On Topic

Everyone around here seems pretty easy going which is obviously an attractive quality to visitors and for some to join, what I've noted works equally well with the right balance especially on a technical resource site such as this where people are wanting to source information is that topics stay in general terms On Topic. People soon get frustrated if they are clicking on a topic to learn about suspension set up but folk are having a conversation on an electrical problem, and a potential valuable topic on the electrical problem gets lost in the suspension topic.

Just throwing it out there ........... any site only as good as its content, a site with good content that is well organized is hard to beat.

This brings up a good point. I was tracing a wire from the headlight shroud back to the...I'm kidding!

Thanks for the comments that pertain to the layout and categories. I've tried to maintain an organized forum from day one and the members here are great. A good group who really try to help each other and keep discussions on track without bashing one another.

Thanks everyone,
~Focker

I agree. I really like Focker's environment here. Friends starting to talk about politics and religion is like watching that starlet you just spent the night with standing up to pee. There's no turning back from that point. So I'd reckon all the friendliness here is an extension of Focker's personality. I've noticed people are careful to be positive and find genius rather than fault here.

I've been monitoring some interesting threads about the personality of sites.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/yamahafj/message/138591
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8883479&posted=1#post8883479
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/the-hu-bar/hubb-vs-advrider-40000-14

Juxtapose those with the Yahoo Group for XR650Rs and I think it must take a little work to prevent one's own personal bias from corrupting the fairness of a site. I think what is often forgotten is that politics and religion turn off as many people who agree with you as disagree. It just ends up being a cheer leading section for impotent rage.

On the radio the other day I heard the son of a famous actor say , "My dad always told me, 'Think fast, but speak slow.'"

Cheers for the links Bump.

What part of new Zealand are you in? If I looked it up on Google will I see the topography?

In the "garden city" Bump aka Christchurch - Most english city outside of England

Yep you fly here via Google Earth

What part of Cali are you in ? Are you far from Arnold ? Any chance of sending me a 1970 SS camaro ?

I kind of a Camaro nut myself. My parents had two 1969 Camaros when I was growing up. His was a Z/28 that came in 2nd in SCCA slalom racing in California. Hers was a 375HP 396 SS yellow with black stripes and black interior, 4sp. Man, I got a lot of stories...

I really wanted a 1970 Z/28 for my first car but ended up with a 454 SS chevell loaded, blue with black stripes and black interior. I raced that car until it was worn out.

I'm in San Juan Capistrano now but was in Sonoma (Napa Valley area) until a couple of months ago.

Are you familiar with Big Red? The engine guy, Larry Mollicone, is a friend of mine. He did a lot of work for me on my Chevelle. My dad did the engine.
http://www.bigredcamaro.com/newsite/

Your folks roo's sounds sweet. What HP your Chevelle putting out Bump ?

How much 70 - 73 Camaros going for over there ? - SS (Just a driver not show car )

I'd guess my Chevelle was putting out maybe 550HP or so and maybe 450 TQ. We went in with what was at that time the biggest hydraulic cam we could put with an automatic trans (Turbo 400). Kay Sissel did the heads, Larry Mollicone did the carb, my father did the bottom end and assembly, Bill Osborne helped me with suspension-but I couldn't really afford much. I was into a look then that was unusual and not popular. But it eventually became what Big Red is. Larry does the engine work on Big red. Bill built it.

70-73 camaros and not worth as much as 1969s. I've seen clean ones for 10K and up. 1974s Z/28s are really cheap. I saw one last year that had been sitting in a parking structure in San Francisco for about 15 years. It went for $4500 or so. That car can be made really neat looking with lowering and steel fender flares.

I really like 1970 Z/28 Camaros. 1969 Camaros are ridiculous. They were sort of at the height of value for muscle cars for several years. Which is odd because they had a strike at the plants that year and production of the 1969 ran for 18 months or so. For them to be valued so high is odd to me. It's not like they are rare. And the coding on the cars from the factory is a mess so there are a lot of legitimate 1969 Z/28s out there that can't prove it and a lot of fakes that look real.

Kiwi650 wrote:Your folks roo's sounds sweet. What HP your Chevelle putting out Bump ?

