The LAST LOGGHE ALTERED - restore it or race it?

Beep, ftroupe, Idrag, Rich, and paintcan,

Now I am wavering and seeing things from your collective perspective. Might it be better to just make it as close to original - same w.b., same suspension. no radiator, etc. and just run easy p***es - like 11s or 12s? I need to sleep on it.

 

race it. its more fun

 

Restore it!!!!! You've already got a race car.......Just my opinion. Al Bergler is my best friend and still going strong building dragster bodies at 72 years old.

 

race it.

 

really. just race it.

 

did i mention you should just race it? you know once you fire it up you're gonna think about how fast it could really go. just race it. thats where all this stuff started anyway.

 

That pretty much limits your options right there. Pour money into it, so you can get the big trophy at the nationals! Nothing else matters.

The nostalgia stuff is all pretty much dead now anyway. Last time I went to CHRR a couple years ago, the only stuff racing was no longer nostalgic.

You'd never be happy with just having fun. Pour money into it, and go for the points.

 

Race your other car. Restore this one and make sure it can't be fired. Leave the crank and rods and trans gears out so it's lighter to haul. You'll never be happy with 10's, you'll hate it if it doesn't carry the wheels through 1st, you know that already. This way you can bench race about 'how it was' and have fun going faster today.

 

If it was mine I would, front half it (leave it 110"), fix anything that bent in the back, put a flat head 4 cylinder in it (injected on alky) with a powerglide or C4, and have just (race it) have fun with it.

 

Now that you've posted pictures, the only thing I would change from early original is maybe the stickon letters, brush painted look much more better to my eye...

 

Run it till you both puke.

 

If your going to update it ,try not doing anything that can not be reversed. I have a dragster that used to be a twin engined top gas car and it has been so hacked and chopped over the years that it will be better to make a recreation than a restoration.

 

If you can restore it to original, I think that would be cool, since you have a modern car as well. Here's why I was interested in this thread: My dad raced A/A from the mid sixties to early seventies. The last car he ran was a Logghe car that was a twin to Ron Ellis AA/A, I mean almost exact, except he ran an injected BBC vs. Ron's blown Chrysler. My dad's car was first candy red, then black and called the Mind Sticker. He held the A/A NHRA National record at 163.33 in 1970. Ron's AA/A was also a gorgeous car, in fact I remember being a little kid, and I believe my dad called Ron to explore buying his T body, because it had Al Berglar tinwork (I believe I'm remembering this right), but the deal never happened. The only other car that I remember being similar to my dad's and Ron Ellis' cars was the last Winged Express that Borsch ran before going FC racing. Another Ellis, Neil "Pappy" Ellis I believe had a Logghe car in A/A, but it had the older style big square FC cage. Anyway, good luck with your project!

 

Why not just restore it. It looks like you already have a nice more modern one.

 

Well I sketched up some plans for a new front suspension - coil over on a straight axle with the original Monroe shortened coil-overs that Logghe supplied with the car that were hung on the back but subsequently replaced with longer travel units - and took them and a set of photos to my ch***is builder in Antwerp, Ohio (Advanced Ch***is). I want to get the car front-halfed in November/December. I'll move the engine out to 57" - was 52" - and lengthen the w.b. out to 115". Hopefully I can get it ready to run for 2010. I bought two 'glides to rebuild and a set of tri power carbs - 3x1. The original Ford 300 inline six engine is still ready to run except for a newer cam - hydraulic this time instead of the roller. I only want it to run 10.000 so I don't have to re-cert the ch***is periodically. And no electronics / CO2 stuff except for a trans brake. It should be a fun ride.

 

Can't wait to see it!!!

 

Very well said! And i concur.

 

Whatever you do, race it! Don't worry about the wheelbase so much.
If you've ever seen "Iron Mike" Boyd manhandle the 96in wheelbase Marcellus & Borsch AA/FA, win or lose, you know what I mean . . .
Cars like that are CROWD PLEASERS of the first order.

