My wife and I flew into Houston last Friday evening and I met up w/ Jim Moore (427 Hotrod) and had a Corvette w/e Texas style. Jim met me in Katy and drove me and his trailered 825 HP 540” 67 Corvette 4 hours to Longview where we got a hotel about 15 minutes out from Hallsville where they were scheduled to have the Extreme Vette race. I won’t mention anything about Jim’s propensity to snore.

We then ventured out in the misty morning and drove to the dragway in Hallsville. I thought it was hot and sunny in Texas? Although it was eventually cancelled due to rain, I had the opportunity to meet several of Jim’s friends and forum members. The Texas long haul crew members, Markus Strobl (Zwede) and Nick Costanza (VETMANIAC) drove up from Frisco. For those of you who don’t know Markus, you may know his Vette. It is a fuel injected 71 big block that was featured in November Corvette Enthusiast “Time Machine”. Donny Grace, the other Texas long hauler, came up a bit later, unfortunately not in his 65 as a last minute thrash to re-install his freshly rebuilt Doug Nash 5-speed proved unsuccessful.

They called the race and after eating at a fine local establishment (you just cannot get fried okra back east) we loaded up Jim’s Vette and headed to Frisco. But not before Jim gave a bodacious open headered smoke show that covered his Vette and nearby bystanders w/ flying bits of sticky rubber. For some reason, the few remaining ricers quickly left at this point….

After they called the race we drove to Frisco and gathered at Markus impressive new house. Markus I meant to ask you, was that a genuine Eames chair? We left Markus’ house and had a few refreshments at Irish Rover in Frisco while listening to Take 5 covering several 80’s hits in the background. Refreshments are a necessary and important part of bench racing and male bonding.

After that more driving, this time to Donny’s place in Corsicana. By the time we called it a night it was 3 AM. I won’t mention again Jim’s propensity to snore.

Was greeted early AM w/ a real Texas style breakfast: bacon, eggs biscuits & gravy and fresh ground coffee. Thanks Debbie! We then made our way to Donny’s shop where he stores his 65 and his friend’s 65(?) project car. I mentioned Donny was unable to drive his Corvette to Hallsville due to some unfriendly noises coming out of his freshly rebuilt transmission. Fortunately it turned out to be nothing more than an improperly installed U-joint cap (not Donny’s doing) and was quickly back in business. Donny proceeded to demonstrate on the farm roads of Corsicana the correct way to shift a 5-speed Corvette. If I was looking to wring out every last bit of performance from my car, I’d simply have Donny drive. That guy can row the shifter w/ the best. His 65 convertible sports a sharp tuned 327 that will give unsuspecting Z06’s fits.

Next was Jim’s beast. I won’t go into detail describing Jim’s car as he’s documented all his mods in previous posts. Suffice to say a stone reliable 825 HP pump gas Corvette is quite an achievement. Jim first demonstrated how his shifter works (G-Force 5-speed) followed by an acceleration demonstration. Or more accurately a tire spinning demonstration. His beast does not have traction in first, second or third gear. Jim, may I suggest you invest in some VHT? Jim then let me drive his car. Keep in mind its still in semi-race mode: 1” carb spacer and raised hood; front sway bar removed and front tires pumped up to about 60 psi. It’s twitchy! But I’m amazed at how similar his car’s power band is to mine. Very drivable and endless acceleration underfoot. That transmission is solid and exudes a sense of indestructibility. How much did you say you paid for that tranny?

What I’ve glossed over is Donny’s driveway is not paved. And its been raining the previous day and a half. Texas black land makes impressive mud. Jim’s truck and Vette needed to be towed w/ Donny’s tractor. Of course this left Jim’s Vette covered in aforementioned mud. It just added to the whole effect: Jim’s Vette looked like he’d been out 4-wheeling!

From Donny’s we headed back to Jim’s house in Magnolia. Of course we had to stop on the way and eat at Sam’s Buffet in god knows where Texas. More fried okra. I got to see Karen and say hi as its been a couple of years since we last met. Jim unloaded his Vette and after making sure his neighbor’s weren’t asleep, Jim drove me back in his truck to Katy. What you may not know about Jim is he travels virtually every week so weekends are all he has to be home and see Karen. Jim sacrificing his entire w/e to haul me over a good portion of Texas is typical of Jim’s selfless nature. Thanks Jim. Can’t wait to do it again!

