#21  
Old 06-21-2008, 03:35 PM
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Default Not a Pontiac story but a racing story nonetheless.....

Back in the late '70s in the San Fernando Valley in So Cal I used to spend most of my weekend nights hanging out and sometimes taking my chances at the local street races. One of the 'heavy hitters' at the time was a guy known as 'Bottle Bob' who had a '68 4-speed Corvette roadster that was rumored to be a 10-second car.

I once had the pleasure of running against 'Bottle Bob', he was a short balding guy with a long pony tail. One of the first cars running nitrous that I had heard of at the time, his BBC engine was rumored to have had 500 cubes (I later found out it was a 454 with ported factory rectangular-port heads and an 850 Holley). I remember the body on that 'vette had stress cracks all over it from all the beating it was taking from the nitrous big block.

He was looking for a race to get a few bucks for an early morning breakfast, I was the willing victim.

At the time (on a Saturday night sometime in '78) I was driving a '66 bug with an 1835cc engine, it was a high 13-second daily driver and my only car at that time. I did a lot of street racing back in the late '70s, this was one of the times I was checking out the street racing action on Van Nuys Blvd behind the Bank of America.

We headed out to a pretty popular spot to race on Woodley Ave just south of Roscoe Blvd, right next to the Continental Can Company. Racing was done going south on Woodley.

Bob told me he wanted the inside lane close to the center of the street because his car was going to be all over the road and he needed the room.

He gave me 20 car lengths, he started 10 cars behind the line and I was 10 cars in front of it. He had a set of side-exit headers with sidepipes which were pretty much standard for a hot Corvette, he pulled off the sidepipes just before we ran (had restrictive glasspacks inside).

We went for it and I spun the tires a bit which was unusual and didn't get a very good launch, but of course I stayed in it and gave it all 130 HP.

By the time I was in 4th gear going about 90 he went past me like I was pulled over at the side of the freeway changing a flat tire . He had to have been going 140+ MPH when he went by!

Just after he passed me and had the race won he let off. It looked like the sun came out of his driver's side header collector, damn was that backfire ever bright and loud!

The firemen at the fire station were cheering, I'm sure they saw quite a few races going down on Woodley Ave back in those days.

Best $20 I ever spent, I can remember that night 30 years ago like it was yesterday.

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  #22  
Old 06-21-2008, 03:49 PM
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good lesson learned huh
only race i ever lost was to a ford falcon
i missed 3rd and blew a sycronizer and had to go to 4th
lost my 2 lengths
still not too bad

  #23  
Old 06-21-2008, 04:05 PM
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good lesson learned huh
Naw, I raced that particular car just for the thrill of racing against a very fast car that was pretty much one of the local legends. Didn't care if I won or lost really, it was solely for the experience.

My VW could handle itself plenty well among the local musclecar contingent. Beat quite a few cars that I wasn't sure I could take, but I put my money down and gave it my best. Among them I spanked a '69 302 Z/28 4-speed, '69 Boss 302 4-speed, '68 Corvette 327 4-speed, '68 Roadrunner 383 auto, '65 Skylark with a 327 (Chev) 4-speed and many others.

That little VW could easily kick the crap out of the newer 'smogger' Trans Ams and 'vettes of the day. I really didn't run into many cars that could take my 13-second VW as 13-second street cars just weren't all that plentiful on the streets back in the late '70s.

Besides, how could I possibly lose face getting beat by a V8 with only a tiny 4-cylinder?

Didn't lose very often, and that little VW was feared by the locals. Because of the low 1st and 2nd gearing they have a high-13s Bug leaves the line like a 12-second V8 car.

  #24  
Old 06-21-2008, 09:58 PM
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1st race in the TA, 2 weekends ago I'm over at a friends who is helping me get my timing right in my 81 w/ a 455 that I'm just getting on the road after 2 yrs of working on it, another friend I havn't seen in about 15 years comes driving up in his 69 Ford truck w/ a 428 Cobrajet motor in it, he's had it since high school but he just got done spending a bunch of $ rebuilding the motor, heads, and rear in it, anyway, we go run em.
Out of the whole we are pretty close, but once the TA gets traction I pretty much took off and leave him, end up beating him in the 1/4 by about 5 or 6 car lengths, he swears I have nitrous, which of course I don't, I saw one of his friends at the store and he told me he's been working on his truck ever since and wants a rematch when he "gets it all right", I told him all this talk about nitrous in the bandit maybe he needs to put it in that Ford if he wants to keep up, we'll see when he gets it all right.

