The AM Forum

After 31 years, the cassette version of the Walkman fades away:  http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/10/sony-to-stop-making-walkman-cassette-player.html

I guess that makes it the HRO of the personal audio devices in terms of longevity.

I love DOS!

So long to an icon. Wow, if you remember using them, you are considered old. If you used an old transistor pocket radio, you are considered antique. If you are from the era of old B radios and such, you are ancient.  ;)

" So long to an icon. Wow, if you remember using them, you are considered old. If you used an old transistor pocket radio, you are considered antique. If you are from the era of old B radios and such, you are ancient.  ;) "

So where do 8trak fit in ??


klc

I can out-old-buzzard all of you.  I remember the wind-up Victrola.

But.....................................

Do you remember using one of these??  ???

Ah yes, the 8-tracks. In 1968 my '64 GTO had an "Automatic Radio" 8-track.  


Later on in 1972, the NE AMers would come down to CT for some bar hopping. I made 8-track recordings of some of the good QSO's and played them in the car for the guys as we cruised down the highway to the bars. One time we picked up some nice blondes by introducing PW Fallon (WA1IWQ) as the guy who runs a KW of AM on 3885. They jumped in the car and we played the tapes for them. They were so dazzled they didn't know what the heck to think. We were prehistoric geeks, I guess... ;D

T

Ham Radio as girl bait......bet that went over big

One of my first jobs was in a music store.  I was just a JN at the time. (around 15)  Got the job 'cause I was a ham.  I used to fix various radios of the 50's era.  The workbench was in the basement of the store.  There was a fully functional Edison cylindrical player -- WITH LOTS OF CYLINDERS.  What a blast playing them.  The store owner didn't seem to mind -- he was an old timer back in those days - it probably was a new 'un that never got sold.  One can only imagine what kind of price the whole collection would have been worth in today's market

Al

" I remember the wind-up Victrola. "

Grandma had one. We liked to play her Lithuanian comedy records. She had a sence of humor.....    'We' didn't understand them.


Steel needles in the record player. Mom had the HiFi.

Cheep portable tape recorders . Easy to hide ....  1 trak?........  lots 'o fun... coulda got a job with Nixon.


klc

The thang is we had a lively rap and the chicks were dumb blondes. And the best part was we were in Springfield, MA where the local guys were tongue-tied trying to look cool while we were out there hustling like Elvis with a two-letter call. Works every time... ;D

A candy apple blue Little GTO wins every time  ;D

Somehow the Subject and the topic took divergent paths... ???

Last year while on a pronged field service call, I was hunting down an intermittent arc on a customers machine. Every time there would be an arc, incremental encoders would creep. I needed a way to find that arc...

So I go over to Best Buy to buy a Sony Walkman with the hope that it had a decent AM tuner within. No luck, and the sales guy had no clue of what I was talking about. I did find a discontinued rack that had an off brand AM/FM with headset. So I took it. Going into a wafer fab facility with a headset on got me plenty of laughs, scowls, and what the heck looks. Virtually every power supply was switching, so noise was everywhere. NO AM broadcast station could penetrate that noise.

I did find some open grounds, improper power hookups (all 208v 3 phase), and a nearby machine that had a 13.56 Mhz 5KW RF generator that was radiating such that the AM BCB was overloaded on my little receiver.

I didn't find my specific problem, but having one of those Walkman type radios is sometimes useful or tracking down noise sources.

Jim
WD5JKO

Candy apple blue?? Apples are supposed to be red. Who'd ever think of eating a blue apple??  ;D  ;D

Fast GTOs werent a common thing around here. Like nonexistant!

After all, it meant  Git Yer Tools Out! ! !  ;D  ;D

(http://vintage-original-ads.com/Pictures/albums/uploads/1977-Pioneer-Super-Tuner.jpg)

And there were about a dozen or more "Super Tuner" type models that can after the one above.

I was just a poor boy with a '65 Tempest......homebrew drive train.

