Me Trivia

[NeonLX]

Anyone know what I'm fiddling around with in my profile pic?

[balthazar]

I recognize the car & the motor, yes indeed.

[G. David Felt]

Anyone know what I'm fiddling around with in my profile pic?

Something Old but clean! Too small to see the details or it is my eyes.

[Justin Bimmer]

A Jeegle?

[ocnblu]

I see you pointing, but my eyes are too small.

[NeonLX]

Heh. Think bigger. Them pipes is the focus of attention here...

[ocnblu]

Only thing I can think of is an old Mopar with that giant cross-ram manifold.

[Robert Hall]

Only thing I can think of is an old Mopar with that giant cross-ram manifold.

Yeah, that's what it looks like to me...early '60s Chrysler 300 had those, I believe. I've seen them in 1:25th scale..

[G. David Felt]

Does that mean he is dating himself?

[NeonLX]

Heh. Haven't dated myself since I was a teenager. Har Har.

Yep, those be cross ram manifolds from a 1963 Chrysler 300J, 413 CID V8.

The manifolds first appeared in 1960, standard equipment on the 300F. A Carter AFB 4V carb was mounted on each end of these things (8V total). They snaked across the valve covers and mounted to the intake ports of head on the opposite side.The big plusof this setup was that it packed a real wallop in mid-range torque. A similar arrangement was also available on DeSoto, Dodge and Plymouth V8s (383 & 361 engines). The 1960-'61 engines were "long ram" versions, with 30" runner length. In '62, a "short ram" setup (with 15" effective length) became available, which moved peak power further up the RPM scale. Externally, these manifolds looked similar, but the shorter effective length came from cutting the dividers further downstream from the carbs, rather than having the tubes divided for the entire length of the manifold. The car in my profile pic has the "shorter" version installed on the engine, and the unattached manifold is the long version, shown for comparison (both setups were available on the '63 300J).

Great article about these intake systems can be found here: http://www.allpar.com/mopar/sonoramic.html

[G. David Felt]

Very Cool

[ocnblu]

sweet!

[balthazar]

Neon; you certainly should know since you were there, but.... that's not a 300J in the pic.

[NeonLX]

Sadly, that ain't me in the picture...it's someone I looked up to while growing up: Ray "Big Ray" Brock, a tech editor & writer for Hot Rod & Motor Trend Magazines back in the 1950s & 60s. He also had his own publishing company, and was, of course, a motorhead through and through. He was an amazing dude.

http://www.hotrod.co...ck/viewall.html

Besides gearhead tendencies, Ray and I apparently share hairdressers; my dome is every bit as shiny as his. He is far handsomer, however. If I put my own pic up as an avatar, Cheers and Gears members would probably drop dead in shock.

On edit: I'm thinking the hood in the pic is from a Super Stock Plymouth, from what I can remember of his various projects that graced the pages of automotive magazines back in the day...

Edited November 15, 2012 by NeonLX

[NeonLX]

...a better shot of the Man and his ram-tuned intake runners:

[balthazar]

^ '61 Dodge by the hood louvers.

[NeonLX]

Wow. Great eye, Mr. B!