#45 Qualifier http://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=268940&Filter=100#indextop I don't want to get in trouble with a "modern " pic Write me if you want it full size.
Ric, a racer in Division 6 is running a '55 but I don't think he's that far under the index at this point. This was from qualifying at Boise last month: 35 6020 T/S Carl Downard, Boise ID, '55 Chevy 14.505 14.75 -0.245 Most of the talk that I've heard on the '55 combination at this point is that NHRA has assigned the '55 motor a horsepower rating of 200. In the view of most potential builders, that's a little steep for a combination that was factory rated at 180. Comparing that to a fuel injected 1996 265" motor that is at only 217 or a 1986 C10 350" pickup in the same class (T/S) with 189 horsepower doesn't build a lot of enthusiasm for investing in a '55 Chevy, no matter how desirable it seems to have a cool ride.
Speaking of the 1962 Pontiac SD-421 Lockwood Motors Pontiac Dealership (Peekskill, New York) had one that they raced between 1962 thru 1965. Then parked it behind their Dealership Garage, where they tried to sell it for 3-years, which they couldn't do. In 1969, it was still sitting outside, just weathering away. Who Knew Back Then........???
Hmmm! Without cheating and referring to Colesy's thread, I will have to say the home-made valve cover breathers at each corner, valve cover T-bolt fasteners, lower air cleaner base lid, cool can, and non-stock over-size generator pulley. Other clearly seen items that I will guess at are (probably) the home-made u-fab headers, battery, wire loom seperators, which I don't recall being on those early model cars, and what appears to be an awfully big lower pulley underneath the generator, for what I'd guess is the water pump. Not sure about the radiator hose and clamp assembly. It looks ''cheap.'' LOL! Unseen lo-buck mods? Probably blocked intake manifold heat-riser(s), (aluminum or phenolic) carburetor spacer, cam button or key, (legal?) gasket-matched intake manifold to head port openings, distributor timing (springs, breaker mechanism, etc.) mods, ''cheater'' (rate-of-lift) camshaft, carb re-jetting and / or internal Rochestor mods, rocker arm jam nuts and lifter pre-load adjustment, swapped 1.65.1 ratio rockers, engine set-back, and your own as of yet undisclosed ''secrets.'' LOL!
I vaguely recall a similar situation in East-End Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whereby an older gentelman tried to sell a lackluster dark blue 64 Pontiac Parisianne, or perhaps the upscale Laurentian, with a supposedly ''stock'' 409 underhood. It sat beside his backyard garage with a For Sale sign on it for years, clearly into the mid-seventies. His daily driver was a '62 283-220 2-spd 'Glide Parisianne. His son owned a ratty street rodded light green 68 SD 396-325 Beaumont. I hated all of them back then, even the big-daddy GTO. I was into big Fords, and in particular Mustangs. If I only had the $750.00 asking price for the 409, I would have had a runner....
Olds fans should enjoy this article from the November, 1965 Hot Rod Magazine issue on the '65 Edmond Olds Racing Research 442 B/S.
anyone have a copy of the hot rod magazine from 1969 or 1970 that has article about Alex Jarrell rebuilding 3 speed transmissions,please post thanks. i have his last car he ran before quiting raceing, have one of his 3speeds as a spare trans. ran car at cecil county about 1980. i think car ran 13:50 but memory is little shady thanks jim cornelius
Chuck; As I understand it, cams were checked against OEM lift, total advertised duration, and overlap. Cam shaft markings and numbers were obviously recorded and checked if need be...assuming the tech people elected to pull the cam. How did cam phasing, come into play? We know that racers either advanced or retarded cams, practiced valve lash staggering; what else could legally be done? I've probably survived fifteen or twenty teardowns over the years in addition to the one that "went bad" in 1964. In none of those cases was my camshaft removed from the block. In fact, I've never seen anyone else asked to remove a camshaft although stories about such things circulate from time to time. It is said that a latter-day Stocker was asked to pull a camshaft fairly recently. Since most of the Stocker cams over the years were reground on stock cores, the recording of cast-in numbers would have been pointless. Everyone had a reground cam and it really didn't matter in what configuration that particular core began life. Thankfully, all we dealt with was the actual lift and duration numbers as recorded off the surface of the spring retainer. When I got back into Stock Eliminator after finishing graduate school, many Chevrolet cams were being re-ground by General Kinetics. At that time GK was leading the charge in profiling rate-of-lift cams and the general consensus was that the racer picked a particular grind on the basis of car weight, transmission, gearing, etc. Some of the grinds were considered to be really pushing the envelope on legality in a legitimate teardown. I think I remember running a GK #3 grind (for a 283, 245 horsepower motor) in my '57 Corvette, I/S car. That engine was torn down once, by Marty Barratt and Greg X. at the '71 Winternationals, and it passed so I felt that someone at GK had done their job. I don't know who originated the idea of shifting the intake centerline positioning of the camshaft relative to the crankshaft through the use of an off-set "button" or Woodruff key. It was a practice that was in vogue long before I started. I suspect that some really astute members of the original hot rodding fraternity had a hand in refining the practice. Men like Racer Brown, Ed Iskenderian, Chet Herbert, Howard Johansen and a host of others apparently realized the benefits of this trick and it came down to us through the cam grinders who often provided recommendations on the best position for a particular grind in a specific application. Evidence of this statement can be found by digging through old catalogs to see how far back in time the buttons and off-set keys were being marketed. Valve lash settings were also recommended by cam grinders in terms of starting points but it took careful testing and record keeping to determine if those strategies were productive in a given car. Of course, if your particular combination was equipped with hydraulic lifters as were many of the popular combinations, effective valve adjustment had a different meaning. Setting "zero" lash by means of "feel" is an acquired skill. c
Had to look, Lockwood Motors Pontiac - In 1963 the A/S Class Record was 12.81 The 1962 Pontiac SD-421 ran in A/S thru 1965, then in B/S in 1966. It had been running 12.60's in 1966, and then they stopped racing it and moved on to a 1966 GTO for C/Stock.
