You handled what? Being an [censored]? Yes, admirably.

I know you do like to argue, to change the subject, to twist and distort the truth to fit your view. I did not say that I could, would, or should run my 'bird on 87. Could I? Of course. I could change it to comfortably run on 87 octane in a couple hours time. Did Pontiac design it to run that way? No, at least not in '69. It took a few more years for that "design evolution" to come into play. And I choose not to compromise my engine to that extent. However, I will rebuild to run 93 without issues. I like to DRIVE, foot to the floor. And I can buy 92/93 everywhere I go.

How far do you travel from home in your 'bird? Will you take a 400 mile jaunt just for the joy of it? I put 3000 miles on the '66 Le Mans in summer 2005, and 1500 on the 'bird the same summer. I only put 12000 on the daily drivers all year.

Oh, and I can name SEVERAL people who can wring incredible amounts of power from combinations that most would laugh at. I, unfortunately, am not one of them.

I did have one heckuva sleeper in a '71 Impala 400 2 bbl...big gold boat...that car could move. 100% stock, 100% responsive. Only a 2 bbl, but while bigger badder engines were still winding up on a Gratiot launch, we were nearing the next light. Sometimes more (cam, carb, displacement, gear, compression) is not better.