I FINALLY got my Camaro back last night! Since I haven't written in over a year, let me fill you in...I have a 1980 Camaro that I bought during my sophomore year at IWU. It's my baby. It's got quite a bit of rust, but the interior is still pretty nice. The design of the '70-'81 Camaro is hands down my favorite. Growing up, my dad always lamented not hanging on to the cars he had when he was younger, specifically, his '67 Oldsmobile 442. Not wanting to live with a similar regret, I bit the bullet in 2005 and purchased my Camaro off of a guy I went to high school with for $700. I've spent a ton on Striper (the car is black with white racing stripes) over the years...WAYYYYYYYY more than the car is worth.
Last summer, on my way into Marion one evening, Striper died. The car hadn't been running very well, but everything under the hood looked fine - I thought driving it might give me a better idea as to what might be wrong. (I'm still not sure exactly what caused the motor to blow.) As my powerless car coasted down State Road 9 into the back lot of Joey's Wallpaper, I was actually more excited than sad - I finally had the green light to rip out the wimpy factory V-6 and make my Camaro a true American muscle car!
Unfortunately, this put Striper out of commission for the rest of the summer and fall, and much of the winter, as I got all the kinks worked out of the new motor and other little things repaired. But she's back, and is now sporting a 350 V-8, 4-barrel carb, dual exhaust, glasspacks, a new transmission and radiator - it's pretty much a brand new car under the hood. :)
I haven't had a chance to give Striper a bath, so I haven't taken a picture of it recently...but here's a super OLD picture of the car (and me) and the new motor:
Mark and Striper - soon to be prowling a neighborhood near you. :)
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