The Vent - Part Trois

[lgg 2]

@Wyatt...

HA!!!!

I freaking love my bike to bits. Most useless set of two wheels ever looking at my needs at the moment....

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I've driven from Rancho Cucamonga, California (between L.A. and Riverside) all the way to Olympia, Washington in a day. It took me fourteen hours, I think...even though GoogleMaps suggests over seventeen. I don't think I was doing the speed limit though...it was always hard to keep the speed down in my old Trans Am.

Did it by any chance have a screamin' chicken decal on the hood and were you playing "The Stroke," by Billy Squier over and over again.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

I've driven from Rancho Cucamonga, California (between L.A. and Riverside) all the way to Olympia, Washington in a day. It took me fourteen hours, I think...even though GoogleMaps suggests over seventeen. I don't think I was doing the speed limit though...it was always hard to keep the speed down in my old Trans Am.

Did it by any chance have a screamin' chicken decal on the hood and were you playing "The Stroke," by Billy Squier over and over again.

Ack! You got me on the decal part... I had a '79 with the 6.6 L engine. Dark blue...with full-fledged chicken on the hood.

I wouldn't have had any Billy Squier though...but I can assure you there would have been some other '70's rock!

[Malrothien 6]

My mom's firebird > yours!

'70 Formula Ram Air - that car was hawt.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

My mom's firebird > yours!

'70 Formula Ram Air - that car was hawt.

But does your Mom have drag racing trophies?

Hehe.

Seriously though, I'll concede that Trans Ams from the early 70's trump those from the late '70's. Doesn't mean I didn't love my TA with all my heart though. I've never loved any material object more! I hated having to sell it...but I needed the money to get through college.

[Malrothien 6]

Eh, she got rid of it for some unknown reason. Hate her for it because it was in mint condition aside from the small hole under the rear seat.

[Ban Hammer 13,283]

My husband and I were just discussing this the other day. I don't mind him doing the laundry, but I find I have so many finicky items myself (like delicate sweaters that go in a bag, or something I was remembering had a grease spot from lunch on Weds) that it's just easier if I do it.

His laundry is always easier...sorts, washes and can dry virtually everything he owns. I hang most of mine to dry on a rack and then fluff in the drier when done.

I will also do it on Sat morning as early as possible to get it out of the way (ooooh let's see what time it is now...5:52am)

Being up that early on a Sat to do laundry is just wrong in soooo many ways!!!!

doing laundry is a code phrase for something else on vj than what i think ya'll are talking about.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

My mom's firebird > yours!

'70 Formula Ram Air - that car was hawt.

Ram Air III was the base engine in those cars but, this will make you sick, there were a few that were equipped with Ram Air IV. A Ram Air IV Firebird with even some rust is worth at least $30,000 and a mint one is ~$100,000 or more.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I've driven from Rancho Cucamonga, California (between L.A. and Riverside) all the way to Olympia, Washington in a day. It took me fourteen hours, I think...even though GoogleMaps suggests over seventeen. I don't think I was doing the speed limit though...it was always hard to keep the speed down in my old Trans Am.

Did it by any chance have a screamin' chicken decal on the hood and were you playing "The Stroke," by Billy Squier over and over again.

Ack! You got me on the decal part... I had a '79 with the 6.6 L engine. Dark blue...with full-fledged chicken on the hood.

I wouldn't have had any Billy Squier though...but I can assure you there would have been some other '70's rock!

6.6L with stick was the last of the great Pontiacs and 6.6L Auto was a Olds. Olds wasn't bad but mains were fenestered (windowed) which lowered block integrity. Did you also have the snowfalke wheels and the t-top?

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

My mom's firebird > yours!

'70 Formula Ram Air - that car was hawt.

But does your Mom have drag racing trophies?

Hehe.

Seriously though, I'll concede that Trans Ams from the early 70's trump those from the late '70's. Doesn't mean I didn't love my TA with all my heart though. I've never loved any material object more! I hated having to sell it...but I needed the money to get through college.

Mom still has the car she had in college, a 1967 Olds Vista Cruiser with the Vista Roof. Her prof. at IU was the SIL of the owner of the dealership. Mom used to live in Speedway, IN so she knew how to street race but she never went to the track. Mom was looking for a car to zip around town so she saw an add for a 1986 Lincoln LSC, it was some kid's project but he couldn't afford the insurance and the paint job was only matte black. The car was supposed to put out 200-225hp but the damn thing would smoke tires at even half throttle and for the full 1/4 mile. The car weighed 3700lbs. so you have some idea of how much power that thing put out. Mom beat a lot of very fast cars on the street. Too bad a semi crushed it (and me at the same time incidentally).

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

I've driven from Rancho Cucamonga, California (between L.A. and Riverside) all the way to Olympia, Washington in a day. It took me fourteen hours, I think...even though GoogleMaps suggests over seventeen. I don't think I was doing the speed limit though...it was always hard to keep the speed down in my old Trans Am.

Did it by any chance have a screamin' chicken decal on the hood and were you playing "The Stroke," by Billy Squier over and over again.

Ack! You got me on the decal part... I had a '79 with the 6.6 L engine. Dark blue...with full-fledged chicken on the hood.

I wouldn't have had any Billy Squier though...but I can assure you there would have been some other '70's rock!

6.6L with stick was the last of the great Pontiacs and 6.6L Auto was a Olds. Olds wasn't bad but mains were fenestered (windowed) which lowered block integrity. Did you also have the snowfalke wheels and the t-top?

