[ponyakr]

as i looked back over the flack i got from the race forum boys, i noticed 1 item that i forgot 2 comment on(i think). somebody pointed out my obvious lack of intelligence, indicated by my sacreligious use of a '68 bird for dirt racin. well, as i pointed out in my story, i did not convert the car 2 dirt racin. i bought(or inherited) it after it had won many races & made lots of chevy boys mad, 2 the point, as i mentioned, that they protested his use of a second rad behind the seat, which caused him 2 stop runnin that track. so, when i got it, it was a veteran of many sat nite dirt battles against the chevy boys. i've mentioned this, but its hard for younger folks today 2 realize how thangs were back then. nowdays, almost any scrap of usable metal off an early bird is considered almost precious metal. but back then, they were just old wore out, rusty, beat up cars that nobody(except me) wanted. the most i ever remember givin for 1 was $350 for the very 1st 1 i bought 2 build TJ's 1st racer with. after that, the price was $300 for a runnin 400/th400 & less for those not runnin or less motor/trans. so, i wound up with an early bird junkyard. sure wish now id'a took some pics of it. but at the time, who wanted pics of a bunch of old junk cars? i ask TJ 2 look thru some of our old pet scrapbooks--we may have a few pics with glimpses of a junker or 2 in the background. mb's 2nd dirt car was a 2nd gen. he'd found out from the chevy boys that the suspension on a 2nd gen was much better suited for dirt racin than a 1st gen. this is the car he won 3 point titles in. i'll show the pics again. these old 2nd gens were just as cheap as the early birds, so i stacked em up in my yard as fast as i could. we raced em, sold em & used em fur parts--nobody cared. i had so many birds settin around that when i sold "oogene" the '68 i have now, he said i gave him a couple of '68 parts cars 2 go with it in case he needed em 2 help get his car on the track. i know a man that bought a super nice '68 a few years back. it was very streetable & ran 12's in the 1/4. but he cut it up & had it backhalfed. i think its been in the 10's & goin lower. i personally, nowdays, would not consider cuttin up a '68 that nice, but people still do it. i suppose, 2 some extent, history repeats itself in every generation. whats trash 2 some is treasure 2 others. ps: 1 more thought on the '68 dirtbird. i put a 428 out of a drag goat i bought, in the bird. it won its 1st heat race, easily whuppin all the chevys. but it apparently blew a seal in the mallory dual point dist that was in it & got oil in the cap, which as you can imagine, caused a significant misfire & smoke(which i thank you can see in the last pic), resulting in a poor finish in the feature.

[ponyakr]

featuring "speedy" & "barney", our resident speed barn "tigers"

[ponyakr]

every gearhead would like 2 have a shop of his own, in which 2 work on his favorite pontiac. but, unfortunately the price of that luxury does not always fit the budget of many households. so, said gearhead must make do, the best he can, with what he has. i'll refresh your memory with a few shots of my 1st outdoor race shop. you can see my "hangin tree" makeshift motor puller, which was nothin more than a piece of 6" channel iron, chained 2 a tree at each end. when needed, i'd borrow my dad's chain falls type hoist & snatch em out. it was around the tops of some of the trees in this little stand that, just a few years after these pics were taken, that we discovered roofing tin wrapped around. the hay barn pictured was hit by a tornado during the nite & the entire roof was gone! the only thang left was the tin in the treetops & a few pieces of rafters here & there. we finally found the rest of it scattered about thru a pine thicket, north of our test strip(hi-way). my dad let me use the corner of our carport for race car wrenchin. i'm pictured walkin toward the carport with some unidentified part. hey, it wud'n much, but i didn't care. i wuz 1 happy young man--doin my thang! --wrenchin on my old ponyaks every day(when weather permitted of course) & racin em on sat nite. hey, life don't git much better'n that fur a ponyak gearhead! ah, precious memories. so, even if you don't have a nice shop 2 work in, don't be discouraged or give up--just be real nice 2 your wife & maybe she'll let you use 1 side of the carport(if you got a 2-holer) 2 work on your project. if not, all is not lost. i spent many hours those 1st couple of years, wallerin in the dirt, under my ole ponyaks, tryin 2 get ready 2 go racin & beat some chevys--which they did! but i couldn't wait for the weekly sat nite bath--this outdoor hobby required nitely scrubbin after an outside hose down--yee haw! "you gotta luv it!"

[ponyakr]

well, i've told ya'll about my 1st "race shop" & a lot about my 2nd--but now i wanna talk about my current "shop". after my physical problems & resulting truck wreck in '04 ,which i've talked about, i could no longer, by law, drive a commercial truck for 10 years. so i was forced 2 sell my shop & several acres of land to raise "get by" cash. finally i was able 2 get on disability. but that only pays the house note & utilities. i eventually found a part time min wage job & was able 2 do a little racin. now, i rehearsed all this because its a big part of my story--its "where i came from". now, having a race car without a shop put me rite back where i started in '73. so, what 2 do? i began 2 thank it over & try 2 come up with a plan. the best plan was 2 build a nice brand new shop--but that was out of the ?. but i knew i at least needed a concrete slab 2 work on. the 1st choice would have been the slab that had been under our milk truck shed. it would have been almost perfect. i could have put some sides on it & made it into a real nice shop. there was only 1 thing that prevented me from doing that--the entire roof had been blown off of it just a couple of years earlier. i gave the materials 2 someone just 2 clean up the mess & uncover the milk trucks that were still under the rubble. so, the next best slab that was avail was under a large shed that was attached 2 the east side of our original milking barn. the original barn was built in the late '40's. this shed was added somewhere in the late '60's & the slab added in the 70's. these buildings & slabs are a big part of where i came from. i milked cows there from '55 thru early '61. & my dad was makin a living out of this barn before i was born. anyhow, i decided the lean-to shed was my best choice for my next "race shop". TJ said "well its definately a barn, so you won't have 2 change the name any, you can just call it speedbarn 2". when i began gettin it ready 2 move into it had at least 6" of dried cow manure left over from years gone by. at that time, i didn't have a front end loader 2 scoop the poop, so i just got a flat shovel & a bucket & went 2 work. it took me several weeks, but i finally cleaned it all out & washed it down & it was in surprisingly good shape. its a little ruff & uneven in a place or 2 but definately better than wallerin in the dirt. it slopes downhill slightly for water runoff which sometimes causes a creeper runaway--but you get use 2 it & adapt. & this slab is less than 100' from my 1st outdoor shop i used 40 years ago. so i reckin i've come full circle. so the gbt message in this post is--if you can't build a nice shop, you can get by in a barn if you have 2. i went today & made lots of pics, so i'll go thru em now & share some with ya'll. i'll start 1st with a few from the real good old days of the original speed barn then move on 2 the modern 21st century "hi-tech" facility my ponyaks now call home.

[ponyakr]

knocked out internet--will try again tommorow. nite ya'll!

[ponyakr]

can't get a single pic thru-- site must be busy this am. will try later.

[ponyakr]

moved in 1975--this was my pontiac paradise--lots of pleasurable moments & memories in & around this building!