    In Part two - The 1949 Plymouth raises its head again or the World is a small place contest winner ..
  2. timkingsbury
    Well lots have asked about AoK where that came from, and what is the story behind the Asche and Kingsbury's and to be honest it really isnt as complex as some may think. The Asche thread dates back into 40's and 50's when many members of this branch of AoK were busy driving mopars. George's Dad was a Dodge and Chrysler man, as was his Uncle Harry Hines (who is still alive today). George worked as a mechanic at various garages, as well as started helping his uncle with his stock car. As time passed George became the crew chief for the legandary #90 car, as "Uncle Harry" dazzled the tracks in PA winning race after race with his flathead Mopars. I will do a blog on Harry sometime, and maybe do an interview of him for the blog. Harry was inducted into the Nascar hall of fame a few years back and a big reason for that was his nephew and crew chief George Asche Jr. George purchased his 1929 Desoto in the early 50's and wasn't long before he had built a race 265 ci chrysler motor for it. Complete with Edmunds head, Edmunds triple carb intake, a custom cam and oh yes, bored 125 thou !
    He rolled on to Daytona beach in I think it was 1955 where they still had the legendary "flying mile" drag race right on the beach. George had a hard time actually getting them to take his 29 desoto with a 6 cylinder serious, but he eventually talked his way into an entry spot by challenging one of the favourites. Well it didnt take long before they went from not taking George serious, to the challengers lined up as George won race heat after race heat. By the end of the Meet, George's Desoto was the only undefeated car, topping out with a mind blowing 142 mph pass. The cool thing is well, the 1929 desoto is still in George's possession and I will attach a couple of pictures. Most notorious was George daring my Dad Eddy to get in the back of the rumble seat for a quick pass. Dad jumped in and it was game on.
    On the Kingsbury side, my grandfather was a Chrysler man involved in some wild stuff including a highly modified Henderson Motorcycle equipped with a Plymouth 6 cyclinder motor. No I am not kidding, but that is too as story for another time. My Father Eddy naturally became a Mopar guy, and his 1st car was a 1941 plymouth business coupe. He apprenticed with Mopar dealership in Georgetown Ontario, where he spent his spare time working on first stock cars and later dragsters and eventually top fuel cars. The owner of the dealer, said to him his talent exceeded what the dealership needed and he sponsored him back to school where he would eventually get his automotive engineering papers. It would be cool if the Kingsbury's and Asche's had met up at some track running head to head, feuding like some modern day Hatfield and McCoy's, but unfortunately that never happened.
    That meeting would actually take place much later. My Dad and I had went on a quest to Western Canada in search of his Grandfather's (on his mothers side) homestead in Saskatewan. He has been out and tried to find it many times with no success. So he and I flew out to Winnipeg (also knicknamed Winter-peg) and made the trek to a small town called Bulyea Saskatchewan. I said well lets hit two spots - the local bar and the local post office. The long story short, the post master in the town, lived dead across the road from what turned out to be his grandfathers. On the big piece of property there was only a grainery and barn left standing, while the rest of the 800 acres was used for cash cropping wheat !
    Inside that barn was a 1952 Fargo grain truck. A truck which later on I would purchase and surprise my Dad with a birthday present. The truck wasnt his grandfathers. His grandfather homesteaded their in the later 1800's, and when he retired he moved to Ontario and settled on a farm, right across the road from the Kingsbury homestead which was setlled in 1795 and I still live there. But the grandson of the gentleman who bought the farm from my great grandfather had purchased the fargo brand new, and when he retired from farming in 1989 that truck had only went 14,250 miles. Its entire life was hauling grain from the farm over to elevator #1 in Bulyea.
    The 1952 fargo while was only 1 of about 50 Fargo and Dodge trucks in the Kingsbury Collection,was the apple in my fathers Eye because he got it for his birthday from his son and Grandson Daniel.
    One of the things we immediately started to look for was a factory dual carb and dual exhaust setup for the truck. While it really didnt come with it from the factory, the truck cried out to have one.. lol.
