So I had the opportunity to go meet Andrew today. I've got a '69 GTO that's going through a very slow restoration and I wanted to pick Andrew's brain on what I should do next on my car. Basically, ask him what would he do differently if he could do it again.
I meet Andrew at his house and he shows me his '70 GTO... first thing that hits you is the blazing red color, Viper Red. It doesn't just hit you - it announces it's presence with authority - like a 2x4 across the face yelling at you "INCOMING". Well, he offers to take me for a ride and of course I jump at the chance.
Let me first say that I'm still alive and I'm going for retina re-attachment surgery next week.
Andrew's GTO has got a healthy rumble to it but nothing obnoxious and sits idling at 1000 rpm. We carve a couple of round-a-bouts then he turns onto the highway on-ramp. What happened next is something that I will NEVER forget (kind of like, where were you when President Kennedy was shot or the Challenger disaster).
OH
MY
GOD !
You guys with LS engines have been holding out on us unwashed, heathen masses that have only sipped from the well of the traditional big block motors. What I experienced was not a sip - far from it. It was not even a gulp... It was like being hit with a blast of water coming from a fire hose mere feet away.
Webster's dictionary does not have the words to describe the acceleration, the words have not been invented yet. Let me give it a try though... Brutal, raw, goose-bump raising, overwhelming, utterly shocked. Now take these words and put them in a magnifier and then raise them to the nth degree and then your getting into a similar area code but you still far short for a proper description.
After he let off the gas and jumped on the brakes my tunnel vision subsided and I first exclaimed "You've GOTTA be kidding me!" followed by a couple of explicatives then a glance at my arm that is covered in goose bumps. No kidding.
The immediate thought in my head was, "I have GOT to get me one of these".
I won't go into detail as I'm sure the statute of limitations might never run out on some of the stuff that he did with his GTO. It was a truly humbling experience that I'll never forget and will now strive to duplicate in my '69 GTO. LS motor - HERE I COME !!!!
Thanks again Andrew - you saved me from making a terrible mistake by not using an LS engine in my build.
|