Since I've eliminated the pinging in the Mighty Dart I've gotten back to my challenging anything that looks worthwhile. Last night I met a 'vette. Don't know the year but it was the 84 and up flying wedge body style. Had four rounded off square taillights. Now I know that was a ZR1 indentifier for a while but chubby ended up sticking them on all the vettes. I did look for a ZR1 emblem but I didn't see any, not that I know where they are. Any how here's how it happened. I was tooling along on my way home when I noticed in my rear view mirror a car fast approaching. I toyed with the idea of romping on it and leaving him but decided to pull over and let him by. As he passes me I get in behind him. We get to a red light and I notice it's a vette. Since camaros seem to be in short supply I decided he was the next best thing. I'm behind him revving the engine and letting him know that I'm not impressed. Light goes green and he takes off. I briefly spin them, with 2.45 gears no less, and follow. I keep it in D the whole time mind you. 1st gear, he starts slowly pulling away until about 4K when I come into the cam and start reeling him back in, shifts into second and I'm out of the cam and he pulls slowly ahead until about 4K when I start reeling him in. The trans shifts into 3rd, all too soon, and I'm out of the cam and he pulls slowly ahead till about 4K the I start reeling him in. I get within 50 feet or so of him and we got to stop for a light. Again I am stuck behind him but this time he knows I am after his butt. Same scenario plays out but this time there is no more lights and no other traffic so as I start reeling him in in third he grabs the next exit and quits. I can't say I won and I can't say I lost, it was pretty even, I apparently had more top end hp but he had better low end grunt. If I had manually shifted the trans I might of been able to keep the revs up enough to take advantage of the cam but my valvesprings are old and it will float if I rev it too much. I've toyed with the idea of 355 or 391's for it but I think I'd just end up smoking tires most of the time. I'm seriously thinking about 323's and a suregrip. I'd improve the acceleration factor dramatically and still have a decent top end. I do need to redo the trans as it feels like it takes all day to shift gears. Nothing is wrong it's just that I like a firm, fast shift. Also I want to redo the governor to increase the wot upshift speeds. I do think the vette was an automatic, either that or the guy knew how to drive a stick. Most stick cars are pretty obvious by the fact that you can tell when it's shifting by the decrease in acceleration. I call this a moral victory because I have about $3K into the Mighty Dart and I figure the vette probably cost him $35K.
I was on the way home from work when I pulled in behind two Mustangs at a red light. A 65 and a late 80's version. I could tell they were going to go for it when the light turned green. As I was pulling up I figured I ought to pull in behind the faster of the two. Since I didn't know which it would be I chose the 65. I figured it was non smog and a lot lighter so it ought to be quicker. The light goes green and they're off. I guessed wrong the new one was faster so I get behind him. As soon as there is enough room I get in front of the 65 and floor it. I thumped both those Mustangs. It's kind of humiliating when your racing someone only to be passed by traffic you were holding up.
You know the common thread here is I am always going home from work when this stuff occurs. On this trip I am tooling along the highway when I start to pass a BMW. As I pull along side him I notice he's got factory fender flares on what appears to be a 318 of some sort.
So I back off to look at the emblems on the back. A big ole M3 stares at me. Well, I figure let's have some fun. I pull along side the driver and, yep, it's a yuppie. I gun it and make the obvious overtures to a challenge. Either he's not interested or a rock. So I get back up to my normal cruising speed and leave. I kept an eye on him in the rear view mirror and sure enough he starts to accelerate after me. Well, I get the Mighty Dart up to just under his closing speed and let him get alongside. Once he's along side I floor it and proceed to rapidly leave him behind me. Once I show him I can do that I back off. He catches back up and I speed up to just above his speed. Basically, I am showing him that he cannot keep up with me. Well, my exit comes up so I get on to the access road and the M3 follows. Well, there's a red light so we both start to sow down. It goes green and we're off. We come up on a 90 degree left hander. I figure I can maintain here when in fact I actually blasted him thru the turn. Next light is red and stays that way. I figure this is it as I have no poop off the line. Light goes green and I'll be d@mned if I didn't thump him again. I tell you if I owned a BMW M3 that got thumped by a green 72 Dart that looked like it was used to herd shopping carts I'd be mad.
Thunderstruck...