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faireatoi · 6 years

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NSFW Ask Game. Here we go ^^ 12 14 and 15 I know for sure but you can make it a list as if you were hashtagging 22. Kinda random but interesting XD 33. Non-conventional things are always intriguing. Especially in this case since you both write smut, half of which that may involve your kinks 48 72 76 Always a "fun" experience lol 93 INTERESTING 94 A bit heavy but I like that it's honest on a personal level 96 My questions may be a bit boring compared to the rest. Thanks anyway ^^

12. Have you ever been fisted (anally or vaginally)

No; I’ve come close a few times, and I’ve always wanted to try it, but I feel like there’d be more working up to that than me and most of my partners have ever been willing to really put into it. :s Maybe someday, lmao.

14. Do you have any kinks?

Nope. None at all. No kinks. I’m soft and innocent uwu.

15. Are you into anything under the BDSM umbrella?

I mean, like…. Most of them? I’m Not a sadist, and my masochism only goes to a certain extent, but like… Everything else, yes good pls.

22. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve done nude?

Uhm…. ??? I honestly don’t know? I’m not super comfortable just casually walking around naked? Like, if I’m ‘nude’ i’m usually either showering or having sex, so like… I guess one time I was probably walked around ‘naked’ at one of the dungeons I used to frequent? I don’t remember honestly, but that was probably the case.

33. Describe your masturbation routine, technique, etc.

Uhm… Honestly I have toys, so if I’m by myself, it’s very little teasing? I’m going to basically either fuck myself or else just hold a vibrator to my clit. Sometimes I’ll turn on porn, but a lot of times it’s more… functional than that? I don’t masturbate a lot unless it’s just to let off tension. I much prefer sex with other people.

48. Are you turned on or off by foreskin, or don’t care?

I’m 100% ambivalent. It’s just a thing?? I don’t think it matters to me either way?

72. How many rooms of your house/apartment/etc. have you had sex in?

The current house, just the one. Our old apartment, probably like… 3? It’s very hard when you share living space, lmao.

76. Have you ever been caught masturbating/having sex?

Listen, I will never Stop apologizing to Ashly for having sex in her bed? But mostly no? I’ve been caught making out or groping a couple of times, but never during actual sex or masturbating.

93. If you had the opposite set of genitals for a day, name 5 things you would do.

Uhm… probably freak out a bit, honestly? Like, let’s be real, it’s a cool thing to think about but also my body randomly changing shape during the night? Super freaky. After I chilled a little though, like… jack off, figure out how a prostate works, probably see about finding a way to fulfill some of the fantasies I’ve talked about with an actual penis instead of a strap on… That’s four, I think? Idk, what do people with dicks do?? Glory hole, maybe??

94. What’s something you like about your body?

Hoo buddy, that is not a good question for me rn. I’ve been having some, uh… body issues lately,, :s So I don’t really… Yeah.

96. What body parts do you find the sexiest?

On other people?? Uhm… I think it depends on the person? I mean I’m pretty stereotypically attracted to like… chest, legs, etc. But also, like… collarbone/neck areas sometimes, and sometimes it’s just little things? Idk how to explain it, but I’ve always been one of those people who just like… once I care about my partner I think they’re gorgeous, like… always.

On like… strangers/celebrities and stuff, I go pretty stereotypical though. I really like nice thighs, I guess?

12. Have you ever been fisted (anally or vaginally)no,,m Rlly rlly tight like..even one finger hurts dgkhjf but the Thought is #nice

14. Do you have any kinks?ur resident innocent boy has only (3) main kinks !! daddy kink, praise n petplay........also i guess u could call it size kink? just im rlly small n i like Being small? pidked up n put in laps n just,,like being small otl also petnames make me weak..esp kitten n baby (boy)

15. Are you into anything under the BDSM umbrella?im....the biggest sub fsdjkh i dont like pain or anything though fgkjdh im just..A Big Soft Sub

22. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve done nude?uhhhh nothing? i hate...the way i look so i try not to be naked Ever skfdjhfdskj except when showering ofc

33. Describe your masturbation routine, technique, etc.uhhhhh there is None bc i dont masturbate fsdkhj

48. Are you turned on or off by foreskin, or don’t care?i dont think id care? ive never seen A Live Dick so ill let u know if that changes sdfkh

72. How many rooms of your house/apartment/etc. have you had sex in?none and immmmm not rlly planning on changing that dfjkh

76. Have you ever been caught masturbating/having sex?uhhhh kind of got caught fingering my friend so hkfjsd thats a thing

93. If you had the opposite set of genitals for a day, name 5 things you would do.o Wow okay id jerk off a lot.......thats probably it jfkhfgd

94. What’s something you like about your body?i like how small i am dfkjsh everything about me is just Small like im 5′1 n barely 100 lbs n my hands are tiny tiny tiny too fdfjkhg its nice

96. What body parts do you find the sexiest?stereotypically....chest n arms sfdhjk lips and tongue are nice aesthetically n so are necks/collarbones

#minervabelle #asks #s #b #thanks much ♡♡♡

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roadkillevokingemotion · 7 years

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Get to know me uncomfortably well

Heeey I filled out one of those Myspace Survey things for the first time in like, forever~

1. What is you middle name? Pffff

2. How old are you? over 230000 hours :O

3. What is your birthday? Jan. 13

4. What is your zodiac sign? Capricorn~

5. What is your favorite color? black

6. What's your lucky number? seven

7. Do you have any pets? yeees

8. Where are you from? THE INTERNET

9. How tall are you? short

10. What shoe size are you? same as my girlfriend half the time

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? too many

12. What was your last dream about? I don't quite recall, probably like, wandering in/around a school/town. Not alone though :D

13. What talents do you have? Art'n'smarts

14. Are you psychic in any way? I don't know, and I don't know if I believe in traditional psychic phenomena

15. Favorite song? At the moment, Run Away With Me by Chaos Chaos

16. Favorite movie? Hmmm Silence of the Lambs is up there.

17. Who would be your ideal partner? A gopher in a ball gown.

18. Do you want children? Not yet.

19. Do you want a church wedding? Fuck nooooo

20. Are you religious? Not really, no

21. Have you ever been to the hospital? Yap

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? Nyap

23. Have you ever met any celebrities? Not really X3

24. Baths or showers? Yes. Both.

25. What color socks are you wearing? Not any. But probably grey ones, when my feet get cold. Right about now.

26. Have you ever been famous? No, and I'd rather avoid it thanks <3

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? OMG MAYBE I AM PSYCHIC

28. What type of music do you like? Too many kinds to list :o

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? Yas :D I love it

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? Like 6-8

31. What position do you usually sleep in? On my side/back

32. How big is your house? It's not "my" house but my home is 1900 sq ft? Biggest home I've lived in :O

33. What do you typically have for breakfast? Coffee~

34. Have you ever fired a gun? Yas!

35. Have you ever tried archery? Yas :D I have a 25 lb recurve bow

36. Favorite clean word? cremains

37. Favorite swear word? fuck / cunt / slit wizard

38. What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep? pushin' 32, my kung fu is weak

39. Do you have any scars? o yah

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? lol I don't know, they were a secret

