About Rod...
My background, some of my vehicles from the earlier years and what
I am currently doing.
My background with automobiles started in the
mid 1950's, with Auto Mechanics shop courses at Tucson Senior Vocational Highschool and working on friends auto's prior
to obtaining my first drivers license and automobile. I entered amateur and novice racing events and eventually
as a professional licensed driver, racing in the NHRA, AHRA and SCCA organizations until the mid 1960's. I participated
in factory training from Chrysler Corp. involving the Max-Wedge and Hemi engines, and was certified by NIASE as
Automotive Technician and Specialist in several areas in the early 1970's. I also spent a number of years with
motorcycles on the streets and freeways of Los Angeles and in desert motocross events in southern California and
in enduro events when I moved from California to northern Virginia in 1973. I remain active maintaining and modifying my
1983 BMW and working with others on their E28s and other early model vehicles and modified street rods.
I am married and have four wonderful children
and five grand children (Eric and Kearney just had their 3rd child, Lucy, on 4/9/08), who live near Seattle, San Diego and two
in the UK, to experience living and working in another country. I am retired and previously was the founder
and President of the ASTEC Co., Inc., a computer consulting firm specializing in small business needs and systems management
services for Apple Macintosh systems users, with cross platform support to MS Windows systems. ASTEC was the home of the highly
regarded ASTEC BBS, a GUI system supporting both MS Windows and the Apple Macintosh, implemented in 1988, long before
the Internet became popular. It was featured in both Macworld and Boardwatch magazines, showing its exceptional ease of use
interface and user defined layout and appearance, YES, THE END USER DEFINED HOW THE DATA WAS TO BE PRESENTED
AND HOW IT WOULD APPEAR! Unheard of with other BBSs of the time... and with Web pages of today!
Download a small 1.3MB QuickTime movie of the BBS in operation.
I am currently involved in converting the
tracks of 30-40 year old audiophile LP records to DVD-A format 192Khz/24-bit tracks (CD is not good enough!) and burning
the tracks to DVD-A discs, involving processes discussed here. I am also involved in photo documenting old home restoration
projects, such as my windows rebuilding project, which was presented in Maine, by Petit Industries, as an effective restoration example, versus replacement. My
81 year old house keeps me busy with other restoration projects, to bring the house back to its 1927 condition and original look... quite a bit different then todays vinyl sided
look alike monstrosities, with their huge energy demands.
An Inquiry Into the
Value of Work
And when not reading, I am watching "TED"!
Since publishing this website in 2004, I've
found, as many webmasters and experienced Internet users have, that web browsers are not at all alike in the way they behave,
their speed or how they display my website and others. To better understand what browser is doing what, I test both Macintosh
and Microsoft Windows browsers, looking for the best combination. I am now publishing these results and if you're interested
you can download the zipped files for the Mac tests or the PC tests, for your info.
And lastly, a link to a very accurate source for testing your own connection
speeds to the Internet, from a location nearest you. Go here...
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| Rod in his heated/air cond. garage... wishing it was bigger! |
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| Rod's first vehicle competitive event in 1955. Click to expand |
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| (Internet Pic) 1948 Ford 2-dr sedan. My first car, but had to take it back as I was only 17, not 18. |
| 1949 Olds 88 Fastback |
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| Picture from Larry Stephens, highschool classmate. |
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| 1957 Chevy 210 Delray. Stock and quick. |
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| 1934 Ford 5-window, Keith Black built Olds with B&M Hydro. Next owner lost control, totaled it! |
| All Corvette photos by friend, Roger Torpin. |
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| 1958 Corvette 4-speed 283/290 FI the afternoon I brought it home. $4827.65 out-the-door! |
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| The wonderful 290HP 283 cu. in. "Fuelie". |
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| --- CLICK FOR FULL SIZE HI-REZ PICTURE --- |
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| Our blown Chrysler AA Fuel dragster. Set records in 1959 at Bakersfield and on gas at LIONS. |
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| Updated and still running in the '60's under new owners. |
| 1959 TR3 with 48-spoke Austin Healy wheels. |
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| Very strong BHP engine in the TR3. |
| 1963 Riviera with a big 445 cu. in. engine. |
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| 1968 Volvo 123GT (Euro version) |
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| Blue printed Volvo B18D engine in 123 GT. |
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| 1961 Pontiac Super Duty 389 (368HP) |
It's important to remember, that these engines consumed
huge quantities of gas (7-9 mpg on the street) but that the cost of oil which was below $3.00 a barrel and $0.35 per gallon
for high test gas, was of little concern to us in those days.
