Newbie from NJ/MI/WV
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: 08-12-2010
Posts: 81
From: Morgantown, WV
Newbie from NJ/MI/WV
Well, hi y'all, name's Jake, Borg-Warner Engineer, currently working in Diesel Turbo & Emissions, used to work in Transmissions and Torque Transfer Systems before that. Race cars and work on them in my free time, right now spending my free week before going back to college in WV (just got done with 5+ mo. work), and back home in NJ right now, cleaning/detailing my '08 HHR and working on fixing some body damage to my '95 Firehawk (MMM/T56/LT1/T's).
About me, well, born and raised in Hopewell Township, NJ. 2008 I got to go to the Indy 500 and watch (from the pits!) the whole race, and got a chance to meet Danica Patrick and the other racers. My project at the time was scrapped by the Car Czar, and I was lucky enough to get transferred to TES (at the time called ETS), where I work on another unnamed project.
My cars:
1995 Firehawk. Build Date: 9/20/1994 (my birthday's 9/20/88, so I'm understandably attached). Bought it 6 months ago for $3500 with a blown tranny (borg warner T56, you can guess where I got my replacement).
Also has the "prized" black leather interior, T-Tops, and a few other misc. packages (and other than a CAI, fully stock).
1997 Honda Accord, nothing special other than it being 1/1500 with the jade cloth interior, and being a 5-speed, plus it's "1-owner" as my parents still "technically" own this car, although since I rebuilt the motor, tranny, drive it, and performed all maint. out of my pocket for the past 3.5yrs, it's "mine".
2008 Chevy HHR. Bought used 1 year ago for $8k off a used car dealer, with only 16k on it, with the sole issue being a bent wheel (chrome wheels) and a bad tire, but for $100 + some labor time, I fixed the wheel, threw a new tire on, and it drives great. Oh yeah, it's fully loaded (sans sunroof and leather), and has that sunburst orange met. paint.
1987 Pontiac Firebird Formula "The Mulletbird 3.0". 388 stroker, custom port & polish heads, longtubes into 3" single, with hidden dumps behind the bumper, 3.73 rear gears, th700 built enough to take the 600+hp it's putting down, with a torker2 intake, radical lunati (custom grind) cam, and 1050 dominator carb.
She moves pretty good, looks like a pile of garbage, and makes me some money on street days at the track.
1992 Mazda MX-6 Turbo (back in WV). 350hp with the Borg-Warner turbo, HKS exhaust and headers, chip, tune, etc. etc. Black 4WS model I found in a barn for $900.
1984 Chevy Monte-Carlo. Built for Dirt Modified, with full cage and 355 chevy under the hood already before I bought it, been slowly working on getting it up to spec, meet the safety req's, and maybe by 2012 I'll have all my ducks in a row and start running that (should I find a decent work truck to pull it).
Yeah, I've been a car guy since I was born, I guess. Grew up on a small side-road in Hopewell Twp, 2 doors down from a policeman who drove a '71 Nova with a 396 and "pipes" if you could call them that (basically, 8 pipes off the block that go out under the doors), across the street from another with a '70 chevelle with a 454 and work in that, my cousin (an Engineer as well) has a '84 mustang with a 351 windsor (work in that), had a '89 sport bike (Honda if I remember right), and since bought a SVT Lightning.
So, howdy y'all ...
About me, well, born and raised in Hopewell Township, NJ. 2008 I got to go to the Indy 500 and watch (from the pits!) the whole race, and got a chance to meet Danica Patrick and the other racers. My project at the time was scrapped by the Car Czar, and I was lucky enough to get transferred to TES (at the time called ETS), where I work on another unnamed project.
My cars:
1995 Firehawk. Build Date: 9/20/1994 (my birthday's 9/20/88, so I'm understandably attached). Bought it 6 months ago for $3500 with a blown tranny (borg warner T56, you can guess where I got my replacement).
