[Canadian country boy]

Oh I hear you! The entitlement these day's is off the hook and the stupidity level is just unbelievable. They will ticket you for having a loud exhaust but they'll ignore stupid drivers running red lights, not using turn signals, pulling U turns on busy roads, etc. It's f*cked and I'm pissed and I don't give a shit anymore what anyone thinks! If they don't like me driving properly then they can eat my bumpers. Soon I will have a nice big bumper on the front with a winch and they can eat that too! Look what I wrote on the back of my bumper! I actually get lots of compliments on it. There are a lot of people who are sick of today's society but they do nothing about it. It's time the silent majority rise up and take our values and rights back.💪

 

[R/TDuster]

Yeah same here. LAME is the name of the new generation.

I got something better for bumper humpers.
I have a metal tube under my vehicle and a box of BBs. I drop one at a time down the tube. They ricochet off their windshield, headlights and grilles.
They begin swerving and falling farther behind. They don't know if it's a pebble or what but they learn FAST! The farther away from me they are the less it happens. It's perfect!
Works every time.

 

[Canadian country boy]

Ha, there you go! I need to do some James Bond shat too and drop ball bearings and oil slicks! Lol

 

[R/TDuster]

BBs are enough to get their attention.
And they aren't deadly enough to do any serious damage. After a few ping-ding-zings they back off immediately.

 

[RXT]

Right.
I found it cool that Chrysler used that advantage for our military aircraft under contract from our government.
Then decided to use it for the benefit of the American people again in our cars.

As the story was told to me, Chrysler did develop an aircraft engine during WW2. During the war, such engines needed to be of extreme high performance. The Hemi design was well known, but up until that point, it was used mostly for racing, in limited numbers, since the design was also very expensive to mass produce. But the design had many high performance advantages. So exploiting these advantages, Chrysler incorporated the Hemi design into the XIV-2220 aircraft engine. Unfortunately before the engine could be mass produced, the war ended, and the project was shelved. It would never make a come back, as the jet engine had by then taken center stage. Anywho, by the 1950s, the competition between auto manufacturers was at an all time high. To stay ahead of the competition Chrysler was looking for an edge, and I guess someone must have remembered all that govt paid R&D over the XIV-2220 aircraft engine, probably hidden deep in the Chrysler archives and they may have raided it, to glean some technological advantages. And the Hemi was born...

However, there is a lesser known history associated with the Hemi design. The need for extreme high performance engines for military aircraft has always been well documented, but aircraft weren't the only vehicles in need of high powered engines. Like the airplane, which first saw use in WW1, Tanks were a relatively new technology which also saw it's first use in WW1.

In the years between the wars, the tank evolved from the slow lumbering rhomboid shaped vehicles of trench warfare, to fast moving vehicles capable of Blitzkrieg. A tank is a platform consisting of a mix of Firepower, Protection, and Mobility. As firepower increased, so did the need for more armor protection, which made the vehicles heavier and less mobile. To overcome the weight, there was a need for more powerful engines. Prior to WW2, the US placed most of it's efforts into light tanks as these types were basically cheaper to produce. To further economize on their light tank designs, they would rely on proven radial aircraft engines. Aircraft engines were typically built for high horsepower and these engines gave these prewar light tanks excellent mobility. But as the US began to deploy tanks to Africa and later to Europe, tank production of light and medium designs dramatically ramped up. And so did aircraft production. It became quickly apparent that engine production couldn't build enough aircraft type engines to satisfy the needs of both tanks and aircraft. To overcome these shortages, the govt tapped the mass production capabilities of American automotive manufacturers. Chrysler would come to the plate with a novel idea. Chrysler's existing automotive engines didn't produce anywhere near the HP requirements necessary to propel the 30+ ton medium tank M4 Sherman, which was by then the most common tank used by the allies. So what Chrysler did was to bundle together 5- 230 cubic inch flathead inline sixes together on a cast structure, in a sort of radial fashion, creating a 30 cylinder monster known as the A-57 Multibank. The 230c.i. flathead six was a very reliable engine, it was no surprise that 5 of them were equally as reliable, and Sherman crews loved them. Further, they had some interesting advantages. If any of the engines were damaged, the Multibank was still able to run on the other engines and since they were automotive in nature, almost anyone could service them. Of course these were not Hemi engines. As the war raged and German tanks became larger and more powerful, the US began to develop their own larger and heavier tanks.