41. Are you a good liar? So/so.

42. Are you a good judge of character? Yeah, but people are always a puzzle.

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? Haha, kind of, not really :D

44. Do you have a strong accent? Not that I know of, but I can't tell XD

45. What is your favorite accent? I don't particularly have one :D I do love accents and language though

46. What is your personality type? "quirky"

47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? :O I dunno! probably my strap on, when the kit's all together, hurhur

48. Can you curl your tongue? ayuh

49. Are you an innie or an outie? innie

50. Left or right handed? roight

51. Are you scared of spiders? not generally but I've been known to startle easy, spiders or no

52. Favorite food? mmmm yes. coffee. I don't know. fried food.

53. Favorite foreign food? Sushi, when I can eat it, I can't have soy! Or a nice curry, I love Thai~

54. Are you a clean or messy person? Half way in between :D I've gotten so much tidier as an adult, but it still gets away from me if I don't focus on it

55. Most used phrase? WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB. (No, idk. Probably "But what do I know?")

56. Most used word? "but"

57. How long does it take for you to get ready? Anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes.

58. Do you have much of an ego? Fuck that's a hard question, 'cause even if I say "nah, not like I used to," is that not my ego speaking anyway? Ha

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? Bit of both, more bitey I guess

60. Do you talk to yourself? Sometimes!

61. Do you sing to yourself? Oh yeah.

62. Are you a good singer? I'm okay :D

63. Biggest Fear? Losing my loved ones, losing my hope <3

64. Are you a gossip? A bit! "I'm extremely judgemental, I just don't hold it against anyone."

65. Best dramatic movie you've seen? Ooh, dang. Uhh. Silence of the Lambs? lol

66. Do you like long or short hair? All :D

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? Yes! Will I? No!

68. Favorite school subject? Creative Writing :D

69. Extrovert or Introvert? I guess I'm that stupid "ambivert" middle ground thing. Being around people only recharges me if it's stimulating, which is rare. Otherwise, it exhausts me and I have to spend a lot of time alone recharging and realigning myself.

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? Noooo that sounds so cool though!

71. What makes you nervous? Being unable to find/understand another person's motivations.

72. Are you scared of the dark? Nah :) Not anymore.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? Sometimes :) Generally only if they've asked me to.

74. Are you ticklish? >:( NO AND DON'T TRY IT

75. Have you ever started a rumor? Haha, not intentionally XD

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? Sort of :) Assistant manager under an incompetent boss meant carrying their job.

77. Have you ever drank underage? O yah.

78. Have you ever done drugs? *looks up from doing drugs, coughs* ...what?

79. Who was your first real crush? First REAL crush was whatshisface. I had that for a long time.

80. How many piercings do you have? Hmmmm, technically eight, but one has closed up. Two in each ear lobe, one in each nipple, septum, and closed vertical labret. I could probably open it again if I tried.

81. Can you roll your Rs? If my mouth isn't too dry XD

82. How fast can you type? Roughly 100 wpm.

83. How fast can you run? Not very fast 8D

84. What color is your hair? Currently, kinda blonde brown. Gonna dye it black soon.

85. What color is your eyes? Hazel-y.

86. What are you allergic to? Not allergic, but digestively intolerant to soy and cow's milk.

87. Do you keep a journal? Nah, but maybe I should.

88. What do your parents do? One of them is not alive and the other one is homeless afaik?

89. Do you like your age? 27? It's pretty cool. I like the 7 part. It's just occurred to me that I'm almost 30, but that's not really bothersome, just weird.

90. What makes you angry? The weirdest things. When I'm hungry/tired, EVERYTHING. Otherwise, cat food science, bad coffee, and whiners.

91. Do you like your own name? The one I gave myself, yes. The one I was born with is weird and can go away.

92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? I think Anton is a really pretty boy's name. And I had a great grandmother named Celestine.

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? It doesn't matter to me :)

94. What are you strengths? I'm really resilient, and have hard lines for how I'm treated by others. I'm funny and fun to be around.

95. What are your weaknesses? I'm not always strong on my boundaries when I care about others, and can give too much of my energy caring about them without focusing on myself. Sometimes I can be moody or cold when I'm realigning my priorities.

96. How did you get your name? I named myself Cat because I am such a cat. Not in a weird otherkin way, just that calling myself Cat allows me to embrace the parts of myself that I once considered hard to love: my finickyness, my occasional resistence to physical touch, and my random bursts of creative excitement about playing with dead things. My last name, Waisenkind, roughly means "orphan" in German. It's a sad word, but I like how it sounds like "wise and kind," which are attributes I strive to embody.

97. Were your ancestors royalty? Haha, who knows? Who cares? Inbred strangers!

98. Do you have any scars? Quite a few :)

99. Color of your bedspread? I have more blankets than pillows. Maroon/gold/grey/purple?

100. Color of your room? The walls are white, but the curtains/headboard are maroon :)

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itsworn · 6 years

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Rescue: Random Chrysler Rocker Failures That Really Aren’t

Under Ray Lane’s Plum Crazy–painted 1969 Road Runner’s air-grabber scoop resides a 496ci big-block Chrysler Wedge, run hard by the previous owner.

Ray Lane has owned the 1969 Road Runner clone since 2012. Before he got it, the car had acquired a reputation for breaking rocker arms.

As originally built back in 2006, this 1969 Plymouth Road Runner clone was powered by a thumping 11.3:1, Chrysler 440-based engine, bored 0.040-over, and equipped with a 4.15-inch-stroke crank to yield 496 ci. Since then, the engine had been refreshed at least once before present owner Ray Lane got his hands on it in 2012.

In the past, Lane’s Chrysler big-block-powered 1969 Road Runner had run 11.30-second, 121-mph quarters on 93-octane unleaded, shifted by a 727 TorqueFlite that transfers the torque back to a 3.23:1-geared 8¾-inch Chrysler rearend with a Sure Grip limited-slip diff.

Before Lane’s purchase, the Plymouth laid dormant for several years with a reputation for breaking rocker arms, an annoyance that persisted under Lane’s stewardship.

