Today's Dumb Question

[JAG666]

That is cool.

We used to live in Midland, and three of our children were born there. Used to drive through Dawson County a lot. West Texas has its own special kind of beauty, that not everyone can appreciate. We liked it while we were there - probably wouldn't move back though. I still go back for work however.

Back in Aug '58, I flew into Midland.. after a twenty-seven hour flight from Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii (lived there for three years).. Landed around 2am or so.. on approach, the pilot "arced around" all the oil derrecks, which were laced with lights that spelled-out "Welcome to Midland".. Talk about a "misplaced city".. but you are 100% correct, "West Texas has its own special kind of beauty".. Even back in '58, it was a "modern city" with high-rises, modern (for the times) office buildings (for all that "awl bidness"), etc. All sitting in the middle of a "desert"! A "desert" of Oil!! All Big Spring had (and STILL has) is the Hotel Settles!! (the "Big Spring" dried-up by the early '60's).. My Dad was born in Big Spring. All my kin are buried out there.. Got kin buried in LaMesa, Loving, and all up and down "old" Hwy 80 in and between Big Spring to Eastland (where the "family farm" was from the late 1860's till 1955) to Ranger to Ft. Worth... good ol "Cow Patty City"..NOW full of yuppies!! Did some "serious" hill climbing in east Ft. Worth in the late '70's when developers stripped off all the trees, vegetation, etc and built Eastchase in east Ft. Worth (they eventually bulldozed down all the really steep hills!!). I recall a souped-up V-8 dune buggy zinging up a rather steep hill, stalling-out about twenty or so feet from the crest.. I idled up to the "start line", ask some kid to ask the "Buggy" guy would like a push over the top.. Apparantly actually cresting that hill was suppose to be difficult, as most didn't make it.. After I got a reply, I literally idled up the hill, STOPPED a couple of feet behind the buggy, yelled at someone to "check the bumper alignment".. I eased-up to the buggy (while everyone was yelling "ram him" to get him going!), pulled my TH400 down into low (was in high 2), then "floored it".. That buggy went over the top of that hill like he had been shot out of a cannon.. NO ONE had been able to STOP/Stall on that hill then go over the top!! It was no effort for my LC with it's nearly four hundred ft lbs of torque ;-} I've joked that my Land Cruiser could "climb a wall, if I could get traction!" ;-}
If you ever come out of your bunker and get over to Burleson, hollar at me!! I'll give you the "fifty cent tour" of my shop ;-}
Chas.

 

[1911]

Back in Aug '58, I flew into Midland.. after a twenty-seven hour flight from Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii (lived there for three years).. Landed around 2am or so.. on approach, the pilot "arced around" all the oil derrecks, which were laced with lights that spelled-out "Welcome to Midland".. Talk about a "misplaced city".. but you are 100% correct, "West Texas has its own special kind of beauty".. Even back in '58, it was a "modern city" with high-rises, modern (for the times) office buildings (for all that "awl bidness"), etc. All sitting in the middle of a "desert"! A "desert" of Oil!! All Big Spring had (and STILL has) is the Hotel Settles!! (the "Big Spring" dried-up by the early '60's).. My Dad was born in Big Spring. All my kin are buried out there.. Got kin buried in LaMesa, Loving, and all up and down "old" Hwy 80 in and between Big Spring to Eastland (where the "family farm" was from the late 1860's till 1955) to Ranger to Ft. Worth... good ol "Cow Patty City"..NOW full of yuppies!! Did some "serious" hill climbing in east Ft. Worth in the late '70's when developers stripped off all the trees, vegetation, etc and built Eastchase in east Ft. Worth (they eventually bulldozed down all the really steep hills!!). I recall a souped-up V-8 dune buggy zinging up a rather steep hill, stalling-out about twenty or so feet from the crest.. I idled up to the "start line", ask some kid to ask the "Buggy" guy would like a push over the top.. Apparantly actually cresting that hill was suppose to be difficult, as most didn't make it.. After I got a reply, I literally idled up the hill, STOPPED a couple of feet behind the buggy, yelled at someone to "check the bumper alignment".. I eased-up to the buggy (while everyone was yelling "ram him" to get him going!), pulled my TH400 down into low (was in high 2), then "floored it".. That buggy went over the top of that hill like he had been shot out of a cannon.. NO ONE had been able to STOP/Stall on that hill then go over the top!! It was no effort for my LC with it's nearly four hundred ft lbs of torque ;-} I've joked that my Land Cruiser could "climb a wall, if I could get traction!" ;-}
If you ever come out of your bunker and get over to Burleson, hollar at me!! I'll give you the "fifty cent tour" of my shop ;-}
Chas.

