Wheel Tracks Articles Archives

This is not a quiz, just a question… What country do you think built and exported John Malinowski’s Beautiful 2009 Pontiac G8?
Plus, what is with “U” John?

I grew up in Western New York, in a town called Elma. One of my first jobs was at a beer distribution company, I worked as a beer truck mechanic.

Later I took a job at IBM as a field service technician working with Selectric typewriters. From there, we moved to Yorktown Heights, NY where I joined IBM’s Research Center before finally landing in Jericho, VT in 1996.

I have a mechanical curiosity that came from my father. My much older brother kept coming home with a variety of Mach 1s and Boss versions Mustangs and that got me hooked. Once I got my license, I picked up a ’73 Chevelle and a ’67 GTX, spending many hours keeping them going with minimal funds and the skills I picked up at the BOCES tech center in East Aurora. I earned an ASE autobody certification after high school, and found painting was fun and rewording once done right.

Somehow, I went for a hands-on mechanical life to “Imagineering” as I started a 40-year career in semiconductors where you need a scanning electron microscope to see what you were building. Yet, I still had the drive for hands on-work.

One day in Vermont, with our family growing, I spotted a remarkable new vehicle sitting in a lot in St. Albans. It was a 2009 Pontiac G8. I fell for the looks and performance immediately. RWD, a 6.0-liter LS V8 engine weighing only 4000 pounds. At the same time, I figured with my daughter going to school in Boston, we needed a reliable vehicle, newer than the 2000 van we were driving…… what a coincidence!

Not only was the G8 stunning and powerful, but it was also an import. GM had a subsidiary called Holden, in Australia, manufacturing a world car called the Commadore. Manufactured in LH and RH drive versions it was marketed in the United Kingdom (Vauxhaul VXR8), China (Buick Park Avenue), South Africa (Chevrolet Lumina SS), South America (Chevrolet Omega) and South Korea (Daewoo Veritas). The chassis is known as the “Zeta Platform” which is the same as used in 2010-2015 Camaros with most chassis and engine parts interchangeable.

After a few years, the car had been driven less and became a weekend/fun car, a unique car with daily driver manners. This G8 was built in Elizabeth, Australia on 10/22/2008. It is 1 of 1527 built in Red Passion Metallic (Sport red in USA) with premium options.

A 6L80 six speed automatic transmission sends power to the independent rear suspension.

From Wikipedia…… By December 2008, the rear wheel drive G8 had not become the expected sales replacement for the previous front-drive models, with 11,000 unsold G8s in the inventory and just 13,000 sold. During the 2009 global economic downturn, market prices had dropped by $3000–5000 below GM’s sticker price for the car. By July 2009, there were only 5,000 unsold G8s in inventory, with almost 30,700 sold.

With the imminent demise of the Pontiac brand, a result of GM’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the 2009 model year marked the end of all Pontiacs, including the G8. However, in July 2009, Bob Lutz made an off-hand comment during a press review that the G8 would be revived as the Chevrolet Caprice. Subsequently, Lutz retracted this statement, citing market conditions. Nevertheless, General Motors announced the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV) in 2009, which Car and Driver described as a successor to the G8.To fill the gap left by the G8, GM announced the Chevrolet SS, a RWD V8 powered sedan for 2014 based on the Holden Commodore (VF). Editor note…… A few Caprice Police Vehicles even made it to Vermont.

After much deliberation, we decided that the “spare” engine should move into the “boat anchor” category. You can see on the front page, we have installed the anchor chain.

Despite being rebuilt in its past, the “anchor” appeared to have run many hours since. The deciding issue was the unacceptable amount of out-of-round and taper of the cylinders. They had already been bored 0.030” oversize and to correct this issue, they would have to be bored again to 0.040” or more oversize. One of our experts noted that .040” oversize pistons are not available and would have to be custom made at exorbitant cost.

If you recall, Gary’s suggestion in last month’s Wheel Tracks was to equip Rosie with a nice air-cooled Franklin engine. You would think if air-cooled was so great, they would have put them in airplanes. Oh, that’s right, they did!

