Rusty Small's (Small Hurst) 1969 Hurst Olds!!

[SmallHurst]

OK, you shamed me into it. Just before going to SCR7, I noticed a crack in the oilpan! Drained the oil and tried to patch with JB Weld. Worked great until the oil heated up to full operating temp and then it started leaking again. I had the pan welded after SCR7 and made the trek to Staton, MI for the Pure Stock meet. After I got home, I tried every way imaginable to pull the pan without pulling the engine. After goofing with it all winter, I bit the bullet and pulled the motor. Garage tip # 72: If you are going to pull a motor, have the nose of the car in the garage. I did not follow this garage tip so, the car had to roll forward so that the cherry picker could clear the door. The motor and trans were pulled as a unit (only problem was the pan was already loose and we had to get it out of the way without crushing it). So the motor was out, but I had to get it back in the garage to be out of the weather. Garage tip #108: Loaded cherry pickers do not like uneven surfaces. My neighbor shows up and helps me in trying to get the cherry picker in the garage. The 1" lip in the garage floor does not help the situation and with 3 of the 4 wheels on the garage floor, the lift starts to tip over sideways with a 455 Olds (no oil pan on the bottom) and Turbo 400 on the end of the hook!! Everything was going in slow motion as I saw very bad things coming. Good news was that my neighbor and I were both unhurt, bad news was that my fertilizer spreader would never be the same. As the motor tipped over, the bottom end of the motor landed in the fertilizer spreader and spared any cracked blocks or bent cranks. All that was bent was the oil pickup tube and a corner of the tranny pan. And yes, the fertilizer spreader is still in use today!

Bruce,

Sorry I did not put any racing pics in. Here is one that I love!