Barn Owl Lover
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I'd like to report this post as awesome.
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Auto Racing?
- Thread starter Barn Owl Lover
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Brad4065
Well-known member
I love racing, and done a few laps at Willow Springs in CA, BMW course, Talladega and a few others .
Go fast or go home
This is my 1967, WO23J factory dragcar. This car was sold to factory racer Jack Thomas, of N. Chicagoland for $1.00 He raced it for the 1967 season, then moved on to the 1968 Hemi-Dart. This car changed-hands many times, before I got the used-up shell in 1999. Six years later, it was finished and I raced it for awhile....before relegating it to a showcar/streetcar/occasional pass at mopar shows. I hope this year returns Americans to the freedoms we had before the plandemic. I really want to make a few passes in this car, again.
GuntherRommel
Well-known member
71' cuda is my dream car, year i was born. I wish i had $500,000 laying around
This is one my more embarrassing financial stories. I wanted a 71 Cuda so bad, I loved the gills and the 4 headlights. I found one in Killeen, TX when I was 15 (1985). The guy wanted $1500 for it but I had to cut the tree down that was growing up through the engine compartment. All I had was $1049 dollars (yes, it was that exact) and the guy wouldn’t budge. I was heartbroken. I left empty handed. When I got home my dad could see the anguish in my face and he knew how hard I had worked on saving money and how difficult it was to find a 71 Cuda to begin with. He told me he would give me the rest of the money to buy it. Give. In my family there is NO give, there is only work. So, this was a huge thing to say the least.
The next day my dad asked me if I would consider a 1970 factory Hemi Cuda, one of our race buddies had one for sale for $10k and my dad thought it might be a good investment. It was a 4 speed car with only 640 miles on it. It had been a drag car for its entire life. An original Hemi Cuda for $10k. Because my dad had been so generous with offering to give me the money for the 71 I declined. No way would I ever ask my dad for $8951. Even when he offered.
The next weekend I borrowed a trailer and chain saw and drove back down to Killeen and picked up my 71. I wouldn’t trade the memories for all the money in the world, but damn, I sure would have liked to had the hundreds of thousands of dollars that 70 would have brought.
I can only find this picture but the wife says she know where more are.
Circa 1987 Ennis, TX
The next day my dad asked me if I would consider a 1970 factory Hemi Cuda, one of our race buddies had one for sale for $10k and my dad thought it might be a good investment. It was a 4 speed car with only 640 miles on it. It had been a drag car for its entire life. An original Hemi Cuda for $10k. Because my dad had been so generous with offering to give me the money for the 71 I declined. No way would I ever ask my dad for $8951. Even when he offered.
The next weekend I borrowed a trailer and chain saw and drove back down to Killeen and picked up my 71. I wouldn’t trade the memories for all the money in the world, but damn, I sure would have liked to had the hundreds of thousands of dollars that 70 would have brought.
I can only find this picture but the wife says she know where more are.
Circa 1987 Ennis, TX
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Since there are so many Dodge fans here does anyone know Jim Hale in Van Buren, Arkansas? He‘s been racing Super Stock for decades and was the one that got me into Mopars, especially Hemi’s. I remember watching him and ”Dandy” Dick Landy race. Good times.
Personally know him....no. Know him to see him at the mopar events.... Yes.
Mopar racers, are a big "family". That picture is awesome [nice memory] looks like an old SS/D or E car. That Rat-Roaster intake/AFB's was only "really" used on those cars. It worked well for the time.... but pooled fuel, and guys would blow the lids off those manifolds. Nice old ones, have gotten too pricey for me to have one for giggles.
My parents bought that ragtop from a bank repo auction, in the dead of winter. Jan 1972. My mom LOVED that car, and left it to me in her will. It needed a complete roto-resto. The original engine/trans were long gone....so after I got about 1/2 way into the resto, I decided to update it to our aging bodies. It now has a 6.4 hemi/NAG1 trans, custom one-off headers, hand-fabbed stainless exhaust, hydroboost brakes, big Wilwoods, updated stock-type front-end [Borgeson, Bilstein, Hotchkis, PST, QA1 etc]. A/C, stock appearing digital/GPS dash, and so on..... Other than the wheels [big brakes=big wheels], shifter, and gas pedal, it looks as close to stock as possible. I've done some subtle changes that only a real mopar guy would see, to my tastes. It'll be ready for this summer. I have 100's of pics of the build. We did so much fabricating...it's mind boggling. Most of my pics are too large to load.
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Making your 70 into a driver is smart. I was at Barrett Jackson a few months ago and was surprised how many people have accepted the “non factory” aspect of muscle cars. When I was still active in the muscle car crowd things had to be 100% factory. That crowd still exist but they are now the minority. People want to enjoy the older cars and like to have the modern performance and reliability. I was surprised to see it but I was very glad to see how much updated drivers were bringing. Still big money.
Oh, you just posted her in OG trim. That is spectacular! Oh boy, I guess I am going to have to dig out some old photo albums.
