Manny Dasilva is a scheming, sneeky SOB.

VelocityYellowRules!

VelocityYellowRules!

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You're a Regular King of the Post You're Liked 2 You're 10
Jul 15, 2012
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Fairview, Alberta
VetteCoins
107
Car
2006 Z06
OK, so you guys might know I'm a pretty straight shooter about my life and how I feel about things. Well, Saturday morning Manny called me to talk about the Racelogic traction control system and while it really sounds like a winner when I learned the price I had to make some choices and I told Manny that as much as I would like it, as I did not foresee that I would be doing a lot of track racing or dragging that it had to be put on the back burner.

While I had the $ to commit for the SC and header work he will soon be undertaking, I needed to see if I could come up with $ for priority items like methanol injection, non-dusty brake pads, painting some interior pieces, powder coating the SC housing, upgrading the gearshift and things of this nature. So sadly I had to say no to the TC as much as it interested me.

Well today was my 48th b'day. Yep, no looming problems with cancer, the divorce over and I'm feeling pretty good about my life.

So what do my parents and gf get me for a combination b'day/Christmas present?

A METHANOL INJECTION SYSTEM FOR MY CAR!!!!!!!!

And now I realize that Manny knew about this when we talked Saturday morning and he didn't even let on with even a chuckle after I told him that I needed to find some extra $ this winter to get some of this priority upgrade work done. Manny was in cahoots with my parents/gf while I was bemoaning how in the world I'd be able to find extra $ to be able to get some additional projects done while the Z06 was in his hands and he knew some of it was already going to be taken care of.

Your kill me Manny.........

Now I don't need to come up with as much $ anymore for the bonus mods.

I sure hope you gave them a good deal, they're being pretty tight with telling me anything.

What a great way to mark getting a year older you, you, sneek!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Lol! I love it! He's a great guy. You'll find that out soon enough when you get your baby back. He truly is a class act, and that is why he's so well respected. By the way you have cool parents and gf.:thumbup:

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Happy Birthday Garry , you are so blessed in so many ways .

Life is what we make of it , not what it makes of us .

In this life we will all be remembered by how we touch those we come in contact with .

And my wife say I can't keep a secret :rofl:
 
Garry,
judging from your posts, and the events you have shared that have been part of your life; relax and enjoy a little compensation and reward for your trials/tribulations.

Now the waiting will seem even longer !!
If you need to worry....Manny has not yet got your Z06 ! [G].

HBirthday

Tony,
welland
 
Happy birthday Garry! Sounds like you're surrounded by some great people! Congratulations on completing another trip around the sun.

Greg.
 
.........yeah that sounds like our Manny. He is one kind hearted soul at times.:D

Happy Birthday Garry .... lookin' forward to seeing your ride and how it progresses with mods.

Cheers,
Colin
 
Good morning from Chinooking Alberta, +5 right now and it will make a mess outside but warm air is warm air!

You are all correct of course. I have been extra ordinarily fortunate in my life and this is just another example of it. It was a difficult decision to send the car to Manny, not for who he is but just for the additional cost and fear in sending it so far away. If anything went wrong I'd be in a pickle to get it sorted out. So it was for me a real leap of faith.

I never mentioned this before but before I did send the car I did check out having the work done locally (Edmonton) and while there appeared to be some potential shops that had solid reputations, it was a case of learning that for a smaller SC, no radiator upgrade, less rwhp in the end, I was going to end up paying more $. So I was able to send the car to Manny get a better mod/result for less $ than I would have been spending in my home province.

Plus I'd be lying if it was not a bit more exotic to say that I had the car sent to Ontario for work than to tell people I had it done in Edmonton or Calgary. It lets them know that you are serious about your car and want the best quality job that you can get. Don't get me wrong, I've seen Davenport and HPS cars run at Race the Base and they are solid pieces of work, but these are mostly business owners (restaurant, oilfield, professionals like doctors and accountants) for whom money is probably no object. For me, sadly, still, as it is I'm sure for a lot of people here on the forum, money is still a factor. There are a lot of things we'd like but we live in the real world of budgets.

Thankfully we have someone, who while I'm sure is still able to make a living at his job, sees the joy that he brings to people that come to him with their cars.

I know the feeling of happiness it brings to me every time I go past a field that is not longer being cultivated because of the work I did with that farmer. I am sure that it must give Manny no end of the warm fuzzies every time he drives down the road or goes to a show and sees some of the vehicles that he was worked on. Manny achieves what so many of us try to, what will out legacy be in life?

Years from now, will Dasilva Motorsport modded cars command a premium due to their reputation for quality?

While I struggle through the winter, especially with the reduced hours of darkness, I am so excited to be watching the snow to melt to be able to start looking at potential flights to Ontario to get the Z06. That moment of being back in the seat, stepping on the clutch and pushing the start button and hearing the heart of the car coming to life.

