05-21-2012 | #1 |
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Squires (near Ava MO in the Mark Twain N'tl Forest) - Missouri
Posts: 6,493
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BG Afterglow...
The 2012 BG gathering was a success as usual. Thanks to all that contributed, and as always, thanks to all those that spent weeks behind the scenes, doing the yeoman's work and did a terrific job to pull it off. And, a thanks to all the presenters and presentations (I wish I could have been there to see them all).
And, the "unofficial gathering" at the FBI motor home was exceptional. Beautiful weather, Pete cooking up is sausages and having some "cool ones” and BS'n with new and old friends... Finally, we had really some decent weather at the drag strip. Marc, Bob, and AL, George, and Robert joined in. The fun was cut off early by a broken spindle. But, the Zs all made strong accounting for themselves; winning most of the matchups. In particular, I enjoyed watching Marc line up against a full race-prepped drag car; huge tubs and slicks, huge overlap "ratchetah-ratchetah" cam and open headers, etc; a full race dedicated drag racier vs. a street driven ZR-1. Marc's "bog and go" technique for launching the ZR-1 was evident by his helmet nodding once as the stored energy in the FW gave way to the LT5 taking up the load. The drag car took the bog as an opportunity to jump ahead by a car length, but the scream of the LT5 was clear as Marc ran him down and passed him to finish on top in the end! This scene was repeated several times as the 5 ZR-1s came up against adversaries that you might guess would have beaten them, based on their obvious dedication to racing. It was thrilling to watch! There were a couple runs made by diesel trucks. I'd not seen that before, but dayam those things are quick! One guy broke his tires loose at the starting line, and in spite of feathering the gas to try to hook up, he never did and burned rubber the whole quarter mile. He didn't post a especially good time, but still - burning rubber for a quarter mile on a sticky track?? Wow. Bob G made a couple passes; both in the low 11s. On his second run he had a glitch and his adversary passed him at the halfway point. (Otherwise it may have been a 10.x run!) However, Bob recovered and still turned in an 11.3x! As George(?) said, "I'll bet that guy was surprised to see that Z come around him (to beat him to the finish)!" That 427 LT5 is a beast! Al also ran a low 11s pass, but broke a spindle at the starting line on his second (?) attempt. That ended the racing early for the group (only one trailer to bring home the wounded), but as it happens, both Al and Marc had spare spindles on hand "just in case". So, Al, Pete, and Marc went to work and in a few hours, including a couple trips to fetch the spares back at the hotel and purchase some big sockets, they had Al's car back up. But, just when Al thought it couldn't get any worse, Pete offers to "he-he-help" ... yeah...I'm sure that's what he's doing...(What the heck ARE you doing, Pete??) And, Robert's alternator died too. But, again the brotherhood steps in. Here is Robert and Dempsey about to lift the front of the plenum to remove the alternator. No place to find a replacement, late Saturday night, and Robert and Amy needed to get home Sunday. So, Al donated the alternator from his (just repaired) car so Robert could get home. (Bob G trailered Al's car home.) And, I got this shot of Ken as we "blasted" through stretches of the KY hills on our way home. (see sign on the right) It certainly was a blast. Looking forward to next year! P.
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Good carz, good food, good friendz = the best of timez! 90 #1202 "FBI" top end ported & relieved Cam timing by "Pete the Greek" Sans secondaries Chip & dyno tuning by Haibeck Automotive SW headers, X-pipe, MF muffs Former Secretary, ZR-1 Net Registry Last edited by Paul Workman; 05-21-2012 at 11:09 AM. |
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