I spent last weekend at Sears Point, AKA Infineon Raceway, doing pushtruck duty for a AA/FD during the NHRA FRAM/AUTOLITE National -- no joke. The NHRA museum crowd makes "Cacklefest," which began at the CHRR some years ago, a part of most of the the regular National events. When the call went out for vehicles for Sears Point I responded and then subsequently rounded up two more vehicles to fill out the three they needed. Steve Gibbs, competition director for NHRA for many years and now in charge of the museum in his semi-retirement, sent me the pushboard "specs" which I passed on to the other two pushers -- Neal Jennings with his sweet and low '49 GMC, and Tony Miller whose beautiful black '34 Ford "Stroker McGurk" shop truck was built by Keith Tardel a couple of years ago. The diggers from the NHRA museum were the Albertson Olds (Neal Jennings in attendance), the Safford, Gaide, & Ratican "Sour Sisters," also Olds powered (Tony Miller the pusher), and the Howard Cams "Rattler" with a proper 392 Hemi (my F-1 pushing it awake). There was a fouth car, the beautifully restored Fuller-built "Vagabond" that the owner Larry Anderson takes to most NHRA events with his own transport and gear which includes a '55 Chevy two-door push car. It was a great weekend and the fans went nuts when each of the old diggers was push started and fired in the return lane in front of the main grandstand during the intermission before final eliminations. I'm ready for the 2005 CHRR! Mike Bishop
Looking good, Mike. Wondering what those "specs" are for pushboards... or is it classified? My '54 probably wont ever run fast but I know the old Y block can push. best, himmelberg
hey av8, that sounds like a job most people woul kill for, me included! well done and thanks for posting the pics! Danny
Not at all classified, himmelberg. Here are the specs as I received them from Steve . . . Cacklefest PUSH BAR DIMENSIONS Thanks for making your vehicle available for Cacklefest duty. We know you are going to enjoy being a part of this presentation. In order to participate, it will be necessary to fabricate a sturdy push board using the following basic guidelines. You will obviously need to determine the most practical way to attach the push board, depending upon the design of your vehicle. The vertical face of the push board should be approx. 30 to 36 inches wide X 12 to 14 inches high - probably made of wood with metal frame, braces, and mounts. The front surface of the board should be covered with carpet material. The indoor/outdoor stuff seems to work well. When mounted, the highest point of the push board should be no more than 23 inches from ground level. To avoid contact with the parachute pack, the face of the push board should be extended at least 12 to 15 inches forward of your vehicles grille. A push board this size may block much of the airflow to your radiator, so we recommend it be removable for highway driving. We have yet to experience any difficulty in presenting numerous Cacklefests, but we must remind you that you do accept responsibility for your vehicle in the event of any damage. Thanks, Steve Gibbs ____________________________________ Here are some views of my board scheme which bolts to the outer face of the frame horns. The first shows the pieces which were TIG'd together. The boxing plate at the top was eliminated because it's not really necessary with 1/4-inch CR plate. So. get busy and build a board so you'll be ready when NHRA hits your area next season! Mike
When Pat Ganahl did the feature on the restored Albertson Olds rail in Rodders Journal a few years back, I believe he lamented the fact that the rebuilt, and ready to run engine, had never been started. (Was it Gene Adams who put the engine back together?) Did the engine actually run at this meet or was the car just pushed by for exhibition purposes?
The Albertson Olds did indeed run. Jim Adolph piloted and I pushed. It fired up almost immediately, then died. I gave him a second tap and it fired and ran that time. He motored down the return lane and parked in front of the stands for the mini Cacklefest. This was the only gas car in attendance, plus the only car that did not get started in the pits ahead of time, but everything went great. Here we are getting ready to go in the pits... And waiting for our big moment and the top of the track... It was a lot of fun. Neal...inCA
Yes..., at "Great Lakes Dragway" Union Grove Wisconsin they had Rollers built into the Asphalt powered by a 327 Chevy. They'd place the dragster slicks over the rollers and give them a "Spin" until the engine fired...!!! I don't know when they done away with that method (before using the electric starter on the Blower drive...,) But I do remember seeing Rails started like that in the Late sixties. But they still had to be pushed down the return road...!
Too cool, I love Sears Point, went to eliminations there for the Autolite nats back in 90/91 on the way to the UK, bit of an eye opener for a Kiwi, I think before that I had seen one fuel car and it was a few years earlier........ from memory there were 38 or so top fuel rails eliminating down for an 18 car race feild. Been there a couple of times since, hell I think some Kiwi's I know were there this weekend. Thx for the pics, sounds like you had a blast. lucky sod.
Hey Mike, That really looked like a blast! That's the first I've seen a pic of your F1 for quite a while. That thing really looks good! I couldn't make out what you have painted on the door. I've had a liking of them since I was a kid and seeing the F1 panels and pickups that were the tow vehicles for so many of the "roaring roadsters" that were so popular here in the midwest. Thanks for sharing the pics and the info!
wingnutz,thanks ! Never heard of that way before.Nonetheless,I guess you know my comment was not really meant as a question.It rather questioned if there's any other way to do it at all...
I lost my heart to a new 1948 F-1 that was parked in the showroom at Ellis Motors in Lone Pine, California, for a couple of weeks in the Fall of 1947. I was 10 years old at the time. It was painted Glade Green with ivory grille facia. I stopped to see it every day on my way home from school . . . until the new owner insisted on taking delivery. I was heartbroken that it was gone, but was somewhat consoled by the large truck brochure the salesman gave me. I still have the brochure. The signage on the F-1 is "Bing's Speed Shop," honoring one of NorCal's premiere race-motor builders from the '50s through the '80s . . . Ed Binggeli, my mentor in flathead block and crank work. The logo is an exact copy of Bing's from the late '50s. There's another days work remaining on the signage -- outlining the black, plus adding Crower and Edelbrock logos.
The Jalopy Journal
