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>>>Yeah, but by '83 the heart had been cut out of the Firebird/Trans Am. My Trans Am was a '77 - with a 400 Cu In engine in it. Unfortunately, it had a casting void in the 2nd counterweight of the crankshaft. When that let go, we just happened to have a 455 out of a 68 Pontiac wagon sitting in the garage. Once we put that in, I had a car that would run 13 second 1/4 miles (@ 22 mpg, btw) and took me to school every day.
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>>You are a redneck trapped in a woman's body! "Casting void in the 2nd counterweight of the crankshaft" -- well, yes, exactly, LOL. My level of engine expertise is more on the order of "It won't start" or "The engine light is on."
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>>It's funny because half my family back in Maine either know their way around cars, race them, or are mechanics for a living. Obviously the gene skips a beat every so often, well, other than the gene that wants to drive fast.
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>My Dad was a Mechanical Engineer by schooling and a Pilot by profession. He had me out under the hood of a car before I was old enough to really understand what he was telling me about what we were doing becauseI had small hands and could get into small nooks and crannies to reach things. He was also of the opinion that just because I was a girl didn't mean I shouldn't know basic car maintenance so that 1) I could take care of my car, and 2) I wouldn't get ripped off when I had to take the car to the mechanic.
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>I got the 'driving fast' gene from my Mom, however. The only person I ever knew who routinely jumped bayou bridges

Jumped bayou bridges!? Sounds like a Burt Reynolds movie. What exactly is that maneuver?

Please understand I am about the least sexist guy in the world. It's just rare to meet a lady who knows her crankshaft counterweights, and can say which one.