The Hot Ones - 55~56~57 Chevrolet Club of Victoria

The Hot Ones
July 2006
~ 55-56-57 Chevrolet Club of Victoria
Regular Stuff:
N
~
l
Michael OGrady having a close shave.
Minutes…………….…..3
General Business……..3
Editorial………………...4
Presidents Report….... 4
Social club……………..5
Merchandise.……..……5
Owners manuels………6
Timing and Vacum
advance 101………… 7
Club Events………....8-9
Before
After
Buy & Sell………..…..10
Search………………..11
Timing and vacuum cont
…………………………12
Barn Find….….…....13-15
Well done Mick, but where’s the smile gone.
Glen and Mick raised $200 for charity.
Don’t forget to book for the Port Fairy Run, September
28th to 1st of October 2006
Karl is trying to arrange accommodation at the Port Fairy Big 4
Anchorage for all the attending club members. Accommodation
ranges from motel rooms to cabins.
Princess Hwy Port Fairy. Contact Karl on 9560 7778
Dyno day July 9th THIS SUNDAY COMING
About 10 cars are required for this event. It will be held at Windford
Engineering Fact 6-8 1271 Ferntree Gully rd Scorsby. Cost will be
about $40 per car. Contact Karl on 9560 7778
Elections this month.
We are looking for a new sectary as Phil Marrion is standing down
after a outstanding term in office.
Here is a brief description of what is involved.
Takes minutes of monthly meetings
Processes new members and records in official book
Pass details onto newsletter editor
Nostalgia Drags has been rescheduled Saturday September 23rd.
Page 2 of 16
The Hot Ones
Committee Member 2005/2006
Position
Name
Contact
President
Peter Forbes
0412 443 391
Email: [email protected]
Vice President
Alan Smithson
[email protected]
0418 363 656
Secretary
Phil Marrinon
(03) 9560 8519
Email: [email protected]
Treasurer
Peter Flynn
(03) 9560 5716
PR
Karl Wakartschuk
(03) 9560 7778
Public Officer
Bill Duyvestyn
(03) 5975 7665
0425 822 369
Newsletter
Bruce Hartley
(03) 9727 1769
Email: [email protected]
Website
Peter Forbes
0412 443 391
Email: [email protected]
Membership
•
•
•
•
Full membership to the 55-56-57 Chevrolet Club of Victoria requires that you own a Chevrolet car, truck or Corvette
and attend three meetings or club outings before becoming a “Full Member”.
Associate Membership is available to persons who do not own a Chevrolet and would like to enjoy our club activities.
Country members need only attend one meeting or event per year.
Fees are payable at the August meeting and are currently $40 per year, per member, for both metro and country.
Meetings
•
•
Meetings are held at the TRY Centre, 41 Wetherby Rd, Doncaster, on the first Wednesday of every month. Starting time
is 8:00 pm.
Please note that there is no meeting in January.
Club Address
•
Address for all club correspondence is:
55-56-57 Chevrolet Club of Victoria
PO Box 560
Noble Park, Vic. 3170
Website
http://www.567chevclub.org.au
Page 3 of 16
The Hot Ones
Minutes of Meeting June 2006
Location: The Try Centre, 41 Wetherby Road, East Doncaster.
Date: 7 June 2006
Apologies Shaun Peterson, Peter Forbes
Visitors NIL
New members Darren 57 sedan
Meeting Opened: 8.00 pm
Treasurer’s Report was provided Accepted Joe Guardina
seconded Steve Peterson
Meeting Closed: 8.33 pm
Minutes of the previous meeting where read and accepted by Bill Duyvestyn seconded Chris
Cook
Roll call was taken.
Correspondence
An item from a wine maker to have a tasting and then make purchases from them with an
amount of the proceeds going to the club.
General Business
Club Elections are in July and all positions will be available annual fees will also be due.
