Spring is on the way!

  This time of year really gets hotrodders gears turning. There is nothing like the feeling of sneaking out to the nearest stretch of dry pavement to test out all the winter modifications. Its also completly necessary to burn off the hard crust of outer rubber that forms on racing tires over the winter! The biggest decision yet to make is how soon do i renew my liscence plates and is last years race gas in my tank gonna still be ok? Sure .... let er rip!! Its also this time of year when my phone starts working again. I'm sure the thing has been broken all winter! Guys start looking for parts for stock cars, demo cars, off road trucks, race cars and hotrods to finish off their winter mods and prepare for the new season. I'm also thinking I need to write some courtesy tips for kijiji junkies. After a winter of replying to guys that are trying to get something for nothing I get very frusterated. So here goes in point form:

1- If you don't have any money for the item you want, please don't bother me

2- One word reply's such as "100" when the item is listed for $150 are just plain rude, Making low ball offers is fine but at least be polite.

3- Do you really think I want to trade a good pair of racing mufflers for your autographed UFC cap?

4- If my price for an item is very low and i've given a big explanation of the item please don't ask me to go take more pictures. Especially if you don't have any money anyways.

5- Please read the whole ad before replying. My explanation will probably answer most of your questions.

6- If i've listed all the offers that i've allready had for an item please don't reply to offer me the same amount.

7- If you really want my attention and want me to take you seriously, phone me, I'm a person, I'm usually friendly and I love chit - chatting with car guys!

8- please don't tell me how dumb I am for putting a chevy motor in a mustang, I've allready got that memo

9- If you think my prices are too high be polite and make a fair offer, i might go for it, just don't call me a jerk and leave a false return email adress

10- MOST IMPORTANTLY -- If you say you are coming to look or buy at a certain time or a certain day--DO IT!!!!! Lying is Lying...... We all have to live on this planet together so lets try to treat each other the way we want to be treated!

    I've bought and sold thousands of things and I love doing it. I'm not getting rich but I try to be friendly and help my customers the best i can.  I like hearing about guys project cars and maybe offering some ideas or accepting your advice for my own projects. One thing I've noticed that we guys could work on is taking the time to ask about someone else's project. If all i did was talk about what I'm doing and how awesome it is and how great I am it really turns guys off. Listen to each other and ask questions, show a little interest. That makes everyone happy. I've also really learned how to spot if a guy is lying or doesn't know what he is talking about. If your going to tell me stories about your car make sure they are true. If you say it has trouble keeping the front wheels on the ground, or you once made it from saskatoon to regina in 45 minutes, I'll subconsciously relegate you to BS-er status in my brain and never beleive a word you say ever again. Thats all i can think of for today.
brian aka prairiehotrodder

PS- I'd also like to give a little dig for the saskmustang.com forum. If you are from saskatchewan and like mustangs get over there, sign up and make some friends!!

Men and Marriage (and hobbies)

Yikes!! I recently came across this video from one of my favorite preachers. This is sorely needed in our culture and in our own lives. I felt very convicted and encouraged as well to be responsible. Please take the time to watch. Also great for single guys and women.

http://marshill.com/media/real-marriage/men-and-marriage

brian

motor runnin!!

  After much time and money i finally managed to get the 454 for project sleeper stang running. It started up pretty quick on the stand and with the help of a young gearhead named Brock I broke in the cam and set the timing. We ran it through a set of used mufflers then when it was all finished we cut them off to hear it roar through the open headers. There is nothing like the smell of baking high temp paint and exhaust fumes from a fresh engine! I also picked up a good used turbo 350 tranny with a 2800 stall convertor a while back and i took it in to my favorite local tranny shop to get a hardened roller clutch race put in it and the pump freshened up. Now the engine and tranny are basically ready to go into the car. It will be interesting to see how much power a big cam, too big headers, single plane intake with good heads will make with 8-1 compression. Feel free to let me know what i'm doing wrong! I 've nearly got as much money into these 781 heads as a set of aftermarket aluminum would have cost me. The main reason was going to the bigger valves with the 11/32 stems caused alot more machine work to be necessary. I've probably got $1500 into the heads!! So much for a budget buildup!
  I also took the time this week to go on a northern Saskatchewan ice fishing trip. I highly recomend Silence of the North lodge for their great fishing and great hospitality. We stayed two nights and had great fishing for walleye and lake trout. We spent two hours opening up a snowmobile trail through the thick bush to get into paranteau lake to catch lake trout so now is the time to go since the trail is clear. One downside of the trip was that i lost a piston in my snowmobile about 9 km from the lodge and had to tow back. Snowmobile's are even less reliable than my hotrods and thats pretty bad!

