Projects ---Willys Gasser Build---Burning Rubber Back In Time

I have the opportunity to work with a Drag Racing Legend. I have been offered the opportunity to work with Gene Fulton (Fulton Competition Racing Engines) and his team on building his 60’s Era Willys Gasser. The team is working to get it ready for the South East Gasser Association race on April 26 at Greer Dragway. This is my first post with pictures so please bare with me. I will try and add pictures as I can. fficeffice" /><O></O>
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Here a few shots of the frame pieces. The frame rails, ladder bars, Front bars for axle, all pieces have been hand made. Working on getting all the pieces welded up and together as one. One Pic shows Fulton as like an old magazine add, " Get Your Gasser Frame Today." I think we are having more fun than anything working on this project.

 

subscribed, looking good

 

Really bitchin you guys are doing this. Quain told me Gene was jumping in, and his involvement should bring more attention to it all. Tell Gene I'm calling foul on the heads though.

 

To cool!


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Wow great news!

 

Cool
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Well to keep it old school looking, Decision was made to go with 8 two barrels. Just picked up a piece of plate and went to work on the layout. It was cool to see this piece fabricated.

 

A few of the pictures in the first of the post was Caldwell cutting out the linkage pieces for the carburetors. The fun part will be if the jets need to be changed, all the carburetors have to come off......

 

Any chance of some more pictures of your ladder bars please, and a little explanation on their build and reasoning for the length. Loving the look of this build.



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8 x 2 barrels... a bold and brave decision... especially considering all the directions this one could have gone

I'm in on this one

 

Great build. As a retired machinist I can appreciate your milling/ boring work. SUBSCRIBED

 

Subscribed. My kind of build!

 

Cool chassis, nice to see a dropped axle. Are you using a small coil spring & separate shock?

 

Ponti461, I am no great chassis builder, so I asked Gene about the ladder bars. He was trying to educate me on the Center of Gravity of the car. He started explaining it like this, lets say you want to hook a Jet Engine to the back of your car. If you put it down low, which would be lower than the center of gravity for the car it would want to push the car up into a wheel stand, if you put the Jet Engine above the center of gravity of the car, it would want to push the nose of the car down. You would want to put the engine pushing right at the center of gravity of the car, that way it would want to push the car straight. So on the car the rear tires are on the ground pushing the car, so ladder bars need to be designed to somehow try and push toward the center of gravity of the car. Gene’s length and size are setup to try and do so, but by the South East Gasser Assoc. I believe there rule is they cannot go past the bell housing to mount. Not sure if this helps but just trying to reply what I was told. I will work to get you a better pic of the ladder bars.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

Henry, I wish I could work with you awhile and learn some machining. One this build Gene is teaching me some techniques on using a lathe and mill. I have been learning a lot. The machining the parts are cool to me. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

WillysGuy, by the rules we are going by we cannot run a coil over. So we are setting the car up to run a shock and separate coil.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

Chop1up please tell me he's not planning to use the springs from the coil overs and mount them separate. He has already found a crack in the rules and put coil springs on the front (coil springs on a straight axle ?:"*!!!). Gene is going to cause me to pull my hair out on this build I can see that already. I've worked with Gene on many projects over the last 35 years and he always go's the extra mile to re-engineer stuff, that's what has made him the greatest engine builder ever (in my book). But our group is not about re-engineer the 60s it's about trying as best as we can to relive them. After all remember innovation is what killed the gassers in the 70s lets don't do that to our deal.

 

Quain you are right, Gene is an engineer. He seems to amaze me all the time at his shop. I don't know all the rules that are setup or how things can and cant be done, I'm just a helping hand enjoying being around such a great group of people that you have joined together. I have had the opportunity to meet some of the great if not the greatest people in drag racing.

 

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Coils springs in the front or the rear are not new engineering, and there were guys back in the gasser era that ran coil sprung front and rear axles. Yes, people early on really tried to improve their chassis, and get their cars to hook up and go faster, plus handle well! Engineering didn't kill the gassers, drastic changes in scratch built tube chassis and full fiberglass bodies killed the gassers!
Let Gene build a good chassis for your car. One that's safe, and goes straight down the track. I sure wouldn't 2nd guess someone with his talent.

 

Hey Quain, This is off subject, but I spend most of my life off subject. Do you think at the Gasser Race, we could see Quain Stott and Gene Fulton for a Heads-Up Race on Unicycles? To see who is the best. I have witness both of yall riding and it looks like it would be a close race. My wife wants to know, if you are a great drag racer do you have to know how to ride a Unicycle? She knows yall two and yall both ride......

 

Sounds like fun Gene and I are both out of practice on the unicycles but I'll practice up and take the challenge some time this year. Donovan Stott (white trash Anglia) also rides he may want in on the action. If we do it at a South East Gasser race the unicycles will have to be period correct LOL.

 

First off Gene is not building the car for Chop1up he is building it for himself. I don't have a problem with coil springs in the rear plenty had them. I have seen one from the era that had them in front I'm sure there is more. The problem is twisting the rules to make the cars handle and work better now the other 25 cars that are built to the letter of the rules will have to change to be competitive. I did not put in the rules that you could not use the small coil spring from the coil over because I thought anyone that would go to the trouble to build a car for our deal would be in the same spirit that the rest of us are. My bad, the rules don't say he can't and I'm not going to change it now, but it won't be legal in 2015 so anybody else that is thinking about copying Gene keep this in mind. Gene will be hard enough to out run with the same equipment that everybody else has.

 

another cool build!

 

Quain is correct, I am only helping Gene. Not sure if I am helping him or hurting him with my abilities. I am always looking on the hamb at everyones cool projects. I asked Gene if he mind me posting some of the photos of the build as it went along on the HAMB. He said yes no problem. I have more time on my hands to post some of the build than Gene has, I just want people who are interested to be able to see the gasser as its put together. To me seeing cars built is better than just seeing the finished product. I am just a friend of Gene, Quain,Porter, and the others I have meet within the Gasser World. Gene, Quain, and Porters garage doors has always been open to me and allowed me to see what they are working on or worked on through the years. Thanks guys....

 

The carburetors need a little adjustments. Through the years Gene said he has seen many engines distroyed because the little brass vent has fallen off and down into the motor. So looking at adjusting this problem.

 

Didn't realize the build was Gene's; guess I missed that part. So what happens in 2015? Are the cars that have been OK in the rules previously required to change their setup, or are they grandfathered in at that point? I understand they are your rules, and they are designed more to keep the cars equal, than to be period correct in some cases.

 

So far I haven't seen one single "Willis" part...

 

Vegas you are right, as I look through the pictures I dont have many of the Willys. I try and take a few more.