Run Reports
Several members went to Drag Tag at Camberfield, a new static drag racing complex, great to
see Thursday and Friday night are open nights
May mystery Run really good run enjoyed by all
Dyno day for ~10 cars @ $40.00 each 21/5/06 contact Karl starts 9.30am.
August meeting we will ha a guest speaker on Nitro systems by Andrew from Hallam
Performance.
The meeting concluded early and we had a very informative discussion with Neville West from
the Emotion Group, car polish.
Next meeting 5th July @ 8.00pm. Club elections
Raffle of ………was won by…………….
Meeting closed at 8.33pm
Page 4 of 16
The Hot Ones
President's report:
Hi All,
This month is the annual election for the club committee and I'd like to
thank Phil, Peter, Karl, Alan and Bruce for all their hard work over the
last year.
These guys have taken the time and done a great job to
ensure the club runs smoothly, well done.
To any new committee members,
welcome and I think you'll find the experience worthwhile.
One of the advantages of being in the club was apparent to me the other
week when installing a new B&M shifter in the 57.
Now this particular model of B&M shifter (street rod) is only available for the turbo 300
and turbo 700 trans, so the install for my Turbo 400 needed some custom bracket making.
With the trans in the car it's pretty hard to try and
adapt something easily so me and follow club member Alan Smithson were
wondering how we would get around the problem.
That’s where a late night
call to Steve Borg saved the day, he just happened to have a turbo 400
in his garage sitting around (he keeps saying there is a car that it
belongs to?) that he generously allowed us to borrow which allowed us to
model a bracket based on his out-of-the-car trans.
Problem solved and
the shifter was in by the end of the night thanks to Al and Steve.
Well that’s it from me for another month.
Safe Cruizing. Peter
Yak…Yak…Yak From the Editor
Goodaye all
Struggled for club articles this month if you see something please send it in.
l will plug this again as its this coming weekend
The Spina Bifida Foundation is having a trivia night on July 8th at 7:30pm at the Dorset Gardens
Hotel, Dorset Rd, Croydon, with all proceeds going to the foundation.
Finger food supplied and drinks at bar prices.
There will be some sought after automotive and sporting memorabilia in the silent auction.
To book call the Spina Bifida Foundation of Victoria office on 9663 0075 or myself on
Ph 9727 1769
l am happy to coordinate a table for club members depending on numbers.
Regards Bruce
Page 5 of 16
The Hot Ones
Social club news.
THERE ARE STILL 4 ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR SALE. IF YOU WOULD
LIKE TO PURCHASE ONE OR KNOW OF FRIENDS THAT WOULD BE INTERESTED
PLEASE LET ME KNOW. $60 IS THE COST.
WE HAVE A FEW RUNS COMING UP USING THE VOUCHERS SO IT WOULD PAY FOR
YOU TO PURCHASE ONE NOW.
RUGBY TOPS ARE AVAILABLE NOW IN VARIOUS SIZES.$40. IF YOU HAVEN`T GOT ONE
WELL GET ONE. IT DOES DO OUR CLUB PROUD TO BE SEEN WEARING OUR CLUB
COLOURS.
I AM TRYING TO ORGANISE OUR RUNS UP UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR SO AS YOU
CAN MARK IT ON YOU SOCIAL CALENDER NOW.
AUGUST SUNDAY 27TH--------LUNCH AT CRANBOURNE. THEN ON TO THE GIANT WORM
AT BASS.
SEPTEMBER 29TH, 30TH, 1ST OCT-----------------PORT FAIRY
NOVEMBER SUNDAY 12TH---------------------RIVER BOAT CRUISE TO WILLIAMSTOWN.
CHRISTMAS PARTY DEC 3RD.
These dates might change due to other commitments.
Any inquiries on these matters see Lois
Club Merchandise
Club Jackets with Leather Sleeves $165
Belt Buckles $35
Stubby Coolers
$5
Club Polo Shirts Black with White Bow Ties $30
Club Rugby Tops $40
**** All merchandise must be paid for when ordered.****
Page 6 of 16
The Hot Ones
With more people buying Chev memorabilia online l thought l would show the difference
between Australian and American owners Manuel.
