Short story from long ago

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Big Dad

Big Dad

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My friend in high school had a 67 Camaro, just a ordinary run of the mill .. 67 327 3 speed, not fast, not fancy, he was always getting outran by the local Mopar crowd. wanted to do something about it ..

Small little places existed around at that time that gave out small loans I think a few still are in places today, not much here ..

In their( loan place) possession they had a 68 Chevelle 396 4 speed , it was an SS too .. wasn't really in all that bad of shape to be fair , we talked to the lady at the place

4 kids , she said she needed 3 bids on it and would not sell it for under $100 !! ( yes, it ran and drove. we ech filled out a little slip , with bids of 101,102,103 and Steve bid $155

sold, he paid cash , and that was a fair sum for a high school kid to carry around , drove it home, pulled the drive line out ( lol ) we did and put in that Camaro

scrapped the Chevelle ( yes, we did ) .. lol and put the big block in Camaro , still got beat by local Mopar guys .. haha
 
Must not have been a 375 horse 396. lol
I'm Mopar through and through, but sometimes I hear stories that aren't always true. lol
The 375 horse 396 would give most Mopar's a run for the money, even the mighty 440.
 
Kind of reminds of a friends '68 Camaro back in HS (early 80's). He blew-up his SBC engine, and I happened to have a spare SBF/C4 combo out of a '69 Mustang (I think. Maybe it was from an old E150 van I had...), so we did what stupid kids did Back in the Day, and we somehow managed to stuff my Ford into his Chevy. Pissed off all sorts of people, as one could imagine.

I remember him telling people he had a 302 engine under the hood, and of course everyone assumed it was the Chevy 302.

Car ran like ****, though, as the 289/302 was damn dead when I pulled it out.
 
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fishmens67 said:
Must not have been a 375 horse 396. lol
I'm Mopar through and through, but sometimes I hear stories that aren't always true. lol
The 375 horse 396 would give most Mopar's a run for the money, even the mighty 440.
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My first muscle car was a 72 Chevelle with a 396 auto, pretty fast or so I thought until I bought a 70 Challenger R/T 440 auto. No comparison, the stock Challenger had way more power. That was the first time I ever drove a car that rose up when you floored it. I actually had to ask some older guys why the car rose instead of squatted. I remember the response, men stand and women squat
:steering:
 
Big Dad said:
My friend in high school had a 67 Camaro, just a ordinary run of the mill .. 67 327 3 speed, not fast, not fancy, he was always getting outran by the local Mopar crowd. wanted to do something about it ..

Small little places existed around at that time that gave out small loans I think a few still are in places today, not much here ..

In their( loan place) possession they had a 68 Chevelle 396 4 speed , it was an SS too .. wasn't really in all that bad of shape to be fair , we talked to the lady at the place

4 kids , she said she needed 3 bids on it and would not sell it for under $100 !! ( yes, it ran and drove. we ech filled out a little slip , with bids of 101,102,103 and Steve bid $155

sold, he paid cash , and that was a fair sum for a high school kid to carry around , drove it home, pulled the drive line out ( lol ) we did and put in that Camaro

scrapped the Chevelle ( yes, we did ) .. lol and put the big block in Camaro , still got beat by local Mopar guys .. haha
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Beat by the local mopar guys? Three things come to mind that would cause this, 1st the 396 was stock and the mopars were modified, 2nd he didn't know how to tune his car 3rd all of the above plus he didn't know how to drive it. Also final gear ratio could very well affected the out come. I'm not saying that mopars can't / don't run good lm just saying that people think that a Mopar can't be beat and that's simply not true.
Big Dad said:
My friend in high school had a 67 Camaro, just a ordinary run of the mill .. 67 327 3 speed, not fast, not fancy, he was always getting outran by the local Mopar crowd. wanted to do something about it ..

Small little places existed around at that time that gave out small loans I think a few still are in places today, not much here ..