When the mid-70's came around, the pollution chokers and gas prices made running hi-test performance a little more difficult.  I once saw a guy who had a realistic-looking, but fake Roots 6-71 blower sticking through the hood and a recording of a dragster motor playing through his onboard PA system as he drove through the McDonalds. Man, did that get some stares - it sure fooled most.

I've often thought of getting one of those recordings for my truck - just to bewilder the new breed of squirrels driving around in their little needle-dick cars with 6 cylinders, no mufflers, tinted black windows and 1" of tire rubber on the rims... (and the heavy bass rap, of course) ;D

T

By the mid-70's I gave up driving the loud and big Plymouth Fury Mopars and bought an AMC Pacer (a lowly cool and weird-looking vehicle). Somewhere I have a picture with a homebrew 2 meter turnstile mounted on the roof.

Poor and you had a car? You don't know poor.

actually Tom the best poncho motor was the 421SD with Arma Steel bottom end. Then there was the Ram Air 5 that never hit the street.

No HUZ I don't know poor and may none of us live it.

I know Frank mopar ruled but they had a crappy body and front end.

I had one of these hanging under the dash of a '62 Chevy pickup...

SD-421 was the one motor they made that would raise an eyebrow from me!
Al Lineweber had a white 67 goat with one of them. It was the only really fast poncho in these parts that DIDNT have a Chebby motor in it. (Rat motor was a bolt in swap, just use chevelle frame mounts and headerz) Ram Airs were about as fast as a large chunk of concrete!!  ;D  ;D But some of the SD-421s were actually quite fast. It must have been a bore to stroke or rod ratio thing. (or noone figgered out how to build them)

I kinda liked the body styling of the older mopars. But you are right the front ends were szht! You definately kept the tire dealers in business. I could never get many miles out of a set of front tires. I was often tempted to try 6-ply truck tires on the front.

Ram Air cams had no high end. Crane H302 or H312 took care of the problem.
First time I power shifted my 65 Tempest with open headers I hit 6500 and thought the crank was going to hit the ground. The front end came off the ground though. SD421 was stroked to 455 making it a dog. I maybe have seen one 421 motor. I searched for one a couple times. A SD421 with RA4 heads would be a cool project.
Yes the Rat is a drop in swap and square port heads makes it fast.

A buddy of mine owned a 421 '66 goat. Deep Marina blue hardtop coupe. Chrome mags - what a beauty that was. It had headers, 4.33? rear end and a high lift cam.  Riding in it scared the heck outa me when he opened it up. It had that "SOUND" of a ticking dragster as it idled around town.

Anyway, he sold it to a guy who then rolled it on a curve on Windsor ave, Windsor. There were four guys in the car with back injuries, etc. Totaled.


I just love those engines that are set up to sound like that.... tickita tickita...tick... roooommmm!  tickita tickita...   ;D

What is the main ingredient that makes the "ticking" sound? Is it the headers, the long duration cam, high compression or some combination?  I've had a few cars where I made those add-ons but was unable to get that sound. It takes quiet mufflers to reveal it....  ??

T

Proud owner of a crapped out 73 vette, but now with a parts car giving up it's innards to bring it back to life.  I like the chevy 350 v-8, they were easy to work on, common as dirt and you could put a lot of power into a small car by shoe-horning one of those baby's under the hood.

Tom, My term was header chink. The sound of fire in a good set of tuned headers. A cold night with the right mixture under just enough load to pop open the power valves. I liked the pontiac motor because you could replace the timing chain or cam without bending the pan like on a chevy. Also you could pull the intake without pulling the distributor. The connecting rods were a bit too long which increased the spinning mass the shortfall of the design.
The worst motors were the 326 and 350 what heavy pigs. Followed by the 455. Now if they just increased the bore another 1/8 inch with good heads that motor would have made real power. The rod length would have been better and piston skirts would have been shorter.
The 421 made power because it had the right McKeller cam grind. After that they limited the high end to keep the crank in the block.

