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Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Straightpipes, Feb 28, 2008.

  1. saltflats
    Joined: Aug 14, 2007
    Posts: 12,592

    saltflats
    Member
    from Missouri

    I was there in say 75 or 76 cant remember I do remember they had it on the playing field for the KC chiefs football teem.
    I still have the flag.
     
  2. big M
    Joined: Mar 22, 2010
    Posts: 709

    big M
    Member

    I taught auto shop for a few years in the mid eighties, and one of my students placed in the nationals. Unfortunately, the way the school was set up, if a student failed most of their classes, they were placed either in metal shop or auto shop. It made things nearly impossible to teach, as only a few students wanted to learn anything.
    I ended up leaving the school to open my own shop.

    ---John
     
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  3. Was in it in 62 and had a blast, my auto shop teacher was the coolest guy and we became friends for years after. Tough son of a bitch if you crossed him, but fair to those who wanted to learn. Tought me a lot, great times for a youngster and still have the flathead affliction to this day..........
     
  4. the competition is sponsored by ford now. my son won the wisconsin title three years ago and finished fifth in detroit. he did better in the skills usa competition. he won the wisconsin title that allowed him to go to kansas city for the nationals. he won that. he then went to san palo brazil and won the americas competition also receiving best in nation award. this led to the world finals in leipzig germany 7-2013. there he finished fifth in the world. the whole family went to see it happen. even his high school shop teachers went. my kid is a hot rodder to the core he rebuilt his first car at age fourteen and finished it in time for his h.s. graduation. its a 69 super bee with a 500 ci six pack. he blew off graduation so we could do the power tour. those high school classes have paid off big time. the travel and tools and experiences will last a life time. he is now starting his fourth year of automotive engineering. any dads out there with a kid looking to get into this tell them to go for it and support them. you never know where it will lead them to.
     
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  5. Travis Wood
    Joined: Jan 7, 2016
    Posts: 1

    Travis Wood

    I remember the Plymouth AAA Trroubleshooting contest. I was happy to read other Troublshooters stories. I won the National contest in Washington DC in 1988 for Washington state. I also won the Lee Iacocca Award for the highest written test score in the Nation. I still have both the trophies, they are about 3ft tall and I have both state trophies. Got 1st in state and highest written test score on that too.
     
    squirrel likes this.
  6. das858
    Joined: Jul 28, 2010
    Posts: 1,014

    das858
    Member

    Two of my classmates won the Plymouth trouble shooting state competition in 1976, it was exciting to see that!
     
  7. 41 coupe
    Joined: Nov 29, 2009
    Posts: 410

    41 coupe
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from bristol pa

    Two guys in our shop at Bucks County Tech School won it in 69.Then in 99 my son and partners placed 3rd at the Philly car show for the Tech School,But by that time they were working on Toyotas I believe.
     
  8. I haven't seen this thread in some time. so a update on my son. he finished collage with a degree in automotive engineering and auto service. a week after graduation he was hired by Chrysler. he works in future diagnostics. one of his duties is to test hellcats. boy that's got to suck. he also gets to drive them home. all I can say is his high school auto shop classes have paid off big time. the super bee was upgraded to efi. the six pack just couldn't deliver a 10 second et. thanks go out to all the auto shop teachers
     
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  9. luckythirteenagogo
    Joined: Dec 28, 2012
    Posts: 1,269

    luckythirteenagogo
    Member
    from Selma, NC

    I graduated in 92 and after they combined the two high schools a few years earlier the auto shop was eliminated. It was replaced with some kind of a small engine repair class. The classes were really small and filled up fast. There was also an expensive class materials fee that went along with it too.
     
  10. Fabber McGee
    Joined: Nov 22, 2013
    Posts: 1,286

    Fabber McGee
    Member

    Mine was in 72, here in Alaska. The local dealer brought us a shiny new Fury as I recall, with a 318 2V about 2 weeks before the contest. I got the fuel system, my partner had ignition. We had the carb and ignition apart on that car so many times I think I could still do it in the dark.

    Teacher, partner and I drove a drivers ed Impala 350 miles to Anchorage for the state meet. We finished 16 minutes ahead of the 2nd team, but were disqualified by a shorted spark plug that my partner missed. Still not sure how, because he was checking each with an ohm meter. Each shop teacher was used as a judge for a team other than his own. Our judge was almost as proud of our speed and competency as our own teacher. 3 other teachers came around after the contest to compliment us and ease our disappointment a bit.

    On the way home my partner was at the wheel while "Coach' and I were sleeping. When I woke up Gallagher said "This Impala tops out at 112." About a mile later we had a blow out on the right front.... whew!
     