Great stories; thanks Chas., and same invitation here if you come up this way. If I didn't say it before, we are half-way in between Weatherford and Azle, about a mile north of FM 730.

 

[JAG666]

Great stories; thanks Chas., and same invitation here if you come up this way. If I didn't say it before, we are half-way in between Weatherford and Azle, about a mile north of FM 730.

Will Do. (sounds like you are closer to NW Tarrant County).. When I started racing motorcycles, I raced at a track called Prickly Pear Race Track, just outside of Azle.. that was back in '62.. I was a skinny sixteen year old kid, racing a stripped-down Harley V-Twin!! I turned AMA Class C Pro in 1970.. Suffered a "Career Ending Injury" in June 1973.. Compacted C-4, Fractured C-5.. Ruined my day!!
Chas.

 

[1911]

Will Do. (sounds like you are closer to NW Tarrant County).. When I started racing motorcycles, I raced at a track called Prickly Pear Race Track, just outside of Azle.. that was back in '62.. I was a skinny sixteen year old kid, racing a stripped-down Harley V-Twin!! I turned AMA Class C Pro in 1970.. Suffered a "Career Ending Injury" in June 1973.. Compacted C-4, Fractured C-5.. Ruined my day!!
Chas.

Chas., small world so to speak. You are a little older than me, but in 1973, I was making a living as a Harley and Indian mechanic in Denver. I'll attach some photos of my bike at that time.

Were you racing an XR? (I'm assuming you were a flat tracker). I have always wanted one of those.

Pretty sure this what I was riding in 1973:

my 1946 Indian Chief chopper

• 1911
• Jan 16, 2018

Shortly after, I built this one:

 

[JAG666]

Chas., small world so to speak. You are a little older than me, but in 1973, I was making a living as a Harley and Indian mechanic in Denver. I'll attach some photos of my bike at that time.

Were you racing an XR? (I'm assuming you were a flat tracker). I have always wanted one of those.

Pretty sure this what I was riding in 1973:

my 1946 Indian Chief chopper

• 1911
• Jan 16, 2018

Shortly after, I built this one:
View attachment 2142094

Chas., small world so to speak. You are a little older than me, but in 1973, I was making a living as a Harley and Indian mechanic in Denver. I'll attach some photos of my bike at that time.

Were you racing an XR? (I'm assuming you were a flat tracker). I have always wanted one of those.

Pretty sure this what I was riding in 1973:

