Projects Gasser Rims... Red V Black

Why not see if you can dig up an NHRA rule book from 1967 to 1972 range and then build to the gas cl*** rules? Also, as has been mentioned not all g***ers ran straight front axles. That's more of a fad than anything else.
-Dave

 

I am clueless, BUT i read a LOT and look at a lot of pictures!

 

If I see another 'g***er' with those fake spindle-mounts I'm gonna puke....

 

Voice of reason right there.

 

Here are some pics of a real C/ Gas car. Injected 265 CID SBC .

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...dads-g***er-while-under-construction.1044812/

 

Well, what do ya know!
Just happened to have a link to NHRA rule book through the 1960's!
NOTE: the requirement that all cars must sit level! No jacked up "raised" front ends. Most of the pics you see are cars under a launch, not at rest.
Wanna argue guys, argue with the NHRA rule books!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2006u57wp7sqpxt/eZJPZZcJdZ

 

This book is a must read before building a G***er.Good advice.

 

I know some of you doinks think Dean, Gary and I are just grumpy old cranks, but racing history, like all history, must be guarded against revisionist ********. The G***er Wars occupied a very short period of time. It was a glorious time to be alive. The guys who were there are still around, or at least a lot of them. It is possible to build an accurate replica of any gas cl*** car. These ridiculous clown cars that keep popping up on the HAMB are causing people who weren't alive then to think the baloney is steak. PLEASE, find another name to call these things. They are NOT G***ers.

 

What's a doinks?

 

Your Lark would look correct for the period you want, without looking poser, with wide (8-10") black or body color wheels in the rear and a set of these 15x4" five spokes in front;
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/ET-Vintage-V-15-Inch-Front-Runner-Wheels-15-x-4-Inch,63957.html
That seemed like a pretty common combination for dual purpose g***ers at Lion's Drag Strip in the early to mid 60's. By the mid 60's g***ers were starting to be primarily race cars with fewer and fewer street driven cars competing (at least at the National event level). Most g***ers had evolved away from plain steel wheels all around to some sort of "Mag" wheels. There are always exceptions.
My Austin is from the '65-'68 period and has a common combination of magnesium Americans and Magnesium Halibrands. They are pretty pricey these days.

 

Real men don't eat Quiche and real g***ers don't have red wheels.

 

This thread might be helpful.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...***-cars-and-modern-traditional-cars.1044218/

 

I personally would prefer the '60-'64 range myself.

 

Me too. I was referring to his comment on axles.

 

Thank you!

Whenever I say this, I get shouted down, by "people who know".

 

Noun[edit]
doink (plural doinks)

1. (slang) A fool; a jerk; a worthless person. slang) A joint.

 

Couldn't p*** this one up.
What's so strange is these are not just young guys who wouldn't know better.
It took a marketing genius to sell those things as traditional wheels.
Did you see the fake Thunderbolt with the fake wheels at the HAMB Drags? Most egregious example yet..but it ain't over, I'm afraid.

 

I picked 1965 and read the Gas cl*** rules contained therein. Once again, very enlightening. Should be mandatory reading (with a test to follow) for anyone wanting to build or own a 'g***er.'

You guys can decide the punishment for failing the test.

 

Yeah, that only makes it worse. How these became accepted as 'g***er' wheels is a complete mystery. All you saw them on legally was altereds, some early funny cars and some dragsters, especially the twin-engines ones.

 

FYI. I had the Turner disk brake conversion on my Lark and stock Stude 15 inch wheels cleared fine. .As another thought. The whole "G***er" look is way overdone these days. Why not go for a late 60s Altered look? Or it could be what a real g***er looked like around here at the time. If the engine wasn't set back. Dare to be different. Build it like a real car.

 

I like Cragars. The whole 1965-70 west Coast Fremont Dragstrip look.

 

I'm still waiting to see an NHRA type Street Roadster look-a-like cruising around on the street..And why not? Jacked up front with axle, Moon tank up front, rumpity rump SBC with a 4 gear.
I guess the roadster guys want no part of that..Plus the 30's bodies are worth something.
Some of these new "G***ers" are just cheap, throw away bodies.

 

Here is the tip of the week!! If some one sues you request trial by Judge Judy, you get a free trip to California and you can check out the hot rods while you are there.

 

Fordors,
Thank you for the reply, but I'm confusued on your ***umption that my entire plan for the Stude hinges on my wheel choice. Maybe I'm hyper-sensitive after being labled a poser several times over and in one instance "a person that just doesnt matter", or maybe I'm just '**** hurt'!

Truth be told, I cannot be too upset (disapointed yes) as I solicited feed back. I did not elaborate on my overall plan or on its realistic timeline. You see, life happens, sometimes its good others not great. But it's all building blocks to be a better person, father, husband, friend, & neighbor. We got dealt one of those bad hands and ended up living in our trailer for about 8 months, during that time we were further blessed to have about $10k in vehicle repairs on our two 'modern' vehicles.

I told myself that once we were settled I would find something old, cool and build myself a daily driver that i would enjoy and just dare to be different as i will NEVER buy another modern vehicle which i cannot fully repair myself. I chose those wheels because they will work, are not expensive and can be dressed down should i decide to make an occasional run at the Wednesday night Top the Cops at Sears. If I had an unlimited budget I would have chosen differently, but then again, I'd probably chosen a different ride. The reason for doing the brake upgrade is simple, time. It will take time to do the car the way i see it and i want to drive it and enjoy taking my kids to school or to local shows in our own cruiser, but I want it to be safer and easier to work on until I get to where I want it to be (I hate working drum brakes!). In the end, I may choose to build a Studebaker driver for my daughter, so I'll simply use the Turner brake parts on that car or sell them and any front end changes will be at least a year down the road, so not really the cart before the horse or money mis-spent.

