SidecarFlip

Those spinners, right in your backyard.....California or Kedzie, can't remember which...JC Whitney. I see they built a new place the other side of Joilet. Musta not like the neighborhood.

The Prophet

Ah, yes... J.C. Whitney (Warshawsky's!).

Fond memories.

Actually, the old building was a city block long, huge, located on 1900 to 1924 State Street in Chicago. I used to go there with my Dad in the 50's. The nieghborhood was cruddy (and getting cruddier!) back in the 50's and 60's, but has been re-gentrified now. Now it is converted to all new condo's and yuppie cafe's down at street level.

The new JC Whitney retail outlet is in LaSalle, Illinois. On Route 6, just west of Rt.178, South of I-80.

761 Progress Parkway, LaSalle, Illinois, 61301.

Back in high School, every guy in study hall had a well worn Warshawsky's catalog, and we'd dream of buying up all the wierd goodies, and performance equipment as well. The advertised "gains" were mystifying!

I used to ponder: Tubular exhaust headers! Add 25% more power.
Super Deluxe Race air cleaner! Add 15% more power!
3/4 Race Camshaft! Add 52.5% more power!
High Compression Pistons! Add 30% more power!
And of course - Carburetor Fuel Pills. Just add to water to make your OWN gasoline! Save thousands of $$$ Dollars!

With my trusty Slide-Rule, I'd spend countless hours calculating the total benefits when added up, of all these %ages combined. But... which one first? 15% of an already 30% gain from stock yields more than ....

At any rate, my main enemy at the time was a severe lack of cash to do any of this, and parents who felt school and study were more important than any discussions about "hopping up" engines. In the end, my buddies and I would raid local junk yards, and piece together Chevy and Ford small blocks from various "gems" from secret parts numbers gleaned out of the GM Parts books. Corvette Fuely heads, F.I. cams, truck crankshafts and piston rods (hand polished and balanced later). Lighter flywheels from other cars artfully machined and installed, Hurst Floor shifter Kits! Local Machine shops would mill the heads, and we'd port n' polish the heads, CC the combustion chambers. Add "Hollywood" mufflers (glass packs), then Lake pipe outlets welded onto the exhaust pipes and capped off. Big ol' 9.25 X 15 tires in the back, skinny ones in the front, HD Station Wagon Shocks with coil springs (helper springs?) forced onto the outsides and clamped on!

Ahhhh, such fun, and such great memories. Thanks Flip.

__________________

• A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~Lao Tzu
• Motorcyles are not my whole life, but they make my life whole. ` me