my 1946 Indian Chief chopper

• 1911
• Jan 16, 2018

THOSE are some good looking scooters!! One doesn't see any "old Indian" Chopperrs. Does that 45" Flat-Head have a "WR" Engine in it?? And that bottom scooter.. That HAS got to be an early Knuckle-Head.. at least the Speed-O Cowl looks like the one off my '39 Knuckle... Plus, I'd never seen a "hand shift" set-up like that.. (my "stock" '50 was a Tank-Shift)
Well, in mid-1967, I owned my owned motorcycle shop/dealership.. I had a Bridgestone dealership, also worked on Hawgs (Choppers and Dressers).. As noted, I bought my first H-D Dresser in Aug'63. By 1970, I had four V-Twins.. a '46 Knucklehead (my first "race bike"), my '50 Dresser (my first H-D street bike) a '39 Knucklehead (the 110 in Chopper) and a "bitsa".. a '58 Framed, '53 Engine, '64 Duo-Glide Front End, had the "late" '60's/'70's era Saddlebags, Pac-King tour box, etc. This Dresser was also outfitted with Red Spotlights, a revolving red "gumball" on the back, four-way flashers (part of the turn signals) and I used it to do Funeral Escort work in Fort Worth.. Super seal, you get to ride, speed, run stop lights, pull cars over (out of the way) AND I got paid!!! The real "kicker" is, when I finished building this Harley, I had a total of $500 invested!!
On the Flat-Tracking, I never got a Harley Sponsorship, so no XR.. I raced a 250cc Bultaco Flat-Tracker (photo attached). Even after AMA up'ed the engine size to 350cc's in '73, I still campaigned the 250.. and STILL blew the doors of the (then) new 350cc 'trackers. For GP Road Racing, I campaigned a totally "home built" GP Bike, using a Bridgestone 350cc Frame, Honda 750cc Front Disk Brakes, a Honda 305 "Scrambler" rear brake linkage and pedal, transplanted a Kawasaki F-9 Enduro 350cc Single Cylinder Engine into the frame, and after I finished "waving my magic wrenches" over the engine, it Dyno'ed out at an honest Fifty Horsepower... On the ground!! It topped-out down the straight of the (then) Dallas International Raceway at 165mph.. and I STILL had RPM left!! Sad to say, I sold all my Harley's and most of the other bikes.. For whatever reason, I kept the Bultaco 'Tracker, the GP Roadracer and the "Pit Bike".. a '71 Honda Mini-Trail 50.
Now, I'm trying to concentrate on finishing a full "Frame-Up" Restoration on a 1953 Jaguar XK120 DropHead Coupe (one of 1765 built--total production!), getting my "Ground-Pounder" ('74 FJ-40) roadworthy and running again as well as restoring a '65 Mustang Notchback and a '71 Volvo P-1800E (this one I want to restore for my grand-daughter-- it was her Great Grandmother's car!).. Also want to get our '70 Datsun 510 Station Wagon (bought new) back on the road and I'll just keep driving my "daily driver" '62 Volvo 122S Sport Sedan (it actually has lichen growing on the quarter panels!!) I thought I'd have "time" left in my life to restore a '56 Chevy BelAire, but my time is running..
I'll dig around and try to find a pic or two of my last dresser (the '58 frame/'53 engine)... It was one damn good-looking scooter!! I've attached a pic of my Bultaco Tracker at the beginning of my first year as an AMA Pro..

Guess we'll need to get together, do a little "bench-racing" to see who went faster, back in the day.. Gotta warn ya, tho.. the old I get, the faster I went!! ;-} Chas.

 

[1911]

Chas., both of those scooters are Indian Chiefs; the top one was a '46, stock 74". The bottom one was a period hot-rod - stroked to 80", Bonneville cams, magneto, aluminum higher-compression Bonneville heads, some valve porting done (in the jugs, since it is a flathead), Bonneville Linkert carb. It would do the ton, a fair accomplishment for a flathead. It would out run other club members ohv Harleys on the top end, but it was slower off the line with its weight and three-speed jockey shift. The front end was a classic '42 leaf-spring, but I put a double-leading-shoe jap bike brake on it, trying to get the thing stopped. The stock front brake on a Chief was pretty useless. I did run a Harley tombstone tail light on it, just because I thought they were cool, which I see how that could lead to confusion with a knucklehead. And the jockey shift was my own creation for faster shifting - the original tank shift linkage had a lot of slop in it, so I just bent and welded some round stock direct to the shift tower on the tranny. In third gear, the shift knob was right in your crotch! I would give a lot to still have that bike, but a brother laid it down under a tractor-trailer full of Coors beer and that was the end of both.

I dig your Bultaco; never could afford one in my teen-age dirt bike riding days. I bet that would be worth a pretty penny today.

I sold my last Chief (a '47) about two years ago, and a hot-rod shovel before that. Still have an evo dresser, a '98 FLTR with a few mods. I may buy one more new bagger before I die, though the evo still runs fine. Old enough that I would like a cruise control on my next one. Still have a mind to build one more rigid-frame panhead bobber/chopper one of these days, but doubt I could stand to ride it very far. Easy to get sidetracked on Land Cruisers and other stuff - your Jag build sounds like cool project. After a few British bikes and a British car (Sunbeam Alpine), I'm not sure I want any more!

