Two stories--
Back on a near forgotten 1962 Wednesday night in Orange, NJ, we were all
waiting in the Royal Rods club garage for our weekly meeting to start. Member
Andy Furchak walks in carrying a V8 engine block. Now Andy wasn't exactly a
linebacker class guy. He was working in the local Buick zone office and had
to show off a part that they'd just replaced on a warranty job. What a scene
of disbelief. We were all into drag racing and weight counted a lot. Even
little me could lift this thing over my head with both hands. But a block
alone did not a race engine make, especially on a tight budget. Still, it was
impressive.
Another-- Out here in San Jose in the 80's I worked in an engineering group
with a guy name of Don Schrein. Don was as big as he was bright. AT 6'6" and
maybe 250# he could certainly handle the aluminum olds V8 powered bike he had
built. Last time I talked to Don his bike was apart in the garage while he
was heading off to the end of the Earth on a service call to work on a nuclear
powerplant reactor that his company, GE, maintained. Some people seem to be
just a little bigger than life.
Ed Weldon
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