Norwood

[Sieg]

I've been around here far to long without starting a thread about my car. Partly because it's nothing special and it lacks the financial resources to become a modern day PT car.

Norwood does have a lot of sentimental value though as my best friend Bob Abel located the car in '89 and convinced me that I needed it since he knew when I was in high school in 74-76 that I idolized a buddy's red and black '69 Z/28.

I first met Bob in the early 80's. Bob built the Cooler Tavern in '67 which was located a couple of blocks from the University of Oregon's current football stadium, Autzen Stadium which the U of O played their first game at in '68. The stadium is still an icon today.

I really got to know Bob when I was a judge at The Village Green Concours. I was judging the Corvette's and Cobra's and Bob happened to have a pristine 289 trailer queen and a very good '66 427 driver. The ensuing party after the concourse at his house resulted in the creation of the Alpo Open which would be held at the Cooler Tavern. The rules were pretty simple, eight contestants were seated at two picnic benches on the stage, hands tied behind them, dog dishes filled with premium Alpo dog food in front of them, first empty bowl wins. Top three went to the finals two weeks later.

Bob was the best man in my first wedding in '88 and adopted me as a room mate in "Abel's Home for Wayward Men" in Oct. of '94 when I filed for divorce. Since he divorced in '92 we were enjoying life until Feb. of '95 when he was diagnosed with cancer and died at a young 53 years old, my current age. Sadly he didn't make a repeat performance as best man when I was married again to my current wife in Nov. of '96. I can honestly say there haven't been many days since his death that I haven't thought of him and still miss his friendship dearly.

Godspeed my friend.......


So.........Norwood is nothing special as a car but it's much more than a car in so many ways.

Norwood started life as a '69 Super Sport X11 Fathom Green vinyl top car. When Bob drove it down from Portland and I took delivery at another good gearhead friend of our's house it looked pretty much like this even though this picture is taken in '06.



The suspension and interior was all stock, the motor was a 355 built by a builder know for his circle track motors at the now erased Portland Riverside Speedway when I took delivery. It's kind of a sneaker buget build as it uses mostly old school GM performance parts but runs respectable and has never let me down to this day though I've only put about 9K miles on it since '89. The paint and badging is as delivered in '89.

In the first few years I added Koni front shocks and firmer/lower front springs, de-arched the stock rear springs, installed a set of Recarro front seats and Simpson lap belts, and Momo steering wheel purchased at Wine Country Motorsports during a trip with Bob to the Jim Davis Memorial Drags at Sears Point.

So.........the kids are now 10 and 13 and I'm realizing their future impact on earnings potential so late last summer I decided to sell a motorcycle invest some money in Norwood and rekindle the now 23 year old relationship. Two things I never liked about the car were the automatic transmission and wheels. I've also never been a vinyl top fan either but on this car it doesn't bother me enough to take money away from performance mods that improve the driving experience. So the money from the motorcycle went towards Vintage Wheel Works V40's and a close-ratio Tremec T56 Magnum.

Here's how Norwood sat at last fall.


So.......if I'm not black-balled from Lat-G for being so negligent I'll be able to update recent progress without mini thread-jacks going forward.

To the numerous contributing members and moderators here I can't tell you how much I appreciate the wealth of information this forum delivers and the overall caliber of the participants and vendors.

[wiedemab]

Very cool story. Great looking car!

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by wiedemab

Very cool story. Great looking car!

Thanks Brandon.

[Sieg]

Here's some more basics on the car.

The engine compartment wasn't bad when I bought it but there have been quite a few hours of nit-picky low budget detailing mostly involving time and elbow grease.


The exhaust system wasn't very good so another of the early mods was to install the brand new at the time ceramic coatred headers and a FlowMaster exhaust kit with 2.5" pipe, a cross-over, and single dual inlet/outlet muffler with tail pipes in the stock location.


The car to the best of my knowledge was delivered with multi-leaf and 12 bolt posi unlike Renner's one-legger. You can also see the corner of the FlowMaster and the ultra-trick Monroe Magnum shocks. Springs are Global West -2" stiffies. I stripped and undercoated most of the car shortly after I bought it with 3M Rubberized Undercoat and also sandblasted and painted most of the brackets and rearend and replaced the OEM fuel and brake lines.


The front brakes were something to talk about.............in 1969.

[intocarss]

Very cool story, Your car looks killer! Sounds like a great friend may he RIP

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by intocarss

Very cool story, Your car looks killer! Sounds like a great friend may he RIP

Thanks man.

He was a great friend. He was the kind of person that if I was in serious trouble and could make contact with him there was no doubt he'd be there or arrange prompt resolution. He had many traits very similar to Mr. Greg Weld. But I don't think Greg has ridden a Harley at Sturgess wearing a much larger than life latex Dickhead cap.