Yeah, candy apple blue!  Just like the front panel of Tom's HB RX  ;D

Johnny,
            I hate to tell you this, but there is no such thing as candy apple blue.
there is definately candy blue, or maybe candy (something) blue, but not candy apple blue. Candy "apple" red was a specific color (red).

I shot enough of those paint jobs many years ago. "Kandy Kolors" refered originally to a specific brand, then copied as "candy colors" by other mfrs. the basics are as follows for a proper "Candy" color paint job:

Step 1. Shoot the car in either a metallic gold or silver base coat (dependng on the color  
          and your preference)
Step 2. Apply a few coats of the candy color. (a transparent basically colored clear, you
           applied as many coats as it took to get the depth of color you wanted)
Step 3. Since in the old days this was all done with lacquer it was time to bust your ass  
           wet sanding it smooth between coats. (a real PITA)
Step 4. Apply a few coats of clear to get the depth of shine you desired (wet sanding
           between coats)
Step 5. Final wet sand with extreemly fine paper (1000 grit or finer)
Step 6. Buff out to desired shine with electric buffer and apply sealer

Since this was before the days of the current basecoat / clearcoat finishes, they were a ton of work, a Pita to do, and therefore quite expensive! I know, I did enough of them!
"Back in the day", metalflake was an even bigger PITA, but that is another story for another time.............................  

OH, yea, I forgot step 7: Drink copious amounts of your favorite alcoholic beverages between steps 1-6. Step 8: pass out on the paint booth floor! ! ! ! !   ;D  ;D

Frank,
         You would have loved big block mopeckers!! the bottom ends were bulletproof!!
440s with the big rods and forged crank could take well over 7000 without coming apart!
You could change the intake without even draining the coolant, and they never had timing chain problems!! And If you knew what you were doing you could change cams without pulling the intake! ! ! !   ;D  Try that with a poncho ;D  ;D

heheheh... That's what Rich/ETP used to call it - "The GTO Blue Homebrew Receiver"


That panel was painted with hand rubbed lacquer, much like Slab just described. I started with a silver base and used translucent blue lacquer on top. I sanded with 600 grit paper and then compounded it out and waxed.  I did a whole line of rigs that way.  Also painted a VW.  That paint reflected like a mirror and was an inexpensive way to get a pro look using spray cans.


Well, I'm off to go kayak sailing with Yaz today. Might be one of the last days before it's too cold for anything but the canoe.  Tomorrow is our 40th high school reunion. Both events oughta be sporting... ;D

T

Well Rodger, fear not: they will continue to be made in China according the the report I saw. Sorta like the end of the VW Beetle, which was still built in Mexico for years and used as taxicabs.

Was quite the invention in its day. Replaced by the mp3 player and ear buds.

What about Candy-Ass Blue?

 ;D ;D

Frank I helped Mark the Q get his 440 going. It is a nice motor. But friggen heavy. Build chevy 350s had one in the jethro mobile 4 bolt, plus 30 with an old weiand single plane 800 cfm and fuelie cam, 411s.
But you know what they say about big blocks......
Rat will go by a 455 like it is standing still sorry built them also.

..i had one of those tuners in my 1970 AMX..no back seat..last year of that style...worst car i ever owned...replaced by a 1966 malibu ss 396...


..btw, with plymouth gone, will the 'cuda be a dodge?...

.sk..

What a difference.  The AMX was like a Maverick... ;D


The '66 Chevelle SS396 was my all time favorite muscle car.  The maroon coupe with a black vinyl top, black interior and dark gray Crager mags was the goods. I never owned one, but always wanted to. They can go for $50K+ these days.

There was a guy who had one for sale in 1968 - all built up and waxed to a high luster. He wanted $2800 for it. That was outa my range then, but I dreamed about it.

The marina blue with black top and black interior was a classic too.

T

I dont know what you've been smokin, but I want some!! It would take mega bux to get more HP out of a 455 than a square port rat motor!! Most of the square port rats were pretty lethal right out of the box.

