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

[jackie schmidt]

Joe, when I quit Boat Racing in 1979, I decided to get into something "safer", drag bike racing. We raced the old "Hog Rallys" and some IDBA Events.

A good friend and fellow boat racer was a big Harley guy, and I started out with a gas modified Shovel Head Big Twin , and in short time progressed up to a "high gear only" fuel Harley. It was on a Kosman Frame, I literally hand built the engine, 128 cubic inches with a Shovel lower end and Sportster cast iron heads, heavilly modified. I built the cases, cylinders, used Carillo Rods, 5 1/8 stroke S&S Flywheels, and had a 2 1/4 bore S&S Super Carburator . It would about 8.70 at 160 on 98% with about 3 ounces of Propoline Oxide to help it out, untill I went off of it at the old Houston International Drag Way in Dickenson Tx on a test night in 1983.

It did not kill me, but just about did everything but. That ended my desire to race, but I still like to go fast.

[Bill Ohio]

I thought I would find the time to get into the vintage muscle car thing, and even bought two '68 Camaros a few years back for such projects. But there they sit to this day, covered, and ready for somebody to appreciate them and actually get them out on the road or at least in a garage being wrenched on. One is a numbers matching 327 2-speed Powerglide coupe with factory air, and the other was (before I bought it) an SS/RS 396 4-speed. When I bought it, it came with a built 350, Speedway quick-change racing rear end, TH400 with B&M shifter thing (hate it), and much of the original dash replaced with racing stuff. However, I have a Muncie 4-speed and a 12-bolt rear end to try to bring the car back into a more road-worthy configuration.

Anybody looking for such projects? PM me!!!

They're both in Danville, CA.

In the meantime, we drive a 2010 Audi S4 and a 2011 BMW 1M. Watching the BBC's 'Top Gear' has affected us, including our wallets.

[David Halblom]

seems like alot of shooters are gear heads as well

hve known that. Go Figure. Just some of us did stuff on true engineering studies, not Brutes. SCCA wrench turning was and is a challenge.
David

[Al Nyhus]

I grew up around NHRA Stock and Super Stock drag racing. From my early teens until my late '20s, that's all I did. This was my best car, a '67 Camaro that I ran in SS/IA and SS/JA with a 327/275 Powerglide combo. I built the car from the ground up including the narrowed 12 bolt, the ladder bars, subframe connectors and roll cage. The index for SS/IA was 11.52 at the time and the car would consistently run 2 tenths under which was pretty stout at the time. It never qualified lower than 11th at any NHRA event. One cold, clear morning at a Division 5 Points Meet at Gimli, Manitoba, the car went a stout 11.07 to tie the existing National Record..... a backup run of 11.06 and I'd have the record. On the backup run, the car stood on the rear bumper and I knew it wasn't going to happen. I spent the next couple hours pulling the alum. oil pan and having an Alky Funny Car racer TIG weld a few seams.... .

The car in National Dragster Magazine:



Heads up against Jim Cook from Denver in a Chrysler factory backed SS/JA Duster. He and I both ran 11.32's....the win light went on in my lane.



Cooling it down before the semi finals in Brainerd, Mn.:



I bought and sold a lot of 409 cars and parts to help finance my way through school. This is a '62 Bel Aire 409/425 four speed that I did. I sold the car to a collector in Colorado:



Better days......my wife and youngest daughter before we headed out for some ice cream cones:

[Rembrandt]

Let's see some other cars.

Unlike some of you, my expertise was not on the power side of things, rather the looks. Restoration and paint.....here's a few of the older ones.
67-65 Corvettes

67 Corvette


71 Jag XKE V-12 Coupe


57 FI Corvette

62 Corvette

....even dabbled in dune buggies for a short time....

[jackie schmidt]

Those are some great vintage pics, Al.

And that 409 Bel Aire Post Car is super cool. There couldn't have been many of those made.

If you love "W" motors, you will love this,..http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...ail&FORM=VIRE3

Stack on a set of Edlebrock Heads and it's 1963 again, with a new twist.

[Al Nyhus]

Jackie, your Chevelle sounds like a killer street car! And you're right...the stuff available today is just amazin'.

