Projects Austin Somerset Gasser Build (DragNasty)

saw the above posted by the fellow that runs the Scout..
Dare to be different - 63 Scout Gasser

 

You are running a Nash or Richmond 5spd? Is it a race or street trans [nash had both] and if a street trans [nash/richmond] anything done internally for shifting aide? Thanks...

 

Interesting setup. I can see what you're trying to do with it. It'll be interesting to,see if it works. You'll be at Meltdown this weekend?



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Can you raise the front of the ladder bars to take bite out of the car? I could control the height of my wheelstand on my old Faded Memories Gasser by moving the instant center by raising or lowering the front of the bars . Raising it less wheel stand , lowering it more bite and more height on the launch. I raised it up for bracket and Super Rod racing and lowered it for Gasser racing . The Gasser racing was more for show anyway . I went to the semi finals at Bowling green in 04 with these wheelstands.

 

Time slip from the Nostalgia Drags a few weeks ago....I meant to post it earlier.

 

Yep...we will be there.

 

It is an early race version (with the lower torque tube) and a straight gate shifter.

Funny story about it and I don't think I have shared it before. I had killer '71 Vette Roadster with 427 and Doug Nash race unit in it. It had an electrical fire under the dash (not of my doing)...it was a loss as a Vette but the Engine and Trans were fine. I sold what was left of the car to a collector about an hour away who needed the motor for Impala SS he was restoring (numbers matched it etc.).

So nearly 15 years or so roll by and we are sourcing parts for the Austin. I was looking at some Muncie units when I saw an ad for the Nash. I called the guy and he sent me photos of it completely disassembled and a list of new parts etc. used for the rebuild. The price was right so I told him I would take it. I went nearly to Kansas City and met him after work one day to make the exchange. Just before I handed him the cash I said you know I have to ask you something. In the photos this thing was completely blown apart and now it is all back together...so I am assuming you know something about Doug Nash Transmissions correct? He laughed and said good question. He pulled his jacket back exposing the patch on his work shirt. It said Larry Larson Race Cars! He was the shop foreman.

So I said tell me about this trans what was it in last. He said Larry had it on a shelf for 10 or 12 years. He remembered going with Larry down to Southwest Missouri and they pulled it out of a burned out Corvette. I said a white one? He said yes, a convertible. So it is a very small world. After all those years, I wind up with the same transmission back, minus a Larry Larson rebuild etc.!

 

High millage trans! Funny how some things just seem to come home again! Since it is the race version with strait cut gears and no synchros it must shift good!!..I had a street version from Nash and it leaked oil from every seal except the case part line! Didn't shift well either and I spent time flushing bits and pieces out..Its under the bench some wheres..Probably the last they put together with parts they had kicking around before Richmond took over..

 

It does shift well...I really liked it the first round in the Vette, but it is perfect for the Austin. It does have a really nice two stage McCloed Clutch in it and that certainly helps things along.

 

What is your goal? Looks to me like you could be touching bottom 6's at maybe 125-130 when you get it lined out.

 

Well....my next post might answer that questions...LOL

 

Scratch another one off the bucket list, we have made a pass at the Meltdown Drags. .....And it was a blast (in more than one way)! We rolled into pits Thursdays afternoon about 2 p.m. with several concerns. The biggest was the reported NHRA tech inspection from hell that was headed our way. Two weeks ago here at Byron a racer was some how tossed out of a 9 second car and killed, so the track is still a bit on edge and I can understand why. This week every rattle trap vintage car on the planet (so to speak) is now sitting in the pits etc. (actually that is tongue and cheek as the 500 or so cars here are absolutely amazing)! ....but you get my drift.

Personally I am not worried what so ever about the safety of this car and how I built it. I was however concerned that NHRA and myself might not exactly agree upon how I got it there etc. So we roll into tech with all the obvious stuff in place (correct belts, helmet, and no white letters on the tires) and hope for the best. The tech guy was really pretty cool, he looked the car over pretty good and then looked at me and said, does this car have a NHRA chassis cert? I said no. He said do you have an NHRA Sportsman License? I said no. He said how fast will it go? I am thinking pretty much our entire trips centers on what I am about to say...

I mean we are standing right in front of the car looking at this supercharged, injected big block. I know he knows...
Without missing a beat, and with deadpan tone I said, we are hopping for an 11.50 with chute out at half track. He laughed out loud and said well theres the first honest racer I have talked with today! I said seriously, it ran 6.44 in the 1/8 in our test passes two weeks ago and we have done nothing to the set up so it should be in the low 10s. He said that will work and punched my card...so speak.

HERE IS THE MONEY SHOT

So Action Jackson @wrenchbender talked be into classing the car a bit lower like B/Gas and then going up and seeing what it runs etc. If we thought we were fast enough we could change to A/Gas the next run etc. We sat and watched nearly the entire first session and then went back over, got the car and headed to the staging lanes (it was a cluster). After quite a long wait outside the staging lanes we finally rolled in but found ourselves in the back of the A/Gas line.

