RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS

Posted By: 6PACMAC

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 09:04 PM

I moved out of the suburbs and on to almost 72 acres. Nearest neighbor now is 1/2 mile away. We get along great, I don't know them and they don't know me

Posted By: sjs64polara

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 09:12 PM

You guys are lucky�� I rarely ever start my car, normally push it. Besides maintenance my trailer only has over night stays at the house. I store it at a friends during racing season. I also try not to run my air compressor past 9:30 during the summer when the doors are open.

Posted By: bonefish

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 09:16 PM

ive been living in the same house for over 27 years,was a dirt rd then.now its built up and the only compaints i get are from people who live 2 blocks away and dont like my boats and car trailers.they are always complaining to code inforcement that its an eysore.there is many differnt ways they can get to their house besides driving past mine.

Posted By: StrokerAspen

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 09:16 PM

If I have to listen to my neighbors have screaming matches with their kids, they can listen to my car.

I keep my car at my parents shop, I have no room, as I have a small single attached garage (a.k.a. a boxed in car port) and the engineless Valiant resides in there.

-Kenny

Posted By: 2QUICK4U

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 09:47 PM

ive been to court twice with my neighbor and won both times.i dont live there anymore, but time will tell with new neighbor.

Posted By: MoparBilly

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 09:59 PM

The Cul-de-sac I live in has learned to tolerate me after 22 years...or maybe I just finally won! The houses on each side of me are in forclosure and empty right now!!

I was in a pickle one time, had to fire the new engine and break in the cam, then install the inner springs, we had a race the next morning and we didn't complete the car until 11:30 PM. We fired it, broke it in, then pulled the valve covers, rockers, and had springs sitting everywhere when the Cops showed up. They looked at the partially disassembled engine, and said "Were you just running that"?
"Sure were, had to break in the cam", I sheepishly replied
They looked at each other in surprise, not quite knowing what to say, "Well...you're not going to start it again tonight are you"?
"No, officer, we're all done"!
"Ok, guys, have a nice night, and good luck tomorrow"! and off they went.
I could see my neighbors peeking through the curtains, they could not have been happy with that outcome.

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Posted By: 340B5

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 10:03 PM

I help them with their car problems, and they tolerate me. I don't start the car after 9:00 pm or on quiet Sunday evenings, etc.

Posted By: Adobedude

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 10:19 PM

I use my truck as pay back....

Screaming kids, barking dogs = Opened up garage doors and open header Mopar small block.

I ruined an outdoor wedding one day, it's a long story, but the A hole deserved it. We have 2 to 5 acre lots, but any neighbor is fair game.

Posted By: dmking

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 10:26 PM

i do not make any big noise after 8:30pm durring the week. the neighbors wife goes to ber real early. she is ok with everything sofar. 11 years and counting.

Posted By: MagnumDartSport

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 10:36 PM

As long as there are kids in my neighborhood I should be OK. They usually drag their parents over to see the guy with the red race car.I drive the 1 mile loop around my hood a couple of times each year. Someone 1/2 mile behind me owns a alcohol injected mud rail and there are at least 10 "car guys" in my area.

Posted By: dusturbd340W5

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 10:45 PM

like said above I have to deal with there barking dogs and noisy kids so I really don't care what the HOA or the neighbors think.I don't go overboard but I have set the car on the transbrake and the chip and launched the car in the middle of the street during daylight hours.Oh and I have 2 cops that live a few houses away.

Posted By: PolyDart

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 11:43 PM

I live on 2.5 acres, but the houses are relatively close together. I don't run the car for very long at home. I load the car with a winch and I won't start the engine to take the car off the trailer after dark. No complaints, just trying to be a good neighbor.

Posted By: Crizila

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 11:52 PM

I live in a pretty close neighborhood (HOA ) and on a culdasac. My neighbor is the HOA president

When we first moved here we had all the neighbors over for a get-together dinner. Kinda like a "tune-up the neighbors" dinner. Haven't had a problem. I don't abuse it though. If we have an early morning race, I load up the night before. If we roll in after 10pm, I don't unload until the following morning. If I have to run the car for any length of time in the garage, I have a pair of race muffs I can slide over the collectors.

