1962 Chevrolet

In the beginning: - written by Jake Dykstra Jr.

My father's cousin Edward Nydam (Cousin Eddie) ordered this car brand new in 1962.  His father worked in a steel foundry and Eddie complained that his Dad’s work car was always too dirty on the inside from his work clothes to be able take girls out on a date.  So they ordered up this 1962 Chevy with all of the go fast goodies.

“Cousin Eddie” ordered the car at Brigance Chevrolet in Oak Park, IL which is now long gone.  When ordering the car only options that would make the car faster were checked on the option sheet.  When asked if he wanted a particular option like an FM radio, Eddie’s response was, “will that make it faster?”  Ironically then - when Eddie ordered the car they were not aware that they had a choice of rear axle ratios so by default the car came with a 3.08 ratio.  After realizing the mistake he promptly went to Nickey Chevrolet and purchased 3 entire rear pumpkin assemblies - a 3.55 ratio, 4.11 ratio, and a 4.56 ratio.  Money was not an object for Eddie as he lived at home and had lots of money to spend on cars.  The 4.56 was the fastest combination evidently.

Mostly all of the speed parts that were installed on the car back in the day were purchased over the counter from Nickey Chevrolet. He got to know the parts guy (Dan) very well.

They (my dad and Eddie) also tried several different cam an intake/carb combinations in an effort to go faster.  They tried the mysterious Z-11 cam and it did not run as good as the factory cam, so back in went the factory cam.  They tried a larger single four barrel setup and it did not run as good as the factory 2x4 setup so back on it went. The final set-up was a .030 over “X” block, stock original camshaft, 13:1 forged pistons, single steel head gasket, stock valve springs, 3852583 heads with Ford sodium filled 2.19 & 1.72 valves, stock 2X4 intake with 1/4” phenolic resin spacers stacked 4 high, velocity stacks on the AFB’s, stock distributor, stock coil, Delco-Packard  solid core wires,  Jardine headers, 4:56 posi rear gears, with a home made pinion snubber. Preloaded the right rear spring, and 80/20 drag shocks up front. They ran Sunoco 260 fuel, and a “cool can” with a 3/8” aluminum coil in an ice bucket. All this and the stock original shifter! Evidently they swapped so many cam and intake combinations that they kept about a dozen gasket sets in the garage to facilitate making a change on whim if necessary.

Eddie drag raced the car around the Chicago area on the weekends and his parents drove the car during the week as their everyday car.

My dad said that his cousin literally had a houseful of trophies he won from racing at Union Grove, Oswego, and US30.

Stories:

One of my favorite stories about them racing is:

Eddie was not a morning person and his lifestyle was such that he stayed out very late at the local taverns doing what people do at taverns. When they raced on Sunday mornings they had to leave pretty early as they usually had an hours drive to get to the track and you wanted to get there plenty early to assure a good pit spot.  Being that Eddie lived with his parents my Dad did not want to have to wake them up in order to get Eddie out of bed to go to the races.  So their solution was to have Eddie tie a rope on his foot before he went to bed (how he remembered after coming home from the tavern is anyone’s guess) and hang it out the window (his bedroom was on the second floor).  My Dad then came by early in the morning and gave a tug on the string and Eddie got up and they were off to the track.

The story about the blown engine goes like this:

When racing one 100 degree weekend they were in a round robin, hot lap type competition, meaning if you won your race you got right back in line and kept racing, which was not kind to the drive train from an overheating standpoint.  In the 4th round of the races when he was going down the track the heat was so intense it melted the solder in the generator windings and froze up the generator, which in turn broke the generator/water pump drive belt, which in turn stopped the water pump from working, and ultimately the engine overheated and froze up. Eddie had removed the idler pulley, along with the inner front bumper brace, in the interest of saving weight.

When Eddie blew up the original 409 it was replaced with a 283. The original engine was rebuilt, and put in a black ’61 bubble top Impala, along with all the “race parts,” including a new 4:88 posi rear gear, and an E&R rubber drive clutch! The blue ’62 then became the tow car, and he continued to race the ’61 for many years. The ’61 was sold in 1969, however the original engine from the ’62 was removed from the ‘61, and taken apart, and some of the parts were damaged so badly, that a new engine was needed. The camshaft was broken in 7 pieces, and 2 connecting rods had penetrated the block. It seems Eddie was accustomed to shifting the 409 at 7 grand! 
 
Uncle Sy and Aunt Lil Vacation story:

Since Eddie’s parents used this car as their everyday driver, they had planned a trip to drive around Lake Michigan one summer. Eddie’s father (Uncle Sy) told Eddie, your mother and I will be taking that car on a trip around Lake Michigan so take all of that drag racing stuff off of it and make it so we can take it on the trip.  Out came the big gears, racing exhaust, etc.  One thing that did not come off was the carburetor spacers though. On one portion of the trip Uncle Sy was attempting to pass a slower car on a 2 lane road and laid into the 409, the secondary’s opened up and around the slower car they went with ease, however when Uncle Sy went to let off the gas pedal the car kept going and going.  Turns out with the carb spacers the throttle sometimes stuck wide open due to being over centered and you’d have to reach down and pull the pedal back to un-stick the linkage.  I guess it was quite a sight seeing Uncle Sy under the dash, trying to pull up the gas pedal, not to mention the look on Aunt Lil’s face when they raced through Manistique, Michigan at over 100 MPH!  Soon after that they bought a new Valiant and never drove the 409 again.

The story continues with my dad telling the story in different postings on the 348/409 Forum postings:

Greetings! I have been in the "409" world since 1961! My cousin bought a '62 2 door Impala sport Coupe 409/409 in the fall of '61, from Brigance Chevrolet in Oak Park Ill.

I acquired the car in '79. I restored it in '80-'81. I sold it to a dealer in '81 in southern Ill. It changed hands a few times and showed up in northern Ill. I lost track of the car in '94 when that owner sold it. Six months ago, my oldest son tracked it down, and the car was in Los Angeles. We contacted the owner, who owned it since March of 2005. He bought it from a dealer 3 miles from our house in Illinois! He had it shipped to Los Angeles, and someone along the way made it into an SS. We have been corresponding with the present owner, and he has been kind enough to sell us the car. It has been 29 years since I have seen the car in person, and I'm waiting patiently to own it again. There are so many memories in that car, that I will tell all of you from time to time. It was driven daily by my uncle, drag raced, used as a tow vehicle, abandoned in a garage from '69 till '79' restored twice, scored 990 out of 1000 pts. at a major car show in Chicago, shipped across country to Los Angeles, and now back to Illinois! Whew,
what a story. It is all true, and documented!

Let me clear up something. My name is not Eddie My cousin, who ordered the car new in '61-his name is Eddie. It will always be known as cousin Eddie's car. He is long gone-passed away in '98. He is the one who made this car the legend it is. I was the second owner, 29 years ago. It has taken my oldest son 6 months to find this car. It was a very emotional reunion when we saw it in Los Angeles! This is one of those cars that you say, "I should have never sold it." I sold it in 1980 to buy an '81 Corvette. I sold this car and a '69 Nova--396/375 hp. to get the money for the Corvette. This car and the Nova are worth more than that Corvette! The Corvette is long gone too, and I was really lucky to get the 409 back. After my wife had the Corvette (11 years) we entered it in the Bloomington Gold Corvette Show, and received a Gold Certificate. She always said, "I wish we had never sold cousin
Eddie's car." So now we have it back, and I will keep it until I die! Everybody's happy!

My name is Jake - I am the 8th in a long line of "Jakes". My son is named Jake, and his son is also a Jake--the 10th! We have 2 sons - both very successful - and both are gearheads. Because they are gearheads, that is why we found the 409. The oldest son (Jake) has a '72 Chevelle, with a 454/425hp crate engine. It was originally a big block (402) and we kept the original engine, and installed this crate motor. Our youngest son (Dave) has a '68 Camaro with a 406 small block in it. The same deal with this car--all the original pieces have been saved, while we have fun with the 406. The Camaro has had many motors since we owned it - the
original 327 we saved, and installed a .030 over 327 with 11:1 pistons, a cam, headers, 3000 stall converter, a highly modified Turbo 350 Trans, 4:11 12 bolt, and it ran in the mid 12's. But that was not enough, so he had a guy in Peoria build him a 406! This guy builds circle track outlaw sprint car engines, and he put together a real screamer for the Camaro! It now runs in the 11's and is still streetable, but just barely. When we get together for birthdays and holidays, all we talk about is cars, and boats. I love it!

Back in '61 Cousin Eddie ordered the 409 from Brigance Chevrolet in Oak Park Ill. It seemed like forever until the car came in to the dealer. We rushed down there to see it, and they told us, "don't touch it!" So we had to wait until Eddie's father paid for it 3 days later. Once we drove it, and discovered it had a 3.08 rear gear, we were really disappointed! It seems in all the excitement, Eddie forgot to specify a rear end ratio, so they put in a 3.08. Well, he surely had to make some changes, and we went right to Nickey Chevrolet, to see our friend Dan the parts man. We walked out with 3 ratio's, a 3.55, a 4.11, and a 4.56! Eddie said, "now we can just slip in the pumpkin, and try all three!" Now this started the long journey of Cousin Eddie's 409!

Soon after we brought the car home, we started in to make it faster. The first thing to go were those heavy stock exhaust manifolds. Eddie bought some Jardine headers way before the car was delivered, and we couldn't wait to install them. It
required some massaging/cutting of the wheel wells, but we got them on. I think the odometer read 50 miles! We then removed the front bumper brace, I think it weighed 25 lbs. We also removed the plate in the middle of the bumper where the license plate attaches, this allowed for more air to cool the beast. Then we put some velocity stacks on the two AFB's, and threw out the original air cleaner. The next items to reach the garbage can were the hubcaps. Eddie stole his mother's ice bucket, and we made a cool can to run the fuel line into before it reached the carbs. We decided that the idler pulley would be next to go, (it
added weight). We designed a home made pinion snubber too.

For tires, there wasn't much to pick back in '63-'64. We used some Atlas Buchrons, and tried some of the early radials. The tires with the best grip for us back then were the Casler slicks, on steel wheels. I remember that we used the station wagon wheel in the back, with the Casler slicks. We tried all the rear gears from 4:88 to 3:55, and settled on the 4:56's. We used a number of clutches, from the factory stock, to an E & R rubber drive. The rubber drive clutch was either engaged or disengaged--there was no in between! It had what looked like charcoal briquets, only flat, fastened on the disk, and when you let out the clutch at 3500, the car launched like a Saturn rocket! This setup lasted only one season, and we replaced many of the driveline components. There seemed to be a weakness in the passenger side axles. We eventually went back to the stock setup. I remember one Sunday when we had the rubber drive setup in there, we had left a sparkplug socket on the dash, and when Eddie launched the car on the first pass, the socket flew back, and ended up on the back seat!