Australian Holdens 1955
American 1955
Australian Holdens 1956
Australian 1957
American 1956
American 1956
Thanks goes to Tim Perrin
The Hot Ones
Page 7 of 16
Taken with permission from the Chevytalk website. www.chevytalk.org
TIMING AND VACUUM ADVANCE 101
The most important concept to understand is that lean mixtures, such as at idle and steady highway
cruise, take longer to burn than rich mixtures; idle in particular, as idle mixture is affected by exhaust gas
dilution. This requires that lean mixtures have "the fire lit" earlier in the compression cycle (spark timing
advanced), allowing more burn time so that peak cylinder pressure is reached just after TDC for peak
efficiency and reduced exhaust gas temperature (wasted combustion energy). Rich mixtures, on the
other hand, burn faster than lean mixtures, so they need to have "the fire lit" later in the compression
cycle (spark timing retarded slightly) so maximum cylinder pressure is still achieved at the same point
after TDC as with the lean mixture, for maximum efficiency.
The centrifugal advance system in a distributor advances spark timing purely as a function of engine
rpm (irrespective of engine load or operating conditions), with the amount of advance and the rate at
which it comes in determined by the weights and springs on top of the autocam mechanism. The
amount of advance added by the distributor, combined with initial static timing, is "total timing" (i.e., the
34-36 degrees at high rpm that most SBC's like). Vacuum advance has absolutely nothing to do with
total timing or performance, as when the throttle is opened, manifold vacuum drops essentially to zero,
and the vacuum advance drops out entirely; it has no part in the "total timing" equation.
At idle, the engine needs additional spark advance in order to fire that lean, diluted mixture earlier in
order to develop maximum cylinder pressure at the proper point, so the vacuum advance can
(connected to manifold vacuum, not "ported" vacuum - more on that aberration later) is activated by the
high manifold vacuum, and adds about 15 degrees of spark advance, on top of the initial static timing
setting (i.e., if your static timing is at 10 degrees, at idle it's actually around 25 degrees with the vacuum
advance connected). The same thing occurs at steady-state highway cruise; the mixture is lean, takes
longer to burn, the load on the engine is low, the manifold vacuum is high, so the vacuum advance is
again deployed, and if you had a timing light set up so you could see the balancer as you were going
down the highway, you'd see about 50 degrees advance (10 degrees initial, 20-25 degrees from the
centrifugal advance, and 15 degrees from the vacuum advance) at steady-state cruise (it only takes
about 40 horsepower to cruise at 50mph).
When you accelerate, the mixture is instantly enriched (by the accelerator pump, power valve, etc.),
burns faster, doesn't need the additional spark advance, and when the throttle plates open, manifold
vacuum drops, and the vacuum advance can returns to zero, retarding the spark timing back to what is
provided by the initial static timing plus the centrifugal advance provided by the distributor at that engine
rpm; the vacuum advance doesn't come back into play until you back off the gas and manifold vacuum
increases again as you return to steady-state cruise, when the mixture again becomes lean.
The key difference is that centrifugal advance (in the distributor autocam via weights and springs) is
purely rpm-sensitive; nothing changes it except changes in rpm. Vacuum advance, on the other hand,
responds to engine load and rapidly-changing operating conditions, providing the correct degree of
spark advance at any point in time based on engine load, to deal with both lean and rich mixture
conditions. By today's terms, this was a relatively crude mechanical system, but it did a good job of
optimizing engine efficiency, throttle response, fuel economy, and idle cooling, with absolutely ZERO
effect on wide-open throttle performance, as vacuum advance is inoperative under wide-open throttle
conditions. In modern cars with computerized engine controllers, all those sensors and the controller
change both mixture and spark timing 50 to 100 times per second, and we don't even HAVE a distributor
any more - it's all electronic.