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Posted By: Chris2581

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/26/12 11:57 PM

My home area is next to a U.S. National Park,but I don't have any problems.I use mufflers when I run the car.I have on 2 occasions run it thru the neighborhood with open headers,and got no complaints.Most of the guys heard the car and were lined up on the street and wanted me to do a burnout.I declined.

Now with my "new" neighbor next door,he will probably call the law, which won't do him any good.He and I cannot stand each other as I called the city on him for having his diesel rig in the yard,after asking him 3 times not to run it at 2am and waking me up several times.

Overall,no problems with the neighbors,and in reality,I don't want anyone knowing what I have at my home.

Posted By: aquamist60

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 12:06 AM

I have the police here almost every time it runs more than 1-2 minutes.

Posted By: Anonymous

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 12:11 AM

This is funny in that I started the car right after lunch today without ample warning to the wife-god who was on the opposite side of the garage wall in the kitchen!

I went in the house and fortunately she had a smile and made it known that exhaust was the top of my "to purchase" list!

My neighbors are all cool since they all either have cars or I've done brake jobs/repairs on their daily drivers.

Posted By: moparacer

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 12:27 AM

I am fortunate enough to have one neighbor with a loud VW conversion trike on one side of me, and a the other shoots guns and rifles all the time so they have no room to talk.

I did put 3 1/2 inch pipes and bullet mufflers on my car to quite it down so it doesn't make as much noise however.

Posted By: fourgearsavoy

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 12:35 AM

I had my 493 on a test stand in front of my garage and a few of my hillbilly neighbors came over with a six pack to listen to the open headers and the smell of racing fuel

The ones with the barking dogs that bark EVERYDAY can listen to me a few times a month when I "rotate my tires" out in front of the house

Gus

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Posted By: 383man

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 12:49 AM

I dont have open headers as I have always run the 63 with the exh on it but it is kinda loud with 3" pipes and Ultra-Flow mufflers. Neighbors are cool but the couple next door had a baby last year so when I come home on wekend nites after cruising somtimes at 11 to 12 oclock I shut it off as soon as I roll in the driveway. Then I open the garage door and fire it up and pull right in and shut it off. Just trying have respect for thier baby but I have not had any problems. Ron

Posted By: Leon441

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 12:56 AM

My wife and I married in 93 and just purchased a house in a neighborhood full of 1/2 acre lots and a large town home community behind us. I had just built a full roller 378 and drove it everywhere with full 3" exhaust. Once or twice I fired it with open headers but could not stand the noise myself. My 100X30ft driveway was my launchpad.

I was once accused of driving down the road at 10P every night. Not true I was usually in bed by then or close. One Friday I was off from work and was doing hole shots in the driveway, 100ft long drive. Did not know the police had been called. I had water down in one lane to heat and dry in the other. Things were going good. I got a bottle ready and turned the NOS on. About the time I finished the burnout and had staged in the dry lane. Lil sherrif was parked in the road in front of my driveway. I decided to let go of the T-brake anyway. Their eyes became very big. But, they simply drove on knowing I was not going to listen to any BS.

Some new neighbors moved in. I was doing holeshots again. My freind who was helping me tune the car on the brake noticed the new kid next door jumping on his trampolin trying to get a peak over the fence.

We have sense moved to a 13 acre lot with a lot of driveway. Problem is it is still gravel. So I pull the truck and trailer out of the garage and do 80 ft launches through the garage.

Leon

Posted By: The Shocker

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 01:29 AM

Like others here i dont run my car late at night or early in the mornings .Most of my neighbors are cool as i have loaned them tools ,answered car questions ,etc .Only trouble is the guy right next door who has called the law on me twice since he has lived there.The Police told me that first off they had to hear it personally before they could do anything ,and that they would not do a thing unless i was deleberatly trying to be a pain making noise.I explaned to the cops about having to load it / move it from time to time ,and they told me infront of my neighbor to go right ahead .My neighbor hasnt called the cops on me since that 3 way conversation ,lol ...

Posted By: racealittle

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 01:37 AM

For years I did repairs, welding, fixed flats, loaned tools,etc., for the neighbors.

Hell, I even held the annual block party; my prep time and a lot of it at my expense. I actually enjoyed doing all these things and felt good about what I was doing.

