Diesel Engines!

This post is going to be about diesel motors! Yes I know muscle cars have gas engines but how cool would it be to put a diesel in one!

Diesel engines are some of the most rugged and reliable engines produced today. It is no mistake that every tractor, semi tractor, and piece of machinery that is expected to last a long time has a diesel motor under the hood. Diesel motors are very similar to gasoline motors in nearly every way other then the type of fuel and the way the explosion takes place. They are similar because they are both internal combustion engines that are designed to convert fuel into mechanical energy to power something. The most obvious would be the sound of the diesel engine we all know it’s a clunking nasty kind of sound, but that’s only on the surface. What makes a diesel motor different from gasoline is the absence of spark in the diesel engine. The diesel engine combusts its fuel using pressure, where the piston compresses the gasses until they become super heated and when the fuel is injected the combination literally explodes. The only time a diesel engine uses something similar to a spark plug (called a glow plug in diesels) is upon start up. Diesel engines are more reliable because they are built heavier than gasoline engines, gasoline exhaust is more corrosive, and there is no ignition system. All of these add up to diesel engines being more efficient and lasting longer than gasoline engines. The only reason every car doesn't have a diesel engine in it is because they are slower, louder, and require a special fuel in the winter to prevent the fuel from gelling.  Wouldn't it be cool to put a tuned up turbo diesel in a muscle car though? With that amazing amount of torque wheelies would be a definite possibility!

The COPO Camaro

This post will be a review and overview of Chevrolets COPO Camaro.

The COPO Camaro made its debut in 2012 as a factory sold car intended for drag strip use only. There were only 69 COPO’s produced in 2012 and 2013 making the COPO Camaro one of the rarest cars to ever roll off Chevrolets factory floor. The COPO Camaro is a hand built car with impressive specs. The only way for someone to purchase a COPO Camaro today would be to either buy from a previous owner or from Richard Rawlings and Dennis Collins. This duo purchased 20 COPO Camaro rolling chassis with the intention of selling them as one off cars with custom paint and drive train. The cars are being sold on a first come first serve basis for more information visit their website here The COPO Camaro is based of the original 69 COPO Camaro which was introduced to compete in NHRA’s Stock Eliminator and Super Stock classes. These classes run in the 9’s. The top of the line COPO in 2012 is said to have ran an 8.88 quarter mile at 142 mph absolutely unheard of for anything rolling off of any American car company’s factory floors. At this point I’m sure you’re wondering what in the heck the COPO part means, well COPO is an acronym for Central Office Production Order which was a special ordering system used by dealers in the 60’s to build cars that couldn’t be found anywhere else. For more information on the COPO Camaro General Motors website has the most information on the car, as its rare its very hard to find solid information on the vehicle! Thanks for reading. 

2005 Porsche Carrera GT (the vehicle Paul Walker was a passenger in)

Due to the recent death of Paul Walker this post is going to be about the car that Roger Rodas was driving during the car accident the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT.

I chose to do this segment because I feel like it is a rarely discussed part of car accidents in the media. Anyways the Porsche Carrera GT is every bit of a muscle car boasting a 605hp V10 that also produces 435 lb ft of torque. The cars curb weight is 3042 lbs making this little convertible Porsche a rocket ship. With zero to sixty times in the sub 4 second range. Porsche rates it at 3.5 seconds but that’s probably for a professional race car driver none the less that puts this Porsche in the same breath as purpose built race cars, which is exactly what the car is intended to be, a race car that is street legal.  The price tag in the 2005 year was $440xxx and there were only 1300 ever produced that year, meaning this is a very rare car.  The car did the quarter mile in 11.1 seconds at an impressive 133.4 mph and has a top speed of 205 mph.  All this being said it is perfectly understandable how such a tragic even could have happened to Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas. The two were virtually driving a race car that could be very dangerous when driven recklessly in the public, as opposed to a race track. R.I.P. Paul Walker and Roger Rodas.

Finally a Chevy Sedan With Rear Wheel Drive!

