4/2/08

So I was talking to Gregg the other day about the zorst in the V6 Chickenhawk. I told him about the 1-4, 2-5, 3-6 triple exhaust I designed. He got an evil grin on his face and said something to the effect of, “We’ll run those into a three-to-one collector and have a ‘Daytona Pipe’ like a Porsche!” I guess it would be like a “Tri-Y.” Except it would be more of a “Quad-Y.” No, it would actually be more of a “Tri-Y and a Ψ” wouldn’t it? Which, of course, would be pronounced “try why anduh puh-sigh.” And while that does rhyme and scan pretty well, I think we’ll stick with “Quad-Y” for now. Anyhoo, we may be building several different zorsts for the Chickenhawk to see which one sounds the wackiest and/or makes the most re-penis-ulous power. We also discussed the Edelbrock Torker II manifold and matching cam, 2” spacer, and dual DCOE adapter hoozis for Barbara/Eddie. I asked him if the spacer was going to increase bottom-end torque or top-end horsepower. I was crossing my fingers that he would say, “Top end horsepower.” He said, “Top end horsepower.” I told him once again that I'm intentionally building this engine without torque because the car won’t weigh enough to need torque. All torque is going to do is go up in tire smoke. No, I want an engine that is built totally wrong for a muscle car on the street. I want a total buzz-bomb of a small block. Of course the real reason for the spacer is to make sure the dual DCOEs poke out of the hood. I told him that too. Now, if for some reason they will actually fit under the hood, I might be convinced to port the four holes in the DCOE adapter to run it straight on the Torker II and keep it a bit stealthier. But then the question is, “just how stealthy can a rumbling small block with a ‘rumpety’ cam be in a ’78 Datsun B-210?” I don’t know, we’ll see. Yeah, yeah, I know I need to finish George first, and I know I need to do the Chickenhawk after that, and I know that Barbecue Bob should get attention after that, and then I can think about Barbara/Eddie. I know all of that. I acknowledge all of that. I'll probably do all of that in the real world. In here however, I can talk all I want. Well, as usual I have now run out of things to say. Perhaps I'll have more after lunch. I think I'll take a quick nap now. Mmm, Taco Salad! That's what I had for lunch by the way. Timmy like Taco Salad. Of course with a TS and 32 ounces of Dr. Pepper in me, I'm stuffed and feeling a bit logy. But I'm going to fight through. The other day I was trying to think where I was and what I was doing in a particular year. For the record the year was 1973 and I was in the first grade at a little one-room school called Brouse or Lang or something on Robert’s Cutoff here in Fort Worth. John had asked if I remembered Datsun 1200s when they were new. I told him I remembered when they were new but I did not remember them when they were new. I went on to ‘splain that I do have memories of the years 1971, 1972, and 1973, but the only Datsuns I remember from then were Z-cars, and those just barely. No, my dad was all about American cars. I do remember the 1973 Ford Pinto Station Wagon my mom bought new and I remember my sister having a Ford Maverick around then. Oh yeah, my oldest brother bought a new 1973 Ford Courier Pickup that year as well. I think dad was in a Ford LTD Wagon of an earlier vintage and my other brother wound up in a 1970 or 1971 Pinto Coupe around that time. Looking back now, I'd have to say dad was into Fords, not just American cars. I'd never thought about it until now. By the way, my first car was that same 1973 Courier, basically a Mazda rebadged as a Ford, bought new by my brother in ’73. Ah, memories. Anyhoo, when I told John that mom bought that Pinto in 1973 he asked, “How cool would it have been if your mom had bought a 1200 instead?” I pointed out that a 510 would have been more likely. Of course he thought that would have been the acme of coolness had she done so. Alas, she did not. The next car of significance I remember was a couple years later. I had a teacher in the third grade that drove a Corvette. Looking back now, it was gold and probably a small block automatic. I wonder if it was the one for sale in front of Pat’s house the other day. Not likely, I know. Anyhoo, the point is I remember that particular car from the 1974/1975 time frame. 1976 saw mom buy a new Chevy Nova four-door and my oldest brother buy a new Fiat X1/9. Ironically, I finished my high school career daily-driving that Fiat when he left it at our house during his move from Lubbock to Garland in 1984. But I'm getting off track here. I started out telling y'all about trying to finger out where I was and what I was up to year by year. Monday morning I spent a few hours making a spreadsheet and broke down, by school year for some reason, what grade I was in, what age I was, where I lived, what school I attended, where I worked, and what my main daily-driver car was. Obviously the work and daily-driver bit was N/A for quite a few years and the school attended columns have been blank since the summer of 1995. It is weird to see my 42 years thus far laid out like that. I'd post it up for y'all, but I don’t want to. So there. Well, I think I've wasted enough of your time today. I think I'll go waste some more of my own. Toodles.