In their( loan place) possession they had a 68 Chevelle 396 4 speed , it was an SS too .. wasn't really in all that bad of shape to be fair , we talked to the lady at the place

4 kids , she said she needed 3 bids on it and would not sell it for under $100 !! ( yes, it ran and drove. we ech filled out a little slip , with bids of 101,102,103 and Steve bid $155

sold, he paid cash , and that was a fair sum for a high school kid to carry around , drove it home, pulled the drive line out ( lol ) we did and put in that Camaro

scrapped the Chevelle ( yes, we did ) .. lol and put the big block in Camaro , still got beat by local Mopar guys .. haha
Click to expand...
 
Dan the man said:
Beat by the local mopar guys? Three things come to mind that would cause this, 1st the 396 was stock and the mopars were modified, 2nd he didn't know how to tune his car 3rd all of the above plus he didn't know how to drive it. Also final gear ratio could very well affected the out come. I'm not saying that mopars can't / don't run good lm just saying that people think that a Mopar can't be beat and that's simply not true.
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Geez @Dan the man , In Canada, a statement like that that would be like wearing a Habs jersey to a Leaf game...........LOL :thumbsup: :)
 
The 325, 350, and 360hp 396s were fairly weak, with the 350 and 360 having a slightly bigger cam than the 325. A 335hp 383 usually handled them , sometimes pretty easily.
A 375hp L78,was an ENTIRELY different matter, an animal. Bigger better everything, could easily give a 440 Mopar a race, and win. (Only advantage a 440 had was 44 cubes). The 375hp version was a downrate, mandated by corporate. Couldn't have a Chevelle or camaro with the same horsepower as a corvette, or even an Impala.
The same engine at 375 in a 66 Cheverly, was rated 425, in a 65 corvette.
 
The 375 horsepower 396 was a strong runner. I've seen the lesser rated 396's out run many a big block Mopar. It's all in how you have your car tuned, geared, etc. The OP said that the Camaro had a 327 with a 3 speed, I'm assuming it was a automatic. The Camaro probably had either 2.76 or 2.96 gears as that was the standard ratio in the non ss or rs Camaro's. Sometimes guys take on bragging rights when the playing field wasn't even. The mopars that beat him were they all big blocks? Point is that ford, gm have good running cars too. I've seen 5.0 mustang's blow the doors off of 340 car's. I like the mopars the best but at the same time I never under estimate the other person's car.
 
Dan the man said:
The 375 horsepower 396 was a strong runner. I've seen the lesser rated 396's out run many a big block Mopar. It's all in how you have your car tuned, geared, etc. The OP said that the Camaro had a 327 with a 3 speed, I'm assuming it was a automatic. The Camaro probably had either 2.76 or 2.96 gears as that was the standard ratio in the non ss or rs Camaro's. Sometimes guys take on bragging rights when the playing field wasn't even. The mopars that beat him were they all big blocks? Point is that ford, gm have good running cars too. I've seen 5.0 mustang's blow the doors off of 340 car's. I like the mopars the best but at the same time I never under estimate the other person's car.
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avast! dan the man back from a mighty voyage on th' seven seas spinnin' stories as long as mermaid tails and wild as octopus arms! arrrr mateys!
 
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junkyardhero said:
avast! dan the man back from a mighty voyage on th' seven seas spinnin' tales as long as mermaid tails and wild as octopus arms! arrrr mateys!
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Not tales, but rather facts from back in the late 70's and early 80's. Wish I had photos from back then.
 
Dan the man said:
Not tales, but rather facts from back in the late 70's and early 80's. Wish I had photos from back then.
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every old swab swears he's seen the beast of the deep but the history and maps prove these men foolish! too much rum and too much sun they had!

wishes and fishes mate! yer supposen to keep yer valuables in a treasure chest!
 
junkyardhero said:
every old swab swears he's seen the beast of the deep but the history and maps prove these men foolish! too much rum and too much sun they had!

wishes and fishes mate! yer supposen to keep yer valuables in a treasure chest!
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Photos got lost from the moves I've made over the years. Take a ride in a 450 horsepower 454 4 speed chevelle and then tell me what you think, I'll allow you time to change your shorts.
 
