Giving food to the beast within

Pre-restoration Autolite 2100

Whether or not you can admit it, you have a beast within: A certain inner being striving for excitement or excellence, straining to reach the surface from the black abyss below. And so it is the for the StangBeast. When I would drive this car it didn't feel right. I understood this was no 440 with 650HP but c'mon, it's a stang, and I wanted to tap into her inner heart with utter desperation. When I would romp on the pedal there was no metal connecting to my foot. It was very disheartening when, after I rebuilt the carb and replaced the intake gaskets, she still seemed like a tamed donkey rather than a roaring, raging, beast of power. I had replaced the blown-up 25 year old plug wires with new Taylor 8mm wires. Put on a new distributor cap and rotor. Replaced the worn points with electronic ignition including a new coil. There had to be some life inside this animal and I was determined and destined to find it.

I searched my options to find the best way of tapping into the beast. I contemplated replacing the engine entirely with a new 302 with 350HP drop shipped to the house and ready to rock. It would come completely assembled in the box, just throw it in and turn the key. I was mere inches away from this option when I remembered reading about Pony Carbs. They are a shop out in NM, my homeland, that specializes in carburetors. I decided to send my carb off to them and if that didn't help me, I knew a new engine was next, and last, on the list.

So neatly packaged, my carb left for its journey to New Mexico, a full restoration treatment on the menu. It was a short 2 weeks before I got my carb back which was ok since it was mostly rainy and snowy during that time; not a chance I'd be taking the stang out for a ride. I got a call when the carb arrived at Restoration Destination and was a little shocked when Jon told me that my carb was actually off a '67 Galaxie! He reassured me that it was no biggie and that he'd have my carb fully restored, plated, and run-tested, in a week and shipped back home.

Sure enough, my restored carb arrived. My postman, Dean, who regularly drools all over my car, peeking through the garage window, and telling me all about the Mustang he had but sold blah blah blah. Poor dude. Anyway, he rapped on the door, excitedly handed over my box and a few minutes later came back to my house asking if he could look at it! He was just as blown away as I was to see the newly restored carb.

So on to the before and after photogs. The moral of this blog is tell you "go ahead and feed that inner beast". Give it some food. I am not talking about the beast that causes you to stumble and fall and fail. I'm talking about the one that gives you adrenaline to run that last mile, the one that offers creative inspiration to write that new song, or paint that fresh new painting, or helps you speak in front of a large audience for the first time. Go ahead and be successful! Tear it up! Knock it out of the park! Burn rubber! Live Your Life!

Restored riser plate