Lee

 

[JAG666]

Chas., both of those scooters are Indian Chiefs; the top one was a '46, stock 74". The bottom one was a period hot-rod - stroked to 80", Bonneville cams, magneto, aluminum higher-compression Bonneville heads, some valve porting done (in the jugs, since it is a flathead), Bonneville Linkert carb. It would do the ton, a fair accomplishment for a flathead. It would out run other club members ohv Harleys on the top end, but it was slower off the line with its weight and three-speed jockey shift. The front end was a classic '42 leaf-spring, but I put a double-leading-shoe jap bike brake on it, trying to get the thing stopped. The stock front brake on a Chief was pretty useless. I did run a Harley tombstone tail light on it, just because I thought they were cool, which I see how that could lead to confusion with a knucklehead. And the jockey shift was my own creation for faster shifting - the original tank shift linkage had a lot of slop in it, so I just bent and welded some round stock direct to the shift tower on the tranny. In third gear, the shift knob was right in your crotch! I would give a lot to still have that bike, but a brother laid it down under a tractor-trailer full of Coors beer and that was the end of both.

I dig your Bultaco; never could afford one in my teen-age dirt bike riding days. I bet that would be worth a pretty penny today.

I sold my last Chief (a '47) about two years ago, and a hot-rod shovel before that. Still have an evo dresser, a '98 FLTR with a few mods. I may buy one more new bagger before I die, though the evo still runs fine. Old enough that I would like a cruise control on my next one. Still have a mind to build one more rigid-frame panhead bobber/chopper one of these days, but doubt I could stand to ride it very far. Easy to get sidetracked on Land Cruisers and other stuff - your Jag build sounds like cool project. After a few British bikes and a British car (Sunbeam Alpine), I'm not sure I want any more!

Lee

your Jag build sounds like cool project. After a few British bikes and a British car (Sunbeam Alpine), I'm not sure I want any more!

Lee;
First off, a correction.. I bought my first Harley on Aug 5th, 1962.. (my sixteenth birthday!) NOT '63 as I missed typed!)
I regret selling ALL my Harley's, but sh-t happens.. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time (we were "planning" our first/only child.. Born, to the day on our eighteenth wedding anniversary!! Serious planning!!) But I REALLY do miss my Harleys...
The ownership of the Jag XK120 came about by pure happenstance. I had bought a POS Opel Rekord from my wife's ex-boyfriend.. She warned me NOT to buy it.. Anyway, after a $500 engine rebuild and fitting four brand new BFG Silvertown 660's (at $25 each), I took the car to the only Foreign Car Salvage yard in Tarrant County.. I got $50 for it.. As I left the office, wife was NOT in/at her MG Magnette (worth a small fortune, now!) she had been "killing time" by looking at the consignment cars parked out front and was at the right front of a "very unique looking" car.. she asked me: "What is it?" I'd never seen such a vehicle.. I went back into the wrecking yard's office, asked "What is that black convertible?, he replied: "Jag-Waar", I asked how much, he said "Three Hunert.", I slapped down the fifty dollar bill and bought a car I knew absolutely nothing about, worse yet, I HAD to borrow the $250 balance from my Mother-In-Law of five months.. Within the first WEEK of buying the Jag, I was offered One Thousand Dollars CASH!! I turned that down.. Within the first MONTH, I turned down a Five Thousand Dollar Offer!! The LAST offer I turned down (the Jag was TOTALLY disassembled) was back in the back in the late '90's.. the offer was $90K "as is".. Turned that down, as well (and, no.. "Stupid" is NOT tatooed across my forehead! ;-} ) That said, I AM the second owner of the Jaguar XK120. "Current values" of a highly restored Jag XK120 can be as high as $125K-$150K...
I agree, Owning/Working-On Brit vehicles is it's own special breed of torture.. Once one learns the idiocyncries, working on them really isn't any different than working on any other vehicle (my Jag has SAE, BSF and BA Fasteners.. THAT'S a Hair-Puller when selecting taps/dies, spanners and/or sockets!!)
But, to add some "Landcruiser Content", I'll note that I bought my FJ-40 in December 1973, it cost around five-five hundred dollars (including the PTO Winch, Warn Hubs, etc.) and it was the first/only new car I'd ever paid cash for.. and the salesman wouldn't even "throw-in" a service manual!! (he later told me that the dealership got FOUR LandCruisers in per year.. that if I didn't buy it at full price, someone else would, and in short order!!) When I worked for Datsun (early '70's), We "offered" the Nissan Patrol (same basic "imitation" Chevy 235 "Blue Flame" Six Cylinder).. I thought the Patrol was a better looking 4wd, in fact,I wanted to buy the Patrol instead of the LandCruiser!! I doubt one could find one today, much less parts!! Glad I got the LC, instead ;-} (just wish I could afford ALL the new rubber seals for the glass, body, etc! They are proud of that stuff, aren't they??? (anybody know of any economical vendors, Let ME Know!! Please!)
I've turned-down some "serious money" for the Toyota, as well.. The last offer was just a few months ago.. A guy had been looking at the '73 Chevelle (350/350) I have.. It NEEDS a good (read: NEW) home!! Then he started looking at the the LandCruiser and asked: "Would you take twenty-grand for it?" I said "No!".. he replied, questioningly and sheepishly: "Twenty-Five?", again I said no.. He simply said: "didn't think so." and smiled. Once I finish restoring/repairing the Jag/LC, I doubt I'd be able to get $50 for each of them (maybe for BOTH of them!!).. My luck just seems to run in that direction... ;-}
Chas.