So now with the fears of failing tech gone, there was only one thing weighing on my mind as we rolled onto the track and backed up into the water the box, our new untested wheelie bar system on what I had been witnessing all morning was a very sticky starting line...the locals call it the "house of hook!" I messed up the burnout. I didn't pump up the brakes enough before pushing the button so didn't get it into second, rolled through the brakes and blew right past the start line (which fortunately for this event is not frowned upon). Then as I backed up I had an idea about the launch.
I had already decided we would not launch as hard as out test passes two weeks earlier. But I also had seen several cars that morning at the sticky line try to launch but track grabbed them so hard it nearly killed the engine. Of course they didn't have our HP but I didn't want to come out two slow and bog it down and look like an idiot etc. So I decided after backing up to put just a step or so out of the groove.


Too much thinking going on up there as that bad ass little orange coupe tree'd the living daylights out me. He cut a .028 light and then posted a 1.3 second 60'!

The Austin still launched pretty hard and but my 1.5 60' time was evidence of the softer start. But she was pulling hard. Most of the thinking was gone at this point but I do remember seeing the orange flash to my right was like at least two cars out on me as I grabbed second gear.

Oh my...this thing loves second gear!


There was almost immediate change in momentum between the two cars. It felt like we nearly made a full car length on that shift. It pulled wheels just a tiny bit in third as I could feel it in the steering will for a heartbeat and we started pulling on the orange coupe. Got into fourth and went right on by him. Just as we passed the 1000' mark I was thinking let off but I just couldn't do it. Then just as we crossed the finish I got a huge shot of water from the right side. After getting it off the track and back to the pits we found it had kicked out a freeze plug. NAPA here in Rochelle has a screw in one for me waiting for an 8 a.m. pickup this morning. So hopefully we will get another pass today etc. Check this out...she ran 9.50!

Here are a couple of videos of the pass.

 

WOW JUST WOW is all I can say. Congrats

 

Well holy mackerel we missed the first call this morning. So here is the back story from yesterday. You know me, there is always more to the story.

So we got a late start this morning as NAPA didn't open until 8 and then we still had a 20 minute or so drive to the track. When we got here we installed the screw in freeze plug and filled her up with water. We fired it to let it warm up a bit and that is when I noticed the temp gauge was still buried.

Along with the freeze plug yesterday, some how the line from the temp sensor came out of the sensor. At first it scared me to death when I stopped on the big end to see where the water came from. I stuck my head back in the car and the gauge was buried AND BURIED WAS AN UNDERSTATEMENT! I flipped the fans and water pump on but still couldn't believe it was that hot.

Anyway after getting it back to the pit we discovered the line and copper filament had came out and was sitting on the header. But that little episode killed my gauge. After warming it up a bit and checking for leaks the needle was still buried where it was yesterday.

So we made a mad dash across to the swap meet and found us a new temporary one...



We were just zipping it in place when they came through calling the Gas Class. Dad finished it and refilled it with water again while I got dressed. Just before I hopped in to head to the lanes I took a quick look under the car to make sure there wasn't anything that might need wipped down. I looked up at the diaper and thought oh man I wonder if there is any water in there. I reached in and it was nearly half full!

That would have been a very ugly brain fart right there upon launch.



So we got it off and its catching some sun looking forward the next round.

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Finally got a pass in today around high noon....or a bit after....point is it was hot! ET slowed a bit, ran a 9.80 but I shifted into 5th just after 1000 foot she picked up 10 miles per hour...nearly 144 mph out the back gate.

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Deuced Up, Saw you run today ! Awesome!!! By the way nice job on James Chevy, almost did not recognize it and miss meeting him! Great guy. Saw your car in the pits but did not see anyone at the time. Maybe next year! Larry

 

That's awesome man!! Post your slip when you get a chance please.

 

Missed you today at Meltdown. How'd the modification to the wheelie bars work?


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Too good! But they worked just as designed. I thing we took a bit too much rotation out of it. Going to raise them a bit for the Hamb Drags. But car ran hard and straight. 9.50 right out of the box and 3/10s slower in the heat of the day Saturday but 144 mph out the back gate!

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I am impressed . Way too fast for me. Good job.

 

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You need to be a Wizard to understand this lingo.

 

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Straight and putting down the POWER.

 

A fans view of the last run.



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Lol. Sorry about this guys. My phone had a mind of its own. Damn thing is always going crazy in my pocket.

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You don't have a flip cover phone?

 

That's my buddy Nathan......He writes code all day so he may have some trouble writing what we can read.

 

Some wizard eh james even dumbass me can work my phone lmao


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