Really, 505 hp, well over 700, will it make any different? I was completely happy with the car to start with and it is a beast.

But this will be a different sort of car experience. Just like my 135 hp 280 ZX after the header, CAI, camshaft and throttle body bumped it up to about 170 and the car had a totally different personality, so I expect it will be with the Z06 post-Manny.

Even my dad yesterday asked me "so why did you send your Corvette to Ontario?" and I hesitated not knowing if he'd understand not being much of a car guy and then told him "to have a supercharger and header installed". He just nodded his head. "So it will go faster?" And I said simply "Much". I took Dad for a speed run the day after I got home and also for a lap autocrossing and he had a hard time supressing his smile at the experience. Yesterday he just looked at me like a father sharing a moment with his son and again, he just smiled and nodded.................

A moment like that is worth more to me than another 250 hp. While he may not agree with me about this car he does understand my feelings about it. I could have died 5 plus yeara go but instead I get to have the experience of driving the best supercar in the world that most of us might have the opportunity to own. And now it is going to get a whole lot better!

I can't wait to hear it has arrived.

Life can indeed be good again. I give thanks and pray daily for the fact that I was able to change the way I live my life. Had I gone back to doing the same things I'd been doing before this gift I received would have been a waste. I have a much better quality of life that I am living and experiencing now. I am lucky that while I had the dream of a Z06 when I was getting my finaly chemo treatments to give my mind something to distract it from the possible outcome of my life, that I was actually able to realize it as well.

Sorry for more ramblings again.

Cheers,

Garry
 
Just because the old boys are not into cars, doesn't mean that they don't like an exciting drive. Back in '68 I bought a Ram Air 400 Firebird. It had a balanced and blueprinted engine. Heads CCd, competition valve job, Royal Pontiac Bobcat kit and all that stuff. It worked pretty well. While I was away with a buddy one day, Dad took one of my uncles for a ride. Later he told me that Uncle Don never let go of the dash grab bar the whole time. :D He also said that, "It really starts to go at 70 mph." I reminded him that the speed limit on the roads around home was 50. He just smiled.
 
haha, Garry, if it's any consolation to you my Day would have reacted exactly the same as yours did......... Not really knowing or understanding why but happy that his son is happy. Wish I still had mine to share my ride with.

The other advantage of shipping the car to Ont. is that you have the joy of picking it up in the spring and meeting Manny and his crew along with all of us so we're hoping that's a plus for you. It certainly will be for all of us.

Cheers,

Colin.
 
Colin you have no idea how excited I am to meet some sociable and friendly Corvette owners to have to share this moment with me come spring time! I am going to hope that I will be lucky enough to have good weather maybe in very early April as if it runs to late April I may have to postpone picking up the car until after seeding is finished. If I have the car before seeding then I am sure that I will find occasional moments when I will be able to take it for a drive, like getting my son from school, to tide me over until I can do more enjoyable driving that will follow when seeding is over.

I know how you are feeling too. One of the other reasons why it was time for me to move home two plus years ago was to allow me to spend more time with my parents and also to give my son more time with them too.

I know it maight not sound like I always realize it, but I come to realize more and more each day that I am really living the dream...............perspective is so important.

Cheers,

Garry
 
Garry; don't ever stop posting your stories. You really don't know how much I look forward to the next installment.
Making your Dad smile like that takes me back to times with my own Dad when he was still around. Enjoy these time, they don't last for ever.
When you do come east to pick up your new and improved machine, you should try and make it around the same time as the 5th Annual KW Coping Center Charity Corvette Show Saturday May 25th,2013 It sure would be nice to meat up with you and see the grin you are going to have from ear to ear. Just a thought, I'm sure you have a time frame in mind.
 
CaledoniaBrian said:
Garry; don't ever stop posting your stories. You really don't know how much I look forward to the next installment.
Making your Dad smile like that takes me back to times with my own Dad when he was still around. Enjoy these time, they don't last for ever.
When you do come east to pick up your new and improved machine, you should try and make it around the same time as the 5th Annual KW Coping Center Charity Corvette Show Saturday May 25th,2013 It sure would be nice to meat up with you and see the grin you are going to have from ear to ear. Just a thought, I'm sure you have a time frame in mind.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: I couldn't agree more.:beer:

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Good morning CB,

My thanks for your kind words. I'm not sure if my life is any more interesting than the next fellows but my attitude is to be pretty open about my life. You never know who might be in the same situation you've been in or who might be going through the same thing you've been through and how it can help to realize that you're not the only one who has or is experiencing something. I'm not sure if its a misery loves compnay situation or not!

I've picked up a number of expressions over the years and here's one that I'll share today: "A burden shared is halved, a joy shared is doubled".

