Good to know you are home again Tom, follow the doctors orders and heal fast. We'll keep you in our thoughts.
Thanks for the phone call Tom.. You had us kinda worried.. Glad everything is looking up..Just do what the DRs say, And you'll be fine..
Glad to hear it, now finish the job right. Four extra days, eh? 'Kay, s'what improvements didja have'em do while you was in there? Steadier nerves? Quicker reactions? More lead in the foot? C'mon, 'fess up.
Old Jimmy Six -- ThingyM -- Four Banger -- bobw -- Nexxussian Mudflap261 -- 64 DODGE 440 -- old6rodder Well a big thank you for your concerns and I am glad to be out of the hospital. I will not be working on the car for 3-4 weeks as per "Doc" orders, but a little work that I am not able to do will be done by my good friend Danny V during my recovery. Hope to get the front roll bar and helmit bars in and a support under the seat to mount it. Dick, it would take more than a few extra days in the Hospital to improve my reaction time, but you know I had a lot of time to think about racing while I was in there. Thought about a "Laser Reaction Device" implanted in the same hole they went through that works off the 3rd yellow, nothing fancy .010-.020, but Butchy gets all snippy when you try to advance the O/W Class. Anyway at the rates they charge it would have cost me $70,000 and still no guarantee I would win. So I gess I will do it the same way everyone else does; boy is it going to be a hard learn. Anyone out there reading this thread you will not find a nicer group HA/GR & SDRA of caring people. Don't sit on the fence, get involved.
Tom after spending many weeks this year and last recoverying from surgeons knives I know what you are going through. The waiting to get back is really hard on the nerves. Just do what the doctor says and don't jump in to fast because the set back can be worse than what you have just went through. Get well and come back energized. Roy
OBFB HA/GR -- Old Jimmy Six -- Nigel and Roy, thanks for the good word and support. I am going to stay right on the doctors recovery plan so I hopefully will be back to building in 3-4 weeks, but the old body will let me know when it is time.
Well can't work on the car so it is time to find a few parts. Any of you SDRA guys have a Hurst Quarter Stick Shifter for PG that you would part with for the right price? Also need a mechanical water temp gauge and a mechanical oil pressure gauge. Used is fine, no need for new ones.
The Oil Pressure gauge is going in the mail this afternoon. It's an SW 100 lb max. Sorry, it's a little dirty, but it should clean up good. Merry Christmas! Heal fast.
Love to send it to you Nigel, but that would probably only leave me with about 20 HP to use in our car.
64 Dodge 440 -- Tom, I got the pressure gauge the other day, looks like it will work out very nice. Thank you very much.
Glad to be able to help. God only knows how much support and volunteered parts have gone into our project. Good to be able to pay it forward a bit when I can.
Anyone got some old exhaust headers that they want to sell? I think to even make this baby 194 run I need to build some headers. Looking for a used set of exhaust headers that are for the Chevy 194/230/250 6 cylinder motor. Need not be nice as I am going to cut them up to fit my SDRA dragster I am building. Cheap is good, what's out there? The ones I am looking for are a pair (3 tubes to 1 collector). Please PM me with price & shipping to 93312.
Tom if you can cut your own flanges then go to the website of Speedway and they have header kits for small block Chevies with u-bends so you can design your own. You will have two collectors and then you can buy a piece of straight pipe to make up for the lengths you will need. The kit sells for around a $100 and they are good people. If you take the exhaust gaskets to someone who has a mill they could knock out a set of flanges quick. I had a set made and while he was at I had him make a set that I gave to Ron Golden.
Old Jimmy Six -- Ya Roy, I have seen those kits in Speedway Motor. I am going to check with Hells Gate Hot Rods as they sell the pair of flanges and I can get them with the stubs welded in.
I have a question for the SDRA guys. Your rules call for a (Min 52" track width) on the rear of the SDRA cars. How and where do you take this measurement? Some groups take it from outside/outside of the rear tires, others from center to center and some from inside/inside of rear tire. It don't matter about how it's done, only need to know how you guys call it. As a foot note, I am getting better each day. Old guys like me take a lot longer to heal. My Prostate surgery was very hard and took about 5 hours because of other problems in the area. The Dr said it may be 2-3 months before I am back to my old self. Some close friends might say that was a marginal area at best. I have my fingers crossed that I will be ready for our 2012 ANRA Opener the end of April.
We older folks aren't as good at cell regeneration compared to when we were young. But it sounds like you are coming along just fine. My wife's bunion surgery is still causing me pain. Heal as fast as you can and get that thing to the April Meet.
Old28 We measure that at the center of the tire. You can use the newer front wheel drive wheels to get close.
bobw -- Ya Bob, the car will be ready for the April race, but the driver is still in question. I may have to find a shoe for the first race. You know what they say, Drivers are a dime a dozen. In this economy it shouldn't cost that much. CrkInsp -- Thanks for the reply Jr, That is how I have always done it. My setup is 53" now.
Just a note to make sure anyone looking for a new "never raced" complete rolling chassis HA/GR should check out Skip Pipes ad in the "Cars For Sale" section - New HA/GR or SDRA $4,000 and the motor in the "Parts For Sale" section - 270 Turn-Key Engine with 4-Speed $4,000 He builds top notch rides, may want to check this car and motor out before you start building one. Skip hope you don't mind me posting this on my thread. Just trying to increase the car count of the HAMBster's.
Hi Tom, Im flattered that you did, and I really appreciate it. Id love to run the Dragster, but if I do Ill never finish my Bonneville roadster. Someone could drop in an inexpensive 250/292 with a simple PG in the car it would be a lot of fun. Thanks again, Skip Pipes
Well this has been a good week for therapy for me as I was able to pickup the car from my good buddy Danny V how has been doing some work on the car while I am recovering from surgery. I will never be able to thank him enough for what he has done for me. The front cage section, helmet bars, brake peddle setup and the body panels were all done by him. I had started fabricating both the floor plates and the firewall before my surgery and need to finish them along with building the trans cover. I have been collecting a lot of stuff in the past 3 months and it should keep me busy for a while. Working on the car today has been the best therapy I have had in many months, glad to have the car home. Just a few pictures of the work that was done, more later.
ThingyM -- Ya Dick, I am real pleased on how the cage came out and I have a good 3" clearance on the front with my helmet that should keep tech guys happy. It takes racers like you and Danny to help a old "Driver" try to be a "Builder", but I like the direction the car is going. The body panels and the brake setup look real nice. I picked up a jeep drive shaft that has 1310 ends that will work out good to cut down. I will just use 1310 spicier unit for the powerglide end and a 1310/1350 for the rear on my 8.8 housing. I need to get the new rear yoke so I can get a measurement. I stand by what I said above, today working on the car (cleaning only) was the best day I have had sence my operation.
The Jalopy Journal