A pal just finished a '63 Biscayne 2 dr sedan with a 409 and the Edelbrock heads. They make so much sense....the last set of 409/425 heads I sold were NIB finished castings in the orig. Chevrolet boxes and wrapped with the oiled paper packing..I got $1,800 for the pair. Now, a new set of alum. Edelbrock 'W' heads are $2500 complete and ready to bolt on! Here's an interesting fact on the 'W' 348-409 motors..the intake port spacing is almost identical to a Mopar 383-440. I've seen some slick 409 intakes made from a sheet alum. lifter valley cover and the plenum and runners from a B/RB motor welded to it. The last 409/425 motor I did went into a '63 Bel Aire 2 dr sedan (32,000 miles). The car won an Editors Choice award at the Super Chevy event at Indy.

Here's something that will make your heart ache..it's the original window sticker from a '63 Dodge 2 dr sedan 426 Max Wedge alum. front end car:


I still keep in touch with many of my old Super Stock pals in town and hit a race every once in a while. Most all of 'em have switched to the GT cars as they make better (safer) race cars with the relaxed rules on suspensions, etc. One of my pals won Best Engineered with his GT car. His son did all the chassis and tin work:



Another buddy runs this Grand Am in GT/LA and was the #1 qualifier at last weeks Winternationals in Super Stock:



I'm like a junkie with the drag race stuff...it's better if I just stay away. -Al

[Hombre0321]

354 firedome ???

No Mike, Desoto never built a 354" Hemi. This one is a one year only 1956 330" Hemi. Parts are a real bear for the Desoto's as Chrysler Corp was back in the day actual different manufacturere's. Dodge Hemi's bore no relation what so ever to either Desoto or Chrysler, as did Desoto nothing was interchangable between the three brands. It makes finging parts today a real chore.

Roland

[Butch Lambert]

Don't know what Mikey said as he is on ignore, but don't argue with him as he knows it all.

[jackie schmidt]

No Mike, Desoto never built a 354" Hemi. This one is a one year only 1956 330" Hemi. Parts are a real bear for the Desoto's as Chrysler Corp was back in the day actual different manufacturere's. Dodge Hemi's bore no relation what so ever to either Desoto or Chrysler, as did Desoto nothing was interchangable between the three brands. It makes finging parts today a real chore.

Roland

Yeh, but they all had those big fat valve covers, and that's what is really important

[Bill Gammon]

Unfortunitly I was not handy with a camera in those days and these are about the only pictures I have, taken about 1968 or so.

[Joe Woosman]

It did not kill me, but just about did everything but. That ended my desire to race, but I still like to go fast.

Jackie - I hear THAT loud and clear. Fortunately I never had a bad one on a road bike. Had a real close call on an off road bike a few years ago. I took up hare scramble racing on dirt bikes. Here's a video link for those that don't know what it is. http://www.gnccracing.com/videos/88_...---john-penton About two minutes in starts showing the good parts of the courses. These courses are 10-12 miles long with no practice riding allowed. You rely greatly on your memory from lap to lap. I was crossing a dusty field with low visibility and I had a memory lapse. Thought the trail continued straight up the side of a mountain but it didn't. It was a 90 degree turn with a 2 foot berm and I hit it 5th gear pinned. Me and the bike violently cartwheeled through a crowd of spectators. I figured it was game over for me but somehow kept my neck in one piece. I was able to walk away but had some broken ribs, punctured lung, separated shoulder and some rotator cuff damage. Lucky for me it's my left shoulder and won't affect my shooting.

Sounds like you ran a full on drag bike. I always stuck to streetable bikes and my oh my have times changed. With turbos and nitrous there's plenty of 400+hp street bikes out there. Here's a pic of my last one. It dynoed 176hp and ran low 9's the way it sits.

[Joe Woosman]

AL - VERY impressive! That is certainly getting it done. I could never stay focused enough to achieve any real level of success with a door slammer. In the mid 90's I attempted to build a pro-5.0 car. I lost my pictures of it when it was finished but here are some as I was building it. The bikes distracted me and I only got it to the track once for a test and tune. A few runs revealed some serious handling issues and I sold it instead of following through with the fixes. I also figured I couldn't afford to fix it when it blew up which was only just a matter of time. It was a stroked small block twisting 8200 at the shift point while inhaling nitrous. I did actually have a licence plate on it too.

[Vern]

I finally broke down and bought a decent one.
An RT Classic Challenger. It only has 390 hp. Nothing like most of the ones shown above but I sure am enjoying it.

[Hunter]

Unlike some of you, my expertise was not on the power side of things, rather the looks. Restoration and paint.....here's a few of the older ones.
67 Corvette



57 FI Corvette

62 Corvette

NICE vettes!