I also love my removable steering wheel
 

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http://www.grantproducts.com/products/view/219/

Nowhere near as trick as the NRG set up though from what I can see. I take some comfort in knowing it reduces the risk of theft of my 442, but nothing can stop a flat bed tow truck (DOH). I also park way off in an empty corner of a parking lot, crank my steering all the way full left to thwart being dragged up a flat bed, and set my emergency brake. I still bite my nails when I don't see my car, and enjoy a huge sigh of relief when I come back outside to still see my car there. That constant threat of theft has drastically reduced the miles I put on my car.

If I had known that NRG also offered a removable steering wheel set up, I may have gone that direction as the Grant version has it's merits, but it's a mass produced item with a quality level of a 9 out of 10.

:cheers:

Yeah there’s no stopping the determined thief. I too don’t like to leave the car for long. The Grant setup works well, though I suspect that anyone that sees your shifter setup would just walk away confused. :lol:

Hey wait a minute - this is YOUR post LOL
 

I have walked up on some people checking out my 442 and they do flip and trip over the super rare Legendary Hurst Lightning Rods along with the steering wheel removed. They want to call them Ram Rods, and some even ask if that's a Lenco? They are cool to look at and fun to occasionally play with, but the Holley Terminator EFI controlled GM Performance 4L85E does such a great job that I just plunk it into drive and have programmed it to do everything I want without having to ever really touch the shifter. I actually mostly use all of the rods just to do some occasional manual downshifts getting off the highway, or hold it in second while challenging some of the twisty winding roads around here. Once in a great while I will find myself in a street race (who, me?) That's when I use the true function of the Lightning Rods to hold each shift about 500 RPM higher than the programmed set points and bang shift my way through the pass. Funny that most also ask me if it's got the 442 engine - I usually just say yeah just to leave it be. (there is actually a '70 W30 442 455 engine in it that's been heavily massaged to 488 cubes as my little secret weapon) 8 liters is just SO much better than five. Yeah, yeah, - it's all stock LOL (until I open the remote key fob exhaust dumps right before I make a pass - that's when they know they've been had). Someday I'll get it over to a chassis dyno - 'til then, dunno, but it smokes the tires violently to all hell at a 30 roll if you just stand on it instead of easing into it... (damn ass telephone pole / ditch hunter). If any body else dare asks to drive it (like my daughter or son in law), I swap in the alternate fully castrated tune in it and they still come back all starry eyed. I wish I was over in your area and we could go see how much trouble we could get into chasing each other around, though it would probably end up with me in a ditch until I do something about my severe traction issues...

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:drive:

Now let's get back to your post - no hijacking!

:thumbsup:

Sounds like the car is setup right and yeah... some days there just isn’t enough tire out back. I’d probably be in the ditch right next to you :lol: Wishing I would have tried to stuff a 315 under the back of my car. I didn’t want any rubbing issues and went conservative with a 305. Oh well. Next time.

Speaking of “spirited driving”. There’s a group out here called the breakFAST club. It’s primarily Porsche, Ferreira and other Exotics in the group but open to anyone. They invited me to an early AM run Sunday through Red Rock Canyon. Breakfast to follow. Seems like a pretty good bunch. Then again maybe they are just looking to pick on some American Muscle. :lol: should be fun regardless.

:Captain:

305 versus 315 ?
 

I say go run with the "imports" Sunday morning and have a blast. Since you are somewhat new to your build and vice a versa, you will be racing yourself and the road more than the other cars around you. Once you become a "Stielow behind the wheel", then you can show the import boyz how it's really done. Real cars have rock chips, but see if you can keep from eating grass, well, you say canyon which raises the stakes MUCH higher - your pilots license doesn't work in a car (DOH) :shakehead: I did some Corvette canyon carving a few years ago in the mountains of Arizona and found road dust and sand to "make my heart skip a beat and also grease my seat", so let some drivers run ahead of you to see if they happen across anything before you do as an early warning. Always remember to ease into all of your maneuvers so as not to upset your chassis / traction unpredictably - brakes, steering, throttle... You may have to pull over and change your brake proportioning setting a bit too, as hot brakes in a canyon run will be completely different than most other "normal circumstances". Hmmm, sorry about rambling on about how to drive - you are just going out to have fun! Those high dollar "imports" don't want to hurt their cars either, so I'm sure you will hang with them just fine.

As far as 305 versus 315 tire tread width? 10 little millimeters? Not worth the trouble. Many don't know this, but as your tires wear, the contact patch width widens considerably. By the time you are halfway through your rear tires, they will probably measure out at 315 +/- anyway. Have you ever heard of certain class racers purposely sending their tires out to be shaved? Yep - they carefully cut more than half the tread off of a perfectly brand new tire to reduce "tread squirm", lighten up the tires for less unsprung weight, and also makes the tread area measurably wider (while still staying within the rules for their class). In your case, a few good burn outs can do this too, but spray some PAM no stick cooking oil on your rear quarter panels first and have the video camera rollin' while those dollar bills literally go up in smoke :lol:

Pauls post are always a good read, reminds me of the forums in the younger days!