So, back to the Whippet’s (Rosie’s) original “lunch” engine. It is, by the way, not original to the car. Based on serial numbers, it is a 1929 engine in a 1930 car. No problem, those two years of Whippets were identical. Having pulled the engine from Rosie, it now sits in Gary’s shop next to the boat anchor. The bad bearing that we had surmised was a main bearing based on the sound – thump, thump – turned out to be a rod bearing. All else looked acceptable with a bit of adjustment of the bearing clearances. The bad rod bearing was repaired by using a rod from the spare engine.

According to the 1933 Motor’s Repair Manual, the main bearing clearance should be 0.002” and the rod bearing clearance should be 0.001”. Adjustments to remedy bearing clearances greater than that are made by filing the bearing caps. Most of Rosie’s bearings were close, needing only a little filing to achieve the desired clearance. We preferred to stay in the range of .0025—.002.

Of greater concern was the worn timing chain which was “toast” according to Dennis Dodd. (I’m not sure if that is a technically correct term, but you get the picture.) I just happened to have, in my garage, a cigar box with 3 timing chains.Been there for years. One was new, but only 71 links instead of the required 85. A second chain was worn. Both had “master links”. So, we set about cannibalizing extra links from the worn chain to bring the new chain up to 85. We learned how these chains were made and the difficulty of disassembling them.

Gary found a beautiful new 85 link chain on the internet, but unfortunately it was a “center guide” instead of an “edge guide” required by Rosie. These chains are one inch wide. A center guide has links in the center which ride in a groove in the gears. The edge guide has similar links on each edge which capture the gears between them. I still have two more parts engines here which might have better chains but must get out in the cold to disassemble them. We have been cleaning engine parts and Gary has applied paint to the engine block and head. I had been told that the original engine color was a grayish green. Without that color available, Gary bought a can of “racing green” from NAPA. With that Rosie will feel pretty sporty as she cruises along at her usual 35 to 40 MPH!

From Wendell Nobel:

Let’s introduce the Franken-engine syndrome. We have two fatally disabled engines which were identical when new. They are disabled for different reasons. Therefore, it should be possible to assemble one good flawlessly working engine from judiciously selected parts, leaving the other as a boat anchor. I’ve got my fingers in two of these cases right now. One is Charlie Thompson’s ’30 Whippet and the other is my own ’29 Plymouth. The judicious decisions are driven by the economics of expensive outside specialist machine shops, if they are to be found, and new parts. Meet Miss Rosie. Ain’t She A Beauty?

Swapping a good crankshaft to another engine means rebabbitting bearings and line boring, if available within driving distance. Regrinding out of round or damaged crankshaft journals can’t be done in Vermont. Getting correctly sized pistons for oversized rebored cylinders is doable but expensive. With help from a faithful lab assistant, Igor, we will ultimately breathe new life into both car’s engines. We’ve got a good supply of Igors, but a limited supply of funds.

From Gary Fiske:

Like Wendell, we all have engine “stuff” going on. I might have mentioned something about a Franklin I recently brought home from Toronto. I got a good deal on it, and I am glad I have it, but… I need to find out why I have low compression in three cylinders. These old cars always have surprises!

We less experienced mechanics, with confidence issues, are always looking for early ways to test our engine before completing assembly. A few of Rosie’s valves were found to leak a bit by using compressed air and Windex bubbles. Those bubbles were also used to find over-worn valve guides. Some simply put the engine upside-down and squirt a little gas into the backside of the valve head. A good valve and seat will hold the gas back very nicely. A compression check is also planned the minute Rosie’s engine head is fitted in place.

Do you think we give enough credit to the early 19th century engineers and mechanics who had no “experts” guiding them?

Bill Fagan’s beautiful 110-year-old Cadillac has some stories to tell. That includes being found in this Maine barn, to the left, when the 2nd owner came along in 1943 to buy it.

There is a picture of the Caddy (below) when Bill became the 4th owner.

Do you remember the Cadillac engine story from the March 2020 Wheel Tracks? It was about an engine that Fred Gonet restored. There is even a video, on our VAE website, of Fred starting the engine for us. I remember the sound was fantastic!