When Lane’s wife, Janice, broke a rocker while idling in hometown Burlington, Wisconsin, Lane knew he had get the pesky problem solved.

Westech Automotive’s Norm Brandes initially chalked up the broken rocker arm to age and fatigue. He replaced the entire existing shaft-mount valvetrain with new, stronger Hughes Engines parts. Designed specifically to solve Chrysler rocker arm issues, the CNC rockers have revised oiling that provides positive oil flow to the pushrod cup at any angle, eliminating the need for a rollerized shaft.

Enter Chicago-area rescuer, Westech Automotive’s Norm Brandes. Initially, Brandes thought it was a random, old-age-related problem: Like highly stressed aluminum connecting rods, aluminum rockers have a finite fatigue life. Explains Brandes, “I thought the rockers were just cycled out.” He replaced the original shaft-mount valvetrain with Dave Hughes shafts, rockers, spacers, and shims. Chrysler specialist Hughes is a fanatic about parts longevity and proper valvetrain setup, and his parts have a great reputation for strength and durability.

Hughes’ rockers usually clear 1.625-inch-od springs, but Lane was running 0.050-inch positive-offset valve locks to get the right installed height with the springs needed to control his existing solid roller cam, leaving little clearance between the retainer top edge and valvetrain tip (top, arrows). Brandes had to deepen the relief on the new rocker bodies’ undersides. “With the valves closed, I used a piece of 0.030-inch-thick nylon fishing line to ‘floss’ underneath the rocker. The check gauge must be flexible to follow the underside radius (center). At the closest approach point, I had to deepen the as-received radius by 0.075 inch in the mill (bottom). You could do this at home with a die-grinder, or even on a drill-press with a fly cutter.”

Tune-up ace Brandes also adjusted the valve lash slightly tighter (the owner said it sounded too noisy) and performed a few timing and carburetor tweaks. The car ran great for several hundred miles.

The Final Diagnosis Two months later, Lane called Brandes back: “I told Norm I was suddenly having engine noise and the engine had a miss. Brandes told me to get the car down to his shop ASAP.”

Brandes picks up, “When the car arrived, we removed the valve covers. The stronger Hughes rockers had held up fine but now two intake pushrods and two valves had bent—the next weak link. Those pushrods had dropped clear down off the adjuster nuts into the valley, and cylinder Nos. 3 and 5 intake valves were no longer opening. Later, talking to Lane, we realized those were the same two cylinders where he and previous owners were breaking the rockers.”

After upgrading the shaft-rocker system, the next weak link failed: bent pushrods cascading into lifter, cam, valve, and piston damage.

When Brandes removed the driver-side cylinder head, he discovered massive carnage in the valley: The bent pushrods had fallen out of the lifter cup, breaking the lifters in cylinders 3 and 5, gouging the cam lobes, and scratching a cylinder wall. There was debris throughout the motor, but the main and rod bearings and journals were still OK. “Our intervention got to them in time,” Brandes says. “But we needed some valves, and the one damaged cylinder required overboring, so we’d have to order new pistons.”

Several hundred miles later, the engine became noisy and developed a miss. Back at Westech, Brandes checked out the problem: “The Hughes rockers were fine, but we found massive carnage in the valley after removing the heads. Two pushrods bent and dropped down into the valley, where they bounced around and ended up behind the lifter link bars, snapping them and shearing the tops off two lifters (top). Two lifters actually turned sideways on the lobe (top, inset).” Goodbye, cam lobes (center). Debris also scratched a cylinder wall (bottom).

But what caused the failures in the first place? Valve-to-piston contact!

Westech’s Norm Brandes and (shown) assistant Keith Arnold found swapped pistons in cylinders 3 and 4 had resulted in piston-to-valve contact.

On a big-block Chrysler, the center two exhaust ports and valves are adjacent to each other, meaning the intake (I) and exhaust (E) valve order is reversed (I-E-E-I). To match this valve layout, there are two different piston top configurations. With this motor, the pistons for Nos. 3 and 5 cylinders had been swapped (E-I-I-E), causing contact with the intake valve.

Big-block Mopars have siamesed center exhaust ports; the exhaust valves for the center cylinders pairs 3 and 5 and 4 and 6 are adjacent to each other (top). Icon IC826 piston sets include two separate piston top configurations, each with a different valve notch order and size. On this motor, the Nos. 3 and 5 pistons were switched, causing the larger intake valve to hit the pistons above the smaller exhaust valve notches (center, arrows). Compare to the correct center piston valve-notch orientations on the new, freshly installed, Icon pistons (bottom).

The Fix: Pistons Brandes bored and honed the already 0.040-over engine another 0.015-inch oversize (0.055-over a stock 440 bore), sufficient to clean up the damaged cylinder while matching the next larger Icon Pistons’ PN IC826 shelf-stocked oversize. Total displacement rose to 499 ci. Icon’s forged pistons were ordered as a complete kit with ductile plasma-moly rings as well as Icon’s optional Line2Line abradable skirt coating. Sprayed onto the piston skirts, the coating’s added thickness develops essentially zero piston-to-wall clearance for reduced piston rock and quieter operation. During initial engine run-in, the coating wear-mates to the cylinder, developing microscopic high/low spots that actually retain additional oil for reduced friction. Icon weight-matched the new pistons to the original set, so there was no need to rebalance the engine as a whole.

The final fix: new Icon pistons and rings, a Howards cam and lifter kit, two new intake valves, Fel-Pro gaskets, and a Cloyes True Roller timing set.

The Fix: Cam and Valvetrain

Cam tech has evolved since the engine was originally built 12 years ago. Hydraulic-roller cams are usually today’s preferred choice on the street. Brandes replaced Lane’s mechanical roller cam with a Howards hydraulic-roller that, compared with the original, has similar mid-240s 0.050-inch tappet duration but significantly higher lift, particularly when the solid’s valve lash is subtracted from the theoretical lift numbers. The cam is ground with a conservative 112-degree lobe-separation angle (LSA). Brandes says, “The lobes are aggressive enough, and 112 is better for low-speed performance.” The grind was delivered as a cam-and-lifter kit that adds Howards retrofit-style link-bar hydraulic roller lifters. Cam timing is controlled by a Cloyes True Roller timing set.

Lane’s old timing chain was slacking off, so it was replaced by a premium Cloyes billet steel True Roller timing set with a nine-keyway crank sprocket and three-bolt cam sprocket. Brandes installed the new Howards hydraulic roller cam “straight-up” (on the “0” marks), as the cam already had 4 degrees advance ground-in (108-degree centerline on a 112-degree LSA).

