Event Coverage where are all the gassers ?

i went to irwindale last night with a friend of mine to test a car, and i thought i was going to see a bunch of gassers, there was only one,and it was a blue 55 that belongs to a guy named stan.his car ran pretty good !but where are the rest of these bad assed GASSERS ? i guess theres more lookers than runners !

 

We could just turn this one into a gasser only picture thread...... In that case, how's these fer starters???

 

Sorry! I don't have any tri-five pics..

 

You are right, more show cars than guys that REALLY run em , as you know everything with a beam front is a gasser I stoped and ask a guy what gas class his gasser was in hell he did not know what I was talkin about I guess their "street gassers"

 

I hope to use mine for dual duty when it's done. I'd like to do it the way the originals did and drive it to the strip and back. Sure, it's never been a gasser in it's life and there's no "Gas" class anymore, but we can still run them in some class or bracket for fun.

 

deuces,nice pics ! but, where was THOSE cars, and others like that ? what im saying is that, i see a lot of cars on this board, dressed up to look like a gasser, or a race car,but i dont see them at the drag strip ? maybe i have to go to famoso to see some REAL cars !

 

"Irwindale" isn't the Irwindale of yesteryear...it's an 1/8th mile strip in a new age with new rules, in a new location.
The "Irwindale" of today is just steps away from where the San Gabriel Drag Strip was located before my old Irwindale opened in 1965.
"My" Irwindale" disappeared in 1977...and is the Miller Brewery today.

As far as the gassers go, the rules for "gassers" changed about the same time as fuel altered vanished.

Go to CHRR in about four weeks....that'll be great!

 

im old enough to remember the old drag strips we used to have here in calif.and i am aware of the rules that are implimented for certain cars,but i see a lot of calif gassers here on this board,and everybody is saying how cool they are ,and how bitchen they are, and still i havent seen them run ! all show and no go ? prove the point and i woud like to see you guys run a good number ! not no 12s or 11s,i would like to see some real et's like the good ol days, thats all .and yes, i will be at famoso mazooma !

 

Mines a later model (61Falcon) but it's an old war horse from the local tracks, been in a barn for 25years, now being reborn into a street driven hot rod that i intend to use to put the hurting on some youngins that think VTAAAAK and front drive is the shiznit.

shooting for 2850lbs wet, no driver. the mill made 460hp 520lb/ft on the pump and now has much better ignition/exhaust. We've got the biggest ball drive Paxton ever made (VR4, which can make NOVI2000 air at only 3500rpm).

There's also a bottle on the bench, if needed

We plan on low 10s and depending on how much spray is needed, she may crack nines.

rick

 

I will be very happy if my race car looking gasser runs in the twelves. I will have something I can enjoy 365 days a year. That is more appealing to me than a 9 second car that I get to drive 4 or 5 days a year. There have always been street cars that emulated race cars and they have always been cool in my book. In reality 11 or 12 seconds is respectable for a street driver.

 

Amen Kev!

 

NHRA dropped the last of the "Gas" classes in 1981.

 

I agree with Kiwi Kev especially with something you want to drive on the street.

I also remember a bunch of gassers running in the 12s and 11s although it was cool to see them occasionally run in the 9s back in the 60s. I would much rather watch them run like they did in the 11s than most of the stuff running today a whole bunch quicker.-Jim

 

I have to respectfully disagree with that. I'm NOT trying to start a fight, but a gasser with weight transfer and good rubber should be able to run real hard and have the chassis as the limiting factor for streetability (as opposed to a streetable/unstreetable engine).

11-12 is respectable if you have a vintage car with vintage tech in it or maybe even vintage appearing tech.

Factory Appearing Stock class is currently ruled by a Hemi Road Runner running low 10's on skinny, stock sized wheels/tires. There are several in the mid tens. They all look 100%stock, and have to sound stock, too (no cracklin cam/compression).

Imagine what they'd run on good tire or if they were allowed as much cam/compression as an average street gasser sounds like it has.

Brand new Mustangs and Camaros are cracking DEEP tens with only a few mods, and one stang just got 9's with those same few mods and a C6 swap.

If needed, E85 can give you 105 octane at 50cents less/gallon than premium and boost is traditional as well. I put about 200 miles per weekend on my last car using the exact same engine,trans,rear but 1000 more pounds, absolutely CRAP exhaust (1.45" OD primaries) and stock points ignition. It only put 299hp to the ground with that combo and ran 12s.-it ran that well because it got a dead hook off the line everytime.

I'm not even sure i'll use the E85 but I plan on 10's either way. If I dont want to mess with the blower I know I can get a high ten with just the spray for those occasional pests, then again, the blower will give me an extra 150hp easily, without need to fill the bottle. And my engine is extremely tame, not even putting out as much HP as you can get brand new from the big 3.

I dont have a problem with a beautiful gasser/hotrod clone that is aimed for style and cruising.

But I REFUSE to have a hotrod with a chassis design that is geared 100% for putting every horse down right off the line, and then let it get punked by some young twerp in a 2010 Camaro with headers and a bottle, or worse yet, a Subaru.

-rick

 

I say 11 or 12 seconds is respectable for a street car, 9 or 10 seconds is awesome for a street car but pretty rare.

 

I say 11 or 12 seconds is respectable for a street car, 9 or 10 seconds is awesome for a street car but pretty rare.