That engine is now back in its home of Bill Fagan’s 1914 Touring Cadillac, and Bill has completed his multi-year restoration project. The second owner had driven the car until the mid-1950s when it was put into storage for many years. The family had tried, unsuccessfully, to get it running when they damaged the rear engine seal, so it continued to languish until it made its way to Bill’s barn in 2007.

Bill told how he was on a Brass Era Frostbite Tour in Massachusetts when a friend said he had just run across this barn find ‘14 Caddy.

“I was interested, needless to say, and drove to his place in NH the day after the tour to make the deal. Because the car sat in the barn with a damp floor, the fenders, splash aprons and wheel rims were quite rusty and had to be repainted. The body and upholstery are original and in excellent condition. I’ve gone through the running gear and the frame, painted them and the wheels and nickel plated all the bright work.”

The car made its debut at our Waterbury car show this past August, winning 1st place in the brass category. You could purchase this car for about $2000 in 1914 when a Ford Model T touring car sold for about $500. That was when Henry Ford was in his second year using an assembly line to build his cars. Henry often bragged how he could build a model T in 33 minutes at his factory. 202,667 Ts came off the assembly line that year.

There was no assembly line for these beautiful Cadillacs. They were hand built in 1914. A total of 14,000 Cadillacs were built that year.

Travis Cook found this 1929 Ford Model A pickup, with a blown engine, listed for sale in Wheel Tracks six years ago. Since he had a fine “pickled” engine at home, he bought it. Here, you see the model A 3000 miles later, at our 2023 Waterbury Show.

Evidence indicates this Model A might have begun its life in Mississippi. Travis speaks of a windshield inspection sticker from that state. There is also a gas ration sticker on the truck from October 1st, 1942. It’s interesting how these old vehicles can “talk” to us!

Travis answered a Wheel Tracks ad in 2018, and that is when the truck found a new home in his Connecticut garage. It had been owned by VAEer, John Gray of Proctor, our VAE president in 1982. How many have heard of a “pickled engine?” That was a new term for me. When Travis explained, I could only see a huge crock, full of oil, with an emerged engine sitting in it. Wrong… the engine was simply well oiled while waiting to pull a vehicle down the road again.

Travis said all he had to do was install the engine, replace the rusted aprons and buff the old paint. Last year he did do a major revamp of the front end, and the braking system. The pickup sits with two other Model As, a 1930 Murray bodied 4-door sedan, and a 1931 slant-windowed A. It seems like “that old car thing” also exists down country. One old car is good, but more than one is even better!

Travis says he and his buddy of 40 years, Pete Johns, will be coming to next year’s VAE car show with a 1977 Chevy Caprice Classic. He describes the car as having a lot of horsepower and maybe a bit more noise than normal. I can’t wait to see it. He has been a club member for 20 years and speaks of his many adventures in Stowe and Waterbury. Over the years he has become friends with Stowe restauranter, Franke Salese, thus the “Salute” advertisement on the Model A’s door, in honor of his friend. Sign making and advertising has been Travis’ career, and his handywork is evident. BTW, friend, Pete Johns, can be seen, on the front page, sitting at the rear of the pickup. The easy banter between the two was what drew me to the Model A that day in Waterbury. I remember saying that I hoped they were friends, which caused another round of funny cross-comments between the two.

Travis was married to Pauline for 47 years whom he lost her four and a half years ago. She was mentioned many times as he told me of their old car adventures over the years. He is also a proud Army vet. Thank you for your service Travis.

Model A production ended in March 1932, after 4,858,644 had been made in all body styles since 1928. From that total, there were about 482,000 pickup trucks built. Travis said the Model T line ended in 1927, and that Ford used many of the leftover model T parts in the 1928 models. By 1929, the pickups used no leftover parts.

Ford’s 1929 Model A pickup truck was based on its Model A car. It used the same four-cylinder, 40-horsepower engine. Ford’s pickup was available in open and closed-cab versions. Factory price for the open-cab pickup was $430, while closed-cab trucks started at $445. Ford sold more than 212,000 trucks in 1929.