Dan the man said:
The 375 horsepower 396 was a strong runner. I've seen the lesser rated 396's out run many a big block Mopar. It's all in how you have your car tuned, geared, etc. The OP said that the Camaro had a 327 with a 3 speed, I'm assuming it was a automatic. The Camaro probably had either 2.76 or 2.96 gears as that was the standard ratio in the non ss or rs Camaro's. Sometimes guys take on bragging rights when the playing field wasn't even. The mopars that beat him were they all big blocks? Point is that ford, gm have good running cars too. I've seen 5.0 mustang's blow the doors off of 340 car's. I like the mopars the best but at the same time I never under estimate the other person's car.
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Just shitten' ya @Dan the man

 
Dan the man said:
Photos got lost from the moves I've made over the years. Take a ride in a 450 horsepower 454 4 speed chevelle and then tell me what you think, I'll allow you time to change your shorts.
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ah matey, row yer dingy back to shore, ye mistaken me for another who hasn't piloted a three masted clipper!

keep ya ropes cinched tight and ye pants tighter lest ye show yer whole bare *** to the crew!
 
Dan the man said:
Not tales, but rather facts from back in the late 70's and early 80's. Wish I had photos from back then.
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Well Dan if you want to deal in facts, one thing you implied in post #9 that the standard rear gear ratio being "2.76 or 2.96 not like an SS or RS". Well fact is the SS package is a trim package not a performance package such as the R/T option. A 6 cylinder Chevy 11 could have been an SS. RS or rally sport also a trim package not found on any Chevelle I've seen. Check it out. Fact Jack.
 
It's apparently evident that most on here have deprived themselves from the muscle car Era. Two cars come to mind that most on here probably have never heard of. Studebaker golden hawk and the Studebaker avanti, the golden hawk had dual Carter 4 barrels with a Paxton supercharged 289, no it wasn't a ford. The avanti had a 304 with dual carbs and a Paxton supercharger as well. The AMC amx with a 401, the rambler scrambler with its 390. Granted, mopars had some awesome running cars but where by no means the king of the hill. Can't forget the Pontiac SD 455's, oldsmobile 442's just to name a few.
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Bennoel 10 said:
Well Dan if you want to deal in facts, one thing you implied in post #9 that the standard rear gear ratio being "2.76 or 2.96 not like an SS or RS". Well fact is the SS package is a trim package not a performance package such as the R/T option. A 6 cylinder Chevy 11 could have been an SS. RS or rally sport also a trim package not found on any Chevelle I've seen. Check it out. Fact Jack.
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Your half way right. But either the SS or RS could be had with a higher performance 350 and a 4 speed transmission along with a 12 bolt posi. I never implied that the Chevelle had a rs package
 
Dan the man said:
Your half way right. But either the SS or RS could be had with a higher performance 350 and a 4 speed transmission along with a 12 bolt posi. I never implied that the Chevelle had a rs package
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You forgot the gear ratio ? Was that also optional ??? School me.
 
Dan the man said:
Your half way right. But either the SS or RS could be had with a higher performance 350 and a 4 speed transmission along with a 12 bolt posi. I never implied that the Chevelle had a rs package
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And I've seen with my own two eyes a 4 door Pontiac 4 spd 389 tri power. So I guess any combination was possible.
True story I swear.
 
Bennoel 10 said:
And I've seen with my own two eyes a 4 door Pontiac 4 spd 389 tri power. So I guess any combination was possible.
True story I swear.
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copo man, Central Order Production Office (or was the other way around?)

either way, back then, you had paper order forms and with the right amount of grease on the proper palm you could order a car however you wanted
 
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