  Also glad to report that Christmas and new years holidays were great for me and i was able to spend lots of time with family. Hunting coyotes is allways a big deal at our house and we managed to nail a few over the holidays. Every one was skinned and sold, none wasted.  Fishing and hunting are great activities to do as a family and much like hotrodding and working on cars it is great bonding time for fathers and sons. What are your best memories of times with your father? Some guys sadly have very few good memories of their fathers. Don't let that happen to your children! Thats all for today, feel free to respond using the little white envelopes at the bottom of this post.

sleeper stang readers tips

  I have slowly been finding deals and picking up parts for project sleeper stang. I recently bought a set of Elgin 2.19 / 1.88 valves off of ebay for around $98 plus shipping. These would have cost over $200 from milodon or manley but I guess i'll find out how good they are. I would like to give my readers a chance to offer any sleeper tips for this project. Just to re-cap, its and 89 mustang notchback that started life with a 2.3L 4 cylinder and is now getting a 454 big block chevy. What ideas can you offer to make this car look ultra stockish or slow but really fly? Keep in mind that this is also a cheapo buildup with alot of used junk. The big buck items that i've bought are the PAracing crossmember and the dynatech headers. Everything else is used, chinese or on sale!
  Also at this time I would like to encourage my readers to read the gospel messages that i have posted along the right side of the screen. I'm sure most readers are men and we men have a big responsibility. As a man raises his family, So the family contributes to a larger community and eventually the direction of a nation. If men teach and model Godly principles the nation prospers. If men stray from God and are selfish and sinful the whole nation will become ungodly and wicked. Take a closer look at natzi germany. Compare that to where we are headed and what lies we believe. Watch http://www.180movie.com/  In my own life it is a constant battle to be a Godly leader for my family. I fail many times. We men need to help and encourage each other in biblical living and to keep from sin. Lets fight to save our families and our nation by turning our hearts toward God. Jesus said that the most important commandment is to love the Lord your God with a your heart and all your soul and all your strength and to love your neighbour as yourself. Lets obey that commandment for our own good and for the good of our children and our nation together.

i did it!

10.92 @ 123 on the motor.  9.84 @ 134 on the bottle. Awesome day !

Finally!!

Here I am, its september 17 and my car is all loaded on the trailer with new slicks, 210 hp nitrous jets and a barrel of race gas ready to race! God willing I will skip church tomorrow and make it in to SIR for the afternoon street legal drags. I've been really looking forward to making a few passes and my brother-in-law is bringing  his 11 second 99 mustang as well. Its a very sweet ride and sports a 2V 4.6 based stroker with an aluminum block, patriot heads and a kenne bell blower. Alot of it was put together in my shop and I really enjoy working on it together with Ryan.  My other bro-in-law Trevor is putting together a nice 72 dodge shortbox with a healthy 360 that should break into the 13's and be very fun to drive. I really miss the days when a bunch of friends did the hobby together including working on, racing and going to car shows together. Its been a brutal summer for me but things are looking up. Since I injured my ankle I kept working and it isn't healing very good. Any wrong step and I get a shot of pain. Now my summer work is winding down and i hope to take a break before i start into any major project cars. Hopefully I will post my times on sunday or monday. See ya at the track!

Who's in control?

Lately life experiences have been teaching me some lessons. So many of my plans this summer have not happened. I have wanted to make it to SIR to race a few times and all my planning has been futile. Also I have been working very hard to pay off the last of my debt. On August 5 I got my paycheck and for the first time since I was 19 (15 years ago) I paid of my last nickel of debt to the bank. I was then broke but at least have no payments. I was looking forward to saving some money and making my family financially secure.  Then on Saturday Aug 6 while hurrying to pull an engine out of a truck in the rain, I jumped out of my tractor and sprained my ankle. The pain was unreal. The muscles on the side of my right foot were stretched and I momentarily passed out. Thankfully a man was at my shop loading a car at the time and he helped me limp to the house and my wife drove me directly to the hospital. The doctor was very helpful then proceeded to question me about the fuel injection system he was planning to use on his kit car!  Later on when I got home from the hospital I got my wife to help me pull one cylinder head off of the 454 I had removed during the rain. We found that it was fairly fresh .030 overbored and has no ring ridge. It will make a great short block to use in project sleeper stang. I had it running and it was missing but soon found that as usually happens with big chevy's a lobe was gone from the camshaft. Now here I am at home, no debt, no money, and can't work. I thought I was in control of my life! I had big plans for this summer. I had been planning to be in Chilliwack BC on the last day of september to fish the salmon run on the vedder river. I'm now saying " If its God's will".
Thankfully God is in control. Hopefully from now on I will remember to look to the Lord as my planner. Also as a side note please read the comment that an anonymous reader left on my last post. He was absolutely right. Shame on me.
  Switching topics, the next car show that i really enjoy is the casino car show in Prince Albert and the date was changed to Aug 12. So if it's God's will and I can walk / drive by then I hope to be there! If it doesn't rain! Also please feel free to leave a comment on anything I've posted using the little white envelopes below or join my blog and be a follower. I promise not to send you any junk mail.

verse: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.

brian