The New, Newer Project: Part Tres...

[njsteve]

I was getting the old girl ready for a photo shoot today and took it for a half mile drive when suddenly the car starts wobbling. Yup you guessed it. Another one of the NOS 1973 Firestone 500 tires exploded. This was one I got off craigslist a few years ago. I had an NOS spare tire and rim from a 1974 T/A in the garage so I bolted that on the car and we were good to go. Those Firestone 500s are real widow-makers. I was only going 15 MPH at the time. I can't imagine what people went through with these things when they were new, back in the 1970's and Firestone denied that there was any problem whatsoever.

Here's what it looked like while still inflated. It continued snapping the steel cords and shredding as I was taking the photo.

[njsteve]

And after I deflated it. BTW, those are steel cords sticking out of there, not polyester.

[njsteve]

The photographer got some good shots on a nice day.

[67 442]

Still some good miles left in that tire.
Looks like your going to have to cage the rest of the tires when you show it with them on.
OHSA hazard

[njsteve]

Yeah, that was one of two NOS 1973 tires I found. Most of what you run across are 1974 to 1977 which don't have the white "F" shield logo on the sidewall. The three original tires on the car and the original spare are still holding up fine.

[njsteve]

I changed the oil the other day since it has been four years and 674 miles since I got the car on Labor Day 2013. I sent a sample off to Blackstone and got the results back. Though they like to have at least 1,000 miles on a sample so it compares with their 1000-mile analysis baseline figures, they can work with anything. The oil was 5W30 Castrol GTX plus a can of STP Oil Treatment.

Looks like everything is good inside the 44 year old engine. As he mentions, the fact that the car is running on 100 octane Low Lead AVGas, it gives a false positive for lead. Here's what the lab guy said when I pressed him for further info:

"Any way, you're curious about the Avgas adding to lead, and it certainly
would. Avgas is labeled as 100 LL, but it's just considered low amounts of
lead compared to old leaded fuels. There's actually a fair amount of lead
in that fuel, which will make lead read high in our analysis, which is
generally harmless. The only problem with lead reading high is that it
masks lead from the bearings. Everything else looks great for your engine
though, so we aren't concerned with bearing wear now. If you have any other
questions or concerns don't hesitate to get in contact with us."

[njsteve]

One of the out-takes from the photo shoot the other day. :-)

[Crush]

Originally Posted by njsteve

I changed the oil the other day since it has been four years and 674 miles since I got the car on Labor Day 2013. I sent a sample off to Blackstone and got the results back. Though they like to have at least 1,000 miles on a sample so it compares with their 1000-mile analysis baseline figures, they can work with anything. The oil was 5W30 Castrol GTX plus a can of STP Oil Treatment.

Looks like everything is good inside the 44 year old engine. As he mentions, the fact that the car is running on 100 octane Low Lead AVGas, it gives a false positive for lead. Here's what the lab guy said when I pressed him for further info:

"Any way, you're curious about the Avgas adding to lead, and it certainly
would. Avgas is labeled as 100 LL, but it's just considered low amounts of
lead compared to old leaded fuels. There's actually a fair amount of lead
in that fuel, which will make lead read high in our analysis, which is
generally harmless. The only problem with lead reading high is that it
masks lead from the bearings. Everything else looks great for your engine
though, so we aren't concerned with bearing wear now. If you have any other
questions or concerns don't hesitate to get in contact with us."

Can anyone send this guy a sample? If so what's the process?
Thx!

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by Crush

Can anyone send this guy a sample? If so what's the process?
Thx!

Just google Blackstone Lab or give them a call at the number on the bottom of the sheet above. They send you out all the free, postage prepaid sample kits you want. All you do is package the sample up per their instructions and throw in a check for $28. They get you the results within three days or so of arrival at the lab. I have had them test the oil in all my vehicles, and even my 30 year old John Deere lawnmower, too.

[markinnaples]

That out-take is a killer shot.