I only ran the car when I had to, followed the by-laws. I actually started the car, minimal warm up and coasted out of the neighborhood. On the way home I often coasted into the neighborhood as quiet as possible.

It only took one person to threaten me, insult me, and call the by-law enforcement. He was 89 years old, red in the face, screaming at me. He also tried to turn the neighbours on me. I lost all happiness in what I was doing.

I won the by-law, and most neighbors said they believe that anyone should be able to do what they want on their property within reason; but I should not be taking advantage of them.

The block party no longer happens, I don't fix their cars or help with home repairs, and no longer have that tool they want to borrow.

I still help 3 sets of retirees in there late 80's-early '90's. Small home repairs, take them to doctors, cancer treatments etc.

Sold the truck, the motorhome, car hauler, FED, project car, and my test mule.

Down to one ride. When it comes back to life, no one is going to stop me from driving it whenever I want, day or night.

Posted By: emarine01

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 01:40 AM

Humm

..... Define neighbor....

Posted By: MR_P_BODY

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 01:47 AM

I have no problems... I live on 8 acres and the closest
neighbor is 300 yards away... I was teaching Doug,
my driver how the car worked and launched in my driveway...
we did maybe 25 burn outs and no body said a word
but it was LOUD doing 6000-8000 rpm burn outs

Posted By: toddd

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 01:57 AM

My neighbour didn't know i had a Drag car until i fired it up .

The family across the street thought I had an excavator working in the back yard, when they heard the rumble for the first time.

No one has told me to shut it off, infact 1 day after seating the rings with a few whacks of the throttle about 5 of them showed up to see what was happening.

1 house , the neighbourhood Sheriff, doesn't "really appreciate" the noise but doesn't object either because I don't abuse them with the noise.

My noise is NO worse than the Speeding Soccermoms taking their brats to school that race up and down the road.

Posted By: Chassisman

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 02:23 AM

My old neighborhood was Greenhills Golf Club....they barred my Dart from the entire complex before I even moved in....they all know me so well here. I wasn't even allowed to pull my 40' into the gates. Im a whole sub section in their HOA rules now. After 5 years I left there......rented my house to a Mariachi music producer. Bought 5 acres about 1/2 mile away....can see it plain as day across my river.....now they can here my Dart and ZO6 doing high speed runs.....lol

Posted By: Todd

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 02:28 AM

Usually don't start it up to late but all the neighbor's are Amish so they couldn't call to b#*ch if they wanted to. As you can see in the pic my neighbors arn't that close.

Posted By: RBDuster

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 03:25 AM

I have great neighbors. One is 93 and says that she appreciates it when I start the race car as it gets the ticker going.

Posted By: Duner

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 03:56 AM

I think I'm going to have a problem with my new neighbors that moved in across the street from me. Yesterday afternoon the new neighbor came over to complain that I was making too much noise. I was using my Mikita grinder in my garage. She said she had no idea that this neighborhood would be so noisy and she said she wouldn't have bought the house if she would have known it was so noisy. I guess it didn't help that we could hear the Division 7 race from Firebird at the time. LOL

I am building a new exhaust system - so I was using the Mikita, and a Sawzall all day yesterday and today. I waited until 9 am before starting today, and never make noise past 9pm. I've been here for 18 years so far and have never had anyone complain about anything. Who knows what the reaction is going to be when I fire the thing up. I'm hoping for the best.

Posted By: dartman366

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 04:07 AM

had one neighbor down the street drive his dragster up and down the street to get some time on the new motor, must of had a few new motor's a couple years ago,

neighbor behind me has a low 9. super-pro Ford ranger, so no problem with any of mine,,I do go next door and warn the 86 year old fellow that lives there when I get ready to start mine up, don't want to startle him too bad, but he does say he likes the sound of it.