My 71 was a 340 car originally. It was still a street car when I got it. I rebuilt the 340 and drove it to high school. I saved my pennies and bought the Hemi from Joe Smith Race Cars in Dallas along with a factory E body K member. I took everything to Jim Hale who took me under his wing and taught me about rebuilding a Hemi and how to set up the car. He put the Dana 60 in for me and we rebuilt the engine together. I really wanted a cross ram but they were out of my price range. He had that rat roaster and told me he would trade me straight up for my intake. It turns out it was one of the original 64 intakes that had the Chrysler emblem on it. He had sold a car to Reggie Jackson but didn’t have the correct intake so he desperately wanted mine. Of course I said yes, it was the least I could do.
Man, I haven‘t thought about this stuff in years....
My Cuda went from a daily driver, to getting a roll bar, then ladder bars, then a 4 link, then a full cage, then blown alcohol, then a Brad Anderson Stage V with a whipple, and finally to injected nitro. As far as I know I had the only injected nitro 3000 lb all steel door slammer in the early 90’s. I’m an idiot. I know.
Oh, you just posted her in OG trim. That is spectacular! Oh boy, I guess I am going to have to dig out some old photo albums.
My 71 was a 340 car originally. It was still a street car when I got it. I rebuilt the 340 and drove it to high school. I saved my pennies and bought the Hemi from Joe Smith Race Cars in Dallas along with a factory E body K member. I took everything to Jim Hale who took me under his wing and taught me about rebuilding a Hemi and how to set up the car. He put the Dana 60 in for me and we rebuilt the engine together. I really wanted a cross ram but they were out of my price range. He had that rat roaster and told me he would trade me straight up for my intake. It turns out it was one of the original 64 intakes that had the Chrysler emblem on it. He had sold a car to Reggie Jackson but didn’t have the correct intake so he desperately wanted mine. Of course I said yes, it was the least I could do.
Man, I haven‘t thought about this stuff in years....
My Cuda went from a daily driver, to getting a roll bar, then ladder bars, then a 4 link, then a full cage, then blown alcohol, then a Brad Anderson Stage V with a whipple, and finally to injected nitro. As far as I know I had the only injected nitro 3000 lb all steel door slammer in the early 90’s. I’m an idiot. I know.
LOL....awesome!!! That's how it goes, when you get that hemi bug. And people think HK's are expensive. LOL
I had the first set of Jesel rocker-gear on aluminum heads. It was designed for SS/AH cars [iron head]. We bought a set, and had to send it back to Jesel for machining and new stands. We sent our cylinder head too. Once I bought the whole Jesel valvetrain....I knew I was in trouble. Fortunately for me, I never got the bug for power-adders. Just too many cars at once...
I had the first set of Jesel rocker-gear on aluminum heads. It was designed for SS/AH cars [iron head]. We bought a set, and had to send it back to Jesel for machining and new stands. We sent our cylinder head too. Once I bought the whole Jesel valvetrain....I knew I was in trouble. Fortunately for me, I never got the bug for power-adders. Just too many cars at once...
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Wow, the geometry of the Jesel even looks different. The Brad heads were raised rocker and kept the rocker to valve cap clearance at a maximum when running a lot of lift (after sinking the valves into the head). Was that the upgrade for the Jesel? It sure looks good. I LOVED the aluminum water heads. A buddy of mine in California had a set of dual plug water aluminum heads which I thought were about the coolest thing in the world. This was WAY before the aftermarket heads of today.
It wasn’t as much fun the faster I went. I kept thinking it was the speed that made it fun but it wasn’t. It was always about trying something new, the thrill of the chase. Once we went to the billet heads and 2 MSD ProMag 44’s, and a giant Whipple that I couldn’t even see around it was just a lot of work. If anyone has ever tried to work on an E-body with a Hemi it is tough. Working on one where the heads needed to come off after every pass (without removable fenders) is downright insane. Did I mention I was an idiot? I wish I had all the money I ever spent on cars... and guns. Now I’m depressed.
It wasn’t as much fun the faster I went. I kept thinking it was the speed that made it fun but it wasn’t. It was always about trying something new, the thrill of the chase. Once we went to the billet heads and 2 MSD ProMag 44’s, and a giant Whipple that I couldn’t even see around it was just a lot of work. If anyone has ever tried to work on an E-body with a Hemi it is tough. Working on one where the heads needed to come off after every pass (without removable fenders) is downright insane. Did I mention I was an idiot? I wish I had all the money I ever spent on cars... and guns. Now I’m depressed.
GuntherRommel
Well-known member
That is a sleeper wagon right there. to bad its not a woody
A hemi is tight in any mopar with factory wheel-wells. Once you get cast covers on the thing.....it's stupid. The individual rocker-shafts of the Jesel system, allow for straighter and lighter rocker-arms[less geometry and side-loading] which all equated to RPMs and less breakage for those SS/AH cars. [9Krpm]. Did I "need" them....no. Were they too cool for school...YES. The lifters were also a marvel. Aluminum bodies with moly sleeves. Much lighter. The 4 hemi engines we've built since then, have been less expensive, and honestly more impressive on the dyno. Quality old-school parts, pump-gas, and lots of time on the cam events. The engine in the silver car is a 496[a baby in this world], runs on 93 octane, and made 886/732@ 7200rpms. The SB we're building for the yellow `cuda, is gonna be pretty cool. 454cid, Ritter block, good heads, Jesel rocker-gear, and all the stupid stuff. Never built a serious SB before, so we're get silly with this one. I'm hoping this is the last engine I build.
To sum everything up that you just posted...........I CAN RELATE.