| 1962 Ply. Fury 413 Max Wedge from Milne Bros. |
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| 118.11 mph - 11.54 ET in the quarter mile. |
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| Car last known to be in Earlville, IA, where it ran 125.47 in 10.723 in Sept. 2000. |
| Upgraded to 426 in 1963. |
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| 419 HP at the rear wheels after blue printing. |
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| Thought about buying one, but didn't... stupid! |
A little history about this engine.
| Engine swap with a REAL 426 Hemi installed. |
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| Engler Bros. in Santa Monica made the difference and they're still doing it! |
| Built Street Hemi in my 1966 Plymouth. |
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| 573 HP at the flywheel after Engler Bros. work, with Sunoco Purple fuel. |
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| Rod and an old friend, Spring 2005 at Maryland Annual Mopar meet. |
A link from Big Jim's Mopar web site
| 1966 Triumph Bonnieville 650. |
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| Switched from street to dirt setup and raced in the 1967 Mojave Hare & Hound. |
I found out from an old friend early this year
(2008) that a film had been made of this event, by Bruce Brown and had been released on DVD. Had no idea one was ever made, but bought it and looked for friends. I may be
in it, but certainly not apparent, although my old light blue Chevy truck is sure there!
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| Bought Husky after Hare & Hound. Motocrossing Husky at Indian Dunes, late '60's. |
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| 1968 Husky 360cc Viking |
| 1955 Chevy Nomad |
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| In front of my great four-car garage on Ashland Ave., Santa Monica |
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| Thunderbird bucket seats in the Nomad, matching custom interior by Tony Nancy. |
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| Built Cad engine coupled to 4-speed B&M Hydro and 4.56 rear. |
| 1973 Mustang 4-spd. Cobra Jet. A real sleeper! |
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| Brought in moving van to Virginia. |
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| The Calif version produced 275 HP. |
| 1973 Blazer for exploring Virginia. |
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| Note the big CB whip antenna in rear. Marchal and Cibie 100w lamps + wiring, light off road travel. |
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| 1973 Yamaha 250 with mods. Doing Enduros in VA and PA 1973-74. |
| 1979 Fiat Strada, way ahead of its time! |
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| Poor dealer service killed this great vehicle and Fiat's ability to remain in America. |
| 1981 Renault 18i. A really great machine. |
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| AMC killed Renault sales, preferring to sell Gremlins and other junk. |
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| Fitted with HD suspension, front and rear spoilers and engine mods. |
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| The Renault "Hemi-Head" four. Strong and efficient. |
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| Mint 1989 535i 5-Spd., stolen before I took delivery! |
Currently missing from view...
(in the order that they were owned)
1952 gray Pontiac Chieftain 4-door sedan straight
8 auto
1939 chrome yellow Chevy 4-door sedan GMC 301 6 3-speed '37 floor shift
1960 black Chevy 2-door post Biscayne
348 Tri-Power V-8 4-speed
1961 metalic seafoam green Pontiac 2-door Bonnieville Super Duty 389 V-8, Hurst 4-speed
1955
white Oldsmobile 2-door post 88 sedan V-8 4-speed hydro
1956 green/white Mercury 2-door hardtop Montclair V-8 auto
1961
light blue Chevy 1/2 ton pickup V-8 3-speed
1949 gray primered Studebaker 1/2 ton pickup straight 6 3-speed
1963 red
Plymouth 2-door Fury 426 Max Wedge V-8 auto
1961 green Rambler Cross Country 4-door station wagon straight 6 auto
1963
white Plymouth Savoy station wagon 318 V-8 auto
1967 metalic green Mercury Colony Park wagon 391 V-8 Pursuit package auto
1972
green Chevy 1/2 ton pickup 6 cyl. 3-speed
Purchased March 8, 2008...
This 5-speed Honda Fit Sport replaces my 1988
Chevy 4x4 pickup truck daily driver and its 16 mpg fuel consumption. And what a great vehicle the Fit is! Average fuel mileage
after 2035 miles is 38.55 mpg and a blast to drive. I've created a Honda Fit webpage containing current performance figures, modifications and related resources. Check it out.
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And NOT coming in 2009!
(Perhaps not even in 2010, given all of VW's diesel delays to the US)
The VW Jetta Sport Wagen TDI with the big turbo charged
diesel engine, good performance suspension options and 50 MPG highway fuel efficiency? Well, after months of delay and still
no information about actual delivery time or out-the-door cost, we've decided to forget about the VW Sport Wagen. Besides,
now that we've owned the Honda for 6 months, we don't see any benefit in trading it for a VW Sport Wagen, now. Maybe
in 4 or 5 years?
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