We Haven't Had A Good Car Thread In A While...........My '67 Chevelle

Great Rides

My first ride was in 1958 when I bought a clean '47 Ford Coupe for $80. I rubbed out the paint and put 6" shackles on the front springs to lower the front of the car. I was still in high school and had a part time job (50 cents an hour) which helped with gas but no room for anything else. The thing I associate with this car more than anything else was the total freedom it gave me. Great times......some of which will never see print.

My second ride was a '55 Chevy 2dr post, radio delete, 265 stick car that I purchased from another Marine before I was discharged in 1963. This car ended up running D/G but before that was a very quick street machine. The 265 gave way to a punched out 283 with T10 4 speed and a 4.56 rear end. The engine had Jahn's high dome pistons, 327 fuelie heads, Winters dual quad manifold with two WCFB carbs. The cam was a Duntov 30-30, reground by Ed Winflied, who had a one man shop on an alley in San Francisco. Ignition was supplied by a Corvette dual point mechanical tach drive distributor. The shifter was from a 409 4 speed car as it would clear the bench seat. Changing to 7" recap slicks this combo would run real low 14, high 13 second ET's (13.80 best) at Fremont drag strip on grudge nights. The ET doesn't sound impressive but I beat a lot of big block muscle cars that showed up and ran street tires.
 
dmort said:
My first ride was in 1958 when I bought a clean '47 Ford Coupe for $80. I rubbed out the paint and put 6" shackles on the front springs to lower the front of the car. I was still in high school and had a part time job (50 cents an hour) which helped with gas but no room for anything else. The thing I associate with this car more than anything else was the total freedom it gave me. Great times......some of which will never see print.

My second ride was a '55 Chevy 2dr post, radio delete, 265 stick car that I purchased from another Marine before I was discharged in 1963. This car ended up running D/G but before that was a very quick street machine. The 265 gave way to a punched out 283 with T10 4 speed and a 4.56 rear end. The engine had Jahn's high dome pistons, 327 fuelie heads, Winters dual quad manifold with two WCFB carbs. The cam was a Duntov 30-30, reground by Ed Winflied, who had a one man shop on an alley in San Francisco. Ignition was supplied by a Corvette dual point mechanical tach drive distributor. The shifter was from a 409 4 speed car as it would clear the bench seat. Changing to 7" recap slicks this combo would run real low 14, high 13 second ET's (13.80 best) at Fremont drag strip on grudge nights. The ET doesn't sound impressive but I beat a lot of big block muscle cars that showed up and ran street tires.
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Wow, that sounds almost identical to what my older brother built back in the early '60's. He had a 56 Chevy hardtop. He got a 283, bored it to make a 301, (remember when we called a punched out 283 a 301), Jahns pistons, 30-30 cam, double hump heads, an old Corvette duel point, with the twin side by side CFB's on that intake Edelbrock made, and a set of cheap headers going into Thrush a Cherry Bombs. A four speed with a Fenton Shifter went into a Cadillac Rear End with 456 gears.

That was one screaming car. It to would run mid to high 13's at the old Porter Drag Strip with Atlas Bucrons on the rims.

Those were the days.
 
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A 301 Chevy

Yeah Jackie, those were the days and it was pretty easy because all you had to have were seat belts and you were good to go. The street cars today make so much horsepower they want you to have a drive shaft hoop and a scatter shield. If I recall, you were faced with that when you wanted to run your Chevelle.

Was your bother running a cross ram manifold? I heard they weren't very streetable. I guess it's what you are willing to put up with. My wife had a hard time with the beefed pressure plate in the '55 but continued driving the car. The '57 was really her every day driver.

The Chevy rear ends were pretty weak and with continued abuse could leave you stranded. A popular swap was the '57 Olds/Pontiac. They went in like they were meant to be there. There was a large selection of aftermarket gear ratios available.

Thanks for the response, I was hoping this might ring a bell with someone.
 
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jackie schmidt said:
As best I can remember, it looked like this.

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/greenhoe/DSCN2081_001.JPG

One reason that little engine ran so good was it probably had 13 to 1 compression. Those were the days of Gulf " Crest" and Texaco "NoKnox" gasoline.
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That's a cross ram. I had one of Phil Weiand's on the gasser with 2 E series AFB's. The best gas out here was the Chevron White Pump. I think it was around 100 octane.
I had to run the " White Pump" in the 396 SS or it would rattle sometimes.
 
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CMaier said:
the smallest "hemi's" ( fire dome) from the 50's that i remember is is about 354 or some number like that.
maybe some one de-stroked/or added liners.


well i looked it up......276ci/160hp!
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I had a 1954 Dodge with a 241cu. Red Ram engine. It had a single barrel carb.
 

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This one was sent to me by one of my old friends. It is the ONLY picture I have left . 1969 Road Runner 440 6 was run in the "Old " Pure Stock class never beaten in class comp in three years ran 12.90' at 106 after being driven 111 miles one way . 1st Pure Stock car to run in the 12's

Jim
 

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Pure Stock

Hippy said:
This one was sent to me by one of my old friends. It is the ONLY picture I have left . 1969 Road Runner 440 6 was run in the "Old " Pure Stock class never beaten in class comp in three years ran 12.90' at 106 after being driven 111 miles one way . 1st Pure Stock car to run in the 12's

Jim
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I think The NHRA only ran Pure Stock a couple of years. Why it disappeared I'm not sure. Fun for the racers but not much spectator appeal would be my guess.
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I ran my Marina Blue, Red Line tire SS 396 at Half Moon Bay a couple of times. High 14 second e.t's was the best I could do and I thought I knew how to drive. The fastest car in Pure Stock was Fred Sanderson's Olds 442. Sanderson started making headers in his garage two block's from my house.

