I bought a running 77 Cadillac 4DR. hardtop, last of the big Cadillacs, for 87.50..went by the rules and prepped it for the Derby. Did a little extra like welding all the hood,trunk, and door seams for strength and rigidity, cut a big hole in the hood for access to carb,etc..ran the battery and a little boat gas tank inside the car..Did two seasons and won 500.00 each season, sold the remains of the car over the scales for 91.00! Had a ton of Fun..car had a small trans fluid leak down by the open exhaust and would "safely" catch on fire for crowd appeal...After its all over with there is a nice calming effect about the whole thing..Anyone one else have any experiences legally going crazy and ramming into people? remember don't hit the Drivers side door and Chrysler Imperials are banned in most states!
I don't, but I would really love to do it sometime. I hear the LA Fair has open entry for there yearly derby and I think im going to round up a few friends and got for it. Any other "tips" besides the obvious
catalina's make the best demo cars i think. my buddy brings his toilet catalina to this vermont fair every year, and beats the living piss out of it. the piece just will not die. looks like it would be therapeutic.
Here we have a little thing called the Dan Ryan Expressway. That's enough paint swapping fun for me. Took my son to the demo derby a few years ago. We had a good time but the highlight was the 59 Pontiac 4 door that lapped the field in the spectator race. That beast sank through the mud to hard clay and just took off.
Do you think Chrysler's engineers actually set out and planned to build the world's best Demolition Derby car when they designed the Imperial Crown?
It is alot of fun when you make a buddy party out of it, we prepped two cars one time and a bunch of us went, I have kind of a deck on top of my tow truck so it was a good vantage point from the infield..took a shot of some nice scotch for mind prep and went for it..be sure and take off all chrome and stuff that can fly around(its in the rule book) try and avoid head-ons unless its the final coup-de-grace.. 74-77 Cadillacs rule, I swear after the first season, the back bumper on my 77 wasn't all that bad..If your track has it the "sack race" is pretty awesome..the driver has a sack over his head and the passenger is supposed to have his hands on the dash and verbally telling the driver where to go..they send cars two at a time around the track, first car across the finish wins, its a gas to be flying around the track 70 mph scraping the wall yelling at yer buddy LEFT, DAMMIT, LEFT!!
I was two year reining champ at the Garfield County Speedway. Some tips, leaf spring cars are better as the shorter they get, the higher they set. Run without a fan, it's gonna get hot anyway and a fan will eat your radiator. Mount small tires inside larger tires as a "run flat" system. Be sure to double cotter key your trans and throttle linkage, I lost a big derby because my shift linkage fell off. Car was still running fine. Yep they are a blast. GV
Use a hammer to add some clearance between the distributor cap and the firewall. As the frame bends, the cap will break from contacting the steel firewall and you are all-done. Put some chains on the rubber motor mounts to limit movement. If the motor mounts break loose, then you'll have trouble with shift and throttle linkages and the driveshaft could fall out. As already stated, remove fan blade and fan shroud it will just cause your radiator to get punctured in an impact. Also remove the themostat from the cooling system. If there are steel lines from the transmission to the radiator, cut and remove at least a 4" long section near the radiator and replace with some high quality hose with double hose clamps, so the trnsmission lines don't break as the radiator moves back. You don't have to loose much fluid before the tranny burns or slips. Do anything possible to keep the car from stalling out. If it never stalls you have amuch better chance of finishing.
I drove a 72 caddy in one sevral years ago.It was a blast,I put 3 or 4 cars out rite off the bat,and thats what the old pros wanted me to do as they pussy footed around till I tore my car up then they put my ass out. I got to run in the constaltion heat also .I was in for the fun anyway I knew I wouldnt win but I gave the crowd a good show.I got 2 full track hits in and yes that put both them out. I used to help my cousin build one every year, he never realy did any good but we drank a lot of beer we actualy had more beer drinkers in our pit crew than we did actual help?
There's a fair up near Tucks place that every few years has a "Classic Car" demo derby...50's and 60's cars only! From what I've read, all the trim, etc must stay on the vehicle. So you can't take a parts car shell and run it. I guess it's only every few years, because it takes that long to find enough guy's willing to sacrifice the old stuff.
Gm wagons of the middle '70's seem to rule along with mid '70's Chysler full size cars. If you go to play, DO move the battery ( or Batteries) inside the car to the passenger floor board, DO put a smaller tank for fuel inside the back seat area-use metal and bolt it down! Make sure the doors stay closed.Weld the bumpers on. Tune the engine to its best. Go out and have a blast! Try not to hit another car in the driver's door!
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