    So in that quest I found myself at the All Chrysler Nationals In Carlisle PA looking for among other things, a dual carb and dual intake setup. It was the 3rd time I had been there to the Meca of all Car shows (yes another topic).. and as I turned up row E, in then spot 5 and 6, there was George and his good friend and Model T enthusiast Bob Wearham . In fact I took a picture before I left and I have attached it here. For those who have visited George.... maybe you can guess what year this was !
    In any case that is where the Kingsbury's met the Asche's.. Row E at the All Chrysler Nationals or as I often call it ChryslerCarlisle.
    The touching piece of that story was later on, George gifted a factory orignal dual carb intake and exhaust that he has restored to my Dad. From that point forward, well there has been a lot of things happen, a lot of projects, and a lot of great fun and fellowship.
    We were looking for a team name and George came up with the name AoK which stands for Asche over Kingsbury and lets face it KoA was already taken by someone.. rofl and didnt sound near as good as AoK. For a number of years you would see on Row E George and Eddy, side by side solving the worlds problems and trading war stories as I call them. The PA Dodge Motor home also referred as the Southern Mopar Nut crib and beside it the Ontario Dodge Motor home, also referred as the Northern Mopar Nut crib. Now having said that, it seems there was been Southern Mopar Nuts (Asche's) hanging in or sleeping in the Northern Mopar Nuts (Kingsbury's) crib, or visaversa on many occasion. Just like while it was the Asche's that introduced us to Smth's slab bacon, it is now quite often that the Kingsbury's are hauling it down to the Asche's as the factory store is in Erie Pa and on our way from the Kingsbury's homestead to the Asche's homestead.
    So there folks is the story and honestly that is the short version.
    Tim
  3. timkingsbury
    **** Development Update **** Behind the Scenes ***
    Well as promised a little sneak peak behind the scenes on the development of the new Dual Carb AoK intake.
    And just to give people an idea of where this process is going, I have also attached the finished AoK triple intake
    that followed this exact same development process.
    So since our last update, which to recap was the completion of the core. Unfortunately I dont have a picture of the dual intake core, so I will attached the core from the triple in a picture beside an original Eddy Edmunds Triple carb intake. The core, made of a special foam is put inside a finished mold and after the alunimum is poured in the mold, the casting is reheated and the core suddenly turns to powder and after it is blown out, you have the inside of your intake.
    In any case, this is the pattern for the outter mold. Believe it or not, this is where the major work is. It is all created in wood and its something the "masters of the trade" never let people actually see. Those who do this stage are absolute artists and this is where the true magic happens in my mind.
    You will notice the tab that will eventually act as a spot for truck and older cars that use linkeage attached to the outside of the intake, as well as the spot for a serial number. You may also notice the top of the carb base has tabs on both the inside and outside of the intake. Those can be used for linkage on either the inside or outside of the intake. With none of the current in production intakes offer this, it was a feature that Edmunds had, although they had 1 generation which had the tabs only on the outside and another only on the inside. For the AoK it can have either or left undrilled and not use this option.
    Still to be finished at this stage, is the core and pattern for the water tube. It too will be an optional item where you can use it or leave it unused. Were having a bit of a discussion today as to its exact location as when Edmunds did include a water jacket and he didnt do it for all intakes, he never offered the otter tabs for truck or older car linkage. This is not a complex stage and should be done with another 30 hours of work which Tom says he is on track to finish before Christmas.
    So images p1000073, 75, 76 are all the patterns from which the outter mold will be made from.
    In the end, we will have a pattern to make the core for the inside of the intake, a pattern to make the core for the water tube and
    finally a pattern for the outside of the intake.
    Once you have those you use the core patterns to make foam cores. You need 1 intake foam core and 1 water tube foam core for every single intake we make. Then you set those cores inside the outter intake mold and pour it with alunimum. You let it cool, then reheat the intake to turn your cores to dust, as well as heat treat the actual alunimum. With those steps done, you have the raw intakes
    ready to send for the machine shop.
