GASSER MUST HAVES and cant haves?

To the anti 1/8th milers out there, how can 25% more MPH be worth wearing your parts out for?

 

I'm not bashing it,just saying I really enjoy running the full quarter.
And I really don't see a ton of additional strain on parts running out the back door....most damage I have ever done has been to clutch or drivetrain parts on the launch.If you're hurting motor parts on the top end it's probably cause the car is geared for a 1/8 mile specific setup,and it's just buzzing like crazy past half track..?
Not being a smartass,just saying the two setups can vary a fair bit.

Scott


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Not to mention, I would guess there is a very small percentage of races running the era "gasser" type cars where the lead actually changes after the 1/8 mile mark.

I'm not saying it never happens, just that it doesn't happen very often. And when it does, it's most likely due to equipment failure as mentioned.

But the major reason to do it is that era appearing bodies and ride heights are simply not aerodynamically safe at speeds approaching 150 mph.

 

What would you know about it Tim?... You only won 1 "Wally" that I know of. . .....rookie

 

Unfortunately I don't believe anyone could ever get even one of the current groups or associations to buy into the #/ci rules. If they did, they would be risking getting their butts kicked by some yahoo with a small time budget, 331 small block. You think they are going to stand for that? Not.

And oh yea, make-um run gas for goodness sake!

 

Baaaaaahahaha!!! Oh baby... You guys enjoy your discussion and I mean that sincerely.
Gonna get in the garage, drink some beer and beat on my "era gasser".... I think??? Shit I dunno...

 

Hey Bean Dip

I agree with you I have no idea where this Moon Dude is coming from with his comments

Put Brain in Gear before speaking , WOW

How does he think this whole Drag Racing thing started , with heads up Flag Starts

G Don

 

Hahaha! I tend to say too much. Like everybody else I feel deeply about these cars and emotion can get the best of me. One thing is for sure and that is GASSERS RULE!!!
I just need to lay down the computer and get this car running and go do some racing!

 

Hey Don,
I've been meaning to ask you about this but I keep forgetting:
I can't remember if you said it was on your Chevy,or a buddy's car,but you mentioned using something like 5/8" plate to build a trunk floor and sneak around the ballast rules...did you guys never run into any flak from a tech inspector that decide he was gonna save the world that day?I always have bad luck with stuff like that.The simplicity and effectiveness of it really is brilliant,but I'd bet a dollar that with my shitty luck,some tech guy would call me on it my very first time out...!Haha!
What other sly little tricks and gray areas have you got for us?I heard that Hugh Tucker used to pour lead into his roll bar for high weight to improve weight transfer.Did you or your buddies ever try anything like that...?
Thanks,

Scott


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Pretty much everybody on here feels that way Don.Things were getting pretty stupid in here for a few days,but I think the brass have straightened him out or something.....hopefully...!

Scott


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Also Don,
Do
You remember what some of the more popular stroker combinations were for Chevys back when you were running your car?
Just curious what kinds of combinations were common back then.I have heard of guys running a 352" Chevy combo (Sneaky Pete Robinson ran one in his rail job that one the '61 Nationals in Indy),but I was not sure how much of that stuff really showed up in the gas classes.

Scott


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Don glad to know you and several others think the same way I do. It can't get to vintage for me. If I had my way I wouldn't let them glue the track because they didn't back then. Anyway you have read my mind we have already talked about the weight to ci deal if things get out of hand in the future or go to a smaller tire. We have already used flag start at the tracks that will let us (Dangerous for the flagman) we also don't show the scoreboard or let the announcer call out the times again when the track will go along with it. And believe it or not most of our top running cars would have to do very little to weigh right.

 

HA HA, Steve I really don't think the blower and Hat is the problem with that car and "Gasser" ~ and I love the car!

 

Hey Don,
How about some info on some of the different power train combinations that have been run in your car over the years....sort of a chronological history of gas class engine development.

Scott


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Hi Scott

First the trunk plate was in my 37' and it was 3/8" steel as I needed to put in 700 lbs of weight to make class, and needed a sturdy set up to hold it good just in case it went over

Had 3 pie shaped pcs of lead and a Buss Battery plus the plate, that was enough weight transfer for me

With all that it still hazed those ten hundreds and never lifted a front tire, these tracks were slippery in those days in 63' - 64' when I started

Most guys did not have the money for a stoker crank, mine was counter weighted and chromed by C-T but a lot less than a 1/2" arm for a 352"

Those blown guys had a hook up problem so they did different things, I never did any lead in the roll bar stuff had my hands full just keeping it together for week to week racing

G Don

 

I gotta grin when I think about how the "exotic" 1/4" stroker 327's (352s) were within .002" stroke of being a belly button 350.

On the 1/4 vs. 1/8 mile dragstrips, I was a die hard 1/4 mile guy until the local strip closed and the closest place to run was 1/8 mile. You could say I was a little shocked when on my first 1/8 mile pass, I was in 4th gear before I crossed the finish line. Yea, that last 1/8 mile pull was neat on the 1/4 mile track, but all the action (starting line rush and running through the gears) was done in the first 1/8th mile.

 

Don,
Thanks so much for laying out some of this information for the rest of us.
That's some cool stuff.I wasn't too sure about when stuff like stroker cranks started to be an affordable part of the plan for the average,working class guy.
I love this stuff!