I could have chosen better than declaring I want a mostly period correct 60s/70s g***er. Reality is I was excited to post my question. Ive lurked here long enough to see hundreds of reactions similar to what I have gotten when a newb posts something which rubs the old crusty crowd the wrong way.

So to clarify that statement, I want to build a ride which is my own 'nod' toward those old hot rods which I found to be so cool as a kid.

I will take yor advise Fordors, and continue to plan, I research everything, so I will continue that as well, I build draw and model my projects constantly, but I appreciate your reply, and those of a few others and your constructiveness.

The reason i was asking about the color was to open the door and maybe meet some cool guys on this forum...

 

Greetings, I'm currently building a "compe***ion" styled 20' Buick roadster on an A frame. I'm using 15" steel wheels off of a late 50's Ford truck in the rear, painted silver and 14" aluminum slots in the front. Not too concerned about the peanut gallery. But then again I never have been. Do what YOU think looks rad!

 

Opinions, well you know what they say!! I really ain't got a dog(or a wheel) in this fight. but the way i see it is. do what you can afford.If painted wheels are what you can afford, then there you go. if you can afford the high buck magnesium wheels , then go for it, if you land somewhere in between ,well you get it.WAY TO MUCH DRAMA. Just have fun!!!

 

I see it differently. I think this sentence is quite offensive. You ought to be grateful that there are enough of the 'old crusty crowd' to care enough to try to keep history accurate. Care enough to find and post copies of real 1960's NHRA rule books which spell out exactly what a g***er is so everyone can learn.

You can give yourself a get out of jail card for sloppy use of a term, but there is no need to slag off those who want to keep things true.

 

“I kind of want a mostly period correct 60s/70's g***er. I think those red rims would be killer on my 38 dodge pickup, but might be too much of an old school look for my 60 Lark.”

Hello,

As long as you don't jack up the front end, keep it looking fairly stock, not have a Moon Tank attached to the front, and build a motor that rips without going overboard, then you will have a nice Gas Coupe/Sedan or Truck from the era of original Gas Coupes and Sedans. It will also be a Gas Coupe/Sedan or Truck and be able to drive it on the streets.

Here is one of the coolest Gas Coupe and Sedan cl*** winners in early history, late 50s-early 60s era.

Junior Thompson 41 Studebaker Sedan:
Lions Dragstrip consistent winner, film from 1959 Lions, sound from 1959 Detroit Nationals. (several months apart during 1959)

But, as the years rolled on into the late 60s and 70s, this car went into hibernation and the lighter weight gas coupes and sedans came into play.
http://www.jrthompson.net/jrthome.html a sequence for the eras...

Narrow down your prospective of what era of these cars you like and then build it. After those early years, most Gas Coupes and Sedans became strictly full on race cars with rules that allowed them to be called a street cl***, but were not legally driven on the street. Gone were the “pop the hubcaps and go racing” Gas Coupes and Sedans…

One look does not cover ALL of the Gas Coupes and Sedans of any era. The older guys like the late 50s-early 60s. The middle age guys like the mid 60s to the late 60s. The younger guys like the 70s-80s when it all went down hill.

Jnaki

Take a photo of your car(s) and then get photos of Moon Discs, Halibrands, American Torque Thrusts, chrome wheels, and insert them onto your cars for the look you want. Remember, in any cl*** or year, a street car did not run hubcaps on any color rim at the drags. That was the first thing to be popped off before racing.

So, your original request was red or black with hubcaps, sounds like a question for a street version of a hot rod/cruiser. RED OR BLACK?

 

I remember seeing a Mustang 2+2 (so it would have been an early fast back) at the show @ the Cow Palace with an axle under it and asking the Ol' Man why it looked like a pickup truck (I would have been around 10 or 11 I guess). him telling me that the new g***er rules said you could make one look like a pickup truck.

Out of the mouths of babes I suppose.

I am working off of memory here so my date could be wrong but as I recall the rule change that brought them from a street legal cl*** to a dedicated race car was around '65 and that was also when the ditched the OEM suspension rule and the no suspension or body lift to gain traction rule.

I personally don't have anything against the lifted gas cl*** cars, well until they get the one upmanship thing going on and they get cartoony. I think that what has always gotten under my skin stems from our old '64 cutoff for traditional cars and the fact that I have actually had opportunity to be around a couple of fast cars and know that the name of the game is to build one that handles well enough to get from point A to point B post haste.

For spectators out of control and all over the track is fun. A wreck is even more fun. Kind of like watching NASCAR, there is a good many people who watch for the wrecks, the more spectacular the better. But for anyone actually interested in racing its all about standing up and cutting a straight line. That is what gets you to the big end the quickest.

Well that car has a straight tube axle under it and at the time those were cheap bodies or cheap enough.

We seldom see a stock deuce or A running around so when we see one like that roadster we think that it is lifted. Actually they all set pretty high and truckish in the 30s and when you loose the 700 pound hunk of pig and replace it with a 500 pound piece it naturally sets a little higher.

In '68 I helped a friend drag a stock A coupe out of a field. He said he was going to build himself a g***er, but, even then tri five chebbys were a little costly and he got the A cheap. He put brakes on it switched from the original wheels to 14" and 15" wheels and tossed a hotted up 283 between the rails. tube shocks (90/10 up-locks in the front) and he was racin'. He didn't need to lift it, as it already set high and the smaller late model wheels made it look even higher.

Oh failed to mention I totally agree that it would be totally rad to see a gas cl*** roadster like you would have seen at Indy in '65 or so tooling around the streets.

Just to prove my point this is a relatively recent pic of a stock A bone.

 

PS Here is my other Lark with period correct, more or less, American mags. After a while i hated them and decided black steel wheels looked better