Back in the day, ('62-'64) drag racing at our local drag strips was done "round robin." When you won your race, you went back to the staging area to race another opponent. Well, this was hard on cooling systems, and we did everything we could to keep the "Blue Devil" cooled down. I remember on one Sunday, we took a hand pump fire extinguisher, and filled it with cold water from the hand pump well at the end of the dragstrip. I would run down to the end of the track, and meet Eddie as he turned off the strip to go back to the staging area on the return road. As he turned down the return road, I would open the hood, and sit
on the passenger fender/grill area, and begin to pump cold water on the radiator. It was quite a site, with the hood up, and Eddie's head out the side window, and me on the fender pumping the water on the radiator! It was amazingly effective until the officials warned us of the dangers of driving down the return road with the hood up! We were told that we could not drive on the return road with the hood up, or we would be escorted off the track. As the engine would heat up/cool down, we would play with the valve clearances. We tried setting the lifters with the stock settings-.008 intake-.018 exhaust-hot. Then we tried .006 & .015, and then .010 & .020. Some settings would give us better 60' times, and slow the car down, and some settings would slow down the 60' times and return a better ET. The best compromise was the .008 & .018 settings. We adjusted the lifters quite often, and as a result, to make things easier, we installed a remote starter button on the firewall to "bump" the starter to rotate the engine and "run" the valves.

Cousin Eddie chose to run Champion J12Y plugs. He also used Packard solid core wires, custom made to fit the 409 engine. The AFB's were raised about an inch, and we used 1/4" phenolic resin spacers, with a gasket in between each one-we used four
spacers. We ran Sunoco 260 fuel, and Valvoline 10w30 oil.

Back then there was not much of a Tech inspection, all they did was look inside to see if there was a seatbelt for the driver. If your car was obviously faster than everyone else in your class, your opponents could protest your car after all the cars in that class had run. The track officials would tear down the engine, and measure bore, stroke, combustion chamber volume, and camshaft lift. If you were found guilty of any infraction, you would be fined $25, and the runner-up in that class would be given the win, and the trophy.

When Uncle Sy bought another car, this meant that Eddie could do whatever he wanted to the 409. He bought 13:1 pistons, sodium filled valves, 425 hp cam, all new rings and bearings, ported the heads, 11" clutch setup. He wanted to make the  409 the baddest car on the street. It took the better part of six months to get all the parts, get it all assembled at the machine shop, and then installed in the car. It really sounded great, the exhaust would crackle like a gasser, and it would idle about 1200 rpm, but boy did it run! It ran so good that he started breaking other parts, first it was axle shafts. The engine would twist the splines on the shaft in the differential, then shatter the axle about 10" from the posi clutches. We replaced about 4 of them, and then he started to destroy clutches. One clutch came through the bell housing, and when it did, it shoved his foot off the accelerator, and stuck in the dash! The next thing was motor mounts, and we fixed that when we went to solid ones. The car was not reliable
now, and Eddie was getting frustrated. He bought a '61 body and put all the parts in that car. The 283 that was in the '61 was put in the "Blue Devil" and that became the tow car.

YouTube video of opening day at Rockford Dragway 1964:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grgDfwXDtW0

After he put all the good stuff in the '61 body, the "Blue Devil" became Eddie's daily driver, and tow vehicle. At this point in time, (1965) the car had only 6000 miles on it-all of them racing, towed, or driven hard on the street! He used it on and off for another 4 years with the 283 in it, and after blowing up the 409 engine in the '61, he sold all the "good" parts that could be saved. The
camshaft was broken into 7 pieces, and 2 connecting rods had penetrated the block! It seems that Eddie was shifting the 409 at seven grand, and after 3 years of drag racing on the street, and at the track, that engine that we built in 1964, finally failed. We stopped counting all the parts that were broken along the way. Eddie used to say, " when something fails, we'll build it
stronger, and eventually it will all be bulletproof." That was good in theory, but was way wrong in practice. The "blue devil was then put in his garage in 1969, and Eddie went to law school.

For 10 years the 409 sat in his garage, while Eddie received his degree to practice law, got married, raised two children. One day in 1979 Uncle Sy called me and asked me if I wanted any parts off the 409! I responded with a loud YES! I took a few Buddies with, because they always heard me talk about that car. We arrived at his garage, and there she was, sitting in the garage just as I remembered her! Looked in the car and the odometer read 21000 miles! My Uncle asked me what parts I wanted, because they were going to junk the car the next day! I was taken back by that statement, and I gasped, "I'll take the whole car!" He said,
"great!, now I won't have to haul it to the junkyard!" We wrote up a bill of sale (below), and filled the trunk with everything that was left of the original car. All of the guys that came along were excited to see that the car was going to someone who knew the value of it.

I started to put the car back together with some of the parts that were not damaged. I found in the trunk, the manifolds that we took off with 50 miles on the clock. I had a friend who knew of a 409 crate motor, and he made
arrangements to get it to my house. He was also a good painter, so he volunteered to paint the car. Below is a picture of how it looked when we brought it home. The Ford truck Super Duty hood scoop can be seen in that picture. The '61 283 was in it at this point. The car was not very nice to look at, but I had a vision of how it looked when it was new. Below are some black and white pictures of when it was new, and in race trim.

I had to buy another "donor" '62 Chevy for some of the parts I needed. The donor gave up the inner fender panels, and the hood. The gas tank, and the brakes. I used a lot of the small parts like clips, and plastic holders to keep it all original. My friend Bob, was at the swap meet in Carlisle Pennsylvania, and found a pair of NOS front fenders. He is the same guy that found the 409/409 short block in a GM warehouse. I needed a set of heads, and another friend, who was a Snap-on dealer, knew of some "690" heads in a machine shop that someone had rebuilt, and never picked them up. I paid for the machine work, and they
were mine! It took about 6 months to get together all the parts and pieces that I needed. In 1980, it was finally finished, and my wife and I drove it to Indianapolis for the Street Machine Nationals. It still had the 4:56 gears in it, and I remember that it cost $68 for gas in 1980! It was really looking good, and we had fun driving it. It was the only car I ever owned that would burn the
tires at any time as soon as you opened the second four barrel carb. For the trip, I bought some Sears Guardsman 225/75/14 white wall tires. With all that horsepower, I thought they would only last a year. Below are some pictures of the restoration, and the finished car at the Street Machine Nationals.

We drove the car for another year, going to car shows, swap meets, etc. On Friday nights there was a car show at a place on 79th. and Harlem in Bridgeview, IL. We would go there and show off the cars and eat some great shrimp. The place we went to was called Duke's. All the hot cars hung out there, and the place was heaven for car nuts. Bill Stevenson and Marty Levine came in Bill's '63 Fuelly Corvette, Stretch and Bob Sindelar were there in the '71 LS6 Corvette, and I showed up with the '62 409. We all talked and walked around to look at the nice cars that were assembled there that night. There was over 75 cars parked in the
parking lot, and as many just driving through. Around 10:30 we decided to call it a night, and left together. We travelled west on 79th, and eventually wound up north bound on Rt. 83 in Willowbrook, just north of the Cal Sag Canal. Well, we were all travelling together, and Bob shouts, "Let's run 'em off and see which car is the fastest!" He was in the LS6 Corvette with Stretch. So I said,
"Let's run from a 20 roll." They agreed, and we all slowed down to 20 mph. Since there was nobody on the road at that time of night, we could get 3 cars across the road. Stretch said, "I'll beep three times, and we'll go on the third beep." He beeped three times, and off we go. The 409 was in second gear, and all the other cars started in first gear. I thought that a second gear start with a 4:56 rear gear should be an advantage. The old Blue Devil was in her element that night, all you could hear was engines sucking in huge amounts of air, tires screaming for traction, and the sweet sounds of exhaust from 3 high performance cars. The 409 got traction about halfway through second gear, and pulled about a car length in front of the mighty LS6. Bill and Marty in the '63 Fuelly could not keep up with the big blocks, and he dropped out early. I wound the big W motor to 6500, and slammed third gear. Stretch and Bob in the LS6 were falling farther behind, and when I finally hit 4th gear it was all over. The Blue Devil
still had what it takes to run with the big boys! At this point, we were well over 100 mph, and I started to worry about the drum brakes! We finally stopped at the light on 75th street, and Bob said, "I don't believe it!" He wanted to run from the light, but there was a Willowbrook cop in the Shell station. So the old girl had another notch in her belt, one of many she got back in the day.
What a rush!

That engine was a fresh factory crate engine from GM. It was a '65 "X" block, 690 heads with the 2X4 intake and the two AFB's Cousin Eddie modified. It had the solid lifter "Z-11" cam, and the factory high performance exhaust. The rear end was a 4:56 posi. That engine/trans/rear end, seemed to be the ideal set-up for stoplight drags. It would pull strong all the way to 6500 rpm, and when you would shift, it would leap ahead and pull just as strong in the next gear. When talking to the third owner, he said after 14 years of beating on it, the motor was really tired. The fourth owner ran it just as hard as we did, and when the fifth owner restored the car in 1999, he built a 477, and he said it was the fastest street racer he ever drove! The next owner removed the 477 because he said it was "unmanageable." He installed a '64 QG block, but retained the 690 heads and 2X4 intake. That is what was in the car when I bought it in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2009.

In 1981 I sold the car to a dealer in Southern Illinois. I wanted to buy a new 1981 Corvette, so I sold the 409, and a '69 Nova with a 396-375 hp engine. He sold it to a fellow who was attending SIU. He kept the car for 14 years. He made a few changes, and drove the car occasionally. He had problems with it overheating on extended drives, so he trailered it if he wanted to travel longer than 20 miles. He was starting a family, and didn't have time to tinker with cars, so he sold it to a fellow who owned an electrical contracting company. He was going to fix it up, and give it to his son to drive to High school. Realizing that was a
mistake, he bought his son a Mustang, and sold the 409 to a fellow who offered him a "lowball" price. At this point the car was pretty beat, everyone who owned the car from cousin Eddie to the present owner ran the car hard, and realized that the car was "special." In 1999 the fellow who owned it embarked on a 4 year body-off-the-frame-nut-and-bolt restoration. I am indebted to him for this monumental job! He saved the car from becoming another junk, used-up race car. In March of 2005 he entered it in a major car show in downtown Chicago. The car scored 990 points out of 1000, and looked great. He also installed a 477 cu.
in. 409 with a roller lifter solid cam, and other go-fast goodies. he said it was the fastest street car he'd ever driven.

When we arrived in Los Angeles on Sept, 12, 2009 we called the owner of the car, and also the transport company. We arrived at the shop where the car was stored, and saw the car for the first time in 30 years. She was really beautiful. The paint glistened, and the interior was perfect! Our oldest son said to me, "Dad, the tires you put on in 1980 are still on the car!" I never thought those Sears tires would last 30 years, but they did. The car was up on a hoist, so we could check the dates on the trans, differential, etc. Everything was there, and just as I remembered. We lowered the car and pulled it outside of the shop. The
fellow who sold me the car changed the engine, he thought the monster engine was "over the top", so he put in a milder 409 with hydraulic lifters, but kept the "good" heads and intake. The engine sounded good, but not like the engine I
installed 30 years ago. This would have been the fifth engine in the old girl,
but she still had the 409 charm. We contacted the driver of the transporter, and
he arrived in about 30 minutes. We loaded up the car, and left to see the sights
in Los Angeles.