To really appreciate it, you lave to look at the published HP curves for these engines.
just like they made umpteen versions of the 427 / 425 Hp. Several of them show the graph going to 6 grand plus with the Hp peaking somewhere in that area. Others show a graph with a line at about a 30 degree angle from vertical that STOPS at say 4800 rpm where the HP is 425 and the engine will pull 6500+! the actual graph line would stop at the 425 Hp point. Some of them produced well in excess of 500HP. They would have a bunch of different model numbers for the same cid / HP engine. this wierd rating curve was so the buyers could get insurance for these cars and also for NHRA class HP rating.

The 396 / 375 was another one like that, 375 HP @ 5000 rpm....................... But something like 450 at 6500. If you ever raced a Chevelle or Camaro with a 396 / 325, they were slugs and easy pickens. (oval port heads) However...............If you ran one with a 396/375 (square port heads), there was NO comparison and you usually had a real race on your hands.

I had a buddy some years back that bought a 69 396 / 375 Chevelle Super Stock car,
It was a mid / high 10-second car back then. He used to get me to drive it bacause he kept missing gears. It was really nasty and fun to drive!!

Frank,
         there is something to be said for having a little weight to the block. Nice thick castings!! You never had problems with head bolt or main cap bolts pulling out with these engines. They never made 4-bolt mains for 440s, and they would stay together well in excess of 7000 without the main caps pulling out. I was known for shifting mine over 7000 and running it up past 7500 in the burnout to "clean out" the motor good from running it around in the pits. (this was before the days of MSD) A good balance job was all that it took to keep it together.

One of my most favorite Chebby motors for street cars was the overlooked and much maligned 400 small block. It had the same bore and stroke as a 402 in a small package.
The out of box heads werent too bad either. (1.94 intake, 1.60 exhaust) It didnt take much to make these engines into real screamers for street machines as long as you didnt get one with a sandy casting thin block. I built a bunch of them back when. And you could get them dirt cheap back then.

Another engine that had a lot of potential but got badly overlooked was the 430 Buick motor. They by far ran better than the 455s!! No one even considered these motors until the supply of reasonably priced rat motors really dried up!!

In your wet dream hro. Just look at the ports on both motors. look at the valve stagger on the rat. look at the valve size. The problem was the pontiac heads could not flow the air of a square port rat. a buddy and I built a L88 with ZL1 Xcam. 10s machine. the fastest thing I ever drove.
I could take a round port 396 with my '65 but not a square port.
Yes Frank the small block 400 was an interesting motor because it was so light. Also you could put some good heads on it to flow air.

It isn't a problem Todd since I am stuck in an older audio era with an Akai "you can hardly walk with it man" tape recorder   ;)

Pictured below is my Akai 1800 SD "super deluxe" reel and cartridge tape recorder.  This one was acquired in near time capsule form with all of the accessories still sealed in their bags including the take-up reel, the Akai demonstration tape appears to have never been used.  The wings for the built in speakers still have their plastic protectors attached so this one truly is mint.

I lubricated it according to the service manual before use and it took off and plays fine.  If it has ever been used it was minimal because there was no tape oxide on the heads or anywhere in the tape path.  Although it won't handle 10 inch reels it is a nice "semi portable" for use outside.  It did come with the extra capstan and pinch wheel to allow 15 IPS operation but a 7 inch reel wouldn't last long at that speed.

I've got a TEAC R-R in the shack.  I think that falls under the "can hardly walk with it man" catagory too!  Still runs well, though the drive disks slip cause they've hardened with age.