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Old 06-21-2008, 10:35 PM
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I'm down in ne phila one night at a gathering of street racers, there was an oriental guy down there I used to work with. He had a 90 Iroc and was beating everything, he raced other guys in their cars, a drop top cuda with 440, a fox body with nitrous and a couple of other cars. Finnaly he asked me if I wanted to be his next victim, sure I said. 100$ and we were racing. We staged up and he heated his street slicks up and I passed on my bfg's. The flag guys arms went down and he got me by two cars in 60'. I caught him by the 1/8 and blew his doors off by about the 1200' mark. I got him by 4 cars at the 1/4. My buddy bitner was in the car with me screaming pontiac power, pontiac power. When we pulled up to the gathering a swarm of people came up to my car wanting to know what i had. I said stock bottom end 455, blackjack headers, performer intake, 13's, a holley 3310, t 350 and 3.23 posi. Everyone asked "wheres the sqeeze" and I said nowhere. Just about that time Jonny came up and shook my hand and " good race that m'fer runs good. His camaro had a 150 shot, 4.10's and a crapload of bolt ons. I was 19 and scraped together all the money I could to get that engine together. That 79 ta did run good but I sold it and now its a tomato can.

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Old 06-22-2008, 01:00 PM
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hey 4db, was your buddy Bitner by chance Fred's son Mark?

  #27  
Old 06-23-2008, 06:21 AM
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Default Not my own story, unfortunately

I stumbled upon this video. Too bad the new GTO shares a resemblance with a BMW 3 series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZliO4rUPvg

  #28  
Old 06-23-2008, 10:00 PM
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No he is Rons son John. I know some of you may remember some of those times in the mid 90's. I know John Langer was there alot racing. And probably the best Pontiac street race I ever saw was A guy named Tony [hes got a ponytail cant remember his last name, I've seen him at some pontiac events though]. Anyway, He had a 68 white firebird with a 455 he beat a car at that time had a rep for being extremely fast, a 69 El camino with a 454. It was an awesome race and when he came back I found out that it had a stock intake, a q jet, raiv cam, I think he even had manifolds. That el camino had the plate ELQUIK. Never saw it again, coincidence I'm sure.

  #29  
Old 06-24-2008, 10:58 AM
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A fellow in my tenth grade class told about painting numbers on the family car, racing it on a track (circle or drag.. I don't remember) and stopping at the car wash on the way home to get the water based paint removed.

I am just curious if anyone knows about a track near Pontiac MI in the 60's that would allow a 17 year old to race the family car.

Anyone else have similar experiences with the family car?

Regards
CD175

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Old 06-24-2008, 11:23 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citydesk175 View Post
...I am just curious if anyone knows about a track near Pontiac MI in the 60's that would allow a 17 year old to race the family car...
The Clawson Center parking lot at 14 Mile and Crooks Rd or up and down Woodward Avenue

  #31  
Old 06-24-2008, 12:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Primitive Artist View Post
The Clawson Center parking lot at 14 Mile and Crooks Rd or up and down Woodward Avenue
Thanks

I never raced at either place. (Too young or Too nerdish)

Somehow, I developed a very bad habit in the late 60's.

I would come home from a long assignment to military training or Vietnam and foolishly ask "Where's my car?" "Your younger brother got in accident with it....... But don't worry, He is OK."

"Of all sad stories of tongue or pen, the saddest is "Where's my car?"

Regards
cd175

  #32  
Old 06-25-2008, 12:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citydesk175 View Post

"Of all sad stories of tongue or pen, the saddest is "Where's my car?"

Regards
cd175
i remember when i was 16 my older brother let me drive his 3 yr old mustang
i wrapped it around a tree and totaled it.
then a few months later i took his new mustang out without him knowing it and backed into a telephone pole
took a while for him to speak to me,,,

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  #33  
Old 06-26-2008, 12:13 AM
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Back in the late 80's in my SE T/A i had a 96 headed 455 [thanks Kyle for the motor],turbo 400,2,800 stall ,3.23 gear.Some guy drove about 20 miles from Decatur.Ga to Riverdale,Ga because he had heard about my T/A.He had a 1980 T/A with a Chebbie 454 ,well we ran heads up and by the end of 1st gear he was toast and i won by an EASILY 5 car lengths.Well at payment time somebody yelled that i have a sneaky pete bottle in my door panel and i said No it's behind the driver seat.So after he claimed i cheated,i told him i give him 10 cars but needless to said he wouldn't run me again,i could have put 10 cars on him with just the motor.So after all the heated talking that night i had only one other thing to say to him "you should have left the 301 in there,it probably would have ran faster".
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  #34  
Old 06-26-2008, 12:53 PM
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[QUOTE=se428bandit;3331981] Time heals nothing, it merely rearranges our memory!
[QUOTE]

