Thursday, November 27, 2008

Please allow me to introduce myself...

.. I'm a man of not much wealth, and questionable taste!

Welcome to my blog. As you can tell, I'm going to bore my readers with pointless ramblings of what I want to do to my cars until I get garage-time and garage-space to embark on the builds.

A little about me (Just the FAQS)

I chose my blogger account name for two reasons -
  1. Venom is my favorite comic book anti-hero
  2. Evgeni Malkin is just a beast (71).

I'm in my mid-twenties, live in the middle of Pennsylvania, I'm engaged, I play guitar, I have cats (lots and lots of cats)... uhh, I'm a South Park fan, live and die for the Pittsburgh Penguins.. work for the family business, yet still obtained a four-year degree (in communication, which is funny because I end nearly EVERY sentence with a proposition!)... Oh, and I like cars.

What kind of cars?

Muscle cars. I'm not going to do that stupid 'American muscle' crap non-car people and rednecks throw out - it's unnecessary - they never made any other kind. Detroit - Pontiac specifically - defined what the genre is, and it's an exclusive pedigree. The era started in 1964 with the Pontiac GTO and died in 1972 with the same car. 1973 = emissions and really ugly bumpers, killed the deal. I don't want to hear about the new Challenger, the new Camaro, or any Jap-scrap. The muscle era is over; don't get me wrong, I like these cars, I plan on ordering a Camaro or Challenger if Detroit is still on the map in 2011 or 12, but these cars have traction control, air bags, twenty-seven speakers, and take a vast plethora of computers and tuning devices to sort out. These are the grand-babies of the muscle car era, but just like a '70 W-30 isn't a '32 Deuce coupe, these aren't to be confused with muscle cars.

I also like Corvettes - and there is a difference here. Corvettes are NOT muscle cars (Second controversy!). These are top-end sports cars on a budget. I do own a 'Vette, and it's not a muscle car. Muscle cars handle nice and soft, take corners like a family sedan (which is what they are, if you think of it..), and any '63-and-up 'Vette are glued to the road, have a sports-car handle and feel to them, and are just another beast altogether. I've driven some pretty stout 'Vettes in my day ('69 L-89, '69 with a retrofitted LS7, '67 350-horse, and a '69 400-horse), and once you start putting some musclecar-esqe power to these puppies, it actually takes away from the fun. You don't do burnouts with these things (although I have), you don't powershift these things (guilty again, mid-years tend to have this nasty drive-shaft jump that hits the floor), well, ok, you CAN powershift them, it would be silly not to. But anyway, it's a two-seater sports car designed for high-performance. Muscle cars were midsize family cars with overgrown bohemoth-sized go-power.

oh, and I have a thing for hotrods - not so much the ol' coupes anymore. I'd take a '41 Willys, but I'm more into slamming a big-block into a '56 Chevy or hopping up a '57 Fairlane.

Which brings us to the question; just what cars do I own?

  1. 1972 Chevelle SS - Restoration completed in 2003. .030 over 396 and a four-gear. Slightly modified on the exterior with nice AR Torq-Thrusts (dipped in chrome), moderatly modified in the cylinder heads and other internals. It'll get it's go on like it's nobody's business. I built it like the generation would have - I restored it and then modified it. At car shows, the stock guys hate me because they have one or two mods less, and the modified guys hate me because my car isn't chromed to the ilt. If I win in either class, there's an uprising...
  2. 1970 LeMans Sport. Currently a 350 auto car, I've got a '70 GTO nose, a '70 GTO RA III engine, 12-bolt Chevy rear, and several other items to clone this sucker. Except, it won't be a clone per se. It'll be a moderately modified street machine (which I'll dedicate the next blog discussing my plans...) that takes the appearance of a GTO. The stock guys will call it a clone and the modified guys will want me to chrome the Endura nose... haha
  3. 1967 GTO - This is an original 360-horse 400 H.O., 4-speed car. It's on the rough side because of a minor impact that someone didn't fix right, but it's a Cali car with a bunch of rare options (HD/Towing frame, A/C car with California emissions, bucket seat, etc.) and it's definitly not a basket case. This'll be my first stock muscle car. Then the stock guys will REALLY hate me because there's no more technicalities to complain about!
  4. 1962 Ford Falcon - I bought this car to be a driver, until I ran out of money and couldn't replace the interior I ripped out of the thing. This car sits in limbo, if I could get my money out of it, I'd sell, but it's not a priority. If it's still there when I get caught up, I think I'll make it into a true 9-second street car... with FORD power!
  5. 1972 Corvette - My most recent addition. This car is a complete numbers-matching 350 car. Auto, air, deluxe interior, it's a great cruiser. This'll be a stock resto, too. Did I mention the original mileage is in the 60,000 range?

So, that gives you a head-start. I'll post when I can. Later.