  5. timkingsbury
    As I promised, here is the story of the Worlds Fastest Flathead…. Motorcycle !
    1st off I want to acknowledge that there is an article online on this motorcycle. Please go read it at -
    http://www.allpar.com/history/plymouth/motorcycle.html
    Next up I want to make it very clear that in my opinion Jim Benjaminson is one of the
    most dedicated Plymouth Historians on the planet and I am very happy to call him my hero !
    I want to say that right up front, because some of what I am about to say may not be the same as what is in his article or other articles I will refer to. While I fully believe in Jim’s case he used the best available information, and in the case of two magazine articles published in 1935, they published what information they were given. Lets just say they were not quite given the full story and the reason why, well what my Grandfather said was they were very concerned about information being disclosed to the public, for fear that someone else would use the information to best them.
    At issue, really is what the engine was capable of turning from a RPM standpoint.
    But I digress..
    Lets start off with a direct quote from the start of Jim Benjaminson article -
    “Despite the bleak economic condition of the country in the mid thirties, the spirit of adventure was very much alive and well, especially in the world of speed. It was an "Age of Speed" and the place to be was the Bonneville Salt Flats in the uppermost corner of the state of Utah. The challengers on "the Salt" were British mostly, with specially built race cars sporting monster engines to assault the time clocks in quest of the magic title of the "Fastest Man on Earth." Even today, men still talk about the greats like Capt George Eyston and Sir Malcolm Campbell and their monstrous thundering machines. $10,000 was a lot of money then and it was reported that this huge sum would be paid to the first man to drive a motorcycle at a speed of 300 miles per hour.”
    Enter one Californian named Fred Luther. Luther was an employee of Chrysler and he prevailed upon the company to supply him with motive power in his challenge to become this man. Chrysler responded by supplying Luther with a complete 1934 PF six cylinder engine and transmission. Already an experienced motorcycle racer, Luther began the necessary modifications to a 'cycle to accommodate its new power plant”
    So now let me jump in here.. My Grandfather whose name is Earl Bolton worked for Chrysler with Fred Luther.Fred had left a career of board track racing, and had opened up a Garage on LA in the late 20's. I believe when the crash of 29 came, he was working for Chrysler.
    The picture which ran in the July 1935 Modern Mechanix would be Fred on the motorcycle in a riding position (with the stands down) and my Grandfather looking like he is adjusting the carb on the bike although from what I know it should have been Jimmy McNeil who did the major modifications on the engine according to the notes my Grandfather made.
    Now let me move to the details of the bike. The bike was a 1926 Henderson Deluxe Super 6, referred by many over the years as a Henderson “X” although the Henderson “X” was actually a different motorcycle ,so I am told by a Henderson historian . He provided me with a picture of his restored 1926 Henderson and I will attach it here.
    The cool thing is the motorcycle was already stretched by the Henderson Motorcycle company and sported a 6 cylinder engine. I believe by Grandfathers notes that in summer of 1933 Fred Luther purchase the motorcycle from a gentleman who had bought it new in 1927. He had in or around “Black Tuesday” which was October 29, 1929 and the end of the big stock market crash lost everything. As I am told that motorcycle was the mode of transportation for this gentleman as he left New York state after the stock market crash. As the great depression or the “dirty thirties” as Grandfather referred to them, was in full force and he could no longer afford fuel or the bike and he sold the bike to Fred Luther.
    My Grandfather who had the nickname of “Earl the Squirrel” got the name from his Squirrelling away parts, and information. Grandfather saw the younger fellow Chrysler employee, Fred as a pretty decent young man and when Fred asked for help Grandfather was glad to help out.
    So I won’t say who did what, but I will say that Grandfather was pretty tight with Walter Chrysler, and by some miracle a 1934 plymouth 6 cylinder that to quote Grandfather "didn’t pass quality control at firing time" was purchase for the project for the sum of $1. I have the receipt for the engine ! Lol.. I will also say, my other Grandfather Charles Kingsbury (my Dad's father) had a brother who was an executive at Firestone and I know that the bike did sport a pair of 30”x5” specially made 8 ply tires. Whether it was through that connection or as some stories had it firestone was interested in sponsorship I am not 100% sure.
