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And here I thought Hoskins was in Elk Grove forever !
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I bought my Marina Blue SS L79 car from Hoskins back in April of 66........(19 years old and I knew everything)
Put a set of Headers on and borrowed a set of slicks....went to the Grove and ran a best of 13.12....back then a 12 sec street car was really something......so close.....at this time I had recently married and was an apprentice Tool & Die Maker.......so the next logical thing was to make the car faster, so instead of paying the rent and buying comfort items......I did the logical thing and went to E&R on Belmont and Racine??? and had them go thru the short block, bored .030, balanced, Sig Erson Cam and do a three angle valve job to the heads......I also bought a "Rubber Drive" pressure plate from them.......anyone remember that hot item......reworked the trans to "Crash Box" standards.....4:88's........crossram....etc
Went out to the track and ran a best of 11.78......went to the Grove on weekends and U.S. 30 on Wednesday nights.....there used to be a lot of Street Racing down on Clybourn and Armitage on Friday and Saturday Nights........anyhow after racing in the same class as Tony Christian with his 57 Chevy( he was running 11.50's).....I took off the crossram and put on a holley 3 Barrel set-up I got from Bill Bretz (anyone remember him) after the switch the car would run 12.10 all day long, but I now ran a different class than Christian........after a season of racing the family thing started and racing went out the window.........I had this L-79 car that was barely streetable (for the time)........so using all the intellegence that I had at the time.....I sold my built L-79 engine for $300 and bought a 396-350H.P. turbo 400 combo and spent the winter of 67-68 putting that assy in the Nova......built my own headers etc as nothing was available at the time.....it was neat when the trans shifted gears as it would chirp the tires.......but the headers were so inefficient that the car wouldn't get out of its own way......but at the time it was neat....The little lady finally had enough and it was her way or the highway........I sold the Nova to someone on the South side of Chicago and never saw it again.....Got out of cars for twenty years and now I'm making up for lost time......and it all started at Hoskins Chevrolet on Irving near Lincoln......Anyone remember the Pie Pan in Lincolnwood???
Didn't mean to be so long winded..........
Ken