Brandes added PAC Hot Rod Series dual (with damper), 1.540-inch od valvesprings to match the new cam. They fit Lane’s existing used retainers, which were OK for reuse.

With the new cam, Brandes installed matching PAC springs spec’d for hydraulic roller-cam big-blocks. Shorter than Lane’s originals, the 431-lb/in rate springs offers adequate retainer-to-rocker body clearance with standard-height valve keys. These springs would have eliminated the need to clearance the rocker bodies. Dig the cool Goodson multiangle spring compressor.

With serious high-perf valvetrain parts, you must validate both piston-to-valve clearance as well as valvetrain geometry (the rocker arms’ roller-tip contact point on the valve-stem tip during the cam cycle). With the right pistons installed in the right holes, piston-to-valve clearance was fine. But the geometry itself can be affected by a cam change, block and head surfacing, different-length valves or valve seat heights, different lifter heights or cup depths, and/or head gasket thickness variations. Valve length wasn’t a factor here because the lengths of the two replacement stainless Competition Products valves listed for a 429/460 Ford were the same as those they replaced. Valve-seat height consistency is critical on a shaft-mount engine, so Brandes freshened the valve job on all 16 seats, not just the two affected by the carnage.

There are several theories on proper geometry, basically boiling down to whether you want max performance or better durability. For ultimate performance on periodically torn-down race motors, Hughes sets up the geometry to obtain full cam lift. Provided it doesn’t actually roll off the tip edge, the amount the roller tip is off-center as it wanders back and forth across the valve-stem tip as the cam cycles is less important than achieving max lift. For max longevity on primarily street-driven engines, Brandes likes to see the push point on the valve stem as centered as possible during the opening/closing cycle, even though this may not generate max lift on some combos. “It offers a straight push, centering the force. It’s easier on the valve; the guides last longer,” he maintains.

On street Mopars, Brandes sets valvetrain geometry to keep the rocker-to-valve contact travel point within the center third of the valve-stem tip throughout the opening and closing cycle. If the pattern’s biased toward the exhaust side, get a shorter pushrod; if toward the intake, get a longer one.

On shaft-mount rocker systems, both the rocker shaft height, rocker position on the shaft, and the pushrod length affect geometry. With Brandes’ method, at rest (valve closed, pushrod not lashed), the tip is centered over the valve-stem tip both longitudinally (edge-on) and laterally (side-on). Shim the shaft spacers and shaft pedestals as needed to get there. Using an adjustable checking pushrod and light checking springs, set the preliminary valve lash to zero, and adjust pushrod length to achieve minimum motion off-center through the cam cycle.

How Brandes sets up the big-block Chrysler shaft-mounted rocker arms: Slide the rockers back and forth slightly on the shaft until the roller is centered on the valve-stem tip as viewed edge-on from the cam valley. Once centered, measure the gap(s) between the rockers and spacers or pedestal retaining block (top). Add shaft shims to take up the gaps (center, arrows), or shave the spacer if a rocker can’t be moved far enough to center it. To laterally center the roller tip as viewed from the side, adjust the rocker shaft vertical height. Shim the pedestal (bottom, A) to move the rocker toward the intake side of the valve stem tip (B); subtract shims to move it toward the exhaust side. If all shims have been removed and the contact point is still biased toward the intake side, mill the pedestal.

Lane’s old pushrods were about ½ inch too long, so Brandes got some made-to-order pushrods from specialty pushrod maker Trend Performance. Its entry-level ⅜-inch hollow pushrod has 0.080-inch wall-thickness (compared to 0.049 for the previous ones), and is made from 4130 chrome-moly steel with a proprietary case-hardened heat-treat process. “They’re much stouter than the old ones, and the turnaround from order is really quick,” Brandes says. The required pushrod length using the “over-ball” measurement method came out to 7.816 inches (yes, they’re that accurate).

One way to accurately measure Chrysler-type cup-end pushrod length is the “over-ball” method. After adjusting a cup-tipped checking pushrod’s length so it yields proper geometry, place a ⁵⁄₁₆-inch ball in the cup and measure the length from the top of the ball to the pushrod’s other end. Be sure to let your pushrod maker (Trend, in this case) know how you measured. This measurement method compensates for different wall thicknesses and cup radii.

The Results After installing properly oriented pistons, the valvetrain was finally stable and reliable. With all the valvetrain issues fixed plus an optimized camshaft, the engine now makes even more power than before, and at a more usable rpm, too!

With Ray’s now-499ci motor more torquey than ever, he’s back in the right “Lane” at last. Watch out, Burlington, Wisconsin.

Lessons Learned Don’t mix Miller time with engine assembly time. Before installing the heads, compare the piston’s valve-notch orientation to the corresponding combustion chamber valve order. Seemingly random parts failures may not really be random at all. Careful record keeping would have shown the same part failed in the same installed position, providing a clue something may be wrong inside the particular cylinder and chamber. A piston-to-valve clearance check could have confirmed the issue before catastrophic failure. In retrospect, it’s amazing the engine lasted as long as it did.

The post Rescue: Random Chrysler Rocker Failures That Really Aren’t appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/rescue-random-chrysler-rocker-failures-really-arent/ via IFTTT

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meatgrinderplus · 7 years

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STX-4000-TB2 review

STX INTERNATIONAL STX 4000-TB2 REVIEW

BUY ON AMAZON

OVERALL EDITOR RATING

GRINDING PERFORMANCE 91%

DESIGN 95%

PRICE 98%

WARRANTY & SUPPORT 93%

PROS

– Grinds meat fast – Does not clog when grinding meat – Easy to assemble – Easy to clean up – Made of high-quality stainless steel part – Operates silently – ETL certified – Comes with three stuffing tubes – Comes with a 5-year warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee

CONS

– Expensive – Large and heavy

My Summary

A top-notch product with extras to cover virtually every type of meat grinding you might need. Although it’s got a higher cost than other STX International models, on balance the extra price is worth it for the experience cook that wants a truly versatile grinder.

THE SPECIFICATIONS

DIMENSIONS: 8 x 14 x 19 inches

WEIGHT: 12 pounds

COLOR: Silvery stainless-steel and black

TYPE: Electric

WATTAGE: 600-1200

PERFORMANCE: 200 lbs/hour

ACCESSORIES: 3 stainless-steel cutting blade; 5 stainless steel cutting plates; 1 beaner plater; 1 plastic food pusher; 1 kubbe-, 3 sausages attachments

CLEANING: easy to clean, but not dishwasher-safe

WARRANTY: 3 Year – 100% Guarantee

WHAT’S GOOD

STX International certainly didn’t skimp on the extras with this grinder. For the purchase price, you get not only the three speeds that you’ll see on the company’s other models, but also three different stainless steel blades, five grinding plates, one “beaner” plate used for making sausages, and three different sausage tubes. One word: Wow.