 

[1911]

Great stories Chas!

I agree, Owning/Working-On Brit vehicles is it's own special breed of torture.. Once one learns the idiocyncries, working on them really isn't any different than working on any other vehicle (my Jag has SAE, BSF and BA Fasteners.. THAT'S a Hair-Puller when selecting taps/dies, spanners and/or sockets!!)

What, no BSW (Whitworth) fasteners also? I had to buy a set of Whitworth tools when I bought my first BSA, a 1949 B-33 or B-34 (can't remember which) that I paid $150 for when I was 14. I was tall enough to pass for 16, so I rode it everywhere without a license. That thing shook like a paint shaker at any speed over 50 mph, but it had gobs of torque, a long-stroke 500cc single. I used to win bets with it by starting off in 4th gear at the bottom of a local hill and chugging up without stalling. Couldn't have been too good for the valves or the clutch, but as you say, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Here is a photo of it:

 

[JAG666]

Lee;
"BSW" (British Standard Whitworth) and "BSF" (British Standard Fine) are, technically, the same thread pitch.. just named differently because of their applications.. so some such noise ;-}
Wow, the BSA 500 has some kinda stroke on it.. Gotta say, that's a good looking "hunk of steel" for 1949! I raced in an Enduro somewhere north of Ft. Worth, around '68, we were set-off three abreast a minute apart! I was riding a 90cc Bridgestone two-stroke, the guy beside me (from Louisiana) rode a 500cc BSA "Thumper"!! I could count his engine's revolutions and HAD to listen to that continuous mono-toned "thumping" for hours ;-} until my front axle broke!!
As for your taking off in fourth, chugging up a hill without stalling, I doubt that BSA's valves even noticed anything different!! And unless you were slipping the hell outta the clutch (burning the surfaces), it probably never bothered the clutch plates, either. In that Kawasaki 350cc Roadracer I built, I had to slip the clutch in first to "get it rolling".. Once I got up to 50mph/9000rpm, I had the clutch completely "out" (the Yami's of the era could NOT take off as fast!!) My biggest problem was shifting without the clutch.. First time I "grabbed second", I found myself looking "down" the front forks out at the straight!! That scooter would pull a 45 degree "wheelie" in the first four gears.. and the front-end got pretty damn light in fifth!! It was a "butt-pucker'er" when the front-end came up at 135-145 or so!! Probably shouldn't have fitted that "quarter turn" throttle!! ;-} Talk about "grabbin' a handful"!!
The XK120 Jaguar use to "show-off" in exhibitions to the press, etc. about being able to start off in "top" (fourth) gear then accelerating to 100mph+.. No other car on the market could do that, at the time (1948).. The engine is a loooong stroke, 3.5Litre DOHC In-Line Six.. Plenty of "down-low grunt" AND top-end!!
A bit of history.. October 21st 1953, the late Norman Dewis (who passed away earlier this year) piloted a modified* XK120 (basically the same engine as mine!!) with a small perspex bubble windscreen, he set the speed record for a production car of 172.412 mph on the Jabbeke straight in Belgium (this was a two-way "freeway" where one side was shut-down to allow the Jaguar to make it's run.. Traffic STILL flowed on the "dual carriageway" in the other direction!! (* the "modifications" to this XK120 were few and simple.. The right headlamp was removed and a "box" was built to "direct" (NOT "ram"!!) air to the non-filtered 2" SU Carbs. The "Perspex" (plexiglas) bubble was mounted on a piece of sheet-metal that contoured to cover the "Open Cockpit" of the "OTS" (Open Two Seater). Only Norman's head stuck-up into the "bubble".. he, literally, sat on the floorpan of the car! (no seat or cushion, at all!) Lastly, the rear gear was the TALLEST Jaguar could get to put the "ENV" rear axle assembly.. the "ENV" rear differential could have a limited slip fitted as option for the 120's.