    The frame was lengthened and reinforced and is some pictures I will attach here, you can see the bike and its reinforcement pretty clear.
    The stock 1934 plymouth engine was rated at 77 hp at 3600 rpm and they got the engine in September of 1934. I know that the 1934 stock Plymouth carb was a carter ball and ball - model 439 which has a 1 7/16” throttle bore and 1 ¼” venture.
    By grandfathers notes they built a special carb which had a 1 9/16” throttle bore and the jets bored out. My grandfathers notes, while they could have likely done the machining at work, that Jimmy McNeil sent out the machine work and it could have been to Harry Miller.
    I don't know but over time have heard the Harry Miller reference enough that there is likely some substance to it.
    I do know the block was decked and 40 thou was removed off of it, and 80 thou was removed off the head. The crank was already balanced coming from Chrysler and they had the rods balanced. The cam was done within Chrysler and had a 375 lift but had the duration highly modified. Yes I know the duration ! tee hee In the end the engine was guessed to be about 125 hp, but what was not a guess was what it rev’d and that was 5300 rpm. Not the 4100 reported in Popular Mechanics, 4250 rpm or the 4500 rpm reported elsewhere. It was actually a mathematical calculation or the rpm, the transmission, the sprocket and the wheel that determined the motorcycle should be able to hit 310 mph which was actually what Fred felt he needed to break the 300 mph barrier.
    But I today still remain unsure if it was 300 mph or 200 mph that was the short term goal. I still have a feeling a certified 200 mph run was the goal when it first when to Bonneville.
    Ironically in the July 1935 Modern Mechanix on the last page (which I will include a picture of) is Sir Malcolm Campbell endorsing Pyroil after his world record run on the sand at Daytona Beach Florida where he didn’t quite make 300 mph. Over the years that is often attributed to being done on the salt flats but it was instead in Florida. That car weighed nearly 7 tons and costed $200,000 to make according to that Pyroil Ad.
    In any case the “Plymouth Motorcycle was finished in April of 1935 and was 115” long tip to tip and weighed just under 1600 pounds, with Fred Luther suited up and on it. By Grandfathers notes, with boots, skull cap and goggles on and the bike full of aviation fuel, 1598 pounds. The bike was taken out on the Muroc Dry flats for testing and later to Bonneville Salt Flats in 1935 by Fred Luther and 5 fellow Chrysler buddies, however my Grandfather was not among them. It seems my mother’s oldest sister Joyce being born side tracked Grandfather ! I believe Jimmy Mc Neil and a Chrysler employee who was a fabricator named Adolph Thuillier who was involved in the Henderson modification were the key "pit crew"
    Going back to Jim Benjaminson article -
    ….“The bike was built over the winter of 1934-35 and made its appearance on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1935. There, under the watchful eye of the official timers, Fred Luther set out on his way to fame, glory and hopefully, $10,000 in prize money. The rules at Bonneville were the same then as they are today. To qualify for a record you must run the course both directions--down the course and then back again. The average speed of both runs determines whether or not the record has been set.
    Laying into the wind, Luther pushed the bike on the first leg of the record attempt and got the bike up to a speed of 140 miles per hour. On the return run, feeling more confident, Luther continued to "open up" the engine until trouble struck--he broke a connecting rod at about 180 miles per hour--the bike was still in second gear!
    Bringing the bike to a coasting halt Luther decided he had enough of the record attempt and never again attempted to reach the 300 mile per hour mark on the bike although he always did feel that the Plymouth Henderson X-Miller combination could reach that lofty figure--if only someone were willing to ride it that fast! There were no takers lurking in the shadows, however. 300 miles an hour on a motorcycle in 1935 was indeed a lofty goal. At the end of the year 1934 no automobile had ever attained that speed.
    England's Sir Malcolm Campbell in his "Bluebird" race car set a world's speed record of 276 miles per hour on March 7th, 1935 at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Shortly before Luther's attempt at the Flats, Campbell again climbed into his Bluebird race car this time on the 3rd of September, and became the first man in the world to drive an automobile at a record speed of 300 miles per hour-- he just barely made the record, setting it at 301 m.p.h.”
