Wolfbane Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Having to drive out to the airport weekly in the early 1990's with Jerry Cans to keep my 12.5:1 engine compression happy. I do miss the unbelievable torque and ability to get street tires spinning through the 1st 3 gears. What kind of beast was this???....... I don't know what kind of beast it is, but with a compression of 12.5:1 I can't believe he can run standard crappy gas station "high test" gasoline through it without blowing the engine like a hand grenade! I'm guessing he uses AV100 aviation fuel, some kind of octane booster or a premium canned gasoline mixed 50/50 with pump gas. Otherwise...boom! It was a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am which came from the factory with an anemic Pontiac 400/4bbl putting out decent torque but only around 220 hp at the flywheel. After the original 400 engine spun a bearing I pulled the 400, replaced it with a pretty stout 455 built for drag racing. I had a old buddy of my dad's who owned a machine shop (specialized in small block Chevy's). He and I found some Pontiac HO heads on a junkyard 400 which I helped him rebuild along with the short block (forged crank, hi-lift camshaft, extra- large oil pan, etc.) Small chamber heads on a bored out 455 (472cid) makes for lots and lots of compression. Premium pump gas in those days here were ~95 octane (i.e. not enough octane/lead). The local small airport was still selling leaded 100/130 av gas. They eventually converted to 100LL but by then that car went out the door along with the wife’s 1971 Cutlass. The only other mods were open headers (at the track), a professionally rebuilt transmission with a high stall torque converter, Mickey Thompson slicks and a drive shaft loop. I knew my way around Quadrajet Carbs (made by Rochester for GM) so I rebuilt and re-jetted it with the largest jets you could buy and added an electric fuel pump. With the original 323 geared rear-end I could run 11 second quarter mile times at the track and with heated slicks outrun most gas dragsters in the 1st 60 feet with a 4000lb car. Of the more common here GM vehicles of the late 1960's; 454 Chevs just didn't make that kind of torque. The real threat was other GM made 455's found in Buicks, Oldsmobiles and other Pontiacs. The 455 factory torque monster was the Buick in their GS-X. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I have to ask….what's a fizzie? Was essentially kool-aid in tablet form with probably citric acid and bicarb so it fizzed and mixed itself when dropped in a glass of water. Many flavors and the root beer was very good. People used to have Happy Fizzie Parties. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I have to ask….what's a fizzie? Was essentially kool-aid in tablet form with probably citric acid and bicarb so it fizzed and mixed itself when dropped in a glass of water. Many flavors and the root beer was very good. I've never heard of that…..sounds like fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Having to drive out to the airport weekly in the early 1990's with Jerry Cans to keep my 12.5:1 engine compression happy. I do miss the unbelievable torque and ability to get street tires spinning through the 1st 3 gears. What kind of beast was this???....... I don't know what kind of beast it is, but with a compression of 12.5:1 I can't believe he can run standard crappy gas station "high test" gasoline through it without blowing the engine like a hand grenade! I'm guessing he uses AV100 aviation fuel, some kind of octane booster or a premium canned gasoline mixed 50/50 with pump gas. Otherwise...boom! It was a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am which came from the factory with an anemic Pontiac 400/4bbl putting out decent torque but only around 220 hp at the flywheel. After the original 400 engine spun a bearing I pulled the 400, replaced it with a pretty stout 455 built for drag racing. I had a old buddy of my dad's who owned a machine shop (specialized in small block Chevy's). He and I found some Pontiac HO heads on a junkyard 400 which I helped him rebuild along with the short block (forged crank, hi-lift camshaft, extra- large oil pan, etc.) Small chamber heads on a bored out 455 (472cid) makes for lots and lots of compression. Premium pump gas in those days here were ~95 octane (i.e. not enough octane/lead). The local small airport was still selling leaded 100/130 av gas. They eventually converted to 100LL but by then that car went out the door along with the wife’s 1971 Cutlass. The only other mods were open headers (at the track), a professionally rebuilt transmission with a high stall torque converter, Mickey Thompson slicks and a drive shaft loop. I knew my way around Quadrajet Carbs (made by Rochester for GM) so I rebuilt and re-jetted it with the largest jets you could buy and added an electric fuel pump. With the original 323 geared rear-end I could run 11 second quarter mile times at the track and with heated slicks outrun most gas dragsters in the 1st 60 feet with a 4000lb car. Of the more common here GM vehicles of the late 1960's; 454 Chevs just didn't make that kind of torque. The real threat was other GM made 455's found in Buicks, Oldsmobiles and other Pontiacs. The 455 factory torque monster was the Buick in their GS-X. Sunoco 260 was 102 octane which I used in my L-88 Corvette engine with 12 1/2 to 1 compression with a Holley 3 barrel set to .098" primaries and .096" secondary, timing all in at 2000 rpm. JJK JJK 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbane Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I have to ask….what's a fizzie? Was essentially kool-aid in tablet form with probably citric acid and bicarb so it fizzed and mixed itself when dropped in a glass of water. Many flavors and the root beer was very good. People used to have Happy Fizzie Parties. Sounds like a Pixie-Stick. In a tablet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Naseum Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Tent camping. Before this was called camping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Naseum Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 The era when endless gabbing on the telephone was for women. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Naseum Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 This.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 How many of you believed the odds were very high your death would occur in WWIII? Many of my generation simply assumed it. It still may. