Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: Ed Vette on October 18, 2021, 04:17:41 PM
The power change definitely came around 1972 and later. The 70 Chevelle LS6 had 454/450Hp and the LS-7 had more HP. The Hemi Cuda in 1970 was a 426 with I recall 425 HP. The 454 Chevelle in 1972 was a dog because of the emissions regulations and I recall it had 370 HP. My dad's 68 Chrysler New Yorker with 375 PP and torque flight Transmission beat one. My friend had the 70 LS-6 and an LS-7. Another friend had a Pantera and a 63 Split Window Vette built out and another had a 69 Z-28 427 all built out too. All our cars were animals. My closest race was against another friend's 396 Chevelle. Raced 4 times in one night because we both missed 4th, once me and twice him. I eventually won by a half car length.  My RR originally had 308 rear with a 295 first gear trans. It would kick in in third gear and blow away many cars that went off to an early lead. Then I put in a 457 rear, I had to start at a 5 mph roll when we raced. When I put that engine in the Cuda I had to put in welded Solid Motor mounts because the front end would rise and the torque would twist the front end and rip the drive shaft out of the tranny but then the drive shaft would snap off the rear so I had to weld Traction Bars. The good old days.

You are definitely they kind of guy I would have wanted to hang out with when I was a teen and early 20's. I lived for building muscle cars for the street. The major accident I had changed all that and I started working with a friend who raced modified stock cars on dirt tracks and kept my love for speed off the streets.

Anyway, been doing some research and this seems to be the best article on how, why, and when HP ratings changed. The guy seems knowlegable. Anyway: here's his spiel:

"Understanding Gross Versus Net Horsepower Ratings

Aaron Severson
April 15, 2008
Technology and Terminology   

There are a lot of misunderstandings among car enthusiasts and historians about vintage horsepower ratings. It

Not sure your age, but I'm 68. The cars I still love were in the mid-late 60's. I thought the change in power came in 1970, but I could be wrong. I know that I wiped the floor of a couple of GTO Judges and a 71 RoadRunner with mine...but mine wasn't stock and had a 3/4 race cam, solid lifters, a 4160 dual feed Holley and a 410 rear end.

If I could restore a car, for me it'd be a '64 Chevelle (my first car), but with modern engine and updated interior. But there are so many cars I'd love to restore. And like the Chevelle, all modernized drive system from front to rear. I've had a variety of great cars in my youth (all 2-doors) that I wish I still had    A '55 Chevy, a 62 Chevy, 68 RoadRunner, 69 GTX, 70 AMC Rebel, 71 Cuda, 76 Triumph TR6, etc.

The Rebel was an interesting car that is probably worthless today (if you could even find one), but I liked it. It was my "settle down" car after I got married and my first car with an automatic transmission (wifey couldn't drive a stick). Here's a pic of it:



One car I never could find that I wanted was a 70 AMC AMX. I just thought the design was cool and if it was muscled up, would be a show stopper. Sorta like this, but without the wheelie bars:



Anyway, unless I fall into some real money someday, I don't see myself restoring cars 

My favorite that's been kicking around on the net for several years. Wednesday teaching Lurch how to dance. Still makes me laugh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCqdJkRRLM4

Quote from: Ed Vette on October 16, 2021, 01:12:14 PM
I can recall a lot of stupid things I did to put myself in danger. I had a '69 Roadrunner that I had built and dyno tested at 525 HP at the rear wheels. Then put that motor in an 800 lb lighter '68 Cuda. Lots of races in those days, many for money as the local bar would clear out and watch on the side. I also was crazy with my Suzuki Motorcycle and had a gravel experience too. Good thing I sold that bike. Anyway, all good memories and lessons learned.

Those old cars from the late 60's were really powerful, but didn't handle worth crap. So many kids were getting killed in those cars that they changed the measure of HP and reduced compression on the engine to satisfy the insurance companies that were getting where they wouldn't insure those cars.

It's one of those things that if you live through it, you become a lot wiser...LOL (dittos with bikes)

For years I watched "Blacklist", one of the best TV shows ever. After several seasons, I got out of rhythm and missed the last couple of seasons. I just found out that it is now on Netflix so I got caught up.

If you have never watched Blacklist, it's a must see series. Just watch the first couple of episodes and you'll get snagged. And it's well worth it.

Quote from: Ed Vette on October 16, 2021, 12:00:17 PM
I'm sorry for your loss, Ric.

Thanks Ed

I have no idea how I'm still alive, but here I am. Got caught in a power take-off shaft when I was 9. Luckily, the hired hand driving the tractor killed the PTO almost immediately. It wrapped my leg around the uncovered square shaft from my ankle to nearly my hip. Very few people can say they've survived getting caught in a PTO. Was board shifting my '68 Road Runner to see how quickly I could go through the gears. Was doing close to a hundred when I hit black ice at the same time I board shifted into 4th gear. Had L60 tires on the back with low air (for grip) that caused the car to flip once it got sideways and into two big maple trees. There was not a salvageable piece anywhere on the car except the Hurst shifter that broke off in my hand. Car was obliterated and the steering wheel went through the driver's seat where I was sitting. Wasn't wearing a seat belt and ended up on the floorboard of the passenger's side. Only unscathed area of the car. Didn't even get a scratch.