At his funeral it was standing room only, easily over 700 people and a long line out the front door. When I took the podium to speak it was an amazing tribute. We had funeral procession to the cemetary with over 120 Good Guys caliber hotrods, they actually closed traffic on Interstate 5 for the procession. it's been 16 years now and I still get choked up.

[Sieg]

Originally Posted by Sieg

The suspension and interior was all stock, the motor was a 355 built by a builder know for his circle track motors at the now erased Portland Riverside Speedway when I took delivery. It's kind of a sneaker buget build as it uses mostly old school GM performance parts but runs respectable and has never let me down to this day though I've only put about 9K miles on it since '89.

During the pan and gasket swap I snapped a couple pics of the antique lower-end SBC. Nothing fancy, 010 block, balanced assembly, brazed pickup, 2.02 heads that casting #'s match up to 67 375hp Corvette, hydraulic cam has no ID on the front so I'm assuming GM?, Comp Cams Magnum rockers 1.5/1,6 ratio, Mallory Unilite distributor. I don't know what crank or pistons were used, based on traits I'm guessing 10:1 comp. Any insight based on observations would be appreciated. Trash talking is expected too.



I like seeing there was still hatch marks on the cylinder wall in this pic after 23 years.

[Sieg]

After test driving the wheel/tire/trans install for 500 miles or so I noticed the Hurst Blackjack optional shifter upgrade I ordered with the T56 Mag kit was weeping ATF out the top shift arm pivot.


Let me back up a little and explain that Hurst advise me prior to installing the new shifter to apply heavy grease to the underside of the pivot ball and cut the seal from the underside of the stock Tremec shifter and fit it to the underside of their shifter......that should have been my first clue.

After discovering the leak I spoke with Hurst technical and was advised to verify the fluid level and check the case vent to insure it wasn't pinched or clogged. Once that was confirmed and it was still leaking, I was told the they hadn't heard of the issue and asked again about the fluid level and vent. I told them it may take a little time to confirm the venting for sure and the tech was very accommodating leaving me a verbal open window of warranty time. So a couple months passed and during some other projects the created downtime I pulled the console and slit the carpet kit down the tunnel, and thanks to the access/clearance plate I built, pulled the shifter to thoroughly inspect.

During the multiple conversations I questioned them as to why no seal was engineered into the design. As is, the gear cluster throws oil onto the bottom of the shifter linkage and the trans builds a slight amount of pressure during operation (obvious with the Incorporated vent system) and if oil is on the pivot ball internal pressure can push it out the top side, seems logical to me anyway.

After calling Hurst tech again to say all looked in order even though I hadn't flow tested the vent line due to restricted access. They then told me they only knew of two others they were having leak issues with and they have about 2000 sold in the field? That's a 300% percent increase by my math. They again questioned vent function and oil level. So.............

Here's the pressure tester I tossed together to verify vent function.


This and audible indication confirmed the vent was functioning and the max pressure registered was 2.5 psi. The oil level was checked on level ground via the inspection plug. When originally filled it took 3.6-3.7 qts and the specs say capacity is 4 qts.

FWIW - When I sent the guage pictures the communication stalled.

All said and done Hurst doesn't have an answer, though they have been very good to deal with (Jim Goodlad - tech rep). Jim early on in the process offered a new shifter, give a full refund and locate a new OEM shifter to replace the one I ruined at their advice to cut out the seal. They've fulfilled their obligation short of designing a shifter with a seal that insures it won't leak. I have no hard feelings because Jim is a real good guy and in a middleman position between non-enthusiast businessmen and college engineers that may have no real-world field experience.

So I'm returning the Hurst shifter for credit and just installed a White Lightning Shifter from American Powertrain.






A few things that stand out with the White Lightning: The shift pivot arm is slightly shorter which means the shift throw would be even shorter than the very acceptable Hurst unit. The other is the shifter plate uses recessed socket bolts which provide an extra 5/16" of tunnel clearance.

In my conversations with American Powertrain they were very good to deal with and obviously a company very focused on their reputation and customer service. I was told the first few prototypes of the shifter leaked and they Incorporated a seal in the design.

I have yet to test the unit so the verdict is unknown at this time. I can verify that the throw is slightly shorter and feels very precise. After a few hundred miles I should know if it's a keeper.

[Vegas69]

I love the excuse that we have sold a bunch and only a few have leaked. That's because most of them are still sitting in a crate or stalled/slow project. Nobody had brake knockback and now everybody has it.

[Track Junky]

Nice work Sieg. When will we know the results?