I showed the rules to a few friends while at the CHRR, and boy did their eyes light up. It was very well recieved. One of my friends used to run sixers in an Anglia and started rattling off all of these parts that he has...which really got my gears spinning about building one. Trouble is, is there anywhere I could run it? Will they pass tech at a small strip like Palmdale or Sacramento, or Famoso? If not, what would need to be done to make them legal for bracket racing, or just test and tune night? I need to know because parts leads are popping up and payday is near...
you can run an open car so long as it has a roll bar (ie roadster)... HA/GR requires biasply's and pre-62 standard transmissions. full helmet and fire jacket need to be worn and a body should enclose the drivers hands so as to not fly out in case of a roll over. most of the rules are exactly what you would find in the NHRA rulebook for 13 second convertables (if i remember correctly). if plans are to go any faster than 11's track rules become more rigid.... i dont really see this happening with a pre-62 3spd trans, bias plys and running gas. check the jalopy journal archives from 3 weeks ago, the rules have been posted. (edit) rules: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=442 1. Stock or modified stock frame rails, rectangular tube or round tube 3′’ diameter or larger. 2. Stock width front axles and rear ends only. 3. All cars must be equipped with a minimum four point roll bar of 1 3/4″ tubing with a main hoop higher than the driver’s head and 2 support bars down to the frame towards the firewall. Tubing must meet NHRA minimum wall thickness for application. 4. Cars with keyed axles must use hub safety retainers. 5. Closed drivelines are encouraged. If open driveline is used driveshaft must have a 1 1/2″ x 1/4″ “driveshaft loop” within 6 1/2″ of front and rear universal joints and be totally covered/sealed off from driver with steel or aluminum floor pan. 6. Cars must have cowl or body and proper floor boards/belly pan to prevent driver’s legs from exiting vehicle in event of a crash. firewall mandatory. 7. No “slingshot” chassis. Driver and engine must be positioned between the front and rear axles. 8. Cars must be equipped with an engine mounted starter and be self starting. 9. Batteries must be securely mounted and fully enclosed. 10. All cars must have a master battery cutoff switch accessible from outside the car. 11. All cars must have at least one red rear running light for night racing. 12. Flathead v8 or inlines, pre-1962 inline engines with stock cylinder blocks only. No exotic aftermarket inline six overhead valve heads (Wayne). No OHV V8s or V6s. (If you are looking to run a straight 6 with exotic heads or a flathead with an o/h conversion, contact Ryan for some good news.) 13. Engines must be naturally aspirated. No superchargers, turbos, nitrous oxide or fuel injection. 14. No electronic ignition boxes that mount outside the distributor or “coil in cap” HEIs. Conversions such as “ignitor” or “stinger” that fit within a stock dist cap are allowed. Aftermarket magnetos not allowed. 15. Pump gas/racing gas only. No Methanol, nitromethane, or alcohol. 16. Era specific carbs only, stock appearing- no modern Holley, Edelbrock, or other aftermarket carbs. 17. Fuel lines can have no single rubber piece longer than 24″, must be fastened by hose clamps, not hard or cracked. 18. Cars equipped with a cooling system or water tank must use a radiator cap and overflow/catch can system. 19. Automatic transmissions are not allowed. All cars with clutches must run a stamped steel bell housing or a 1/4″ scatter shield. 20. Cars must have rims no wider than 6″ and only bias ply street treaded tires allowed. No radials, slicks, or cheater slicks allowed. Tire tread width must measure no more than 6″. 21. Drivers must wear full face helmet, single layer (or more) fire retardant jacket or suit, gloves, jeans (or fire retardant pants), and leather shoes. 22. Five point NHRA approved safety harness required. 23. All cars must be of general soundness and safety. Must have all lug nuts, sound steering, cotter pins in place, and heim ends “captured” etc. Must pass all tracks general safety rules. 24. No electronic/pneumatic drivers aids such as rev limiters, two steps, shift lights or electric shifters. Tachometers are allowed if they don’t have a rev limiter or a shift light. 25. Cars must be built in the spirit of the “Bug” and other early rail jobs. If ya aren’t familiar, ya better ask… 26. All HA/GR cars are required to run a H.A.M.B. Logo in a visible location. NOTE: For those of you that have wanted me to take a more active roll in this racing class - be careful what you wish for…
Yeah, those rules are what I was showing everybody, but I was wondering if they violated any rules that would prevent me from running it on a test and tune night.... Thanks!
cant say that i have tried to pass tech yet, but the ANRA guys in SoCal said we can run HA/GR styled cars in the open wheel class.. the rules are pretty much exactly what you would find in the NHRA rulebook for open cars, 12 seconds and slower. i dont think it would be right to turn you away, its no different than running a stripped down hot rod. edit: regarding the open wheel class... we run that class until there are enough HA/GR rails to field a class of its own. although theres a good number of flathead/I-6 powered hot rods that we would be running against if i remember correctly
I am not on the west coast, but my ha/gr car has had no trouble passing tech at our track here in Tulsa, ok.
The Ramrods and the Hornets matched raced at Indy this year and had to pass there NHRA tech. The only thing they found was our battery box was not fully enclosed,thats why in the new Hamb rules it says you have to have the battery enclosed. We were talking to the Goodguys about coming to Calif and puting on a race with the HA/GR cars at Famoso's March meet but it sounds like that may never happen.
The only thing that I have wondered about is that NHRA rules on roll bars show rear supports that have to be within 5" of the top of the bar. I suspect that the forward supports on HA/GRs would probably be accepted, but someone may read the rule book some day on the 5" part. When I wrote the NHRA Division 5 tech guy about that and the angle of rear supports if needed, I got a sort of half non-answer saying that the rear supports shouldn't be too vertical. You should also be aware that, although HA/GR rules allow a stock stamped steel bell housing instead of a scatter shield, this year NHRA mandated a 4" wide, 1/4" steel scatter shield for all flatheads. There is a requirement that the scatter shield be attached to the transmission as well, and while that makes sense for an early block, for an 8BA style block it seems goofy since their transmissions are a long ways from the flywheel. Please read the NHRA flathead flywheel shield rules as they are slightly more extensive than I have outlined.
Dude, I'm all about a Pinto... You guys gonna be in the garage Thurs? I can pop over after work. Thanks for all the info guys. I know they ran at our Goodguys deal, but I was too busy to ask questions. The battery box is a good one, stuff like that. I'd love to put something together and have some fun over the winter.
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