I grew up near Byron and raced DRAGBIKES there all the time in the 70's and 80's. I remember seeing the Hemi Under Glass, Little Red Wagon, Lil' Screamer ('34 Ford) TV Tommy Ivo, Dick Landy, Don Garlits, Prudome, Mongoose etc. and all the big guys we know from that era of the early to late 60's. Cool Place! Oh to be a kid again!
We did the one in my avatar last year at the meltdown drags, it was still on the way up when this picture was taken, ended up over 3 feet in the air, was not expecting that! Added more weight before the H.A.M.B. drags. .
I was like the rest of ya, a dreamer of the wheelie. I rode them out on my banana seat bike with a steering wheel for handle bars. I had some decently fast cars but never built a car with a setback engine until I built my Henry J. While redoing the front stock suspension I could get on the front and bounce up and down....it would wheelie right in the garage. I was happy as a two pecker puppy because I just knew I finally had a car that might pull the wheels. MIGHT, that's a hopefull word because once I put the stock shocks back in they limited the travel and no more bouncy wheelie in the garage. Racing at the Gold Cup I decided to back the nut off the shock stud a bit for second round qualifying. I footbrake it to 2000 and I'll be damned if I didn't feel a little something on the launch. My thoughts were confirmed when a friend comes over and says hey, did I see what I thought I seen. That brought a smile a mile wide, I said wait till next round. I put an extra nut at the very top of the stud and backed the lower one up to it. That gave me another inch of travel, I was and still am hooked ! My biggest concern of switching the car to big block is if it will still wheelie.....ha ha ha
Hell. Yeah. Shooting digital does make it a little easier, but you've still gotta have some idea what you're doing. A little luck never hurts...
There's nothing like seeing air under the front wheels. I like the dragsters and rails just smoking the snot outta the tires and have the front end flying.....MARK
10% in a Henry J puts the engine under the dash, I don't want to cut my dash. I also want to keep a tunnel ram on the engine so this is as far as I can go.
In the 60's we used to go to Pittsburgh International Dragway and Harry Luzader would run there with his beautiful 32 coupe. He would sometimes pull the front wheels in all four gears and the crowd was always on their feet when he pulled to the line. Don
I love this thread. I am hoping to be wheels up in the Austin this year. Probably a bit premature and some of you may have seen it early on in the build thread, but I put this artificial horizon gauge from a Cessna in the dash for giggles.
It was one I built. Yes it was AMC power. Well,,, more or less. Last I heard it went to Florida without any drive train in it. The Wizzard
I saw what happened to the silver coupe in post #53. The landing was NOT pretty. Haven't seen the car since that weekend at Fontana. Mike
This kid in the neighborhood said his OT naturally aspirated fox body yanks the wheels, I said "no way". So we go for a little drive. . . . . I have to tell you being in a car that does a wheelie is an exhilarating experience!! I hope to one day build a car that'll do that!!
The Jalopy Journal