Posted By: rebel

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 05:39 AM

i used to live in a semi tight suburb in a 3 bedroom house by myself. i was the only resident without a dog, didn't need one as all the kids in the street would come n look at my car & talk to me & tell me who came n went & gave me the car plate #'s. i think i knew the kids better than their parents.
one sunday morning i'm loading the 'cuda on the trailer at 7am. 5600 stall converter, open headers was like the calling signal & all the kids would come n watch as i loaded up & tied the car down.
this one kid sez. "my dad thinks you're a d1ckhead!". wow really? "yeah he does, but i think you're cool". wow thats nice mate, thanks alot. "yeah, i wish you were my dad, you're way cooler than him". wow, thats nice mate, thanks alot. so whats your dad doing now? "probably mom", hmmm, conversation over, didn't need to know that.lol. funny thing was, if any neighbours car broke down, it was me they'd send their kid to to ask for help. one even jacked me up with his sister, ugggh.

Posted By: OhioMopar

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 09:58 AM

Not really a race car, and I'm not in the neighborhood anymore. But here goes. Was breaking in the cam on my R/T, .509 Purple Shaft, open headers, '69 HP 440. Had it running for a good 20 minutes at variosus RPM's. After I shut it down the neighbor two doors down pulled his Nova out of the garage for some reason.
The people behind me really hated me and my neighbor, but it wasn't because of cars. It was because they hated everything. Not having my yard look like a golf course. Weeds beside my shed. The cars were one thing they never called about. The in laws a couple blocks away knew when I was out in the garage, though...

Posted By: Challenger 1

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 02:20 PM

I am lucky or unlucky depending on how you look at it, I keep my race cars at my race shop at work.
I run a top alcohol dragster and rebuild the engine and clutch after every run.
I used to have a bar across the street from my shop.
I have only started my car twice here in 10 years of racing it. Can't start it inside the shop, it would blow everything off the walls. It must be outside.
One time the bar across the street emptied out to hear the car run. Another time my 8 year old dog freaked out because he has never heard it run, in 8 years of hanging out in the shop.
I rebuilt the motor scores of times and never started it until we get to the track. It's alot of work to start the car and takes 3 guys to do it. I drain the fuel after each day and pull the push rods.
I have 3 motors and can change them quick if something was wrong when I got to the track, there never was anything wrong with them.

I would never do burnouts or launches on my private property unless I had acres to play with a safe runoff area in case the brakes failed.

I find it real stupid for people to do that in there driveway if you have neighbors anywhere close.

I lived in my home also for 27 years, I earned the respect from them(neighbors) by not being stupid and helping them out. I would trust them with the keys to my house and garage.

Posted By: Al_Alguire

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 06:16 PM

I dont like neighbors

Posted By: dragram440

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 06:21 PM

I live at the end of a 3/4 mile dead end road in the country. My closest neighbor is 1/2 mile away! I like to run the car with open headers after the bar just because I can!

Posted By: Scamp451

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 07:10 PM

We moved into this house in November 2002. A month prior, the trans grenaded in my Scamp. I had no spare which was not a concern at the time since we were trying to get packed up and move after selling the old house. I left the car as is and put it in the garage until spring time came. One Saturday, I threw in the new trans and fired it up on jackstands in the garage (open headers) and let it idle enough to warm up, and fired it again to drive it up on the trailer about 7:30pm.

Next morning I am outside tinkering around the yard when my neighbor yells over to me: Hey do you have a race car over there???

Oh great... heeere we go.

I said yes, and asked it was too loud or too late (not trying to make enemies early). He replied: oh, no, no problem, it sounds good! Where do you race, I would like to come and watch sometime!

Talk about a happy ending!

Posted By: Jeepmon

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 07:15 PM

I figured this conversation would be fitting for this thread...

Quote:

Conversations in suburbia

Background: I live in a suburb of Sacramento called Roseville in a series of track houses that were built in the mid 80s. Ages range from early 30s to mid 50s. Lots of kids, dogs, a school down the street etc. I'm at the end of a cul-de-sac.

So Sunday morning I pull the Camaro out of the garage to stare at it and masturbate. (the cars does it for me) It's pretty loud and the F1 chirps pretty good. My neighbor (late 40s, 2 kids, mowing his grass with safety glasses on) walks through his manacured hedge to check it out. This conversation follows:

N-Morning Dave! Wow is this a '66? This thing is wicked!

Me- Hey Mike, nope it's a '67- the first year it was made. I'm glad you like it.

N-Aw sweet! So what's under the hood?

