Thought I would look up the address just to see what was there now. Google earth couldn't find it. Only Marilyn Dr. Anyone know what the street might be named now?
Now, I just hang my head. Back then, I had a hard time affording plugs, points, and condenser... oh, and oil.
A good friend of mine went to Halibrand in Torrance in the early 70's and bought a V8 center section from Ted himself. He saved the receipt with Ted's signature on it. I think he paid so thing like $225 if memory serves me correctly. Right after that midgets started tearing up the midget quick change rears because of new found horsepower. They switched to the V8 quick change and overnight V8 center section prices skyrocketed and never came back. When the company was sold off, National bought the V8 quick change and renamed them the Halibrand/national rear end. I have a Torrance V8 quick change mounted to red powder coated 36 side bells hanging from my ceiling in my garage until I find it a home. Way too pretty to stay in the box!
Deucemac, Just to keep the record straight, Ted sold the Sprint car and midget portion of the business to an Indiana sprint car owner named Bob Higman. I'm not sure exactly how 'National' got involved but Higman lost the Halibrand brand to them. He eventually got it back but never got into full swing with it. From what I can determine, National never made a true V8 (201) casting. Instead they were a V8/Midget. These were the same as the 201 with two exceptions. They were 1" shorter on the front and had the shifter boss on the right side. In the mid 90's I bought ten V8/Midget castings and lower shafts from Bob Higman. His son did the machining and the front seal plate B.C. was different than the original, otherwise, V8 parts fit. I did have him change the pinion bore to accept the double cup Timken bearing instead of the ball bearings that were originally used. I still have a couple of these!
Marty, Do you have any idea of the age of the Pat Warren catalog? I'd sure like to get my hands on one of those Champ size center sections. How cool is that 'well ribbed case'? Wonder what the rear cover looked like, too. But, you probably have several of each stashed away.
The Jalopy Journal
