Garage Treasures
I bought this car new on July 3, 1969, in Ames, Iowa (at Skeie Pontiac), and as my wife has put it, I just never got rid of it. I am now 60 years old, my kids are through college, and my wife is done with nursing school, so I believe it is time to start the restoration.
The car has about 65,000 miles on the clock, and it has been sitting for approximately 25 years as the tags indicate. The car is complete but the mice have gotten into it. A lot of work needs to be done, but I'm looking forward to it.Charlie KoenigsDes Moines, IA
Pet Project
Wow! That's all I could say when the principal opened my classroom door to show me my car in Car Craft [Jan. '05]. I really couldn't believe it. I still have that car and still drive it from time to time. The only changes have been a Lunati cam and some NOS. I just want you guys to know that after 12 years here at the high school, the only real changes in kids and cars are that the parents are less involved. Two of my students work at Mason Dixon Dragway (a quarter-mile track), and many are involved with their cars. I see everything in this parking lot from tubbed Mustangs to hopped-up Neons. We even have an Academy of Manufacturing and Engineering Technology here that involves CAD/CAM, fabrication, and machining. Students can do internships at places like Straight Line Performance (a local drag fabrication shop) and Mack Truck. Keep up the good work, and if you're ever on this side of the country, look us up.
Leroy Shook
Williamsport HS
Williamsport, MD
We ran Leroy's '70 Chevelle in the Jan. '05 Readers' Pages on page 12, but the real reason for running this letter is to acknowledge an outstanding high school vo-tech program aimed directly at the high-tech future of automotive performance. Where do we sign up?
Reader's Letter of the Month
My friend and I came up with a list of the top 10 ways to pick a cam. We run a machine shop and you can imagine the struggle we have suggesting a cam.
10. Interchange "street car" with "race car" when choosing.9. Absolutely avoid calling any camshaft company tech line.
8. If, God forbid, you do call a cam company or an engine builder, lie about your real rpm range and horsepower estimate.
7. Believe the swap-meet dude who says, "Yeah, it'll make 600-plus horsepower."
6. Use that "350/375hp cam" like your dad did in the '60s.
5. Use that "31/44 race cam" like your granddaddy did in the '50s.
4. Copy a magazine article engine buildup-but change all the other components.
3. If you don't understand the difference between "advertised duration" and "duration at 0.050," just order a cam with 280 degrees.
2. Tack a cam chart to the wall. Throw darts at the cam chart. Choice is now made.
1. Slide your finger to the bottom of the page-what else?
Daryl White and Lewis Dubose
Revolutionary Performance and Machine, LLC
Hermitage, TN
www.revolutionaryperformance.com
The Reader's Letter of the Month winner gets a free Car Craft license plate. There's just one rule: In order to receive the prize, you have to include your full name and return mailing address in your letter, fax, or e-mail so we can ship the prize to you.
Eye in the Sky
Attached is a photo of me over not-so-friendly skies enjoying your magazine on board the Joint Surveillance Target Attack RADAR System (Joint STARS) aircraft. Of course, I never read while on station, only while in transit.
I'm just getting into restoring/enjoying my first daily driver hobby car, a '68 Pontiac Tempest convertible. While deployed, I missed three things the most, in this order: my wife, my sons, and my car. It was a toss-up whether to put the picture of my car in the same luggage with the picture of my family. If my wife wasn't watching me pack I probably would've placed them side by side.