Continued page 12
The New Site for
Jim Walton
Automatic Transmissions
(03) 9459 5970
Find us at :
20 Decor Drive, Hallam, VIC, 3803
Telephone : (03) 97031119
Fax : (03) 97024155
www.superplus.com.au
(Details to follow)
June 2006
The New Site for
Wed 7th 5-6-7 Club Meeting - 8pm TRY Centre Doncaster, contact Karl, 9560 7778
VIGIL UNDERWRITING AGENCIES
Insurance for Classic, Modified & Street
Vehicles
24 HOUR ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE
1800 500 669
Office: Level 1 369 High Street,
Kew , VIC 3101
Postal Address:
PO BOX 384, Abbotsford 3067
Tel: 1300 134 054 (local call)
Fax:(03) 9855 5412
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.vigilins.com.au
The New Site for
Weld Service and Sales
Ken Smith (member)
(03) 9464 1356
10-12th June: Thunderbirds Rod and Custom Club Lakes Entrance Country Cruise For more info Ph Bob 03 5155 1136
or Mob 0407 316 054.
A-Grade Motor Trimmers
George
th
Sunday 11 June: Truck Ute and Rod Show Queens Birthday Weekend 2006 Sue Haggis Ph 03 5772 1147 or mobile
0418 314098
18th June: Shannons Classic Australian Car Show Sandown Racecourse. Standard, Aussie Muscle Cars, Modifieds,
Custom, Race Cars, Commercials. Club displays welcome. Awards for outstanding vehicles. Gates open 9:30am for display
vehicles ($10) Details Ph. 03 9890 0524
25th June: Ballarat Road Rodders Hot Rod Swap Meet and Show (Multi Storey carpark....aka "THE FRIDGE!"). No
reservations. Sites $10 ffrom 6am. Buyers $3 from 7am
July 2006
Wed 5th 5-6-7 Club Meeting - 8pm TRY Centre Doncaster, contact Karl, 9560 7778
2nd July: Warragul Swap Meet by Cruizers Rod and Custom Club (Warragul Showgrounds, South Rd, Warragul). Sellers
from 6am. Buyers from 7am. Public $3. Outdoor sites $10. Indoor sites $20. Ph Patricia 03 5622 1938 or Jon 03 5944 3895
July 9th Dyno day for ~10 cars @ $40.00 each contact Karl. 9560 7778
(Details to Follow)
For information and orders please contact Glenn Rulach
Telephone : (03) 9729 5556 Mobile : 0407 302 966 E-mail : [email protected]
Web: www.airide.com.au
(03) 93579667
(Details to follow)
Page 10 of 16
The Hot Ones
For Sale
Dart Sportsman iron heads ported by Head Stud with screw in studs and guide plates 62cc
chambers. Serviced by Tate Engines and unused since. $1500
2x16" electric fans, 1 Derale & 1 Davies Craig, little use and in good condition. $120 each
Contact Tim 0413 860 313
For Sale
Charlie Vella has a 57 Chevrolet 2
door coupe for sale. It needs a total
restoration, however all the stainless
and parts are there. It has a motor and
box. If you can let your members know,
I am asking for $21 000.00 my contact
details are mobile 0412 567 328 or
(03) 9746 8040. If you need further
information please let me know.
Somebody who may be interested in the attached number plates. I have what I think are
realistic prices, $500 for CQQL 57 and $1000 for 1957US... This is the first time I have offered
them for sale; any help would be appreciated.... Thanks for you time Regards
Dave 0412 514 272
Chev 454 Brand new crate motor, new polished show grade manifold, carby and water pump.