Me-(popping the hood) It's just got a small block Chevy with what's called a Procharger supercharger. This big polished guy compresses air into a cooler and then into the engine.

N-Just like a turbo. Yep

Me- (avoiding what will be an hour long conversation) ............Exactly.

N-Yeah, when I got the Saab I ordered the turbo on there. When you get that thing pointed where you wanna go and that turbo thing gets going..........(insert weird whistle sound) .........well let me just say-it's fast. These guys made jets you know.

Me-yep. yes they did.................awesome stuff man.

.............awkward silence...............

N- well I'll let you get to it. Gotta tame the bush over here!

Me-yeah I'm gonna try to get laid this weekend too.

N-(from probably 30 feet) Huh? what's that?

Me- Nothing man! Keep that Saab shiny side up buddy!

N-(ultra white guy thumbs up)

They say that every block has "that car guy on it". If you can't identify him, it's you.

Posted By: Guitar Jones

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 08:16 PM

Funny stuff. I have had cops called on me in the past in the old house but now I live on a cul de sac on a 1/2 acre with a lake, neighbors are very cool and haven't said a single word to me about running the car. I don't start it early and never run it after dark or more than needed.

Posted By: 67dodge67

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 09:12 PM

I live on a "half circle" court with 5 homes present, the main road, and then another "half circle" court with 5 again on the other side of the road. Most of them have been living there for 10+ years, two families 20+ years. They figured out what was going on with my first car, a 74 Cutlass (highschool days) and my teenager mentality (I'm suuuurrrree you can figure out what I should NOT have been doing at age 16). But... never had anyone complain. Now in my 40's, at the same home, when I fire my Coronet up, they come over with beer

and watch what I'm doing, asking questions as well. By the way, a cop lives next door who is very friendly and another one across the street.... he gives me the "look" every once in a while but realizes my car is tagged and insured

plus I think his wife wont let him have any toys

Dave

Posted By: 70HemiGTX

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 09:21 PM

Quote:

Usually don't start it up to late but all the neighbor's are Amish so they couldn't call to b#*ch if they wanted to. As you can see in the pic my neighbors arn't that close.

Well one of two things here.

#1. If you think Amish DO NOT have phones, you have your head in the sand. Around here they have a "phone booth" at the end of the lane, or fence, or far enough away from the house that is it inconvenient to use. If they have a business at home, guess what, they have a phone in the shed they have said business in. Plus 95% or better walk around with cell phones anyway. Plus a computer.

#2. Your noise is drowning out the noise from their party....

My neighbors all go nuts over my car when I get it out. My next door neighbor says that it's music. His wife doesn't think so though. She tolerates it. The neighbor behind us loves the car. (Harley guy w/loud pipes.) The old man across the street (in his 80's) knows when I get the car out it is warm enough for him to get his old Farmall out and shine it up. His wife just shakes her head at both of us.

I try not to run it late at night, say after 7:30 - 8:00, unless I'm getting home from a trip to the drive-in.

Posted By: Chris'sBarracuda

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 09:40 PM

Quote:

I dont like neighbors

Funny..

My car and trailer says "POLICE" on it.. Never had them called.. Billy drives it all through the neighborhood..

I guess they think.. Who are we going to call??

Chris..

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Posted By: radar

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 10:07 PM

My neighbors on the right are awesome, keep a golf course lawn and never have an attitude, they just enjoy doing it. They have three generations in the house and all help out with firewood and work on an old flathead lawn tractor all the time.

Across the street the guy has a 8 second chevy II, T bucket, and a street/strip ford lighting. He helps out with another guy's serous race effort and they're at atco every weekend. We like to peek at each other's projects. Next to him is a guy with a 59 caddy and a couple old harleys.

I share a double driveway with a couple that's trying to get an unreasonable amount for their house (for sale) and having a hod rod neighbor doesn't fit into the wife's fantasy about her suburban life. The house on the other side of them is abandoned! They have two trucks and a minivan and resent my using my driveway for parking so they can't use it to shuffle their cars around.

