Projects Plan II - 62 Chevy II Drag Car

Wow, thanks for the heads up, that's rather surprising.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1965-barracuda-street-strip-awb.1259212/

 

Squirrel.

Please help me out here so I can understand your Chevy II build better, I appreciate all your help...

Are the build rules your own personal rules on how you wanted to build your Chevy II for Drag Week?
or
Are they the rules for all Drag Week participants that the Judges made?

Are the rules just Superficial?
or
Include all the Internals of the drivetrain as well?

I'm sure there must be a packet full of rules every participant gets that wants to race in Drag Week every year?
Could you please help me with the few questions above so I can understand why you built the Chevy II and it's drivetrain the way you did?

Thank You Squirrel it's a great Chevy II and again I appreciate all your help and knowledge.

From
1Nimrod
(Dustin)

 

Great question, thanks.

The rules for Drag Week for the Gasser/AFX are pretty lax, as far as using old stuff. The car just has to sort of look like an old race car, you can't use modern wheel designs, hood scoops, lowering, etc. But I have my own idea of what a 60s period race car should look like, so I followed that. But this build was about more than just the style, etc. I had a set of requirements that I followed.

It had to be quick, I was aiming for 10.0 second ET.

It had to be cheap, so no expensive parts were used unless there was no way around it.

It had to be built with parts that you could get in the 1960s, mostly, and look like a 60s match race car.

And it had to be able to do Drag Week, so it had to have all the necessary stuff to meet today's rules for drag racing safety equipment, as well as street equipment.

Of course, these requirements conflict, so I ended up with some compromises. A proper 1960s match race car didn't have brakes, lights, or side glass. It needed to run on racing gas (or more). My car has all the street equipment it needs, as well as the racing safety equipment. The Wilwood disc brakes are out of place, but they are light and they work. The engine has a lot of old parts in it, but some newer stuff as well--the block is a 1991 casting, instead of a 1960s casting, but the crank, rods and heads are all over 50 years old. The radiator isn't like anything you could get back then, but it also is light and keeps the engine cool. The guys running blowers on race cars used mechanical injection, I used carbs because they're cheap and they work. The drivetrain is close, but not quite right, since I'm running a 57 Ford 9" rear instead of an Olds/Pontiac, and the TH400 has a few modern parts in it, but it does have a 1960s torque converter (modified switch pitch). The Gear Vendors overdrive is a 1960s design, using old style electro-mechanical controls, but it's not something that was used back then. It should have ladder bars, but instead I made a copy of CalTracs, although I made the plates on the front as an imitation of the Tracion Master design, so they look old.

I only spent $12-15k building the car, and it goes fast, and has a lot of miles on it, so I think it's a success. It also ended up on the cover of Hot Rod magazine....which means it doesn't owe me anything!

I'm glad you like it

btw no on else on Drag Week in the class I'm in is stupid enough to run a point distributor...but hey, it still works, just like they did 50 years ago.

 

Thank you Squirrel...

That sure is a bunch of helpful information for me and I will re-read it again... and your Chevy II build as well.
I hope it will help other's too...
I'm sure that was a very condensed part of it all and like all good teacher You Squirrel have highlighted the most important part's about your Chevy II build and the rules and made it simpler for me to understand and other's as well.
Thank You again my friend...

((I've always liked the old points distributors single or duals, I guess bcuz I grew up with them. Everyone knows they are way outdated but as you said they worked back then and still work now, I like simple...
If a person can run high 9's with a points distributor really how fast ya wana go on the street anyways right...lol...))

On another note.
And I'm not sure about this Squirrel maybe you can help me out again?

I've always wondered about this since way back during Y2K...

I don't think Ol'Smokey can "ZAP" an Older Vintage Points Distributor Vehicle so it won't start, can they?

I've seen "The Man" do that around here when a bad guy wanted to getaway Ol'Smokey "ZAPPED" the newer vehicles "computer" somehow and then the bad guy could not drive away from Ol'Smokey in that vehicle.

Can The Man ZAP our Vintage Points distributor vehicle's the same way nowadays Squirrel ?

Thank You Squirrel I know that was alot of writing for you, I really do appreciate all your help and support here on the HAMB for us all that are still interested in learning about Vintage Street & Strip Builds plus so much more.
You Squirrel and Other's Like You are very valuable to our Hot Rod community,
Thank You so very much...
Thank You All...

1Nimrod
(Dustin)

 

you're welcome!

I don't know about what they do with modern cars...but I doubt you could mess with the electrical system on a point ignition car "remotely" and make it quit working. Perhaps if you exploded a nuclear bomb in the vicinity, but that's a bit too much effort for most folks.

