The video is not slated so we have no idea what year it was made in, but it looks all the world like the late 1970s or early 1980s to us. The Corvette itself is a chrome bumper car so that gives you an indication of its age. Clearly the idea was not to add airbags to the C3 platform but to test their efficacy for later inclusion into cars like the C4 and up.

If there is one interesting element that seems to fail the dummies in this crash it is the seats and the seat belts. Watch how the “driver” slides completely out of the seat and kind of just tomahawks around the passenger compartment. With no side bolstering to hold the driver in place and only a three point belt, the side impact sends him for a pretty good ride after he rebounds off of the air bag.

This is cool stuff and proof that automotive safety has been as much an evolution as performance has, even in cars like the mighty Corvette.

Press play below to see this interesting old video from Chevrolet showing crash tests –

The post Crash Test Video: Watch This C3 Corvette Equipped With Air Bags Get Demolished appeared first on BangShift.com.

I was initially hesitant to run this video because I was sure the driver was dead by looking at the car. Reading the description on the video my fears were diminished because the poster made a point to mention that the driver only suffered minor injuries in the disaster. How bad it it? Ahead of the door jamb the thing looks like it was involved in the freaking battle scene of a Transformers movie. The entire engine is sitting by itself, steaming and gurgling on the ground. That’s the lead photo and it was not there because someone removed it, it is there because it ripped itself out during the wreck. The wall looks to have been made of pretty thin concrete panels and they shattered like glass.

We all romanticize old cars and how much “steel” they used whereas today’s machines are made much more of composites and other light alloys but the reality is that this is how the old stuff handles a wreck. There’s no denying that new cars are safer on every level when things go wrong. We don’t know enough about these old Falcons to say that they’d all react like this or perhaps this car had some corrosion or something to compromise the chassis but jeez this is crazy.

Thanks to James Caissie for the tip on this completely mental video!

Press play below to see an Aussie Ford Falcon wreck and essentially vaporize –

The post Incredible Video: Watch This Aussie Falcon Wreck And The Insane Destruction Left Behind – Driver OK, Motor Ripped Out! appeared first on BangShift.com.

We have no idea where this show is but we do know that it is cold outside, there is snow on the ground, and these guys have basically been given a corner of the parking lot to work on their stuff. This is a scene that was repeated several times a week by many of the competitors you see here. These are the trucks that helped build monster truck racing to the height of its popularity and they did it the old fashioned way, by barnstorming around like old drag racers.

The trucks are neat! There’s the famed Rollin’ Thunder diesel Dodge van, there’s the Hawaiian Punch Chevy, the AM/PM Boss, the Skoal Chevy, the Coors Brewer, and more.

As a kid who just showed up to monster truck shows, watched the trucks do their deal, and bailed out with mom and pop, I had no idea that these guys were outside wrenching in the cold and making the stuff actually prepared to compete. It seems like this was just the normal routine back then and we like its humble and weirdly out of place nature as the trucks sit among parked cars of (we’re guessing) arena employees.

Like I said, you may have to be a dork to love this video but hey, if the shoe fits, Cinderella!

Press play to see this behind the scenes look at the monster truck life of the 1980s

The post Behind The Scenes Video: This 1980s Look At The Work Of Monster Truck Crews Outside An Arena Is Cool appeared first on BangShift.com.

The 327 is one of those engines that has built a strong heritage in both the muscle car world and the drag racing world over the years. There are thousands of them competing on strips across America each weekend and the 327 in all of its various forms can be found in NHRA stock and super stock action anywhere there is a race. We actually have a 327 super stock engine being dyno tested below and it is a fun watch along with the other 327 videos we have to share.

Engine codes defined the mill through its life. Of course there was the L-76 that was healthy, the L-79 that was a nasty little piece, and the L-84 that was the king of the small block heap for many years with its crazy 385hp factory racing. Of course the engine was equipped with Rochester mechanical fuel injection for a short time as well. The biggest change for the 327 came in 1968/69 when the main journal size was changed from 2.3 inches to 2.45 inches.

The first year for the 327 was 1962 and it debuted with a 4″ bore and a 3.25″ stroke. The hottest version that year, with its famed “Duntov” solid lifter camshaft and fuel injection made 360hp according to Chevrolet. The version with the cab was rated at 340. That was a BIG number for a little engine back then and frankly, it is impressive still today. While the horsepower numbers are fun, the fact is that the 327ci small block was one of the most reliable and anvil like engines any manufacturer has ever produced. Checker made 327s optional in 1966 and installed them in taxis that went on to rack up incredible mileage in tough city environments.

In modern times the 5.3L LS engine which has become one of the most popular engines for use in hot rodding continues the legacy of 327ci GM small blocks and will for the foreseeable future. They can make incredible power on stock parts and there is as vast and deep an aftermarket for them as there ever was for the traditional small blocks of the 1960s. We respect and enjoy those engines but today we’re honoring the “old man” in the family with the videos below. Little displacement and big revs forever!

Happy 3/27 out there 327 owners. You have a little small block that always made a habit of punching above its weight class!

The post Today Is 3/27 Let’s Celebrate The Little 327 Small Block With Some Dyno Video Action appeared first on BangShift.com.

