Event Coverage Vintage Gassers Invade Bristol Dragway

I was hoping to get to Bristol to see you guys run but they were giving rain and I didn't want to drive 2 1/2 hours to watch it rain. Maybe I'll get to make it to Greer next month.

 

Totally understand nicky64chevy. Greer will be a good show for sure! I think we'll be at the Knoxville Dragstrip in June also.

 

Knoxville sounds great too. Just let me know the date.

 

June 22 Knoxville dragway we should have at least 8 cars there maybe more.

 

Trying this link again this should take you straight to the g***er's 3rd run at bristol.http://new.livestream.com/MotorManiaTV/XDRLBristol/videos/17418891

 

Quain,,it looks like Greg got you on that run. HRP

 

Simply .... Incredible. Someone needs to do a video interview with each of you and your cars.

 

Can't win them all I'll get him back at Greer may 25

 

I didn't get to see the g***ers back in the day, but I'm bettin' it was a whole lot like what you guys are doing. You guys are flat out running them hard. Not like the bracket g***ers you see at many of the other shows. The wheelie run you had in your Willys in the 3rd round was absolutely phenomenal. Way to keep your foot in it.

 

We are trying real hard to keep our deal as period correct as possible. Our rule's are the strictest of any of the G***er deals out there, That's the reason we only have 15 cars in our group. We think that having a few car's that are period correct is a better show than if we mixed in some that were just old body styles with a straight axle.

 

You boys need to come out down to The Gear Jam at the Atlanta Dragway on May 11 and make some noise! All indications are it's shaping up to be a really good show.

www.gearjamdrags.com

-Brad

 

great videos!!!

 

coooooooooooool stuff!

 

Is there a cutoff date for the engine model?

 

The engine has to look period correct I'll see if it will let me post our rules but I don't think it will.

 

Here's the rules for our deal we don't have a brake out it's heads up first man to the end wins like it should be.




NOSTALGIC G***ER RACE RULE
These rules are set in place in order to control the appearance of the participating cars. We are striving for the look of a 1960’s era A-C Gas car. The cars must represent the 60s era in the pits as well as on the track. This applies to the body, wheels & tires, as well as the ch***is/suspension interior and the engine compartment. If rule changes are made it will be more strict and not less. If you would like to run please send detailed photos of your car to Jeremy Pearson at wjp460@gmail.com he will present the photos to the group for consideration/approval. For any tech questions contact Jeremy Pearson Phone 864 430 8485 or email at wjp460@gmail.com. For race bookings Contact Quain Stott at 828 863 1201 or email quainstott@live.com.


No rack and pinion stearing (they don't work right on a straight axle anyway)
No sheet metal rear end housing must be made from production car housing
No sheet metal intakes
No dominator carbs
No N20 Nitrous Oxide or any part of it on the car
No Round Tube Ch***is
No A Frame or Strut type front end
No 4 Links
No wish bone type sway bars.
No anti roll bars hooked to the rear end housing
No narrowed or pro street type rear ends.
No crank trigger
No Electronics (This includes but not limited to: two steps Delay boxes, Throttle Stops, Crossover boxes, Data recorders, Traction control systems, Infrared starting line systems, Air Shifters, etc.)
*Line locks & will be allowed as well as high side Rev limiters (engine safety only) , MSD box will be allowed ( At least try to hide msd boxes so the engine compartment will look old school )
* Rev limiters can be used only as engine protection but not for launching the car
No long wheelie bars (try to keep them as close to the bumper as possible) Must be old school like the early 60s max length if hooked to housing 44"
No visible springs on wheelie bars unless it the old school type mounted to the bumper ( if you must have springs for what ever reason they must be at the top of the bar out of site)
No open bodies styles or Altereds. Closed body cars only.
No billet or spun aluminum wheels
No billet engine covers, breathers, valve covers, etc.
No rear tires wider than 11.5 inches
No rear wheels wider than 10"
No wedged out front ends
No modern letters on tires (if they are lettered they must be old school small type letters)
No modern graphics.
No Pro stock/ snorkel style hood scoops (scoops must be of the 60s)
No wings or air dams
Body modifications allowed will be radiused wheel wells. Chopped tops will be approved through the group
No alcohol gas only (These are g***ers )
Coil over shocks must be approved through the group if you are building a new car don't use them there might be a rule in the future outlawing them.
Aluminum blocks are allowed but must be painted

