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HotRod-302 β Me and my muscle car
Published: 2013-12-17 06:44:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 1116; Favourites: 18; Downloads: 0
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My friend Karno came into town a while back and I had the Camaro out. He's a bit of a shutter bug and decided to take a photo of me with my car.ΒSo this is the face behind the meyham. Man, I am getting short. When I was in high school I had a photo taken with the car for the high school yearbook for the highschool drags and I definately was taller. Or maybe it was just this angle. The photo from highschool didnt make it in because I was unoficially expelled. I know my spine has collapsed and my posture is shit, too.
This is my happy face. I don't get much more giddy or happy than whatcha see here.
So far the only other person who has seen me and my car is
This picture could almost be 1975 as easily as it could be here and now. I am SUCH a big hippie.
I USED to street race. I never lost. (But then I never raced outside of my "class". If I knew someone was going to smoke me then I wouldn't race. My GREATEST victory was a guy in a BOSS 302 Mustang (90s 'Stang) who had it chipped and supercharged. Technically I LOST... but the Mustang guy was good enough to admit I had the faster car and declared me the winner. I coughed it on the line and was catching up and was flying up his ass when I learned my fuel pump couldn't keep up with the engine.)
I DO NOT race anymore. It's foolish and I have no respect for people who race on the street. I don't care if it's in the mountains or a street closed off by other racers. Keep it on the track, folks.
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Comments: 72
Love these cars, my dad owned one, sold it, he passed a couple years ago...Β
recently though, my brother managed to find it, so now we're trying to get it back and restore it. I got no idea what it looks like now, or what it did, but i'm eager to start working on it once we get it back.
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Yeah, I can't imagine not having one of these. It's been in the family longer than I have, so it's been one of those constant things that's been in my life since as far back as I can remember. One of my very first memories is playing inside the car. Dad had it all torn down for some reason and it jjust sat in the garage. Mom always told me how fast it was so I'd play race driver in it. Another early memory is after he got it together and running mom took it out and she REALLY gave the engine a workout. It was night time, and we didn't have the hood on, and when she turned out the light I could see the headers glowing red.Β
I hope you manage to get the car back. That's the kind of story the world loves to hear, regaining the one that got away.
Right now my big project-to-be after I throw in a new cam (I didn't break the one that's installed right, and it's way too big for that size engine at this altitude anyway) is to begin a 1956 Belair I got from Ebay for $2000. Got a 427 with it's name on it. Just need rods, pistons, cam, and the nickel/dime stuff like brackets and water pump.Β
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Thanks, now does yours still have the original 302, or did someone swap the motor over the years? I know when dad got his Camaro, someone put a 350 in it, and decided an automatic tranny suited the car better. Other than that, he never told me much about it before he passed except it could outrun just about anything he took on in it, which surprises me considering it had an automatic transmission.
As for the 56, I hope the restoration on that thing goes great. I personally love the tri fives, and considering you're putting a 427 in it, that should make for quite some fun. lol
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I still have the 302 but it needs restored. The original heads are gone and all the accessories. I have the intake and valve covers too. The rotating assembly and rings are in good shape too. Right now I have a warmed over 350. At some point in the past someone stole the car and left it in a water trap at a golf course. By the time they got the car back the water leached into the coolant or something and froze in the block. There were two cracks in the lifter valley and three on the side of the block. We drilled them out and did this whole process of tapping in a bolt, DRI a new hole overlapping the bolt and so on. Once the crack was covered we welded everything so its solid again. But I doubt it will ever see any 7000 rpm races ever again.
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Right, it's a shame. have you had it looked at to get fixed and restored?
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Definately. The block is as good as it can get. I just wasnstupid in highschool that I traded the old iron heads for aluminum bowtie heads that had been given the Works with machining. But the iron heads were original and now very expensive. Even the proper alternator is expensive.
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What's wrong with that? does it not put out the proper voltage for your battery?
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The purists out there demand a certain part number alternator for the engine. The one currently on there does fine, a little more power output than stock, but I want that 302 to be as close to "Factory original" as possible.Β
I need the bigger alternator right now because that 350 I have in there needs a BIG starter to crank the engine with it's high compression. So I have a monster battery mounted in the trunk.
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about the only place you can put one to keep the engine bay nice and tidy, correct?
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In this case not so much for the purists... I just can't fit a battery that big in the spot it needs to go, plus it puts the weight over the back wheels for better traction. My car is pretty heavily modified, but I kept all the original parts (except the wheels, exhaust, and misc. bits like alternator and brackets) so if I ever wanted to go back to full original it would be easy. Aside from paint I can take it back to original in a weekend. Though, purists even know how to identify the right BOLTS... I'm not sure if I'll go that far.Β
"Those are not the right radiator support bolts."