The extras mean that this is one of the most versatile grinders on the market and can be used for just about any cooking projects imaginable that requires a grinder. I think the sheer massive range of functions of the STX-4000-TB2 might be my favorite feature.

The grinder is also aesthetically pleasing with black plastic coverings on the side and sleek stainless steel grinding parts and feeding trays. It’s a stylish, contemporary look that will fit well in any modern kitchen where the grinder design might be a deal-breaker.

And of course, it comes with the “quad air cooling” system expected with most of STX International’s grinders that help keep it working perfectly and extends its lifetime. Think of it as the grinder’s own air conditioning system that prolongs its usefulness.

WHAT’S NOT SO GOOD

The vast range of add-ons might be a confusing overkill for some cooks that are just looking for a simple grinder that will process their meat. The fact there are so many extras also means that you’ll have to devote more time to hand-washing the various additional parts because only the plastic parts are dishwasher safe, so that can be time-consuming.

Although the grinder is, like most STX International models, not that large overall, the numerous extras also mean it might require more storage space than other grinders. That could be an important consideration in kitchens that have minimal free storage space.

The modern look of the model might also not sit well in more homely rustic kitchens, so if you’ve got a kitchen with a more traditional appearance, then visually this might not be the best choice because the black-and-steel look could clash in such a space.

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CONCLUSION

Not every cook is going to need all the extras that come with the STX-4000-TB2, so for those looking for a basic model, I’d recommend some of STX International’s cheaper models. They will get the job done and prevent wasting any money.

However, for experienced cooks, it’s hard to go wrong with this model. I think it scores highly in almost every category that counts: Appearance, functionality, and versatility. So the fact it’s more expensive is more than offset by how useful it is. The choice comes down to the type of cooking being done, and an individual’s purchasing budget.

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STX INTERNATIONAL STX-3000-MF

Dimensions: 16.5 x 6.5 x 14.5 inches

Weight: 12 pounds

Wattage: 3000

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BELLEMAIN MANUAL

Dimensions: 10 x 6.4 x 5.5 inches

Weight: 2.2 pounds

Manual

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GIDEON HAND CRANK MANUAL

Dimensions: 10.9 x 6.7 x 6.1 inches

Weight: 2.5 pounds

Manual

FULL REVIEW

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KITCHEN BASICS 3-IN-1

Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 5.2 inches

Weight: 2.1 pounds

Manual

FULL REVIEW

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itsworn · 6 years

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Junkyard Photo Gallery! Big Blocks, 5.0’s, and Crashed Vans

We spent the better part of last Sunday at our local junkyard, the Pick Your Part in Wilmington, California. Though we were on a mission to find some interior parts for our daily driver, we couldn’t help but walk the aisles looking at everything there. Check out some of the cool stuff we saw.

No, this isn’t an LT4 carelessly discarded in the junkyard, it’s your average LT1 (1992-1997) with the intake painted to mimic an LT4, and it was in an early 4th Gen Camaro. Though the LT4 was available in 1996 Grand Sport Corvettes, a select few 1997 Camaros and Firebirds, modified by SLP, also got the 330 hp engine. Based on the LT1, the LT4 upped its performance with a high-flow, red-powdercoated intake manifold, better-flowing cylinder heads, a bigger cam, and 1.6:1 ratio roller rocker arms.

Here’s another LT1. It was in a 1994-1996 Buick Roadmaster. GM’s full-sized B- and D-body cars got an iron-headed version of the LT1 that was rated at 260 hp, rather than the 275 and 300hp of the Camaro and Corvette.

Interesting things can turn up in some of the most innocuous places, and we were pleasantly surprised to see this big block Chevy hiding in this drab, primer-bombed 3rd Gen. The so-called peanut port cylinder heads indicate this engine came out of an emissions-era truck, so it wasn’t a horsepower monster, but it would have made good torque, and probably ran much quicker than the languid TPI small-block this car would have had.

Normally the seats from GM cars of this era are long-beyond useful by the time the cars they’re in end up in the junkyard. This 4th Gen Camaro, however, had surprisingly nice seats that could have been easily cleaned up and plunked into your muscle car of choice.

Yes! We finally spotted a GenIII Hemi in the junkyard. Normally, any LX-platform car we come across has a V6, but here you go- a Hemi in the yard. Grab it complete for $350 and make some power.

Random Dodge Omni in the Chrysler section.

Always comb through the truck section, even if you’re looking for car parts, otherwise you’d have missed this 5.2L (318 cid) Magnum V8. Rated at 230 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, this would be a cool alternative for an early Dart or Duster. We found it in this Durango.

The junkyards here are brimming with GMT400 pickups and SUVs. This is the platform that superseded the “square-body” C10s. They enjoyed a long production run, 1988 – 1998, parts are cheap and plentiful, and we predict these will soon be riding the wave of C10 popularity with many performance builds of this platform in the works. We were actually at the junkyard this day to grab some parts for our own GMT400- our 1993 GMC Sierra.

This is a Vortec 350 in a 1996 and later GMT400 pickup, prior model years of this platform came with throttle-body injection, and low-flowing swirl-port cylinder heads. The Vortec 350 is widely recognized as the best factory version of the Gen I small block, and as such, it’s a great platform for a performance build.

The homemade wooden box walls on this clapped out S10 looked like a rolling petri dish, and we gave it a wide berth. This compact pickup did have a NV3500 five speed manual to offer to should you be willing to slide under it for an afternoon. This New Venture ‘box replaced the T5 in the earlier S10s.

LS engine swappers, come and get it. Here is one of three 5.3 LS engines we saw in the junkyard this day. Technically, this is an LM7 engine, rated at 285 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque. Grab this thing, read of on our multitude of junkyard engine builds, pick your power combination, swap it in your car of choice, and fill the air with tire smoke in celebration.

Here’s another 5.3! Seriously, grab this thing quickly. This Pick Your Part sells them for $236.

Ford enthusiasts, how about this 5.0 and AOD-E combination inexplicably lying on the ground. Presumably removed from a Fox body mustang only to have its oil pan, the entire complete engine was left behind. Again, comblete fuel injected engines sell for $236, and you can grab that trans for an additional $143.

A 5.0 could also be found under the hood of this 1992 Thunderbird. This generation ‘Bird is built on the MN12 platform, a successor to the Fox body platform of the previous Thunderbirds and Cougars. The SOHC 4.6 replaced the pushrod 5.0 in these cars in 1993.

