What's Your Ride?

55 photos

Lee
Finally getting it together here.

My old office on the weekends. This was a radio delete stick car.
55 Interior.jpg


This is late at night after a race at Fremont. Notice there is no trophy on the table. Blew the trans in the first round and limped through the lights with a 12:72. How do I know all this? My wife took the picture and wrote down the info on the back of photo. She has always been ra eal neat lady and we have spent an anniversary or two at the track.
Kitchen.jpg


That's my son (now 53) pointing at the number eight on the window, meaning I was the eighth D/G car over the scales that morning and I know I wasn't the last. You had to love heads up racing.
Fremont.jpg
 
dmort said:
Lee
Finally getting it together here.

My old office on the weekends. This was a radio delete stick car.
View attachment 17451


This is late at night after a race at Fremont. Notice there is no trophy on the table. Blew the trans in the first round and limped through the lights with a 12:72. How do I know all this? My wife took the picture and wrote down the info on the back of photo. She has always been ra eal neat lady and we have spent an anniversary or two at the track.
View attachment 17452


That's my son (now 53) pointing at the number eight on the window, meaning I was the eighth D/G car over the scales that morning and I know I wasn't the last. You had to love heads up racing.
View attachment 17453
Click to expand...

This is from the olden days.
 
I think the titanium valve was ground too thin for flow. Cracked on a stress riser from not enough radius is best guess.
 
As far as i know it was a 1 piece titanium with the stem ground down for more flow. I dont do head work theres guys that do that way better
 
Bike Racers

Dusty
Been watching your post's for awhile and I have always thought bike guy's were a little different. 155 in 6 sec. is scary. You have to have some
serious gonzo's to be doing that.
I once raced a bike in an 11 sec. Eliminator Bracket. I got a huge head start and just beat him. I was maybe still around 110 or so and the bike go's by like I was coasting. I was happy that I got there first but I'm thinking this guy is nuts.
To bad about the motor but I'm sure you will figure it out.

Good luck.
 
Life goes on it was back in a week. These days i feel safer on the track than on the street. Couldnt ever afford to race cars so i just had a couple of vettes. Id rather somebody hit me in a vette while texting than on a bike so i keep it around for outlaw bike nights at the track and bike rallies
 
dmort said:
Dusty
Been watching your post's for awhile and I have always thought bike guy's were a little different. 155 in 6 sec. is scary. You have to have some
serious gonzo's to be doing that.
I once raced a bike in an 11 sec. Eliminator Bracket. I got a huge head start and just beat him. I was maybe still around 110 or so and the bike go's by like I was coasting. I was happy that I got there first but I'm thinking this guy is nuts.
To bad about the motor but I'm sure you will figure it out.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

I raced APBA Circle Boats all through the '70's. All three inboard classes, Ski Racing Runnabout, Super Stock, and K Boat. I was pretty good at it. I went over twice, but survived. It's a story for another day why on a cold weekend in Parker Arizona, I just quit, cold turkey.

After that, I decided to get into something safer........Drag Bikes.

I started out with just a gas Harley, but in short time built a High Gear Only Fuel Harley. I literally hand built the engine, (128 cubic inches), machining the cases from 7075 T-6 aluminum. The lower part of the engine was Shovel Head, the top, (heads), cast iron Sporster that we machined the deck off of and 100 percent brazed a larger steel deck surface onto for a larger bolt pattern and more sealing area. Machined the jugs from StressProof steel, no liners, used 5 1/4 S&S flywheels, Carrillo Rods, and 3 7/8 Arias pistons that came with a blank dome that I machined to match the heads. The cam was a custom Andrews grind. We ran it on what ever was in the Drum, (98%), plus about 2 ounces per gallon of Propylene Oxide, which I could get from the gas freeing plant at a local shipyard.

The frame was a Kosman, we ran a 3 inch cog belt from the engine to the jack shaft, duel row Subaki Chain to the tire. It was geared to turn a around 6500 RPM.

I had it running in the low nines at about 160 in the quarter, low fives in the eighth at about 140.

