High Gas Prices? Too bad, says Harper.

Prime Minister Harper shows his Calgary oil baron protectionist roots today with his marvelous disengenious claim of government inability to help Canadians with outrageous gas price increases. To wit, since last April, gas has increased 11.6 percent in cost. Harper claimed, "the ability of governments to affect the price of gasoline is so small that it's not worth doing." He further slams the Liberal government for discussing a carbon tax by calling it foolish and unecessary. Anyone who has looked at the gas pump decals showing where your gas dollars go knows full well the government at the provincial and federal levels take a huge cut at the pump. It's interesting to note these decals haven't updated in two years. Perhaps because the phoney 2 percent profit figure the petrol companies give them selves has risen even further? The same scenario played in USA recently with George Bush asking OPEC to raise crude oil production to ease the potential inflationary pressures facing USA. The OPEC cartel politely told Bush to go pound sand. Mind you, George and Poppa Bush are both heavily invested in oil companies.I doubt they want to see a major reduction in price. Remember, it was Bush Senior who met with OPEC in the 1980s to ask for the taps to be turned down as Texas economy was dying from cheap gas. He succeeded and not long after, he campaigned to be the next GOP President. Be careful what you wish for.....
As if that wasn't bad enough. We have to worry about gas stations hosing us more by rigging the meters to under serve your gas tanks. I heard this on the radio last week and thought nothing of it until today when I topped up the 1988 Grand Marquis. I pulled in with 39 liters in the tank, added ten liters according to the gas pump. I pay the man, turn the key on and see the gas gage reading....39 liters. I'm not stupid and the gas gage can't be ten liters off. I'd run empty so many times if that were the case. I brought this up to the attendent who shrugged and commented my gage was innaccurate. Well, we'll see who is innaccurate, pal. I reported your faulty pump to the Consumer Bureau of Fair Trade. don't be surprised if you get a snap inspection on your pumps! I urge you to protect yourself by comparing what the pump says to what your gage reads before and after. Trust no one.

Fresh Tires for Big Red

It's been awhile since I posted about my new toy. I've taken the GTO hardtop out for a spin for the first time in April on a beautiful spring day. The 45 minute drive to Halton was nerve wracking because of rush hour traffic building up. I pulled into Firestone Tire and had the car safety checked. It was a clean bill of health with the only recommendation being a new set of rear tires. I ordered some BF Goodrich radial TAs raised white letter style in a beefy 235/60 R15 size to fill out the wheel well without changing the rear axle ratio, unlike the huge stones the previous owner put on. Firestone Tire also reversed my front tires so the raised white letters showed up.Turns out they were practically new! A little suspension greasing, an lube oil, EOS additive and filter later and she was ready to roll. I washed and waxed her all Wednesday in prep for the first cruise night and it looked fabulous. After driving it awhile, my observations are the following 1: This is one torque monster. You could pull away in Second and not notice much difference. It can also take a relatively steep grade around 20 miles per hour and stay in first gear the whole time. 2:It has a great exhaust sound, amazing because the only real money spent on it was for the mufflers, a pair of Magnaflows running through 2 and a quarter inch pipes with twin splitters and cast iron exhaust manifolds. It sounds deep and powerful and in town it's rich without being annoying. Around the 2900 to 3200 rpm range, it changes pitch and becomes rude as the engine is "on the cam." It pulls like a Ram Air III job. Not too wild for a 455 mill. Also I plan to ditch the Holley double pumper carb because it's a stupid unit to have a on a street automatic car. Its drag racing days are over! The carb is listed as a Chevelle 396 unit so I'll be selling that on Kijiji soon. I haven't tried the Hurst Dual Gate shifter yet because the cops have been wild on enforcement lately with tickets and pull overs every weekend. I plan to stay ticket free! Here are some pics of Big Red. Dig that trunk lid! COMING SOON: PAT'S EXCELLENT ITALIAN ADVENTURE IN FLORENCE!

Fleetwood Country Cruize-In 2008

Summer is taking time to arrive in Halton Hills. Our first cruise night sponsored by A&W and Boston Pizza was sort of rained out. Meaning, it threatened to drizzle earlier in the day and this kept the PA sound system away. No music, no cars. This Thursday will be different. I've seen a number of cars out already however and it looks like we have some new vehicles about with some old favorites. I'll take some pics when they stop moving and post them here for all to see.
I'd like to talk a bit about an annual event that takes place near London, Ontario. It's the Fleetwood Country Cruize-In 2008 weekend car show. Hosted by Steve Plunkett of the Plunkett Foundation, Fleetwood Country Cruize-In is part car show, part music concert with legendary stars, part stylish dinner with superb catered food and drink, part TV and automotive celebrity get together with luminaries from the big screen, the tv screen and California kustom rod scene all mixing it up for laughs and enjoyment. Country Cruize-In is all fun and benefits a variety of charities and funds for medical research, patient care and much needed equipment to combat diseases, especially cancer.
Steve Plunkett started this show a few years ago when he invited antique car club members to stop by his home on Elviage Drive to view his collection and enjoy a rest during a summer tour. The event was a big success and Steve got thinking about how he could expand it in such a way to benefit medical charities. Slowly the Country Cruize-In theme took shape. Each event grew larger than the last one. Steve added entertainment. Last year's show had Herman's Hermits featuring Peter Noone and The Golden Boys, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell and Fabian performing all their hits and a few twists as well. Honorable guest star was George Barris, King of the Kustomizers. Barris brought with him a number of his fabulous creations including some cars curently owned by private collectors such as the Fireball 500 show car.
This year it's a whole new ballgame. The stars this time are Martha Reeves& the Vandellas plus Little Anthony & the Imperials performing thier classic Motown and R&B hits. For television it doesn't get much better than Batman & Robin. Well check it out, Adam West and Burt Ward both appear together along with the entire Batman show vehicle assemblage. Not only the famous Batmobile, but also the batcopter which will be available for bat rides. This fresh restoration will be the first time the Batman toys have appeared together in decades.
George Barris returns again and what a great honor that is. The grand man of customizing loves this event. He even said at last year's dinner he planned to bend Jay Leno's ear a bit to let him know he has to see this for himself. All of this fun plus the largest car show in Ontario helps out those in need. The main support fund is Jesse's Journey. For show tickets, information and detailed itinerary, check out the website fleetwoodcountrycruizein.com. This year the event is held on June7-8, 2008.
You can contact Steve at 519-657-9040.