Iowa Members Get In Here!

[BenningJ]

Haha, except for the snow we are supposed to get today

[BenningJ]

Hopefully a mild winter; this way it won't be as long. Nice ZL1 Tim, are you going to push it along the floor and make the 'Vroom' sounds as it goes? LOL, jk. Fair weather will come around again before you know it.

[Snakeater]

Hello all sorry I couldn't met you guys last Saturday
I had to work plus I put the car away for winter
Sounds like it was great time
Next year I'm going do a lot more

[BenningJ]

These cars do just fine with a good All-season or Winter tire. I didn't have a single issue or problem driving 30 miles into work this morning.

[BenningJ]

Yeah I get that. There was quite a bit of slush this morning and a lot of very large puddles.

[toesuf94]

I am going ZL1 hunting tonight.

Must have.

[roadrage41]

Whats the frequency of seeing a shell station in CR? or anything else that carries decent 93 octane? Looking to expand my car show/hang out horizons, get horrible fuel economy.

Out of all the forums I've been to this one has the most active Iowa section it seems.

Hi!

Russ

[BenningJ]

Welcome Russ,

Yeah we keep this thread moving quite well. We all love our cars and we all love to get together and talk about our cars haha.

I think there are a few places in CR that carry 93 octane and I'm sure Tim (HRD_WRK) can back me up on this. I know there is at least one as Tim and I were there the other day filling up during the CR cruise.

Also, you should post up some pictures of your car. Later.

Jason

[roadrage41]

I uploaded one to my album, not really a car per se... kinda like 2 cars. welded together.

We had the pontiac G8 meet here this year, I went and hung out with those guys for a good bit of it. It's kind of fun for me to try and spot the differences when every car started out basically the same, and people tend to like mine because its big and stupid. I like to think of it as a 5 year olds mid life crisis vehicle.

We have like a hundred car shows a year down here, but its a roatation of the same cars, after a while you've seen all of those cars. Time to go look at new ones.

Russ

[BenningJ]

Nice pic. Tell me the specs about your truck.

[roadrage41]

kind of a long story-

1987 Chevy R30, first year for fuel injection in squarebody trucks. Originally a Union Pacific Fleet truck, trully 0 options as far as creature comforts. It has heat - just defrost and floor, no vents, wasn't factory equipped with a stereo, or even a cigarette lighter, has rubber floor mats, vinyl seats.

I'd been kind of griping to a buddy of mine for awhile that I hated my regular cab pickup because I have small kids, cant haul them around, have to take the wife's car. A ford focus station wagon. FORD. FOCUS. STATION. WAGON. So I'm kinda on the lookout for something bigger. He finds this thing sitting at one of the classier car lots downtown, sends me to look at it.

The driver's vent window had been smashed out so thieves could steal the battery and the passenger side was just broken. hmmm. The guy comes across the street and asks me if I want to hear it run..... Yes, thats why I'm here. Goes and gets the keys, comes back to bring this puppy to life, with a battery in tow. Crank, crank, crank... nothing. truck is out of gas. Comes back with a gallon of gas, cranks a minute longer, and ITS ALIIIIIIVE. I note that the power steering pump is making the most terrible noise I've ever heard one make. He goes to get power steering fluid, reservoir is empty, he fills it, checks level, puts cap back on. (truck is still running.) Seconds later the ps pump cap comes off like an ICBM. He tells me he'll knock the price of a pump off the $1495 he wants for it. I thank him for his time, get out asap. Things noted in all of this - it's a TBI 350, a Turbo 400, and an 8 lug 14 bolt for a driveline.

Cutscene - 2 months later, My wife and I go to des moines for our anniversary, the concert we were going to see is cancelled, we go anyway just to get out of town. Back in town, He decides that I really need that truck. Goes down, talks the guy down to 900 cash, and leap frogs it 6 blocks back to his shop. Get back and the truck, the keys and the title are waiting for me with a note that I now owe him 700 dollars, merry christmas.... Jerk.

Spent a few weeks pondering what to do with the thing, wasn't really driveable, had to cut the ps pump belt off just to get it back, and neither of us knew anything about hydroboost.

Common denominator was that the 350 was gonzo. LS power. period. Truck is 2 wheel drive, but looked like a 4x4- unacceptable. The original plan was a basic 5.3 / 4L80e swap, and air ride. That isn't what happened.

For some stupid reason I was digging around trying to find out just how heavy this thing is, we settled on info from a GM spec sheet from 1987 that said 6200. Man that's heavy. He runs the codes off of it. The options this thing does have are 4.11's and a posi. Behind a th400.... He starts messing with horsepower to weight calculator's and all kinds of other worthless garbage.

"Ya know, with 500 or so at the wheels, this thing should run high to mid 13's"

And it was all over.

My parts pile grew over the winter, i got summit racing gift cards, and injectors and parts my wife still couldn't pick out under the hood of my truck even though she paid for them in the name of christmas and birthday presents. She still refers to the turbo as "that thing i got you for your birthday"

Which leads up to this-
1987 Chevy R30
2004 Chevy Silverado 5.3
1998 Camaro cam, 2010 Camaro valve springs and pushrods (there's a little Camaro in it)
Master Power T70 turbocharger
Tial Q Blow off, Tial 38mm wastegate
Ebay Intercooler.

Lowered 6/8 static.

4 wheel disc brake conversion.

Looks ugly, scares puppies, and makes lots of noises. Its me in vehicular form.

We got it all together in early August, Ive been driving it pretty much solely.

One night I for one reason or another didn't make the turn to my house (was not speed related i swear) and I ended up at the flying J off I80, realizing we never actually checked the weight on the thing, I decide to confuse the hell out of the girl at the fuel desk, and pull my truck up on the scale.

With me in it, and a pretty full tank of gas -

4980 lbs. CAT scale verified.

Now that I've taken that 5 minutes of your life..... Im going to print this out and tape it to my hood whenever I go to shows.

[BenningJ]

Wow, awesome story! That truck sounds like a beast. Now I see why you need the 93 and get horrible mileage. Lol. Hope to see you around when the rest of them, unlike me; I'm a Year-round warrior, pull their cars out of storage and we start having meets again.

[pwrmanpaul66]

hey all just wanted to say hi and hope all is good for everyone ! and jason my car is not put away yet ! im gonna drive as long as i dont see the brine trucks running around witch they have been hitting the over passes but i dont have to drive over any of them so im still gonna drive didnt drive yesterday or today but tom. yes couldnt trust any of these bad drivers around here ! and want to say hi to the newbie hiya russ hope to see you around this coming show season ! and on another note i need some ideas from any of the members here as to what we call the april camaro and vette show ? so speak up guys and gals !

[NitroBeagle]

Originally Posted by roadrage41

Whats the frequency of seeing a shell station in CR? or anything else that carries decent 93 octane? Looking to expand my car show/hang out horizons, get horrible fuel economy.

Out of all the forums I've been to this one has the most active Iowa section it seems.

Hi!

Russ

Welcome Russ ! See ya at the shows and get togethers . Chris .