Shooters and cars

[TinMan]

Never had any money for cars when I was younger, so I lived vicariously through buddies with hot cars, GTO, 442, Chargers, etc. BIL had a very fast Mach I Mustang with built up Cleveland 351 with heads, Crane roller cam, headers, B&M hydro. Another HS buddy that years later visited for the Street Machine Nationals when they were in Indy. Black Vega with 468 inch Rat Motor, tunnel ram dual quads, Muncie gearbox, straight front axle. It was pictured in Car Craft at the time, but can't find it the issue now.

Finally after I was done with school, I eventually got a Turbo DOHC SAAB but had to get rid of it when I went to work for a aerospace division of GM. I was eligible for one of their car programs, so I usually got Blazers or vans for the winters and Z-28 or Trans Am convertibles for the summers. That was fun, but that experience made me lose interest in doing anything with cars pretty much. Still played with old motorcycles, though.

[219DW]

While in college in 1964 I wanted a car but was on a real tight budget. Bought a 51 Ford without engine for 20 bucks. Only had $200 in it after installing 52 Cadillac V8, bellhousing adapter, floor shift, tach, and four new tires.
My favorite car was a 68 Chevelle SS 396 that I bought new in 68. I ordered it with 350HP 396, Turbo 400, 3.73 gears, Dark blue ext and int. By 1971 the 396 was worn out after 30,000 miles of hard use so I put in a 70 390 HP 454. After adding Hooker headers, aluminum intake, Holly carb, Crane cam, 4.10 gears, 8"x15 Corvette wheels with L60 polyglass GT on the rear and G60 up front it was a pretty quick daily driver. Drove it for ten years, wish I still had it. Been driving Chevy and currently GMC ext.cab 4x4 pickups for the last 25 years.
Dave

Al, I read National Dragster every week back in the mid 70's,paying special attention to the Super Stock eliminator results. Pretty sure I remember reading about your wins. My shooting and racing buddy had a SS/JA 67 Camaro convertible that I spent way too many hours away from home working on. We ran local drag strips and a few points meets and of course the Nationals at Indy. He quit in 77 but caught the bug again when he went to the drags with my Son and I in the late 80's. We had a big block 67 Camaro bracket car. I helped him build a 65 Nova Super Gas car with a Beachy built 434" SBC. He won the Indy Nationals in 1997 and was runner-up one other year. Sadly he passed away in 03 due to a brain tumor.

[Al Nyhus]

219DW: It's likely we crossed paths at Indy.

The Beachy Bros. fielded some killer fast stuff and I remember them being nice guys when I met them at Indy.

Sorry to hear about your pard passing. I know you'll cherish those memories.

Good shootin'. -Al

[foxhunter]

this was my coyote hunting rig 1947 cj2a built with a Buick 225 v6, dana 44's front and rear, ranch suspension with a 4" lift, tranny and transfer case from a from a cj5 31" tires and a fresh cote of paint. like my 1968 roadrunner 426 hemi, gone but not forgotten. most of my later hotrods were of the 2 wheel variety.

[Al Nyhus]

Love the early CJ's. My late brother had one...we spent a lot of time working on it....small block Chevy, etc, etc.

[foxhunter]

al I don't think I would want one any faster than this one was. funny thing, one day I got stuck leaving eleven mile reservoir just as the highway intersected the mail highway. flat as a pancake with .5 of ice on the road. I couldn't go forward or back. I just sat there and spin, sometimes power isn't the answer. a young man came along and gave me a shove with his hand and away I went. 225 hp vs 1 man power and the man won.
good thing I caught my limit of 4-5 pound rainbows in about an hour.

[RareBear]

It seems I am interested in machines that will hunker down and pull.

[glennlasher]

I like cars, I could never afford a good one. I stuck with what I could afford, usually a pickup. Currently drive a V-6 Nissan Frontier. It's smooth to drive, sure enough, and has a lot of creature comforts, but it's not fast, and handles like a school bus. It's just 2wd, I don't need 4wd, to be honest about it, Kentucky is mostly blacktopped roads (something like 95%) and the Missouri woods/pastures where I deer hunt belong to family with 4 wheelers or tractors, so I can't make good use of 4wd.
It does well enough in snow, but I like the heck out of it. With my back problems now , I can't get in and out of a car anyway, the truck is tolerable.