  11. I never got to take automotive class. :)

    Seems to me that there was an engine assembly competition. You got a pile of parts and there were a couple of parts that were not right but thee were part bins to collect the proper parts from. Our school never won but came close a time or two.
     
  12. I did it in 94 or 95 but it was sponsored by GM. Just me and my buddy Derek were the only ones that cared about it, yes we were the only ones with old cars in school, (68 firebird me, and 69 chevelle Derek) the rest of our class was a bunch of stoners and idiots that took auto shop cause they thought it would be an easy pass. We got 4th in our region. We both had jobs in garages turning wrenches full time by the time we were seniors. But even in the 90's a lot of stuff we worked on still didn't have all the crazy computer crap in it, that stuff was all at the dealers, which I spent quite a few years at after high school. Good times. I don't even know if they do auto shop in the high schools around me anymore.
     
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  13. That would be a small DeSoto.
     
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  14. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    My cousin was in one in Southern CA. I remember he found a vacuum hose taking the place of a coil lead.
     
  15. Dan Timberlake
    Joined: Apr 28, 2010
    Posts: 1,530

    Dan Timberlake
    Member

  16. I remember the events and Picture 19615.jpg I have this USA made belt buckle in my collection....
     

    Attached Files:

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  17. 20160107_213820.jpg 20160107_213307.jpg 20160107_213336.jpg There are a few things from my sons competition years left in his bedroom. The rest he took to his house in the big d. Those contests taught him so much. Not only how to win but loose as well. Learning how to prepare is a valuable skill to have. I dont know how things were years ago but now they treat these kids like tomorros leaders in their field. They have uniforms with jackets. Matching boots and hats are part of the dress. All the kids from skills usa were flown to washington dc for uniforms and preparation. These kids are treated very well. They are expected to dress and behave as leaders. No silly piercings. No crazy colored hair. No foul language etc. The banquet speaker is always from a fortune 500 company. Its nice to know there are people out there that are willing to invest the time and money in our countries future leaders. My son gives time back to his high schools auto class. He goes back to help prepare up and coming competitors. The work paid off as his coaching helped win new york and detroit in the last few years
     
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  18. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    neat! Our local auto shop has been through several teachers the past decade or so...but it's still going. The current teachers are great, they really care, which makes a big difference. They even got some of the students to go on our car club's garage tour this fall. You can see a few in this pic at my shop :)

    I forgot to drag out my old Plymouth trophy, it would have been neat!

    shoptour.jpg
     
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  19. jim during the stop at the grove did you see the school bus there? if not i think it may be in the magazine pic. my sons old shop teacher took all his kids to drag weeks stop there as a field trip. the guy at the gate told him your brave good luck. as expected all the kids behaved perfectly. the class was tuned in to the live feed for the other stops. he also gives out extra credit when kids bring in their time slips. this helps keep them off the street. one of the shop teachers has a real deal hurst hemi dart another has a few road runners and another has a hopped up torrino. they can really hit it off with the kids.
     
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  20. David Gersic
    Joined: Feb 15, 2015
    Posts: 2,730

    David Gersic
    Member
    from DeKalb, IL

    I'm digging the DeKalb sign, sitting here in DeKalb, Il, home of the brand name before Monsanto bought them out.
     
  21. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    I gave a 1968 Trophy to my buddy That I bought somewhere. Had a Barracuda as the trophy topper. He took his 68 Barracuda to the Mopar nationals in Las Vegas. They did a feature on his car in a national Mopar magazine and put a pic of the trophy in the article. The person asked more about the Trouble shooting contest than about the car. I `ve given him at least 30 articles that have been in a wide range of car magazines over the years that I`ve found in the last 5 years. The first winners were a boy and girl team who later married.
     
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  22. Barn1957
    Joined: Apr 9, 2012
    Posts: 3

    Barn1957
    Member

    Yea I was in the 1965 Baltimore, Md contest and we came in second. Still have the Gold plated wrenches, the SK socket set, Awards Medal, and the certificate that we got. Was also given a 10 month scholarship to Lincoln Institute for Automatic Transmissions. They were the good old years. BagMan
     
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  23. tguptill
    Joined: Aug 12, 2012
    Posts: 72

    tguptill
    Member
    from Maine

    My partner and I won the state of Maine contest in 79. We went to the nationals at Indy that year and finished 17th. We got screwed by a wiring harness not in the bracket that was not even one of the bugs that they put in the car. Otherwise we would have been 10th. My instructed was pissed and had quite a heated argument with the judges but they wouldn't budge.
     