    What I do know is the transmission locked between 2nd and 3rd gear, something that could not happen in later 3 speed transmissions. Gee I wonder if this was really the 1st racing of a Plymouth that saw the “field testing” result in changes to production items. The truth is I don’t need to guess here, because I was told by Grandfather that when the tore that transmission down and saw what had happened they made changes to the mopar 3 speed transmission and the ability for the transmission to get stuck in two gears ended with the new release of the 3 speed transmission in the fall of 1935.
    Also ironically by the my Grandfathers notes the Plymouth transmission was not the 1st transmission in the bike when they did the Muroc testing. It was the original Henderson gear box, but it couldn't handle the torque and "melted down" during one of the test runs
    and then was replaced with the Plymouth transmission. Given I know my Grandfather was not at Bonneville, I believe he may have been involved with the changeover before it got to Bonneville.
    I also believe there was not enough capacity or issues with the original Henderson gas tank and it was replaced because it is the only
    way I can explain the Henderson gas tank that was later in my Grandfathers shop.
    For the fun of it, read through Jim Benjaminson full article at
    http://www.allpar.com/history/plymouth/motorcycle.html
    It is awesome !
    I have attached the pictures from the June 1935 Popular Mechanics article which says
    “Auto Engine Drives Motorcycle at High Speed
    Assembled especially for establishing a world’s record of more than 300 miles per hour, an oversize motorcycle powered with an automobile engine has been making speed tests on the Pacific coast. The motorcycle, weighing 1,500 pounds, is powered with a six-cylinder Plymouth automobile engine with fan and generator removed. With special timing and carburetor jets, the engine makes 4,100 revolutions per minute. The wheel-base is eighty-five inches and the over-all length is 115 inches, a standard motorcycle frame being lengthened and reinforced with steel tubing. Two large sprockets connected by a three-quarter inch chain facilitate steering, the handlebars having been moved back several inches from their original position. Two steel plates, one on each side in front of the rear wheel, serve as brakes by actual contact with the ground or track. They can be raised or lowered by a lever.”
    I have also attached the pictures and article from the July 1935 Modern Mechanix
    To be continued in part 2 of the story.. lol.. because that is all the pictures I can attach to this post !
  6. timkingsbury
    Well Folks -
    It is that time of year again, with 2014 flying by so fast it must have been powered by a 265 ci flathead !
    I know Santa has checked his list to see who was naughty and who was nice. As usually I am on the
    list of several Corvette, Ford and Chevy owners and maybe even Mrs Claus's naughty list.
    So while most are thinking about -
    "Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
    Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
    The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
    In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there."
    The boys at AoK are busy wrapping presents for family, friends and as usually trying to
    pull a fast one on one member of the AoK family or another. So I will let you folks in on
    a little secret.
    With my dear friends George, Rob and George III or G3 as I like to call him having spent hundreds of
    hours working on projects for me this past year, I have a little something for them that I am trying
    to figure out how to put under the tree for them.
    Attached is a picture of the present from the K's in AoK going to the A's in AoK and thus
    will become the the delivery truck for Asche Mechanic and AoK racing. Its a 1951 Fargo
    and is a pretty cool truck.
    Now given I am not sure we can get it tucked on to St Nicholas Sleigh it may not arrive
    in Fertigs PA until a little past Christmas!
    So ... with the AoK children nestled all snug in their beds,
    With visions of sugar-plums dancing in their heads.
    Mamma is in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
    and to settle our brains for a long winter’s nap..
    We would like to wish everyone on the forum a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years !
    Nite Nite
    Tim
  7. timkingsbury
    As Promised - The story of the "Worlds Fastest Flathead…. Motorcycle !" - part 2
