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Topic: Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!?

in Forum: Non-Vette Automotive Discussion


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Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!? (1/8)
 7/29/14 10:52pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

 Maybe...sure looks like it....
So here's the story. Way back in the day, I used to have a red '58 MGA(actually, I had two of them). I put a small block Chebby engine/trans in it, and a Corvette rear suspension/diff. Since the car was red, and my last name is Adams, I came up with the "Adams' Apple" name, and that name has been used for ALL of my red vehicles since then. I still have the rear deck emblem!
Here's a reference pic for those that have no clue what a MGA is...



 Anywho...I traded the car, minus engine-trans to a Ford fanatic, and he spent untold hours/$$$ turning it into a Cobra look-alike, with a Ford engine/trans. Did a dam fine job of it, too. Thru the years, I had seen the car around town in different owner's garages, back yards, and shops, but eventually lost track of it. Always wondered whatever happened to it. Well...today, while looking for something else for someone, I stumbled across what I believe to be that very car....it has all of the exact same mods that my buddy did to convert it, and it looks(except paint color/engine) to be THE one. Freaked me out! The feller that posted the pics is in Louisiana, and he stated that someone had given him the car, and he was just looking for info on it.
I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut this is the ORIGINAL "Adams' Apple", post conversion....
I have some Polaroid pics of the car when I owned it, during the build that I did...I'll dig them out, scan, and post them when I can, but for now, enjoy these two of it as it is now....Big smile





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Joel Adams
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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

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Re: Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!? (2/8)
 7/30/14 1:22am
daveo76
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Vancouver, WA - USA

Vette(s):
1976 Silver/Firethorn. L48, 4spd. Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.


Joined: 8/25/2005
Posts: 857

Great story, Joel!  Small world for sure!

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1976 Silver/Firethorn.  L48, 4spd.  Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.
Re: Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!? (3/8)
 7/30/14 1:32pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

 Tongue
Brings back some fond memories of a time when I could build just about any car I wanted....and I wanted that one! The second one I had came about from a feller coming to the shop and seeing the one I was doing. He says "Hey...I got one of them cars. One of us needs to own BOTH of them." I though he was hinting at buying mine, but then he says "I don't need two of them. If ya want it, come git it". Sweet!
So....I take about 6 of my buds out in the country to this feller's place, and he takes us even farther out into a pasture where he has a fenced in area.....with aboot 30 cars in it. GUESS where the MG was.....go ahead...GUESS. Thass rite...ALL THE WAY IN THE BACK CORNER......Censored We spent all day out there digging that turd out, after moving 10-12 other cars out of the way. Neat thing was, this car still had the original engine/trans/driveline, and the original wire rims. The interior was trashed, of course, but the car was pretty much complete. So now, I had two of these things. I stole some parts off of the 2nd car for the race car, but other than that, I had no real use for it.
I started building a '56 hardtop Belair for a drag car, so I took the engine out of the MG, and put in the '56. My Ford buddy decided he just had to have the MG so he could turn it into a Cobra look-alike, so I traded the MG to him, and he bought me a full manual shift Powerglide trans for the '56. The '56 then took a back seat to a V-8 Vega. I took the engine/trans/diff out of the '56 and put it all in a friend's '72 V8 Vega, with the express intent of outrunning a new guy in town that had a '68 Camaro that bragged he could outrun ANY car any of us could put against him. The owner of the Vega did NOT want to sell me the car, but he wanted to shut the Camaro guy up too, and his engine was blown up at the time....mine was still fresh, and was a full race engine, where he had been running a mildly beefed stock engine. So we partnered up on it. Once I finished the Vega, the Camaro guy dint have much to say.....
I wound up flipping the Vega...barrel-rolled it about 15 times....in a cotton field.... Dam near killed me Dead....and the two other people with me. But....thass a story for another time....Embarrassed


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

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             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Re: Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!? (4/8)
 7/30/14 10:52pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

As promised....here's some Polaroids of the car when I started on it....

1958 MG A


I also threw in a pic of the "special" '56 Chevy I had at the time, too....see if you can figure out what makes it "special"....Tongue


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)
             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Re: Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!? (5/8)
 7/31/14 6:14am
TargaBlue72Lifetime Member
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Lodi, WI - USA

Vette(s):
1972 Targa Blue, T-Top, Saddle leather, 350 auto,numbers match, all original except '69 factory side exhaust. Previously owned: 1969 427, 390hp, 4sp, Riverside Gold coupe, factory side exhaust


Joined: 9/25/2007
Posts: 340

No back seat.  Looks like what they called a "Business Coupe" in the 1940s.

Looks like "Adams Apple" needed a helluva lotta work.  You are a very talented guy.

Dean


|UPDATED|7/31/2014 3:14:17 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Re: Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!? (6/8)
 7/31/14 8:10am
manchestersharkLifetime Member
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Equinunk, PA - USA

Vette(s):
1972 conv, 4-speed, 350, 200hp, numbers match, rally wheels, war bonnett yellow w/white top. good condition, nice driver.


Joined: 10/31/2007
Posts: 2381

Confused  WOW! Somebody put in a vise and squished it. What frame is it on? Did they squish that too?

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Re: Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!? (7/8)
 7/31/14 8:58am
corvette440hpLifetime Member
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Smaller body, less weight = go fasterThumbs Up

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Re: Original 'Adams' Apple' found?!? (8/8)
 7/31/14 12:41pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

LOL  It's a Mini Me!
That car was originally a FOUR DOOR. The rear door section was cut out(48", iirc), the rear bumped forward, and all welded back together. Frame was also cut/welded. That is the car that had the Corvette rear diff, and Corvette front spindles/disc brakes used on the MG A.
When we first heard about "Shorty", the guy that owned it told us it had the Corvette suspension on it.....with 4.11 gears. We were running a '72 Corvette at the time, and needed some better gears. The feller lets us swap the front housings/gears for a few bucks....and we did it laying on the ground, in a cow pasture...
Somehow, we eventually wound up owning Shorty...don't remember how that happened tho.
To the right of Shorty in the pic, you'll see the tail end of the '56 drag car I was in the process of starting on. Back then, it was no big deal to have 4-5 project cars goin on at the same time. MY problem was, I needed to use the same engine/trans(only had the one set-up) in ALL of them, so I did a lot of swappin!!

Ahhhhhhh...the good ol days.....Tongue

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)
             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Our Sponsors help support C3VR