Most people that know me know that it almost killed me back in 1984, when I went off it at the old Houston International Raceway in Dickinson. When they finally put me back together, I promised my Wife I would never race again.

I think that like a lot of guys that have a competitive nature, I did not want to become a "use ta", that being, "I use to do this, I use to do that". Benchrest Shooting satisfies my need to compete, my Chevelle satisfies my need to relive some of the glories of my younger days, which of course, are gone and live only in the multitudes of trophys gathering dust, in some box, under a pile of junk in the attic.

I enjoy threads like this. It shows that those involved in Benchrest are by nature those that have lead a rather interesting life, were involved a lot lot of things that many just "wish" they would have been able to do, and refuse to just become part of the furniture in the living room of life.

Or, as I said, become a "use ta".
 
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Another of my past race cars: '67 Camaro SS/IA 327/275 horse combo. Cooling it down in the staging lanes before the semi finals.

 
I had a four cylinder Honda 500 motorcycle. Once the "new" wore off, I became hell bent to beat a Kawasaki 900 in a local drag race. I bought some Yoshimura parts and set in building the motor. Took a while because you had to do a bunch of machining to make it all work right. The finished product wasn't really good for drag racing and I didn't have enough guts to do it correctly but that darn thing would absolutely set sail on the interstate. I'd ride it 20 miles to the interstate late at night and let it loose from one exit to the next. The hair on my arms would get hot. I would begin thinking about the stuff I left stock and couldn't force myself to go farther than one exit. Good thing I supose! I sold it to a fellow that wrote me a bad check on his father's account and ended up with about half the money. The fellow's father said he didn't have that much money and offered me what he had...and I took it!

Thing wouldn't fall out of a tree at less than 6000 RPMs. From 6000 to 12000 it would peel the hide off your eyes.

That thing taught me a few lessons. One of the biggest lessons was that you had to have the guts to ride such and the only way you can learn that is to build one. Similar to benchrest shooting in that respect. Benchrest shooting is a little safer....
 
educations cost money,
when it comes to cars, its is
CUBIC MONEY
 
Wilbur said:
I had a four cylinder Honda 500 motorcycle. Once the "new" wore off, I became hell bent to beat a Kawasaki 900 in a local drag race. I bought some Yoshimura parts and set in building the motor. Took a while because you had to do a bunch of machining to make it all work right. The finished product wasn't really good for drag racing and I didn't have enough guts to do it correctly but that darn thing would absolutely set sail on the interstate. I'd ride it 20 miles to the interstate late at night and let it loose from one exit to the next. The hair on my arms would get hot. I would begin thinking about the stuff I left stock and couldn't force myself to go farther than one exit. Good thing I supose! I sold it to a fellow that wrote me a bad check on his father's account and ended up with about half the money. The fellow's father said he didn't have that much money and offered me what he had...and I took it!

Thing wouldn't fall out of a tree at less than 6000 RPMs. From 6000 to 12000 it would peel the hide off your eyes.

That thing taught me a few lessons. One of the biggest lessons was that you had to have the guts to ride such and the only way you can learn that is to build one. Similar to benchrest shooting in that respect. Benchrest shooting is a little safer....
Click to expand...


Well..did you beat the Kawasaki? In 1976,I bought a brand new Kawasaki 900LTD. It was the fastest factory street Bike in 1976. Had fun beating suped up Honda 500's, and 750's.


Glenn
 
No! I never did beat that thing. I could have if I'd had the nerve to leave the line at 12 grand but I didn't and that's that! That 900 Kawasaki was a really good bike. Good first and fast second. The 750 Kawasaki, the 2 stroke deal, was entirely awesome but it had the same problem I did...and I was able to wear them out every Saturday night. It depended entirely on what happened when the flag dropped and I had more practice, cowardly practice, than anybody in attendance. The 750 Kawasaki woulda done well if it didn't have that low end stall or spin problem. It was only fast...nothing good about it. I did give that drag racing (street deal) up when I passed a black angus cow that got out and wandered into the road....missed it about a foot at considerable speed. I don't think that cow quit getting out but I quit drag racing on a motorcycle!
 
