I'm from Merkel Texas, which is about 180 miles west of Fort Worth on the map.  Been a car guy for a while - I have magazines from 1969 that I personally bought at the Rexal drug store and still have receipts from 1976 from the first motor I built.  My 13th birtday present was full set of 1/2 drive Craftsman sockets and and matching wrench, bought from the Sears catalog by my grandmother.  I still use them.  We currently only have 4 cars in the driveway, a nice Super Crew, an 06 Ranger (wife's race tow truck), a 70 Mustang and a 67 Falcon.  The Falcon was my mother's car and I've owned it for 33 years - chew on that one, young'uns.   You can guess our brand affiliation.  My wife and I are both bracket racers and pretty hard core.  We run about 500+ rounds per year on out local track ( http://abilenedragstrip.com ).  I'm current Modifed track champ and 2006 IHRA Division 4 finals runner up.  My wife was runner up in Modified this last year.  That was by only 8 rounds.  We tied for Summit Super Series points and the tie breaker was average reaction time, which I got by her .012.  She no slouch - 2003 Ladies champ, 2004 Street Money champ, etc.  Line up next to her Mustang and you'd better have your game on.  

As far as "Car Craft" street cred, I build all our stuff - engines, transmissions, rear ends, etc.  I do alright with it and excel at making straight body panels wavy.  I've painted a couple of cars in my shop and the paint stuck to both.  The Falcon has home sprayed paint and a suprising amount is still on the car after 4 years of hard track time.   The Mustang ran a 260HP 302 last year, this year it's getting a 400HP 351C and an 9".  The 302 is a mild build and pushed the Mustang to a 13.03 @104 in crappy weather.  It's scheduled for paint this coming fall.  The Falcon has been running a 351C (which is going in the Mustang this year) and will get a new 351C with a bit of step up this year.  It's been as quick as 7.76 @ 88 in the 1/8 mile.  It got an 8 point cage this winter and I'll be going through the tranny since it has about 8 years and about 2000 rounds on it.  Both cars have C4s.  When I get 'em done, the drive trains will be nearly identical, including ignition.  Both cars are also still scattered across the shop and the season starts in 2 weeks.   The new engine should be in the Mustang this week.  Said that last week lol. The new Falcon engine is a ways off, so the old 302 will go in there for a while.  Slow - but I'll be going rounds.

I'll be happy to answer questions about the cars or contribute in some fashion if possible.  PS - was posting under Falcon67 but the profile won't update so I reupped with a new ID.



Older shop view - lots more crap in there now.  I have heat, A/C and satellite TV in there.  And DVD...
 

I would say welcome...but it seems you should be welcoming most of us...its nice having a few older Car Crafters to help us babies out.

I'm 21 (22 in May).  I've got a 68 Cutlass that my dad and I built (started when I was 13 on a 69 Cutlass...found the 68 with a straight rust free body when I was 15...used the 69 as a parts car)...doing everything ourselves except building the short block (way too good of a deal to pass up).  I'm in the process of dropping a 425 Olds into an 85 Delta 88, and I have an 88 IROC that was probably the biggest mistake I've ever made in my short car crafting career as it tacked on about 3 years to finishing the Cutlass...though its paid for, and will be receiving a drive train to make things a bit more interesting after I finish getting my masters in mechanical engineering (roughly one and a half years from now).

Good luck with the racing season.  Keep us updated on your progress.  

Welcome aboard!  

Thanks, y'all.  CSIROC - that ME degree will probably help your crafting skills (and funding) well into the future.  Good for you.  I had a friend that bought a new Cutlass back in 79 - same year I bought a Trans Am.  Everybody rode his butt about driving his dad's car.  After about 2 weeks, he'd had enough.  Went to the tire store and bought some nice Western slot mags and some biss azz tires for the rear.  Stuck some air shocks back there to clear the tires and off he went.  Sounds hokey but the car look pretty decent.  No more "dad's car" crap either.  My old T/A had the 403 Olds - I put headers (Hedmans - didn't fit, needed $200 rework), Edelbrock intake and a Holley 600 on it.  Chunked the emissions stuff.  It went marginally better, but was still a dog.  Shoulda kept it and put a real motor in it.  But - got married and got the parent thing going, traded it for a Sunbird after I ragged it out good.  Sounds like a good project you're working on.  

Scariest ride I had in the way back involved an Olds.  Crazy dude I knew took a 455 and tranny out of his grandma's wagon, stuck it in an Opel.  Minimal floor in front and the distributor was about where the radio should have been.  Scarier was this guy didn't know crap about cars, really.  I only rode in that car once, don't know what happened to it but I can guess.