Nice story Mike!
It's true about the stare sometimes.....I really get a chuckle from the looks from other drivers of more up-to-date equipment when a Z driver opens it up they for sure know something "doesn't sound right" ......or it's a "what's wrong with this picture look" .....
I think it's priceless because no way do our motors sound like a typical sbc.....or at least I'm sure that at 6500 + rpms my LT5 doesn't sound anything like what my LT-1 used to sound like, two entirely different mechanical symphonies.
Tom