Happy Father's Day......

My brother and sister and I took the old man out for a steak dinner at his favorite steak house. We had a great time. He's 81 now, but still full of piss and vinegar. He's also a lifelong gearhead who got me and my brother into cars. My mom used to joke that I could swap valvesprings in a small-block Chevy cylinder head before I could ride a two-wheel bike!  When I was little he had a 1959 Pontiac Catalina with the 345 hp Tri-Power 389, Warner T85 3-speed stick. He later had a 4.33:1 geared '64 GTO that was a rocket. He had a 1965 Tri-Power, 421 Catalina 2+2 also. That one was badass. It had #670 heads off a '67 GTO, the 301 / 313 duration RAIII cam, 1.65:1 rockers which bumped lift from .414 to like .460. The intake was port matched to the gasket, and the RAIII exhaust manifolds were ported and extrude honed. The carbs were custom-jetted ( Dad was a legend at tuning multi-carbs. Guys with Hemis, 409s, Six-Packs, GTOs, Tri-Power 'Vettes, even Porsches, and Ferarris with Webers would come to the old man's shop for carb tuning.)  The TH400 had a TransGo shift kit that gave automatic kickdown to low gear below 20 mph, and the car had 3.90:1 gears. It showed it's taillights to many badass Camaros and Mustangs. In high school I had a Ram Air III, 4-speed, 4.33:1 geared 1969 GTO Judge. Who buys that for a 16 year old?  My dad!!!  I think he wanted it as much for himself as he did for me. Anyhow-a buddy of mine had a 440 Six-Pack Super Bee. He was always challenging me to a race. "I said-you can't beat the Judge" "I'll race you with my dad's car."  I took the 2+2 to school the next day. We had a race. Because of it's gearing, posi, and long wheelbase ( 121 inches ) and rear overhang-the Pontiac took off like a rocket. It would smoke the tires if you wanted to, but it would as they say-"Shit and Git". I came right off the line with him, and it was a dead heat until about 90 mph. He did finally pull ahead and get me by a car length or so, but me and my other friends tortured him for a month. He was impressed. He kept asking "What's up with your dad's car?"  We'd say-it's an old Pontiac Catalina with a wore out 389." "You better get that Dodge looked at." Finally about a month later he came by the shop-and my dad had the hood up on the 2+2. When he saw the "421" emblems, and the 3-2bbl carbs and chrome valve covers, etc, he started cussing me. "F&*K you!  Your Dad's car!"  "That's a street fighter if i ever saw one."  Good times. Over the years dad has helped me with my '73 Hurst / Olds 442, and my brother with his '69 GTO, as well as a couple of V8 Vegas, V8 Chevy LUVs, a small-block Chevy powered 240Z, and dropping the 400 / TH350 out of my wrecked '77 Trans Am into a '71 Ventura. ( Pontiac's version of the Nova ).  Us all being gearheads was great. Especially when young men get to a point where they disagree with their fathers on almost anything-we could always talk cars and bench race, or work on cars have a great time. Like Mark Twain said-"When I was 21 I thought my father was an idiot." "When I was 30 I couldn't beleive how much he'd learned in 9 years."  We can all see the joke in that.  Anyhow, thanks for always being there dad, even if it was only with bail money!!  And hopefully many more. 

Like "Dalton" said in "Road House"....."Your too stupid to have a good time!!

I am amazed at the idiots I run across that whine and cry that they can't find their dream car-and then then pass up 10 awesome cars, in great condition, ar fair prices-because they weren't "Exactly what they were looking for."  UGH!!  Here's a few examples that will make you want to vomit, or slap the person in question.  Idiot # 1 Wanted a "Bullitt" Charger. He passed up a gorgeous triple black 1970 model that had a numbers-matching 383, that had an Edelbrock carb and intake and Hooker headers with a new Flowmaster exhaust that sounded wicked, a Torqueflite, power steering,front disc brakes and Torq-Thrust mags-because the "Bullitt" car was a 440 / 4-speed. Pointing out that the warmed over 383 / 727 combo in this car would probably run just as fast as a 440 was like talking to the wall. He passed up a 1970 Plum Crazy R/T with a white top and white interior that was a numbers-matching 440 / 4-speed-because it didn't have front disc brakes. Pointing out that disc brakes could be retrofitted was useless. When he turned up his nose at an immaculate black on black '68 model-( the exact year of the "Bullitt car ) that had power steering, front disc brakes,Upgraded suspension with tubular control arms and KYB shocks, modern vintage air A/C, and a STRONG 440 under the hood, I wanted to kick him in the balls so hard he'd have to part his hair differently. This one was wrong because it was an automatic, and the 440 wasn't numbers-matching ( the block had 1970 date codes. ) and the A/C wasn't factory. I'm not in the market for a car, and If I could have swung a home-equity loan I'd have bought this one. It looked and sounded so badass, and it was flawlessly restored. And it wasn't priced any higher than any of the others.  # Idiot # 2 Wanted an LS6 Chevelle. Good Luck. However-we found two excellent L78 1970 models. The L78 is an SS396, that has the same heads, cam, and carb and intake as the LS6 SS454. The L78 is grossly under-rated at 375 hp. In fact when the L78 debuted in the 1965 Corvette it was rated at 425 hp. Only 25 less than the LS6's 450. And the engine wasn't changed from 1965-1970-Chevrolet just changed the HP rating to appease insurance eompanies. Both of these L78 cars were literally $30,000-50,000 less than the LS6's we'd seen. I told him a pristine L78 was the way to go-their the same car except for the engine block-and depending on gearing-like if a 454 had 3.31:1s and the 396 had 3.73:1s-the 396 was going to run just as quick or quicker.  He pooh-poohed the one because it didn't have power steering or the cowl induction hood. He pooh-poohed the second one which did have power steering and the Cowl Induction hood-becuae he didn't like the color. However-since the car had a white interior-he could have painted it any color he wanted!!  He's still "Searching" for an LS6.  I've tried to tell people "There's no Used Car Factory" where you can order exactly what you want. The chance of you finding a 50 year old car that's the color you want, with the engine and transmission you want, and all the options you want are almost zero. You have to "settle" a little bit. For example-if you want a 1968-70 SS396 Chevelle with a 4-speed and front disc brakes and power steering-that's a pretty easy find. But if it has to be an L78-not an L34 / L35, and it has to have an M22 tranny not an M20 or M21, and it has to have a 3.73:1 posi-3.31:1 or 3.55:1 just won't do, and it has be red with white interior, and have a tilt wheel, your going to get zilch. If you want a '69 GTO with factory A/ C and the hood tach that's easy enough. If it has to be a numbers-matching RAIII 4-speed, Judge Convertible-that's an uphill climb. If you want a '69 Mach 1 Mustang-over 70,000 were built-there not that hard to find. 428 models are going to be pricier than 351W models-but deals are out there if you look. If you "Gotta Have" a Boss 302 with power steering, guages, and a 4.30:1 Traction-Lok rear good luck with that-at any price. Because I've seen restored "Boss" Mustangs with no power steering-they were ordered originally as stripped-down street fighters-I've seen them with no factory tach. I've seen them with 3.50:1 geared one-legger open rears. I'd like to find a '62-66 Pontiac Gran Prix to play with. 'I can probably find one, If I can accept a 389 2bbl or 4bbl, bench seat automatic model. It it's "Gotta Have" a Tri-Power 421 and a 4-speed, with bucket seats and a console and the 8-lug wheels, I'm going to be searching until hell freezes over-to find one at any price!!  See what I'm saying?  Lower your sights just a little-and you might find a great deal on a great car. Mastermind