<snip> "If I had a choice back then for my GTO I would have preferred the 427, but you don't drop a Chevy engine into a Pontiac." <snip>

Why not??? Chevelle frame mounts and Chevelle headers and it was a direct bolt in swap, you didnt even have to drill any holes!! (just had to use the Chebby transmission)

454 LS-6 or LS-7 in a goat became one mean mother!!  ;D  ;D

Well, I guess you wouldnt even consider putting a SB Chebbie in a T-bucket roadster  ::)  ::)

And you never really worried about being fast ;D  ;D

"Back in the day" originality wasn't even a concern. 30 years ago these cars weren't worth much more than scrapmetal. Back then I bought and sold dozens of muscle cars in the $100-500 range. The real go-fast boys never worried about originality. They worried about going fast!! In the true spirit of hot-rodding, unless you were building a car for NHRA class racing, you put the most powerful engine you could get your hands on into whatever you had. And Besides a bolted in swap was easily reversable if the need arose.

It is now that the bent pinky elitists want the most primo original cars. All they care about is the collectors / resale value. Most of them prolly couldnt change a sparkplug, much less build a car from the frame up. But.............they are the ones that pay the 6-figure prices for them.

And.............errr................furthermore..................a chebby engine in a poncho is still all GM ;D  ;D

But then again, I used to like to put MoPar 440s into just about anything, including a few fords, 1 chebby, and a few others  ;D  ;D

my money would be on the 454 blowing the doors off a 455

"Back in the day" collector car auctions were stuff like Bentleys and Deusenbergs.
The explosion of the muscle car market is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Like I said, years ago they werent worth squat!! 30 years ago I bought an all original Plymouth superbird for $1000 that some idiot ran out of oil and put a rod out the side of the block. I sold it 3 weeks later for $1500 and was happy with the profit I made!! Now, it would be my retirement!!

Sometimes you also "get caught with your pants down". My buddy Richard (that had a used car lot) called me to "come down and look at this car". It was a numbers matching 1969 426 hemi, 4-speed Road Runner. It had some body damage and he needed the money, he was asking $1000 for it. Unfortunately my wallet was tight that week and I had to pass it up. It still breaks my heart to this day!! In the past I have had cars pass through my hands that people would kill for NOW. But back then they werent worth much if anything!

Back in those days we did what we had to to be the king of the hill! Build em for speed and "drive it like you stole it!!"  ;D  ;D

Times ARE different now, no arguments there, but you also were refering to happenings back in the past!!

Is that a typo?? With a 3.11 rear it wouldnt come off of the line with a team of mules pulling it??

I guess the cop didn't have one of them their 2 way radios in his car.
Man been a number of years since I've heard tall tales of a goat roper
3 to 4 mpg man that thing must have belched black smoke like an F4 in full afterburner

Many a 455 would have blown the doors off many a 454 but carry a bucket to put the parts in when the bottom end goes out the side of the oil pan.

Interesting that an L88 head with barn door ports, with over 1/2 inch lift cam (.6 exhaust) and lower gears got the same MPG as you.  Oh we also ran an 850 double pumper.

Yes Dave, I missed your post. A 455 will take a 454 but it will cost you the bottom end when you spin it out to 6500 and the thing comes apart.

Imagine in the real world comming off the line with a 455 releasing the clutch at 4 grand into 3.08 gears.....maybe with your red sidewall G70-14 Tiger Paws. Spare the bleach and watch the smoke show......and go nowhere

I have a friend building a '78 Vet 350 and helped him set up the advance curve. He did up a Q jet that really plays. He gave me a bunch of articles on how to get it right. I gave them to a guy I work with and he also set his up to work right.

Hot rods and race cars both have something in common with radios. It is not necessarily the piling up of high end parts that makes it a hot item. But finding the combination that all of the parts work together in unison. That was one of the true secrets of being / going fast.

But when you find someone who likes to brag about his wheels, one would usually return with "Dont tell me how fast your car is, show me" or "do you want to talk cars or do you want to race" or best of all "Put up or shut up".

Life was good back then!!  ;D  ;D

I love high performance aircraft.
The sound of an SR71 is way past beautiful.
You will fall in love looking at the SR71 close up front, sides, or back
First time I saw the F117 plywood model I thought ugly but it grows on you

F22 motor makes a nice purple flame.