 

And I am going to disagree with 69fury. 11s are quite quick for a street car that is NA, no juice, no boost.

New Camaros and Mustangs are cracking mid tens with a few mods, those mods being lots of boost or NOS. That mustang that ran 9.96 at 137? NOS ( I'd love to how much), lightened up, C4 Trans (not a C6, C4 uses up less power), drag only rims and slicks. The new 5.0 has great heads. Impressive yes. Still doesn't make a true 11 second car slow by any means.

The factory stock appearing class? TRICKED OUT cars. They do have very high compression, serious stroker engines. I saw one that the factory gas tank was just a cover over a fuel cell and a SERIOUS fuel system. They are all way lightened up, from the body to the trans internals. Cool to watch, hell yes. One step from stock? Don't fool yourself. It takes a $120,000 plus car to be at the top in that class.

Gassers JUST built for looks bother me a lot. Its fuckin pathetic. But 11's aren't bad at all.

 

Ah...with just a few mods eh? Whats a brand new Mustang or Camaro cost these days anyway? Then add the mods in? Spendy, may be pretty quick....but there's one problem....it's still a new car....haha....

And Gasser's built just for looks aren't gassers at all....they are called STREET FREAKS.....learn yer damn history man..... (p.s. Street freaks kick ass.....)

 

Natedrag, I'll admit the Factory Appearing cars are really worked over- and yeah the mustang is worked too, But there are plenty of New Camaros and Stangs in the 10's with just bottle, tires, gears, and headers (and those dont kill the streetable)

11's are pretty damned quick for a street car, but then again, the new ZR1 corvette record is 10.70s at 135ish BONE STOCK on radials. (fantastic driver, admittedly)

My point is that 11s and 12 is respectable for a lightly hopped up true daily driver

maybe i'll give sway on a 11second hotrod, i dont think 12's are fast at all considering we're talking about a lightweight car with a chassis that throws away aerodynamics for the sake of monster grip off the line.

Even visual appeal (most of us here think they're pretty, but many now (and then, i'm sure) thought the mile high stance was stupid)

I may be wrong (happens all the time) but i stand firm that a light hotrod with a race car chassis design and a decent mill should be faster than 12s.

not that i'm building it for other people to give me their approval but you and i are all talking about what respectable times for what is still a race car that's been restored (willys, anglias, 55chevys, etc). They've just been detuned for engine civility, and my point is that it's really easy now to have a civil engine that make tons of power.- the gasser chassis is the limiting factor in how streetable the cars are, not the engines.

Should we ask the guys with the 1200hp, daily driven, leather interior Supras to join in on the discussion of race car chassis that go 12s? (ok my friend detunes to around 950hp during the week for cheaper gas)-

(respectfully) rick.

 

i think they have all become cso/gassers... car show only

 

Here Frank go to the Darkside http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=487387

 

I agree totally Kev,12 or even 11 seconds is mighty quick for a street car.Theres a lot a of fun to be had in a hot rod with old school suspension components that can hook up and run these times.Ive run quicker hot rods on the street,had a few close calls and sometimes your'e just happy to get home in one piece.

 

Bingo...

And it does not take a straight axle to make a gasser.

There's are reasons they stopped with the jacked up front ends and straight axles in race cars...

 

Seen at the Hot Rod Hoedown

 

Do you have any gasser classes at your track in where else st. paul,probably not,huh?
Kinda hard to race in a class that doesn't exist anymore.
I wonder if the guy built his car gasser style because that's what he's into?That's just crazy.

I suppose if someone builds a cool little roadster using ideas from a lakes car,you're gonna ask him what class he runs at Bonneville.
I doubt it.

 

We drove our cars every day in the late 60's. They were the only cars we had.
These two were daily drivers...the Hillman had a 427 Ford and the Anglia had a 340 Mopar/Torqueflite.
The gasser look that we enjoyed back then was replaced with the low-slung Willys and Anglias that we see today at car shows. I have no idea why they are dumped down so low.
Sure, they handle better, but they completely lose the look.
A dumped Willys and Anglia just scream "street rod cruise night', not "gasser".

We had some radical stuff on the street here in Southern California that looked just like they came off the drag strip (and many did).
We even had wheelstanders that were daily drivers....

.....and, any car that can run 12 flat and still be street legal and a daily driver is rare.
Really rare.

 

So get off your ass and go build a 10 second street driven gasser that you race and drive daily and then put a tech post on here about the build.

 

My car is not a daily driver, but it is street driven regularly. No bottle just naturally aspirated engine with a 5 speed stick. Weighs 2700 lbs with me in it. I have raced it at 3 events and it goes faster every time. Last one was an 1/8 mile event and ran 7.35 pulling the wheels in 1st and 2nd (if you look reallly close lol). Made some mods since then I think it will go low 11's in the 1/4 now. I guess where I'm going with this at that I feel like 11's are damn quick for a street car. If I didn't want to drive it on the street I could quite easily get into the 10's. The street driven part makes it considerably more difficult. Sure, I could stick a bottle in there and "poof" 10's, but that isn't really the direction I want to go.

 

If you want to be the fastest, go do it , if you choose to have a nice street freak, go do it, if you call your car a gasser then do it. Too much squibbling over identity because you were there when it went down. Thats cool too but hey if the owner is happy don't break his balls. Life is short, enjoy it while you can!

 

i will ! but i wont need to BUTCHER my car to do so !money's a little tight, but you'll see my posts.