Hot Rod History

Camaro... for when you wanted a Vette, but your wife insists there be a seat for the kids.

Or you're single it's the only V-8 rear wheel drive car you can afford because they made metric shittons of them.

I've had two 2nd Gen Camaros.

A '76 Type LT and a '79 Berlinetta.

The '76 was affectionately known as The Rust Monster because it was rusted a foot up from the rocker panels front to rear.  Ruined maroon on the outside and red inside.

She's the car I really learned to wrench on.

305 cubic inches and the factory 2-bbl.

Me and The Bat kept that thing running far too long.

We replaced it with The Silver Bullet.  Same 305.  Same 2-bbl.

I did a lot more with this car.

Put a '72 350 from a pick-up in it.

Put too big of a Holley double pumper on it.  Twice.

Bought the wrong intake for the first too big carb.

Hooker headers, thrush pipes!

Three rear ends.

Subframe connectors.

Then I got serious!

A buddy of mine, dying of AIDS, offered his help and we went nuts!

When I let her go, she was a sleeper.

We'd got a Jaguar rear from someone who had a dead XJ in their barn.  Gay Eric knew how to weld (he's the one who installed my subframe connectors) and he replaced the wagon springs in the back with the Jag's suspension.

His uncle redid the front suspension geometry.

The Bullet could corner like it was on rails.

I got to hate it.

The raw performance was great.  It was too damn loud, sprung very tight and the race seats would grind your ass and back to a nub.

I sold it for far too little, and I cried a bit.  OK.  A lot.

I only missed it a little bit, after a time.

The next hot rod was a '91 Caprice Classic.

305 a-fucking-gain!  But this time throttle-body-injected.

That car morphed into The Biscayne and got the drivetrain from a '95 Impala SS put under her.

I really loved that car, but I couldn't afford to keep her and The Precious.  But she's found a good home with the friend I got The Beast from.