 

race it!

 

I NEED HELP.

Somewhere on the net - I think it was here on the HAMB - I saw a picture of the front suspension I would like to try. But I lost track of the picture before I could print it out to show the Bowers at Advanced Ch***is. Maybe somebody can show me the picture if I describe it:

The bottom tube on the dual round-tube frame swept upward at about a 45 degree angle at the front, intersecting the top tube and forming the mounting point for the top pivot of a coilover shock absorber. Logghes gave me a set of cut-down coilover shocks with just about 1.75" of travel (same travel as on my modern strut car) that I would like to use and this type of shock mount will afford lots of room for tie-rod movement. I plan to splay the coil overs outward at the bottom (maybe 30 degrees). That will give me a little more up/down front axle travel, provide a little more stability, and soften up the effective spring rate a little as I think the springs are a little too stiff to install "straight up".

So if you can help me find a picture of an altered with the frame rails constructed this way that would be a big help. Otherwise I will be spending Sunday night at the drafting board trying to convey my ideas into a printed plan.

On Monday, me and a couple of buds are coming from Michigan to get the car in eastern Ohio, load it up and deliver it to Advanced Ch***is , near the Indiana state line, for a front-half job. I'll take my camera to do***ent the start of the rebuild process.

 

The front of the restored 72 CKC vega F/C with it's un-altered original 1972 Logghe ch***is, hope this helps.




You can see the frontend of the ch***is in this video.
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Thanks Kenneth, That's sorta what I am planning but with the bottom tube being the top hanger for the top shock bung. I ended up drawing up some plans to work off of.

 

120"! So cool. Race it.

 

Just got back from Ohio where we delivered the car to Advanced for update. Now the fun begin$.

 

Here is what we got accomplished in three shop days:

new main rails

a new front axle


hung the shocks


a very simple, straight-forward 4-bar suspension - about two inches of total travel


Tomorrow I will machine the Ford-six-to-powerglide block plate and Thursday we will install the dummy engine and finish up a few details before bringing it back home. I am really excited about how the front end turned out - a straight axle look with coil overs similar to the Logghe funny car ch***is picture Kenneth posted. I look forward to setting this car up with a bullet proof six / 'glide combo and hitting some of the regional nostalgia races. Stop by and chat if you see us at your track.

 

Looking good, can't wait to see it with the 6cyl in it.

 

After a few finishing details such as placement of the gas pedal and fuel tank mounts we brought the car home from Advanced Ch***is today. I am anxious to finish it off and get some seat time in 'er again after a decade of languishing. I think I am going to put a stock type U-flow head on it with one of my homemade 3 x 1 tri-power intakes - if my headers will clear it. Then add a hi-stall 8-inch converter, a 1.82 Powerglide, and a 5.14 pig and try it out. New interior tinwork and paint job too in a bright orange or yellow with retro panels and lace or some such.

EDIT: MY PHOTOS ARE NO LONGER BEING DISPLAYED SO I JUST GRABBED SOME RANDOM SHOTS AND REPOSTED THEM HERE.

P.S. THE CAR RUNS LIKE A DREAM

 

Greg- Do you think you will have it ready for Thompson in June?

 

I think you have chosen a very sensible route to travel with this car. It should be fun and it's bound to give you at least a sense of what it used to be. For me it would be enought to just sit in it and still be able to run down the track. Your newer car can provide the ***** tingle.

Frank

 

It may be Mike, but other projects beckon, so we'll see. I feel no sense of urgency at this point. I am just relieved that it will once again be ready-to-race. I do look forward to running with my buds in the Gunslingers Nostalgia Altered pack. When it happens it happens.

By the way, I was able to reconstruct this car for about a quarter of the cost of building a new altered.

WANTED: 8 inch Powerglide converter with Powerglide input splines. 5000 - 5500 stall speed