Sometimes the simple act of talking openly about something that is causing your grief can make dealing with it easier. Often I may not get a solution but somehow the process of just clearing the air with whatever might be eating at me makes it seem like less of a problem.

I have really enjoyed these past few years with my father. While we fight tooth and nail about agronomic things on the farm I really love just spending time with dad working on equipment and watching and helping him fix things. Dad is an electrical engineer but he is self taught about most mechanical things and watching him work and diagnose things is always a source of wonder for me. I doubt now even after all these years I've worked with him that I am 1% of his skill level. I've often told myself that after dad dies I would no longer farm. While I enjoy farming, so don't get me wrong, it is more the time that I spend with mom and dad doing it that is the aspect that I enjoy. It just amazes me to watch this guy at 77, to be 78 on Wednesday actually, out shovelling me in the grain bin still.

There are so many things that I didn't know about dad until recently. For example, I always knew that dad was a great engineer, he still has an engineering business besides the farm that he works at, he was also involved in the provincial engineering governing body APEGGA and mentors recently graduated engineers in their accreditation process. But two years ago dad was made a "Fellow of the Engineers of Canada" (FEC) for his lifetime contributions, sort of the Order of Canada for Engineers I'm told. I was so proud of him for being recognized this way and while he doesn't know who nominated him it meant so much to him and he and mom had such a terrific time at the reception in Edmonton where he was given his award. You can think a lot of your father but it is a different experience when you learn how so many others admire him as well. But he is still out to lunch agronomically most of the time............!

I could have continued to work professionally and spent more time away from home but the cogs all clicked into place for me close to three years ago and I have never for one moment regreted coming back home. Perhaps in moments of honesty I'd admit it is something I might have been better off doing five years earlier.

I remember the afternoon in April when I took dad for a rip in the Z06 and I slammed through the gears up to about 270 and then I stood on the brakes. I was prepared for this but dad wasn't and he ended up bracing himself against the dash as like me he'd never been in a car that stopped like that before. He was trying so hard not to smile but the corners of his mouth betrayed what he thought of the experience. When we came to a dead stop and after a few seconds he just turned to me and asked "why didn't you lock up the tires when you did that?". Other than the lap we did at the autocross when he actually had a full grin on his face he's never asked for nor gone for a ride in the car since.

Mom on the other hand has asked to borrow the car. I haven't let her take it yet, she was stopped once for doing 160 in her Nissan Multi van back about 20 years ago.......

I am not sure how the spring pickup will play out though. I only hope that whatever date it does occur on that I have the opportunity to stay or a day or two to meet as many of the people that I've met through this forum and to be able to have face time with some people that I wished lived in my nieghbourhood.

I am so jealous of the fact that so many of you are relatively close to each other and to Manny and can spent time being sociable together. I'm sure like having the car, and when I experience the upcoming mods, the sense of family, acceptance and belonging that I feel through the keyboard would be so much more real face to face!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Hi Garry!

Happy Birthday! Boy am I late to this thread!!! As with others, I have to agree with enjoying reading your posts. The owner of where I work may not be so happy though.:D So with that said, back to work! But I just wanted to wish a happy birthday! That is fantastic hearing about Manny being in cahoots with your family about getting you a meth kit.:rofl:
 
Good afternoon Riley,

And here I'd secretly hoped I'd be your 4000th post - sob (as in crying!).

Yes, I am living the dream and never thought they'd get together and pull a fast one on me. Shows I need to start paying more attention to the whispers going on around here.

For the good news, I am in the process of selling my carbon credits, not much $ but I do see new brake pads (Red Stuff a la Colin?) in my future followed by a gear shift dare I say (so I stop missing my 2nd to 3rd shift)!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Good evening 7L,

That would be a great event to attend. I'm sure some fantastic eye candy cars. May 25th would hopefully be the end of seeding for me so if I miss my April window it could always be a possibility. You just never know who things turn out when you are in a weather dependent business.

I'm having such a problem with finishing my carbon credit submission. For some reason the provincial bean counters are in a frenzy about farmers lying about their applications so each year we have to send in pictures of our equipment to verify we are doing what we claim to be doing carbon sequestering wise in our application. What a pain. And of course since I have been having problems with my regular email and having to use Telus Webmail for some reason I can send an email easy enough but not when I attach pictures. And of course until that is done I have no idea what the payment could be, $500, 1K, 1.5 k or what so I don't know what else I can get Manny to do. It's not much but after the SC, header and meth the cost is not as much either for each additional mod that I'd like. I'm sure Manny would be more than happy to do a cam, pistons and rods etc. but I wanted to keep the work to engine external........

I'm just on the cusp of being able to get more car work but don't know how much further down the list I can go just yet..............

Cheers,

Garry
 
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