Hey all-
This year will be my first time on the HRPT and I am very excited to say the least.
I was all ready to do the tour last year and at the last minute I had to cancel. I am a full time Air National Guard guy (AGR) and had my name on a short notice list for a particular school I needed to help advance my career. To my surprise I got a call several weeks prior to the start of Power Tour that I had a slot for the school and it was starting just prior to the start of Power Tour! So reluctantly I cancelled my plans and attended the school.
This year I am making it!
My Power Tour chariot is a 1986 Monte Carlo SS. There is little left of the factory ride besides the frame and body. I have put in a 5.3 LS. It is outfitted with an LS1 intake, TSP 220R cam, Pontiac GTP injectors, and shorty stainless headers. That is hooked to a 4L80E with a Trans-Go HD2 shift kit and a Circle D 3600 RPM stall converter. That is all fed to a Ford 8.8" disk brake rear end with 3.27's and a posi. Everything is run by a Holley Terminator X Max. This thing is a blast and a great cruiser!
This is how it sat last Summer on a set of Rally wheels with M/T Drag Radials on the rear. It hooked great but handled really oddly and was one step below deadly in the rain with the rear tires. When they say these tires aren't for use in the wet they aren't kidding! Yikes! I snapped this pic on my phone and sent it to my with the caption, "My car looks RAD!" Her response, "The 80's called and they want their word back." She is wrong though, my car does look rad!
I ended up putting some skinnier radials on the back and it tamed all the weird handling traits and was a lot more fun, although much more likely to blow the rear tires off.
This is me just about a year ago. As I was getting ready for Power Tour '19 I kicked a rod out the side of the block. That previous 5.3 was such a sweet little runner, I felt sick when it puked its innards out everywhere! But hey, if you are going to spin the hell out of them you've got to expect the occasional KABOOM!! My wife was amazed that I was smiling when she snapped this pic as I started the process of yanking the blown engine.
She got another 5.3 and was a total blast all last Summer/Fall. I was sorry when it was time to put the car away in preparation for snow!
Currently this is how the car sits. I know many of you can sympathize with a car on jackstands. In the 8 years I have owned this thing it has spent more time on stands than on the road, but it still is a lot of fun! I built the exhaust from scratch from the headers back and it is pulled out here while I make a couple of improvements.
My latest brainstorm is to give the car a bit of an 80's stock car theme. I bought a set of Bassett DOT stock car wheels, smoothed the sidewalls of the tires with my DA, and then made some Goodyear billboard style stencils like what NASCAR ran in the 80's. I think it looks awesome and the overspray looks much like those tires used to look when I was a kid and used to love watching those races. A little bit of rust to take care of there in the quarter, another item for the punch list! I also have some coil springs on the way to slam this thing into the weeds.
Underhood shot. There is some definite elbow grease required to bring it back up and looking pretty again. If I know me there will be some reason to pull the engine out again prior to departure on the Power Tour! I have taken some flak for the air filter placement, people tell me I need a cold air intake pipe, the car seems to run fine though so I don't know. I think it is staying like this.
So that is where I am at as of right now. If everything goes the way I want it to then I will have a fresh coat of paint on the car before I depart. That is a bit of a big order though. The car is very straight and has a minimum of rust but I am not sure I will get it done. I am thinking black or very dark gray with some rally stripes. We will see!
Since it seems everyone has a plan "B" I have one in place as well. My 2007 C6 Convertible. Bone stock save for a skip shift eliminator, CCW wheels, and a Corsa cat back. This thing has been dead nuts reliable for the 10 years I have owned it. I hope the Monte will be what I head out in, but if it has to be the Vette then so be it!
So all of that to say that I hope to meet up with some of you on the tour. I will be departing Bangor, ME and heading across Northern NY to get to the start, if anyone wants to link up that would be great! I have all my hotel reservations made already and have at least one side stop planned at the museum of the Air Force.
I will keep this updated as I make progress on the car. In addition I will probably be picking peoples brains for tips/tricks to success. I am hoping to be a long hauler this year, fingers are crossed!!!