Jet hot extractors, all new never used. $8000
Joe bh 98481511 ah 98799185
NOS Parts
1940-53 –Torque tube bush $30
1937-63 –second gear$90
1937-54 - front and rear bearings $32.50 each
1940-63 - lay gear/reverse idler $75
1940-48 - shifter yoke (second to third) $45
1940-54 - axles (new and used)
1955-57 - Z shaft reco kit $12
1958 - Chev Manual second edition $40
For any of the above contact Bruce Hartley on (03) 9727 1769 or [email protected]
Wanted
55,56.57 Drag link and Pitman Arm Tony Anastasio 0419 506 200
55,56 Electric temperature gauge, working or not. Bruce Hartley ph 9727 1769
Page 11 of 16
The Hot Ones
Have you seen this car before?
l am trying to find out some history on it.
it used to be Lyndsy and Kathy Gunstons car in the 80s if any of your members could help
locate any old photos l would be rapt.
I look forward to joining your club shortly.
regards Wes Beet
Page 12 of 16
The Hot Ones
TIMING AND VACUUM ADVANCE 101 Cont…
Now, to the widely-misunderstood manifold-vs.-ported vacuum aberration. After 30-40 years of
controlling vacuum advance with full manifold vacuum, along came emissions requirements, years
before catalytic converter technology had been developed, and all manner of crude band-aid systems
were developed to try and reduce hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen in the exhaust stream. One of
these band-aids was "ported spark", which moved the vacuum pickup orifice in the carburetor venturi
from below the throttle plate (where it was exposed to full manifold vacuum at idle) to above the
throttle plate, where it saw no manifold AFTER TDC). This was done in order to increase exhaust gas
temperature (due to "lighting the fire late") to improve the effectiveness of the "afterburning" of
hydrocarbons by the air injected into the exhaust manifolds by the A.I.R. system; as a result, these
AFTER TDC). This was done in order to increase exhaust gas temperature (due to "lighting the fire
late") to improve the effectiveness of the "afterburning" of hydrocarbons by the air injected into the
exhaust manifolds by the A.I.R. system; as a result, these engines ran like crap, and an enormous
amount of wasted heat energy was transferred through the exhaust port walls into the coolant, causing
them to run hot at idle - cylinder pressure fell off, engine temperatures went up, combustion efficiency
went down the drain, and fuel economy went down with it.
If you look at the centrifugal advance calibrations for these "ported spark, late-timed" engines, you'll
see that instead of having 20 degrees of advance, they had up to 34 degrees of advance in the
distributor, in order to get back to the 34-36 degrees "total timing" at high rpm wide-open throttle to get
some of the performance back. The vacuum advance still worked at steady-state highway cruise (lean
mixture = low emissions), but it was inoperative at idle, which caused all manner of problems - "ported
vacuum" was strictly an early, pre-converter crude emissions strategy, and nothing more.
What about the Harry high-school non-vacuum advance polished billet "whizbang" distributors you see
in the Summit and Jeg's catalogs? They're JUNK on a street-driven car, but some people keep buying
them because they're "race car" parts, so they must be "good for my car" - they're NOT. "Race cars"
run at wide-open throttle, rich mixture, full load, and high rpm all the time, so they don't need a system
(vacuum advance) to deal with the full range of driving conditions encountered in street operation.
Anyone driving a street-driven car without manifold-connected vacuum advance is sacrificing idle
cooling, throttle response, engine efficiency, and fuel economy, probably because they don't
understand what vacuum advance is, how it works, and what it's for - there are lots of long-time
experienced "mechanics" who don't understand the principles and operation of vacuum advance
either, so they're not alone.
Vacuum advance calibrations are different between stock engines and modified engines, especially if
you have a lot of cam and have relatively low manifold vacuum at idle. Most stock vacuum advance
cans aren't fully-deployed until they see about 15" Hg. Manifold vacuum, so those cans don't work very
well on a modified engine; with less than 15" Hg. at a rough idle, the stock can will "dither" in and out
in response to the rapidly-changing manifold vacuum, constantly varying the amount of vacuum
advance, which creates an unstable idle. Modified engines with more cam that generate less than 15"
Hg. of vacuum at idle need a vacuum advance can that's fully-deployed at least 1", preferably 2" of
vacuum less than idle vacuum level so idle advance is solid and stable; the Echlin #VC1810 advance
can (about $10 at NAPA) provides the same amount of advance as the stock can (15 degrees), but is
fully-deployed at only 8" of vacuum, so there is no variation in idle timing even with a stout cam.
