Jeebus that's a horde
Dusterbd13 said:Jeebus that's a horde
You ain't seen nuthin yet...
Packed attic.,Misc downstairs stuff still, two rollers with drivetrains, another engine, extra wheels, two more hoods....
And the attic is crazy. each time I've walked it, I've been too overwhelmed to remember to take pics...
Yeah, and don't forget that's just the car stuff.
I've also been setting a buddy up with piles of vintage electronics, and a few tools for myself.
Wow!
From the details you've let slip so far, I'd love to read the story of your relative that passed. Sounds like a very interesting individual
OH MY. 
Those exhaust manifolds.... They are 100% Pontiac Ram Air manifolds. Whether or not they are original is hard to tell from the pics. They do make reproductions; a couple companies have made them in the past. I've been looking for a set of reasonably priced used repop D-port ones for my Trans Am for a while to replace my terrible headers.
If those are the OG real deal D-port ones... wow. They will sell for a lot of money. If they are OG round ports, you might end up in another tax bracket!
My eyes are bugging out of my head looking at those pics. Again... WOW. Incredible!
In reply to Tony Sestito :
They are d-port.
They carry GM part numbers.
They are in new condition... it's possible that they are NOS.
If I had to guess they are high quality reproductions.
Probably something like these:
He bought tons of stuff from HO Specialties.
The origins of his stockpile start back around 1985.
Sorry for your loss.
Good luck clearing things out!
In reply to a_florida_man :
I know there have been two flavors of reproduction manifolds made in recent history: Ram Air Restorations and what I'll call the "Ebay" manifolds. The Ram Air Restorations ones are better and I believe they do carry the factory casting numbers. The other ones are lesser quality castings and I don't think they have the casting numbers. Ram Air Restorations paused production for a while, but they have started up again in the past few weeks, from what I've heard.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
That would make sense. These are high quality, carry gm numbers and were purchased at least 10 to 15 yeaars ago. These were stored well. They look NIB fresh. :)
Dusterbd13 said:Wow!
From the details you've let slip so far, I'd love to read the story of your relative that passed. Sounds like a very interesting individual
The relative that passed was Jim Rodgers.
He was my biological dad. I first found him and met him in May of 2021.
I found him through Ancestry DNA. His brother and sister were on there and I was a match to them as a full nephew.
Jim did not know about me.
We discovered that he had met my biological mother in 1970 and that they enjoyed spring break together. He lived in Tampa, and she was down from Jacksonville visiting friends in the spring of '70. I also did not know her, and unfortunately as I was to come to know, she had just passed in the fall of 2020, before my search.
She had been adopted as well, so matching maternal dna to records would not have worked very well. Without Jim's help I might not have solved that mystery.
He was a smart guy:
Jim had a stellar career as an electrical engineer and played a huge part in developing modern cable modems and the DOCSIS standard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS
Interestingly we found that we had the same first name (James), were both engineers, both had in interest in electronics and a passion for cars. To top it off, we were both Pontiac guys. At one point in time Jim was racing autocross at an abandoned airport in Tallahassee at the same time that I was riding my go kart around at the age of 10.
Unfortunately Jim was in a severe car accident im 1989 and suffered a traumatic brain injury that subtlety influenced the remaining arc of his life. However through out those times where he worked to recover, downsize, and adjust to his new challenges, he still enjoyed cars, music, friends, and engineering.
He had very strong opinions on life, politics, physics, mathematics, and religion and he enjoyed discussing them with everyone.
He was excited to have a son, and even more so two grand children.
His brother and sister are amazing people and it is wonderful to count them as family now.
He really loved all people, and animals. Even at the end he was taking care of neighborhood cats during the recent cold snap in Decatur.
He never gave up on the dream of seeing his Formula 400 restored and back on the road.
Its going to be my goal to support that dream. Either I will take it on myself, or I'll pass it on (cars and parts) to someone else that will do what makes the best sense. Not every car can be saved, but we will give it a fighting chance.
That's an awesome thing to read Kevin. Thank you for sharing that with us. He sounds like an interesting man that would have been fun to sit around and talk with
That's an amazing story. I am glad you found him and got to make that connection. You both sound like pretty cool people.
In reply to a_florida_man :
What a heartwarming story! I am genuinely moved, both by getting to know a little about you and also your father. Wind at your back, sir.
This may be the most epic (sad/heartwarming/happy/all the feelings) start of a build thread ever.
Your dad sounds like he was a pretty awesome guy; I feel bad that you knew him for so short a time.
Condolences from the Recon household.
That really is an amazing story. Glad you were able to spend at least a little time with him in the past few years. Sounds like he was a great guy! Godspeed to whatever you decide to do.
Here is a picture from our 1st in person meeting.
I always knew I was adopted. I had known for as long as I could remember. My search was never to find anything that I felt that I had missed out on... I simply wanted to thank my biological family for having me.
When I found Jim and learned that he never knew about me, I was sort of caught off guard. I had never considered that scenario. He was the one that was at first surprised and at a loss for words, and needing to learn about a lost relationship.
I really enjoyed his enthusiasm for our relationship.
Did I mention that we also had similar haircuts... lol.
Thanks for all of the nice thoughts guys...
Jim's brother, Tom read the whole thread and he believes that Jim would have certainly enjoyed the public recognition and sharing of his story.
This weekend I plan to go up again and pick up the Formula, and help with some additional sorting tasks.
The last trip was cool in that it provided 10 hours of seat time with Jack, my oldest son, and allowed for some great conversations and sharing.
I would have made the drive for that alone.
Amazing story to tell and your outlook on this is inspiring. Looking forward to more awesome builds. Really enjoy your threads.
Thats really awesome! 
So, I've spent a lot of time talking about the parts... and not so much about the cars.
In some ways they are a bit of a mystery. I remember Jim talking about them when I 1st visited him at his house.
Honestly that trip was a bit of a blur, but I do recall discussions about auto-crossing, heavily modified suspensions, springs.. etc. and a fair amount of racing type engine modifications. So I know there are treasures under the sheet metal to be discovered yet... including transmissions, brake and differential mods as well. I'm just not sure of what was done , to what degree and in which one.
But as with every treasure, there be treasure maps....
Herb Adams, 1981
HO Specialties 1983.
And BOXES of reciepts.
Here is one you might have heard of... the one and only Nunzi's in Brooklyn.
Hi Perf Oil Pan - 1988
And well as you know when you need to tune ...
Everybody had one back in 88 right?
I kinda can't believe that I haven' t looked under the hoods of the two cars yet... i know they have engines... I just have never dug in.
Time to go digging for treasure!
a_florida_man said:
That's some badass hair.
Amazing combination of hobbies and genealogy, glad you got to know you biological dad for a few years and that he had great taste in cars.
Really cool story, both in meeting dad, and inheriting the birds. They're staying poncho powered, right? The Formula is fairly desirable for F-A-S-T class drag racing, although given the Herb Adams book—looks like your dad was looking to carve corners with it. Can't wait to see more.
Katzen said:Really cool story, both in meeting dad, and inheriting the birds. They're staying poncho powered, right? The Formula is fairly desirable for F-A-S-T class drag racing, although given the Herb Adams book—looks like your dad was looking to carve corners with it. Can't wait to see more.
Absolutely, it wouldn't be a Pontiac without a Pontiac engine.
The FAST stuff is interesting.... I'd say FAST is probably not in the future for these cars.. :)
You'll need to log in to post.