The M4 Sherman was based on older prewar designs. This design featured a rear mounted engine, with the transmission and drive sprockets located at the front of the hull. The design was simple and easily allowed quick service to both engine and transmission, but there was a big downside. With the engine at the rear, and the transmission at the front, there had to be a driveshaft. The driveshaft intruded into precious hull space. Integral to the tank's turret is the turret basket. This is a lower platform which is attached to the turret, and traverses along with the turret, to which the crew stands on. Having a driveshaft in the hull meant that the turret basket had to be higher in the hull, which in turn meant that the turret itself had to be higher in the chassis. This was what gave the M4 it's rather high profile, and that higher profile made the M4 a bigger target to the enemy.

The next generation of American tank would move away from the separate engine and transmission configuration, using an all new rear engine, rear transmission and sprocket arrangement. This eliminated the driveshaft running thru the hull, allowing a lower profile. This new design would eventually be known as the M26 Pershing. The Pershing would see combat during the end of WW2 and much of Korea. The design would later evolve into the M46 and later the M47 Patton Medium tanks. The M47 would be the first tank to use an all new tank specific V12 engine, built by Continental. (With the help of Chrysler) This engine, the AV1790 would be an air cooled gas engine featuring heads with a Hemispherical combustion chamber. The AV1790 also came in a turbo diesel version known as the AVDS1790. I can't say if the AVDS version has Hemi heads as diesels often feature combustion chambers integrated into the pistons rather than the heads, but the basic block is similar in design.

Besides providing trucks and engines, Chrysler has had a hand in tank production by building the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, which was owned by the govt, but Chrysler maintained operational control over. Chrysler played a role in the development of nearly every tank design from the early WW2 era M3 Lee, which saw combat in the Africa campaign to the M1 Abrams which last seen combat during Desert Storm, and numerous other armored vehicles. One of the most interesting features of the M1 Abrams, is it's use of Turbine engine. The Abrams weighs in at about 60-70 tons. To provide enough power to give the tank high mobility, the turbine was selected for it's high hp capability and massive torque. Interestingly turbines are well known in aviation, so it seems that we are back at using aircraft engines to propel tanks again. What a lot of people don't remember is that during the 60s, Chrysler was developing turbines for automotive use. If you hadn't watched it, look up Jay Leno's feature on the Chrysler Turbine for details. Sadly, by the late 70s Chrysler was facing bankruptcy. To survive the crisis, straight out of Ford, Lee Iacocca now the CEO of Chrysler went to the govt for a loan, (-some citing that national security would be impacted if Chrysler failed). Chrysler would eventually survive and pay back it's loan early, but they had to sell DATP to General Dynamics in '82.

Ed

 

[R/TDuster]

Yeah I did watch that Leno show!
I enjoyed Jay taking over since Johnny Carson left the tonite show. The late shows of today so totally SUCK!!

It was quite interesting hearing Jay show it after I only read books about it.
Same with how much they were so involved with American progress and how poorly they were often treated.
Like how Henry Ford early on and Bill France later on treated them especially.

Yeah sure speeds got crazy but wasn't that what it was all about?! I was also surprised how Jay was such a fan of Chrysler products with all the more elite vehicles he has amassed in his collection.

You wrote of alot of information I was aware of but typing on this little phone gets tiresome and I kept it short.
That and I always have something going on here that tugs my devotion away for long periods in the middle of writing so it gets tiresome to try to find my way back.
The price of being Grandpa
That and my fat fingers causes problems on this dainty, touchy stupid little phone!

You did a great job Ed in helping educate that Chrysler wasn't just some 3rd rate company. The Dodge Boys were quite the parts makers for Olds and Ford in the early days. People are surprised to hear that as they had the best foundry around! And how the first motors in the Fords were DODGE BROTHERS made engines!
I love that fact and make Ford guys cringe to that historical truth.

They were just often screwed by many entities. Emissions laws, the banned Superbird though Fords Talladega started the aerodynamics on steroids war.
Chrysler wasn't one to cry like Ford and GM people did. They said oh YEAH?!!😀
The TRUE American spirit!

And NASCAR is no longer what it once was when Chrysler left. My Dad and I watched it back in the day together. But once it lost Chrysler I don't watch it.
Especially with Toyota in it. BARF!
I bet the old moonshiners are spinning in their graves about it too!🤠

On the government loan not only did they pay their government loan back ahead of schedule it was the first time in our history our government actually made a damn profit.

And the stars behind the wheels over the decades like The King Richard Petty and Big Daddy Don Garlits which I love to show people who don't have any idea of racing history. My grandfather instilled that in me because he was a big DeSoto fan from back in his day and he loved to educate the Camaro and Mustang boys a lot. That's all they ever flapped about when I was a kid.