I used to lend the husband tools, help them with snow removal, and my wife even used to give them home made cookies once in a while. Then without any notice they called the township to complain about all my 'abandoned vehicles'. All my cars/trucks are running, driving, registered, and insured. The only time I broke ordinance was when I pulled the motor out of my swinger and left it in front of the garage for one week. A week later I put the new motor in (in the garage) and it was back on the road. They never said anything about it. Then the township came in the dead of winter and made me prove everything was legal. It was last winter when we had a foot of snow, and my demon was BURIED. What a pain in the butt. It's not my fault that my treasure looks like junk to them. It's not like I have an 80's camaro on blocks in front of my house with grass gone to seed! It made it even more fun that the inspector is the wife's friend, and drives a smartcar...

Screw those neighbors. I still try to be a good neighbor and kill them with kindness, but inbetween 9am-9pm I am sure to make as much noise as I want. I can't wait till they move.

Posted By: Kindafast

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/27/12 10:18 PM

Been at my .5 acre lot since 1995. Only problem was when we first moved here the county cop across the street tried to give me the riot act. I never run the car after 9:00 in the evening or early in the mornings. During that confrontation I told the cop to pack sand and get off my property or else. I have since made friends with him and work on his junk all the time. All my neighbors understand I race and don't give me any B/S about it. Heck I even do some body work and painting for myself and friends without any problems.

Posted By: Lil Demon

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/28/12 12:06 AM

At my old house in Rocklin - HOA suburbia track homes in a gated golf course community - everyone was pretty cool but I didn't abuse it either. Lots of cops and young families in the neighborhood. I used to fire the car to go on or off the trailer, or about once a month I would take a little neighbor boy around the block in it (private streets) as he loved the car and had been diagnosed with an inoperable heart condition and was already 2 years past his life expectancy - so he was on borrowed time.

One day I got a letter from the HOA telling me to cease and desist operations of my non-street legal vehicle in the neighborhood, that it was causing excessive noise, that I was illegally operating it on public streets, and that hot rods were not allowed in the neighborhood.

My response started wth "Dear Gestapo,"

The rest of my response included things like - these are private streets, I'll be sure to tell the little boy dying of a heart condition he can no longer go for a ride, make sure I don't see anymore quads or dirt bikes going up and down the street, please tell all of the other hot rodders they can't own a hot rod in the neighborhood, and provide me the name of the appropriate person in charge of this policy because I want to make sure I have the spelling correct for when I send this to SEMA's legal counsel. That was page 1.

Page 2 was a drawing of a middle finger with a hand written "Looking forward to seeing you in court".

Never heard from them again.

Posted By: 11secdart

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/28/12 01:03 AM

My neighbors are somewhat Cool! I had a good friend that lived across the street but he passed away a few years ago, he loved my car he`d run over every time he would hear me start it. He had a Ford show./cruise truck I helped him with. I`m still friendly with his widow. He told me he heard the guy behind him in his backyard complaining about me once, this is the same guy that my late friend told me he could hear him hitting his wife on occasion and he sent an anonymous letter to my other neighbor ( she`s 91 and lives alone) that he didn`t like how she kept her yard. Dirtbag! Then theres the other neighbor across the street who has two driveways but parks in the street making it hard to back my trailer in, he stands at the door and watches me struggle backing in. My next door neighbor as I said is 91 , I do her garbage to the curb, snow removal and landscaping, on the other side are foreigners that don`t maintain their yard but I don`t bother with them. Behind me is a guy I only see once or twice a year if we`re out on our deck and he`s out we see him over the fence but not much, he`s a nice guy also. next to him is a nut case that runs the diesel generator in his garage at Ten O`clock at night to run his electric weedwacker doing his trimming in the dark, he also cuts his grass then, he does some wierd things! Although my car has mufflers its still pretty loud, so I have self imposed curfews to keep everybody happy in my hood.

