GasGuzzler Garage

Well...this is longer than I thought it would be. Took me almost four hours to find some of these old pics and scan them, take new pics and PhotoShop them, and do all the little things it takes to climb a mountain like this...

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1st pic is my garage. Yes, that's a genuine star thingie clock, a mounted and framed in glass pic of Jimi Hendrix on the wall in front of the Blazer, and a load of magazines on the rack next to the Blazer.

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Yes, I have to show the best parts of my garage since that's the title. I have two 4-foot double bulbs and a 5-blade 52" fan in there....it is Texas, you know.


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Now it's time to go back...in time. Here's the 1968 Chevelle SS396 I got at age 15. Sold it in 2004. It was a pile when it left but I digress.....

Yep that's me with my car and my buddy's 1968 GTO in about 1992. He's actually still got it (and an '04) and it's actually nice although it wasn't and still is not as quick as my Chevy was.

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Hahahaha Texas Motorplex circa 1993-1994 with an almost stock 396, manifolds, 3.08's, stock stall....all that stuff yet still a dial of 14.54...? Those wheels were borrowed....and the fronts from someone different than the rears.

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After spinning a rod bearing in the 396 that was mostly stock the way I bought it and lots of trouble along the way prior, I built this 396 out of the same basic motor....0.040" over CAST pistons, a WEIAND Xelerator manifold and a Holley 3310-2 that messed with and modded a lot. Also the 1st headers (hooker super comp 2" X 3" collector) and new exhaust with the silver Flowmaster two chambers (before they had names or series). Also pulled the AC for this incarnation (2 years daily driver). The lower pic is at Kennedale with the "new" 396 as well as a change from 3.08 open to 4.10 posi (the 12-bolt flew apart so I replaced it with a 8.5" 10-bolt)...also there are the 1st slicks.....free worn out 29.5 X 9.0's that hooked better than anything else I used. Bought some chrome 15X7 wagon wheels out of the Lewisville paper.

Also ran the 125 shot at the track for the 1st time that day. Pulled some 1.85's 60' and ran 8-teens in the high 80's.

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Started with a Power Shot 125 but....well, you know. Moved to a Cheater with a pusher Holley Red pump (with the orifice and the regulator spring removed it was the same as a Holley blue for a cheaper price) and some extra care stuff....still using a push button. Well....my "tuner" got goofy and swapped the 175's for what he told me was the 200's BUT not only did he pill it to 250, but he pilled it BACKWARDS. Stock bottom end 396 with cast pistons did not agree with the jets in the plate in backwards. Blew it up in South Dallas near the Astro Drive-In movie theater.

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Yes, still living at home at this point....but now I had a Victor Jr 4150.

The bottom pic shows my "Aunt Minnie"....as she became known. My Great Aunt bought the 1976 Delta 88 new at Charles Maund (sp?) Olds in Austin, TX 1976. She gave it to her sister (my Grandmother) in 1986. I got it for $200 once my car was toast and my Grandmother couldn't drive. I eventually swapped in duals and cut out the cats, swapped the 2.73's for 3.42's and a Lewisville Police Caprice G80, rebuilt the Q-Jet (thanks John-Boy), rewired and radiatored it...even put the PowerShot on there in Super Stealth Mode....totally hidden. I sold it in 1998 when I bought my 1st new car...ummm....truck. The guy I sold it to from a previous workplace blew up the Olds 350 just months after the sale. The exhaust and gears alone dropped the 8th mile time a full second from 11.70's to 10.70's without the nitrous.

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...and here we have one of the last of the 454's. The last one had the Victor Jr. and some Reher-Morrison heads (FULLY ported 049's with 2.30/1.88 valves, bronze profiled guides, the works)...I bought the heads (with valves, no springs or hardware) and intake from the same guy.....$500. The world was different back then it seems.

It ended up at 11:1 standard bore and stroke 454, truck rods with ARP bolts, a fore mentioned top end with the 800DP I WORKED OVER, the same Hookers, a totally worked HEI, and a Herbert flat tappet solid 256/264 .618/.636 on a 106 LSA.

The no choke havin' thing would NOT idle below 1200. The good days? Maybe....never got a chance to run this combo at the track but it was a runner for sure. I swapped the 4.10's for 3.73's and did the best thing ever....put in a nice torque converter. Got a $600 GER 3600 for $200 and loved it but it required driving in M2 around town. This motor pulled well to near 7000 but one of the valves kissed a piston on a 6800 RPM 2-3 upshift and cashed it in for good. Valve head broke off and turned sideways in the chamber, destroying one piston and the head. I still have the crankshaft if anyone wants it. I sold the car before I moved the last time.

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Then there's this. When we had our third kiddo we needed to trade off the low mileage and very clean silver Deville my wife and I loved. We didn't want to skimp but we're cheapos too so we settled for a Denali with all the amenities. Here's about what it looked like after we bought it in January 2008...it had 68K miles then, has about 81K now.

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What's been done? Well....this: Throttle body bypass, ported OEM filter housing with Airaid modular intake tube, modified filter tray, K&N drop-in filter, OEM 05-06 e-fan retrofit wired with Nelson Performance harness, ACDelco 41-985 plugs, MSD Superconductor plug wires, Wester's 91 octane hot tune, Trans Go 2-4 servo pistons, Mobil 1 engine oil, 160* thermostat, synthetic axle lube front and rear. It's not fast but with stock exhaust and looks it could be surprising being that it has touched the 14's on the old tune.

Visual mods are few. I had the front side windows tinted to match the factory tint, added the front footwell interior lights, and pulled the engine covers. I eventually installed some clear front signals (see below). May put some all red LED tails on.

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Engine shot #1

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...and #2

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2000 Blazer I bought one year old in April 2001 with 17K miles. Now it has 216K miles. Still has the original front brake pads. Also has MSD wires, MAF mod, hogged out air box with K&N filter, Flex-a-Lite made to fit e-fan and controller, heavy duty high output Suburban alternator, Corvette 2-4 servo piston kit from TransGo and some other crap I cannot remember. It's fast....runs perfect can't miss 10.64 all day any weather no matter the track conditions....in the 8th mile.

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Installed clear front signals and white bulbs. Pics to come. Yes, I checked the Texas Department of Public Safety laws and white is legal for front signals.

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See, told ya so.

1st post edited for content.

The Blazer has now crossed 232,000 miles, the Denali now has more than 90,000 miles. After my demod to sell the GMC I have it back like it was but better. I left the tune, the 41-985 plugs, and the Corvette servo in all along but have re-purchased an exact copy of the Airaid MIT I had before. I have the black MSD wires this time instead of the red ones because of FAIL on my part shopping eBay but that's OK because it's a little different than most others. I have had the tune redone a couple times for small issues and it's better than ever. I reinstalled a set of 05 Tahoe efans but used a Blackbear 2-pin harness this time so the fans work exactly like factory.