70NPORT
Old Man with a Hat
I posted this over on the dock, but thought I'd share it here too as it gave me great satisfaction this morning.
I’m just gonna put this out there because I am very happy despite some of the little “gremlin” problems I’ve been experiencing (vapor lock, hard “hot” starting, heat, yada yada). Today it all became “worth it”! I’ve always been a Chrysler/Mopar addict. Period. I guess it’s because I grew up in the back seats of Polaras, Furys, and a Coronet waaaay after they were in their prime. My dad would always be wrenching out in the garage on some Plymouth or Dodge. So it washed off on me.
Since I got my Newport, I’ve slowly (and cheaply) been building up the 383. It was the standard ho-hum 383 2bbl motor. It had some grunt down stairs but by about 55-60mph tops she would be completely out steam….parties over, turn out the lights. So I took her to a local speed shop for a nice top end rebuild (the bottom was/is really solid –didn’t see any need to mess with it at this time). While the intake/heads and everything top side were off, I had the guys throw in a bunch of cost effective =“cheap”, lol, but EFFECTIVE MP goodies I ordered. Hi-po intake, valves, bigger cam, lifters, valve guides, double roller chain, hi-po water pump (flow much better than stock), electronic ignition w/ chrome box (stay away from the orange box), distributor, blaster coil…standard valve job for the heads, aux transmission cooler, aux radiator fan, 2.5 exhaust system with flowmaster 40’s and so on. Nothing radical or super expensive, but effective - all working in unison.
All that magically came together this morning out on rt.295. I was cruising along and coming to an on ramp to get into traffic when out of the corner of my eye, in my peripheral vision was something I immediately recognized. A 396 powered 1969 Camaro. The driver had the car strutting along like some damn prima donna rooster or something. I slowly and nonchalantly came up from behind him – I was not out specifically looking for a kill or anything. I was just coming home from being in the city all morning, but the driver had already seen me in his rear view mirror. As I made my way gingerly alongside he looked over at me, made some kind of indignant “what a POS car your driving” and blipped his throttle. It was on. I pushed the peddle down a bit and immediately the 383 woke up and the racket that began from behind me was as if the ghost of Mozart himself was in the back seat composing the magnificent exhaust notes. I thought to myself, “your *** is getting smoked today by a big Chrysler”. I pulled even with the Camaro, my long wide hood seeming to gobble up the entire lane. The Camaro driver had this smug look on his face as if to say how dare you even think that boat can keep up with my precious pony car! So I pushed the pedal down some more and began to pull away with ease from his battery powered 396. I heard him open it up and I did the same. We started at about 55-60 mph and by 80mph I already had at least car length on him. Then before I knew it, we had passed into the realm of triple digits, and at 100 or so I could hear his 396 angrily churning behind me, but I watched in the rear view mirror as all 4000 lbs of my 22ft long boat put more and more distance between us. At first I thought he was slowing down. He definitely was not. I could still hear him back there pushing it for all it was worth (I think it had the chambered exhaust system some of those cars had). Finally, when he realized there was no way he was gonna get closer unless I threw her into reverse, he backed off it, put his tail between his legs and hopped off at the exit I had just passed.
This particular Camero looked like some fully restored show car; shiny paint, factory road wheels, “QQ” tags, and the “Heartbeat of America” sticker in the rear window. My car is solid and doesn’t look too bad from 12 or so feet away but it is definitely no show car. So I can just image what he was thinking of his mighty bowtie. Heart beat of America my ***.
I just had to share this as it was exactly what I was waiting for while building up the car. Thanks for listening.
Disclaimer: I no way, shape or form do I condone street racing.
I’m just gonna put this out there because I am very happy despite some of the little “gremlin” problems I’ve been experiencing (vapor lock, hard “hot” starting, heat, yada yada). Today it all became “worth it”! I’ve always been a Chrysler/Mopar addict. Period. I guess it’s because I grew up in the back seats of Polaras, Furys, and a Coronet waaaay after they were in their prime. My dad would always be wrenching out in the garage on some Plymouth or Dodge. So it washed off on me.
Since I got my Newport, I’ve slowly (and cheaply) been building up the 383. It was the standard ho-hum 383 2bbl motor. It had some grunt down stairs but by about 55-60mph tops she would be completely out steam….parties over, turn out the lights. So I took her to a local speed shop for a nice top end rebuild (the bottom was/is really solid –didn’t see any need to mess with it at this time). While the intake/heads and everything top side were off, I had the guys throw in a bunch of cost effective =“cheap”, lol, but EFFECTIVE MP goodies I ordered. Hi-po intake, valves, bigger cam, lifters, valve guides, double roller chain, hi-po water pump (flow much better than stock), electronic ignition w/ chrome box (stay away from the orange box), distributor, blaster coil…standard valve job for the heads, aux transmission cooler, aux radiator fan, 2.5 exhaust system with flowmaster 40’s and so on. Nothing radical or super expensive, but effective - all working in unison.
All that magically came together this morning out on rt.295. I was cruising along and coming to an on ramp to get into traffic when out of the corner of my eye, in my peripheral vision was something I immediately recognized. A 396 powered 1969 Camaro. The driver had the car strutting along like some damn prima donna rooster or something. I slowly and nonchalantly came up from behind him – I was not out specifically looking for a kill or anything. I was just coming home from being in the city all morning, but the driver had already seen me in his rear view mirror. As I made my way gingerly alongside he looked over at me, made some kind of indignant “what a POS car your driving” and blipped his throttle. It was on. I pushed the peddle down a bit and immediately the 383 woke up and the racket that began from behind me was as if the ghost of Mozart himself was in the back seat composing the magnificent exhaust notes. I thought to myself, “your *** is getting smoked today by a big Chrysler”. I pulled even with the Camaro, my long wide hood seeming to gobble up the entire lane. The Camaro driver had this smug look on his face as if to say how dare you even think that boat can keep up with my precious pony car! So I pushed the pedal down some more and began to pull away with ease from his battery powered 396. I heard him open it up and I did the same. We started at about 55-60 mph and by 80mph I already had at least car length on him. Then before I knew it, we had passed into the realm of triple digits, and at 100 or so I could hear his 396 angrily churning behind me, but I watched in the rear view mirror as all 4000 lbs of my 22ft long boat put more and more distance between us. At first I thought he was slowing down. He definitely was not. I could still hear him back there pushing it for all it was worth (I think it had the chambered exhaust system some of those cars had). Finally, when he realized there was no way he was gonna get closer unless I threw her into reverse, he backed off it, put his tail between his legs and hopped off at the exit I had just passed.
This particular Camero looked like some fully restored show car; shiny paint, factory road wheels, “QQ” tags, and the “Heartbeat of America” sticker in the rear window. My car is solid and doesn’t look too bad from 12 or so feet away but it is definitely no show car. So I can just image what he was thinking of his mighty bowtie. Heart beat of America my ***.
I just had to share this as it was exactly what I was waiting for while building up the car. Thanks for listening.
Disclaimer: I no way, shape or form do I condone street racing.