Posted By: Stroker Scamp

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/28/12 05:50 AM

all my neighbors are cool, i stay within reasonable hours on having the car run, ive been here for going on 13 years have 3 1/2 acres, got some gearhead neighbors, have done a few short blips on the street(private rd)plus im on the HOA board, always have live music outside every year with our annual party, somebody says anything to me ill tell them that that are way more important things in the world to worry about

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Posted By: 8urvette

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/28/12 08:51 AM

My car is at my parents house, when it runs (not often) the neighbors don't seem to care. A few houses down on both side are gear heads, race cars and have newer hot rods as well. Their direct neighbors are good. One is a retired cop and has known me my whole life so he tolerates it. I also assist them with anything they need, from fixing the garbage disposal to disposing of dead rats. The other one, i rebuilt her deck railing for the cost of the wood, she is rarely home. I try to keep it turned off late at night.
The people up and down the street know the car very well, vie been yelled at by that "one guy" every body has him in the 'hood.

Always yelling to slow down even when your doing 15 mph. Its on a dead end street, he is about 20 houses from the end. One of the last times i drove it by him he ran into his house, when i cruised back past he had a hand held air horn and blew it at me. I couldn't stop my self from laughing He also gave me the bird.... I guess he has nothing better to do with his time. The car is tagged, insured, and has a form of muffler on it.

Im working on being a cop, so hopefully that will get me some slack too! LOL.

Posted By: SG duster

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 02/28/12 10:24 AM

I have heighbours that cheer

when I start the car and booo

when I shut it off

Posted By: Demon340GSS

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 03/11/12 02:02 AM

The neighbor across the street from me calls the cops ( severl times now)..
Last time I fired up the my 440 based blower motor I was playing with setting up the new carbs and the cop had walked up to my yard and was standing right behind me trying to get my attention ! ( I was so into the car tuning that i did not even see the cruiser pull up..
I finally seen him and rev'd it up a few more times before I shut it down.
He was cool about it and I stayed nice in responce..
The cop asked if I always do this often?
I said not until after 10:oo am and not after 7:00pm..
He said it was a little too loud,
I was easy going about it, IN responce he asked if I was calm enough to talk to the complaintant???
I agreed to stay calm, He said that it was my neighbor across the street that had called them, Then he invited the neighbor over to talk about it in person.
I wished that Tony, (my neighbor) had just come to me in person first..
Turns out his wife did not feel well and my race car was making her stuff move around on her shelves!!!
It did not help that I had the headers opened up when I was running it...
Last time I took it out on the street a bunch of my neighbors came out and I did a few burnouts and parked it, When I got out I figured that about 30 people where lined up in the yards watching me! Some came over to talk and look at it afterwards and wanted me to fire it up again, But I had not fuel left to really run it again..

Now the cops ( Volusia Sheriff Dept) drives by alot more often then when I first bought the house 8 yrs ago..
A neighbor built a big block chevy and put it into a buick t-type body and was doing burnouts and I got blamed for it by the same cop! The only defence I had was that my tires are 33x21.50's and his are much smaller, But he still comes around alot more often than ever did before...
I admit I bring it on myself though doing long burnouts in the past So it's my own fault!
I have not done it on the street for over a year now..
Generally my other cars I also dont run early or late at night now so as to "keep the peace".

Grant Eaton
1155 6th St, Orange City, FL 32763
Ph 386-561-1181

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Posted By: Crazy68Dart

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 03/11/12 02:48 AM

I am on 9 tenths in an older development (i.e. not cookie cutter houses on top of each other). In general, the neighbors are okay. The neighbors are turning over as they get older and younger people are moving in. We are in our early 30s and have two little girls 3 and 10 weeks(!). I am in the planning stages for a detached garage, and I have talked to my one neighbor about it and they seem cool with the idea. There is no HOA (a point of moving was not to live somewhere with an HOA), so I have that going for me.

I think it will be okay, but I think it is important to respect your neighbors. Open headers is really loud, my wife would be out beating me way before any neighbor... lol. With the test stand I just rigged up a faux exhaust. It is better that way anyway to be able to listen to the engine, valve train, etc.

One of our neighbors is a state patrolman a little older than us. He has a truck with a rumbly exhaust and a quad also that he plays with. A few houses down a guy runs a body/customization shop and is into trucks, etc.

I think we will be okay as long as the respect flows both ways. There might be a few older folks that give me the evil eye. We will see.

Posted By: rickraw

Re: RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS - 03/11/12 03:12 AM

my neighbors are cool. elderly lady across from me loves my car & family behind me likes it too. to the left of my house is a cemetery. no complaints from them. seeya.

RACE CARS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS