TireSmoke.org

...feels a lot like 400, just more of it.

Yet another Blue '69 Chevelle is back on the road, now with 496ci of WRE short block.

It IS true... bigger is better. Anyone that tells you otherwise has a small one.

-BP

I didn't get to drive it much. I *did* get to spend some quality time with the Cutlass, though. It's upsetting how every time we get a step forward on that car, we go two steps back. Stupid dedication to ensuring things are right.

The Cutlass is a '68 convertible that now has a 455, TH700-R4 (with factory floor shift, and correct gear positioning), and a deep geared Ford 9". Because, you know, with a light Cutlass you need deep gears and a big-block But there's lots of little things kept cropping up. Like how I had to chop, whittle, file, cut, section, and re-weld the A/C bracket to fit the Torker intake manifold. Or the first water pump we got being almost 1/4" off stack-wise, causing lots of pulley consternation. Or the factory-like tach being unhappy with the electronic ignition. Or the bad-in-the-box intake gaskets. At least the *carb* didn't require massive tuning fixes, it was pretty much correct out of the box. (Being a mild engine helps - it builds 16" of vacuum at idle!)

Anyway, it's cars like this that make me laugh at the magazine articles where they basically go on a shopping spree, buy up lots of neet doodads, and it all magically goes together with no troubles, works correctly right out of the box, and doesn't need wholesale tuning fixes. That happens just about *never*.