I admire those cats who do the most with the least. I admire those who peel the bankroll only at the last moment, as a last resort. I admire those who would rather use their head and hands first, build their own stuff instead of forking over a pile of fun tickets for something that anybody can buy. But sometimes there is no choice and they are bound to work with what they've got and take it as far as they can.
When I asked Editor H where Justin Brayman, the owner of this '71 Nova, lived, he said "He's in Florida, your neighborhood, New Port Richey." "Nah!" I croaked. "What street?" "He's about three blocks from your house," said Henry.
No tellin' what people got in their garages around here. I never heard any late-night throttle wrestling, fussing with open exhaust, no cat-howl burnouts, either. But the Home Owners Association would throw a hand grenade at him immediately. I know. I've had run-ins with the HOA.
Justin's best pal Dave Steffey maintains Steffey Racing Fabrication in Eustis, Florida, and specializes in suspension prep and, yes, making parts that did not exist prior. Steffey crafts things out of flat stock and billet. The fact is that there's a lot of good old hot-rodding ingenuity goin' on here. I'm encouraged. These guys are young. They'll be around for the long haul. This tells me that the sport isn't going to wither, die, and get carried off by a light breeze along with the love bugs. These guys get it. These guys are the ones you'd have to pry hot rod parts from their cold, dead digits.
Going a little further, I've discovered that the drag-race microcosm is alive and doing very well in the relatively Podunk area where Justin and I live. Whatever you need, there's somebody there to help you.
Justin has no club, no affiliation. He just likes to drag race. He's run his nitrous Nova at the Hot Rod Pump Gas Drags two years straight. The subhead says something about his suspension, that while maintaining its stock configuration, it's been plastered with the best parts he could source, plus some others that were virtually unobtanium.