New member, first post, Hi everyone!

[Rick]

Hello to you Theo, and all members here on the MEL forum!...happy to be aboard. I didn't see a specific place to introduce myself, so I'll do that here. My name is Rick, I'll be 52 yrs. OLD this May, and I've had a passion for the old cars since I was 3 or 4 years old. I clearly remember living in Rochester, Michigan in 1960-1961. We lived in one of the big old houses just off of main-street, a two-story duplex owned by Clarence and Alice Nedro. They lived in the other half of the house, with their four teen-aged children...greaser-hoodlums, all of 'em. (I use that term in a nice way, they were "gods" to me.) Anyway, Mom often visited Mrs. Nedro, sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee, while I toddled about the place. One day, I heard the roar of an engine outside the house. I went over to the window, and saw and heard Joe, Mrs. Nedro's youngest son and a couple of his friends leaning over the engine bay of a black late-forties ford coupe, just revvin' the crap out of it!...That was IT for me! Funny, but even at that young age, I somehow knew that all that revving was probably unnecessary, but still...so cool. I have to add, that sadly, the three oldest of Mrs. Nedro's kids, the two older boys and the sister died in car-accidents as teens...all except Joe. Victims of the times, as so many were back then, what with drinking and driving fast in cars that didn't really handle all that well, no seat belts, etc...I also remember sitting on the steps outside the house on warm Sundays, watching all the people arrive to the big old Catholic church across the street in their beautiful cars, most of them were at the time, what I call fin-mobiles...large, late-fifties autos...Buicks...Caddys...
and of course, Mercs and Lincolns!...so cool. Those memories, along with a few others, left an indelible mark. Well, now it's 2009, I live on a large farm with my wife, Sandy, and I'm lucky enough to have a few "oldies" of my own. Newest to oldest...1953 Chevy 5-window pickup, 1948 Chevy coupe, 1947 Hudson Super Six coupe, 1946 Ford business coupe, 1937 Chevy business coupe, and a 1929 Ford roadster. Don't think I'm rich or something, all these cars were acquired over the years, and were purchased for $5,000 or less, and most are projects in-progress...especially the roadster. And that's where my interest in the MEL engines comes in. (FINALLY, Rick...jeeze, you're writin' a BOOK here!) I always wanted to build a hot rod Ford roadster, and I had found a deuce frame, '29 body, '33 grille, etc. I was hangin' out at a friend's hot rod shop one day, when I spied an intake manifold lying on the floor that hadn't been there before. It was an old aluminum Edelbrock 6x2, and it was quite large. I asked Poncho, (the owner of the shop) "What does THAT fit, a hemi or somethin'?" He said, "No...you won't believe it. It's for a 430 Lincoln motor." Now I barely knew of 430 Lincolns, so I went and did some quick research, (this is before I ever owned a computer...had to ask some friends) found out what I needed to know, and got my butt back to Poncho's, and bought that intake. I've seen a lot of hot rods over the years-go-by, and I've only seen ONE powered by a MEL motor...it was just a quick mention, and it sure didn't have a 6x2! I'm excited at the prospect of building a "hot rod Lincoln" with multiple carbs...using an engine a little outside the norm, that will epitomize the age-old idea of "small car-BIG engine"! I see that components are available to even adapt a stick-shift trans...ALRIGHT! So here I am, ready to learn all I can from you guys, and to share all I can as this dream becomes reality...God willing. Good luck to all of you on your prospective projects, and I thank you ahead-of-time for the knowledge I know I'll gain here. Rick

[KULTULZ]

HELLO RICK!

Anything you need to know you will find here.

BTW- A manual trans can be adapted to a 58/60 430 very easily.

[Theo]

Welcome Rick, thank you for your close introduction. While absorbing each single sentence I realized that we have had similar experiences as we were kids. I'm 51 in March. I grew up in an American neighbourhood. Those cars were really impressive in those days, especially for us kids and teens. I still remember the day when a friend of our family took my pops and me for a spin in a small bird. I was sitting on my dad's lap and the weather was perfect. I was 5 years old. Some time later some other friend owned a red Impala of this variety
http://www.flickr.com/photos/duke_two/2 ... 521312025/.
It really knocked me off my cons. I could hardly look over the tail lights. What a plane, I thought. Then in the late sixties and early seventies an other breed of cars was just the right attraction for teens like us. Mustangs, Chargers etc.
Yeah, the golden years. Forever gone but the memories will stay.

Rick, thanks for signing in and for exchanging MEL Engine and general engine information with us.

[Rick]

Thanks Theo and Kultulz, for the welcoming comments. Kultulz, thanks for the heads-up on the standard tranny option. I will search the site first, to school myself, then ask questions as needed. Theo, you're right... by virtue of our age, we share similar memories of that time, though we grew up during the tail-end of the era that inspires me. (40's-50's) The late fifties cars are the last ones that I really love, even though I grew up with the muscle-cars. Thanks for sharing that Impala. Those '59s are awesome. Some designer was really thinking outside the box on those. I mean, give me a break...SIDEWAYS fins that span the whole rear of the car! So cool. Thanks Theo, for taking the time and energy to fire this site up, and all the work it must require to maintain it. Later...Rick...Vrrrrrrrooooooooooommmmmmmm!