As I was reading some motortrend articles I came across an article for the all new 2014 Chevrolet SS. Yes that's the cars name is the SS so I am assuming that means there is only on trim level and that would be the SuperSport trim package. The car has not been fully released yet, but as stated in the motor trend magazine one could speculate that the new 2014 SS will have the same general specs as a Pontiac G8 GXP. This is great that Chevrolet is finally introducing a true performance sedan back into the market. To me anything that is built front wheel drive is not fully built with performance in mind. The new car will also serve as Chevrolet's NASCAR body. The car is predicted to have the 6.2l GM Motor that should produce anywhere between 400 and 500 bhp. Personally performance sedans are my favorite kind of car. They are versatile while at the same time being able to smoke any old guy in a Mustang GT is always fun. Dont get me wrong the Mustang is my favorite car it just seems to be the most popular "fast" car on the road in America. Anyways applause to GM for coming out with the all new 2014 SS cant wait to see it!

Visit My Cafe Press Store! onlinemusclecarmuseum!

Hello readers in this blog I am going to show you a few of my cafepress products! Click HERE for more!

On these products, which range from a T-Shirt to a zip, are two pictures one of a windmill and clouds, the other two cute doggies. Yes I understand this does not pertain to muscle cars, but these are still pretty cool pictures. The picture of the windmill was taken in the Bloomington Normal area of a giant wind turbine on a cloudy day with a storm rolling in. The picture of the dogs are actually my dogs. Trixie is black white and fawn, while Babs is white, fawn and black.  They are both Rat Terriers that are the most fun loving dogs in the house and fierce hunters outside of it. Some product examples below!

Wheeler Dealers Review

Another TV series review!

In this post I will review the TV show Wheeler Dealers on Velocity. Wheeler Dealers is a British television show where Mike Brewer and Edd China purchase old beat up cars and fix them up the right way to sell them for a profit. Mike Brewer is the sales man who seeks out the vehicles they will work on and tries to get the best deals he can find. While Edd China is the mechanic of the operation and always does a seemingly beautiful job on the cars. The show is great for learning as Edd comes off as a natural teacher. He is always teaching the viewer easy cheap ways to fix up a car, but the best part is he does it the right way. Yes, cheap usually isn’t quality, but he explains how he saves money, for example something as easy as the prepping the car himself for paint to save a few hundred dollars. In the mean time while Edd is repairing the cars Mike is typically on a mission to find the best part deals he can. In the end the Wheeler Dealers always churn out quality vehicles that are done the right way. My only critique of the show would be the selection of cars they choose to overhaul. They typically pick some boring British car that Americans don’t even recognize or have ever heard of, other than that thought the show is highly recommended for cars guys that are looking to learn something the easy way, watching some TV!

Reading Recommendations!

In this post I am going to recommend that all my readers also visit my website http://onlinemusclecarmuseum.webs.com/. It has a few random articles that relate to cars and of course muscle cars. I explain in one of the articles the basics of audio installation. In another post I include ways of making a car that’s old and boring and spicing it up a bit with basic modifications as opposed to buying a new car. The last article pertains to oil changes and the importance of them, as well as basic information on the role of oil in the internal combustion engine. The website is just getting started but it is something you should go check out! Also I have a second website that links to some of my blog post which is http://onlinemusclecarmuseum2.webs.com/ which I also recommend my readers to visit. All content deals with cars in some way so please take a look! Lastly to conclude this post I wanted to open a line for discussion and that is Formula One Racing vs NASCAR racing. I personally like both forms of racing, but the real question is which car requires the most skill to drive? The highly engineered F1 car that does virtually everything the driver asks of it, but has to race road courses? On the other hand is the NASCAR which is also highly engineered but in the end it is not as good at handling or accelerating as the F1 car. This is a hot topic for debate among fans usually so I was just looking for some reader input!

Also if you could be so kind to make a donation to my cause please feel free to do so here

The Blog Catalog

The posts I have written which I recommend you visit! Good quick reads with fun information!

About Me a little bit about me and my passion for muscle cars as well as what the blog consists and mainly is going to consist of!

My Top 15 List of Muscle Cars From The 60's & 70's but I couldn't manage to put the cars in any real particular order because I love them all. My dream one day would be to build and own every last one of these bad boys.

Top 15 List (continued) in this post I decided I needed to go more in depth on the cars. So I added a little bit of information to each of the 15 cars whether it be hp numbers or some other fact that I believe is pretty neat.

Blog Analysis of a blog that I do(nt) recommend. In this post I analyze the blog Legendary Collector Cars it is a blog with a lot of information, but find out more and check it out.

Equus Bass 770 Review in this post I do a mini review of the Equus Bass and come out building a Mustang? Find out more!

The 99 Ford Mustang Build in this hypothetical build, I attempt to build a 99 Ford Mustang that could rival the Equus Bass for a lot less cash!