Nah, the sound of an Allison V-12 is beautiful!! Those things just sound like big
vacuum cleaners  ;D  ;D  Real engines have pistons!!

I was watching the nationals funny cars and dragsters a few nights ago on cable. (John Force and the boys, etc)  They had a guy turn 3.88 at 316 mph in the quarter.   I can't believe that have finally arrived at this time and speed.  How the heck do they keep the machine on the lane at 316 mph? You would think there wud be many more accidents.  You wud think regulators wud have changed the rules to 1/8 mile only by now.

Any prediction of the E.T and MPH in 20 years? I wonder if they will ever achieve a one sec qtr mile?

I see some of these animal electric cars that are extremely fast in the quarter. Maybe that's what will be needed.


Years ago I remember when the rocket cars broke 5 sec and everyone was freaked. Even breaking 8 sec in 1968 was a big deal...  If a bullet can do 1/4 mile in  1 second, I guess the physics allows it to be done in a car with the right technology. Frank, can we strap your ass in for a quick test?

T

T
 Top Fuel and Funny Car run to the 1,000 ft mark  >:(

They keep changing the rules trying to slow those things down for safety reasons.
And the competitors are so fierce that besides the rule changes to slow them down, they keep going faster and faster!! It's all about good ole American enginuity and................. CUBIC DOLLARS! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

One run between engine overhauls, engine blocks and heads cast with no cooling jackets (for sheer tensile strength), horsepower beyond measurement, etc. It's rather amazing to see what piston engines will make when running on a "monopropellant" fuel and forced induction!!

Those things may shut the engines down at 1000ft, but with the laws of physics prolly still have it accellerating. If one of those things gets away from the driver, you could have a very large bullet traveling out of control.   

I stand by my statement - that badass RX of Tom's is definitely candy apple blue if there ever was one  ;D

Interesting. So instead of 1,320 feet they now run 1000 feet.  Actually, that makes the 316 mph top speed even more impressive.   With the square function related to acceleration, the horsepower needed to see big improvements is off the chart. (Actually I think it takes FOUR times the power to double the speed, much like with a wind sail)

One block per run... amazing what the pros have learned to accept and make a standard practice these days. Competition will do that.

I always loved going to the drags and absorbed it fully when there. The smell of burning rubber, the sound of screaming motors and the smell of propellant brings tears to my eyes.. ;)

T

I looked at it in the sunlight today and sure looks close to a marina blue / candy apple blue GTO... ;D

T

Strap me it I'm game.
I love the smell of nitro
How many heart beats in a 3 sec. quarter mile?

Tom,
       They race the full 1320 feet, they just shut down the engines at 1000 feet. The last 320 is "coasting" till they break the beams.

The block usually doesnt get replaced unless there is a "catastrophic failure" I.E. "hand grenade" But they do replace the rods and pistons after every run. After all 425 cubic inches making somewhere well over 6000 horsepower, the innards dont last too long.
As a matter of fact, it's not too unusual to see bits of the pistons coming out of the ends of the headers during a run!! the Stress on the internal parts is definately beyond words, and those engines wouldn't last much more than the few seconds they run at that RPM and power level without coming apart.

Prolly somewhere around 0 !!

Nah, just leave the "apple" out it's simply candy blue.

An interesting description of the life of a top fuel engine, one of the more interesting "factoids" is that although redline is around 9,500 they only turn a total of 540 revolutions from light to light:  http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/journal/?p=632

Rodger,
           that is a prety kool article, but I do question a few of the "factoids". Like 44 amps from the magnetos?? And possibly the fuel consumption 11.5 gal/sec?? that would mean that they would have to carry 40-50 gallons of fuel for 1 run. The fuel tanks on those things are not that big. The 540 revolutions per run is pretty kool. I took a second and did the math, I came up with 732 revolutions, but that is close enough. If you ever heard one of those things live, up close, and personal you would have trouble believing it, but the math dont lie. The rest of the "factoids" are pretty close to what I remember. It gives you a pretty good feel for what is going on there.  (I was a crewchief for a privateer running a top alcohol funny car 30+ years ago)

Kind of amazing, 7000 horsepower and worn out and lucky to last 700 revolutions of the crankshaft!! To put that in perspective, that is about 1 minute of idling for a modern car!!

