STRAIGHT-WEIGHT PERFORMANCE
HIGH PERFORMANCE MINERAL DRAG RACING OIL
Mineral based engine oil designed to enable maximum power while providing ultimate protection under the most severe race conditions.
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• Available in 50WT, 60WT & 70WT
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.............................................................. CHRIS BIRO EDITOR@RPMMAG.COM
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ChrisBiro by RANT
Congratulations! You Made It!
It’s safe to say that re-running my CONGRATULATIONS! Editor’s Rant has now become tradition in RPM in the first issue of every year.
CONGRATULATIONS! You Made It!
Before you read on, just to be clear, I am all for progress, innovation, advances in safety, science, better health and moving forward, however, some things–read “some” things, just might make more sense the way we used to do them. The point is, learning how to deal with responsibility and challenges as well as success and failure at a young can go a long way in life as years pass. With that being said, I hope you enjoy this with the spirit in which it was written.
Congratulations! CONGRATULATIONS to all of our 40+ year old readers.
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, white bread and tuna from a can. Then, after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproofed medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking! Mom didn’t have to go to work to help dad make ends meet, she worked only if she wanted to.
We would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags, and riding in the back of a pick-up on a warm spring day was always a special treat, not a crime. If someone cut us off while driving we’d flip them the bird, and they would return the favor, without getting out a bat, knife or gun at the next stoplight.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Take-out food was limited to hot dogs, fish and chips and pizza. You didn’t line up at the drive-thru for your morning coffee but got up earlier and made it yourself.
Even though all the stores closed at 6:00pm and didn’t open on Sundays, somehow we didn’t starve to death. We shared one soft drink with four friends from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We could collect bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy a whole bag of penny candy, sports cards, bubble gum and some fire crackers.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in them, but we weren’t overweight because... we were always outside playing! We’d leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us, yet we were somehow O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes, which consisted of a wooden stick on a screw that scraped the ground to slow us down!
We’d hop-up our bikes with banana seats and long forks and didn’t need some slick dude on a TV reality show of the month to tell us how to do it.
We built tree houses and played in river beds with Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. We did not have any video games at all, and when we did finally get
them it was for occasional entertainment with the whole family. No on-demand TV or 200 channels on satellite, no DVD or streaming movies, no surround sound, no personal computers, no internet, internet message boards and forums or social media, no cell phones or other handheld devices and no texting... we did have friends though, and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were rarely lawsuits. We were given pellet guns, jack knives and slingshots for our 10th birthdays. We played with toy guns that looked like real guns, only because it was cool, not because we wanted to be a gangster. And every young boy wanted to be a policeman or fireman!
At 13 we learned to drive the family car at the empty mall parking lot on Sunday. We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled out for them.
Christmas was Christmas not Xmas, no really it was! No Black Friday or Cyber Monday either. We went shopping for our gifts at actual stores and most everything was made here at home.
Football, baseball and hockey had tryouts and not everyone made the team. And those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! Getting on the team was a privilege based on ability and merit, and not due to special rules, threats, fear or guilt...
There were very few football, hockey or soccer moms and dads who cared more about their kids becoming the next superstar over just letting them play and have fun. I know this all sounds strange, but it’s true!
If a company we bought something from made a mistake, we gave them the benefit of the doubt and simply called them about it. And they either fixed it or they didn’t, and they would live with the word of mouth (good or bad) after we gave them a shot at fixing it.
We didn’t go on social media (because there was none) and smear the company’s name first.
We did not talk back to our parents or we’d get spanked, and knowing that kept us in line… most of the time. Our teachers used to belt us with rulers or leather straps, and knowing that kept us in line… most of the time. Grade school bullies didn’t have guns and knives. The idea of a mom or dad bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! And police were given respect, because they deserved it.
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all! And
You are one of them! Congratulations! You were allowed to grow up as kids, before the lawyers, governments and big businesses regulated our lives “for our own good”. You may want to let your kids read this so they will know how brave their parents and grandparents truly are.
Once again, have a fantastic 2025!
Chris
Biro, Editor In Chief
January2025
Steve Damianidis, better known as “Splash” because of his businesses in the water industry, is no stranger to fast cars.
In fact, the Schomberg, Ontario, Canada resident made an impressive impact back in the early days of organized street car drags in Ontario, as well as racing in the original Orlando World Street Nationals in Heavy Street, and with the NSCA in Super Modified.
Racing in EZ Street with the OSCA (Ontario Street Car Association) in a show quality nitroused first gen Camaro for 15 years, Splash pocketed more wins than he can count, but was never able to grab a points championship, despite nailing runner-up several times.
He was, however, awarded the Iron Man Award for competing in every single race over those 15 years in the OSCA, an honor very few ever received.
Story: George Pich
Photos: Blake Farnan
To save some more weight, Optic Armor windows have been installed and keeping the original trim and steel bumpers were a worthwhile trade-off for that.
In 2007 he won Canada's Fastest Street Car Shootout event, qualified numerous times in the Top 32 in Orlando and raced pretty much anywhere he could on both sides of the border. As you can see, Splash’s commitment is intense…almost as intense as his sense of competition.
“I have been messing
around with cars and hot rods for almost 30 years now,” Damianidis explained. “I started racing when I was a teenager. I was racing on the streets, then I grew up and started racing at the racetracks. I have had sever al street cars and drag cars in my years and now have what I think is a nice car collection.”
The Best Value in GM LS Performance.
If you’re looking for affordable LS performance, look no further than Trick Flow GenX 220 cylinder heads for LS1/LS2. Features include: Cathedral ports; 13.5° valve angles; decreased valve shrouding; increased mid-lift airflow; bowl-blended and CNC-profiled combustion chambers; improved rocker arm and valve cover clearance; and a super rigid casting design. What truly makes them special is their “Fast As Cast®” runner design that duplicates the profile of fully ported heads for near-CNC-ported performance for hundreds of dollars less! And since heads that don’t pass emissions are no good on late model cars, Trick Flow made sure the GenX 220 heads are fully emissions-legal (CARB E.O. #D-747) for 1997–present GM vehicles with 5.7L and 6.0L engines.
Your Formula for GM LS Performance!
New heads are just one part of the horsepower formula. To make it complete, you’re going to need some other components.
Track Max® Camshafts
Give your GM LS an even bigger power boost with a Track Max camshaft. Available in several hydraulic roller designs up to 230°/238° duration and .625"/.625" of lift, they are dyno proven to produce significant power increases over the entire RPM range.
Active Fuel Management and Variable Valve Timing Delete Kits
The problem: most performance camshafts don’t work on engines equipped with AFM or VVT. The solution? Ditch them with these delete kits! They include everything to completely remove AFM and VVT the right way so your engine will make the power you expect with no hiccups.
Cylinder Head Bolt Kits
Keep combustion where it belongs! These high-quality cylinder head bolt kits provide consistent clamping force. The bolts are made from premium quality alloy steel with cold-formed heads and rolled threads. The kit contains all the bolts you need to install a pair of heads.