As you get older all of your opinions change except for one:

That unchanging opinion is that all of your opinions are absolutely correct


regards
cd175


Last edited by citydesk175; 06-26-2008 at 01:29 PM.
  #35  
Old 09-01-2008, 04:40 PM
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Default My first car

It was in the mid-80's, I was 16 years old and had saved up enough money to buy my first car. Went to the used car lot and saw a couple cars that were in my general price range. The first was a pretty 70 Monte Carlo that I really liked, but it was a little more than what I had...so the salesman tells me to take a look at the 70 LeMans. I looked it over, it had faded gold paint, mud & snow tires on the back and was dirty as heck from sitting at the back of the lot for quite some time....I wasn't too interested, but the sales guy convinced me to take if for a spin......I was hooked.

I bought the car and within a few weeks had beaten all my friends Chevelles and Novas in my "stock 350" LeMans. There was one car that I feared though and that was a black '55 Chevy that had a built 327 in it with cam, headers, aluminum hi-rise, dual quads and according to everyone, was wicked fast. One Friday night cruising the local town square, the 55 pulls up next to me and asks me if I want to run. I tried to beg off, but my buddies in the car with me wouldn't let me, so we went out to a deserted road that lead up to a local factory, and was straight as an arrow and ran about a mile before ending in the parking lot.

We line them up, the owner of the 55 got out and uncapped his exhaust, and I'm thinking I am about to get my butt handed to me. We both do a burnout, him with a huge cloud of smoke, and me with my mud & snow tires howling like crazy. The "starter" yelled "GO" and the 55 just launches. I was a little late leaving the line and the 55 was already 4-5 car lengths ahead of me. I started to reel him in a little at a time but ran out of road. He won by a little over a car length. I knew I had not given him my best race, so when he asked if I wanted to run again, I said yes. We turned around and lined them up again....This time I got the holeshot on him and he never caught me. He was very upset and wanted to see what I had under the hood. So I popped the hood and he was even more upset to see a dirty motor with a "350" air cleaner on it.

It wasn't until quite some time later and many races won that I took the car to a local mechanic that knew his cars, and had heard about how fast my LeMans was. I took the car in because I had an exhaust leak. He looked around under the hood, muttered "What the hell?" and disappeared into his office. He came out about 10 minutes later grinning at me.

"Son" he tells me "that ain't no 350, that is a 455 out of a 71 GTO"

Turns out a guy in it's past had created a nice little sleeper complete with all of the 350 badging, and I had been the lucky one to pick it up.

I sure do miss that car, I traded it in on a Buick Regal in 1987.

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  #36  
Old 09-04-2008, 07:22 PM
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I will have to post up one of my most memorable races I have had, even though It is not in a Pontiac.

A little back history first though (on myself and the car)
I fight for the underdogs...While I am younger then most on here...(turn 25 in a month) and have always held a spot in my heart for old american muscle, I understand the sport compact trend (some of the aspects) and when I say I fight for the underdog, I really mean it, the one car (besides my GTO) I am modifying right now is my tempo...and not just any tempo, a GLS (the most expensive and rarest of them) the GLS (along with its brothers the XR5 and LTS) were a one year run of car that had a different suspension, body kit, rims then any other tempo...and was the first year the V6 5 speed combo was available. with being less then proably 2000 total of these cars, and most being junked, or beaten to death, there are not to many left. (my best run at the strip before I tore into it was a 14.7@94 with a 50 shot) and I forgot to mention the most importand part...I AM CHEAP!!! and I mean really cheap. the Time I just posted above was ran with less then $1000 into the car (thats with buying the car

But before I get to off subject, THE RACE..

I was at my local hangout spot that all the import guys hang out at....sitting around talking and just having a good time.....when these two guys start talking about running each other, amd with me being the type that wants to watch the good stuff I decide to follow them out of town. Before we even get 1 mile down the road, one of the fellows I am following gets pulled over for something small (either not having his lights on, or loud exhaust, etc...) with that he decides its a bad omen and takes off for the night...well, me not wanting to go back to the spot at that exact moment, decided to challenge the guy myself.....and then, of course I get the usuall laughing at the tempo, and then the guy says the one line I will always laugh at because of people's lack of imagination....I bet you a million dollars I will smoke your car....Of course, since I am more civilized, just tell him for the fun of it...