For peak engine performance, driveability, idle cooling and efficiency in a street-driven car, you need
vacuum advance, connected to full manifold vacuum. Absolutely. Positively. Don't ask Summit or Jeg's
about it, they don't understand it, they're on commission, and they want to sell "race car" parts.
JohnZ!
The Hot Ones
Page 13 of 16
2500 Miles Cross-Country In a "Barn Find" Part 3
Day 7 pt 1
After just five hours of sleep, we were awakened at 6:30 am by the sound of a yapping dog
outside our room. As it turns out, there was one other overnight dweller at the old school
motel, and that occupant saw fit to let her football-sized dog out for an early morning whiz.
We would have never chosen to get up that early, but since we were awake it seemed best to
get the show on the road.
After showers and fresh t-shirts, we stepped outside to survey the situation. Despite there
being only one other car in the parking lot, no sign of life around us, and a drained “cement
pond”, there were numerous maids bustling about tending to the vacant motel.
Moreover, they were giving us the bum’s rush to vacate our shag-carpeted room, despite it
being just 7:15 am.
After loading up our barn find ’57 Chevy Bel-Air, Tim and I walked across the street to the
Route 66 Museum. We approached the entrance to discover that signs had been taped up
indicating that the museum would be closed that day in observance of Veterans Day. Of all
the days of the year, the one day that we pass through town, the museum was closed. Just
great.
Regardless, we pressed our faces against the windows to garner a look, and then we
snapped a bevy of digital photos of various outside attractions such as old road signs, a faux
diner, and such.
Day 7 pt2
Down the road in Sayre, Oklahoma we pulled off for a tank of fuel and some vittles for our
stomachs. Our meal was hot and contained all of the right truck-stop ingredients including
fried meat, gravy, and stuff that oozed oil. A few booths away from us were four genuine
working cowboys replete with 10-gallon hats, leather chaps, and jingly spurs on their boots.
These guys were the real deal! After they finished their breakfast we watched them saunter
outside to saddle up, but rather than mount a steed they jumped into a turbo diesel pickup
truck.
We paid our bill and headed for our '57, but were stopped by a weird acting guy who quizzed
us about our Bel-Air. He introduced himself as the "Crazy Cowboy" and then proceeded to
launch into a spirited conversation about how he could get us a stash of used parts for our
'57.
He even said that he had parts to rebuild an original Powerglide--but he was too late for that
sale by 600 miles.
The 20-minute conversation (two minutes talking with him and 18 minutes trying to get away)
finally ended when Tim and I simply made a run for the car. "Yea, we'll get back to you on
those parts", we yelled as we squealed out of the restaurant parking lot.
Page 14 of 16
The Hot Ones
Day 7 pt3
As we journeyed across the Texas panhandle, outside temperatures rose and we needed to
resort to the age-old "2-55" air-conditioning system--two windows down at 55 mph was just
right. I've long heard stories of how flat Texas is, but it's not until cruising along the road for
hours that one can really understand the stories.
Frankly, I've seen old billiard tables with more crown than the flatness of the Texas
panhandle.
As we ambled our way across the USA via Route 66, we gawked at the largest (according to
a billboard) cross in the western hemisphere. We chose not to stop as we had our sites set on
making New Mexico by day's end.
As we clicked off miles in Texas, we rode in relative comfort, as the Coker reproduction piecrust-edged whitewall tires delivered a surprisingly nice ride.
Overwhelmingly, the '57s marshmallowy handling was due to worn suspension and old
bushings, not the soft ride of bias-ply tires.