The road manners of these trucks are surprisingly nimble, thanks to stiff suspension and quick steering. Speeding tickets probably won’t be a major concern, as a Model A feels happiest running along at around 45 MPH.

This MGB beauty is owned by VAEer Jim Adams of Jericho, Vermont.

Jim Adams writes:

In the spring of 1983 on my daily drive to my office, I drove by Al Martin Motors which then was on the Williston Road. In the showroom was a reddish orange sports car just begging me to stop and look at her. One day I could no longer resist and thus started a 40-year odyssey with a 1980 MGB MK IV.

My experience with cars began in 1960, when I was 15. My neighbor was a car salesman and one day he brought home a 1936 Chevy 2-door sedan and parked it in front of my house. A good sales pitch! After persuading my parents to lend me $25, I was the excited new owner for a total sum of $50.

Needless to say, I learned much about mechanics and body work. That 1936 Chevy was followed by a 51 Ford, a 55 Chevy and then back to a 51 Chevy which was my daily driver in 1970!

By 1983 I was married with 2 children and was ready for another car adventure. Growing up in the 50s and 60s I became interested in British sports cars such as MGs, Austin Healeys, and Triumphs, and their successes on the European race tracks. In 1962 I had the thrill of driving my oldest brother’s newly acquired Austin Healey Sprite. The car was quick and responsive and a blast to drive with a 4-speed transmission. I knew then that at some point I needed to have a sports car! MGs have a history going back to the 1920s when Morris Motors was in its infancy building primarily sedans. A group of the workers began experimenting with building more sporty models and soon spun off another company with the famous MG moniker. In the 1940s MG sports car models took off with the MG TCs, MG TDs, MG TFs, MGA and finally the MGB.

From the model year update in 1975 until its demise in 1980, the MGB was looked down upon by MG purists. In mid -1974, US regulations required the original MGB to have better crash protection which resulted in raising the car 1 inch and adding rubber bumpers. In addition, new pollution regulations caused MG to add a quirky emission system of air pumps, a catalytic converter, and a single Zenith carburetor. This emission system caused a real decline in performance and purists actually expressed hatred of the rubber bumpers.

My 1980 MGB has 95H, a 4 -speed transmission and an electronic overdrive. I believe the overdrive has been instrumental in reducing the wear and tear of high RPMs on the engine allowing it to effortlessly reach 100,000 miles. During the 40 years I have had my MGB, it has been well maintained with the expert help of Arlo Cota and his team at Imported Cars in Williston. The IC team performs mechanical magic! The car has been annoying at times and has needed some emergency intervention. I have had two gas line leaks which have been the demise of many MGs. I was fortunate to catch them early before flames erupted! Once the catalytic converter literally fell apart at the top of Smugglers Notch after becoming fiery red. Recently the engine quit coming down the east side of the Notch. Cause was Lucas electrical!

Quoting from the April 2013 Wheel Tracks page 15, I consider my car “Perfect but not Correct”. In order to improve the performance from its original configuration, a Weber downdraft carburetor along with new headers and a Triumph Trophy exhaust from Moss Motors was installed. Just recently my B was upgraded with a Pertronix electronic distributor resulting in a marked increase in power.

Other “not-correct” changes include aftermarket wheels with 185×14 tires mounted (original were 165×14). Ongoing maintenance during its life have included a clutch replacement, engine seals, suspension and brake repairs. The MGB’s body and frame is solid with no rust . The only body repair was the need for a new hood resulting from a sled dropping down on it from my garage rafters.

I have enjoyed this MGB even though I think an Austin Healey 3000 is the ultimate in English sports cars! With all the performance changes made throughout its life, this car is fun to drive through Vermont’s beautiful countryside with the top down and its 4-speed gear box and overdrive.

I recently spent some time on the VAE’s web page “Member Vehicles.” Interestingly, the brand with the greatest representation is Ford with 437 entries. I found 11 English brands totaling 114 and 44 of them are MGs. I also agree with Jim as my daily driver, for 12 years, was one of these 11 marques. To this day, SU carbs and even Lucas electric holds, almost, good memories for me.

From the editor