Fast N Loud Review a little insight into the TV show Fast N Loud. Show is hosted by Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman and they sure do churn out some solid cars.

Why I Choose MTX Subwoofers in this post, which is inspired by an article on my website, I tell you why MTX is my choice. 

Why I Recommend MTX Subwoofers

This post is going to be sort of an addition to an article I wrote on my website about car audio. In this post I am going to explain why I prefer MTX subwoofers and why you should use them! I personally own two 12" MTX Thunder 7500 series subwoofers. Ive had the subwoofers for 4 years now and they have been run hard. The first application I used them for was the trunk of my car as most would assume, but when I really put them to the test was when I used them as house speakers for hosting parties. The speakers were capable of running at high volumes for long periods of time with no noticeable change in the sound or anything. This proves the reliability of MTX subwoofers and yes the subwoofers are now back in the trunk of my car and they are still in mint working condition. As for the performance of the subwoofers they are great for everyday use. They arent the loudest speaker on the market and they arent the cleanest sounding speaker on the market, but they do a great job of combining both sound quality and violently loud bass for a perfect subwoofer for the every day user. They will shake the floor and they will sound good doing so. The particular speaker I have would be an older model that I presume could still be bought online. I included a few MTX links of subwoofers and also theyre handy subwoofer comparison tool.

MTX 7500 Ebay Auction Here

MTX 7500 Manufacture Information Here

MTX Volume Diplacement Calculator (good way to compare subwoofers "power") Here

Review of "Fast N Loud" the TV Show

           This post is going to be a review of a TV show that relates to muscle cars and that TV show is Fast N Loud. The show based around Gas Monkey Garage which is owned by Richard Rawlings, while Aaron Kaufman is the master mechanic. Gas Monkey Garage is known for finding old beat up cars and making them Fast N Loud again also while trying to flip a profit. Generally Richard buys the cars and Aaron makes them cool and ready for sale.

            I personally recommend the show I enjoy the different cars they buy as well as the radically different styles they produce. Aaron has a great mind for vehicles, one of my personal favorite builds were the 76 Ford Bronco and the 32 Ford Coupe. I’ve always thought Broncos were awesome since I was young because they were big and loud. They made this Bronco big loud and it looked good, which is why it is one of my favorites. The32 Ford Coupe on the other hand I hadn’t really known much about and that is why I love TV shows like Fast N Loud, because I can learn at least a little bit about cars in the process. Anyways the 32 Ford is just a mean car all around. It looks good, it performs great, and it does all the things muscle car enthusiasts love. 

            Overall I recommend the show I think any car lover would enjoy the show. It has everything from the purchase of the car to the transformation of the car and finally to the sale of the car. All of this with a little bit of goofiness and comedy mixed in I believe makes for a great show. The show airs on Monday October 14 at 9/8 pm central time. 

The 99 Ford Continued Visit My Website For Pictures

Visit my website here for a slideshow of the parts I would use.

        The 99 Ford Mustang is now looking great on the outside with its new wheels, tires, hood, and paint job. Now the drive train needs some addressing. Since my 99 Ford Mustang is going against a ¼ million dollar car the chassis and suspension are both going to need to be improved. Along with a fire breathing v8 that is going underneath the hood. First of the chassis would need to have a roll bar of some kind installed because of the massive torque this car will be producing. So a roll cage fabrication I would estimate to be in the 2000 dollar range. Then the car will need all new suspension so I chose the ride tech level 2 suspension system which should offer greater handling and increased adjustments. The next thing that needs to be addressed since our Mustang is now handling well. First we need a good rear end so I went with the Moser Engineering M9 muscle pak rear end. For the transmission I used a G Force Street 6 speed.  Prices so far suspension $5500, rear end $4500, transmission $4000. Bringing the total for the car without interior and motor at $28000. Finally for the motor which is the best part of any car, I chose the BennetRacing 400 ci Ford motor producing 930hp. This motor making that kind of power should be more than enough to chase down the Equus Bass and also the reason I spend a substantial amount of money on traction. BennetRacing does not have a price on this motor but one could only assume the motor to be upwards of $35000. The last thing to do to the car would be install a descent interior while removing the rear seats and installing a couple of big sub woofers and amplifiers. This 99 Ford Mustang cost me an estimated $70000. As you can see the ¼ million dollar price tag looks a little far fetched now…

Visit my website here to view the slideshow!

