On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 12:09:42 -0500, my good friend Dennis said:
>Jim Crider wrote:
>> Well, compared to your average "2Fast2Furious" street
>> racer, we must be more affluent, because we:
>> - - spend our money on actual performance parts, not parts
>> that look fast but make the car slower (heavy 18-20" wheels
{snip!}
>Let those without sin cast the first stones!
>How many of us older fart types are guilty of one or more of the following:
Okay. :) I've got a '65 Mustang 289 A-code, 4-speed coupe in storage, which
I've owned since 1983, when I was all of 15 years old.
>- - "SS", "Z28", "Cobra", "Trans-Am", or "R/T" decals or badges on cars never
>so optioned?
No.
>- - a "screaming chicken" decal on an non-Pontiac product?
Absolutely not.
>- - Bright yellow Accel spark plug wires?
Nope. Black Mallory wires with the silkscreened logos carefully acetoned off.
>- - Chrome dress-up kits, consisting of a flimsy & leaky pair of
>stamped-steel valve covers (big enough to clear non-existant roller
>rockers) 6" long wing nuts, and an 8" diameter air cleaner?
Nope. Stock air cleaner housing.
>- - A set of extended-length leaf spring shackles designed to get that sexy 2
>feet of body rake?
My grandfather wouldn't ever allow such a thing -- and once he explained about
stability, etc., I understood the "why" you never want to do that. I re-arched
the rear springs to get the ride height back where it's supposed to be.
>- - A set of Lakewood-ripoff leaf spring "slapper bars"?
Nope. TractionMaster-ripoff override traction bars ala '65 Shelby GT350.
Hidden from view.
>- - Mild-steel headers that corroded away the first time the car saw
>moisture?
Nope. Ported cast manifolds. (Have you noticed a pattern here? I built a
sleeper. Right down to the original wire wheel covers -- with 3-point spinners
-- and whitewall tires.)
>- - A hood-mounted tach the size of a dinner plate?
Nope.
>- - A Holley 750cfm double-pumper and a high-rise tunnel ram on an otherwise
>stock motor?
Well, Holley 850CFM vacuum secondary carb. Overkill on a 289, but it was free
courtesy of someone I knew at Holley. It's mounted on a mildly ported stock
cast iron intake.
>- - Cut a hole in the hood to accomodate same?
NEVER!
>- - Kept track of our mods by putting the stickers on the rear window?
Only sticker there is a "University of Tulsa" sticker. There are small
"Classic Thunderbid Club International" and "Shelby American Automobile Club"
stickers on the passenger side front vent window. Those are the only stickers
on the car.
>- - Driven through town with a 15+ second dialin on the window?
I never bracket raced that car, and only rarely only ran it on test & tune
nights and at the Midnight Drags. I always ran "No Time" and used paper taped
in the window. Shoe polish was a stone bitch to get off completely. I was in
marching band in high school and shoe polish was frequently applied (they
stopped doing it once I Rain-X'd the windows and it wouldn't "stick").
>- - Put a 300 degree duration cam in a street car, and set the idle to 2k
>just to keep it running?
The cam I spec'd became Comp Cams' H282 dual-pattern cam. Idled great at 750
RPM.
>Automotive stupidity is not limited to any single generation. We all did it
>- - it just took different forms.
I did do some mullet-like things out of budgetary constraints -- I kept the M/T
finned aluminum valve covers that came with the car when I bought it, likewise
the dual exhaust with blow-out glasspacks. But it was in keeping with the
sleeper principle -- it *looked* like I'd just done a cosmetic resto on the
outside and the interior and hadn't put much into the drivetrain. I *had*, but
it was inside where it counted, not outside where it showed. The engine dyno'd
at 270 net HP on 1985-spec pump gas, and was completely docile and streetable
to drive.
At the test & tune nights, I just ran, and the "No Time" pretty much ensured
that I was the only one who knew what it'd do (it was a high 14-second car,
largely traction-limited with the tires I chose to run). At the Midnight
Drags, which were basically a sanctioned "run what you brung" match-racing
setup, no eliminations, I chose my opponents carefully and even then, I did not
run often. It was known that I had wrenched on several higher-profile cars,
and I let those guys do the talking, so to speak. When they won (and they
did), I made money 'cause another guy would come to me for a set of heads or a
complete engine build.
Now, of course, I know that I can generate more lateral g's per dollar than
longitudinal g's, so the drags really don't appeal much to me anymore. This
car has been in hibernation for several years now until I can get a place where
I can work on it again (I pranged its nose on the street due to a brain fart).
My original plan was to build a street-legal CP car out of it, but with the
advent of Street Mod, I'm leaning more that way. It's gonna be fun when I get
to it, and maybe somewhat competitive. But mostly, it'll be fun.
Jim Crider
autojim@despammed.com
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