Hey Guys ... see this great (new) Google feature yet? From ... http://images.google.com/images?q=drag+racing&q=source%3Alife
Nicely-described (on eBay) 'old vet' goes to a new home! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...61635&ih=013&sspagename=STRK:MESE:IT&viewitem
The photo of the rear housing in the trunk indicates that the car (or the one the rear is out of) had a Stahl traction bar. A different set up for its time as the front of the bar was not fixed, it rolled at the contact point.
That 61 looks like a good deal, I hope someone can find out the history of the car, but it still would make a good cruiser, Henry.
That rear was never in that car (although I had plans to install it). It came out of Ronnie Evans' Wildfire '62 when he switched to the Dana. Yep, the bar he used at that time had the sliding front section.
Pretty witty Verne , I've been in a real funk too ... ever since my Citigroup shares took a 'Citipoop.' As to your (old) '61 ... I was 'wondering.' I may be wrong. but I 'think' the (2 Barrel) 283 was rated at a looow 170 HP (not 185, like it was in 59). 'Seems to me, it weighted 3,570 ... so 3,570 divided by 170 would be 21 lbs per HP ... pretty good fit in SOME stock class. Just 'speculatin' .. I'm really clueless, been completely out of the 'loop' for so long. But, just the same, what do you think ... maybe X/SA -- thirteen eightys @ 98 MPH? PS: Heres (MOST LIKELY) ... MOREINFOTHANYOUREALLYWANTEDTOKNOWABOUTVERNS'OLD'61CHEV http://auto.howstuffworks.com/chevrolet-impala4.htm PPS: I sold FRANK JORDAN a 'bubble top' 61 just like this ... last time I saw it was @ 'E-Town' in the late 70s ... any of you guys know (PA-based) Frank (Jr. Stock 'Wiz') Jordan?
My delivery had that Stahl bar and roller /crossmember setup under it. I did change it to slapper bars though and left all the bracketry attached to the rear. Dumb question maybe but how did someone "tune" that traction setup?? Preload or ??? Any idea?? I really wanted to leave it on the car................thanks
"The SS aimed at "customers who like sports car flair and go, teamed with big car elegance." With a 409 and 4.56:1 axle ratio, an Impala SS could hit 60 mph in seven seconds." They sure didn't mind burning up that 32 cent gas, did they?
Hey, if I had a '61 409 SS I wouldn't mind burning up $4.32 gas. Of course I won't have to worry about that because I can't afford a '61 409 SS! LOL<O</O
When you drive a car like that, you don't measure your mileage by Miles per Gallon. It's Smiles per Mile that count...
M/SA '57 Nomad. Bill "Redman" Floyd photo. Kyle Brother's K/S '57 sedan delivery. Bill "Redman" Floyd photo.
I'm a young guy who has been enjoying this thread immensely-the pics AND the stories. Old tech's comment brings something to mind- any of you old guys want to learn us about what it was like to launch these old cars? Today we take good tires and really effective traction systems for granted- I know it was a whole different game then- I've heard it called the "pedal dance"-coordinating clutch and throttle to get the most out of marginal tires, and avoiding either going up in smoke, or bogging the motor.
This reminds me of the early 1970's when we would travel to Suffolk, VA. The track was concrete and had more traction than the asphalt tracks. My friend Brad Watkins, with his G/S 69 Z-28 and Tony Pizzi's F/S 68 Z-28, would replace the normal 30# flywheels with 50# ones. That and 7500 RPM's would keep the low torque 302's from bogging.
The way I learned to launch a high powered car on narrow tires back in the day was to water down the street in front of my house. In a short time one can learn how to ride the clutch and feather the throttle. It will stay with you for the rest of your racing life.
That was one track that I looked forward to going to every year, especially the Little Guy Nationals.
Twenty some years ago I was surprised when Vince Alessi told me that he had built 7" converters for Hemi cars. I was selling TCI stuff at the time and we only used them for high revving small inch engines. Vince said that one reason they used them was the fact that a 7" converter "locks up" better than an 8" and produced higher MPH.
He probably felt the same was as a young guy that worked for me back in the 1980's. He had never been to a national event so I took him with me to Maple Grove for the Keystone Nationals. Early Saturday morning I spotted Linda walking through the manufacturers area and asked her for a favor. I told her that Jamie had never been to a national event and I wanted to get a photo of her with him. She told me that she would be back in a few minutes. Jamie and I were setting up our display when I heard a voice calling "Hey Tom, I hear you have a new guy working for you." Jamie turned around and his eyes almost popped! He talked about meeting Linda for weeks after that. Sorry for the interruption, I new return you to the Junior Stock thread.
Verne, I know how you feel. Hope it went to a good home and will stay on the track. I have a set of big block Chevy Hooker headers that are for that era Chevy in great shape I'd like to sell if anyone knows anyone looking for a set.
I think he and his Dad are planning on putting it on the street (restored). Race car history...........................................................poof. As for Lovely Linda, she won my heart this day at Columbus '98 at the Hot Rod Reunion. I drove my '62 '09 car out there from NJ, helping a friend with the restored '62 Connie Kalita dragster. She looked in my car and said, "Oooooooh, a Competition Plus!" Some guy ran up and asked her to sign something, but she had no pen, so I gave her mine. When she was done I told her to keep it. Two years later............I'm walking in the asile at the York Reunion and she's sitting at a table signing photos with a line 30 people long. She looks up and sees me and jumps up, rounds the table and says, "Verne, how are you?". She gives me a warm hug and kiss. You could have blown me over with a feather. I said, "I don't believe you remember me". She replied, "Oh yes, you gave me a special pen and I still have it". Now THAT gentlemen, isn't a brag; it's a testiment to Linda's character. She wasn't being paid to promote anything; she was just being herself. For her whole career, she's always been doing something for other people, so I guess just the most simple little thing done for her was something she remembered. I couldn't get the smile off my face for days........ Now, back to our regularly scheduled Junior Stock thread. ........... Verne
i raced that car with bob and was actually a part of his entire career. moved from cambridge to the us and am still involved in racing to this day. sat night at kohler/cayuga was killer and you had to have your act together to be competitive. ahh the stories. john p.
I joined this forum because of the junior stock thread and all of the awesome information pertaining to stock racing in the 60's and 70's. Too young to have participated but nonetheless enjoyed these cars looking through my dad's old Super Stock and Drag Illustrated magazines and countless other magazines. While this thread is about NHRA style stock racing how did AHRA style stock racing differ? I have a few AHRA rule books from the late 60's to about the early to mid seventies and as an organization they seemed to offer more classes geared toward the "little guy" and allowed a bit more modification than NHRA. From the guys that were there how much more did they differ, which did they prefer, stories, pictures, anything!!! Being a mopar fanatic any information or stories on the 383 cars would be great. Boertman, Kuhl, Callahan and Sulc, Kempton and I remember reading a project six pack installment mentioning a Roadrunner with a 383 in H/S but there was no other info on this car. Damien Hoffert
The Jalopy Journal