From background information like the fact the truck was originally pitched as having used the Grand National proven 3.8L V6, to the point that two different companies were basically pitted against each other to create the prototypes which the company would eventually approve. Hell, we didn’t know that by government standards this thing is not even calld a GMC?!

Great history, story telling, and knowledge dropped here. Check this out!

Press play below to see this awesome video that tells the Syclone story!

The post Great Video: Here’s The Inside Story On How The Legendary GMC Syclone Came To Exist And Fly! appeared first on BangShift.com.

The neater parts of this video are when we get to go and see how the rings become a finished product (circa 1974, we’re guessing things have advanced slightly in 45 years). There’s loads of testing and R&D work being done in this video and we understand that it’s the same way for large piston ring manufacturers today as well. The basic ideology is largely the same but the methods, accuracy, and specs have all changed over the decades.

The last section of the video is a throwback to an era of engine work that really does not exist anymore. There’s a basic “how-to” that concentrates on how to perform a ring-job on an engine. How many times do we hear of cars getting a set of rings and sent back out on the road, anymore. Sure racing engines get them and perhaps if you buy an old truck or something and want to get it roadworthy but re-ringing the engine in the modern service life of a car is kind of a lost action anymore.

This is a fun watch.

Press play below to see this fascinating 1974 video from Perfect Circle Piston Rings –

The post Old School Cool Video: This 1974 Film From Perfect Circle Piston Rings Showcases Indy, Manufacturing, Lloyd Ruby appeared first on BangShift.com.

From a few solid hammer whacks to the quick checks with a measuring caliper, there’s an amazing amount of knowledge in this little room. These guys have clearly been at it a while. It does seem that the cranks being done here are for small inline engines. We picked up a three cylinder application may be the final stop for these guys. Now, are they going into newly built engines? Are these replacement cranks? We know none of that.

We do know that watching these guys work is fascinating.

Press play below to see these cranks finished off by hand in an old factory –

The post Amazing Video: Watch These Raw Crankshafts Get Finish Machined By Hand The Old School Way appeared first on BangShift.com.

The 326 was interesting because it was created by Pontiac to fill the gap left by Pontiac pulling the 215ci Buick engine it was offering in the Tempest up until 1963. The first version of the engine had a 3.75″ bore and a 3.78″ stroke which actually had it measuring 336ci. There was a 250hp and 260hp version available and both were breathing through 2bbl carbs.

In 1964, GM passed a rule that intermediate cars were limited to 330ci and that resulted in a bore reduction to 3.72″ and a true 326ci displacement. It was at this point that the engine was optional in Tempests and then later in the Pontiac Firebird.

The 280hp version was offered for a couple of model years before being sent off to pasture.

While the 326 was not a “muscle car” engine, it was a good, solid piece that had all the reliability and engineering that those muscle car engines had. They were tough as nails and served as good “prime movers” for the majority of passenger Pontiacs during the middle 1960s. A yeoman’s engine, it was overshadowed by the larger and sexier 389s and 400s but people still love them today.

The post Hey There 3/26! Let’s Take A Look At The Little Pontiac 326 Engine – A Small Bore Worker appeared first on BangShift.com.

This video was claimed to have been shot in 1971 and it is really neat on multiple levels. There’s a wide range of cars, it is filmed from a down track perspective that we had never seen of the place until viewing this video and it really gives you a glimpse into a “typical” day at the races for Lions. We have to guess that this was a test and tune day because at one point we see Dick Landy running what looks to be a gasser of some sort. While trailing, Landy’s car looks freaking awesome.

This is a really cool video, especially if you like drag racing history and Lions Drag Strip specifically. The place served as the unofficial heat and soul of the sport for several years and this video is a fantastic way to remember the legacy left by this fantastic facility.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THE VIDEO –

The post This 1971 Vintage Drag Video From Lions Is The Coolest We Have Ever Seen! appeared first on BangShift.com.

The most fun part of the video for us is watching a pretty stuff Carroll Shelby muddle his way through the script. At this point in his life, Shelby had not exactly spent a ton of time in front of the video camera as a “host” of anything. Of course, he took to it like a fish to water and by the time the “media age” was in full swing, Shelby was a smooth as silk on screen and right up until the end, his smiling face could be seen all over the country mugging for the camera. In this video he’s clearly not 100% comfortable with the scene but does a good job. It is just fun to see the guy who was always so smooth kind of ratchet his way through.

The racing footage and commentary from Dan Gurney are pretty awesome. We see stuff like the 24 Hours of Daytona, Sebring, etc, during the coolest periods of their existence. We said in the title that you’ve never seen this video before and hopefully you have not! We’ve never seen the video before and we troll the internet for hours and hours on end each day looking for this stuff. With only about 500 views when I posted this, I’m guessing only a few of you have ever stumbled upon the film gem.

Carroll Shelby may be gone but his legacy is still going strong. This video reminds us of his role in taking the American road racing effort and elevating it to something legit on the worldwide stage. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t fast, but he was able to do what others were not and that was to take on the giant European names and beat them at their own game. Of course he had Ford’s bankroll behind him, but no matte how much cash you have, the results need to come and with Carroll Shelby, they did.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO WATCH THE AWESOME “CARROLL SHELBY GOES RACING WITH FORD” PROMOTIONAL FILM –

The post Carroll Shelby Goes Racing With Ford Is The Coolest Factory Produced Film Of The 1960s appeared first on BangShift.com.