Oh to see such a view again! This is during time trials at Indy in 66. I could have easily burned through my limited amount of film during time trials alone. What a show!
Bixby Ford's A/S Galaxie was a regular at the Oklahoma tracks in the late 60's. Don't remember seeing it a lot in other places. I've looked through all my slides and sad to say, I think this is all of the Jr cars I have. Wish there were a lot more....
I was also at Indy in 66, the rain and allergy capital of the world but its all worth while or should I say it was back then
There are a couple of others over on the Flickr site that have pictures from 66. One guy's pictures were from the stands not far from where I was sitting. We both lamented about not shooting more. I don't remember it raining much but the humidity was there all right. Hard to imagine it was almost a half a century ago.
For me Junior Stock and Modified Production were the reason I loved going to the drag strip back in the mid to late 60's and early 70's This to me was the heart of drag racing back then and some of the best racing every. I also would love to see this site back again. Jim "Jimbo" Hill
Here are some pics from the early 60's of Bridenthal Ford's pre-Thunderbolt race cars. Well, all except the '64 Fairlane four-door, they raced it along with the Thunderbolt.
I haven't been on this thread in a long time but when I saw this ad on the Buffalo, NY Craigslist I had to share it. As the ad says, this is Pete Magel's "Maggot" one of the winningest junior stockers at Niagara Drag strip. And as I've said before, if you were lucky enough to make it into Junior Stock Eliminator you probably ended up watching Pete's taillights go through the traps first. Hope I didn't break any rules by posting the ad but I just had to share it. Enjoy. Lee VINTAGE DRAG CAR 1952 STUDEBAKER THE MAGGOT - $10000 (NIAGARA FALLS NY) <SECTION class=userbody><FIGURE class=iw> </FIGURE><SECTION id=postingbody>This is the famous 1960's drag car called "THE MAGGOT". It is a 1952 Studebaker Commander state 2dr coupe in super solid & straight shape. It was built and raced by Pete Magel in the 60's & 70's all across the east coast and lower Ont Canada. It ran in the M/stock class and national runner-up at Indy. This car was well preserved and is still has its racing set-up. It has many racing mod's including plastic nuts & bolts, holes in trunk, fender well headers and many more. It is a built stock 332 V8 3 spd w/513 gears in the rearend. It last ran about 5 years ago. This car is well known and always draws many racing stories. OWN A PIECE OF DRAG RACING HISTORY. $10,000 or best real offer. Call for details. Bob 716 298-1955 PLEASE ONLY CALL IF INTERESTED IN BUYING THE CAR. NO TRADES.
was going tru pictures and found this, taken at gators 1970, don't remember how far we went. jim cornelius
hey 56sedandelivery,nhra can bring back a class that might resemble jr stock, but it darn sure is not the same as being there when the oringal was going on. working on car all week nights to hit 3 drag strips in a single weekend. regrouping to do it all over again next weekend. man it was great!!! jim
building a Jr stock type tribute car. On the sedan deliverys they used the "hydro" trans from chevy trucks. i have been told other vehicles had this type of transmission(save for bellhousing) what cars had these? what would the shift indicator look like (configuration of shift pattern). and what years would be the strongest or "best" to use? can anyone here tell me? Thank you
Kickin Asphalt, I can. Several hydros are available right now. "Blown 394 olds " on here has several available. I bought 2 Olds slant pans for my Delivery recently along with the chevy bell, torus etc.to ready it for my Delivery. You may want to contact him .
Good wrench 57. You mean besides banishing the 57's from competition after pulling the 4 speeds and the Hydro's?? Other than that screwed up?? Besides that??
what is the shift pattern, and years of use? Had seen a cast iron body'd trans in a 64 riviera PNDLR shift pattern would something like this be right for the trans body itself?
Really I am just learning about them myself,there's a lot to learn for me. My understanding is they didn't have a "Park" if you go to the search on here and type in Hydro, info will come up. That's how I found the info and people that know far more than I do on hydros on the HAMB.
KickinAsphalt If you live near s.western Pa.theres a guy in Mars Pa.that was one of the best with Hydros back then. If so get in back to me I have a number.