The car was loaded up by 2:30 pm, and the driver was on his way. We went to the Petersen museum, and Santa Monica. We ate on the pier at Bubba Gumps, and had a great meal, and couple of 22oz. Heinekens. Then back to the car rental lot, and
they gave us a ride to the hotel. The next morning we caught the buffet at the hotel, and then the bus to the airport. The plane left at 8:30, and we arrived at OHare at 4:30. The car and transport arrived at my house on Tuesday about 5:30, and the 409 was finally back in Illinois! This has truly been a dream come true, and I have our oldest son to thank!

More pictures of the arrival:

Below are pictures of our first car show since the arrival in Illinois. I drove it from our house to our son's house, a total of 54 miles. I filled it up when I left, and then again 54 miles later. It took 11 Gallons of gas!! That's 4.9 miles to the gallon!!! On the way home I took the long way, and soft peddled it to see what the mileage was. It was driven 90 miles, and took 9.3 gallons of gas! That
was 9.6 miles to the gallon--almost twice what it was on the trip up there. The 4:56 gear is what is causing the bad mileage, but what a thrill when you floor it! I since have purchased a 3:36 gear, and plan on installing that gear. Check out the pic's of the 409, and our son's '72 big block (425/454)
Chevelle.

More Cousin Eddie Stories:

Eddie liked to party, and some times he would party too much. On one occasion, when he was a lifeguard for the Chicago Park District, he would hang around after his shift was over to drink some beers with his buddies. His assigned place to work
on this day was North Ave. beach. He worked his shift, and hung around afterwards with some girls he met while working. The conversation got around to what kind of car do you drive, and Eddie responded with, " I drive a '62 Chevy Impala". The girls thought that it was a nice car, but nothing special. He said, "it's really fast, and it has a 409 engine". They had no idea how fast it was, and never heard of a "409" engine. Eddie had enough fortification in the form of 6 or 7 cans of beer, so he said, "I'll take you all for a ride in my car, and you'll see how fast it is"! So he piles 4 girls in the car and proceeds to race down the sidewalk on North Ave. Beach. All the noise, and the sound of tires screeching, not to mention all the screams from the girls, catches the attention of one of the Police three wheeled motorcycle cops, who was patrolling the beach area. Well, the cop could not catch Eddie, and he calls in some reinforcements. By this time Eddie has turned around and proceeds to run back south towards the
Fieldhouse at full throttle! When he gets to the Fieldhouse, and comes to a sliding stop because of all the sand on the sidewalk, he stops just short of one of the three squad cars waiting for him! Needless to say, all the girls were shaking and scared, and Eddie was laughing so hard he couldn't talk. The police impounded the car, and arrested Eddie for reckless driving.

Back in 1961 Cousin Eddie joined a car club. The name of the car club was "The Head Aches". When you joined the club you received a club jacket, and an aluminum plaque that you were supposed to hang from the back bumper of your car. At that
time Eddie was driving his father's '53 Ford 4 door. It was a cascade green car, with a flathead V8, and a three speed stick on the column. He told the club that he would not put the club plaque on that ugly car, and he would wait until he owned a car that was worthy of the club plaque. In the years that followed the formation of the club, the members of the club owned some interesting cars. Jake had a '51 Chevy "fastback" with a dual quad 283, and a three speed on the floor, with a 4:11 rear end. It was painted Honduras Maroon. Bill had a '64 Chevy Impala 409/425, triple black convertible, he bought new at Nickey Chevrolet, and
it had the "new" transistor ignition. Buddy had a '63 Chevy Impala 2 door 409/425. It had the sintered metallic brake linings, and a factory 4:56 posi rear end. It was a beautiful maroon, with a black interior. Ken had a '55 Chrysler Windsor, with the small "Hemi" V8, and a three speed floor shift. It was Fire engine red, with a black interior. Joe had a '63 Ford Galaxy Convertible with the small V8, and an automatic. It was light green, and had a black interior. Wayne had a '54 Chevy Bel Air convertible, red with a red and white interior. It had a 6 cyl. engine and an automatic trans-a real sweet ride. George had a '58 Chevy Bel Air 2 dr hard top, black with a black interior, with a 283 bored out to 301 cu. in., it had "097 Duntov solid lifter cam, and at one time we had 6 deuces on it! It had a 4:11 rear end, and it was a 3 speed stick on the column, and later on he put a 396/4 speed in it. Doc was a kid from Scranton Pa. and he was in the Chicago area going to College here. He had a wicked '57 Chevy 2 dr. post sedan. It had a 283 bored to 301, and a 3 speed floor shift. It was jet black, and sounded as mean as it looked! It had an Isky solid lifter cam, and an Isky rev kit. Norm had a '55 Studebaker with a Cadillac V8 and a 3 speed on the floor. Later he bought a '63 Corvette 327/300 horse 4 speed convertible. Chuck had a '63 Corvair 2 dr. coupe, with a flat six, and it was black too. The club would meet every Saturday morning, and we would all work on each other's cars. One member was an expert on ignitions, and another was an expert on carburetors. Some guys would come to the meetings and just change their oil, and some guys would work all Saturday, and into the night replacing clutches, rearends, or other serious repairs (valve jobs, water pumps, headers etc.) It was a great Club, and we went on road tours during the summers, and every year we would go to the Chicago auto show. Everyone would wear their jackets, and bring their best girl. After the show we would end up at Uno's Pizzeria in downtown Chicago, home of the original "deep dish" pizza. The club lasted for 6-8 years, and started to disappear when the members were getting married, and starting families.

Cousin Eddie liked to show off his car. Every Sunday there was a dance held at a place called The Embassy Ballroom. Eddie would cruise by and ogle the girls waiting to get in the dance hall. The Embassy ballroom was located on Fullerton Ave. at
Pulaski Rd. (Crawford Ave. back in the day) One warm Sunday in November he thought he would cruise by the dance hall and see if there was any girls he could pick up. The dragstrips were closed by November, so Eddie had time to pursue his other passion - girls. He fired up the 409 and drove over to Fullerton and Crawford. As he cruised by the dance hall he paused by the
entrance to check out the assortment of girls waiting at the door to get in. It seems that the pickin's were slim on that Sunday, so he drove down Fullerton Ave. a few blocks to the west, and turned around to go back to the Embassy Dance Hall for a second look. Now going eastbound on Fullerton, he catches the light at Crawford. As he is sitting at the light, a maroon 2 door '62 Ford Galaxy pulls up next to him. He recognizes the car from the dragstrip, and remembers it as a 406 HP 4 speed big block. When the light changes, the two cars race away from the light, passing the Embassy Ballroom across the street. Fullerton Ave.
was a 4 lane street, and two cars could easily race eastbound for about a 1/2 mile! The sound of the carbs pulling in huge volumes of air, along with the exhaust and tire noise, soon attracts the attention of a Police car sitting at the curb eastbound on Fullerton! Eddie soon blows the doors off the Ford and stops at the next stoplight. The Ford pulls up next to him at the light, and
asks to race him again. Back then the Chicago Police Dept were driving 4 door Plymouth 6 cyl squad cars, and they were painfully slow. About when the light was going to change to green, the squad car finally catches up and pulls across the front of the two cars, and the cop gets out. He tells the Ford to pull around the corner, and signals Eddie to follow the Ford. Eddie acknowledges the cops request, and turns the steering wheel in the direction of the sidestreet and waits until the cop and the Ford are parked on the side street. Eddie straightens out the steering wheel and floors the accelerator and lets out the clutch! Well, the 409 gets sideways for about 100 feet on Fullerton, and he pulls second gear, and then third gear. By now he's at Lawndale Ave. and he
brakes, and turns right onto Lawndale Ave. Once again he lays into the second four barrel and the 409 responds with the tires screaming and the exhaust barking the wonderful sounds of the big block at full throttle! He shoots down Lawwndale at breakneck speed, and turns into the alley just north of Wabansia. He shoots east in the alley and crosses Monticello, and turns left in the next alley and rolls the 409 in the garage at his house. We did not move the car for a few weeks knowing full well that it was a marked car. We never did hear what happened to the Ford, and never went back to The Embassy
Ballroom!

Cousin Eddie dated a girl named Connie. She was a very attractive American Indian girl. She had the pure black hair, and quite a voluptuous figure. She was a real nice girl, and way to good for Eddie. One hot summer night we decided to go swimming
in Lake Michigan. We drove the 409 towards the beach at Belmont Harbor. This was a place where you could swim off the breakwater, and there was a grassy area of about 200 feet from the water to the parking area. There was always young couples there enjoying the scene looking out from their cars towards the lakefront. On our way there, we happened to see Connie walking her dog towards the Belmont Harbor area. Eddie started honking the horn, and yelling out to her. She resisted all attempts to get her attention and kept walking towards the Harbor. As a last resort Eddie yelled out, "CONNIE, YOU WENCH, IT's ME EDDIE"!  Well with that, she turned the other way, and we continued on to Belmont Harbor. When we got there it was about 9:00 in the evening, and we decided to wait until it was dark to go skinny dipping. There were no lights at this area on Belmont
Harbor, and that is what attracted all the cars, and young lovers. We did not bring our swim suits, so we had to go in naked. We all took off our clothes on the walk above the high sea wall, and jumped in. The water was really cool, but it felt good after the hot ride in the 409. Connie came by the area with her dog, and said, "Hi, boys, are you enjoying your swim"? After about 30 minutes in the water we decided to climb up the 10' seawall and sit there and dry off. As we were sitting on the top of the seawall, laughing, and looking around, we discovered that our clothes were gone!! Evidently when Connie walked by she realized we had no swim suits and took our clothes and put them in the 409 about 200' from the water!! Now we had to run to the car, and retrieve our clothes! We decided that Eddie was the one who got us into this predicament with the comments he yelled at Connie on the way here, so he was voted the one to run naked through the grassy area to the car, and get the clothes. As he started to run towards the car, we all started to yell "STREAKER"! The people in the cars parked there turned on their headlights and illuminated the naked figure running towards the Blue Chevy! Eddie was laughing so hard, he tripped
and fell about three times on his way to the 409. He was able to get all our clothes, and get dressed himself, run back to the seawall and bring all the clothes to the rest of us. Now we had to sort through the pile and figure out what clothes belonged to who. We all laughed, and will remember good old Connie forever!! She surely got the last laugh!!