I have an Alex Jarrell article dated January, 1970, entitled Jarrell's Jr. Stockers. Please see posts. I also have some stuff on him rebuilding three-speed tranny's, but, at the moment, I cannot find said article. Once I do locate it, I will post. Terry
I found an interesting article on the (then) aging GM Hydro 4-spd trans. Out of March, 1969 Car Craft, is the B&M Turbo-Hydro Clutch unit.
Now let's enter some controversy. While perusing the August, 1969 Hot Rod for the Close-Ratio Hydro article, I noticed two other interesting developments that had to have an impact on the then existing drag stock formula up to that time period. One was the newly introduced Firestone Drag 500 in Roddin At Random. Until 1968, I believe that M&H, Goodyear, Bruce, Casler, and M-T were the leading contenders for traction action. Firestone was the upstart. So, what did you use and how did you view the tire wars? Second subject was a completely new development in the burgeoning high performance transmission arena. In the Strictly For Stocks column was Marv Ripes' newly introduced high stall torque convertors for the GM Powerglide automatic trans. I imagine that many of you had invested alot of time, money, and effort into making your Hydro work efficiently. Same for the 3 and 4-speed manuals. Now that the little 'Glide was starting to make inroads into the record books, how did that affect fellow racers? I know that the Hydro was eventually outlawed in 1971, or so, but, did any of you see the writing on the wall?
terry,aka benchracer, i have this issue, thanks for posting. i am trying to find the 3speed issue to refresh my memory as to what was done to trans thanks jim cornelius
Ed, The 1962 Pontiac Catalina SD-421 of Lockwood Motors Pontiac (Peekskill, New York) was 'pictured' in one of the early Drag Magazines 'Super Stock and FX', and was shown winning 'B/S' Class at New York National Speedway in June 1966. It was Dark-Red, and lettered 'Cat-Claws'. I'm not sure if it was equipped with any 'aluminum' parts. But it was definitely a 421/405 HP 'Dual-Carbed' engine. I believe those cars ran in 'A/S' from 1962 thru 1965. And in 'B/S' in 1966. The 1966 SS396 Chevelle Malibu's gave them a rough time in 1966, along with the 1966 427/425 HP Biscaynes.
Are we talking about the 55-57 3 speed trans that was machined and larger 3 speed syncro trans gears added ? I remember reading that.
A lot of us spent many a night washing transmission parts so Alex could keep up with the demand. We always took a break to make a "garbage" run, ice cream or cheese burgers, just something to eat. Jeannette made the best ice tea! Next came the bonzai runs to the Greyhound bus station to ship transmissions all over the country. Alex would work into the wee hours on race car engines and transmissions, then get up early and farm all day. Some of the best Junior Stockers in the country came out of his little, single car garage. He was one the nicest, most caring guys that I had the honor of knowing. None of us knew at the time the void that would be left when Alex died at a very young age. We were part of history and did not know it. RIP Alex.
had the pleasure of meeting Alex and miss Jeanett when taging along with older brother Bill to his garage. they were by far the nicest couple you could ever meet. Jeff Kane call me to set up a meet to see 55 chevy 302-678-3570. going to try to go to cecil county for their 50th party on the 8th of june. thanks jim cornelius
you know that is one thing i miss, the way we would pitch in and help a fellow competitor even if we had to run him in the next round, never once asking whats in it for me, those were the days jim cornelius
I just got introduced to this thread. I have only read a couple of pages but gosh I love it! Keep it coming.
The Jalopy Journal
