Muscle Cars (split from Favorite Tubes)

[anatech]

Hi DaveCan,
When I was a young fella in the 60's, my dad had a 25 W radio telephone. It even had a phone handset! The transceiver was mounted in the trunk and it would kill the battery without working too hard ('65 Corvair). It most definitely was a tube unit.

Those old car radios used loktals, I have some. Now I'm semi off topic in another thread.

-Chris

[DaveCan]

LOL maybe they will decide to put it back where it was in the tube thread, muscle cars with radio tubes sounds like a perfect combination.. Dave

[anatech]

Hi DaveCan,

muscle cars with radio tubes sounds like a perfect combination

Works for me!

Two threads may the right choice though. Hey! Where's SY ???

-Chris

[tubelab.com]

The previously mentioned Challenger will have a vacuum tube audio system of some sort. I have not decided just what type yet. I wanted a SE amp, and I still may go that way, but I need at least 30WPC to mask the sound of big block thunder. I got the idea about 2 years ago to build a mobile 845SE amp, so I threw the 845SE and a 1KW inverter in the trunk of my Mustang. It took up the whole trunk, and died in 2 days. I learned that DHT filaments and cars don't go together.

My first car was a 1949 Plymouth. It was 1970. I didn't realize how "ahead of its time" it was. The powerful 97 horsepower flathead? NO. The 3 on the tree shifter? NO. What was so cool? How about 24 watts of vacuum tube stereo! How? The original AM radio was a 8 tube monster that used push pull 6V6's powered by a vibrator power supply. The power supply and the power amplifier was mounted on a seperate chassis than the RF unit. I got a second radio from the junkyard, mounted them both in the trunk, connected them to the obligatory 6X9 Jensens on the rear deck, and fed the whole thing with a Panasonic portable cassette deck. Compared to the 3.5 WPC 8 track systems of the day, I had the loudest car stereo of all of my friends. It sounded good too.

Have I wandered OT again? OK, I will wander back. What do you do when you finish dropping a fresh power train into a muscle car? The body is not completely put back together yet, there is no electrical system, interior, or even seats. You fire up the engine with clip leads and jumper cables, do a proper break in, sit on your tool box and do a BURNOUT!

[anatech]

Hi Tubelab,
Those were pretty cars.

A torsion bar broke in my '70 Coronet (another engine). It sounded like a shotgun going off. The front brake on that side locked on. That's what made me sell it. I never will trust those suspensions again.

It was the only car that would start and run great in the cold straight through to hot. Funny that.

-Chris

[tubelab.com]

First thing I did was all NEW suspension and brakes (front and rear) including torsion bars. Then I rebuilt the 440 and upgraded it to about 500HP (aluminum heads, new pistons, cam, intake, headers). Next I rebuilt the Torqueflite and the Sure Grip. The body is competely assembled now. I still need wiring, and an interior. I have had zero time to work on it this year. If things go right I should have 2 weeks at Christmas and a few days at Thanksgiving to finish the car.

[anatech]

Hi tubelab,

500HP

Holy *.*. !!! I guess you know what to expect. I sure do. You will also have a wider torque curve with which to play. The hard part is staying hooked to the pavement.

Punching mine at 40 mph usually brought the rear end right around. I had a posi at the time, even my limited slip did that (3.73).

-Chris