Cousin Eddie had a good heart. He was always first in line to help out a friend. One summer day in 1963 he offered his help to move a friend into an apartment on the northwest side of Chicago. We all arrived at Richie's parents house on Monticello Ave. in the morning. In those days you either rented a trailer, or you piled all your stuff in everybody's car and caravaned up to the new place, and everybody helped take the things out of each other's car. Eddie showed up with the 409, and offered his huge trunk to haul the stuff that Richie could fit in there. We started filling up all the cars, and when it came to who's car the mattress and box spring would go in, Richie said, we'll use my Pontiac. It was a '62 Catalina Convertible, and the mattress and box spring would fit in nicely in the back seat with the top down. It was a 389 with 3 deuces and a 4 speed from the factory, but as we all did back in the day he modified it. He installed a McKellar #11 cam, which was the "Hot setup" in the day. He also put on a dual
quad manifold, and a Vertex magneto. A set of headers, and dump tubes were installed too. He also installed a 3:90 posi differential. We loaded the matresses in the back seat, and we all took off to Richie's new place. Well, as we were all travelling together, it was inevitable that Richie, and Eddie would end up next to each other at a stoplight. The light turned green, and the race began, the 409 got the initial jump, but the Pontiac was not giving up. As the two cars roared down the street, neither driver was backing off. When Richie hit second gear the two mattresses could no longer stay in the back seat, and came shooting out and flew about 10 feet in the air, and came crashing down in the street! All the traffic behind the two cars came to a screeching halt, and Eddie and Richie ran back to pick up the mattress and the box spring. The rest of the group was already at the apartment, and when Eddie and Richie arrived they told the story of the flying mattress, and the laughter could be heard all over
the neighborhood. This story was retold many times over the years, and I am laughing right now as I recall it!

Today our youngest son Dave and I replaced the 4:56 gear with a more reasonable 3:36 gear. I never in my wildest dreams thought that our 37 year old son would be working on our 47 year old car, with his 67 year old Dad. I love it!!!

By the way--it took 45 minutes--start to finish!! Just like in the old days! The old guy has still got it!!!

It was 1970 when Cousin Eddie decided to look for year round employment. He figured since his Mother had worked at Sears, in the accounting dept, he had some leverage in getting a job there. Well sure enough they hired him, but not in the accounting dept. It seems that when you first hire on at Sears, you get the lowest paying, hardest work, and work your way up to a better job. Eddie was anxious, and took a job in the delivery department as a helper on a Sears appliance truck. His first day he was assigned to the truck that delivered refrigerators. As he worked with the driver, he soon realized that most of the deliveries were to the second or third floor apartment, usually in the rear of the building. This was no small task, and involved much heavy lifting. It seemed that every delivery needed to take out the old unit, so it was double the work! After about 10 deliveries, Eddie asked the driver how many more third floor, rear deliveries they had that day. By then it was 3:00, and he could see that there was only one more new refrigerator on the truck. Rocco the driver said," this is the last one, but we have to take out the old one". Eddie moaned, and said, "I don't know if I can do this anymore". Rocco said, "This is the last one, and I am just as tired as you, please don't quit on me now". So Eddie and Rocco proceed to heft the last refrigerator up 3 flight of stairs, and
arrive at the apartment. When Eddie saw that the take out refrigerator was larger than the one they just delivered, he thought, "this is it, I cannot go down the backporch stairs with this old refrigerator, I am too tired to lift another refrigerator"! So while Rocco was hooking up the new refrigerator, and getting the required signature, Eddie put the old refrigerator on the hand
truck, and proceeded out the kitchen door onto the porch on the third floor. He was able to get it out to the porch, but was hesitant to drag it down the stars by himself. He thought, "I'll just heave it over the railing, and let it drop down to the ground"! He proceeds to toss the refrigerator off the third floor porch, and it crashes down to the ground! Well--It makes the loudest, most violent landing that you could imagine! Rocco comes running out of the apartment, and calls out Eddie name, thinking he went down with the refrigerator. After he realizes what happened, he proceeds to fire Eddie right then and there, and leaves him in the backyard with the smashed refrigerator! Needless to say that was the last job Eddie held at Sears!!

Back in the day, the place to be was on North Ave. in Melrose Park. There was a fast food drive-in called Skip's Fiesta. Anyone who had any kind of hot car would go there and hang out. The place was always jumpin'. The owner of the place would hire some local girls to wait on the cars. There was no inside seating, and you would back into your space, and one of the car hops would take your order. The kitchen was housed in a small building that was surrounded by the parking lot. The parking area was situated so that you could drive in on one side and out the other side in a counter clockwise rotation. The place was on the south side of North Ave. just east of First Ave. When you pulled out of the place, you could only turn right, and that was perfect for racing east on North Ave. Eddie would go there on most Friday nights. Every time he was there he would pick up a race
or two, and the car gained a reputation for being fast. Eddie would take off the 409 emblems, and pass the car off as a 327. When the racing got out of control on North Ave., the police would shut down the action and sit in the Polk Bros.
parking lot next to Skips. So then we would go west on North Ave. to the Amling's Florist store, and race on the side street there. It was about a mile long street, and straight as an arrow. It was far enough away from North Ave, so as not to call attention to the police. A lot of money changed hands there, and after a while it was not a secret place to race--too many kids knew that there was racing there, and they would wait in the parking lots of the companies on that street. One night after midnight a kid in a '55 Chevy sedan pulled in to Skips', and took a ride through the parking lot. He did not stay, but as he passed each car that was parked he revved his engine, and pointed to your car. If you blinked your lights, that meant you were willing to race him. The '55 was in primer, and all jacked up with a straight axel in front, and hugh slicks on the back. No one knew of this guy or his car, and there was not any takers to race him.

One Friday night while on his way to Skip's, Eddie stopped at the Sunoco station to get some gas. He only filled the tank half full, thinking that the extra weight would slow the car. As he pulls in the station, he notices the '55 Chevy parked in one of the bays of the station. The kid comes out to fill the car, (in those days there was no self serve, they even checked your oil!) and comments on the 409 engine. Eddie replies that yes, in fact it was a 409. (Eddie used to take off the 409 emblems, and leave the crossed flag emblems, and try to pass it off as a 327) The attendant comments that there was someone in the bay with a '55
Chevy, and it had a Buick engine, and an early Hydramatic in it. Eddie says, "I've seen him at Skip's, but no body wants to race him". The kid says, "It's really fast, and hasn't lost a race yet". With that Eddie say's "He hasn't raced me yet"! So then Eddie pulls out on North Ave, and lights up the Casler slicks all the way through first gear! About three hours later, Eddie spots the '55
Chevy going through Skip's, and follows him in. The '55 Chevy parks in the back, and Eddie pulls in right next to him. They strike up a conversation, and Eddie finds out it's a 401 Buick with an early 4 speed hydramatic, and a 3:90 Olds. rear end. Eddie asks the guy if it's the Hydramatic with the real low first gear, and the real high second gear. The guy in the '55 Chevy confirms that it
is in fact that trans. Eddie ask's him if he has ever been beat on the street? The guy answers no, that all the guy's with the hot cars are afraid to race him. In the meanwhile Eddie is calculating in his head all the facts and figures this guy has revealed, and determines that if he could beat him off the line, he could hold that lead and win the race. About that time our friend Richie with
the '62 Pontiac Catalina Convertible pulls in and parks next to Eddie's 409. Eddie tells him about that '55 Chevy, and that he's never been beat. Well, Richie say's, " I'll race him right now"! So the race is set up, and both cars pull out on North Ave. Eddie agrees to flag the start of the race, and off they go. Richie looses the start, and tries to get him on the top end. The quarter mile marker was the Howard Johnson Restaurant on North Ave, and both cars are equal
  at that point, and the race is declared a draw.

Soon after that race was declared a draw, Eddie flagged off six or eight more races. When the '55 Chevy, and Richie returned to the parking lot at Skip's, the police arrived, and shut down all the racing for the night! The guy in the '55 approached Eddie and suggested they race on George street over by Amling's. Eddie asked if the guy would race for money, and he said, "I've got $100 that says my car is faster than your 409". The agreement was made and the bet was on! They travelled west on North Ave. to George St. and turned north for about a mile. The quarter mile was marked off in white paint on the street from previous races
that were held there. Eddie dropped me off at the finish line, and the passenger in the '55 was let out there too. In those days the people at the finish line held the bet money, and when the race was over, the winner collected the bet right then and there. The two cars drove down to the start, and were lined up-Eddie would take the outside lane, and the '55 was on the inside lane.
Someone beeped their horn three times and the race was on. Eddie launched the 409 at 3500 rpm just as he always did, and the car spun for about 10 feet, and then hooked real good. In the meantime the '55 was ahead of him by one car length! Eddie thought, "This ain't good". He shifted the T10 into second gear, and caught the '55 and the cars were even! Eddie ran the engine up to 7000, and shifted into 3rd gear-but the '55 was still even with him. The race came to the finish line, and Eddie was ahead by a fender! The money was exchanged by the witnesses, and Eddie was $100 richer. When he returned to pick me up, he said, "that was the closest race I ever had"!"I think I hurt something in the driveline, the shifter shakes like something is wrong "!
So we all go back to Skip's, and the guy in the '55 says to Eddie, "Let's go again, and try 2 out of 3". Eddie says, "You wanted to race 1 time for $100, and you lost". On our way back to Skip's, the car was shuddering, and a loud noise was coming from the rear of the car. Eddie once more said, "This ain't good".

Eddie decides that he better fix the car because it was about 10 miles back to the neighborhood. We back into a spot at the back of the restaurant where the light is the brightest. He gets out the bumper jack and jacks up the passenger side in the rear. We pull off the wheel, and look to see what we can use for a slide hammer to get the axle out. Luckily we had a 1/2" x 9/16" box wrench that he used to uncork the headers, and we remove the 4 nuts on the backing plate to loosen the plate that holds the axle in. Eddie then pulls off the brake drum, and turns it around and uses it as a slide hammer to remove the axle. Out comes
the axle, but only about 2'! There is a stub still in the differential! This is what was making all the noise--He had broken an axle on the last race with the '55 Chevy! Eddie says, "This ain't good. How are we going to get that stub out of the differential"? He stands there looking in disbelief. Then he goes into the kitchen at Skip's and asks if they have a wire coat hanger he could have. He
straightens out the coat hanger, and then puts a loop in the end just large enough, and at just the right angle to snag the piece left in the differential. After numerous tries, and adjustments to the coat hanger, out comes the stub. It was shattered, but still in one piece. The shattered end was a perfect match to the axle we pulled out. Now the problem is where do we get a new axle at 12:00 on Friday night to replace the broken one. The guy in the '55 Chevy comes over to watch the repair, and offers access to his uncles junkyard on Lake St. in Melrose Park. He says, " I have the keys to the gate, and I remember that there is a '59 Chevy station wagon in there, maybe we can take an axle out of that.  So Eddie, Ritchie and the guy in the '55 Chevy go off to get the parts. I was in charge of waiting there so nothing would happen to the 409.