Well, consider clutch slip and tire slip. They want to hold the motor at the top of the torgue curve so it may be actually higher. 9500/60 is about 160 RPS though. Then there is idle where fire is belching past the exhaust valves and trying to go back at the blower boost.
All this is very cool until you look up the afterburner of a pair of J58s mounted in an SR71 that will burn over 100 gallons of fuel per second each and that ain't nitro but JP7, lot more BTUs.

"Those things may shut the engines down at 1000ft, but with the laws of physics prolly still have it accellerating. If one of those things gets away from the driver, you could have a very large bullet traveling out of control"   


 They have.. Englishtown 2008  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucUL6296Ue0&feature=related
 

 "They race the full 1320 feet, they just shut down the engines at 1000 feet. The last 320 is "coasting" till they break the beams"
 
 In NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car have the finish line set at a 1000 feet... all other classes race to the 1/4 mile.

 RIP Scott

Check out this gallery of old street/drag cars - sure brings back memories:

http://murdercycles.com/v-web/gallery/album66?page=1


Out of them all, this Ford is my favorite. I had a friend who drove one with a built 429. I just love the style of this car. Bet it really turns heads.

T

One of the guys I work with had a 429 in a Falcon with a straight front axel.
Many years before we knew each other my buddy and I pulled into the gas station where he was working on it with the '66 L88 chevelle. We looked it over and agreed it would take the Rat if he could keep it in a straight line.
The frame was too weak so it never really hooked it up. He told me every time he got on it the traction bars broke the welds loose. Nothing like a real frame.

I had a buddy that also had a Falcon with a lima motor in it. (He liked 460s) this was 30 years ago. It was a 69 falcon that I bought for $50. I sold him the body for $50 and another buddy the motor and tranny for $50. (I made $50 so it bought the beer)
Steve set it up with a tube frame, coil over / pinto rack and pinion front end and 4-link / 9" rear end. Basically built like a Pro Stock car of the day. 460 with Hi-po heads, tunnel ram and custom cam that he designed. It went 9.60s 30 years ago!! Ford Lima motors (429 / 460) are the best HP/dollar value out there if you build them right. Steve's car used to go that fast with a STOCK short block!!

Sheesh, do I gotta prove it to ya?

http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/showcar.cgi?type=lot&pic=/1967/67_00298_1

Not sure if T got the inspiration from the GTO in that link, or vice-versa  ;D

John,
        I'll even argue it with him. There is no such thing as candy APPLE blue. The original "Kandy Kolors" were named after fruits and other shiny edibles. I have never seen a blue apple, and if I did, I sure as hell wouldnt eat it  ;D  ;D
   

I agree with Frank candy apple red is only red.
I would think candy blue berry could be blue

candy ass comes in brown
baby crap yellow

Here ya go........  TAKE THIS ;D  ;D

http://www.jimmunroe.com/HOK/KandyKolors/index.html


Here are the color charts for Kandy Kolors!! Click on each chart to enlarge it.

There is NO "apple" blue  ;D  ;D

I should know, I shot enough of that crap years ago.

heheheh... You know life is pretty good when we're debating whether candy apple blue exists or not... ;)

Actually, I think the color is called "marina blue." I see many GTOs on Google called that color. At least that was the color on the GM Corvette that looked similar to the GTO.  It's a beautiful color for sure.

T

GTO motor blue was a cool color

But it's fun to prove yourself right when you know your right. (Unlike some others in this thread  ;D ) I shot so much of that stuff years ago, I should know what it is. ;D  ;D That is prolly one of the contributing factors to why my liver is crapped out. Those paint jobs back in the day were a ton of work to get right. You have to keep in mind that I was a car builder that did it all from the engine to the paintwork if the money was right.

