1972, sophomore in high school, just turned 16, working at a gas station for $1.00 an hour pumping gas, $1.25 when I changed oil or tires outside on the lift.
Found a '67 Coronet 2drht with a bad small block. Not a bad looking car for dark brown. Local junk yard had a crashed squad with a 383 and a lot of miles. Sold my Yamaha 360 Enduro and gave $50 for the car, $100 for the 383 and tranny and swapped it in auto shop. Wasn't real fast with the tall rear gears. So, I pulled a set of 3.91s from a van in the local junk yard ($5) and then the old Coronet WAS more fun. Still didn't win many races, but was more fun around town.
That summer, I found a B5 blue '69 SuperBee in the 'dog row' at a Chysler dealership a couple of towns away. Fresh air hood, 3.91s, bench seat, column shift, crashed driver's fender and bumper and a 'bad tranny'. $165, a couple of quarts of ATF and I drove it home. The front pump seal was torn. Must have been when they swapped the 440 in place of the 383.
I started winning a few races with that car.
Then, right after I graduated high school, I found a well worn '70 340 Cuda with headers and Western aluminum slots for $750, Burnt Tan Metallic (NEVER liked that color)........................I turned down a green '69 Charger R/T with a bad engine for the same money only because the Cuda actually ran and I thought (at the time) that it was a lighter car. Sold the 'Bee for $750 and bought the Cuda.
Not too long after I got the Cuda, the local junk yard called and said they had just gotten a crashed Cuda in. Knowing I was a Mopar guy, they wanted to know if I would be interested in the 'odd' engine. It was a Shaker 440-6 car and the hood survived!
I never liked the 340 in the Cuda after having the big blocks so I must have shown my excitement cause I ended up giving $250 for engine and tranny with the hood!
I had to borrow some money from my dad after promising him I would ONLY race it at I-57 drag strip. That was about the time that I was introduced to christmas trees at the starting line. Until then, they had starting dials.
Oops, sorry, got carried away................................