 

I missed all the fun
Went thru corsicana friday morn on the way to Burleson and again on sunday morn on my way back home

 

Mark, it sounds like you had an absolute blast down there! It really is too bad that the race was rained out. It would have been amazing to watch Jim's car make a few passes. It must be nice to be in the company of a group of guys that share common car related interests.

One question, with all that eating did you gain any weight?

Steve

 

I had no idea that's what they're called. Just looked it up on the net... $3k!!!! This one was rescued from a neighbour that was throwing it in the trash (i.e. free). Do you know how to find out if it's genuine?

 

Steve, it was great! Only gained a few pounds but it wasn't due to lack of effort. And thanks for the call today & heads up. I've since pulled out an additional 2 degrees timing and went up an additional 2 jets square. Still unsure about the races tomorrow, but the questionable weather may make the decision for me. I'll let you know.

Markus, it sure *looked* genuine, but I wouldn't know. An Eames chair rescued from your neighbor's trash? You *do* live in a nice neighborhood!

Take care,

Mark

 

Whew! It was a LONG weekend!

But I sure had a great time! Not sure if Mark was quite prepared for the distances involved....I told him it was a LONG way to anywhere in TX!!

But we did get to finally find out if my new diesel pickup could tow stuff. It never even knew there was a Vette back there on a tank of a trailer along with every single loose item out of my garage I could load up for "just in case" issues at the track.

Y'all have to envision the scene. Here we are literally standing in the rain after the races were cancelled. The car has open headers and slicks installed. There is a group of ricers hanging around and we just couldn't resist making a little noise before we loaded it back up. So I pulled it down to the burnout area at the starting line of the track. I set the line-lock and stuck it in 3rd gear and released clutch like always. The tires started smoking within a couple of seconds and we layed down a good smoke cloud and sprayed lots of rubber chunks. I let it roll out of the burnout area and of course with all the water on the line (remember..it's still raining) the car sort of hydroplaned as I rolled forward. Someone motioned me back into the water box so they could get a picture. So I position it again, set the line-lock and rev it a little before letting out the clutch. This is the funny part...here I am sitting in the rain..in the water....and have just driven through the water to get back in place.....the tires are STILL smoldering....and when I let out clutch it nearly kills the motor as the slicks literally start hooking up and pulling up on front end! I can't get over the fact that in the pouring down rain, the slicks are sticking like glue. It took some work, but I got them turning again for the picture!

Sure makes me wonder how good it was going to hook with a dry track and some VHT!!

Mark describes the rest of the night well. We had a great time with a bunch of Vette folks (and even one Vortech'd 4.6 Cobra owner and his wife).

We were determined to get out and play a little with mine, and since there was a short dry spell on Sunday, we decided to unload it. That WAS a little tricky in the mud, bu we managed. We capped up headers and installed street tires for a little highway fun. Mark had first gone out with Donny in his '65. He's absolutely right..Donny is an animal and a heck of a gear banger. Anyone who decided to line up with him better have some power..'cause he's hard to outdrive!

Then we did mine. This was the first time I really got a chance to kick it after installing a new cam, so I had no idea what to expect. The track was going to be my first test runs. Donny was following behind us in a pickup to watch and after I first 1,2,3 blast, he said we looked like "bobbleheads" as the car fishtailed from right to left, to right to left..... Then we did a couple of 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear runs. Donny said the best one to watch was the time we kicked it in 3rd at about 70-75 mph. He said the tires started leaving 50' of black marks all the way through 3rd, and then about 30' in 4th before it hooked up and really started pulling past 130mph or so.

It was great to hear Mark say if felt like a convertible version of his. I haven't had any chances to chassis dyno mine, but to be even close to his new HP levels is a good thing!

Again, we had a great weekend and I'm looking forward to the next time we can do it. I've had several calls from the other folks involved and I think everyone had fun.

This Forum is a great way to get people together. Half the people there would never have known each other had we not met here!


JIM


PS- C'mon...snoring? Didn't I mention I hadn't had any sleep for about 4 weeks? Fly in and out every week, work all Sat/Sun switching cam etc etc etc getting car ready. At least I took the fold out bed at Donny's and gave you the bedroom on the other end of the house!
This partying is rough!!

 

Sorry I missed the fun, I was over at DVG73's breaking his 383 in, in the rain. We were not successful at all either.

Come back and see us.