About an hour later they all come back from the junk yard with the axle from the '59. Eddie installs the part, and bolts everything up, and lets the jack down. He takes the car for a test drive out on North Ave. and declares the repair a success. Then Eddie goes over to the guy in the '55 and asks what he owes him for the parts? The guy says, " We are all in this together, and I'm just glad
that I could help you"! So Eddie digs out the $100 bill that he won on the race with the '55 and gives it to the guy in the '55. The guy in the '55 thanks him, and pulls out of the restaurant parking lot, and we never saw him again. To this day we don't know his name!

I saved that stub of the axle in my garage for 25 years, and when I moved into our new house, I said, "What the hell am I
saving this axle stub for"? Our two boys will remember that it was on the shelf above the heater on the East wall of the garage for all that time!

Polk Bros. had more cars in the lot at night than when they were open! I think I remember Christine--she was a brunette, with a body to die for, and talked with a lisp? Skip's was sure the place to be on Friday and Saturday night. Do you remember old lady Skip who always wore the fishnet top? Most of the girls she hired were really HOT back in the day. Some of the cars that always were there--'57 Olds primered and lettered "Mighty High", and his buddy's '57 Buick lettered "Mighty Low"? AHH those were the days--gas at 36.9 for 260 Sunoco, malts 62 cents at Skips!!  Were you there the night they towed a Top Fuel dragster into the place, and then fired it up and ran it down North Ave?

Eddie liked speed of any kind, and loved to take a risk. The Headache's club we belonged to, put together a go cart with a McCulloch Mac 10 2 cycle engine. Every one in the club would take it to their special spot, usually a parking lot or school yard. As time went on the go cart was pretty well used up, and needed tires, clutch and other safety items to be used safely. The club decided it was not safe to be driven at high speed, so they took it apart, and refused to spend any more money on it. Eddie took the parts, and roughly assembled a mini bike with the parts that were left over. He mounted the engine in the frame, and bought a new clutch and chain. Everyone in the club knew the go cart was fast, but nobody actually clocked it to see what the top speed was. After Eddie assembled the mini bike, he drove it over to the garage where the club hung out. He asked if there was anyone there who would be able to follow him with their car to see how fast the mini bike would go. Wayne was there with his '54 Chevy convertible, and said, "I'll follow you, and we'll see how fast it will go". So they take off, and go around the block. Eddie and Wayne come screaming down Lawndale Ave. and Wayne says' "It will go at least 50 mph"! Eddie says, "I didn't have it all wound up, so I know it will go faster". He decides to go over to the expressway and wind up the Mac 10 to full RPM. We warned him that at that speed, He could get hurt real bad, and He says, "Wait here, I'll go home and get my football helmet". Well, we could hardly wait to see him on this contraption, on the expressway, riding this thing with a football helmet on! So we all pile in Wayne's convertible and follow Eddie to the expressway. He gets on at Kimball and goes west wide open. We follow him up to 70 MPH, and back off when a State cop attempts to pull him over. Eddie pulls off the highway on the shoulder, and continues up the embankment to the top where he encounters a 4' high chain link fence. Undaunted he jumps off the mini bike and throws it over the fence and it lands on the street that runs alongside the expressway. He then jumps over the fence and climbs back on the still running mini bike and rides off in the opposite direction. The guys in Wayne's car kept going and got off at Addison,
and raced back to the club garage. When we arrived at the garage, there was Eddie, and the mini bike, and he says, "How fast was I going when the cop pulled me over?" They all said, "Your crazy-it was 70 MPH"! Eddie answer was, "I told you it would go faster than 50".

Eddie could shift the T-10 pretty fast, despite the factory "Spaghetti" linkage. He prided himself on the fact that he could operate the factory four speed linkage better than most. He always said, "I don't need the Hurst shifters, I'm used to the spaghetti linkage from the factory". He confirmed that by saying, "I've never been beaten by a Hurst shifted car"! He was used to the factory linkage, and never thought that anything else was better. One Sunday at the Union Grove drag strip, he was beating everyone in his class, and in those days they ran "round robin". There was 13 cars in the C/S class, and Eddie was down to the last race. When you ran "round robin" you raced each opponent in your class, and if you won, you went right back to the starting line. There was no time to cool the cars down, or make any adjustments. The old 409 was really hot, and the ET's were showing it. Eddie pulled up to the line, and cleaned off the tires. Eddie launched the old girl, and the tires grabbed for traction. The old 409 was really hot, and the clutch didn't like the abuse it was taking, and started to slip. As the rpm started to rise, the clutch slipped more, and when the engine was at 7000 rpm--BAM!!-- the clutch exploded, and came
through the floor. The force of the clutch pressure plate hitting the floor was enough to throw his foot off the gas pedal, and then the rest of the clutch lining came through the floorboard. Luckily he was not hurt, and he coasted to the side of the track. We were done for the day. When we got the car back to the pits, Eddie said, "That's it for today, let's go home". It took two weeks to repair the damage, and we installed a new 11" clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, throw out bearing, clutch release fork, bell housing and the input shaft in the T-10, the collar that the throw out bearing rides on, and the starter nose. We did not reinstall a new inspection cover on the bottom of the bellhousing, thinking that the hot air flowing around the clutch could escape out the bottom of the bell housing if the cover was not installed. These were all new GM parts, and Dan the parts man at the counter of Nickey Chevrolet was now on a first name basis!

Eddie usually cruised out to Skip's Fiesta on Friday nights. If he had a date, then he would usually go to the Drive-In Theater just to the north of Skips. That way he could cruise through Skips on the way home. He NEVER raced the car with any one of his dates in it. He used to say, "I want to date this girl again, and I don't want to scare her!" Usually he would meet the guys in the club at the Enco gas station after the date. This was the spot where we all hung out on Friday nights after we were done with the date. It was on Montrose and Austin in Chicago, and the guy who worked the night shift was named Norm. The station was open 24 hours, and we usually all got there about 1:00. After we all met there one Friday, we decided to go and get something to eat. The only restaurant that we knew was open at that hour was the Ferndell restaurant on Crawford (now Pulaski) and North Ave. We all arrive there, and Eddie parks on North Ave right in front of the Restaurant. Now that would not be unusual, but the spot he chose was in the bus stop zone, and parking was not allowed. He wanted that spot so he could see his car from the booth in the restaurant. We were in the restaurant about 45 minutes, and we were just finishing up our meal. Two uniformed Policemen entered the restaurant, and asked sarcastically, "Who is the celebrity with the blue Chevy ?" Eddie raised his hand, and the Police walked over to the table, and informed Eddie that if he didn't move his car they were going to tow it away. He explained to them that he wanted to be able to see his car from the restaurant, and that at that hour in the morning there were no people waiting for a bus. The cops understood the logic and agreed, and sat down for some coffee and a piece of pie. When we left the restaurant, Eddie went to pay his bill, and asked the waitress for the check from the two cops. He went to the cashier, and
told the cashier that he wanted to buy the two cops their coffee and pie. He said, "Tell Dick Tracy that the celebrity in the blue Chevy bought his coffee tonight!"

One Saturday night after working on the car to get ready for the drag strip on Sunday, Eddie met some of the guys at the Ferndale Restaurant. It was about 1:00 in the morning on Sunday, and he was dog tired from working on the car. Buddy
was there with his '63 409/425, and Bill was there with his '64 409/425 SS Convertible. Later on Richie came in with his '62 389 4 sp. CatalinaConvertible. They were all talking about the drag Strip on Sunday, and where they were going to meet. As usual Eddie was parked in the Bus Stop, no parking area. Two men come in the restaurant, and they want to know who owns the blue
Chevy parked out in front. Eddie tells them he owns the car, and asks why. They tell him that his car has quite a reputation in the neighborhood, and they have a 421 Pontiac that they want to race him with. Eddie is really tired, and he wants to eat his apple pie and chocolate malt, and go home to sleep, so he declines the race. The two guys walk out, and we thought that was the end of it. All the guys leave the restaurant together, and quite a site it was, all these high performance cars starting, and roaring away. Eddie gets home and leaves the car parked in the street in front of his house, and goes to bed. The next morning at 5:00 (Sunday) I come by to pick him up, and tow the car to the drag strip, and he comes down stairs, and notices his car is gone!!! He hollers out what the F*^#@, and runs down to the curb. He says, "it can't be far, I set the kill switch and the hood lock at 2:00 when I got home". So we drive around the neighborhood, and find the car three blocks away. The wires to the ignition coil were toast, and we couldn't get it started. The perpetrators had rigged their own wiring under the dash, and the kill switch would only allow the engine to run until the coil wires burned up! They must have seen the smoke, and were afraid to stay in the car! We went back to the garage, and found some wire, and made a temporary coil wire by bypassing the ballast resister. It started, and
ran really bad, and we got about two blocks from the house and it quit again. So we went back to the garage and got the tow bar, and hooked it up, and towed it the rest of the way. We could only surmise that the guys in the 421 Pontiac were up to no good. We never made it to the drag strip that Sunday, and never knew who tried to steal the car.

All the guys in the Head Aches club were friends with a guy we called, "Bill four speed". He married an American Indian girl, and they had a little girl. He owned a '64 Corvette Coupe, 327/365 engine, 4 speed, 4:11 rear gear, it was Sebring Silver,
with a black interior. It had one unusual option--a 36 gallon fuel tank! One Saturday we all met over at Bill's garage, and began talking about his '33 Willys Coupe. It had a straight axel up front, and a ladder bar suspension in the rear. It was run in the gasser classes, and used a small block Chevy engine, 331 cubic inches. There was a radical Isky cam, and 13:1 Compression, and he
used a Hilborn Injection system to deliver the fuel. Cousin Eddie said, "Hey Bill, how would your Corvette run with the Hilborn Injection on it"? Bill said, "There is only one way to find out"! We proceded to take off the intake on the Corvette, and Bill removed the Hilborn system, and fuel pump from the Willys engine. After they installed the Hilborn system and fuel pump on the Corvette, they realized that the power brakes would not work because there was no vacuum fitting on the Hilborn Injection to hook up the hose for the power brakes! Eddie said, "Not to worry, I'll drive it, and see if the brakes work OK". They start
the Corvette, and Eddie gets in and drives away. Without power brakes, a '64 Corvette is hard to stop, and to make matters worse, they are drum brakes. Undaunted Eddie runs down the alley, and turns out on the street. He gets out on Cicero avenue and floors the gas pedal in the Corvette. Well, it's like all hell breaks loose, and the car is all over the street trying to get
traction.The Willys had very wide slicks, and the Corvette had very skinny bias ply 15" tires! Eddie is used to wheel spin in the 409, but this car is lighter, and the small block is winding up fast. He tries second gear, and then third gear, never letting up on the gas. The Corvette is only moving about 30 mph, but the speedometer is at 120, and the tires are smoking badly. There is no traction to be had with this setup! The bigger issue is getting the Corvette to stop. As Eddie approches the stop light at Diversey Avenue, he realizes that this car is not going to stop, and blows through the light. Luckily the light was green, and the cars waiting on Diversey for the light to change had not entered the intersection yet. Eddie finally gets the Corvette slowed enough to turn around by Belmont Avenue, and starts his return to the garage. Eddie can't resist, and floors the gas once again. The same thing happens, and the Corvette is all over the street once again. This time Eddie manages to get into 4th gear, and the car
finally leaps forward through the same stop light that he went through going the other way. Now once again he has to find a way to stop the car, and this time he's going much faster! He decides that to help the car stop he would downshift the four speed, and let the engine help the car to stop. That was good in theory, but not in practice! He down shifts to second, and lets out the clutch, and jams on the brakes as hard as he can. By now he is on Cicero Avenue, right about where the garage is, and all the guys were in the street waiting for his return. As he lets out the clutch, the car begins to skid and break the rear tires loose, and it does a 360 degree spin right in the middle of Cicero Avenue! It finally comes to a stop, and Eddie jumps out and takes a bow in the middle of the street. Needles to say, they took the Hilborn Injection system off the Corvette, and put the original aluminum intake and Holley carb back on.

Back in 1963 Eddie and I went to Oswego, Ill. They had a drag strip there, and most of the local boys raced there. It was closer to us, and our usual track in Union Grove Wisc. was having a Gasser Extravaganza on that Sunday, so we knew there would be less time to race, as the emphasis would be on the Gassers. They were expecting about 30-40 Gassers, so that would take up most of the time, and we would be waiting for our turn to race. Eddie thought that Oswego would be a better place, because all the crowd would be at the Wisc. track. George and I showed up at Eddie house about 6:00, and hooked up the 409 to George's '54 Olds. The Olds had a leak in the gas tank, and we could only put 10 gallons of fuel in it at a time. About every 50 miles or so we would stop and put 10 gallons of fuel in and we'd be on our way. When we arrived at the track, we found a spot in
the pits, (all gravel) and started to set up the car. We put on the Casler slicks, opened up the headers, set the tire pressures, checked the fluids, then warmed up the engine. As we were doing this we noticed a white '63 Dodge 2 dr. pull in to the pits. He drove the car in, and parked next to us in the pits. He parked the car, and put on his slicks, and uncorked the headers, and then just sat in his car. He didn't even lift the hood. We made a few test runs, and Eddie decided to set the lifters one more time. We pulled off the valve covers, and I bumped the engine over. Eddie would set the lifters, and George would replace
the valve covers, and wipe up the spilled hot oil. All this time the guy in the Dodge was sitting in his car, waiting until the official races began. He never did take his car out for a test run. When they were racing the other classes, we walked over to his car, and saw that it had an automatic trans but he was reluctant to discuss his setup with us. Eddie had 6 cars in his class, and handily beat all contenders. Then we watched the Dodge race. That guy had 6 cars in his class too. He raced all competitors, and then went on to the street eliminator class, and beat everyone there too. When it was all over, he came in the pits, and put his street tires on, and put the caps on the headers, and lifted the hood to check the oil. That's when we saw the mighty max wedge
engine! We were impressed with the performance, and surprised at the laid back manner the driver exhibited. Here we were towing the car to the track, and setting up the 409 with the lifter setting, spark plug gapping, carburetor tuning, timing adjustments, and all the other maintenance we did while we were there. This guy pulls in and puts his slicks on, and uncorks his exhaust and races all day, and puts the street tires back on and caps up the exhaust, and drives the car home--He never lifted the hood until the races were over!!! We were witnessing the dawn of a new era. These Chrysler guys were going to tear up
the drag strips all over the nation. We were there at the beginning of something big.........

Back in 1980, our son Dave was 7 years old the last time he was in this car. He remembers being in the back of this car without any seat, and he was in his pajamas. His brother Jake who was 10 at the time was in the front with me. There was no hood, air cleaner or exhaust on the car. We took it out on the streets of Darien, Il to do some burn outs. This was the first time in 13 years that the car had run. We restored it in our garage, and my wife and I followed Bill and Jan down to the Street Machine Nationals in Indianapolis Ind. We drove it down there and back with the 4:56 rear end! In 1981 we wanted a new Corvette, so I sold it to a guy in Carbondale Ill.

Along about 1965 the old '62 was getting a reputation of the car to beat. There was a period of time where Eddie would show up at the Drag Strip, and the competition in C/S would wait at the gate, and if Eddie would show up, they would leave and
go to another Drag Strip. Eddie would enjoy the reputation of the car to beat, and the old Blue Devil was getting too well known, Eddie decided to change everything. He bought a '61 bubble top, Black with a black interior, 283 with a 3 speed on the column. He took all the good stuff out of the '62 and put it in the '61, thinking that no one would recognize the black car as Eddie's new ride. The 283 and an old T-10 four speed was installed in the '62, along with a 3:55 rear end. He installed a trailer hitch, and that car became the tow vehicle! That worked for about 9 months, and then everybody knew that the 409 parts were
from the '62. Eddie was considering the possibility of becoming a lawyer and in late 1967, he sold the '61, which was now getting very tired and worn out, and drove the '62 as a daily driver. His interest was no longer racing, and wrenching. By 1969 the Blue Devil was put in the garage, and forgotten. All the good parts were put in the trunk, and there she sat for ten years.

The car sat for 10 years, and one day in June of 1979 my Uncle called me and asked if I wanted any parts off the old Chevy. I could hardly hold back my enthusiasm. I said yes, and drove out to their house with a few friends. When we got there,
I saw a 21000 mile '62 Chevy covered with dust, and a 283 in the engine bay. The body was not rusted at all, and there were a lot of parts missing. I said to my uncle that I'd take the whole car! He said there was a whole bunch of parts in the trunk, and I should take them too. The agreed upon price was $10, and I hooked up the tow bar to my '79 Chevy Impala and towed her home. When we got home with the car, I took inventory, and discovered I had everything but a short block to put this car back together! My friend Bob Zimmerman was able to locate a 409 short block in the crate, and that was purchased. I found a set of heads at a machine shop that someone had repaired and never claimed and all they needed was to be cleaned up. I also bought a '62 Chevy parts car for all the little trim pieces that were missing. I took the hood and inner fenders from the parts car. I rebuilt the brakes, and put the engine together. After I installed the engine, then I put the front sheet metal together, and installed the front clip. Bob was also a painter, and he agreed to paint the car in our garage. It took all winter of 1979 to get the car finished, and in the spring it was finally finished. We invited Eddie and his parents, and his family out to see it after the restoration. After he drove it for the first time in 11 years, he said it was nice but, it was not as fast as he remembered! In the summer of 1980 my wife and I drove it down to the Street Machine
Nationals in Indianapolis.

Back in 1980 we drove it on a regular basis that year to car shows, and cruise nights. In 1981 we got the urge to buy a new Corvette, and we wanted a 4 speed car. We sold the 409 to a dealer in Carbondale Illinois, and I thought we would never see it again. Bill and I went halves on a 1969 Nova, with a 396/375 hp engine. We sold that and our 1974 Chevelle to get the money for the Corvette. All three of those cars are worth more than the Corvette is now! A fellow by the name of Carl Bolander bought it from the dealer in Carbondale. He had the car for 13 years! When he owned it an overheating problem surfaced, and he trailered it to the car shows. He said, "I beat the snot out of that car, and really had fun racing anybody I could." By 1995 the car was pretty beat, and Carl had taken apart the engine in an effort to fix the overheating problem. Carl was just starting to have a family by then, and the old 409 was sitting outside deteriorating slowly. He eventually sold it to a fellow by the name of Ken Aldridge.

Along about 1994, Bolander sold the car to Ken Aldridge. He was going to restore it and give it to his son to drive. Ken soon realized that this was not the car to give to a teenage boy. He bought a Mustang, and that is what the son drove to
school. The old 409 sat outside for 4 years, and really deteriorated. Bolander made an attempt to buy the car back, but Aldridge was not selling it. Along about 1998 Ken Aldridge realized that he was not going to restore the car, and Bill Butler found out where the car was. He made Aldridge a ridiculously low offer considering the condition the car was in. At first Ken Aldridge would not sell the car, and Bill Butler said, "That's my offer, call me when you want to sell it." About 6 months later, Ken called Bill Butler and sold the car to him. Bill couldn't decide whether or not to tackle such a big job, and finally decided on a full body off rotisserie restoration! This was not an easy job, and Bill Butler took about 4 years to complete the job. He also built a 477 cu. in. solid roller cam stroker 409 engine. That engine was put in along with a rebuilt T-10 trans, and the rebuilt 4:56 rear end. When he got it all together, and drove it on the street, the old 409 was king again. Bill told our son that it was the fastest street car he ever had.

Bill Butler worked on the restoration for 4 years. When I talked to him at the Rosemont car show, he said that during the restoration when he was preparing the body for paint, he found clutch parts stuck in the firewall. Obviously a mishap on one of Eddie 7 grand shifts! In 2005 the car was shown at the Chevy Vette Fest at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago. It was judged, and came away with a 990 point score out of 1000 points! My friend Bob Atkins saw the car there, and mentioned it to Bill Kotsum from Corvette Mike. After some negotiations, Bill Kotsum bought the car, and a trailer from Bill Butler. The car was now within 3
miles of our home in Darien Ill. At that time (2005) we had lived in our new home at Lake Holiday for 7 years, and never knew the car was that close. All these details came out during conversations with these people at the Rosemont car show in 2009, after we bought the car back. Our oldest son Jake was interested in finding this car, and all he had to go on was the serial number from the bill of sale Cousin Eddie provided when we bought the car back in 1979.

Fast forward to 2010. Our oldest son Jake finally gets the opportunity to drive the 409. His brother Dave drove it a few weeks back, and commented that he really respected cousin Eddie ability to drive this car fast. It takes a lot of skill to muscle this car down the dragstrip, with the stock shifter, and manual drum brakes and manual steering. Pictures of the drive Sunday, with yours truly and our 10 year old grandson. Our oldest son was 10 years old, and our youngest son was 7 when we had this car last. These memories are priceless.

I had the PLEASURE of driving this car today! My dad and I took out the ol' niner. It was a dream come true. It's officially 13 hours later and you still can't wipe the smile off my face. Thanks again Dad, you are the best!!

The car was at Corvette Mike's Burr Ridge store, and a Gentleman from Los Angeles was interested in buying it. It was in 2005, and he had it shipped to Los Angeles. That was the first time the car was ever registered in a state other than Illinois. During the spring of 2009, our son posted the serial number on a super/muscle car forum and asked if anyone could find any information about this car. Soon after his post, one of the members of the site responded that he found the car, by the registration, and the serial number and the owner lived in Los Angeles. Our son was able to contact the owner at his work place, and he said that yes he did indeed own that car. Our son was very excited, and E-mailed me that "He found the 409!!!!!" For a while after making contact with the owner, they exchanged pictures, our son would send him pictures of the car when new, and when we first restored it back in 1980. Bob sent him pictures of how the car looked now, and we were shocked to see that the car looked better now than when we sold it 30 years ago. Weeks went by and the conversations continued with our son telling Bob about all the stories he heard about the car when Eddie owned it, and how he remembered the restoration process in 1980. After many E-mails, and picture exchanges, our son asked Bob to consider us first if he ever decided to sell it, and that we would like to buy
the car back. While we were on a weekend boating trip at the Chain of Lakes in northern Illinois, our son received a text message on his phone, and it was from Bob . His message was that he was not thinking of selling the car, but that our family had such a great history with the car, and so many memories, that he thought the car belonged in our family, and he would sell it to
us!!!

We settled on a price, and Bob was more than fair. He was going in for some heart by-pass surgery, and could not finalize the deal for a few weeks. I suggested to my wife that we go out there and meet Bob, to consumate the deal, and see Eddie's 409 for the first time in 30 years! My wife graciously declined, and said, "I think you should take our grandson, and our two boys on the trip instead of me." It was about 3-4 weeks until we heard from Bob, and we made the final plans to fly out to Los Angeles. Our oldest son, who found the car, made the arrangements for the flight, a hotel, a rental car while we were there, and a transport company to haul the car back to Illinois. So, on the morning of Sept. 12, 2009 we all flew out to Los Angeles, and about 10:30 we landed at LAX. We contacted Bob and made arrangements to see the car at his mechanics shop at 1:00 that afternoon. We had some time to kill, so we drove over to the Peterson Museum. We ate lunch at the 50's style restaurant at the Museum, and the waitress, after hearing our story of the pursuit of this car, gave us 4 passes to the Museum!! After a great lunch and a few hours at the Museum, we made our way back to the garage where the 409 was. We met Bob and his mechanic Joe, and for the first time in 30 years, we saw the car! I thought I would get emotional and embarass myself, but I got the reverse reaction! I got a chill, and a feeling of being scared! The old car looked better than ever. It was up on the rack getting an oil change, and we could look at the underside, and check the numbers, and the exhaust, and the suspension. Our oldest son remembered the Sears tires that were on it when we restored the car in 1980, and they were still on it now!! Bob and I went into the office, and exchanged the money, and the bill of sale, and the title and plates. As soon as the car was ours, our oldest son called the driver of the transport truck, and he was waiting for our call, and arrived in ten minutes. We loaded up the car, and she was off to Illinois!

The car left Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon about 3:00. It was delivered to our house on Tuesday afternoon at 5:00! The driver (told us he had two prototype cars in the trailer that had to be in Chicago by Tuesday night. Our car was the last on the trailer, so it would have to be unloaded before the Lexus. He called us about 4:00 on Tuesday to give us his location, and we agreed to meet at the two main roads that were easy to get to. I was at the predetermined location, and lead him into our neighborhood. He unloaded the car, and wanted to leave right away so he could deliver the two Lexus prototypes to downtown Chicago. All the neighbors were out, and watching for the big Reliable Transport to arrive. It was a party atmosphere, and when they saw the 409 they all cheered! The old girl was back in Illinois, and again she was owned by a family member of the original people who bought her new at Brigance Chevrolet in Oak Park Il. Upon further inspection, it was discovered that there was some
parts, and some bolts, brackets etc. that were missing or not correct for the 409. I remember certain things that would be unique to the 409 and the search was on to make it original! Using some 348-409 websites, I was able to locate the items I needed to put the car back to it's original state. The process of installing all the parts took all winter, and I was satisfied that the car was
all sorted out by the spring of 2010. After driving the car, and remembering that it still had the 4:56 rear end, I decided to replace the 4:56 with a 3:36 posi. The allure of the 4:56 over the years was not what I remembered from the '60's, and the 3500 RPM cruising speed was not what I wanted. That 4:56 was the nuts in '62, but now that her racing days were over, the 3:36 was installed. What a difference! The car was smoother, quieter and much more enjoyable to drive. We now had a car that would cruise all day, and not wear you out with the noise, heat and vibration. I would miss the neck snapping acceleration, but that
was not it's intended purpose anymore. She rode and drove like a dream-"Jet Smooth" as the commercials said back in the day! I guess you could say the "Blue Devil" was retired from racing.

Now that the car is all sorted, and I'm satisfied that all the bolts, parts, and painted items are correct, I decided to attend some car shows in our area. The first car show was up in Rockford, Ill, and it snowed while I was at the show. I won a bucket full of cleaning/waxing supplies, and had a really good time. I travelled about 150 miles to that show.The summer seems to be the time to drive this car, and some nice shows are happening. We decided to go to a show in Rolling Meadows, IL. Our oldest son has been discussing the car on a muscle car site, and the members there asked to see the car in person. So we decided to drive the 70 miles to this show on a Friday night in May. There is a lot of construction on the major highways in northern Illinois at this time of year, so I thought I would take all the back roads up to the show in Rolling Meadows to avoid the backups on the major highways in the construction zones. We decided that Rt. 47 would be the best rural road to take to the tollroad. We set off and
drove the 40 some miles straight north on Rt. 47. The afternoon was warm, and the traffic was very light. The old 409 was in her element, and was cruising along at 60 just fine. I had forgotten how noisy the trip would be with all the windows down. (No air conditioning in the 409)! You could smell the fresh country air, and listen to the burble of the big 409 engine coming from the
exhaust. I enjoyed the whine of the T-10 when you accelerated through the gears, and was really enjoying the ride. The fresh air vents in the car were actually quite nice and did a great job delivering huge amounts of cool air to the passenger compartment. Now when you stopped at a stop sign it was a different story, and huge amounts of engine heat seemed to billow into the interior of the car as you waited at the stop sign for traffic to clear! It was like a blow torch was aimed at the interior of the car! I had forgotten how hot the old girl ran, and as soon as we were able to get up to speed, it all cooled down and the ride was comfortable again. We arrived at the show, and we were welcomed by all the people there like we were a long lost family member. We parked the car, and everybody came over to see the old "Blue Devil". They all took pictures, and we all bench raced for hours. Our son and grandson arrived in his big block Chevelle, and parked next to us. There was about 300 cars there that night along with a DJ, and a food vendor who made some great Brats!! We stayed until about 9:30, and decided to take the expressway back home now that the traffic was almost non-existant. It was a nice cool ride home, now that we didn't have to
stop at any stop signs, and the car seemed to settle into a smooth rhythm. The total mileage driven was 140, and the car seemed to like the highway speeds.

The Pit Crew:

There was a car show at the Hotel near our house, so I thought I would go there with the 409 and see what the show was all about. We drove over about 6:00 and entered the car in the show. There was judging, and about 300 cars show up. It was a peoples choice show, and when you entered, they gave you a number to put in your window. There was all kinds of cars, and most of them were really nicely restored, or all original. We stayed there until the end, and sure enough they call my name for the award!! Back in the day, the car was winning trophys for drag racing, now that it's retired, she's winning trophys from car
shows!

Well, yesterday I thought I would take the 409 out for a little exercise. I drove over to the local Chevrolet dealer to show it to the Shop Manager (A long time friend). I hadn't been there for over 6 months, and when I asked the Service Writer where the Shop Manager was, he replied, "He died in his sleep 3 months ago"! You could have knocked me over with a feather!! I expressed my sympathy, and then he asked me why I wanted to see him. I said, "I have this old car, and I thought he would have liked to see it". The Service Writer went outside with me, and when he saw the 409 he said to me, "Wait right here, I want the technicians to see this". He called every Mechanic in the place outside, and asked me to open the hood. The oldest guy there was maybe 25, and none of them had ever seen a 409 engine. One young apprentice asked me if that was a AMC (American Motors) engine!! There was plenty of discussion, and all commented on how easy it was to work on. Back in the day, you had to rely on your senses to diagnose these cars. You had to listen to the engine, you had to touch many of the accessories to see if they were too hot and smell the exhaust to see if it was too rich, and look at the timing to see if it would run right. These kids today can't do that, they rely on the computer to tell them what is wrong with the engine. It was a good lesson for all involved, and the Service writer thanked me for bringing it to the Dealership.

So today I wake up to a beautiful cool (49 degrees) morning, and I'm reading the local newspaper. In the paper is an ad for the town of Mt. Carroll. The ad states that their having a "Brick Street Celebration". They advertise some street vendors with antiques, and some with craft booths. They also mention a car/truck/tractor/motorcycle show. I say what the hell, lets take a ride there. My wife likes to shop, and I'll look at the car show. During these cool mornings I like to take the 409 out. It seems to run better in the cool mornings. So we head out to Mt. Carroll, Illinois. Looking on a map to see where all the back roads are, I calculate that it will be about 200 miles round trip. We fill up the car with gas, and take along some water bottles to drink. We get there in about 2 hours, enjoying the cool temps and the wonderful back roads in northern Illinois. Upon our arrival, the guy directing traffic funnels us onto the side street where the car show is being held! We park there and someone else hands me
a registration form. We fill it out and turn it in. We go on our merry way and visit all the stores and booths on Main Street. We're gone from the car, maybe 2 hours. We stop and buy some hot sandwiches that they cook right there on Main St, and settle in on our chairs next to the car. People are asking about the car, and I tell the Cousin Eddie story about 100 times. We start conversing with the other entrants, and before you know it it's 3 o'clock and they start to award the trophy's. Well, lo and behold they call my name for the Best of Show trophy!! This is the 3rd show where we won the Best of Show award! That's 3 for 3! I was really surprised, and thankful for the award. The ride home was just as nice and cool. The temps outside were 60-65 degrees all day. It turns out the old "Blue Devil" racked up about 200 miles today, and we had smiles on our faces every one of them.

Well, we went to our local car show yesterday, and had a great time. The attendance was light, but the cars were really nice. There was a pig roast included in the price of admission. There was a '57 Chevy there along with some nice Mopars, and
a '55 Thunderbird. The '57 Chevy took all the trophys, and deserved them. Our son and grandson and daughter-in-law also came down with their '72 Chevelle, so we all had a nice day.


 

One of the trophies we won that we appreciate winning the most is the Best in Show trophy from the Flatlander's Rod Run in 2011 because the winner was chosen by the Hot Rod Barn guys who actually build and restore hot rods.