Racing in Pure Stock ended when my wife couldn't get it out of reverse after backing it out of our driveway. They towed it back to the dealership. I told her it couldn't be my fault .....I never missed a shift.
 
dmort said:
I think The NHRA only ran Pure Stock a couple of years. Why it disappeared I'm not sure. Fun for the racers but not much spectator appeal would be my guess.
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I ran my Marina Blue, Red Line tire SS 396 at Half Moon Bay a couple of times. High 14 second e.t's was the best I could do and I thought I knew how to drive. The fastest car in Pure Stock was Fred Sanderson's Olds 442. Sanderson started making headers in his garage two block's from my house.

Racing in Pure Stock ended when my wife couldn't get it out of reverse after backing it out of our driveway. They towed it back to the dealership. I told her it couldn't be my fault .....I never missed a shift.
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I remember the "Pure Stock" classifications of the 1970's. The idea wa to actually have a class where real factory stock cars could run, and compete. By then, the traditional "Stock" classifications in NHRA had evolved into extremely expensive endevours.

From my recollection, it wasn't the awsome 454 LS-6 and L-78 Chevelles or Mustangs dominating this class, it was the 455 Buicks and Oldsmobiles.

The old Houston International Raceway NHRA track in Dickinson Tx really promoted this for a few years.

But then, as with most endevours where men compete, it turns into another money pit. It seems it was more expensive to compete in a "Pure Stock" class than it was a class where you could do modifications.

I seem to remember a comment in a publication, maybe Hot Rod, that stated....."Racing can be expensive, especially in a class where you can't change anything".

From my best recollections, the faster cars, the ones of "legend", ran mid 13's.
 
jackie schmidt said:
I remember the "Pure Stock" classifications of the 1970's. The idea wa to actually have a class where real factory stock cars could run, and compete. By then, the traditional "Stock" classifications in NHRA had evolved into extremely expensive endevours.

From my recollection, it wasn't the awsome 454 LS-6 and L-78 Chevelles or Mustangs dominating this class, it was the 455 Buicks and Oldsmobiles.

The old Houston International Raceway NHRA track in Dickinson Tx really promoted this for a few years.

But then, as with most endevours where men compete, it turns into another money pit. It seems it was more expensive to compete in a "Pure Stock" class than it was a class where you could do modifications.

I seem to remember a comment in a publication, maybe Hot Rod, that stated....."Racing can be expensive, especially in a class where you can't change anything".

From my best recollections, the faster cars, the ones of "legend", ran mid 13's.
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The Fastest "Pure Stock" cars were the MoPars -6Pac and Hemi B Bodies-the 442's and the Buick GS all of them were capable of mid to Low 13's occasionally you would see a 454 LS 5 that would run low 13's the LS 6 were usually run in Stock and Super Stock (Ray Allen DOMINATED S/S in his Convertible) They did allow Cut Outs the last year a Dear friend had a 70 RR 6 BBL -NON Ram Air that ran the best of 12:75 @ 110 with 4:30's,L 60's and cut outs

Jim
 
The main reason, as I understand it, that Pure Stocks were eliminated, was because no one could keep all of the ballistics for each individual car. Example, if you ran a Canadian Pontiac, it would have a Chev motor. Also as an example, my first brand new car was a 1964 FORD Galaxie 500 XL 390 four speed, but the dealer could install a 352 cu in, 2 barrel and manifold, and it would not void your warrenty, what class? That is how I understand it.
 
I did. I messaged a fellow Shooter what it did, (I bolted on a set of DOT's), but would rather not say on this Forum. I don't want to hear the old, "It should be quicker" from a bunch of guys that watch "street Outlaws but have never been quicker than 15 seconds.

I think a lot of people have a misconception about how difficult it is to get down a real good run in a car that is not set up for the strip. I try to make some of the car ralleys around the Houston area, and invariably someone will look at that big 540, and everything else I have done to the car, and just assume they are looking at a 10 second flat car. I wish it were that easy.

I will say this. It's a solid "eleven second car", with a lot of mph on the big end.

I plan on going back this fall. I have a drive shaft loop now, that was really the big hurdle. I am also going to program the 6 speed auto to shift at 6000 rpm and go through in full auto.I have been playing with it, and it is smarter than I am.
 
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Butch Lambert said:
Seems Don Gay hung around some of the dragstrips in your area Jackie.
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Butch, The Gay Familly owned the old Houston International Raceway in Dickinson, south of Houston. Thay track is where I had that honorific drag bike crash in 1983.

They owned, and still do, a large GM dealership in Dickinson.

They were pioneers in this area in Funny Car. Back when Dick Landy was moving the wheel base forward on Hemi Mopars, they were doing the same thing to Pontiacs, and then progressed right up to the full tube chassis Finny Cars as the class grew.

They hosted Match Races quite often. That old track was really a fast track, darned neat at sea level, and a good surface. The quickest passes I ever made were on that track. At one time or another, just about every top name racer came through there.

I have a lot of fond memories of that Track, and one really bad one.
 
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