ol' 320

Bigtanker: While you were making gas, I was processing Thanksgiving gas ... Turning turkey into methane.

Carlos .... the Chuck Norris of Ratsun. Drives his 521 off a cliff, rolls and it bursts into flames. "I'm starting to feel the hit I think. I'm a lil sore."

For sale ... Never driven in anger Carlos, hope you are ok That hit looks like it hurt

The wagon is cool, but I want the Model A!

Ray: The large car events we hosted in Visalia in 1998 (40,000 attendees) and in 2000 were recreations of some famous road racing events from the turn of the prior Century (Visalia Road Races). Despite the fact we staged vintage race exhibitions that were the subject of a FOX network 90 minute show, and drew cars from all over the US and even Europe as entrants, with AAA as the major sponsor, we would have gone broke if it had not been 100-plus degrees that day in 1998 and people had not bought about 25,000 Cokes. We needed every penny from the soda sales to pay the bills! We accepted vendors who were selling collector car ins, miracle waxes and so on, and all sorts of trinkets. A lots of hamburgers and churros. Whatever it took to make the event work, we tried it. I guess that was the point I was trying to make. I would have taken money from Anderspon Windows for a booth at that point. I think we had to spend $5,000 on porta potties alone or something like that! This is in a very nice County park, but this park won't work for an overnight camping venue. It does work for a one day car show, though. We get a bazillion lowriders every year from all over the state for a pretty bitch'n lowrider show. Ray, I don't remember .... Is that new JCCS venue permanently fenced or was that all temporary? Do the organizers have to put that up?

I cannot comment on the Canby show, because I have never attended. It has been a goal to go for years, so I hope the show continues in some form. JCCS: I first attended three years ago largely based on BigTanker's posts. He made it seem like an inviting event and it is only 206 miles from Visalia. This is a great show. I attended twice at the Queen Mary site and then at this year's new venue. New Site: It was hot as hell, so I felt just like I was home in Visalia.... except I could see the ocean;) Ray and others who are close to JCCS organizers ... some positive criticism on a great event: 1) Please have more bottled water. Seeker is correct, all vendors were out of water by 10am. 2) Porta potties are not what most people want to spend there money on, but when ya gotta go;) 3) I don't care about the Anderson windows folks. I have organized several large events - including one with a crowd of 30,000 and one with a crowd of 40,000. You have it have a certain amount of cashflow to cover costs. If not car-related stuff, then take what you can get:) I go to shows like this to see nice cars, sure. But I've seen thousands of nice custom cars over the years. I like to meet JDM fans and learn more about whatever car mods they did and why owners made these mods. I've met some great people from the Ratsun world at JCCS. I hope Canby survives in one form or another so I can meet some nice folks from up north. Especially since my 521 is finally back on the road!

Figbuck: Time for you to share another adventure! Did you ever meet Captain Sunshine while in the Bay area?

After seeing that photo above, I really want to grad hold of that tranny and stir the stick. Wait .... that didn't come out right

This will be a sweet rig. I have run B18s and B20s in Amazons, with a combination of dual 40s (Weber), a 32/36 DGV (Weber) and sidedraft Mikunis of unknown size, but the best all round ever were a fresh rebuilt pair of SUs that had the full Monty worker by some dude in the PNW. Long ago before3 I ever knew what drifting was, I had so much fun on one of these Amazon sedans in an iced over parking lot at Squaw Valley during a miss-guided ski trip. Looking back, how I missed stacking this car up on a light pole is beyond me;) Back then, when the CHP closed the highway down due to snow, it was just a challenge to stop at a friend's house in Truckee and install a shitty set of rear tires that we had drilled a bazillion holes in and threaded with miscellaneous bolts and nuts to create a DIY set of studded tires, and to drive on regardless with the lights off in the moonlight.... Mind you I was about 18 or so and didn't even know how to change a fuse if something went wrong. A friend whose girlfriend had a cute friend and acess to a family cabin ask me to drive them up there for a weekend, and all I had to do was provide the transportation and bring a couple of cases of Mickey "widemouth" beer. There is nothing like the ignorance of youth. But now I am smarter.... and I drink better beer.

BTTT I figure only Wayne and I ever really follow this thread anymore. Just posting to let anyone foolish or stubborn enough to reproduce these items know I would still be interested in buying at least one pair of retro rubbers:) Please PM me if anything ever develops.

Seriously, Matt: Ping Matt Dewitt in Oregon. Track down the thread about his neighbor's LS Z build. This neighbor's build is just as ridiculous as most of your builds on the Expedition Portal....in a good way. But I warn you reading that build is a time waster. Nothing is off the shelf. If I can find the link I'll post it. Everything is custom.... just the way you build your stuff....lol!

I am staying tuned.... Matt, whatever direction you go, this will be awesome! You must have been getting bored doing so many LS conversions in 4WDs....lol!

But please, don't paint this one purple:) Just kidding, the van project is awesome.

I drove all the way to Oregon to meet Adam a few year ago, because of his thread on building that 2 door Amazon wagon. I've had more than a few Amazons. The worst repair on these things can be replacing the rear wheel bearings. I have seen some very sturdy pullers defeated, but hey, you may be planning to replace than reared with something else anyway. I would suggest checking out that Volvo Dana 30 for an 8.8, slapping together two "short sides" and solving a whole slew of problems. Another option several folks have tried is installing Ranger rear axles. The Volvo axles tend to break under hard use, the wheel bearings come in big and little, and I think one size is now hard to find. There are two types of wheel cylinders.... one is now harder to find, or was when I tried a few years ago. But I can tell you, an Amazon in good condition handles surprisingly well with bigger bars and some simple KYB gas a just shocks. The stock B18 will take high revs "forever" (sort of like the L16). And when the heaters work, they work awesome! Like good enough for north or south Dakota, don't cha know....