Features VINTAGE SPRINT CAR PIC THREAD, 1965 and older only please.

Thanks Jim, I'm looking forward to it!

That 86' Silver Crown car you have is Beautiful! The first time I went to Winchester, (a couple years ago) you had it on display right behind the main grandstand.

I didn't talk to ya, but I checked it out for a while.

Thanks, See ya there.

JD

 

Check out my Bro's site. My race pages are there to. Lots of supers, nostaga etc. Take care Tom Bliss www.jakessite.com

 

Love those supers.. wasnt the gibson car for sale on ebay a while back?
Josh you going to eldora saturday night ? Ill be there.. I cant make it friday...
Dave

 

Yea, I posted it but.......Its still here. LOL!!-Tom Bliss

 

Well Tom that car is a work of art thats for sure... They were really trying to kick some ass for the little 500. Thats my favorite race and ive only missed it like 3 times in 19 years ....
Dave

 

The last frame on Grant kings stand

 

Last frame Is it yours?

 

No, a friend of mine bought it at auction after Grant passed away. The story goes it was a project to build a sprinter the way Grant did in the '60s. It is a bare frame, mostly tack welded. It was on his stand when got killed in a car accident.

The guy who has it keeps it put up and it is not for sale as far as I know.

 

Here's another car in the shop. This is a Jerry Weld driven, Hank Henry sprinter that is being restored.

 

Notice the square tubing going down to the torsion bars. That is the way Jerry had it. I think before the torsion bars went along the framerails.

 

And the way it looks after cleanup. The rebuild continues...............

 

Ok, I understand now, looked pretty "old school" to be his last modern day frame he built. Nice find though, your friend needs to finish it up and put it on the track, looks like he's got the axles for it.

 

He really doesn't know what he wants to do with it for now. Knowing who built it , the frame seems to make a statement just as it is. He's got plenty of projects anyway.

 

Boy howdy I guess, a fine collection for sure. Plenty of neat parts there to keep him busy, right down to the "real" birdcages.

 

70s sprint/super up Michigan way on E-bay #250295693050

 

That appears to be an in and out box from an 80's sprinter. Gambler was started in the early to mid 80's from what I remember. In and out boxes became obsolete in the late 80's to early 90's, when a quick change design came out that allowed the rear to be disengaged.

 

I believe that dates waaay before the 80s, I'm thinking maybe 30/40s. Inside there is a ring gear and a choice of a spur gear that determine the ratio right off the the crank (?) It appears the slots in the flange allow the box to be slid up or down on the motor plate to compensate for the spur gear dia. (?) Would be interested to know more about it.

Oddly enough it has 10 spline written on it, but I count the old 6 spline?

 

Rootie is right about the slots. You slid the box and changed the gear, slid it back, adjusted the clearance the best you could and ran. I have never seen one in a sprint car before[to much H.P.?]. Have seen them in midgets and TQ's built in the 50;s. Then everybody went to quickchange rear ends and in-out boxes then to the quickchange in the rearend.
Jim Graybeal

 

Here's the pics from the original post, the more I look at it, there seems to be some pieces missing, as there doesn't appear to be a way to disengage it. Either there is some sort of housing with dog plates, stub shaft and lever missing or maybe this just bolted up to a bellhousing and used a clutch.

 

Mac and/or Josh...

In that photo of Parnelli and the Fike at what looks like IRP, who's in the Iddings? I recall Sonny Ates having some good rides in that car. He said it was always trying to "romance" him on the straightaways, but it stuck well in the corners.

 

This is a '62 photo and the driver was either Don Branson or Allen Crowe, most likely Branson. Sonny came along in the late 60s.

The car was equipped with coil springs and was tricky to drive. If the driver stood on the gas and kept the springs loaded down it was the fastest car out there, if the driver was "on and off" the gas it was like a pogo stick and quite unstable. Had the current "slow rebound" shocks been available back then, the car would have been unbeatable.

Below is a short web article, I did, concerning the Iddings #93.


My first job in racing (at 14 years old) was " stooging" on the #93 IDDINGS SPL. This car was built in 1959 with a 96 inch wheelbase and a 220 OFFENHAUSER engine. It was raced in USAC as, both, a champ car and a sprint car. After the '61 season, USAC made owner, Henry Meyer, choose which class he wanted to race in, champ or sprint, so Henry chose the sprint division and shortened the car to an 88 inch Wheelbase and replaced the OFFY with a 305 CHEVY engine.
This car raced in the USAC sprint division through the 1973 season.
Through the years this car was driven by Bobby Marshman, Don Branson, Jim Hemmings, Allen Crowe, Roger McCluskey, Bob Mathauser, Chuck Engle, Sam Sessions, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Bud Randall, Buzz Gregory, Norm Brown, Butch Wilkerson and Sonny Ates.
The car won five USAC features on both dirt and pavement and held track records at Winchester and Salem. Branson and Crowe won features at Eldora and Ates won at Winchester and Salem. Allen Crowe was fatally injured in the car at New Bremen, next race after winning at Eldora.
Owner and builder, Henry Meyer, had a aircraft machine shop in Dayton, Ohio, which did business with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Consequently, Henry had access to magnesium and titanium materials that few other guys could get their hands on. Henry made his own gun drilled, titanium bolts, magnesium body panels, etc. The car also featured coil spring suspension.
In its original 1959 spec, it weighed less than 1200 pounds.
Sponsors, Howard and John Iddings operated a successful auto parts and auto glass business in Greenville, Ohio.
The IDDINGS AUTO PARTS AND GLASS SPL #93 is currently on permanent display in the Garst Museum in Greenville, Ohio.

 

Rootie Kazootie you sure know your stuff

"Doc" Parsons

 

A fine looking piece indeed, far ahead of it's time.

 

[quote="Doc" Parsons;3127185]Rootie Kazootie you sure know your stuff

"Doc" Parsons[/quote]
Thanks, I've always been fascinated by the way they did things "back in the day" before the cnc machined unobtainium parts. Rude and crude sometimes, but seemed to get the job done.

 

Great pix Rootie, Always loved that car!!

 

good discussion guys..

This picture has nothing to do with it, I just found it while searching for something else and liked it. I don't know what the deal is with the christmas lights in the back ground...

JD

 

Speaking of "Real Birdcages", Here is the left rear birdcage and radius rod I just finished up for my midget. The right rear is going to be more complicated because I have to incorporate a Jacobs ladder mount.

I also got the front end and new front axle all tacked up and ready for final welding. Starting to look like a real race car now.

 

Coming right along and looking great. I wonder how many young guys nowdays know why those milled out alum. chunks hanging on their axles are called birdcages? Here's some insperation for you: Longtime Colo. owner/racer Chuck Maruo repoped this copy of his 70s chevy 2 a while back.

 

The driver was the late Jeff Freeman, in the Don Mackay owned Offy, brought down to Aust, by Leroy Warriner in 1960. The lights were along the roof edges of the Grandstands, at the then Sydney Showgrounds, The very best Speedway venue in the country.

 

It amazes me that some of you guys can give so much detailed info from just a random picture. I am happy that we now know but still amazed none the less.