Ole Blue
Memory Lane Cruisers
Clarksville, TN.
"WE'RE A BLAST FROM THE PAST!"
By Starvin Marvin
"Ole Blue"
Part 2
.......Back to the 51 Chevy 2 Dr. story........well, at age 18 (barely), possible July,
1963,  i was running that 216 down a new Interstate 81 highway..at about 65
MPH.....I had my Dad in the car as i was chasing my bus-ride to Bristol where i
attended business school.......that is, i knew it stopped in Meadowview, Va...so,
we were trying to catch the bus.........well, we didn't!!!! The motor blew!!! The rod
came thru the side of the engine!!!.....I knew a house just up the exit...so, i got to a
phone and called my older brother to come get us!!!...The car was not mine at the
time (it was ours).....So Dad had it towed to a well-known mechanic's house for
repair...well, that never happened either...he was either too busy or did not want to
"pull a motor" !!! It sat there for about 6 months...so.....one day, I decided that I
just might fix it myself as I was needing a "ride"at the time!!!! I found another '51
that had been in a "head-on" collision by an elderly couple, so i arranged to buy the
whole car for $50.00 and paid $15.00 for a "tow" to my house from Clinchburg,
Va. And I started........i believe i used 3 poles to build a tri-pod and borrowed a set
of "block & tackle" from sonewhere.....and i pulled that engine right out. Installed
the "new-used" engine...and actually started it up with no exhaust whatsoever to
see if the engine would run...and it did. I guess what is so amazing about this
transplant is........I had no tools of any consequence...no torque or large wrenches,
no sockets, or whatever. Dad has one set of "dog-bone" wrenches that consisted
of 4 wrenches...medium size in length.....3/4" and downward.........all closed-end
wrenches...2 sizes per bone!!!.  I would sometimes use a 4-way lug wrench on 3/4
bolt heads etc....and so, it was done.............i continued to tweak on this car as it
became mine...and i would have to say...by the time Uncle Sam beckoned me to
"come on over", it was fairly slick !!..With a very mild custom look.....the
"three-on-the-tree" wore out...so i went to "Advance Auto" on the Tennessee side
of Bristol (Volunteer Parkway) and bought a  floor shifter for it...I believe it was
around $30.00 ....And from that time forward, my Dad said he could not drive it!!!!!
The shifter was spring-loaded that sent it to second gear almost automatically. I
demonstrated this technique to my Dad several times......and even so, he would
NOT drive it. So, I covered the car with a "tarp" staked it to the ground,  and went
off to the U. S. Navy in October 1965..................To be continued........