I've attached a pic of that XK120 Jaguar, after it's 2013, eighteen month restoration.. Norman Dewis drove this Jag again at the 2013 Quail Motorsports Gathering. You can see the "Rock & Bird Strainer" filter over the right headlamp cowl. The rear wheel "spats" are a stock item on all "steel wheel" XK120's.. I have them on my 120DHC. It should be noted that this Jaguar, Chassis #660986 competed in the 1952 Alpine Trials AND returned to race (and win) at Goodwood, Mallory Park, Silverstone, Crystal Palace and Brands Hatch without its streamlined configuration.
Here's a kicker for you.. an XK120 FHC (fixedHead Coupe--aka Hard-Top) was the first (only?) imported car to win the First Grand National Roadrace (NASCAR) at Linden Airport, New Jersey, on June 13th, 1954. NASCAR BANNED ALL "Foreign made cars" after this race.. Good thing "Toyota's" aren't "foreign made", huh??
Are you getting "stuffed" on this "Turkey Day"??
Chas.

 

[1911]

GORGEOUS car Chas! I've always thought that the various XK Jags were the only beautiful British cars.

 

[JAG666]

GORGEOUS car Chas! I've always thought that the various XK Jags were the only beautiful British cars.

Lee;
We TOTALLY Agree, sir ;-}
I guess that's why I bought my 120 "at first sight" and have since turned-down a LOT a high-dollar offers.. But then, while the Toy LC was not "sexy looking" as the Jag, it has a special place in my heart, as well, likewise the refusal of several fantastic offers to buy..
Granted, two completely different cars, two different purposes.. BOTH offer a great deal of fun and enjoyment in their respective venues ;-}
and I STILL have my three sets of Lionel Trains I got through-out the '50's ;-}
I guess I just can't "let go" of my "little boy" or my "big boy" toys ;-}
Chas.

 

[JAG666]

Lee;
I (finally) found a photo of my '74 LandCruiser.. Pic was taken between Dec '73 (purchase date) and April '74 (mandated annual registration date) and PTO Winch not yet fitted (it took a month for the dealership to get said winch in-house). It were purdy, back then ;-} Chas.

 

[oregon fj]

I think @oregon fj 's epic build thread talked cable diameter. As I recall, he went a bit thinner to have more length.

Cable on factory PTO winch was 8mm (5/16") wire rope. The factory fitted 50 meters worth, plus 1.5m of chain. So that was like 165 feet of cable.

 

[JAG666]

OregonFJ; Appreciate that valuable info, thanks.. I was under an impression that the FJ-40's factory winch carried ninety feet of wire rope.. Like everything else, I was a "little short" (like seventy-five feet worth of "short" ;-} ) My cable, which has NOT been unspooled in twenty years, use to be in pretty good condition.. mostly surface rust with the odd piece of wire sticking out... I hated that-- when reeling in the wire, those little "snags" grabbed one's gloves, trying to wind one's hand up on the spool, as well.. THAT was my main interest/reason in wanting a new wire rope.. Maybe someday, after I get the "40" running and pretty, again ;-}.. Chas.