Posted on 08/27/2022 11:57:37 AM PDT by Hojczyk
A gated neighborhood in an upscale Tampa suburb is a strange place to send your carburetors for rebuilding. The shop sits in the three-car garage of a lovely home, alongside a similarly lovely turquoise 1957 Chevrolet Nomad wagon. There is a long table with some chairs, and a workbench is parked next to a couple of soda blasters. All is lit by florescent bulbs overhead. This the modest domain of Riley’s Rebuilds, a carburetor rebuilding service headed by Riley Schlick.
Riley is a 17-year-old girl: A surfing, skating, soccer-playing, Jeep-driving high school senior. Four of her high school friends, all girls, have learned to rebuild carburetors too, rounding out the staff of Riley’s Rebuilds. Ship them your worn-out carburetor, and they’ll ship it back soda-blasted, ultrasonic-cleaned and rebuilt to original specifications
On what planet is this happening?
Here on Earth, actually, where a girl with a screwdriver, a drill, and some oil wrenches can earn “really good money,” Riley says. Her father, Dane, is an amateur mechanic. That’s his Nomad, which he’s had for about 15 years, and he also has a much-modified Dodge Little Red Wagon pickup that he drag races. He’s the one who taught Riley how to rebuild carbs, and she taught her friends, and now they all have part-time jobs “that pay us well,” Riley says. “For teenagers, anyway. So much better than minimum wage.
Riley has a year of high school left, and she foresees no end to Riley’s Rebuilds, even if she goes away to college. She’s already talked to one college soccer coach who has pledged to help find room in the engineering department to let her do rebuilds there if she comes to his school. “This has been a great experience,” she says. “I’ve learned so much, and not just about carburetors.”
Friend in HS
390 4 speed 67 Cougar
Another guy 428 67 Mustang Fastback
Another guy in my Mustang club 67 Shelby GT-500KR 427 actually with 3x2 carbs - car looked brand new 10 years after production
There’s a multiplicity of reasons why carburetors met an early manufacturing death as Federal Emissions Standards were imposed and fuel control variability needed to become closely managed.
Yeah
I had a 30 minute ride in a Shelby AC in about 69. Las Cruces, NM on I-25. 427 with a single huge Holly. Towards 600hp in a 1300lb car IIRC. In third gear, the owner would goose the throttle up/down and whomp 60 to 90 to 60. Chirped the tires at 60 doing this. What whiplash! It loped along at 110 in 4th gear. We never got it into 5th. Between the wild engine and open cockpit it was the noisiest car I've ever been in.
The 67 GT-500 with a 427 you mentioned likely would have pushed 650hp. This was NASCAR level power of the day.
It’s was a beautiful blue with white stripes
This was almost my car in the fall of 1971. Shelby GT-350, blue, no stripes. Came THAT close. Lol…
Fall of 71 and freshman in college, the engine on my 67 Barracuda gave up. A friend of my father owned a body shop and advised me as I rebuilt the motor. I'd helped with motor builds but never done the whole job myself. It was humbling when I got through and had a coffee can of bolts left over and had no idea where they went. It was a relief when the engine started up and ran okay.
No one including me had a lot of confidence in the motor so I was keeping an eye out for a replacement. Found a pristine GT-350 in the used car lot of a Ford dealer.
Oh my gawd that first drive! The $$$ were okay with dad and he went down to look at the “Mustang”. His first words were “I need to test drive this”. Aw crap. Dad, it drives fine - Great Mustang. Note, Dad hadn't owned a standard transmission since a Hudson in the 1950s and I don't know if he had ever handled a floor stick shift. So…. We went on a test drive and he was alternately stalling it out and burning rubber. “Son, I think this car is too much for you”.
My scheme to get a Shelby crashed and burned in the spot.
“With carbs becoming more scarce she should diversify into electric drive motor rebuilding. Most world manufacturers are going all electric. Unless she specializes in high performance carbs for racing and classic cars. More power to her!”
The last production car with carbs was 1990. I don’t know if there are any carbs on a racing circuit.
Methinks she is a better soccer player than mechanic.
I don't!
--------750 hp, 28 mpg highway-------
Cosby and Shelby had Supercharges. I think Cosby drove his one time as it scared the daylights out of him.
“. We never got it into 5th. Between the wild engine and open cockpit it was the noisiest car I’ve ever been in.”
Scary car!
Times change. My Mustang is faster and handles better than the A/C.
I also have air conditioning and can hear the stereo at 130 mph.
And 28 mpg on cruise control.
“The 67 GT-500 with a 427 “
Very rare car. Most were 428’s.
“since a Hudson in the 1950s “
3-speed on the column with electric overdrive. I think it was a boat in a former life.
” We never got it into 5th.”
There was no fifth ....
You could be right. I thought the 428 started in 1968. Perhaps that was just the Mustang though.
Thanks…
BTW….
A few years ago, I was looking at HO crate engines and one supplier claimed to have 427s available in their Ford inventory.
Cheers…
“A few years ago, I was looking at HO crate engines and one supplier claimed to have 427s available in their Ford inventory.”
-————Today————————
$16,985, 538 hp long block.
“You could be right. I thought the 428 started in 1968. Perhaps that was just the Mustang though.”
The GT-500 was a 428. Three slipped out with 427’s to special buyers. Some dealers managed to get 427 crate engines and swap out the 428’s.
Those three are documented so if another VIN number it is not original.
“This was NASCAR level power of the day.”
The 427 was the NASCAR engine for Ford.
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