As a sobering reminder of why many vehicles end up in the junkyard, here are two vans that sustained heavy collision damage. Drive safely out there, folks!

The parts we were at the yard to grab were some dashboard pieces for our ’93 Sierra. The early version of this generation pickup had a really crappy dash that cracked and disintegrated with even a hint of sunlight. We found a couple good ones that must have lived indoors or under dash covers, at least. The thing that kept us from grabbing this one were the two rivets behind the gauge cluster. We will be bringing a drill with us on our next visit. Though we were tempted, we resisted the urge to grab these sweet pedal covers.

This Suburban also had a quality dash to offer. It also had a 454 under the hood! A 454 is the only engine that sells for a higher price at Pick Your Part. Still, at $410 complete, it’s a bargain.

There wasn’t much left of this G-body El Camino, though the header panel and core support looked to be in good shape.

You don’t see many of these cars on the road, much less than the junkyard. This is the funky Subaru SVX with its horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine and window-in-window side glass.

SN95 Mustangs are abundant in the junkyards right now. This one had a V6 and a T45 five-speed manual transmission.

We were hoping to find something cool in this Mark VI, but its drivetrain had been plucked clean long before we got there.

The post Junkyard Photo Gallery! Big Blocks, 5.0’s, and Crashed Vans appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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itsworn · 7 years

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How Craig Calmes Built his 9-Second Street Car

Many enthusiasts found their way into the car hobby via an older sibling and Texan Craig Calmes is no exception. His five older sisters weren’t obsessed with cool cars, but some had boyfriends who were. Sister Linda’s boyfriend bought a new Corvette in 1966 and that certainly impressed the lad, but even more memorable was what sister Cheryl’s boyfriend (now husband) Ronnie drove. “Ronnie had a tri-power big block Chevy-powered ’35 Ford coupe and that really caught my attention when I was a little fella,” Calmes remembers. “I could hear him coming before I could see him and I’d get very excited when I heard the roar of his exhaust. Ronnie later bought a ‘57 Chevy and then a ’68 Firebird. I loved the Firebird, and that’s probably why I have three of them now.”

Calmes learned to drive when he was only nine years old and his father permitted him to wheel the family car around the building housing his plumbing shop. “I think he allowed my brother and I to do that to get us out of his hair when he had a lot of work to do! We never hit anything, but we always managed to flip over the tool boxes he kept in the trunk!”

Calmes’ first car was a 1967 Firebird he bought in 1974. It was a nice car but nothing special and aside from adding mag wheels and a few other aftermarket parts he left it stock. In 1976 he bought a new Camaro and in 1979 he got his first fast car, a brand new Z/28. “The Z/28 was quick, and it was black on black, which is what I really wanted. The 1976 Camaro was black outside but it had a white interior. I initially disliked the white interior but it quickly became apparent that girls loved it, so I grew to appreciate it too!”

After getting married Calmes traded the Z/28 in on a 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix. “Along came children and I thought we should have more of a family car. My wife is still mad at me for trading in the fun Camaro for a car that wasn’t fun at all!” With the children came added responsibilities, and for the next thirty-odd years Calmes and his wife focused on raising their three daughters and building up their business.

In 2012, with his daughters grown up and business cruising along, Calmes decided to get back into cars. He started with a bone stock, very original 1968 Firebird that he turned into a 10-second street/strip car. While still building the 1968 he bought a pro touring, LS1-powered 1967 Firebird.

“With the two Firebirds already in the garage I thought it would be neat to find a nice 1969 [Firebird]. I was looking for something that was ridiculously fast but still streetable. Then, in March 2013, while looking at online listings, a supercharged 2010 Camaro SS that ran in the high-9s caught my eye.”

Calmes rang up his buddy Kevin Torres and asked him to evaluate the Camaro. It was built at Redline Motorsports in Pompano Beach, and after speaking with Redline owner Howard Tanner, having Tanner perform a leak-down test on the engine that confirmed it was healthy, and speaking with the car’s owner, Torres recommended that Calmes try to buy it.

“I made a deal for the car and its trailer with Stephen Vigoa, the owner, and we met in Crestview, Florida, which is about half way between Miami, where he was, and Houston, where I live. When we met it was clear that the Vigoa family had an emotional attachment to the Camaro, which they called ‘Big Red’, so I promised I would take good care of it, and would keep them up to date on what I was doing with it.”

Upon arrival in Houston a few of Calmes’ friends were waiting to see the new acquisition. Among them was Torres, and Calmes invited him to take the Camaro for its first drive. “After coming back from a spirited drive,” recalls Calmes, “Kevin pulled me aside and said, ‘this car is no punk, so be careful letting your friends drive it’. I took his advice and had him give everyone else a ride. After they all rode in it they understood what he was talking about because the car would smoke the tires from a rolling start without breaking a sweat, straight off the trailer from Miami! His description of the car stuck, and to this day we all call it No Punk!”

The following weekend Calmes and his buddies took No Punk to Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, and Torres immediately clicked off a run of 9.98-seconds @137 mph. A short time later, after adjusting tire pressure, changing spark plugs, and adding PolyDyn TX7 Engine Treatment to the oil, Torres managed to get his time down to 9.83-seconds @ 138.5 mph.

“At the time, that was the record for the quickest 5th Generation Camaro on 93 Octane Pump Gas,” explains Calmes. “I should have stopped right there, but naturally I wanted more power. I decided to send No Punk back to Redline Motorsports to perform a full C85 fuel conversion, which consisted of beefed up fuel lines, new fuel pumps, new fuel injectors and a new dyno tune.

It went from 736 horsepower and 658 lb-ft of torque on 93-octane to 843 horsepower and 815 lb-ft at the wheels of on C85.”

To clarify, C85 is VP Racing Fuel’s version of E85 gasoline. Many top tuners find it difficult to tune a car to run on E85 out of the pump because the actual ratio of enthanol to gasoline varies too greatly. With a fuel like C85, at least you know the mix ratio of fuel is correct.

When Calmes got the car back and brought it to the track, he discovered that the chassis couldn’t handle the extra power. “We could not get it to hook-up and cut a decent 60-foot time as it did previously, with less power. The best ET and trap speed of the day was 9.86 and 144.1 mph, with a soft 1.673, 60-foot time, compared to a best 60-foot time on pump gas of 1.427.”

Calmes sent the car back to Redline for suspension changes, and while it was there he decided to completely upgrade the engine as well. Out came the Whipple-supercharged 416 and in went a seriously built-up 427 LSX sporting twin T4 PTE 6466 turbos.

