Quote:
Out of all the possible comparisons to be made, *that* was the one you went with?
When I was a teenager just getting into Slant-6 engines, I had a copy of
this book.* It dealt almost exclusively with big-block Chev V8s, but Smokey Yunick was a hell of a teacher and storyteller, and there was all kinds of detailed information in the book—backed up with solid, rigourously scientific theory.
At that time I had a thing for calling big-name people out of the blue. It's how I made friends with Bill Weertman (found his name on the Slant-6 engine patent; called directory assistance for 313), it's how I had a real nice phone chat with Silicon Valley bigwig Guy Kawasaki (one of his books had a recommendation to always answer your own phone instead of having someone do it for you; I wanted to see if he did), and it's how I wound up talking to Smokey Yunick. I remembered his long-running gig writing a feature called "Say, Smokey…?" in Popular Science magazine; people would write in about their car problems and Smokey would offer advice. There was a picture in the book of his shop in Florida—the "Best Damn Garage In Town"—so I called the number on the sign, and that's how I came ear-to-voice with Smokey himself.
I told him my Slant-6 Valiant seemed low on pep, and he, in his very deep voice, said "Pull the timing chain out of it and hold it sideways. If it droops like a limp peter, you found your problem." (That's what prompts this post).
*Damn, look at those prices! I paid ordinary cover price for mine, and now I wonder if I still have it somewhere.
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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.
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