There is No words to describe what its like to stand @ starting line with the starter not behind cars with 2 10 Thou plus hp T/FC with Zoomies angle pretty much @ Yr head , if you get a chance Do It!! I wounded if the roadster Ryan posted on Nitro is same one that I have seen home video ??, filmed from early 50s The video / film was maybe 4-5 mints long ,
Thoughts your way to you and the family in recovering Ryan...but listening and breathing Hotrod/Custom helps one heal a little quicker...as mentioned the symphony of a well tuned engine and it's love of certain brews stirs the emotions...
Years ago I took my "best Bud" to drag races. His first experience with Top Fuel dragsters warming up in the pits still makes us both giggle! I had warned him about the really LOUD exhaust but not about the fumes. One drunk teenager was standing just in front of us. The first time they 'winged the throttle' it blew the drunk's hat off about 20 feet!! My buddy was trying to laugh while covering his mouth & his ears all at the same time!! Still makes me smile. No matter how much you steel yourself for the "WHOPP" of the engine...you still jump like you've been shot! 6sally6
6Sally6 , I think the video he mentions is in Brian’s thread,,,,” rebuilding after the crash “ . It’s on page 169,,,,,,post # 5067 . Tommy
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/rebuilding-after-the-crash.991650/page-169#post-14572866
Hello, The sound of that Flathead roadster was/is outstanding. Lots of power coming from that motor. It would have been nice to have that much power, let alone great sound coming from the first Flathead powered Ford Sedan Delivery I bought as a teenager. Those steep coastal highway streets would be left behind with that much power. The sound would have made it possible to enjoy some power, while whizzing up the steep slopes. It would have been a better scenario, instead of being in first gear and waving (perhaps the fickle finger of fate?) to our friends already zipping past us going uphill. Back in early history, Dana Point had only one stop light and the steep Coast Highway was a long climb to the top going back toward Salt Creek surf break or to Laguna Beach. It was a road we took to get back home to Long Beach after a days worth of surf adventures South of Dana Point. Everyone has heard of Sandy Belond and the famous Belond Exhaust Systems, too. They were an Indy race car sponsor and enjoyed the winner’s circle many times. Kustomrama has a ton of information that includes, Hedman Headers and Porter’s Muffler Service from those very early days. There are also stories about Hedman Headers and Porter’s Muffler Service on the HAMB, too. 1231 W. Vernon St.. Los Angeles, CA A pre-war building still standing, once was Sandy’s Muffler Shop. Then the move to the shop on Western Ave which is now a church. 5701 South Western Ave also in Los Angeles. The old Southern part of Los Angeles now called South Central. Then, in 1948 the new shop was on 11142 Washington Blvd. that is now a salon. It is farther West in the Culver City. How times have changed. Jnaki We experienced Nitro at various So Cal dragstrips in those early days. The sound was crisp, the smell was instantly penetrating to our senses. So, those times were memorable. But, after all of those early experiences and not smelling Nitro for the last 50 years, it was instantly noticeable when the Cacklefest of some to the top fuel racers in So Cal, fired up at the Original, Lion’s Dragstrip Museum Grand Opening in 2017. I want to say it brought music to my ears, but the ears did not have watery eyes or get a sharp jolt in the sinuses when the “aroma” filled the airspace. Even if you were standing a safe distance away, it was a penetrating, intense event. Not only was that experience memorable, my friend from high school who has/had been involved in drag racing since those times was getting his Top Fuel Class AA/FD car ready for the Cacklefest opening run. We had not seen each other since those early drag racing days. It was fun to catch up. Jerry Bivens at the Original Lion’s Dragstrip Museum Nitro Cacklefest at :39 P.S. Despite the fuel aroma and power from the huge motors, we still enjoyed the power from the vast gas powered race cars during the same time. There is something about hearing a well prepared drag racing motor fire up close by or on the push start down the dragstrip. Today's Cacklefests or 63 plus years ago... YRMV The Sidewinder at Lion’s Dragstrip in 1959
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