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Scott I just ran the same combo I started with , Hilborn injected 327" - chevy 4 speed and a Pontiac 5.38 posi rear end with a Schiefer clutch & flywheel

When the weight went down to 7 lbs I set a record of 121.80 at Irwindale in 66", with a new larger Hilborn

Then sold the car in 68' to start my engine shop, and the gasser racing was starting to fade because of the AFX stuff etc

And after 4 years I had enough of it and was building engines for short track stock cars and circle racing boats and fast ski boats also plus the new Day cruisers

I had a great run of 8 yrs 4 building the car and 4 racing it - got in Hot Rod Mag - won at the drags and car shows made a few life long friends , just could not have been any better

G Don

 

So what was your rpm like as far as launching,shifting,and running it out the back door...?
I assume your flywheel was quite a heavy one,as well?


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I could never get the Sun Tack to work with the vertex mag, so I shifted when it felt right

I would guess around 7000 -7200 as we did not have needle bearing rockers then

The flywheel was alum as was the clutch too with copper facing that worked perfect even if it looked very bad, the copper would turn black & blue from the heat and be filled with cracks but never slipped one bit

G Don

P.S.

Ran a Engle flat tappet cam

 

So that engine must have actually
Been quite torquey for its size then?7200
Is not really abusing it,and I bet the motor lasted quite a while for you?
Were most of the guys back then running a setup fairly close to that?What was some of your main competition running for power?
Those guys at Engle will bend over backward to help you out with a cam,won't they?I called them about some Hemi stuff,and they treated me like I was Don Garlits or something.Great customer service from a great bunch of guys.Isky has been great for me lately also.I try to stick with the original cam grinders and throw my business their way as much as possible.Theyre family businesses,and I like to help out the Mom n Pop operations whenever I can.

Scott


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I had some then new Isky super trick rod bolts that broke the 2nd day out and broke 4 rods in my new motor, put 14 holes in the pan and I was sick seeing the damage

I had made 10 rods with 2 spares so I showed Ed how the bolts would break using a clicker torque wrench, they were heat treated too much and just snapped

When Ed saw that bolt break in the bench vise his eyes were as big as silver dollars

Ed says I cant buy you a new motor but he had a new 327 he was running on his dyno and he gave it to me for a start on a new one

10 yrs later at a friends party I was introduced to him and he says have we met before, so I says do you remember those rod bolts and he gets that big smile and says ' Oh Ya '

Ed is a stand up guy and so is Jack Engle, all the speed guys that started it all are great guys to work with

You guys are so lucky today as you can buy great parts for your engines, we were the guinia pigs testing it like my rod bolts deal

G Don

P.S.

My local parts store had a brand new stroker sbc in a new jr fueler they were going to run the next week for the first time, had to pull the engine all apart to get out those Isky bolts too

 

lbs/inch and heads up sounds cool to me. I would build a 10,000 rpm 274 Chevy with 6.17 gears and a 4 speed.

 

That was the bitch here too when it was proposed to get away from the red lighting issues.

 

Hey Fast

A 4.125 bore and a 2.625 crank will give you 280 cid, should be plenty good for a 10 grand screamer

A 2.562 crank = 274 cid

G Don

 

5.57 to 6.17 were common gears and doug nash 5 speed replaced muncies and top loaders

 

Don,
That's a shame.That must have been the worst feeling ever,hearing all that thrashing around inside your fresh motor ( and outside your fresh motor,once it punched all the holes!)
I bet the only feeling worse than that was when Ed realized there were a couple of thousand rod bolts already installed in motors around the country that he couldn't get back til it was too late.....I bet somebody in charge of heat treating got screamed at pretty good for that one.

Scott


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Bad example since both of your hypothetical racers broke out, and since the left lane broke out by less, he would have won. I Guinness if you really understood drag racing you would have known that.

Yeo, even though I really don't care for index racing, the anticipation is ALWAYS at the big end as to who won. Not waiting for the second car to show up and then wait for a calculation. This would be a very good way to empty the stands quickly

See my response above - NO ONE wants to wait for the slow car to get there and then wait for a computer to tell you who won a few seconds later. Sorry, but that just sucks

That is why there are multiple indexes for various classes, so the slow cars don't rave the fast cars. And if the field is really small, then you just set it up like a bracket race.

Pro Trees just don't work well if there is much difference in dial in, too hard on equipment. If the drive can't leave on his own tree, regardless of what the other guy did, then he needs to sharpen his skills.

because we love to see cars launch, and you can't see that from the finish line, BUT you can still see who won, even when it's close from the starting line.

And THAT's the way it should be. Make a set of rules per class, let me build my stuff and let's run heads up out the back door!

once again you have no idea - A Pro Tree still has a stage light. Have you ever been to a drag race? Or paid attention if you were there?

I don't think 1/4 mile is any harder on parts if you gear the car right, and I have run down more than a few guy's on the big end.

How is that any different then back in the day? My car started out as a Big Block car and went to a 331" small block and was more consistent and set records that way.

yeah, anyway you look at it a Pro tree does not work out well for bracket racing, or two different indexes running each other. It's just too easy to burn down parts.

 

Thank you moon for that chart....never saw that before......helpful stuff