Another time back in 1972, I raced this kid on his Kawasaki Z1 (900cc) with my 750 Honda (K1 model) and when going past 100, I couldn't get my bike to lean enough to make the turn in the road and ended up in the gravel (inches from the guard rails) as I slowed down. That one scared the crap out of me and taught me a lesson about poor handling older bikes.

Accidentally loaded a 380 auto handgun with .32 special bullets - we owned a gun shop and had so many guns around that I never bothered to read the barrel to see what caliber it was because it seemed obvious. Anyway, it threw the gun out of my hand and stung like crazy, but didn't blow up the gun. Did the same thing with a 12 gauge shotgun when I loaded it with 16 gauge shells. Makes an awful noise and hurts the hands. Luckily, it didn't blow my face off.

Had a couple of pretty bad snowmobile accidents trying to jump things and in one case, ending up in a pond on weak ice so I kept it floored so I wouldn't break through more than I already was and the shore on the other side was not sloped into the pond and caused me to flip over the sled and into a tree. Smashed the heck out of the ole Sno Jet.

Broke bones on a slope on Whiteface (adequately called "Ice Face" by skiers in the know). The slope ("Upper Cloud Spin") was beyond my skiing ability, but that didn't stop me. Had another skiing accident that caused me to get my shoulder rebuilt and spent 6 months in recovery.

Did an awful lot of dumb things as a kid that were dangerous. I had a Sting Ray bicycle that I tried jumping a deep rocky creek (failed) and one time I thought to myself as I was riding in the middle of the road, "I wonder if I could quickly turn the handlebars 360 degrees while moving" (big time failure) - got a wicked head wound and plenty of road rash since I was just wearing shorts. I also mixed chemicals when I was 12 that blew up unexpectedly (thankfully, after I walked away from them) that blew the ceiling down in the kitchen on top of us and burned the house down. Had I still been next to the chemicals it would have blown me to bits. Thankfully, my mother was calling us for dinner so I abandoned the project just in time.

Anyway - I can't pick "one" dangerous thing I've done that exceed all the others because there was so many. Like I have always wondered, I don't know why God has left me on this earth as I've done just about everything possible that could kill me. I keep thinking He must have some kind of plan for me because, here I am at 68 and still kicking...still doing stupid things but have narrowed it down these days to mostly on my Fat Boy.

Quote from: LennG on October 09, 2021, 11:41:07 AM
Ric

Sorry for your loss. It is always hard to lose someone you loved so much. Your Dad lived a great life and I'm sure was very proud of you as his son. I know it's easy to say and hard to do, but enjoy the memories, they will bring you pleasure later in your life.

Believe me when I say we share your grief. Our deepest condolences.

Thanks Lenn

Thanks guys. I haven't shared my loss publicly so I've been kind of quiet on here lately. But now that it's out, I'd like to pass on some of his life.

He grew up in a small house built by his father and uncle that had one light and one outlet. He had an outhouse and pumped water from the ground to bring into the house. He went to a one-room school house. At 16, he lied his age to get into WWII - got caught and was sent home where he returned to school (now a real school with real classrooms). At 17, the legal age, he joined the Navy and assigned to the Seabees where he was a crane operator unloading Liberty ships at the island of New Caledonia. On his 18th birthday, he got a letter from home. Expecting birthday greetings, instead is was a newspaper clipping of his brother who was killed in action at Po Valley. After the Japanese surrendered, he was immediately sent to Sasebo near Nagasaki where he spent the next year. He was then discharged and went home and went back to school and graduated at 20 years old (for which I am proud of him for that). He then went to Cornell, but with the Korean War heating up, he went back into the service and was made a Boatswain Mate on the battleship USS New Jersey. While the Jersey was being retrofitted in Brooklyn, my father would grab a train and return to Binghamton on weekends where he met my mother. They fell in love and got married just before he left for Korea. They were married over 70 years and led a storybook life. Together they traveled the world and did many great things. They went to Israel 16 times in 20 years (my sister lives there), rode air boats across the Everglades, rode in a glider in San Diego where my Dad took over controls, rode hot air balloons, took a train from Rome and ended up at M

Funny story...LOL

I'll have to remember the term "herbed up" 

My Dad's favorite show growing up was the Lone Ranger (on the radio of course as there was no such thing as TV back then). Dad used to tell me, "you know how to tell if you have class or not Richard?"...and I'd say, "how's that?" He said, "if you can hear the William Tell Overture without thinking about the Lone Ranger, you must have class...LOL.

