By Doug Hill
November 01, 2008 01:23 am
—
To hear Michael King talk, "Christine's Momma is a very jealous woman."
The regal, 1949 Chrysler Windsor he was referring to sat silently by the garage door. "I've taken her to several shows and if she wins, that car runs perfect and never gives me a bit of problem. But lose, and she will take it out on me."
King, a technical instructor for the U.S. Postal Service, He described the engine miss-firing on a drive home once. Not uncommon but it gets weirder.
"One time she didn't win anything and driving away the hood popped up and the horn started honking," he said. "When we got home the engine died and wouldn't re-start for two days. I firmly believe the car is possessed," King said.
"If the hood or the trunk is open and you get under to look inside, invariably, no matter how much care you take you'll bump your head. My girlfriend won't go near if either one are open. The car will get her blood," King said. "If she's unhappy, you will know it."
King named his Chrysler after Christine, the mysteriously evil automobile in Stephen King's novel, later made into a movie. Christine's Momma (CM) seemed to like my attention. Her cream-colored paint gleamed in the sun as I shot dozens of photos. She purred down Rock Creek Road with King behind the wheel and me in the passenger seat.
"CM sat in storage from 1991 until about a year ago," he said. King acquired her in a trade from a Florida resident and had CM shipped to Oklahoma in pieces.
"It took me four months to put her back together like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle in my driveway," King said. Parts for this car are scarcer than hens' teeth. King's girlfriend found wheel covers for sale on-line.
"Parts that were totally rusted down had to be made by hand," he said. King started his mechanical education at age 7. His engineering and machine shop experience are in a long career of working on vehicles for both fun and profit. King is an ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified Master Technician and totally cool motor fiend.
"I had to fabricate CM's entire heater system that was under the hood rather than under the dash. It had rusted away entirely," he said. The car's Fluid Drive transmission is semi-automatic. It uses an oil pump and piston which provide the force to accomplish sort-of automatic shifting. A set of electrical solenoids controls most of the shift timing. Basically the driver shifts once on the column between the first and second power gears into third and fourth cruising gears.
"When you come to a stop, it will idle in gear with the clutch out and you can just take off again. It wasn't real popular back in 1949. People wanted fully automatics," King said. He had to rewire all the solenoids and readjust the linkages but the transmission itself was still solid. The remainder of the car's 6-volt, positive ground, cloth-covered electrical wiring system was rotted out and had to be pulled and completely replaced. Essentially, King is fearless when it comes to restoration projects.
"The engine didn't need to be rebuilt. But the carburetor and fuel system did. I cut the fuel tank apart and cleaned out a half-inch of congealed varnish," he said.
King re-engineered a Chevy S-10 fuel sending unit to feed the flathead, 6-cylinder, 110 hp Spitfire motor with 7:1 compression. CM's only options besides the more powerful engine are a radio and heater. It has drum brakes all around.
"CM was built when there weren't interstate highways. People didn't drive fast, only 40 or 50 mph tops," King said. The car's top speed is around 75 mph. "And that's going downhill with the wind behind you," he said with a laugh. CM burns regular unleaded like a bad girl knocking back Stolichnaya. "Today's fuel is refined so much better than when they put lead in it. Unless she's knocking there's not going to be any damage," he said. CM doesn't sip, she sucks. "Back then they didn't really care about good gas mileage when it was around 17 cents a gallon," King said.
"This car reminds me of when I was a kid. And I love old stuff. It's older than me and I like that," the 50-ish instructor said. King said that his research has revealed that there are only 10 other cars like his registered and operating in the U.S. "When you go anywhere and park it, there's people looking in the windows," he said. "Few people actually guess what it is. Lots think it's a Studebaker."
CM is the oldest car he's ever owned, but over the years King has had quite a stable of rolling stock. "I've had 50's era Chevies, a '59 Rambler station wagon, '64 Rambler American, '64 and '65 Chevelle sports coupes, '66 Pontiac GTO, '69 Road Runner and Dodge Charger, '63 Corvair turbo-charged Spyder, two Porsche 911s and 944s. I've had more than that but can't remember them all," the Wilt Chamberlain of automobiles said. His current daily ride is a 2002 Harley-Davidson Deuce motorcycle. "The new 2009 Dodge Challenger is my current dream car. That is a wicked, wicked automobile," he said.
"People talk about the Forties, Fifties and Sixties being the golden age of cars. They might have been bigger and more stylish but modern cars have them beat hands down," King said. "Back then people didn't expect to get more than 100,000 miles out of a car. Now the technology is so much better and vehicles can last over 300,000 miles and still run good."
He cited better fuel economy, more power, improved safety systems and comfortable ride from today's vehicles.
Although CM doesn't have seat belts, her interior is a spacious, comfortable cavern. Done up in a crushed red velvet throughout, the feeling is like sitting in grandma's parlor on soft, thick bench seats. The chrome dash and amber instrument panel trim has crisp deco lines with vermilion accents. As with most cars before the advent of power-assist, the steering wheel is enormous. There's no air conditioning but she has side vent windows and a scoop that opens in front of the windshield to bring in extra breeze. Christine's Momma is a sweet ride. She may not be the most beautiful car in town, but I wouldn't let her hear you say that. Those headlamps might glow an envious green and there's no telling what she's capable of.
Have you seen a cool vehicle around town? Writer Doug Hill's always on the lookout for future Dig My Ride columns the first Saturday of every month. E-mail him at hillreviews@hotmail.com.
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