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Bike Racers

Jackie
Just saw your post. Great Read.
I don't know anything about the boat classes but I think it's safe to assume you were pretty much on the edge.

You were talking about trophy's being somewhere up in the attic. I tossed mine during one of our moves and my son has never forgiven me.
I told him I got pictures, what else do I need? He just shakes his head.
 
jackie schmidt said:
I raced APBA Circle Boats all through the '70's. All three inboard classes, Ski Racing Runnabout, Super Stock, and K Boat. I was pretty good at it. I went over twice, but survived. It's a story for another day why on a cold weekend in Parker Arizona, I just quit, cold turkey.

After that, I decided to get into something safer........Drag Bikes.

I started out with just a gas Harley, but in short time built a High Gear Only Fuel Harley. I literally hand built the engine, (128 cubic inches), machining the cases from 7075 T-6 aluminum. The lower part of the engine was Shovel Head, the top, (heads), cast iron Sporster that we machined the deck off of and 100 percent brazed a larger steel deck surface onto for a larger bolt pattern and more sealing area. Machined the jugs from StressProof steel, no liners, used 5 1/4 S&S flywheels, Carrillo Rods, and 3 7/8 Arias pistons that came with a blank dome that I machined to match the heads. The cam was a custom Andrews grind. We ran it on what ever was in the Drum, (98%), plus about 2 ounces per gallon of Propylene Oxide, which I could get from the gas freeing plant at a local shipyard.

The frame was a Kosman, we ran a 3 inch cog belt from the engine to the jack shaft, duel row Subaki Chain to the tire. It was geared to turn a around 6500 RPM.

I had it running in the low nines at about 160 in the quarter, low fives in the eighth at about 140.

Most people that know me know that it almost killed me back in 1984, when I went off it at the old Houston International Raceway in Dickinson. When they finally put me back together, I promised my Wife I would never race again.

I think that like a lot of guys that have a competitive nature, I did not want to become a "use ta", that being, "I use to do this, I use to do that". Benchrest Shooting satisfies my need to compete, my Chevelle satisfies my need to relive some of the glories of my younger days, which of course, are gone and live only in the multitudes of trophys gathering dust, in some box, under a pile of junk in the attic.

I enjoy threads like this. It shows that those involved in Benchrest are by nature those that have lead a rather interesting life, were involved a lot lot of things that many just "wish" they would have been able to do, and refuse to just become part of the furniture in the living room of life.

Or, as I said, become a "use ta".
Click to expand...

You told me the story of your disaster of a wreck on that drag bike of yours. God only knows how you survived. Glad you lived!
 
67 Camaro

Al
My buddy used to run a Camaro in SS/I and SS/IA. Same guy that won at Indy with the K/SA car. He was partners with Rich Aceves. The SS/I car
was " Bluto And The Bean". Hardly correct today. The SS/A car was " Mulry And Aceves". They traveled out of Division 7. Did you ever race
them?
 
Ride?

Almost embarrassed to add my little foray into "stuff". Being a poor college student i the early sixties, I just drooled and rode w/ my friends with the Pontiac tripowers or the '55 Chevy coupes and 327 "full house" duals and tris- usual still in primer. Came upon a Chrysler 300G engine in a yard- messed up by burning house. Princely sum in 1963 of 175$ ,. dropped it into my Dodge 4dr, found some AFBs 2 of em on long rams. air filters, linkage, all the other stuff- I think you know what I mea. In those days the Chrysler 300G was rated at 375HP and most folks figured it was more like 550-600+. I couldnt afford the auto trans that came with it originally, so instead I fed it a steady diet of gear boxes( aint enough moey to do it right the first time but always enough to do it over). I never got to race it- scatter shields and DS hangers. I know it would pass three school buses on a 2 lane highway in a couple of seconds. The thing that didnt make sense was in 1963 it would do 22MPG all driving average.. 2 AFBs ? Now good ride is a 2006 Chebby 2500 HD crewcab long bed Duramax. Makes dragging the CC 25' express a lot easier. Works well for the farm too. Just aint no future in growin' up is there?
 
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