I had the 403 Olds in mine. Yup...it was an automatic. It was a strong engine though, and never gave me any problems, even after rolling over 200000 kms, 70000 of which were put on it by me. It had a dual exhaust system on it when I bought it (which gave me nothing but problems, in all honesty -- it kept coming loose and rattling), and also had the scoupe professionally opened. I installed headers on it and had a shift kit put in when I rebuilt the tranny, but I largely left it stock. My best time at the track was 14.74 out in Mission, though I won a trophy as well as a cash race up at Ashcroft's Eagle Motorplex.

Didn't have the t-top or the snowflake wheels though.

Oh what the hell. Here's a picture from after a race.

.

God I miss that car.

By the way, I'm sorry to hear you've been in a car crushed by a semi! As it happens, so have I...though fortunately I walked away with minor injuries, even though my car (not the Trans Am) was totalled.

Edited November 15, 2009 by Wyatt's Torch

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I've driven from Rancho Cucamonga, California (between L.A. and Riverside) all the way to Olympia, Washington in a day. It took me fourteen hours, I think...even though GoogleMaps suggests over seventeen. I don't think I was doing the speed limit though...it was always hard to keep the speed down in my old Trans Am.

Did it by any chance have a screamin' chicken decal on the hood and were you playing "The Stroke," by Billy Squier over and over again.

Ack! You got me on the decal part... I had a '79 with the 6.6 L engine. Dark blue...with full-fledged chicken on the hood.

I wouldn't have had any Billy Squier though...but I can assure you there would have been some other '70's rock!

6.6L with stick was the last of the great Pontiacs and 6.6L Auto was a Olds. Olds wasn't bad but mains were fenestered (windowed) which lowered block integrity. Did you also have the snowfalke wheels and the t-top?

I had the 403 Olds in mine. Yup...it was an automatic. It was a strong engine though, and never gave me any problems, even after rolling over 200000 kms, 70000 of which were put on it by me. It had a dual exhaust system on it when I bought it (which gave me nothing but problems, in all honesty -- it kept coming loose and rattling), and also had the scoupe professionally opened. I installed headers on it and had a shift kit put in when I rebuilt the tranny, but I largely left it stock. My best time at the track was 14.74 out in Mission, though I won a trophy as well as a cash race up at Ashcroft's Eagle Motorplex.

Didn't have the t-top or the snowflake wheels though.

Oh what the hell. Here's a picture from after a race.

.

God I miss that car.

By the way, I'm sorry to hear you've been in a car crushed by a semi! As it happens, so have I...though fortunately I walked away with minor injuries, even though my car (not the Trans Am) was totalled.

Beauty!!!! Are those stock rims or Cragars? 403s were good to about 500hp and had a huge bore (4.351") that means you could have used massive valves and get big airflow. The weak bottom end meant that engine would handle 8,000 rpm so it was a better engine to stroke the Hell out of. You could easily have gotten a 470 or even a 506 with the right crank. Did you run slicks or street tires?

Edited November 15, 2009 by IR5FORMUMSIE

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Beauty!!!! Are those stock rims or Cragars? 403s were good to about 500hp and had a huge bore (4.351") that means you could have used massive valves and get big airflow. The weak bottom end meant that engine would handle 8,000 rpm so it was a better engine to stroke the Hell out of. You could easily have gotten a 470 or even a 506 with the right crank. Did you run slicks or street tires?

Those were stock rims. I don't think I ever tried slicks. I initially had a set of Rikens, which were considered good street-drivable drag racing tires. When those wore down, I had Cooper Cobras. I'm guessing my Trans Am was around 250 HP, given the dual exhaust, headers, K&N filter, open scoupe etc. It's hard to believe they were only factory rated at 188... Certainly felt like a powerhouse whenever I got behind the wheel. I've driven other performance cars (my father has always had a muscle car of some sort...he just recently sold his Buick Grand National which he'd had for over a decade), but nothing has given me the feel of that Trans Am.

I once had it going about 200 KpH on the freeway late one night...but at that speed, it started getting really squirrelly -- you could feel all the air under the car, trying to lift it up. That kinda scared me so I slowed to a more reasonable 160.

Edited November 15, 2009 by Wyatt's Torch

[Malrothien 6]

My mom's firebird > yours!

'70 Formula Ram Air - that car was hawt.

Ram Air III was the base engine in those cars but, this will make you sick, there were a few that were equipped with Ram Air IV. A Ram Air IV Firebird with even some rust is worth at least $30,000 and a mint one is ~$100,000 or more.

It was a IV.

[Krikit 1,164]

Oh I'm in definite agreement there. I was just concerned about the conversion from small-city life to being thrown into Orlando, heh. The idea of having a GPS as a backup was a bit of a relief to the mind. The sale made the purchase come about sooner, so we could use it to drive to Montreal... but now I'm thinking it may be used once in the city itself, and we'll just have to rely on the map to get there.

But I do agree, getting lost and finding the way ensures that you'll actually retain a wee bit of that the next time around.

A GPS would have come in very handy for me when I first moved here. I can't tell you the number of times I got lost in Orlando. It just adds more stress onto an already stressful situation of being a new immigrant. I'll never forget the time I called my husband at work, crying, because I was hopelessly lost. It was pretty pathetic.

Another time it would have come in handy was when there was a terrible accident on one of the major highways in South Carolina and they closed the road. So I had to get off the highway but had no idea which way to go. I had my husband on the phone trying to figure out where I was on google. Ugh.

I have a GPS now.