When I was 6 I used to build tons of models during bad weather.
It helped me learn about cars, tanks, planes, ships and spaceships.
I became very detail oriented and knowledgeable by studying about them while building them. I would get high marks doing studies and book reports on things that involved them like manufacturing and WWII history.

My grandfather didn't like Henry Ford. He called him some very bad names! He said Henry admired Hitler and and had goons beat on his own employees! And treated the Dodge Brothers like crap also.
My grandfather was one who didn't forget the details.

He was happy to see me buy my first car on my own before I had a license and immediately begun working on it myself!
He offered to help me get my first car but I turned him down while thanking him for the offer. He'd enjoy watching me under my '66 Barracuda making progress on my own by day and reading the manual by night.

He would say later he wouldn't have to worry about my future with the path he saw me on. Rolling up my sleeves and getting it done through self sufficiency.
Love of working with my hands, the want to know the history and my attention to detail. I say that's why I like Jay Leno.
Dude is RICH yet he does the same.
He gets hurt and is back at it. The love of the hobby. The love of the history and the attitude towards the details! Too bad kids of today don't have that so much anymore. It's quite sad when a modern mad can't find the dipstick on a car!🤣

The elites want to destroy it all.
If my grandfather was alive today he would be mad as hell.

 

[RXT]

Well said. Now youll get me started on NASCAR. When I was a kid growing up, I was brought up in a Ford family. My first cars were all Fords, yup I was once a true blue oval fanboy. I used to watch NASCAR with my dad, and later as a young adult, with my Ford buddies all the time, but I hated the politics of the sport. And for me it came to a head back in the 80s. To me NASCAR was always supposed to be about stock car racing. And I loved to watch what was basically the same kind of cars that you could buy racing each other. But somewhere during the early 80s GM stopped producing V8 powered rwd cars. The original rules required that race cars had to be based on production models, for it to be a stock car. But, for some reason NASCAR decided to bend the rules to allow GM to continue to participate by creating the silhouette car. To me a Chevy Lumina didnt fit the definition of the original rules because from the factory, that car was offered only as a V6 powered fwd car. I found it unfair, and if GM wanted to play the game, it shouldn’t have eliminated all their rwd cars. To me, they should have accepted the consequences and leave NASCAR. Later, when Ford was actually beginning to dominate the tracks around the 83 season, NASCAR in their wisdom decided to equalize the playing field by mandating Ford teams run restrictor plates (something that hadn’t been done before) I was pissed, and it was then when I boycotted NASCAR.
But a funny thing happened in my life along the way. I got sick and tired of Fords. And much to the horror of my Ford family and friends, I denounced Ford products and joined Mopar. There were a number of reasons for this but I’ve never looked back. Back in those days, I used to believe NASCAR was biased against Ford and had some secret agenda to help GM win. But my new perspective, it looked like if NASCAR had it in for Ford, they were doing it to Chrysler long before. Anyway, the whole thing is just not entertaining to me. Taking a peek after all these years, NASCAR is a shadow of itself, and rules don’t mean anything anymore. The silhouette cars are no longer brand specific. They have evolved into a generic brand neutral body with decals showing what brand the car is supposed to be, complete with fake decal headlights. Back in the day, there used to be IROC, the international race of champions. All the cars in those races were exactly identical so that the race was truly about the drivers. But it now seems that NASCAR has meddled so much into stock car racing, doing everything it could to equalize the sport that its all now only about the drivers. All the cars are the same and none of them are anything like production version. I might as well watch Formula one.

Ed

 

[R/TDuster]