How much 70 - 73 Camaros going for over there ? - SS (Just a driver not show car )

"Only 550 HP" Way to go Bump !
Lot of mates like the late 60's Camaro shape, put together in a rush to grab the dollars going to Fords Mustang eh. Mate of mine had a theory that you like the cars you use to see running around as a kid, works for me with seeing early 70 Camaros being driven around Christchurch in the 70's by Americans here that were based here at the deep freeze base for work in Antarctica. Put a horn on a jelly fish the early 70's Camaro's, just love it from every angle, no suprises the designer was from Ferrari - (Looks better than any Ferrari to me ) Black white stripes, or Hugger orange with white stripes my Fav - Craiger mags - ooooh YeaH. They going up in value all the time the 2nd gen eh, pick by many as a good future investment. Could be like the MOPAR's here, worth gold. Re with what you were saying I've seen some bargains on E-Bay for the 2nd gen - well going by the photos. Manual roo would be nice

I reckon the only part was because I had very little money. My best friend growing up was a porting guy at Sissels shop so that was free. Larry charged me $50. My dad was free. And so forth. I had friends who had money from their folks their cars were really neat. But I had to be kinda scrappy. When I first lowered my Chevelle I just put clamps on the springs until I was sure it's what I wanted and I could save up the money for a spring swap. So I would have loved to have had a blown 461 set back several inches and so forth. But I just was't that kid. My buddy who worked at Sissells is the guy who started and owns EZ-UP canopies BTW.

These days it's difficult IMHO to have a real race car on the street here in So Cal. All the tracks are gone for one thing. We used to go with my dad after work and race our car at night at Irwindale, OCIR and so forth. Now it's a felony over here if you are caught street racing. You here a lot of BS over here about what killed real hot rodding-which in my experience was good base car and making it a race car. People who have an agenda blame environmentalists and the government and whatnot. I was there with both feet firmly in that scene in LA. What really killed it was insurance companies and auto manufacturers. Most of the guys who were really making cars bitchin had little money. But they worked at an auto shop, or a specialty manufacturer like Edelbrock, or at a machine shop that did performance work. So we traded for stuff. I'm not too proud to tell you I mowed Kay Sissel's lawn a few times...it was about 6 acres! But insurance got really expensive. Oil companies dropped the high octane gas needed to run those early low-tech heads with high compression ratios. And, as we now know from all the memoirs, GM and the rest never really wanted to or liked making those cars anyway.

My mother's 1969 SS 375HP 396 yellow black stripes black interior Camaro had Cragars.

Not to irritate any others on here, but based on experience, I'd be careful where in the US I bought an old car. I have a lot of friends who have purchased cars from the midwest or the east coast because they were impatient. In our experience, the rest of the country simply has a different idea of what perfect is compared to So Cal. Last year a friend bought a 1969 Z/28 from Ohio. It look bitchin in all the photos. Once out here and on another friend's lift it was a mess. I think the weather here in teh SW USA is pretty easy on cars compared to the rest of the country that sees a lot of rain, snow, ice, and so forth.

Kiwi650 wrote:"Only 550 HP" Way to go Bump !
Lot of mates like the late 60's Camaro shape, put together in a rush to grab the dollars going to Fords Mustang eh. Mate of mine had a theory that you like the cars you use to see running around as a kid, works for me with seeing early 70 Camaros being driven around Christchurch in the 70's by Americans here that were based here at the deep freeze base for work in Antarctica. Put a horn on a jelly fish the early 70's Camaro's, just love it from every angle, no suprises the designer was from Ferrari - (Looks better than any Ferrari to me ) Black white stripes, or Hugger orange with white stripes my Fav - Craiger mags - ooooh YeaH. They going up in value all the time the 2nd gen eh, pick by many as a good future investment. Could be like the MOPAR's here, worth gold. Re with what you were saying I've seen some bargains on E-Bay for the 2nd gen - well going by the photos. Manual roo would be nice

Clipity wrote:

"If you carn't beat them join them"

I was meaning 550 impressive Your mums does sound nice. Don't ya learn so much and have so many laughs when you are short on funds ? Steve at kiwi shipping is a kiwi based in LA and has great feedback in Landing cars from the USA to NZ. Yeah California "The oil" for classic cars, handy port Heard the southern states good area to find muscle cars ?

http://www.kiwishipping.co.nz

http://www.nzmustang.com/TradeDirectory/Shipping.htm

Here's some pics of 1970-1973 Camaros raced in Transam: http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/default.aspx?carID=12904&i=4#menu

"Nice Action Bump" Cheers, they look right at home those Roooooo's, nice shot of that white one rounding the corner with the "kicking" side pipe on show. That wee man with the open face helmet can park that hugger orange Roo in my garage anytime