REQUIRED
Closed full body styled cars 1967 or earlier
Body must be stock or stock replica
All cars execpt the ones grandfathered in must have a clutch and straight drive transmission.
Left hand steer
Open headers
Interior must be 60’s era styled. No modern high back seats, etc.
Straight Axle Frontend suspension
60’ era wheels. (Steel, aluminum slots, Magnesium, etc.)
Front tires must be skinny no wide front tires
At least 11" from the ground to the rocker panel or the lowest part of body right behind the front wheels
At least 10" from the ground to the rocker panel or the lowest part of the body just in front of the rear tires.
front wheels in the air on launch


REQUEST
Old school tach and gauges we don't like to see 80s style tack and gauges in what's supposed to be an old school G***er ( why would you want to ruin the looks of your old school G***er with new stuff like this anyway it's the first thing you see when some one looks inside your car.)

Try to hide charging plugs and master kill switches ( the kill switch can be mounted inside the trunk area then have a small rod to the out side to shut it off it's safer this way anyway I'll explain if I need to) they didn't have them in the 60s and it's the first thing you see when looking at the back of the car
Old school long ladder bars (if you are building a new car keep in mind that this could be a new rule in the future)

We would like to see aluminum heads painted unless you have heads that were produced in the early 60s

Grandfathered in for now

The only automatic car that will be allowed is the ones that ran with us last year no new cars will be accepted.If you have an automatic car and was approved to run last year but could not make it to one of our races we will consider letting you in just at select races so give me a call I have kept records and know who was accepted. We have done surveys and we can plainly see that the fans like the stick cars better.

Same goes for sheet metal intakes the only ones that will be allowed is the ones that ran with us last year and they are in the process of changing them this year.

Forward mounted carbs (this will be a rule in the future)

 

Thanks for the info Quain. The rules make lots of sense and I absolutely see the reasoning. What prompted my question was the description by the announcer of the big block Ford motor in the '57 Ford. To me that says 429/460, but I guess it could be interpreted as an FE. Either way, that car is bad*** and I loved the videos! Thanks, Eli

 

Jeremy's 57 ford has a boss 429 appearance but on the inside it's 540 inches. The only engine rule we have is it has to look old school he has the side ways carbs but has it apart as we speak putting an old school fuel injection in place for our next race. We are hoping that the old school suspension rule will keep the big engines from running away with the show and it's working well so far. We may have to do a weight to cubic inch rule in the future like in the old days if it becomes a problem.

 

I think that right now, yours is the best nostalgia g***er show by far. The appearance of the cars and the dry hops put you guys over the top. It amazes me that you can even get 18 people to build cars and adhere to your rules. It makes me almost want to change direction with my blower car build. Some of the blower cars are too quirky looking to me. Unfortunately, the '68 era would better suit the Austin's and Anglia's because the no narrowed rear ends makes those cars not do able. I'd like to see pictures of your groups ch***is and interiors.

 

Here's a link to the build thread on my willys you will see the trouble we go to to make them as period correct as possible. I have made a lot of changes to it since the thread was done trying to fix the little things that were not just right. You will notice that I haven't had time to finish the thread sorry maybe in a week or 2. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=729572&highlight=quain+stott

 

Really cool group of cars, stick to your guns on those rules. I'd love to make one of your races sometime. My car appears to meet all your criteria other than you guys are obviously running much faster!

 

Come on any time we don't care how fast you go as long as you can put on a show.

 

I have followed your Willys build threads and am impressed. I'm in no way complaining about your rules. I like your rules. The blower guys have far less rules and still can't seem to get away from things like mile long contemporary wheelie bars and chute launchers hanging off the back of their cars and killing the look. If my car wasn't an Austin, I'd build it n/a so I could run with your group.