Yep, I understand, Slab... you've walked the walk... ;)

I, too, was in autobody. For a year I was an appentice at a Chevrolet dealership. They had me doing a full line of bodywork and finally painting. I painted my own GTO in lacquer red and rubbed it out at the time.  Never attempted candy apple on a big scale though.

In 1982 I painted my 40' Freuhauf truck trailer using epoxy aircraft paint. Now THAT was a job and a half. I didn't know that the epoxy paint set up so fast and had to return the rented gun to the shop with the paint hard as a rock inside. They cut the bottom off the gun and somehow cleaned it out...  gads.

T

Tom,
       I absolutely despised that first generation epoxy junk!! No Thanks, just beat me and get it over  ;D

But If you were a real glutton for punishment there was the old school Metalflake!!  Back in the day, that stuff was all done with lacquer. ('cause it dried quickly) And the metalflake came dry in a ziplock styled baggie!! You shot the base color and then the misery began. You mixed the flake with clear lacquer and dusted on the first coat of clear / flake mix. It took a special gun and a steady hand to get the flake even. It now feels like coarse sandpaper. Then you shot a few coats of clear on top of that and let it dry. then you started the wetsanding process. you wet sanded it lightly so as to smooth it out without removing too much of the flake. Then spray a few more thin coats of clear. Then you wetsand again. Then you spray again, then wetsand again, then spray, then wetsand. Repeating this process over and over again until the flake is totally buried in the clear lacquer. A few more coats for good luck, then the final wetsand and buff to desired shine. What a P.I.T.A. If I never do another one of those in this lifetime, it will still be too soon. Motorcycle stuff wasnt too bad, but imagine doing this to a car!! That is why they were so expensive to have done.

As JN points out:
Dream'in about candy apple blue 1967 hardtop GTOs: http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/dreamcar.cgi?year=1967&model=GTO&body=hardtop&item=candy+apple+blue&action=show&page=1

Maybe the difference is "Kandy" vs. "Candy".


(http://ultimategto.com/1967/67_00298_3.jpg)


(http://www.followmypurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/blue-apple4.jpg)


(http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSmOpEvDQUx-tbHU0KJulGDZF8BuQvhzAHwxklIov66ecJTYu0&t=1&usg=__abVoTXxzEvtoaWF3yj7PhDHTqsY=)

Pete,
        only you would take the time to photoshop a blue apple!! ;D  ;D

Maybe, you should be building a transmitter or something. Remember:
"Idle hands are the devil's playthings"   ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

Sorry to disappoint you, but a simple Google search found it. Took about 3 seconds  ;D  Don't even own photoshop or anything similar.
http://www.google.com/images?q=candy+blue+apple&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1617&bih=964

It's immaterial whether it "officially" exists or not - you knew EXACTLY what I was talking about when I pitched it  ;D

John,
       Unfortunately, everyone usually refers to all candy colors as "candy apple xxxx"
Just like the "Kleenex" for facial tissue, etc. I did that once many years ago and was abruptly corrected by the paint vendor. It has become somewhat kinda universal by now.

Could you immagine something like candy apple brown (you know my sense of humor) or something like that.
Doesnt sound too appetizing, kinda like a blue apple  ;)  ;D  ;D  ;D

(http://idesigniphone.net/wallpapers/02815.jpg)


(http://www.hollyskitchen.com/images/CandyAppleCake101405.jpg)

Pete,
        That's not a candy color, that's plain old bringle brown  ;D  ;D

Here's a video that got my heart pumping!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yd88whKZ28&feature=channel



And this guy gives the police the double finger and takes off at 240 mph:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcYxr0RsIlY&feature=related



Imagine driving this on the street:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBqfKW4IFFY&feature=related


The wheelie schoolbus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSzOd__feIw&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JiUsfBeoUg&feature=related

.