Caddy 500 to be featured on HP TV

I'm posting this for Paul at MTS. He's not a gearhead so it's from a different perspective.
Also the engine pulled right at 600TQ/600HP and would idle at 600 RPM

A view of the trip to HPtv from the not-so-tech guy of the bunch - as in Paul Lane of MTS. A couple of pre-thoughts to get started.

If I were to think of a perfect headline for the engine build, it would be: RUMBLE IN TENNESSEE

If I were to pick one word for how we were treated at RTM Productions it would have to be: ROYALTY

For Marty and I the trip almost started off with a "medical inspection" of my older brother (LOL). He was carrying a couple of extra parts in his carry-on bag, one of which had some gear oil on them, not to mention an MTS valve cover and a pulley or two. Well, it seems gear oil sets off the bells and whistles as some sort of potential explosive chemical. Of course the bag was searched, and when the gal was trying (and failing) to pull out the valve cover, Marty reached to help her out. If looks could kill, he would have been dead as she stretched out her glove. Eventually they cleared us, he still has his virginity, and we headed to TN not knowing what to expect.

If anyone out there owns a business, you should study the examples set by RTM productions on how to make visitors feel special. First, they have several parking spots for visitors right by the front door. Next, we walk in and see the "RTM Welcomes MTS" John Walker, Paul Lane, Marty Lane. After getting buzzed through the entry door, the receptionist, who I feel is a tremendous asset to the organization, greets us with good 'ol southern hospitality, fills out our visitor badges, and while we sign our agreement to not take pictures or video (it was the honor system and we honored it), she informs us that just asking to take a picture will require us to watch 10 hours of Justin Beiber videos. I think I would rather have a medical inspection.

Co-host Mike Galley comes up to meet us and we get to do a quick meet with rest of the the guys filming HPtv, got a big hug from JW, and a tour of the 50,000 sq-ft complex. Any gear-head, car enthusiast, TV production geek, or just a simple curious person is instantly in love with the place. They had to have 50 assembled engines "just lying around" for us to rub on not to mention 50 assorted cars and trucks. We got to see the other studios, meet the other show hosts and see the projects all of them are currently working on. Simply put Dudes & Dudets, the $#!t was cool.

Next we get to officially meet the show's director, Don, and the other project host for the Caddy build, Little John, who is a vet from the Iraqi war, and a great gear-head. We weren't there for 15 minutes when they started filming the segment about the MTS heads. Two hours of prep work including, script memorization and tons of lighting adjustment, all wrapped up in about 10 minutes of takes, and retakes until it was perfect. If was a pleasure watching them work. It was like that for each and every segment that was taped.

Most of you don't know, but when Marty and I bought MTS, I told him my goal was to, "Make him famous." Well, a good 15 or 20 filmed interview session can do just that, and that's what happened. JW and I were more than proud watching Marty hit a homerun in the interview. I do believe any part of it that they use will make us Caddy freaks proud. The most important part of the interview to the folks at HPtv was the amount of American made stuff we have. In their own words, "that's rare and very special of you guys,"

On Thursday we got to meet the shows originator and co-host, Joe Elmore, and just like everyone else we were privileged to be introduced to, he is great. In chatting with Joe we learned that PowerBlock, which is the overall brand for all of their shows, is not just doing the TV version of the build, but intends to put the build in their monthly magazine. Joe has been doing a vast amount of research on the Caddy 500 and is so impressed that an article, on not just the build, but the history of the 500 block would make a good read.

As part of the project, Joe asked MTS to send them any and/or all pictures we have of our customers projects or engine builds. If anyone out there wants a chance to see thier ride on TV or in the article, please send them to me ASAP, no later than Tuesday. I'll be sending them every picture I have and they get to choose what they are looking for.