 

I'm working on Plan II again. Time to get ready for Drag Week 2022, coming up in the middle of September. Starts in St Louis again this year (like 2015), and the other tracks I've raced at already, too. But it's a fun part of the country to race in, lots of spectators, etc.

I'm pulling out the engine to check things out. I need to replace the valve springs, and look at the bearings, and some other stuff. I might try to clean up and repaint some things while I'm in there, we'll see how ambitious I get. The front frame rails, headers, and some other things are looking kind of rough after 30k miles, after all they were painted with spray cans

 

Clean and freshen, paint if you have the time. Fresh paint is nice though.

 

Squirrel, you mentioned the engine block is a 1991, and if I remember right, it’s a 427? Is a 454 block with a 427 crank? Please forgive my ignorance, I’ve worked on lots of 366 and 427 tall deck truck engines, but have not had the chance to own a Big Block yet. I’m a Small Block guy so far. I will be at St. Louis for Drag Week and really hope to meet you. Thanks, Andy.

 

I hope to see you too

It's a 454 block, with a 396 crank that was balanced to work with the heavier 427 pistons. The 396 and 427 cranks are basically the same, but the balance is different because of the pistons. Oh...and this one had the bigger rods with 7/16" bolts, that probably affects it also.

 

Squirrel, pretty sure the old match race cars had brakes. Chutes don’t work all that well at lower speeds. And going through the pits I’m pretty sure they would catch somebody and drag them to their death while screaming. So I do think they had brakes.

 

Yeah, they did have rear brakes, but not front brakes.

 

Alot depends on what part of the fx era you are looking at 62-66. Starting in 62 when the class was formed the cars looked like stock production cars. Over the next few years the cars got more wild and faster. By 65 altering the wheelbase was a new thing. By the end of the year injectors and blowers were on the faster cars. For the 66 race season the cars were all kinds of hacked up death traps all in the name of less weight. When the factory cars and the top match race cars of the era are removed Squirrels car is a good example of what was running back then. Thumbing through old musty magazines will show what was really out there at that time and how they were built. My opinion is he nailed it all the while keeping with the theme of the build for the class. Its the most accurate build in the class based on parts look and performance. Sure some are faster using more modern parts. Keep in mind the all time fastest et during the 65 season was Mr.Norms 65 that went 8.43 on nitro and was hardly close to a street car.

 

No, that was me, in another thread

 

Why the decision to sell the barracuda?


First time I read this thread from start to finish.

what a great build, simple purpose built with no “frills” it gets the job done reliably , very well and looks fantastic all while sticking to a concise plan.

Nowhere near how I do things !!! Love it !!

 

I just couldn't get my mind back into the Barracuda, after getting it built. Maybe I'm just getting old.

 

Makes sense, one purpose built go fast car .

plus all the zany stuff you drive in the lemons trials keep ya busy .

do you still have the 55 ?

 

Something desirable that has eluded capture.

'you should have seen the one that got away'.

 

Squirrels car is far from a death trap. Its a well constructed car. I have seen it many times. I was referring to the many builds from that era before the safety rules caught up to them. Many were very unsafe.

 

That's how I understand what you were conveying as well.

 

yup, I made a lot of compromises to period correctness, so it wold be legal to drive on the street, and to meet current NHRA rules.

Now, back to pulling the engine....

 

Anyone remembers Jim's live feed when pulling the engine from the 55?

 

That must have been like watching paint dry!

 

I had a 63 Nova awb car that was built in 63 no front brakes, olds rear with a spool and 5:13 gears as a 3 point bolt in rollbar. Scariest thing I ever sat in. One wheelie for 3 blocks with a slightly warmed over 350 cured me of that car. I don’t think I’d give up my seat in the electric chair to drive that thing again.

 

No. For me watching Bad Chat has that affect. I just can't so much that I have to change the channel. He's a bull in a china shop. You work very methodically and that's refreshing.

 

Jim does excellent ,,,well thought out work,,,,,it’s not the high end big dollar stuff,,,,,but very methodical hot rodding .
As far as the Mopar goes,,,,,Jim’s a Chevy guy at heart,,,,,it always seemed out of character for him to own it .

I still like him just the same,,,,,LoL .

Tommy

 

Are you pulling the engine for rings/bearings? Or doing more?

 

thanks

I guess I'll pull the transmission out again too, and go through it. I just did so last year. But the fluid smells a bit burned, there no chunks in the pan, but there is quite a bit of residue.

 

The rings in the engine are fine, I want to look at the bearings, and replace valve springs, and head gaskets, and see how other stuff looks.

 

A question often asked of Terry "Fuzzy" Carter crew chief for Eddie Hill back in the early 90's. He was famous for not tearing down the entire engine when all the rest of the top fuel teams did.