    I am also going to attach two pictures from the 1931 Modern Mechanic which featured contest award winners from the “baby auto” contest. Both these featured car/motorcycle mixes and it was really from this 1931 publication that Grandfather said Fred got the idea for putting a car engine into a motorcycle.
    But the story didn’t end in 1935. The Plymouth Motorcycle had the engine and transmission removed and well those pieces along with the seat and gas tank just happened to wind up in my Grand Fathers driving shed/work shop. The bike, I am not 100% sure where it went immediately after Fred Luther sold it, but I do know it was eventually discovered squirrelled away in the back of a museum that had closed. In 1950 it was reported that is was still in Fred's garage and today I am quite confident I know where it is. The in between, well that I am sure is a great story that might come to light some day, who knows!
    Lets just say, the Bike is not owned by myself or my family, but I do know exactly where the bike is and I will attach some pictures taking ten years ago as the restoration of the bike started, and again this summer as the bike is very close to being completed.(see part 3 for the 2014 pictures of the bike)
    So yes, the famed Fred Luther Plymouth Motorcycle lives on. In fact the “global we” are on the look out for a period tach from the 1930’s that will run off a distributor and has at least a “hint hint” 5500 rpm upper limit ! Yes in a very very small way, what started with my grandfather Earl Bolton who helped in a big way, continues today and I am as excited today as I know he was in 1935 to see the bike back running !
    Finally without stealing the thunder of the rebirth of the “Plymouth Motorcycle” you can expect at some point in the future another blog entry concerning the “On the drawing board” motorcycle plan. Since my grandfather moved to Windsor in 1936 for the opening of the Canadian Engine plant I think the “Plymouth Motorcycle” was in the back of his head, because in his not pad and in his driving shed/shop was the start of the “Chrysler Motorcycle” dream !
  8. timkingsbury
    In reply to the request.. here is "the truck" and the Trip to Saskatewan.. It is a 1952 Fargo and the reason I attached the combine in the grainry... its a 1955 Massey Harris, and you guess it ... it has a 265 chrylser flathead in it.
    The picture of Dad beside the fargo out in Saskatewan was taken as he looked at it and he had no idea, that I would eventually purchase it, bring it back and give it to him for his birthday in Feb 2002. The picture of me with the truck tucked in the garage, is polishing the truck. yes that is the original paint, complete with original factory pinstripes still on the truck. In fact the polish job was 1/2 the restoration. Lol
    the second 1/2 was changing the oils, plugs and gas in the tank and greasing it..
    The one thing the Kingsbury's seemed to do is take pictures. Going back to tin type pictures I think we have 7 generations of pictures and some how there seems to be a lot with Mopars.. Lol.. I cant imagine how that happens.
  9. timkingsbury
    Welcome to the “Keeping Up with the AoK boys” blog, or in other words, Ramblings about Vintage Mopar Performance stuff with the Kingsbury's and Asche's
    This Blog really originated after several forum members suggested I should start a blog. After discussions with the p15d24 site owner, my “brothers”, the guy who calls me his “3rd son” rofl, George Asche, and a few forum members, I decided to take the plunge.
    I will start off apologizing in advance to all of the above ! Lol, in other words, be careful what you suggest.
    Along the way, I will maybe provide some history of the Asche’s and the Kingsbury’s, what each have been or are up to, and maybe some snippets of our past projects or future plans !
    This blog will primarily focus on Mopar. Don’t get me wrong, my father Eddy and George always loved Chevy and Fords. As Dad often said, "if it wasn’t for Chevy’s and Fords breaking down, I likely would have never made a good living !" But after loving their obvious inferior qualities, that ends it.
    So discussions about putting 350 chevy v8’s into mopars will be confined to the numerous times one member or another of the family put one in the box of a pickup, because we sure as heck wouldn’t use one to power a vehicle.
    So if you think using Chevy V8’s to power anything Mopar is a good idea, well, this blog won’t be for you, so save your blood pressure and don’t read it!
    We / I will happily take questions, and will be pretty liberal about letting people ramble on among themselves. As a former Canadian Junior Hockey player I learned early, I don’t need to be in the middle of every fight !
    Thanks folks and let the games begin.
    Tim Kingsbury
    direct email: fargopickupking@yahoo.com
  10. timkingsbury

