Hot Rods The ALTERED thread

Speaking of engine setback.

 

It is center steered, not left-hand steered.

It has no fenders or lights.

It has no roof.

Those things were required to be legal in the Gas Coupe and Sedan classes

EDIT: I thought the question referred to the silver Chevy roadster. My mistake?

 

I saw a nice Crosley body like this for sale cheap recently and immediately thought about scooping it up and building an altered like this one from the stuff I have lying around. I came to my senses pretty quickly though. I’ve always liked the old Crosley bodied racers.

 

Same hear. Ever since I rode in one with my uncle Pete, I've wanted to build one into an altered. At one time, I had hundreds of pics of Crosleys. (lost them before I understood to back up a hard drive).

 

Heidelburg Speed Shop Crosley at very early Colton.

 

Was that a quarter mile track? It seems short, notwithstanding the fact that cars ran slower then. Maybe a longer shutdown was not needed?

 

It was short. But the shut-off was uphill. As time passed and cars got faster, they converted it to 3/16th of a mile. Just think, you could get the Drag Racing World Record there (since it was the only I ever heard of).

 

Ironic.

3/16 mi (990 ft) is very nearly what all the pro classes in NHRA run today (1000 ft). Maybe they were visionaries, anticipating todays speeds???

 

Someone help me out with car classification. I completed the restoration of this car over the past year. Based on NHRA rulebooks from the late 50's, early 60's I would consider this car to be classified as a modified roadster ("MR") under the "Competition" section. A coupe or sedan under the same section would be class "C". Under the "Moderate Competition" section a roadster would be classified as "R" and coupes/sedans would be classified as Altered coupes/sedans ("A"). Many of the cars which I would consider modified roadsters based on the NHRA rules at the time are lettered as altereds, A/A, B/A, etc. Can anyone offer clarification regarding this?

 

Altered allowed a 25% setback of the engine as measured from a spindle to the forward most spark plug. Competition Coupe or Modified Roadster was basically a dragster chassis with a body hung on the back, driver either over the rear axle or behind it.

 

I like the trailer too.

How did racers do so much with so little support equipment?
No closed car haulers.
No golf carts.
No battery powered tools.
No laptops.
etc.

 

And look how they got spare fuel to the track. Looks like just a bungee cord holding it down

 

rope--this was before bungees!

 

Let’s agree to disagree on that! The tow vehicle looks mid 60s to me! Bungee cords were around by then. But you’re probably right, as they look low budget. Therefore it’s a section of mom’s laundry line!