The car turns out to be a mid 90's Acura Integra, some mods but I guess not enough.....so we decide to finish what we both started out to do at the beginning, race....we finally reach the last light out of town, are both waiting for the light to turn green, revving out motors ready at the drop of a hat to let go of the clutch.... and when it finally does change....I instantly had a half a car by the time I got up to 20....and it basically keeps going like that, with me gaining distance with each passing moment. and by the time we reach, 85-90, where I let off, I had a good car and a 1/2 on him...(cause to me...when I reach the speed I do at the drag strip, I am done...I now my limits and don't want anyone else hurt from something that goes wrong)

So I pull into a parking lot to turn around, cause he was heading home anyways...and he ends up getting out of the car with eyes as wide as saucers....for the simple fact that his super high performance Acura got beat my a POS, beat up, good for nothing tempo....and that is one of the reasons I decided to modify it, while going fast is a rush, going fast is in something that was never meant to be feels even better



but i will also agree with a few on here.....its not just what you drive, its how well you can drive it.....just cause you have a 500 HP car, doesn't mean you know how to use all 500 HP.

  #37  
Old 09-05-2008, 02:01 PM
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Default Another memory test for me

I vaguely recall that some designer at Ford had the opinion that 1972 was going to be the final year that any American car was going to be any good. ( Pause for agreement from the audience) He bought 3 like model 1972 Tempos and was going to drive them with appropriate parts switches for the rest of the century.

I remember reading an article about it in 72 and nothing since. Does anybody know someone who has tried this with 3 cars at once or is it better to buy replacement parts new or the scrap yard?

How many years and how many miles can you expect out of any everyday car that you try to run for over 30 years? (replacing the parts as you go)

BTW when does the car cease to be authentic? Reminds me of the story of the 200 year old genuine Indian tomahawk that had been in the posession of one family for the entire time. (One owner?) While the tomahawk was genuine, it had required 3 new heads and 6 new handles to maintain full utility.

One last question..... would it have been better for the Ford designer to have kept his 2 parts cars in mint condition till 2000 or follow his original plan and cannibalize the cars? Parts prices vs mint car prices

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  #38  
Old 09-27-2008, 10:31 PM
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http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoid=27369401

A young dude with a Z06 'Vette was talking smack one night at the strip. So my son Rob saunters over and says "Never raced a really fast car before, how about we line up"
The guy took a look at the Catalina, smiled and replied "Sure".

Even if the guy hadn't fallen asleep at the light, Rob had him covered by more than .5 seconds.

All of us Pontiac guys had a good laugh over this one.

Jim

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  #39  
Old 09-27-2008, 11:43 PM
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I've seen that video before,I love it.I always watch it twice.

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Old 09-29-2008, 02:17 PM
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While walking into the squadron one morning, I noticed one of the younger guys getting out of a Neon SRT4, I was only driving the 98 Formy and it was stone stock down to the paper filter and plugs. I had 3 other Pontiacs that ran much faster than the LS1. I said "Hey when ya wanna line em up?" His reply was "$500, $250 for me to just open my hood" so that surprised me somewhat. I chuckled a bit and said "really?" like Seth and Amy do on SNL weekend update. Later one of my airmen is talking about how fast his car is, and I ask what they think fast is. They said his Neon was faster than any of their cars, and none of them had anything remotely quick.

So it went back and forth, me mentioning its not that fast, and they thinking I am completely insane, and them telling him big stories. Then other people from the unit start talking to me about it, and I think its quite humorous. I ignore most of it and just go about work for the next couple weeks.

We decide to take the 98 to the 1/8 mile track and see what a stone stock 98 LS1 2.73 geared automatic will do. I dropped my buddy off at the start of the staging lanes, there is no tech whatsoever there, and idled through the lanes. Waited for two cars to run, then did a short dry burnout to clean any gravel off, and lined up. Left it in drive, and just floored it, with the 2.73s it didnt spin, and first seemed to take forever, and it never got out of second before the end. Got the slip it said 8.82 and I cant remember the mph, but it was around 80. My 79 Formula was running 7.40s@100 with only 3rd gear on shake down runs.

Well it just so happens Neon boy was there, and strolls up and asks "What you run?" So I told him 8.8, the look on his face was priceless. I heard from some other guys on base who had seen him run that his best ever on a cold night was a 9.4. He asked if I was sprayin it, and I told him it was stone stock just like I bought it. Then he got huffy and said something about not talking sh*t anymore and threatened to kick my ass, which he would have to pack a lunch and some friends to do.

He said something about he has a 4 cylinder I have a V8, so I should stay in my class and he will stay in his. Wasnt he the one who got all cocky in the first place? I just asked all friendly like if he wanted to run sometime, and his ego was bigger than his engine...

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