[cuz68]

Where are you Ponyakr? I am missing your old school storys and photos,Your friend Randy.

[ponyakr]

we been havin rain & cloudy weather & our verizon hotspot that we get our internet on has been getting intermitant signals--very frustrating! so i brought it over 2 my moms house & its getting a strong signal & workin great rite now. i'm only about 1/4 mile closer 2 the signal tower, but i guess thats all it takes 2 lose a good signal in cloudy weather. anyhow, thanks for askin! i'll try 2 catch up a little as long as i can stay awake here.

[ponyakr]

after not being able 2 race for about 20 years, when i came back, i found that many things had changed in the pontiac world--like aftermarket blocks, alum heads, cheap, made in china, rods & cranks, stroker kits for the 400 & smaller blocks--& H-O was no longer the big name, but had been replaced by such names as butler, kaufman, sd performance & others which i had never heard of. & of course, there were all the resto parts co & the internet was there 2 connect all these co with their potential customers. i even discovered 2 car mags devoted entirely 2 pontiacs. so i imediately subcribed 2 both & looked forward each month 2 the next issue. i even found a pontiac guy who let me borrow a lot of back issues he had. well, 2 me, that little stack of mags was sorta like a pot of gold or maybe a cool drink of water 2 someone who'd been out in the desert for a long time without. i devoured all i could from them & went back thru each issue 2 reread the good stuff & look for anything of interest i mite have missed. i've recently gone back thru my copies that date back 2 the end of '09 & have made myself an index of the items in each issue that was of interest 2 me. in just the last couple of days i've started my index for the 2013 issues. & in the very 1st issue i looked at, dated jan '13, i found 1 of those WOW articles. but since this post is gonna be so long, i'll tell ya what i found so interesting about the article in the next post.

[ponyakr]

do you ever skim thru a mag & just sorta scan an article for the hilites & then go on with whatever you were busy doin before you picked up the mag. well, i suppose thats what i did when i 1st scanned this article. at 1st i was sorta reluctant 2 even mention this on py. but, good or bad, its part of my pontiac story--its where i came from. i've shared something i read in a pontiac mag before, only 2 find that the person i was talkin 2 already knew all about it, plus a lot that wasn't in the article. so i sorta felt like an idiot for even mentioning it. i guess what i didn't fully comprehend was how old the mag info is when you read it, because of the long lead time required for monthly mags. stuff you read in a 2013 issue really happened in 2012, or at least 6 months earlier. the py forums are much more current. anyhow, the article i'll refer 2 starts on p.38 of the jan '13 issue of hpp. its entitled "last of the creed". its about a '70 formula 400 ra4 runnin nhra b/sa. best et 10.17---10.17!!! thats about 4 seconds quicker than a stone stocker w/original street tires. & at least 2 sec quicker than they ran back in the 70's when we ran stock. i know that class racers know a lot of tricks(some they keep secret) that make their cars run quicker within the rules, so i was REALLY interested in what tricks these guys knew that made this car 2 sec quicker than they ran back in the 70's. i reckin what makes this info so interesting 2 me is the little bit i learned about stock class racin during the 3 seasons i dabbled in it. i quickly found out that most of the time wasn't made up by tricks at all, but rather by nhra rule changes--such as aftermarket blocks, forged pistons, forged rods, alum roller rockers with 3/8 pushrods, electric water pump & fan--& how about that cam?--268/272 @ .050, 110 lsa, .538 lift using triple valve springs w/270 lb seat press & 470 lb open--WOW! & call me dummy again--but what on earth is a Shubeck ceramic puck lifter? with a 5800 stall convertor & a lite th200 tranny, this baby is a hi winding screamer! i'd love 2 see the dyno sheets on this 1. & then there's aftermarket cal trac springs, custom made traction bars & even wheelie bars? the only thing i can see stock on this 1 is the body, bare heads, carb & intake. this is a far cry from what gm produced in 1970. but i reckin thats what it takes nowdays 2 be competitive in class racin. & i haven't even mentioned the small tricks used 2 shave just a little more off the et--like 0-10 weight oil--0?? i figured you'd have 2 refine crude down 2 gasoline for it 2 have no viscosity at all. i thought diesel would have some viscosity. maybe this is some sort of majical synthetic--you see how dumb i am? this bird also runs a homemade crank scraper instead of the stock windage tray, turned down crank counterweights, 110 octane racin gas, & the complete msd ignition system. hey, this is a serious race car ya'll--& he's shootin for the 9 sec zone--WOW!!! ps: since i always seem 2 be the last 2 find out--he may have already hit the 9's since this article was written--i don't know--but i'm sure there's lots of guys on py who do. i also just noticed that he backed it down about a sec & won a bracket class at the jim wangers invit race. also notable at this race, a '74 grand am ss/ma record holder won another of the bracket classes.