Day 7 pt4
As full darkness set in, we again pulled out onto I-40 with our sights set on New Mexico. Not
long after we passed the "Welcome To New Mexico" sign, it started to rain. (Too bad the
wipers didn't work.)
The rain soon stopped but it was replaced by chilly air that again had us reaching for a
second layer of clothes. As we ascended in altitude we were making good time -- right up until
the motor went dead.
With zero notice, our 283 sputtered and then went silent. I quickly put the TH350 into neutral
to allow us coast as far as we could, but before long the '57 came to a stop. I pumped the
accelerator a few times and then cranked the starter.
The engine briefly fired to life, then sputtered out and died. Tim and I looked at each other and
simultaneously said, "It's not getting fuel." We reasoned for a while. The gas gauge read over
half and the starter would crank with ease, so the problem must be with the fuel pump.
We popped the hood and took a look at the brand new mechanical fuel pump that we installed
ourselves not long ago. The pump looked fine, the fuel lines looked fine, but the see-through
fuel filter was empty. I cranked the starter while Tim eyed the fuel filter. "She isn't getting any
gas," Tim exclaimed.
Something was up with the new fuel pump.
From beneath the car I used Tim's flashlight to eye the underside of the fuel pump.
Careful inspection revealed the culprit to our pump problems: the retaining pin for the fuel
pump fulcrum arm (that's actuated by the fuel pump pushrod) had backed almost all the way
out of the pump. In turn, the fulcrum arm came loose and stopped moving the pump
mechanism. Thus, no pumping of fuel and a dead engine. We tried to push the pin back in,
but misalignment of internal parts prevented such a repair.
We tried to remove the fuel pump bolts, but the pin wouldn't allow us to get a wrench on the
bolt head.
We tried to remove the pin, but our small set of needle-nosed pliers (and shaky hands from
the cold) wouldn't let us get a good grip on the pin.
Then, the flashlight went dead.
The Hot Ones
Page 15 of 16
Day 7 pt5
Just as our teeth were beginning to chatter, a highway patrol car rolled up behind us with its
red lights on.
As I began to step out to inform the officer of our predicament, I was asked (via mega horn)
to remain in the car.
The officer approached, I rolled down the window (just enough to converse, but not too
much as to let out any heat) and explained our sorry situation.
The officer turned out to be quite nice, and he was a car guy to boot.
As we shivered, I asked whether he minded if we sat in the back of his squad car to warm
our bodies.
He agreed, but first he asked us to put our hands on the hood of the car so that he could pat
us down to make sure we weren't a threat.
The officer explained that he would let us warm up until the tow truck arrived, but if a call
came in, we'd quickly have to get out.
After about 20 minutes of idling, Tim gazed at the squad car's fuel gauge. "Umm, did you
know that you're on empty," Tim asked. The officer shut off his engine to conserve fuel, and
slowly the cabin became cold.
Just as the three of us began shivering, a call came in on the trooper's radio. "Sorry guys,
gotta go," he said. So there we stood alongside the dark road, shivering, as the highway
patrolman squealed off into the darkness.
After a while, the tow truck finally arrived.
We were so cold (outside temp was in the low 40s) that, rather than help the driver load the
'57, we jumped into his cab to soak up some heat.
We decided to hire the driver to tow us to Albuquerque (located about 65 miles down the
road) as the big city would present the best opportunity to find a correct new fuel pump.
After about 15 minutes of driving,
Tim shook his head and then said, "Umm, did you know you're on empty?" As it turned out,
the flatbed tow truck was nearly out of diesel and there didn't appear to be many gas
stations around.
To our surprise, the driver did know of a working after-hours pump located just off the main
highway. We fueled up and continued on towards Albuquerque.
Page 16 of 16
The Hot Ones
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
55-56-57 Chevrolet Club of Victoria
PO Box 560
Noble Park Vic
3170
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….