    If you missed a chance to get an AoK intake, we maybe able to help! - SOLD

    By timkingsbury,


    Flathead intake performance dodge plymouth
    Update: To all the kind words we have received over the years and since this post thank you. The AoK intake setup is on its way to Gary Street for those of you wondering if its still for 
                   sale or who got it.  Oh and yes, it was spoken for pretty much within an hour of it being listed with a few backup homes looking to Adopt the Piece of History!
     
     
    So you missed out on our last (and most likely final) run of AoK intakes and are kicking yourself.
    Unlike other times over the last 30 years, we stopped taking names for a waiting list as George Asche Jr is now 90 years old, and while he is still unbelievable active, he is moving more to small projects, 1 and a time. While I (Tim Kingsbury) could continue on, I think after 30 years of giving back to the hobby and not making a dime on intakes, its time for me 
    to concentrate on my own projects, as life is too often shorter than we expect.
     
    In that vein  one of the guys who purchased an AoK dual carb intake for the 23 1/2" Mopars (201,  217 (that a lot call a 218) and 230 engines), got it a couple of years ago, then found his dream car, a 1948 Plymouth business coupe.  He send his intake back to use as he was not sure if he would be putting it on a preww2 car or truck or a post ww2 car when he bought it.
    Of course the AoK intake was designed and created  so it can be used for inboard or outboard linkage as well as a mounting spot for the pivot points on trucks or preww2 cars..
     
    It is the only  multi carb intake ever made for a 23  1/2' motor ever made to easily accommodate both.
     
    George rebuilt him to Siamese twin Carter Ball and Ball Carbs, created the linkage for a post WW2 car, then setup and aligned everything so its ready to mount on a car. The customer wanted a "back woods" look and asked if George could put something special like a copper space or something for his project. If you look close at the 1st two pictures, George did make a subtle piece of copper to try and give him that look.
     
    The project was finished and sent back to the customer.  Sadly, shortly after getting back the intake he fell ill and has since passed away.  His widow called me, .let me know the Plymouth has been sold to someone in Europe but they didn't want any of the spare parts and she wondered if we would consider buying back the intake, carbs and linkage.  I am not going to go to deep into the families challenges, except to say she needed to try and gather up as much cash as she could not that her husband had passed and the realization that his life insurance  was not going to keep them in the house they have and the life style they once had.
     
    Without hesitation I asked her what  he had in the project.   He has supplied the carbs for George to rebuild, which were super nice to start with, just had been on a shelf for a long time.     She had receipts and what he had in the intake, carbs, linkage as seen in pictures 1 and 2 is $1600.  That is what I paid for it, plus shipping to me and that is what I will sell it for.
     
    The last picture shows  what the intake is like with headers made from a stock exhaust by George Asche Jr.   They don't come with the intake, nor did he has a pair. But if you wanted a set made we can get you a set made for $195 plus shipping, using your supplied exhaust.  You can also use Fenton reproduction headers, or whatever you like.
     
     
    So the 1st one to reach out, with $1650.00 usd  will own the intake, carbs and linkage all set up ready to mount on a 23 1/2' flathead mopar that has linkage coming across the head.
    Shipping inside Canada or the USA will be $50 usd for Postal Ground service.  If you prefer to use your carrier or express shipping, that is no problem and will be done at cost.
     
    Reach out to me at Fargopickupking@yahoo.com  if you want it..     Remember, there is only 1 of these, so when its gone its gone!
     
     
     
    Tim
     
    ps: If you want to know more about the intake and its development, you can find lots of articles on this blog.  Here is a good one to start with
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Terms of Use