Also has the "prized" black leather interior, T-Tops, and a few other misc. packages (and other than a CAI, fully stock).1997 Honda Accord, nothing special other than it being 1/1500 with the jade cloth interior, and being a 5-speed, plus it's "1-owner" as my parents still "technically" own this car, although since I rebuilt the motor, tranny, drive it, and performed all maint. out of my pocket for the past 3.5yrs, it's "mine".
2008 Chevy HHR. Bought used 1 year ago for $8k off a used car dealer, with only 16k on it, with the sole issue being a bent wheel (chrome wheels) and a bad tire, but for $100 + some labor time, I fixed the wheel, threw a new tire on, and it drives great. Oh yeah, it's fully loaded (sans sunroof and leather), and has that sunburst orange met. paint.
1987 Pontiac Firebird Formula "The Mulletbird 3.0". 388 stroker, custom port & polish heads, longtubes into 3" single, with hidden dumps behind the bumper, 3.73 rear gears, th700 built enough to take the 600+hp it's putting down, with a torker2 intake, radical lunati (custom grind) cam, and 1050 dominator carb.
She moves pretty good, looks like a pile of garbage, and makes me some money on street days at the track.1992 Mazda MX-6 Turbo (back in WV). 350hp with the Borg-Warner turbo, HKS exhaust and headers, chip, tune, etc. etc. Black 4WS model I found in a barn for $900.
1984 Chevy Monte-Carlo. Built for Dirt Modified, with full cage and 355 chevy under the hood already before I bought it, been slowly working on getting it up to spec, meet the safety req's, and maybe by 2012 I'll have all my ducks in a row and start running that (should I find a decent work truck to pull it).
Yeah, I've been a car guy since I was born, I guess. Grew up on a small side-road in Hopewell Twp, 2 doors down from a policeman who drove a '71 Nova with a 396 and "pipes" if you could call them that (basically, 8 pipes off the block that go out under the doors), across the street from another with a '70 chevelle with a 454 and work in that, my cousin (an Engineer as well) has a '84 mustang with a 351 windsor (work in that), had a '89 sport bike (Honda if I remember right), and since bought a SVT Lightning.
So, howdy y'all ...
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: 08-12-2010
Posts: 81
From: Morgantown, WV
The Formula as of when I got it (just a 388 stroker motor with some trailer-park engineering).
The MX6 autocrosser ... back when I was working on a head gasket, brakes, shocks, etc.
Dude, where's my Strut? (again the mx6 autocrosser)
Never did win a whole event at Etown, but finished 2nd twice.
Yes, that is the truck BURIED in the snow. Got an emergency call, and had to rush out ... as well as I could with 2' of snow.
Burnouts ... sweet sweet burnouts.
Yes, I do my own paint and bodywork ... engine work too. Don't everyone?
Me @ pete's steak house with Mitch (lives about 2 miles away, had that red camaro, black nova, black '77 t/a, and a charger, but I forgive him for that mopar mistake)
Texas Road-Trip photos w/ HHR
Coming across ... whatever that route was that goes from Tuscaloosa to my cousin's in Texarkana. I believe we were in Alabama at the time? Either way, Smokey and the Bandit had a few shots taken along this highway... i.e. the part with the trucking convoy hiding out the Bandit and Snowman was filmed there iirc.
If you ever do make a Route 66 road trip, a GREAT place to stop for something to eat. Oklahoma if I remember right... either there or just across into Missouri.
Yes, I wore my race shoes the whole trip, and even had on my flame suit and pants on a few legs of the trip.
"Don't you know trucking Coors east of Texas is bootlegging? This here's Texarkana, Arkansas!!!" lol.
Yes, I had a CB and Ham Radio on the whole way. Saved me a few times, and got a good 140mi cruise with a few other hams out on I-81.
"Ah thinks we's done'n in Texas, don'cha reckon?"
So, love them, hate them, etc.
- Jake R.