Ok, now I can't leave it alone (really, I tried LOL)
 

Soooo... That 21 Pilots song (Stressed Out):

"Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days"... <-- that's what the lyrics are supposedly

... "but now we're stressed out" … "Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money"

Dunno, but every time I hear the song I swear I'm hearing "the good dope days" (Zoiks!) :innocent: :lol: :snapout:
Bill Clinton said he hit it a couple of times but didn't inhale (yeah right) :lolhit:

So today I'm listening to the radio in the shop and am now hearing "wish we could turn back time to the good post days" I know, I know... :lostmarbles:

:cheers:

Damn, I swear its the good dope days

Interesting turn of discussion in a build post
 

Somehow I don't think Curtis, or anybody else for that matter, expected us to come in and toss this monkey curveball twist on page 125 of this post :bitchslap:

Then again, it may be the best ending of a build post I've ever seen!

:lateral:

A lot's happened in the last few weeks for all of us. Life changing in ways that we are just starting to get a glimps of. With strange days ahead, I hope "stressed out" doesn't become a theme song for all of us.

Before all the craziness broke out, I was invited to join a group called the breakFAST club and so far, it's been a lot of fun. My first outing was a few laps through the Red Rock scenic loop. On that day we had a Lamborghini, McClaren, GT3 RS, NSX and a couple of TESLAs. Great bunch of guys and some really cool cars. It was crazy early, but we had to beat the traffic and it was worth it. Lot's of twisty sections and a few decent straight aways. Fun spirited driving, but not the kind of place anyone could really pull on me. My high speed was 103. I have to admit, it was a lot more fun than I expected and the crew didn't even bat an eye when I rolled in. Then again I don't think they expected much from me. After the drive we cruised to a local cafe for breakfast. Not a bad way to spend an early Sunday morning.

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The following week I went to a meet I spotted on Instagram. It looked like all tuners, so I sent them a message and was told it was for everyone and to please come out. So I did and.... it was all Tuner cars. :lol: Nice group and it was fun to see something different. I was surprised at the number of people taking photos with really nice cameras. Even more surprised when girls started climbing on hoods of cars! I was about to leave when I was asked if a gal could pose with my car. :rolleyes: I agreed, but told them no climbing on the cars. The model proceeded to tell me she would never as she love Camaro's and how she had helped her Dad restore a 70. She gave a lot of details and turned out to be a big fan of muscle cars. Have to admit I was a bit surprised. She was very respectful of the car and the pics turned out decent.

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This past weekend the breakFAST club had a run around Lake Mead. Epic event! There where 20 cars, mostly Porsche and some high end ones to. I got a lot of strange looks as people arrived. I figured I'd hang at the back of the pack and see what happened. Yeah... I ended up at the front some how. I suppose that pushed me, in a good way, and everything went smooth. I even passed a few guys. I'll admit to being a bit shy in some of the tight turns, but I'm still getting used to the car in that type of driving. At one point a bunch of us got stuck behind a Motor Home and had to wait to pass. When it was finally clear and I got by, the road quickly opened up to a long straight stretch. I sucked in the lead cars a lot quicker than I expected. Just before I lifted, I glanced down and saw 132 mph. Scared me a little, but the Blonde sitting in the passenger seat seemed just fine with it. :lostmarbles: I kept it under 120 the rest of the trip. We finished up the run with a drive down the Las Vegas Strip. Really weird to see everything shut down. :shakehead:

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Everyone did a decent job of Social Distancing.
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With all of the car gatherings cancelled till further notice, I'll probably do a few more of these. It's a good time and I have to admit I do enjoy seeing the confusion on peoples faces when I keep up with our pass them. The car has become popular and a few of the drivers are talking about getting a PT car now that they understand it.

Thanks for looking. Be safe my friends and remember.... No One is Coming, It's Up to Us.

That view!!
 

Just wondering how the car felt at those speeds? Did you experience the front end float at all?

JD

https://i.postimg.cc/zGCF5qF6/72-C93...7-C3-D1-E6.jpg

Wow Curtis...after that lil adventure yer prolly feelin way, way, way cooler then us!

:P

Thanks for the pic curtis for a minute that I spent looking and thinking how she could have helped put that roof on I forgot about all the crap going on in the world!...well maybe it was a hour. Looking😂😂🥳🥳

It’s good to see you out enjoying the fruit of your labor!