Marty and I had intended to hit the skies back home on Friday morning, but we just couldn't leave without seeing the dyno pulls. Add in the tremendous welcoming and at home feeling the entire staff put into us being there, we agreed to change our flight and stay until mid-day Friday. I have never felt more gratitude from any company for a little extra time. From the owners Joe & Patty Lawrence to each person on the shoot, they put us on a pedestal for taking the time to participate in the process. Add in the amount of fun we had between the taping (picture of a bunch of gear-heads in a closed garage ragging on each other for 8 hours and I think you can imagine what might have been going on (LOL).) Of course when it was time to shoot, those guys are ultimate professionals.

Speaking of John, same-o, same-o. They were expecting an A+ @$$-hole to show up, only to find once you get to meet and know him, he's just a big teddy-bear with a huge passion for Caddy's. You could actually feel the love. (sniff-sniff) It was a real heart-felt experience. As far as Joe, Mike, and Little John go, we talked about family, cars, business, Santa, Iraq, shared pictures, talked about dirty joke books (Joe bought one on Amazon after we chatted) the history of PowerBlock, Drag racing, working on a NASCAR team and of course Caddys.

Friday morning consisted of moving the engine into the dyno chamber, the final parts placement and video shoots, hook ups, and prep for the actual dyno runs. Fire extinguishers were place next to one of the camera booms and next to the door of the chamber. I was given clear instructions from Don, "In case of a fire, put the people out first!" After I stopped laughing and trying to figure out how the extinguishers worked, the engine was taken through its break-in and it was time for a quick lunch.

Guys and gals, the dyno and the dyno chamber at HP is nothing short of impressive. The amount of air it moves throughout the process is so staggering, that when it is turned on, they need to release the air pressure in the building (remember it's a 50,000 sq ft facillity) by opening a couple of doors in the front or the front-office staff gets locked into their offices because they can't open their doors (LOL). To hear some of the stories from previous incidents where people were trapped and pulling on their doors was hilarious.

The dyno session. There is nothing like the sound of a big-block. And to be honest, Mike Galley noted he had never heard a sound like that Caddy made, it was both unique and impressive. Yep, it rocked. But as I mentioned above the title would have to be, "Rumble in TN". During each pull the floor shook. Call it a message. People started coming in from all over the building to see what the heck was going on. The engine was shaking stuff off the walls in the dyno room. An exhaust screen and a wall sign were the first casualties of the rumble, the next were the cancelling of shoots in the other studios because the vibrations, and the special sound it was making. If anyone ever had any questions about Caddy being different from the rest of the worlds stuff, it was confirmed right there. It was fun to see the looks of the people at PowerBlock watching the dyno runs. It was true emotion of their face listening and "feeling" the engine go through the paces. And while I'm no true gear-head, it was so awesome the smile on my face would have you thinking I just watch the birth of a child. Damn, that was great.

While JW was lucky enough to sit through a bunch more pulls, it was time for Marty and I to head back to CA. We made some great new friends from the trip. The whole experience was such a positive event, that the guys there are talking about another build at some point and to be sure to stay in touch.

As for my last notes, Marty and I stayed so long on Friday that we made our flight by about 15 seconds (literally), but despite our lateness, Southwest took care of us with a huge smile; just another example of how nice things seemed to work out during the trip.

We will post the air date and/or magazine date when we know of them. We were warned that other shows have seen the primary company (such as MTS in this episode) phone system and/or web site get crashed form all of the calls and web hits. We will have a plan in place for our existing customers to try and work around this, but we were told to expect to be busy, especially for the unique and successful build that happened. Hell, maybe JW will have to come to CA for a few weeks!

For For those who don't know here's a bit about HPtv from their site.

HorsePower TV - Started in January 1999
Cable's highest rated and longest running auto how-to show, HorsePower TV targets street machine owners, hot rodders and racers who modify and tune for performance. The show backs up it's projects with before and after tests on it's engine and chassis dynos making this the ideal series to market speed parts.

To say we are even more excited about the show would be an understatement. I hope everyone in the Caddy community has the opportunity to watch it, and when your Ford or Chevy buddies ask why a Caddy, you can give them the episode DVD as a learning tool.

Thanks to everyone for the support. I'm out.

Paul Lane
MTS