I lost my father a few weeks ago and I miss him

I think my personal love of Johnny Cash (for reasons beyond his music) makes the song more touching than if someone else was singing it. In the video, Johnny looks old, spent, and sad - that's heart wrenching in itself. Quick trivia for anyone interested: Johnny Cash always wore black as his personal protest to how the American Native Indians have been treated in this country. I guess that made him a bit of an activist.

I've always gotten a frog in my throat when Garth Brooks' song "The Dance" is played - and that in spite of the fact that I was not a fan of JFK (although, by today's standards I'd absolutely love him in politics, but I digress) and not a big fan of John Wayne. Was a big fan of MLK Jr. and the Challenger crew though. I didn't know about Lane Frost when he was killed by a bull, but understand those who a rodeo buffs were horrified, just like with NASCAR fans when Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona or movie buffs when they heard the news about Robin Williams.

Still - the words of the song cut to the heart and Garth has an eerie melancholy tone that brings out the true words of the song - the video just is icing on the cake. Nuther bit of trivia: "The Dance" is regularly played at funerals coming in second only to "Amazing Grace".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghsgEGBafyU

I've been watching "Only Murders in the Building" on Hulu. It's a bit of a bummer that you can't binge watch it because one episode is released each week (on Tuesdays) and there's only been 5 or 6 episodes released.

Anyway, the plot (I'm going to plagiarize Wiki here) - "Three strangers share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth."

The three strangers are Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez - all wannabee sleuths. Steve Martin is a washed up TV actor who played a detective; Martin Short is a washed up director; Selena Gomez is unemployed from what I can tell. They all are obsessed with listening to murder mysteries on a podcast so they decide to create their own podcast.

Suspects range from Sting (from the band Police), old ladies, disgruntled loners, a deaf guy, etc. Each week, a new suspect comes along. Light stuff that gives you a chuckle here and there while sticking to a well written script. My favorite chuckle is when Martin Short has to take his dog for a walk and when he steps into the elevator to go to ground, Sting is there. The dog sniffs at Sting's leg (who is a bit of a curmudgeon) who tells Short to keep his dog away....for which Martin tells his dog, "Please don't stand so close to Sting"...LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V1rQdXXXyI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRgyBaTulbs

This could go down as one of the top 10 list of the yearly "Darwin Awards", but doesn't qualify because no one died or whose last words were, "watch this". There should be a secondary award to stupid people when they don't die...like the guy who used a .22 bullet in lieu of a fuse in his pickup and ended up shot in the leg as he drove away or the guy in a lawn chair and dozens of of helium balloons and a BB gun to shoot them one at a time to come back to earth, but was jettisoned so quickly when the tether was cut that it made him drop his BB gun.

Anyway, any of you who have (or have had) a handgun with laser sights know that to activate the laser, you press the back of the grip with the palm of your hand. You never have your finger on the trigger (obviously) because you are squeezing your hand that is holding the gun and the squeezing motion will inadvertently cause you to also put pressure on the trigger.

The story: A guy left his loaded handgun at his apartment. While away, his girlfriend who had stopped by, picked it up and realized it had a laser site when the handgun grip was squeezed. So she decided to use the laser to play with the cat and get it to chase the uncatchable red dot - something we've all done with a 5 dollar laser pen - not a thousand dollar handgun. Her boyfriend came home and stepped into the room and apparently, she decided it would be funny (if not hilarious) to make the cat chase the red dot onto his crotch. You guessed...she had her hand on the trigger while squeezing the grip and shot the sorry dude in the groin. He lived. They are no longer together.

Storal of the morey: lock up your handguns and don't let your girlfriend get her hands on it unless you are at a gun range teaching her the proper way to handle and shoot a handgun! Even better advice: never let anyone touch your handgun period!

Quote from: MightyGiants on September 22, 2021, 03:50:24 PM
The tipoff that this was a scam/spam was right up at the top left corner, Ric.    See the email address after "Norton Team Billing"

Norton team billing doesn't use Gmail

As a general rule, you always want to look at the email address (not the name but the actual email address) that sent you whatever.

Good point! Thanks Rich

There is a scam going on right now that is nerve wracking. You get an email and it looks like this:



If you're like me, you go "whaaaatt??? I didn't order that".

So if you call the number to say you didn't want that so why am I getting it, you are told, "no problem, here's what you do to cancel"

You are told (in barely audible English) "Hold the windows key (bottom left hand corner) and the "R" key at the same time". A pop up comes on screen and the guy tells you to type a line of code. This is where you tell him to do whatever you want to himself. Regardless, DON'T follow his instructions and hang up.

I responded with "this is a scam buddy and I have a record of this going straight to the FBI" and hung up.

I called my bank and they said they have gotten a lot of calls about people saying they were charged for Norton 360...and it is a straight up scam. As long as you don't follow their instructions or give any information, then they can't get into your bank account.