Great Pics....

and little blurbs about the shows, 132, nice speed,

Having a group to do that with is pretty awesome. I have a few car guys around me that are into these detailed builds, but nothing like the groups you are finding. Unfortunately the car scene around here kinda sucks. Gonna make my car REALLY stand out lol

Yeah Dat Azz is sweet too! :lol:

Very stable. I've hit 120 a few times on this super sweet section of the freeway not to far from my house. The only difference I could tell was the roughness of the road. No floating that I noticed. I won't be doing it again though. :hello:

Well... I'm a Pilot so yeah. :lol:

You have no idea how much attention the car gets because of your work. It's silly. Posters will be in the mail once things calm down. :captain:

That's what it's all about.

:twak: Won't be doing it again, but i will say that it's nice to know everything is solid enough to go 132. Keep in mind, this is the first engine I've ever built. I had a great teacher watching me like a hawk though. Jeff is really to blame... or I mean give credit to.

Start a group! Seems like a lot of people are looking for more than just a show and shine to attend. It's a all about the ride. :captain:

Tried to get out and take advantage of the empty streets. Depressing to see how many barricades have gone up and how dark the strip is. Really weird to drive by and see the major casinos with little to no lights on. I was kind of surprised at how dark some sections of the strip really are. Social Distancing is here for the foreseeable future. Going to be an interesting summer.

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Thanks for looking! :captain:

Killer photos! Doing the same here in phoenix. Nothing to do other than go for a drive.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for showing. :popcorn2:

Great shots, Curtis! Atlanta traffic is so light now. It's weird. I need to get out in the early morning and take advantage of it, too. Enjoy the drive!

Seeing the Vegas strip that deserted would almost be picturesque in and of itself. I was out there a total of 10 days last month..once for the wife’s medical convention and once for CONEXPO for my job. Pretty sure I took 10 years off my life but I managed to dodge the sickness both times, however, on her trip, a bunch of people we knew got ill within a few days of being home and CONEXPO was right before they shut things down.

Thanks Jack. Hopefully you have some cool pics to post. Kinda like therapy in a way.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

I've been out at what should be the peak of rush hour traffic and the roads are open. It's one of the pluses I suppose. Won't lie, it's going to suck going back to "the norm".

Vegas takes a lot out of people during a regular visit. Sounds like you got out right before they shut things down. Locals are cruising the strip in their cars for something to do. Wish they would shut it down and pave it while we have the time. :lol:

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I should probably replace that Spear Molding that's dented. :rolleyes:

Just beautiful man... really nice!

JD

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Man that's a NICE shot in motion! Good way to quarantine yourself from everyone. You're motivating me to take my car out of hibernation tomorrow.......50 degrees and a tank full of storage gas that needs to get burned off, maybe that exhaust will help rid this Covid pestilence.
Hope everyone's staying safe.

Looks like a good way to take advantage of the situation we are all in.

I'd love to be doing some back road cruising right now but the only fun car I have running currently is my lifted Jeep... :D Guess I'll have to stick to off road trails in it for now.

Great pics!!

Nice pictures!

Thanks JD. There will be more.

Being smart about is the key. Nothing says we can't get out and enjoy life, just not in the ways we have been. It's going to be an interesting year and my guess is that things will come back but slowly. I view it as a dimmer switch slowly turning the lights up. If the roads are clear, I say go for it. Beware of cold tires though, that can be like ice.


Some off road time in the mountains sounds wonderful! There's something about being isolated in the way out that's just heaven.

Thanks Brother. Sounds like there might be some "Wheels & Heels" in the near future. :popcorn2:

Car looks great, love the action shots,

Thanks Steve. I'm having fun and that's what it's all about. :captain:

Yes sir, that's what its all about! I'm having a great time in my shop!!

This is why being a paint Jail is literally torture.. I would give my left nut to be able to work on my car right now.

I completely understand, I had my car at my friends never got to work on it, glad I have my own place and tools,

Love the pics and glad to see you out enjoying it. It's been a long time coming for you.
What was the final color choice?

Important question. Was Hogs & heifer's open? Driving that bad ass Camaro in the Las Vegas heat could make a guy thirty. One of those cheap 24oz PBR cans could hit the spot.:thumbsup:

Nice! Wishing I had a shop. I am having fun in my tiny garage though.

I hear you. It won't be forever. Gives you time to prep and make sure you're ready for delivery.

When mine was a Jeffs I didn't get much done and it was frustrating. Jeff gave me tons of **** about it too.

That's what it's all about. It's just Lexus Silver.

Nope! The only thing open down there that I saw was the Pizza place on the corner. Evil Pie? Even then it was pickup only. Let's roll around and get some pictures and beers next time you guys come out. :cheers:

Hopefully the world is back to normal by November so we can take you up on that. Pizza Rock is the only one I know in that area.

I had to look it up and yes, it's Pizza Rock. Now I want Pizza Rock. Thanks for that.

I'm thinking a cruise down there and get one to go. :drive:

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