  24. TCM29
    Joined: Mar 4, 2008
    Posts: 9

    TCM29
    Member

    I participated in one in Akron OH in 1970; had the car running before any other team but lost on a couple of demerits, as I recall. Still placed second against vocational schools, got a fender cover, trophy, and job offer from a dealer, but I already had one at local Chev-Olds. Lots of fun, my school received a giant trophy, bigger than any stick and ball one. Wish I had it, my late mother tried to recover it but nobody knew where it went. Maybe I should check Ebay.
     
  25. jimmy six
    Joined: Mar 21, 2006
    Posts: 14,795

    jimmy six
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Ron Burzi and I represented El Camino JC in 1964. Carb was in pieces in a box and I took it on. Ron got the engine cranking as i finished it. We were the 3rd car up and missed 3rd by having the 2 vacuum hoses reversed. Everything else was perfect. No third was given because everyone else failed. I still have the participation award somewhere and was a given a job app at the time. Chose electrician/lineman at Standard Oil instead.
     
  26. HotRod Jones
    Joined: Jan 30, 2014
    Posts: 24

    HotRod Jones
    Member
    from Spokane

    I was in the Oregon state contests in 1964 and 1965. Our school in La Grande didn't even have an Auto Shop course but our Metals Shop teacher received an application and he asked my friend George McCall and myself if we were interested in giving it a try (he was aware that George and I were involved building hot rods and racing them). We thought "what the heck---we'll give it a try." The local Plymouth dealer let us practice on a new Plymouth 318/2bbl in his shop, but we had no idea what we were in for as we knew no one who had ever seen the contest before. There was no local or regional contest---we went straight to the state contest in Portland. We drove George's 52 Chevy/327/4sp. the 250 miles to Portland with our shop teacher in the back seat; competed and won second place in the state and then jumped in the car and raced 250 miles back home at 90-110 mph in order to attend our Junior-Senior prom. We got quite the attention with George showing off the large trophy we came home with (in the years since, I have often felt bad for our dates who should have been getting all the attention). One of the funniest things I always remember is the visual of showing up on site in Portland and seeing the 40-60 cars and teams all lined up with the contestants all dressed up in their white lab/shop coats and having fancy electronic testing equipment and George and I show up in stripped farmer coveralls with a hand held tack/dwell meter and a timing light.
    The next year when I was a senior, Mackie Stewart and I went to the State contest--still with our stripped coveralls--but we got hung up on one particular bug and ended up placing 4th--out of the money and glory. That year we drove our shop teacher's new 65 Plymouth 361/4sp.--we drove and he got car sick and we had to pull over so he could puke. FUNNY fun memories.
     
  27. Alaska Jim
    Joined: Dec 1, 2012
    Posts: 319

    Alaska Jim
    Member

    I went to High School at Edwards Air Force Base , California. I took Auto shop there my junior and senior years.My buddy and I were chosen by our shop teacher to compete in the 1968 ( my senior year )Plymouth contest. The one we went to was in Bell Calif. we Had a brand new'68 Plymouth Satellite that was donated to the school for drivers ed. that we practiced on, turned out that was the same model that Plymouth used in the contest . I remember the bag of parts that the judge for each car had. the only thing we did not find wrong , Turned out to be a bad plug wire. we should have been able to find it , but our ohm meter got damaged on the way to the contest. we were running out of time, so we took our lap around the field, placed runner up. I still have the trophy, it has a 1968 Barracuda on it. I also got a letter of recommendation from Chrysler corp. as an apprentice mechanic and if I got hired as a mechanic by any of the Chrysler corp dealers ( Dodge, Plymouth, etc. ) , They gave me a letter to buy a complete tool set through Chrysler from Snap-on at a reduced rate. maybe If I get out in the shop tomorrow I can take a picture of it to show you guy's. I am not moving around very well right now, I an recovering from major back surgery, so all projects are on hold.
     
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  28. Alaska Jim
    Joined: Dec 1, 2012
    Posts: 319

    Alaska Jim
    Member

  29. Robert Greene
    Joined: Mar 14, 2018
    Posts: 1

    Robert Greene

    My partner and I competed in the 1973 State contest. I was at Cranston High East in Rhode Island. We competed at the Community College of RI in May. The cars were 73 Fury III's 318 cid 2bbl. We won the state title and competed in the Nationals in Boston MA. There we finished 16th out of 116 High schools and Tech schools. A miss routed battery cable kept us from a top 10 finish.
     
  30. mickeyc
    Joined: Jul 8, 2008
    Posts: 1,363

    mickeyc
    Member

    1967 my partner and I finished 2nd, here in Louisiana.
    The local Chrysler dealer lent our trade school a new Barracuda
    383 model to practice with. It would do wonderful burnouts.
    I still have the fender cover and the small trophy we were
    awarded. I was hoping to win just to meet Richard Petty, who
    was the host of the national finals in Detroit. Did not happen.
    Good times anyway.
     

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