The new engine demanded dramatic improvements to the drive train, so an ATI TH400 Outlaw Series replaced the 4L80E, and a complete Driveshaft Shop 9-inch rear end assembly took the place of the stock axle. The transmission proved incapable of withstanding the forces the potent engine and heavy car combined, so ATI developed a new, stronger TH400 they call Fuel Comp, and that has been very durable in the car.

Calmes told Redline’s Howard Tanner not to send No Punk back to Texas until he confirmed it could turn sub-nine second quarters, and after Tanner ran 8.98-seconds at 160 mph, it went home. No Punk duplicated the sub-nine second time at Royal Purple Raceway, but analysis of 60-foot times confirmed that it was still having trouble hooking up.

Calmes consulted with racer Jeremy Martorella, who suggested a number of changes, including removal of a sway bar and altering the engine’s boost curve. After this work was done by Jay Healy at KraftWorks, in Boca Raton, Florida, Martorella took the car to Palm Beach International Raceway and in his first pass, on a less-than-ideal track surface, turned an 8.46-second quarter @ 165 mph with a 1.41 60-foot time. “I was extremely happy and seeing that the driver had to peddle it a bit, I knew it could run even quicker,” remembers Calmes. And this time is even more impressive considering the fact that this is still a full weight, full interior street car with working a/c, power steering and a lot of added weight from safety equipment.”

As you likely realize by now, Calmes can’t sit still for very long and is constantly thinking about going faster. To that end, he’s in the midst of yet another round of serious upgrades to No Punk with help from Redline Motorsports, Lorenz at LSX Power Tuning in Brenham, Texas, and Nickens Brothers Racing Engines in Conroe, Texas, which is going through the entire engine.

Simultaneously, the car’s transmission and rear end are getting freshened up, all new wiring and a Holley computer are being installed, and the body is being cleaned up and repainted. When completed, these enhancements will undoubtedly make Calmes’ blisteringly fast Camaro even faster, which is to say even further away from being a punk than it has ever been!

Tech Notes

Who: Craig Calmes What: 2010 Camaro Where: Houston, TX

Body and Paint: The body is stock and still wore its original paint when we photographed it, but is presently getting repainted.

Chassis: The chassis is stock but stiffened considerably by virtue of a Tig Vision Race Fabrications ten-point 4130 chromoly roll cage.

Suspension: Most of the factory suspension is retained, but traction is enhanced and weight is reduced courtesy of an Xtreme Innovations direct bolt-in 4130 chromoly front cradle. Traction is further helped by AFCO Racing and Performance “Big Gun” shocks that have been custom valved and BMR anti-sway bars front and rear.

Steering: The stock Chevrolet steering system is retained.

Brakes: Stock Chevrolet four-wheel disc brakes handle stopping chores.

Wheels and Tires: The car wears Weld RTS wheels sized at 15×10-inches in the rear and 17×6-inches in front. P275/60R15 Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial Pro tires fill up the rear wheel wells while Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R radials sized at 28X6.00R17LT keep the front rolling.

Engine: When photographed, the car was powered by a 429 built around a Chevrolet Performance LSX block stuffed full of top shelf parts to help it live while making huge power. At the bottom end, a Callies Dragon Slayer 4-inch stroke crank anchors Callies Ultra I-Beam 6.125-inch rods. Both main and rod bearings are Calico coated. Diamond pistons with coated domes and moly skirts fill the 4.130-inch bores swing on the rods via Trend Performance H927 pins. Mast Motorsports 285cc CNC 6-bolt LS3 cylinder heads were assembled with titanium intake and Inconel exhaust valves. A 234/252 115+1 grind from Comp Cams is spun by a Cloyes billet adjustable timing setup. ARP studs anchor both the cylinder heads and main bearing caps. Injector Dynamics ID 1300X injectors, featuring all stainless internals, are fed fuel via three high-output pumps that are part of a custom system developed by Redline Motorsports and Fore Innovations. Induction is handled by a FAST 102mm intake with Nick Williams 102mm throttle body and boost is delivered by twin Precision Turbo & Engine 6466 ball bearing turbos coupled with a T4 mounting system. Lubrication is taken care of by a Melling oil pump inside a Moroso aluminum oil pan, a TuboWerx scavenge pump, and a 3-quart Accusump system.

Transmission: For maximum acceleration in a durable package, Calmes relies on an ATI Performance Products Fuel Comp Turbo-400 transmission. This specific model was actually developed specifically for Calmes’ Camaro because in early testing it kept chewing up transmission parts. Super strong internals, including shafts made from 300M alloy steel, make the Fuel Comp Turbo-400 well suited for heavy cars with massive amounts of torque.

Rear End: The Camaro’s stock rear end gave way to a 9” differential from The Driveshaft Shop. It’s fitted with 3.42:1 gears that drive Driveshaft Shop axles.

Interior: This car is street driven, so Calmes chose to preserve most of the factory interior. The most notable changes are the addition of Sparco racing seats, Simpson 5-point safety harnesses, a Precision Performance Products shifter, and Auto Meter gauges.

Electronics: Calmes gets more power to the ground via a 2-step LNC-2000 Lingenfelter RPM Limiter Timing Retard Launch Controller.

Thanks to: Kevin Torres, Redline Motorsports, KraftWorks, LSX Power Tuning, Nickens Brothers Racing Engines

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itsworn · 7 years

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Jason France’s 1964 Biscayne Is a Beige, 409-Powered Sleeper

Imagine what a curious sight this beige 1964 Chevrolet sedan must be to the driver of a late-model Camaro or Mustang. It looks a lot like a brick. Did they actually make cars that looked like that? Hubcaps? All Detroit Iron wore steel wheels—until 1963, at least. You gotta be kiddin’. What the hell’s a Biscayne anyway?

In the ocean of F-bodies, A-bodies and X-bodies that have always been deemed acceptable to modify, to build, even to cherish, we have the big boys, the unheralded B-body natives. Compared to the relatively new intermediates, post cars and their heftier, hardtop buddies are most likely the dinosaurs of the realm.

This is owner Jason France’s first attempt at car building, at seeing what his future would eventually hold. “I always loved Chevy post sedans, sleepers especially, and 409 four-speed post cars have always been cool. I put this car together to be really fun and really reliable. It has some scrapes and dents and isn’t a show car, but that’s what makes it a lot of fun,” he said. At 40, our protagonist missed the heyday by a couple of decades at least, but he’s managed to hit the old-school nail right on the noggin.

