I was under the Valiant pulling off the shock kits, when I heard Dale say "Now Boone, explain to me what happened on that run...you were down almost 20 mph".
"It launched, I grabbed the juice, it pulled strong through the gears, and it laid over when I hit drive...about a 1000 ft. or so, then it started popping at about 1100-1200", Boone relayed.
"When did you lift"?
"I didn't"!
"When did you let off of the bottle"?
"Uh, at the finish line...".
"Good grief"! Dale guffawed. "What were you trying to prove"?
"I was still mad"! Boone reasoned, "The idiot pulling those fast cars around me, slick wouldn't stay up, rainy weather, I wanted a good run"!
"And you got a popped head gasket"! I couldn't help myself.

Boone had bought the Belvedere turnkey, but we had changed the pan, so we knew it had studded mains, and TRW pistons. It had head studs as well, and when the head came clear it revealed flat-tops as expected. The blown 8519 was not expected, who goes to the trouble of putting in studs, and runs the cheap gasket?
"Guess I should've bought 2", Darren surmised looking at the replacement 1009.
The headers had thin flanges, and were prone to leaks, Boone had found an identical pair with thicker flanges, and had previously replaced the driver's side. He decided this was as good a time as any to replace the passenger's side.
"If I were going to a thicker flange, I'd run stock head bolts under the ports, I never had any luck clearing head studs", I warned him.
"I'll just grind down the stud, that worked on the other side", He decided.

Dale and I decided to cut the shock kit brackets to fit the rancho shocks...no turning back now. He mowed off the curved lip that fit against the shock, and started burring it to fit the Rancho.
"Finish this one, then do the other 3, I've got to go get the kids". He jumped in the Satellite and took off, yeah it really IS his daily driver.