[BLURR]

Hey Don, How have you been man? Glad to see you are still around, havent heard from you in along time. This is Joe, over in West Monroe. Ray the guy that has your wifes old 68 Bird told us tonight you were on here. I say I have enjoyed reading this thread and seeing the pics. Incase you are wondering what ever came of your wifes old 71 Firebird, I bought it along with that other 71 and 73 Birds John had left at his house. It was cool seeing pics of it from before. The car was way to rusty to save but I used some of her parts for my 71 Formula 400 resto. I still have the hood though. Here are the pics of it as it was sitting at Johns and then when I moved it to my friends shop where I took the last of her good parts off her.

[ponyakr]

i'm so old, just seeing those words "hey joe" reminds me of the old jimi hendrix song by the same name--"hey joe, where you goin with that gun in yo hand?" don't know if you heard his stuff or not--but he was the father of all the heavy metal stuff that followed. it was him & some other dude that figured out how 2 get all those distortions & wierd sounds out of an electric guitar--& the drugs helped? a lot 2. anyhow, good 2 hear from you. glad some of the old parts will be usable. got a '79 ta with good fenders & a few other parts if your interested--may can do some horse tradin. 1 thing i mite need is a 1 wheeler 2.41 or 2.56 rear. gonna experiment with it using just 1st & 2nd in a th400 for the 1/8 mile they're runnin now. also, exactly which '68 bird is it that you mentioned? TJ raced several '68's. & do you know if its still restorable(for racing) & if the guy would sell or trade it reasonably? also trying 2 round up a few parts before they're all gone. i may want some of the stuff ya'll don't use, like 350 motors & parts. you probably run across all sorts of stuff you don't want that i mite. lets trade e-mail addresses & talk about it some time. mine is speedbarn2@yahoo.com.

[BLURR]

Talking about the 68 redone in that bronze color with the black vinyl top you posted pics of it earlier in the thread being restored.

Yeah Im interested in the 79 for sure. Ill have to come look at it and we go from there. I dont have any motors right now. But I do have a one legger rear end under my dads 77 Trans Am project. He has been using it to roll the car around. I could get it out from under the car for you. I also have 2 pairs of 6X heads.

My email is jjohn2001@msn.com

[ponyakr]

i am interested in the heads & rear. as for the '68--i don't think that's any of the cars TJ raced--but stranger things have happened--i suppose its possible that i owned at least a part or 2 thats on it--i had quite a few.

[BLURR]

This car here you posted in this post.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...&postcount=226

[ponyakr]

yes i know the car--i took the pics--but as for it being a car that TJ raced--if it is, i am not aware of it--but i'll ask howard the next time i talk 2 him. i need 2 call him anyhow 2 find out why he didn't make the car show. the boys said he was at a cruise-in with them a couple of weeks earlier & was supposed 2 be at our local show. they didn't know why he didn't make it.

[ponyakr]

this shot brings up a variety of emotions in me--good, mad & sad. the good was the brief time i spent with the stray dog that turned up 1 day. if this is the same dog i'm thinkin about, she could stand up on her hind feet as long as it took 2 wait for a treat & acted like she enjoyed the whole thing. the mad came in when me & TJ went over 2 check out the '69 bird in the pic. while we were inside a building lookin at the bird, a young man we had seen outside sorta standin around, opened our vehicle (which was parked against the curb in the street just outside the building we were in) & grabbed TJ's purse & fled the scene. thats the last we ever saw of him or the purse. the bird was a good buy tho--clean body--i suppose it was an ohc 6 car--it still had the emblems on the hood. & it was a stick car, cause it still had both pedals. when i bought it(another of my $300 birds), i thought it would make somebody a good 4-speed street car. i didn't race '69's cause the top of the rear fender well is flat & a 9" slick is about all that will fit. '67 & '68's are round, so you can just let a wider tire hang out if you like(i like). it also came with a good set of headers, which, of course i used. my friend mb likes '69's so when he learned of this 1 which i had aquired, we made some sort of deal which transfered ownership 2 him. now here's where part of the sad comes in. mb didn't have the space for a ponyak junkyard like i did, so i agreed 2 let it stay as long as he wanted. well, he just never did get around 2 using it, so its still at my place & in purty sad shape now. actually, i'm storing 4 '69s he accumulated thru the years. he has robbed a few parts off them now & again, & recently gave me some motor mounts off 1 for my '68 project. the other sad part is that the dog, like so many others thru the years, got run over on the road that ran rite beside our house.

[Greg Reid]

My cousin and I accidentally bred my male boxer with his female red doberman and the pups grew up to look just like dog. They were really good dogs too.