Actually, Jason has been car crafting since he was a little kid. He and his dad have been going to shows. “It’s in my blood and is in my son’s blood, too,” he said. “I can say that I’ve loved cars my entire life. [Wife] Jeni and I purchased the car a year before we got married. It had a 327 and a Powerglide transmission. It had been repainted only once. You can even spot the tape lines on the cowl with the factory paint still in place.

“I did the four-speed conversion as well as converting the 10-bolt to a Posi-Traction differential. Then I drove it that way for a couple of years while piecing the 409 together. It was in our wedding along with some friends’ cars. It’s been a progression. The entire drivetrain is new: 409 engine, Muncie transmission, and 9-inch rear. It’s taken a while, but we have been enjoying the car along the way.”

History is certainly not lost on Jason. He gives nod to the X/SS period when headlights were removed so you could hook up ram tubes to feed fresh, cool air to the carburetors. He cues up the Jenkins Competition logo as well. In the heyday, lots of people paid lots of money to ink that badge on the flanks of their drag-race iron.

Jason’s active on several Facebook groups related to fullsize Chevys and is a 348-409.com member. All of it encourages him to drive the brown beast, but he says he runs it maybe 1,500 to 2,000 miles a year. And be sure, that 09’s a guzzler—gets about 10 miles to the gallon—but that doesn’t stop Jason from going anywhere. He cruises it to the Car Craft Summer Nationals, the Hot Rod Power Tour, and many local events. “This car is part of the family. It has allowed us to meet a lot of really great people in the car community. It gets a lot of attention.”

Tech Notes

Who: Jason and Jeni France What: 1964 Chevrolet Biscayne Where: Mount Pleasant, WI

Engine: Jason sussed out the parts and Tony Shaffer at Day Automotive in Independence, MO, did the machine work and screwed the engine together. Jason based his build on a 1964 (814 casting) truck cylinder block. He adapted a screw-on oil filter and a windage tray and removed the casting flash from the lifter valley and water-pump passages. Tony cleaned up the bores a bit, and that made for a final displacement of 416 ci. Meanwhile, Jason was busy building the parts schedule and putting the rotating assembly together: stock 409 crank, Eagle I-beam connecting rods, and Diamond 10.25:1 pistons. Tony file-fit the moly rings and secured coated Clevite bearings for the assembly. Goin’ old school, he stuck it with a Comp flat-tappet stick that offers 0.595/0.608-inch lift and 242/246 degrees duration at 0.050. A double-roller Cloyes timing set joined it with the crank. He paired it with Isky lifters, Manley chromemoly 3/8-inch pushrods, and Scorpion 1.75:1 rocker arms. Back at the ranch, Jason was in his one-car garage hand-porting the (333 casting) truck cylinder heads with a Dremel and pneumatic grinder. He pocket-ported the castings, polished, blended the bowls, matched the gaskets, and cleaned up the flashing. Before Tony back-cut the swirl-polished valves, he reduced the head diameter of the 2.195-inch intakes to 2.150 and the exhausts from 1.725 to 1.675 inches and gave them a three-angle job. ARP screw-in studs, pushrod guideplates, Comp dual springs, and Isky hardened keepers are part of the formula. Tony cinched them in place with ARP studs and Cometic gaskets. Fuel and spark systems are straightforward: Edelbrock mechanical pump, small-port intake manifold, and twin Edelbrock AVS 500-cfm carburetors sucking through a Show Cars open element air cleaner. On the electrical plane, there’s an MSD 6AL box, Pro Billet distributor, Blaster 2 coil, and primary wiring shooting AC Delco R43XLS spark plugs. Black death is extracted via Jerry Jardine’s Tri-Y headers that feature 2-inch primary pipes and 3-inch collectors. Clocks Off Racing in Racine, WI, constructed the 3-inch stainless-steel system dominated by Magnaflow muffs. Ancillaries include an Edelbrock water pump, Flex-A-Lite six-blade steel fan with a NAPA clutch, one-wire 65-amp alternator, and a NAPA mini-starter. On the pump and on 93 octane, Jason’s 09 cranks out 473 hp at 6,000 rpm and 465 lb-ft at 4,200 rpm. Transmission/Drivetrain: The Biscayne was originally equipped with a small-block and a Powerglide transmission. Jason replaced all that with a Centerforce 30-pound steel flywheel and 11-inch clutch assembly under a Keisler Engineering HD 621 bellhousing. Dave Martel rebuilt the wide-ratio Muncie M20 four-speed and Jason fitted it with Hurst Super Competition shifter. Torque ropes down an Inland Empire two-piece driveshaft with 1350 U-joints and a billet center-support bearing to a John’s Industries 9-inch stocked with a nodular iron chunk, 4.30:1 gears, and 31-spline axles. Chassis/Suspension: Jason made no changes to the original frame, nor did he include a rollcage; he simply put all his faith in the aftermarket. There would be no demand for high-rate cornering or 9/10ths handling; Jason stayed old school and designed the Biscuit for performance in a straight line. As such, he retained the OE spindles but rehabbed the upper and lower control arms with Moog rubber bushings, installed Moog coils and Monroe SensaTrac dampers, but removed the factory antisway bar. He rebuilt the steering box. Moving to the rear, he upgraded the original three-link to a four-link (high-powered models were equipped with the second upper attachment arm) GM brackets and Energy Suspension bushings. He partnered Moog coils with KYB gas shocks and insinuated a Spohn adjustable Panhard bar with polyurethane bushings. Body: Here it is in all its non-glory: all steel, flat hood, no tubs, and repainted 1964 Desert Beige 28 years ago in somebody’s garage. Clean and neat, but ultimately quite forgettable, which is just what you want when you’re building a sleeper. Interior: Before he did anything else, Jason upgraded the electrical system with an American Autowire harness. He liked the original equipment aura, and he soaks in it. The bench seats, door panels, and carpeting were superseded by Cars, Inc. stuff that was fitted by Perfection Auto Trim in Milwaukee, as were the door panels, window cranks, and door pulls. Instead of an audio ensemble, the old-school Biscayne proudly displays a factory radio delete plate. That big Sun tachometer is joined by Auto Meter oil pressure and water temperature gauges below the stock dashboard. Brakes/Wheels/Tires: Wouldn’t be real old school without the stock drum brakes or the period-correct rolling stock. Jason got some 14×6 Wheel Vintiques steelies for the front of the car and 15×8 renditions for the back axle (with a Chevy bolt pattern) and set them with the original Biscayne poverty caps. Just like the old days, the front rubber is BF Goodrich Silvertown 8.00×14 bias-ply, while the drive end twists bias-ply 28×11.50 Mickey Thompson ET Street R DOT slicks.

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