Thanks for all the replies, kindness and encouragement.
Sadly, I think less and less of the younger generation are expressing any interest in these cars. Nice numbers for a street car, and it’s definitely a sweet looking ride. Also cool that you can drive it to the track. I assume the hemi is still in the works...?
It's really hard to compete with electronic devices. But I think as the two boys get a little older they realize the value of real experiences more.
I'd say right now it is about 50-50...in summer they go fishing with their friends about as often as playing video games. Maybe the real experiences will win, eventually.
My buddy Dean (he's on here sometimes) will usually loan me his trailer, but that would mean an extra hour + of driving to get it and drop it off, so I decided to keep it simple like the old days.
My truck is probably just as likely to break down as the GTX....so other than the tires being questionable for street use, it's all good, as long as it doesn't rain!
I'm still picking away at that Hemi. Waiting on parts right now.
There is no hurry to change engines as I never really got full potential out of this Wedge anyway so I will keep messing with this too.
I feel like I just barely scratched the surface. The heads are not ported...
I made 100 bucks a week when I built it, in my parents garage. No budget to speak of.
We could have had a ying vs yang shootout
I'm totally into that
Kind of fun to see something that isn't either a full on race car or a paint dab trailer queen. The old heavy hitter muscle cars with a little wear and tear on them are getting very scarce. That car is going to be scary with a 572 inch Hemi in it! Your stepson might just freak out when you take him for his first ride behind a Hemi.
I swear, people watch Barrett Jackson and are afraid to run their cars anymore. Then they try to sell,and find out they can only get 18 instead of 60.
Might as well have some fun with it. I'm going to have to do the Hemi thing in "stages" to learn, and to keep myself out of trouble.
Small intakes and small carbs to start with, probably. Play with the collected parts and sell them off a little at a time.
I've even considered getting a second roller camshaft degreed in, and starting smaller with the cam too.
I mean, I know the bigger/badder combo is a straightforward 800-ish HP, and I also know I probably can't handle that just yet.
Sam was about 4 when I first took him out in the car, he was scared to death of it at first. Then he got over that fear, but he flopped around like a rag doll when I throttled it, so I stopped taking him out in the car
for several years. The other step son Alex is 2 years older, and he's always had a higher tolerance for loud cars and speed, but seemed to show
a little less interest until recently. Last year he told me he was disappointed he couldn't watch more racing at the Mopar Nats last year (weather sucked),
so he might be further along than I know......I'm going to keep cultivating that seed.
Both boys seem to love riding in the big green Polara, and have huge smiles/laughs when I pull one legger holeshots with it.
They seem to understand...huge heavy car takes lots of torque/power to do that.
6 months for me since I’ve made a pass down the track and I swear I’m going through depression. I almost went last Saturday but with the predicted rain I bailed out. One time trial day to move the program along and it rained out during the second round. So I guess I made the right decision.
Nothing worse than dedicating the whole day to it and having the weather turn. By then you're committed, and even if you find something else to do the time
has been eaten up.
I'm obviously not too serious of a racer but 100% understand the addiction. I took the car out Saturday and just ran through a couple gears and made some smoke
in an industrial area, and then the drug kicked in. An hour later I was trying to get ready to go to a wedding, and was still basically high on endorphins. It took quite awhile to wear off.
That + a swap meet getting cancelled the next day was what made me decide...I better go try to run this thing somewhat legitimately at the track asap since good weather was ahead.
My car has been done for a long time now and I have never taken it to the track, and I have a 13 year old daughter. Hmmmm.
Maybe try going to an event that has cars like ours, spectating, and seeing how she likes it. Not just static show cars...some racing happening is pretty mandatory I think.
If she is into it, then try a track day? For me it was just easier to do that , and test the waters before diving in.
Her age is just about perfect from a maturity standpoint.
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