In the early '50's, large drugstores would sometimes display rebuilt auto engine blocks in the store, priced at around $99.95. They were for Ford V8, Chevrolet, and Dodge/Plymouth Sixes. They consisted of the rebuilt block fitted with new Pistons, Rings, Pins, Rod and Main bearings, and Valves and springs. These were "short" blocks, without the heads, manifolds, and accessories. I used to enjoy going to the flat-head six blocks and push down on the piston that was at the top and watch the other pistons change their positions in the cylinders, all the while watching the flywheel rotate...or I would just rotate the flywheel and watch the pistons do their dance! I doubt if any of you remember this, even though you're old enough. (maybe Frank.....) Hal, age 83.
Well I guess there were no large drug stores in Boston in the 50s because I never saw an engine block in any and I used to frequent them for milk shakes.
@Hal Pollner Nope! Not this Frank. However, our old neighborhood had more drug stores than needed. Let's see now, beginning at the west end of town, on the main drag, Cermak Road (other e-w main drags were ogden, 31st, burlington, 26th, and roosevelt), Walgreens at scoville, Walgreens at corner of Ridgeland, Rexall right across the street, Walgreens at Austin Blvd. (Cicero, by then). Joe Parks owned Rexall, soft-spoken, about 40, knowledgeable, always contended kids showed inadequate interest in Chemistry. He took a liking to me recognizing I loved the subject. By then, I had learned Sodium Nitrite, included in my Gilbert Chemistry Set, burned like hell when mixed with sulfur (never told him). About as fast as unconfined gunpowder. He had no reluctance to sell me small quantities of harmless stuff, but balked when I requested Chloral Hydrate. "Chloral hydrate is a geminal diol with the formula C 2H 3Cl 3O 2. It is a colorless solid. It has limited use as a sedative and hypnotic pharmaceutical drug. It is also a useful laboratory chemical reagent and precursor. It is derived from chloral (trichloroacetaldehyde) by the addition of one equivalent of water. It was discovered in 1832 by Justus von Liebig in Gießen when a chlorination (halogenation) reaction was performed on ethanol.[3][4] Its sedative properties were observed by Rudolf Buchheim in 1861, but only described in detail and published by Oscar Liebreich in 1869;[5] subsequently, because of its easy synthesis, its use became widespread.[6] It was widely used for sedation in asylums and in general medical practice, and also became a popular drug of abuse in the late 19th century. One notable recreational user, for instance, was the poet and illustrator Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Chloral hydrate is soluble in both water and ethanol, readily forming concentrated solutions. A solution of chloral hydrate in ethanol called "knockout drops" was used to prepare a Mickey Finn.[7] More reputable uses of chloral hydrate include as a clearing agent for chitin and fibers and as a key ingredient in Hoyer's mounting medium, which is used to prepare permanent or semipermanent microscope slides of small organisms, histological sections, and chromosome squashes. Because of its status as a regulated substance, chloral hydrate can be difficult to obtain. This has led to chloral hydrate being replaced by alternative reagents[8][9] in microscopy procedures." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloral_hydrate I wanted to try to see the effects on the cat in small quantity. Easy to make, I never attempted to. Frank
I do not know if it counts or not, but no, i have never seen an engine block being sold by a drug store but I knew a mechanic who worked on engine blocks who sold drugs.
Yes I did! My first car, a 1934 Plymouth had one; also my 3rd car, a 1936 Ford. The car shown is a 1937 Chevrolet, and the kid doing the cranking is doing it incorrectly and unsafely. Hal
Interesting. The reason why I was asking is that, when I was a young boy, men would warn me not to try it myself because I could break my arm. So you know it's a Chevy. You could help those commenting on the video on Youtube because they didn't know what car it is.
Yep, It's a 1937 Chevy overhead Valve Six! You didn't use both hands because you needed the non-cranking hand for balance. You would use an open hand with the thumb kept out of the way, and you pulled UP on the crank against compression. This way, if it fired early in the stroke it would spin the crank backwards and could break your wrist if you grabbed it with your thumb enclosed around the crank handle. Hal
Al, if it's a 1936 Chevy, then someone installed a 1937 grille in it! I know my 1930's cars by sight, Al! Hal
Interesting indeed. I vaguely remember that there was a trick. So it' s the open hand and I think I saw it done that way. I also recall that they said you'd have to pull out the crank quickly enough once the engine had started.
Al, that is a 1937 Chevrolet, which has a TOTALLY DIFFERENT frontal appearance from a 1936 Chevrolet! Go to Google and look up the 1936 vs 1937 Chevrolet photos. Hal
I don't use Google but i used bing and it took me a while but did finally see the diff in the sides of the grill.
I was on the South Side, same town as Frank. No engine blocks in any large drug stores. I worked in one.