[ponyakr]

the little strip of asphalt that ran beside our house & shop was a very popular section of hiway. i've mentioned in my story how me & everybody else around used it for a test strip. but our place seemed 2 be very popular for at least 2 other reasons. it seems that lots of folks would take the wrong road at the fork just around the curve from us, & would realize their mistake just in time 2 turn around in our driveway. this would usually bring at least 3 barkin yard dogs out from under the shade of the house 2 check out the new arrivals. sometimes the folks would just turn around & drive off. but lots of them would sit in the car & blow the horn til we came out. the 1st thing out of their mouth would usually be "do them dogs bite?"--2 which i eventually started saying, "i don't know, they mite". besides being a favorite turn around spot, our place was where everybody dropped off their unwanted dogs. & some of them were really nice dogs & made great pets & trail riding buddies for TJ & her horses. i've wished lots of times that the dogs could talk 2 me at least long enuff 2 relate 2 me the story of "where they came from". ps: well, the last pic won't upload, so i'll try again tonite. the 1st pic is of course taken on the "strip" by our place & the 2nd is TJ,s last trail hound--rupert, who lived 2 the ripe old age of 13.5, after surviving at least 1 car hit on the strip. the last was taken on 1 of the many trails TJ & her trail poohs have traveled.

[BLURR]

Hey Don, I sent you a PM (Private message) on here.

[ponyakr]

here's roscoe p. gravytrain--my favorite. he was actually real protection. TJ tells of 1 incident involving 2 huge dogs that were some sort of great dane/saint bernard cross or something--anyhow, they were much bigger than roscoe. 1 day as they passed by where these monsters lived, they were spotted & the big dudes started barkin & runnin down the driveway towards TJ & her crew. well, lil red was real fast, so when she saw what was comming, she hi-tailed it outa there quick. but roscoe wasn't afraid of anything & he was not about 2 let these dudes attack TJ & her horse. he positioned himself bravely between the horse & the onrushing dogs & waited patiently. just before they got there, he tore into the lead dog, knockin him 2 the ground. that startled them so much, they both went scampering back up the driveway as quick as they could. well, from that day on, they never came down the driveway again when TJ rode by--they just barked from a distance. ole roscoe was just that sort of hero type, that's portrayed in war movies--that david who goes out against goliath, unafraid, but rather confident of victory! so you can probably see why he was my favorite--he was a great trail dog & a trusted companion. i reckin some pets are just special, like trusted friends--you don't run across very many in a lifetime. the 2nd pic is TJ's current ride & her last 3 trail dogs, goldie, sally jo, & rupert. & the last pic is what they saw at the end of a trail ride as they approached the clearing where our house is.

[ponyakr]

you've already met rupert--here's the other 2 of the last trio--sally jo & goldielocks(goldie)

[ponyakr]

some of you may think my story has gone 2 the dogs. what on earth do dogs have 2 do with pontiacs? well, when i think back about my story, its hard 2 overlook the dogs. when i went out 2 look at an old car in my junkyard or snatch a part off 1, the dogs were always there checkin me out 2 see what i was up 2 & pilfering around 2 see what they mite find. & when i was workin on a pontiac in the shop they would come in occasionally 2 see what i was doin & sometimes just lay around on the concrete, keep me company & "hang out". & when we came in late at nite from a race, they were always there, waggin their tales & jumpin around like they were glad we were finally back home. 1 reason for this mite have been the treats we usually brought back from our racin trips for them. most of the time it would be chicken bones from the large amounts of fried chicken we(mostly me) consumed. but sometimes it would be pizza crusts. its 1 of my favorite foods & as long as rupert was with us, i never failed 2 bring him all the pizza scraps i could from the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet meals i had(which were quite a few). & i remember 1 dog we had that loved 2 chase critters. you'd hear him barkin, go out 2 see what was up & see dirt just a flyin out from under an old pontiac of some kind. no armadillo, possum, rat or anyting else was safe under any pontiac in the yard, even if it was flat on the ground. he had tunnels dug under almost every car in my boneyard. he never tired of diggin. i could never go from the house 2 the shop without pettin a dog or 2 on the head. they were just always there & part of my life--they're part of "where i came from".

[ponyakr]

roxie went on many trail rides with roscoe & little red. she also trained roscoe 2 scracth her itches. he never complained. it seems that critters are unique & each has their own personality just like folks.

[ponyakr]

she was much faster than any other dog we ever had. she would be ahead of the pack with the others runnin as hard as they could behind her, trying 2 catch up--she would be lookin back over her shoulder as if 2 say "hey, ya'll come on--what's takin ya so long?" she never had 2 stand & fight--she could just take off runnin & there would be no fight. they had lots of energy 2 burn, so when there was no horse ride, they'd just play chase & tag around the horse lot. oh, it was great fun--but exhausting--which required complete rest afterwards. these are just a few of the many dogs who have shared the barnyard & our lives thru the years. we consider it a blessing 2 have shared their lives with them for the time we had together!

[ponyakr]

most of the big stars get a lot of ink--some of it ain't good(like LL). TJ ain't a big star, but she has got her share of ink--from our local weekly 2 hot rod mag. she just made another national publication. but this time her ride has 4-wheel drive & only 1 hp. she's in this month's appaloosa journal, with pics of her appy--both real & plastic model.