Our trip to Mt. Carroll (200 miles) has produced some problems in the driveline. The center support bearing on the driveshaft has failed for the second time. Back in the day, we beat on these cars every day, and I can't remember ever replacing
this bearing. I'm going to replace the bearing with the Billet Urethane one that's available now. I felt some unusual vibrations when we were returning home from that show in Mt. Carroll, and upon investigation found the center support bearing riding outside of the rubber cushion it's supposed to be inside of. I remember smelling rubber burning when we stopped for gas, and thought that it was strange, but could not see anything rubbing. I limped it home, being very careful of the clutch engagement from the standing starts, and shifting sooner than normal to minimize the vibration from the driveshaft. When we got home, I
jacked up the car, and immediately felt the looseness in the driveshaft. I removed the shaft, and discovered the bearing was out of the rubber support, and the shaft was rubbing on the rubber part the bearing was supposed to be riding in. I'll replace it with the Billet Ureathane one, and while I've got it apart this far, I'll replace the clutch, throw-out bearing, and pilot bearing. Back in
the day, this was a one afternoon job, but 48 years later it's going to take a little longer. I had forgotten how heavy that T-10 is. I would balance it on my chest and bench press it up onto some studs I fabbed up to guide the trans into the bell housing. I think I'll use my hydraulic jack this time!

Last week I jacked up the car for the inspection and removal of the driveshaft and to replace the center support. I was able to get the driveshaft out and over to the shop to replace the rubber center support, so we could install the billet urethane piece. When the driveshaft was out, I inspected the clutch assembly and discovered there is a Centerforce disk and pressure plate in there. The disk looked new, and there was no dust in the bellhousing or the inspection cover. My Dad used to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I decided that the clutch was a good one and had recently been installed, so I will leave that one in there. Boy, I wish I had a 4 post lift to do this job. The hardest part for me is getting under the car and getting out from under the car for parts and wrenches. I don't remember this being a problem back in the day, but I am 48 years older! After I installed the new billet ureathane support, then installed the driveshaft in the car, I decided to try out my new assembly. I pulled the car out of the garage and thought the clutch engagement was smoother. After getting it on the road a while and up to speed, I felt a vibration at 50 mph. So I kicked it up to 60 mph--same vibration. I tried 75 mph --same vibration. On up to 100 mph and it seemed to disappear. I guess if I want to drive this car without vibration, I'll have to drive at 100 mph all the time! I suppose that I'm missing a shim some where in the driveline. I'll take it over to the guy who does a lot of driveline work and measure the angles and compare them to the angles in the factory assembly manual.

When I installed the shaft, I put the bolts in the support loosely, then let the car down on the tires. After rolling it back and forth by hand, I reached under there with a long Torque wrench with a 9/16ths socket and tightened them to 35 lbs. ft. I noticed that there is no shims anywhere. The trans support is in the bottom holes, and installed with the taper to the rear.  I have an angle gauge, but it is difficult getting a reading when the car is on the ground. I'll need to get it up on a hoist that supports the tires, and then measure everything. I have the assembly manual and the factory service manual. I think the measurements are in there.

Well now there is 12" of snow and the temps are in the single digits. I can remember back in the day when my uncle drove this car to work every day. Even in the coldest Chicago weather, it always started. I think the fact that it had 11.25 to 1 compression and two AFB's had something to do with starting in cold weather. After Eddie and I "modified" the engine and running gear for drag strip duty, it was never driven in the winter. My uncle bought a new Valiant 2dr. so he could to drive to work. He bought the Valiant because the dealer offered free driving lessons for my aunt. Eddie wrecked the Valiant about 6 months after my uncle bought it, so my aunt never drove it. My uncle then bought a '65 Ford Falcon 2 dr., and Eddie was forbidden to drive it.

As far as I know, Eddie never wrecked the 409. It's amazing that we didn't crash this car back in the day. With all the shenanigans we pulled off, and all the street racing we did. These cars were not corner carvers, but would go like hell when you didn't have to turn. I remember one Saturday night out on the Edens expressway, we were racing a 421 Pontiac, and as we reached the curve in the road just after Foster ave the old 409 was swerving sideways at about 100 mph. Eddie never lifted, and we both thought it was totally natural. That's the way we drove it back in the day. Nowadays the car's suspension and tires are so much better, but back in the day that's all we had and we dealt with it. It's a miracle we are alive today, and we didn't put a scratch on the old 409.

I just came back from the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale Arizona. I looked under every '62-'64 Impala 2dr. that was at the show. Every one had the crossmember in the bottom hole! I talked to several "experts" and they all agree that the 4 speed cars and the powerglide cars have the crossmember in the bottom hole. The only cars that would use the upper trans mount were the 3 speed cars. The cars with the 3 speed with overdrive also used the bottom hole. The assembly manual for 1962 shows on sheet 9.00 sec. 4 that the crossmember is mounted in the upper hole! I think at this point, we should examine more original, untouched cars.

Someone along the line installed a power steering setup on this car. I think it was the previous owner. It was installed with some parts that were cobbled together, and installed in such a way as to make it work, but it was far from correct. I have discovered that the 409 brackets are different from the 283/327 brackets. Luckily, I found just what I needed on eBay. The brackets that were on there were made up of pieces of metal welded together to fit--somewhat. The pump was not square with the crankshaft pulley, and the pulley on the pump was an aftermarket, chrome piece that was positioned too far forward to use the correct
pulley on the crankshaft. They added a pulley to the double pulley on the crankshaft, so now there was three pulleys on the crankshaft, with only the outer and innermost pulleys being used. To make matters worse, the pulleys were not deep groove pulleys. The setup I bought was a pump and brackets that came off a '62 409. I also was able to buy the correct cast iron 3 spoke deep groove pulley for the pump. I installed the parts yesterday, and now all the belts are in the right grooves and line up perfectly. I filled the pump with power steering fluid and jacked up the front end to bleed the system, and it's perfectly quiet, and looks like it came from the factory. I love working on these old cars, --you can fix them!!

Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals Car Show 2012:

My wife and kids bought me new carpeting for the 409 for Christmas and we're just getting around to installing it.  It has been a long, slow and tortuous process.  When we removed the seats we saw that the stuffing had turned black and moldy so we had the stuffing and padding replaced and the springs repaired.  Young Jake and Jacob have helped me greatly.  Below shows them removing the old carpeting.  If you click on the last picture to enlarge it you'll even see a petrified mouse!

Although it was a struggle all the way.  I finally finished the new carpet installation and it was well worth all the hassle.  Check out the slideshow below to see the finished project.

Haven't been to many car shows with the 409 this year, but went to the Rock n' Bowl Car Show in Rockford, IL and spent a beautiful fall day with family and friends.

Again, we didn't take the 409 to many car show this year, but can't miss the 2015 Rock n' Bowl Car Show in Rockford.

We were invited back to the MCACN Car Show (Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals) in Rosemont this year to be a part of a 409 exhibit.  We had an exciting time and were delighted to be part of such an illustrious show.    Below are the people and cars who were part of this 8 car exclusive exhibit of 409 engines.

We were amazed at the quality of the over 550 cars on display and their diversity.

We had a nice ride to the show in the 409 because it was a beautiful, sunny and dry day, but coming home was a different story.  All day Sat. it snowed and there were about 6" of snow in Rosemont and the expressways were full of salt so our son Jake borrowed an enclosed trailer and came back to haul the 409 and us home.  Beautiful trailer and excellent driving and we made it back home without incident.

The 409 made it's first appearance this year at the Sandwich Car Show.

We went to the Rock n' Bowl Car Show in Rockford this morning when it was 42 degrees and came home when it was 67 degrees, but a beautiful, sunny day.  This event grows every year and this year there were close to 300 cars registered.  Nice to see such a variety  of cars.  As always lots of interest in the 409 and it's story.

Took the 409 out of moth balls and went to a car show in Hinckley this afternoon.  It turned out to be a perfect day with sunny, cool weather.

Since it was another mild summer day we took the 409 to the Sandwich Car Show sponsored by the Sandwich Fire Dept. in honor of the Fourth of July.  We found a nice shady spot and spent a great afternoon outdoors.  To top the day the 409 won an award for one the Top 20 Most Popular Car and we were number 5.  We particularly enjoyed being next to a replica of Milner's car in American Graffati, which also won an award.

 In honor of National Night out the Sandwich police and fire departments held a car show along with other activities including cake and lemonade furnished by the Lions Club.  Perfect night and the 409 won a plaque for Top 4 Most Popular cars.

We were finally able to make it to the Big Rock Car Show 2018 and it was a great venue.  Beautiful Plowman's Park with wide open spaces and plenty of shade. There was no entrance fee, they had a lot of varieties of food vendors at reasonable prices, and adequate bathroom facilities.  It was a celebration of the Chevrolet Impala, but there were about 326 vehicles of all types entered counting tractors and motor cycles.  Everything you needed was readily accessible. The local Boy Scout troop performed the flag ceremony.  Barb and Earl came with us to enjoy the beautiful day so here are a few pictures of the event.

7-17-18 - We just spent a beautiful evening at a local car show at Johnny K's in Sandwich. Lots of interest in the 409's story.

9-21-18 Went to a new car show at the Roadhouse Bar and Grill in Yorkville.  Another perfect evening and great food to share with wonderful friends.

6-6-19 First show of the year for the 409.  It was a perfect night at Johnny's K's in Sandwich.  We met another 62' Impala owner who was really nice and had a great car.

 6-21-19 First Sandwich Lions Club Car Show started out rainy and a threat for more rain, but with a late start it turned out to be a beautiful, but cool night.  Nice turnout for such iffy weather. Perfect night to drive the 409!

10-8-19 Next to the last Johnny K's Car Show - Beautiful October evening with Earl and Chuck and Sally, our stalwart car show companions. Thanks, Chuck for some of the pictures.

 10-4-19   New Engine for the 409

Our son Jake wanted a correctly date coded engine for the 409 so he purchased one.

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10-5-19 - Jake brought it to our house so they could start the switch and here's it's arrival.

Our neighbor Rich was nice enough to come and help get it into the garage.

Of course, as long as you're switching engines you may as well take the transmission out and have it rebuilt.

Had to have the new engine dyno tuned by Mulvain's in Peoria.

1/25/20  Old Engine Removal Day
We really enjoyed and appreciate the boys coming and helping with this project.  It reminded us of the "old days" in Darien when the boys and their friends would congregate in the garage for one project or another.

2/15/20 New Engine Installation Day

I feel I have to insert here that Jake used a flywheel alignment tool that his Uncle Sy made in the foundry back in 60's.  He also found a tool that held the flywheel in place back then. He is putting the rest of the engine parts on at his leisure.

2-23-19 Our neighbor Steve was gracious enough to come over and help Jake install the starter that was giving him fits.

3-11-20 All bottom work done, moving to the top end.  Jake's hard at work.

3-13-20 Painting the radiator to get ready for the boys coming on Sunday to finish it up.

3-15-20 Boys here to finish up the job.  All hands on deck.

It lives!  Check out the YouTube video at: https://youtu.be/LuH1Zj10Isk

Afterwards Young Jake and Jacob detailed the 409 and we took it to the lake to take pictures.  

Every time the boys come down they take the 409 for a ride.

7-4-21 - This is from the Fourth of July with all Jake's or as our friend Jan says, "A Jake attack!"

This is Jake's last ride  in the 409.

This is the last time Jake saw the 409.

Time to pass the torch for the 409 to our son Young Jake.