This year will be my first time on the HRPT and I am very excited to say the least.
I was all ready to do the tour last year and at the last minute I had to cancel. I am a full time Air National Guard guy (AGR) and had my name on a short notice list for a particular school I needed to help advance my career. To my surprise I got a call several weeks prior to the start of Power Tour that I had a slot for the school and it was starting just prior to the start of Power Tour! So reluctantly I cancelled my plans and attended the school.
This year I am making it!
My Power Tour chariot is a 1986 Monte Carlo SS. There is little left of the factory ride besides the frame and body. I have put in a 5.3 LS. It is outfitted with an LS1 intake, TSP 220R cam, Pontiac GTP injectors, and shorty stainless headers. That is hooked to a 4L80E with a Trans-Go HD2 shift kit and a Circle D 3600 RPM stall converter. That is all fed to a Ford 8.8" disk brake rear end with 3.27's and a posi. Everything is run by a Holley Terminator X Max. This thing is a blast and a great cruiser!
This is how it sat last Summer on a set of Rally wheels with M/T Drag Radials on the rear. It hooked great but handled really oddly and was one step below deadly in the rain with the rear tires. When they say these tires aren't for use in the wet they aren't kidding! Yikes! I snapped this pic on my phone and sent it to my with the caption, "My car looks RAD!" Her response, "The 80's called and they want their word back." She is wrong though, my car does look rad!
I ended up putting some skinnier radials on the back and it tamed all the weird handling traits and was a lot more fun, although much more likely to blow the rear tires off.
This is me just about a year ago. As I was getting ready for Power Tour '19 I kicked a rod out the side of the block. That previous 5.3 was such a sweet little runner, I felt sick when it puked its innards out everywhere! But hey, if you are going to spin the hell out of them you've got to expect the occasional KABOOM!! My wife was amazed that I was smiling when she snapped this pic as I started the process of yanking the blown engine.
She got another 5.3 and was a total blast all last Summer/Fall. I was sorry when it was time to put the car away in preparation for snow!
Currently this is how the car sits. I know many of you can sympathize with a car on jackstands. In the 8 years I have owned this thing it has spent more time on stands than on the road, but it still is a lot of fun! I built the exhaust from scratch from the headers back and it is pulled out here while I make a couple of improvements.
My latest brainstorm is to give the car a bit of an 80's stock car theme. I bought a set of Bassett DOT stock car wheels, smoothed the sidewalls of the tires with my DA, and then made some Goodyear billboard style stencils like what NASCAR ran in the 80's. I think it looks awesome and the overspray looks much like those tires used to look when I was a kid and used to love watching those races. A little bit of rust to take care of there in the quarter, another item for the punch list! I also have some coil springs on the way to slam this thing into the weeds.
Underhood shot. There is some definite elbow grease required to bring it back up and looking pretty again. If I know me there will be some reason to pull the engine out again prior to departure on the Power Tour! I have taken some flak for the air filter placement, people tell me I need a cold air intake pipe, the car seems to run fine though so I don't know. I think it is staying like this.
So that is where I am at as of right now. If everything goes the way I want it to then I will have a fresh coat of paint on the car before I depart. That is a bit of a big order though. The car is very straight and has a minimum of rust but I am not sure I will get it done. I am thinking black or very dark gray with some rally stripes. We will see!
Since it seems everyone has a plan "B" I have one in place as well. My 2007 C6 Convertible. Bone stock save for a skip shift eliminator, CCW wheels, and a Corsa cat back. This thing has been dead nuts reliable for the 10 years I have owned it. I hope the Monte will be what I head out in, but if it has to be the Vette then so be it!
So all of that to say that I hope to meet up with some of you on the tour. I will be departing Bangor, ME and heading across Northern NY to get to the start, if anyone wants to link up that would be great! I have all my hotel reservations made already and have at least one side stop planned at the museum of the Air Force.
I will keep this updated as I make progress on the car. In addition I will probably be picking peoples brains for tips/tricks to success. I am hoping to be a long hauler this year, fingers are crossed!!!
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