Equus Bass 770...its cool but 1/4 million?

     I was reading a fellow bloggers post  here about the Equus Bass 770, as well as one of my friends sending me a text message about the car earlier in the week, which both contributed to my interest of this car. The Equus Bass is a modern twist on what appears most similar to a Camaro to me. The car is rather light at 3640 lbs it has the ZR1 supercharged 6.2L making 640 bhp and 605 lb ft of torque. It has all the handling features you’d expect to find in a car the cost 1/4 of a million dollars. In all I like the car I think it’s an awesome car for the rich to spend their money on. For me the coolness stops there though. As I was talking to my friend about the amount of money to have a modern muscle car that one would be spending isn’t justifiable in my mind. I believe that I could build, obviously with some professional help, a better more bad a** muscle car for a fraction of the price. So that is what I decided to do. I "built" a cooler car just through internet pricing and all that, but it’s completely for fun I HAVE NOT really built this car. Anyways to start I would pick up something like this its perfect because it’s getting a new motor, new paint, new wheels & tires, new exhaust, drive train, etc. So to start I purchased a $5000 Ford Mustang. For labor estimates I am going to make a ball park estimate and  say labor is $40/ hr. I figure it’s a high enough number for the kind of work being done (essentially building a car) and to prove a point in why spending 250 thousand dollars is not necessary. I’m assuming the body of the car won’t need too much work. I figure a day in the body shop would be plenty for this car as I would help in prepping the car in any way I could removing as much as possible to reduce the number of labor hours for the body shop. Anyway a couple thousand dollar flat blue paint job along with this hood in flat black. Also a set of these wheels which I would powder coat flat black and wrap in BFGoodrich drag radials. So far without a motor or tranny or any drive components the car is estimated at $12000.

To be continued

Analysis of Another Blog

         Today, I will be analyzing another fellow muscle car bloggers blog. The blog relates to my onlinemusclecarmuseum blog very well in that what I am attempting to create this blogger has already created. This blog is an inactive blog since 2011 but it is the most similar to that of my own. The blog is called Legendary Collector Cars  and it is on the site blogcatalog.com. The blog covers cars of all kinds, but they are all collector cars. The blog has car rebuilds, information on certain cars, pictures, videos etc. The blog seems to mostly be written in first person and their post are pitched at an intermediate level. This blog although does not have very many comments which could be a result of the blog not having enough traffic. The blog had plenty of content and post that seemed to have been posted every few days while the blog was active. I fell the blog did well at having a wealth of information but poorly in the amount of traffic considering the amount of ratings and comments. The impression the blog gives is a basic feeling as do most blogs I have visited. As I am not a member of blogcatalog.com I am not exactly sure how the blogs subscribing is set up. The blog did not seem to have advertisements but I did see that there were drawings of some cars for sale. Overall I enjoyed the blog and though it was a job well done I believe it just needed more traffic.

My Top 15 List (continued)

My Top 15 List of Muscle Cars…. Continued (click)

In this post I am going to elaborate a little more on each car whether it be motor, fun facts, specs, etc.  As I said in the previous post the list is in no specific order, basically because I love them all!

1. 68 AMC Javelin AMX with a 390 ci motor. The Javelin was a rather slow muscle car because of its transmission. So for me personally I would swap the transmission, which is a three speed, with a four speed.

2. 71 Buick Skylark GSX with a 455 ci motor. The GSX package for the GS455 cost $1100. Skylarks are a popular car my cousin has a Skylark, but he put a big block Chevrolet 509 in it.

3. 68 Chevrolet Nova SS with a 396 ci. 68 was the first year that the SS performance package was available as a performance package on the Nova. Which resulted in a 375 hp car with a four speed transmission that could run the quarter mile in the thirteen’s.

4. 70 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 The 454 engine also had an option which was the 450 hp LS6 motor vs the base 360 hp 454.

5. 69 Chevrolet Corvette ZLI 427. In 69 Chevrolet rated the 427 at 430hp, but when dynoed today they produce upwards of 500+ hp.

6. 69 Chevrolet Camaro 427. This Camaro has the same 427 engine block in it that the ZL1 Corvette has which means it has a very high performance potential.

7. 69 Dodge Dart 440 Six Pack. Ive always wanted a Dodge Dart since I was a kid I even have a picture over my bed.

