The Engine

In 2006, we ran into the original owner again. He was of course very interested in what we had done with the car. We told him that it hasn't gone under restoration yet but that it was in the garage and out of the weather. He was very glad to hear that. He then proceeded to tell us that the suspension wasn't original. He had it changed to an aftermarket suspension called Herb Adams. I had heard of it somewhere but couldn't think of it at that moment. I went home and did some research. Herb Adams was the owner of VSE (Very Special Equipment, please do a search on this man, he did so many pioneering things for the TA). I had heard of VSE before and recalled seeing it on my 76 TA, on the rims to be exact. Anyway, Cliff (the original owner), I believe had ordered Stage 2 of the VSE package. The bigger sway bars were put in, Koni shocks, the front end was "tucked", the carburator had bigger jets put in it, the distributor was recalibrated with the carb, and the VSE rims were added. Cliff of course kept the original ralley II's and used them in the winter time. Someday we need to catch back up with Cliff and ask him more questions. He said he still has the original 8-track player and the VSE brochures among other things. I hope to get those things at some point.