1964 Woody Gilmore 139" Jr. Fuel car. Purchased earlier this year out of SoCal with no known history. Has current NHRA cert. I have not laid it down yet but hopefully this year.
My old buddy Roger L. Sullivan from North Ridgeville, OH 1941-2013. This shot was taken in the early 70's. 302 cui small block chevy on nitro.
Don't forget Fred Thompson/Messler and his Wacky Races Jr. Fueler. He was always down at Lions, OCIR and any where out West where there was a Jr.Fuel show happening.
Here is a current picture of the most famous Jr. Fuel Motor of all time. Gene Adam's old Desoto motor. It still lives.
Excluding the Hemi's what was the basic small block engine combo? I'm guessing all cast iron, small pump, right?
All there was was iron really, alloy heads weren't, uh, too common in the mid 60's. Most were'nt as removed from stock as you'd think.
Most Chevy's used a 327 block and a 283 crank. Often the block would be set up for four bolt mains using Milodon caps. Rods were aluminum (Howard's Cams were popular as I recall). Heads were mostly ported camel hump fuelies with 2.02 valves. Injectors were Enderely or Hillborn. I grew up across the street from the "Bright Boys", Ray and his son Larry, and spent many hours in their garage watching and learning. As for why it died, I would count the loss of Lions as the major blow as they were home to the 305 and under injected fuel class. Once that reason was pulled from the table, they had the NHRA A fuel class which had slightly different rules for engine size. Throw in the loss of so many tracks (San Fernando, Irwindale, OCIR and at least one other I can't remember in the LA area) and it is easy to see why so many left. Jr' Fuel went from a cheap, fun class where you could race twice a month only towing an hour to being lucky to run once a month with a couple hour tow just to get there. For people doing it for fun (and nobody did Jr. Fuel for money), it just wasn't there any more.
What's up with the pressure gauge that looks like its screwed into the water jacket drain (see pic in post 133)?
I owned the car in photo #32.(Penho&Pellor Tuttle car) I installed a 432 cid injected Hemi in it. It is now back in Northern California
If I don't sell this I'm going to set it aside for a Jr fuel car. I'll need to paint the heads black.
The Jalopy Journal