 

Austin's are legal in our deal as long as it is full bodied. I know what you are talking about on the wheelie bar deal. I could add a long wheelie bar , 4 link , bigger tire, automatic trans and lower it a few inches and run 4.90 in the 1/8 but then it would be just another race car and I already have one of them that runs 3.60s. Anyway that's why we have our rules the way that they are and I'm sure that we are still forgetting something. We hope that other groups will start trying to do the same before the G***er name gets a new meaning to the new generation. Like my good friend Rick Panneton said it's like trying to protect an endangered species.
__________________

 

If by full body you mean not chopped, no I don't plan on chopping it. There's still the issue with no narrowed rear ends. I have an Olds/Pontiac rear end i'll be using. I'd like to have only my sidewalls extend beyond the edge of the fender. Or maybe the tread surface 1 inch beyond. I saw no mention of minimum ladder bar length in your rules. My car has ****py (and broken) 40 inch ladder bars on it now. Did you settle on 48 inches as you had mentioned before?

 

I think Quain means no narrowing like pro-street cars, not the small bodied cars with a slightly narrowed rear. If your tires are outside the wheelwells that would have an era correct look. They were narrowing for dragsters and altereds way back and Don Long built a willys in 66 that had a narrowed housing. I'll let him be the judge , but that's my take on it.

"MELTDOWN DRAGS"
July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill.
www.meltdowndrags.com

 

Hey blownHemi48, I'm sure your Austin could find a home here without a blower on it. I won't speak for Quain or the other original group here, but Quains son is gonna race his old Anglia with group and though I haven't seen the car yet, I don't believe it has 58"+ wide rear housing in it. Maybe this is the time to set minimum housing widths in place for the different body styles? With a max tire of 11.5 and wheel width of 10" and a proper back spacing, even narrow cars lime Austins and Anglias shouldn't need ultra narrow housings. I'd love to see some Austins mixing it up, and its really cool to see the heavier Tri-5's. I told Quain, it would be ou of sight to have one major east coast, and west coast race a year. Guys could save up and sort there cars out during the season and travel to the opposite coast for big shoot outs, like the early Nationals in Indy & Pomona, or the original Fuel & Gas Championships @ Famosa in Bakersfield. I'm so jacked up over this deal, I'm pulling out my low mileage engine & trans to regroup so I can travel from California to the Carolinas to come run with the boys. I truly think this deal will grow, and more cars will be resurrected/built, even if only to go to a few BIG blowouts a year.

 

PS. Since I can barely afford one car, will some please bring out some 37-42 Studebaker coupes and sedans...you out there listening 5W32 & "The Boss" '39

 

Like the others have said above it means no pro street type narrowed rear ends where the tires are way under the car or the big giant wheel tubs. For an example we had one dude take a narrowed rear end car that was set up for the 15 wide tire and put a 11.5 tire and 10" wheel, the tires were 3" under the quarter panel it was the goofiest looking thing you have ever seen. We keep running into problems like that where people try to sneak stuff in so we have to put it in writing, before it's over the rule sheet will be a book. Anyway what your talking about narrowing it to fit the car is OK. We don't have a ladder bar rule this year but like every thing else if some one starts pushing the limit we will have to make one. I would make them around 40" from center of housing forward to be safe in the future, mine are 50" and most of the other cars are too. Don't forget it's easy to ask now before you build our phone #s are on the rule sheet.

 

Thanks boys, I appreciate the replys. I'm trying to use as many vintage parts as possible, like Moon tank, Simpson chute, Dixco tach, Vertex mag, Ansen wheels 331/354 Hemi, Torqueflite and Hurst/ Airheart calipers. I already bought a Hilborn injector, Enderle pump, 671 GMC blower and Weiand manifold because that was the direction I was headed. I guess for now I'll see if the Blower car club I'm interested in running with is willing to embrace nostalgia to the extent that you guys are. They do have Summit and Napa as major sponsors of their series, and generous track entry and qualifying money. I still don't think they'll be able to top your deal in popularity and excitement. Blown/automatic cars sound like loud stockers compared to high winding small block, stick shift cars.