History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

I keep forgetting that not everyone here read Hot Rod (HRM) or Popular Hot Rodding (Pop Rod, PHR) magazines back in the '60s and weren't fully immersed in such terminology. "Boiling the hides" was a phrase used to describe the intense abuse being laid on those unsuspecting rear tires.

 

Or "throwing out the laundry"

 

No, referring to the fact that car's hooked up and hauling...or just "popping and a banging" as Big Daddy would say.

 

A repeat I'm sure but one I've always liked. Makes me think of a dance class I took with the lovely Mrs. 99 many moons ago. "Step step back step cha cha cha"!

 

The guy on the roll bar is out of step...

 

Some time ago, probably the early '70s, Car Craft or Hot Rod magazine featured an article describing some of the unusual expressions that were heard around the drag strip and likely nowhere else. A tutorial of the strange things you might hear said by Jungle Jim's or Big Daddy's crew in the pits. Things like "hanging out the laundry" or "nipping a piston". But after all of these years there are only two of these phrases that have really stuck with me.

One was "bump it up ten, ten and ten". This was something a desperate crew might do for a final qualifying attempt or when they had to face one of the "big guns" in the next round. It meant adding 10° more timing to the mag, 10% more nitro and 10% more blower overdrive.

The other is "put in the can, cap and label". Meaning to fill the fuel tank with 100% nitro with no alcohol to tame it down. Not likely to hear that in the fuel pits these days.

I've never been able to find that article in my old copies of Hot Rod or Car Craft. If somebody knows what issue that list was in please let me know. I'd sure like to refresh my memory.

Is anybody besides me familiar with the expression "nothing runs like new pipe"? Seems like anyone much younger than me has never heard it before.

 

Working retail we usta say........"Nothing cuts like a new knife"..
6sally6

 

Oh my, no! - I just unliked it. Whew that was a close one.

 

We also used "unpack the laundry", meaning pull chute leaver. Also sometimes said "backsided a piston", meant scuffing/scourging one area of piston thru ring gland and lower skirt area, where nipping piston related to small section of ring gland being removed.

You're right with this statement, which also often lead to "nipping a piston" or "backsided a piston".

That's because they all now run 100% nitro without any methanol. Which is one of the reasons the engines are rebuilt after each run, that was not done in early '70s.

 

20+ years ago, when I was the clutch monkey on an AA/FC, NHRA rules limited us to 90%. Not sure if that's changed since then - I don't really follow the circus anymore. There's so much fuel crammed into the cylinders that it washes down into the oil pan. If you watch a rebuild being done, you'll see that the oil in the pan after a run looks like espresso. That's why they get rebuilt after every pass, the oiling system is compromised. And the rod bearings. And the main bearings. And...

Another phrase we used to use all the time was "he had electrical failure," meaning that when the engine blew up and the piston exited the side of the block it took out the ignition system.

 

That is indeed correct. Really looking forward to the event. Billy said he was getting a knee job, just not the usual NYC one..

 

In the NHRA 1964 US Nationals program, there was a "Racer's Glossary" article that translated about 50 pieces of jargon. They were politically correct even then, changing "bitchin" into "butchin".

 

We even had that problem even in early days just not as bad as with today's fuel cars, which was why oil was replaced every pass, then in my case pan pulled and bearings where inspected after 3 passes and replaced individual as needed until next full rebuild. But as you mention oil dilution is also one of the factors for rebuilding every pass, there's many reasons they rebuild ever pass in today's cars not just one or two.

Never heard this phrase myself, I did use "ventilated block" mostly when referencing rods coming thru side of block.

 

Also blamed on "oil pan failure".

 

Looking forward to seeing you there...you'll have a blast, the personalities...new and old...are really the show!

 

Also, bump it ten, ten, and ten, and ride low in the seat.

 

Dodger Glenn tossing a motor at Englishtown...

 

Guess he was light at the scales...

 

When I crewed on a F/A and we were next in line for a run if a funny car grazed the wall and flattened a header the comment was - Uh, oh, he just knocked the curb feelers off that thing.

 

I think it was Pat Foster who coined the phrase "Sit Low and Keep Her Lit".

 

Looks like maybe he bumped it 20,20 and 20!

 

I "windowed" an engine once.

 

Wow
I've never seen that but from reading about Pat, it's perfect!

 

Reminds me of Cartman.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/RXS1sJm7QEA