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbane Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 How many of you believed the odds were very high your death would occur in WWIII? Many of my generation simply assumed it. It still may. Agree. Unlikely, in the near term, that it will commence again in Europe. More likely miscalculations in the either the Middle or South East, or Asia (China or Korea). Sadly, people have been killing each other forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Juke boxes at your table in diners? Rabbit ears. I use to have one I could tune for my old Pioneer receiver. You can still get rabbit ears. They work better than those dipole wire things that come with receivers, and they're easier to tune for different stations. I use a rabbit ear antenna for my living room receiver, and another one for the bedroom receiver. The ones with the longer 40" whips work better than the shorter ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) Yes MAX! Once we moved out to the country this was my main mode of transport.....it's amazing I didn't kill myself on that thing... I saw those Honda trikes being raced at a monster truck event in the 1980s. When the pack went over the first jump, at least a third of them went end over end when they landed. There's a reason they don't make them anymore, at least not in that particular configuration. The later ones had big loops behind the footrests to prevent the riders from running over their own feet, but there were too many other design flaws to keep them on the market. Edited October 13, 2015 by Islander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 People under 25 who can easily make change When I paid the twenty-something clerk at a bookstore with bills and coins in the right amount to get back exactly $5, he looked confused and said, "I can't do negative math this late in the day." I think he meant "subtraction". Maybe that's considered a big word today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) Fun, yes! But we weren't doing anything that I would want my kids doing. Kids are still doing the same things or worse, but now they're forced into more private venues. I don't really see that as a win. There is nothing for kids 10-17 to do anymore. Malls are dying due to online sales. They wonder why kids get in trouble. If they or their families can't afford to spend on Dave & Busters or some fun place, kids find something. Hey, I was a dumb teen once. We broke EVERYTHING and we were stupid. But we had options. Now kids don't. Scary world we live in.Not quite sure why it is the requirement of the public, or merchants, or the government to provide or give kids "something to do"?? How about parents or family stepping up and figuring it out. How about participating in organized sports, or volunteering in their neighborhoods, or other outdoor activities. NO options? Really? It's not a requirement of the government to provide activities for kids, but it is a really good and smart thing to do. Young people have lots of energy, and if it's not channelled in positive directions, it will find another way to go. Parents on their own can't afford to provide what the city or town can, so they can't be expected to put on dances, for just one example. When I lived on, and later near, a Canadian Forces Base (a CFB), we could hang out at the community centre every evening and have cheap pop and fries, plus there would be a dance every Saturday evening. The "record bar" (a large locked cabinet on wheels) would be rolled out and its turntables would spin out the music from the collection of LPs and 45s in it. The DJ would be one of the older teens. I wouldn't say the community centre totally kept us out of trouble, but it must have really cut down on destructive activities. When East Germany was under Communist control, there were lots of youth centres, but when it was re-united with West Germany, the new government short-sightedly closed the centres, probably because of their Communist connections. That turned out to be a big mistake. Neo-Nazis realized there were now tens of thousands of bored teens looking for something to do, so they started recruiting among them, and were able to really build up their numbers. Idle hands, and all that. Youth centres, whether located in community centres or church basements (some of those were folk music clubs) perform several really valuable social functions. They give kids a place to go and meet other kids in any weather (that's a big factor in the winter, obviously), they may get introduced to music that's new to them, they learn to socialize in ways that are not bound to their neighbourhood or street corner (making gangs irrelevant. We certainly had no gangs.), and it can reduce instances of vandalism, because that often arises from sheer boredom. In the summer vacation period, the Forces base provided sports activities for the kids. We'd show up in the morning and sign up for the day for soccer or archery or bowling or whatever. Since the Base and the neighbouring town had a total population under 5,000, and we were located about 30 km/20 miles from town, you can see how the teens would have been really bored without some provision for recreational activities. Sometimes we'd hitchhike into the city to hang out at the malls, but it was far easier to walk to the community centre. Edited October 13, 2015 by Islander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) (snip)... When I lived on, and later near, a Canadian Forces Base (a CFB), we could hang out at the community centre every evening and have cheap pop and fries, plus there would be a dance every Saturday evening. The "record bar" (a large locked cabinet on wheels) would be rolled out and its turntables would spin out the music from the collection of LPs and 45s in it. The DJ would be one of the older teens....(respectful Snip, I just wanted to reference the post) Wow, what a great story (the entire post). I had never heard that about youth activities on the Canada Forces Bases, there's a lesson to be learned there. Thanks for sharing. Edited October 13, 2015 by wvu80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Yes MAX! Once we moved out to the country this was my main mode of transport.....it's amazing I didn't kill myself on that thing... I flipped one exactly like this about 20 years ago. Somehow I bailed off the high side as it was going over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 playing with and eating candy cigarettes mmmmm...candy cigarettes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 mmmmm...candy cigarettes. Things were so nasty I bought the real thing... Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 playing with and eating candy cigarettes mmmmm...candy cigarettes. Yes, what a great lesson and lead in for our youngsters..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 playing with and eating candy cigarettes mmmmm...candy cigarettes. Yes, what a great lesson and lead in for our youngsters..... Eh, I never started smoking. I remember them just being a long cylinder of gum coated in powder and wrapped in paper so that the powder would come out in a puff of "smoke" when you blew through them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.