I used a 54 Caddy "basic box" for my sedan deliverys Hydro --- Thats the one Joe Perrone ( Boss Hydro)told me to get from a junkyard for him to build for my car. Bought all the chevy stuff for it at a chevy parts counter. Everything but the starter ---had to go to parts store and buy a "rebuilt" unit for it!! To answer your question -- the GM Hydramatic was basically the same internal box from 42 - 54. There were a few different gear ratios avail in different GM models.
This is one of the reasons this site is so cool. Every time something is posted I learn something new. Thanks for posting that Hydro stuff guys. I have info that weighs almost as much as the hydro but seems easier to lift that that chunk of cast......
Hi All, Im new here and ran across this thread about John Barkleys 57 Chevy that was sold to Gene Wheeler. A drag racer in Montgomery Alabama bought the car from Gene Wheeler then it changed hands a couple of times before my brother bought it. The outer body had been painted red but the interior was all blue with diamond pleated seats. There was a gaping hole in the transmission tunnel and holes in the top of the dash for a cable drive tach. It has a one piece front bumper and the California boxed frame and it had some twist to it that had to be worked out.My brother owns that car and I did all the work to get it where it is today. That picture was taken in my garage just as we were finishing a complete frame off restoration. It now has a 350 with a 5 speed transmission.I would be interested in any other information that anyone knows about the car.
Your best bet, is to find a truck only wrecking yard, one that deals in the old stuff; see Hemming's for yards that might have what you need. You want to find the complete unit from a 55-64 Chevrolet truck, including the flywheel, torus assembly, the transmission itself, the kick-down/throttle pressure linkage, the slip yoke, and the one-of-a-kind starter motor. With the Chevrolet truck unit you'll be getting the smaller torus assembly to start with. I'd stay away from using a slant pan for two reasons; first of all, you can only adjust one of the bands externally, the other is adjusted when assembled, initially internally, and secondly, when placed against a stock Chevrolet bell housing, the trans will be at an unfavorable angle; something to consider regarding the linkages, and lubrication. The other issue with putting a Hydro in a Tri-Five is, they don't fit, without some work. They mount to the transmission mount frame horns in a fashion that places a lot of stress on the frame due to mount angles being different trucks-cars , and can tear the mounts from the frame; you have to make access holes through the floorboards/hump to adjust the bands and check trans fluid through the floor like in the trucks. You can adapt other pans to get a dip stick tube however. Most of the old Jr. Stock Deliveries had a transmission hump that was completely removable for those reasons (made by the racers). You'll need to get a copy of the Hi-Rank Hydro Book (that is out of publication), you'll need to purchase the specialized tools to work on them (e-Bay is about the only source for those to make working on one easier), and plan on doing it mostly by yourself, as no one is familiar with working on them anymore, or really willing to learn/try. Even B & M does't have the paperwork in their files any longer. Ask me how I know about all those things; been there, done that, and gave all my Hydro stuff away years ago (and still regret it). You might also want to get a copy of Doug Boyce's book, "Junior Stock, Drag Racing The Family Sedan, Stock Class Drag Racing 1964-1971". Another simpler consideration, is to just use a cast iron Powerglide; believe it or not, the cars were almost, if not just as quick, as the Hydro's, and an aluminum Powerglide torque converter will work with them. And lastly, some Hydro's did have an actual, lock-in, Park. You'll still need to find a shifter, or make/modify one to work. As far as the Hydro applications, they were used in everything from Nash Ramblers, to a couple of years of early 50's Lincoln's, Oldsmobile's, Pontiac's, Cadillac's, Hudson's, GMC and Chevrolet trucks, AND in some WW II tanks (those had two Cadillac flat head V-8's and two Hydra-matic transmissions that used brass lined clutch discs). I'm not trying to discourage you, but it won't be easy, what really is anymore. Write everything you learn/hear down; then share it with the rest of us. Butch/56sedandelivery.
i have a complete hydro setup that was in a 57 chevy, it was removed and done by B&M and has been sitting ever since, i have different stall torus's ,two B&M aluminum bellhousings( slant and straight) , NOS Hurst shifter in the box , extra parts and lots of paperwork(manuals & catalogues) .....will sell as a package contact me if anyone is interested
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