A friend of mine is such a Camaro geek that he can tell me things like that. "Actually the bolts you have holding on the hood are supposed to be for under the front fenders."
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Yeah, I love cars with a passion, but going that far... I don't exactly care where one bolt goes, or what part it held on from the factory. As long as it holds the car together like it's suppose to, that's really all that matters to me. lol
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Yeah, I pretty much go as far as "It looks good. It works good. Good enough for me.", but I do respect the soul of the car. Sometimes there's a certain feel it has. I knew an artist who did oil paintings on feathers and she said "I can have to identical feathers and it's like the feather tells me if what I want to paint on it is right. It''s like I can't paint something else on it other than what the feather wants."
I feel the same about cars. Two identical cars can have different personality.
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Exactly, in a sense like that, i think of a R34 Nissan Skyline, AKA, Paul Walker's car. Those things may have been built, and look the same on the exterior, but mechanically, they're all different. Nissan made them like that. so one may weigh a bit more than the other, have a bit more power than another, or turn better than another. any way you look at it, no two Skylines are the same.
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I do like the R34. Not so much the new GTR but the R33 and R34 are nice cars. One of my friends is a master tech from Nissan and just got done building a 300ZX with 550-ish horsepower on street tune ad more ike 750 on race tune. Then what happens? THe car's actual owner wants more power.Β
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550 should be plenty, Nissans like that don't need much power to be speed demons.
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Haven't gotten it out yet this year but once I have full coverage insurance on it I'll be a lot more at ease. I keep doing stupid little things to it that set me back. Once I have it going good I need to just let it be. I got a new $300 tach for it and I plugged it in without realizing the old one didn't work for a reason. There was a short and it blew the new tach.Β
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Ugh, I hate doing stuff like that, and it seems to happen too often. What's the deal with the insurance?
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I have a quote from Hagarty for $477 a year as long aas I don't drive more than 500 miles a year.
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That sounds great for full coverage...I would have to pay $750 and that doesn't include damage to my car.Β
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Yeah, I can only drive it 500 miles a year, though, but that's no big deal. There are quite a lot of restrictions. I have to read through the fine print, I might not be allowed to leave it unattended in a parking lot or anything. Like driving it to work.
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Thank you! My next trick is to stop breaking parts when I am trying to get more out of it. Upgraded the ignition system and when I installed a new tachometer I fried it. (I might have gotten it unhooked before ALL of the magic smoke came out.)
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Hey guys you look amazing with your freaking muscle car!!!! Really cool!
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Thanks! I appreciate that!
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Hey big buddy! You look great and nice shirt goes along with the car too. Its epic to see you two together. I should get some photos of me and some of the nice stuff I got during the winter too. My last parcel finally made it to me a couple days ago.
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Yeah! I haven't seen any updates pics in a long time. Just so I can sag "we are getting old"
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Yeah, I thought about dressing up as him for Halloween but the hard part is being convincing without having the voice.Β
I do right NOW... but I have bronchitis...
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awsome your are so becuz you have one of my fave cars
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Thank you! It took a lot of work to get this one in shape. But it was worth it.
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yes it is what do you think of my carΒ Β
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Not bad, bro! It has some lines that would look good with a nice iridescent paint. I can't quite place the make, though.Β
I also dig those boots. I can never find anything like that in my size and almost all the time I spend doing... anything... would destroy them.
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Thank you! It is my baby!
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Thanks! It's been a central part of my life for sure. It's taken a long time to get it this far.
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Muscle cars kick ass.
I'd take one over a sports car any day.
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For sure. The heritage and each cars personal history... it can't be accomplished in sports cars unless they really are being given a wild life. Too often they are babied so much 500 horsepower is comedy wasted.
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Yeah! Am I the beast or am I the master?
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Whatever suits you best!Β :3
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Absolutely beautiful car. I've never been a diehard Camaro fan, but this is a thing of beauty. Just stunning, I would love to get a look at it up close! And as for the happy face, you look plenty happy to me! Who wouldn't be, knowing they've got a ride like this?
Love your shirt, too!
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It is my baby! It has a presence, and most people who get to know it feel almost like it's alive...
That shirt is one of my favorites. Hard to come by, too. I got my first one with that print in the late 90s. Once in a while I go looking for more.Β
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And the face of awesome friend I met. :3Β
Yay for finally seeing you two together!
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Oh yeah! You were there too! It is much more pleasant to drive now. Plus it can go further than around the block!
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