8. 69 Dodge Charger Daytona 426 HEMI. The 426 hemi motor is one of my favorites because the motor was originally produced by Chrysler for NASCAR racing. They were forced to put the motor in their street cars to comply with NASCAR’s rules.

9. 70 Pontiac GTO Judge 455. This car had an impressive compared to todays standards 6.6 0 to 60mph time.

10. 70 Plymouth Barracuda 440 Six Pack. This car is one of the best looking cars in my opinion very mean muscle car look and it can bite because its 440 makes 330 hp.

11. 69 Plymout Roadrunner 440 Six Pack. Was named motor trends car of the year for 1969. In 69 there were two main performance engine packages the 426 hemi and the 440 six pack which actually ran about the same in the quarter mile.

12. 68 Dodge Super Bee. Was basically Dodges version of the Roadrunner.

13. F ord Mustang BOSS 429. This is one of the most rare mustangs. The 429 ci engine Ford produced was a beast in the muscle car world making 600hp a possible number.

14. 68 Ford Shelby GT 500KR 428. The KR in the name of this iconic car actually stand for King of the Road.

15. 71 Dodge Challenger RT 426. Is the last year they were called R/T 1972 and on they were called rallye.

My Top 15 List of Muscle Cars from the 60's & 70's (in no order)

            My Top 15 List of Muscle Cars from the 60’s & 70’s (in no order)

1. 68 AMC Javelin AMX 390 ci picture
2. 71 Buick Skylark GSX 455 ci picture
3. 68 Nova SS 396 ci picture
4. 70 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 ci picture
5. 69 Chevrolet Corvette ZL1 reported to produce 560 +bhp picture
6. 69 Chevrolet Camaro 427 ci picture
7. 69 Dodge Dart 440 ci Six Pack picture
8. 69 Dodge Charger Daytona 426 ci Hemi picture
9. 70 Pontiac GTO Judge 455 ci picture
10. 70 Plymouth Barracuda 440 ci Six Pack picture
11. 69 Plymouth Road Runner 440 ci Six Pack picture
12. 68 Dodge Super Bee 440 ci Six Pack picture
13. 69 Ford Mustang BOSS 429ci picture
14. 68 Ford Shelby GT500 KR 428ci pcture
15. 71 Dodge Challenger R/T 426 ci Hemi picture


ci = Cubic Inches, which is the way in which American automobile manufactures measure the size of an engine refers to “the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of a reciprocating engine in one single movement from top dead center to bottom dead center.” ("Engine Displacement")

bhp = brake horse power, which is the standard way to measure the “actual or useful horsepower of an engine”.  ("Free Dictionary by Farlex")  

horsepower = 550 ft lb per second, where a foot pound “is the energy transferred on applying a force of one pound force through a displacement of one foot.” ("Foot-pound (energy)")

Hemi = an internal combustion engine where “the roof of each cylinders combustion chamber is of hemispherical shape.”

Six Pack = refers to Chryslers use of three double barrel Holley carburetors

Continued...

Sources
      "brake horsepower." The Free Dictionary by Farlex. The Free Dictionary, n.d. Web. 26 Sep 2013. .
      "Engine Displacement." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 07 Sept 2013. Web. 26 Sep 2013. .
      "Foot-pound (energy)." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 16 Jul 2013. Web. 26 Sep 2013. .
      "Hemi engine." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 09 Sept 2013. Web. 26 Sep 2013. .

About Me

This blog is for muscle cars of all kinds. I want this blog to be for readers to share their muscle car whether its just a photo and a small description or a video and the entire history of the car. Even just a link to a burnout, whatever it is its muscle cars. I will myself be adding content to the blog in the form of muscle car history, pictures, and videos. The basic use of the blog is to unite muscle car lovers to share, learn, and grow.

I am a college student with a love for muscle cars. I do not have any mechanical background or any extensive muscle car background. I know that I love muscle cars the look, the sound, the acceleration, the speed, and the lifestyle. Most of my knowledge of muscle cars has come from television and the internet where I do a lot of reading and research. My dream is to one day build a Fox Body Ford Mustang the exact way I want it. Ever since I was a young boy I have always had an appreciation for motors, loud noise, and speed.  I've never had the opportunity of owning a muscle car, but there are so many more people like myself out there. We have a love for muscle cars but don’t have the means of owning or building one. This is is the blog for them. On the other hand I know that muscle car owners appreciate getting attention from their car and now the internet can be another way to do that. While getting attention for the beautiful car they can teach people like me a little bit at the same time.

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