Well said. Now youll get me started on NASCAR. When I was a kid growing up, I was brought up in a Ford family. My first cars were all Fords, yup I was once a true blue oval fanboy. I used to watch NASCAR with my dad, and later as a young adult, with my Ford buddies all the time, but I hated the politics of the sport. And for me it came to a head back in the 80s. To me NASCAR was always supposed to be about stock car racing. And I loved to watch what was basically the same kind of cars that you could buy racing each other. But somewhere during the early 80s GM stopped producing V8 powered rwd cars. The original rules required that race cars had to be based on production models, for it to be a stock car. But, for some reason NASCAR decided to bend the rules to allow GM to continue to participate by creating the silhouette car. To me a Chevy Lumina didnt fit the definition of the original rules because from the factory, that car was offered only as a V6 powered fwd car. I found it unfair, and if GM wanted to play the game, it shouldn’t have eliminated all their rwd cars. To me, they should have accepted the consequences and leave NASCAR. Later, when Ford was actually beginning to dominate the tracks around the 83 season, NASCAR in their wisdom decided to equalize the playing field by mandating Ford teams run restrictor plates (something that hadn’t been done before) I was pissed, and it was then when I boycotted NASCAR.
But a funny thing happened in my life along the way. I got sick and tired of Fords. And much to the horror of my Ford family and friends, I denounced Ford products and joined Mopar. There were a number of reasons for this but I’ve never looked back. Back in those days, I used to believe NASCAR was biased against Ford and had some secret agenda to help GM win. But my new perspective, it looked like if NASCAR had it in for Ford, they were doing it to Chrysler long before. Anyway, the whole thing is just not entertaining to me. Taking a peek after all these years, NASCAR is a shadow of itself, and rules don’t mean anything anymore. The silhouette cars are no longer brand specific. They have evolved into a generic brand neutral body with decals showing what brand the car is supposed to be, complete with fake decal headlights. Back in the day, there used to be IROC, the international race of champions. All the cars in those races were exactly identical so that the race was truly about the drivers. But it now seems that NASCAR has meddled so much into stock car racing, doing everything it could to equalize the sport that its all now only about the drivers. All the cars are the same and none of them are anything like production version. I might as well watch Formula one.

Ed

Yeah the cookie cutter cars.
Nascar went to the dogs.
And so did drag racing too.
Advertising bought it out.
FRANCE JR. sold it out.
Racing was no longer affordable to regular people.
As you said, it's the politics.

Why Nascar is floundering
It's not near as great as it once was.

 

[Canadian country boy]

I agree, money and politics destroyed almost all forms of auto racing. The SCCA is about the best racing going on today. IROC is basically dead and so is the Trans Am. All very sad. All of the NASCARS in the last 20 years have been prepared identical also. One template fits all. Super lame.
I wouldn't say Bill France Jr had it out for Ford, I would say it was more pressure from other manufacturers, this is what happened to Chrysler in both drag racing and NASCAR, a lot of manufacturers cried that Chrysler had an unfair advantage and forced the sanctioning bodies to make absurd rule changes instead of fighting back with a better design. Now we have lame homogenized brand of racing. BORING. (well, except for SCCA).

 

[KurtfromLaQuinta]

I would love to have a '50's Power Wagon, especially a panel or a Town Wagon. I think it might be a bit tricky for me getting in one of them though.

Yes. My son's '41 is really tiny inside.

My Son's '41 Power Wagon

Here's my son's newest project. This is how it arrived from a farm in Oklahoma back in 2005 ...

www.ramchargercentral.com

 

[KurtfromLaQuinta]

Yeah same here. LAME is the name of the new generation.

I got something better for bumper humpers.
I have a metal tube under my vehicle and a box of BBs. I drop one at a time down the tube. They ricochet off their windshield, headlights and grilles.
They begin swerving and falling farther behind. They don't know if it's a pebble or what but they learn FAST! The farther away from me they are the less it happens. It's perfect!
Works every time.

Evilness.

 

[R/TDuster]

Yes. My son's '41 is really tiny inside.

My Son's '41 Power Wagon

Here's my son's newest project. This is how it arrived from a farm in Oklahoma back in 2005 ...

www.ramchargercentral.com

That's a nice one.
Good thing it didn't get sucked up into a tornado out there!

 

[R/TDuster]

I'm thinking of building one of these.
Just got to pick the truck I want to use.
I got plenty of dessert to make use of something like this.

 

[Canadian country boy]

Yes. My son's '41 is really tiny inside.

My Son's '41 Power Wagon

Here's my son's newest project. This is how it arrived from a farm in Oklahoma back in 2005 ...

www.ramchargercentral.com

I saw that. That's an awesome truck. I just love those things. One day, I will have one. 👍

 

[R/TDuster]

I saw that. That's an awesome truck. I just love those things. One day, I will have one. 👍

Baja 1000 is wild but hard to see all the action because it's so spread out. But it's still a badass race with tough ass trucks!
I enjoy watching those Lucas off road truck races. When they jump together and tap each other's doors and tear the rear fenders up, that's some cool sh*t.
They were having those down the road at Wild West race park off I-80.
They also have an ice racing program also that's pretty tough looking too with steel spike wheels. Trucks is my #1 nowadays.
I've seen so many car events the trucks seem more refreshingly new. And the accidents are more special.

 

[R/TDuster]

They still have these fiberglass fender kits and hoods to build a desert racer.