Projects Wisconsin supermodified, circa 1958

33 Willys body. Wide track 48 Lincoln axle. Mopar steering box. X-Shift 3 speed trans. Torsion bar rear suspension. 301 Halibrand with 10 bolt adapters. S R E magnesium wheels.

 

Nice lookin's unit! In fact, almost too nice for 1958; are you sure about the date? I have a Modified that was Minnesota State Champion in 1966 and it's a LOT cruder than that!

 

Sharp eyes may have noticed I originally had a non quickchange rear end. Boy that thing sure was light.l.

 

That modified is awesome!

 

Looks as tho its a"new"build...right?

 

1966.. Here is an EWRA car I built 2 years before that. 1964 allowed cut down bodies and any engine set back 15". 100" WB. 4 torsion bar suspension. Flawless welding and body work. Slim and trim brackets. I borrowed an engine and year old dirt tires. 1st race of the year 1/4 mile asphalt. Won the heat and semi racing against 90" wheelbase MSC cars. I sold the car the next day to Wally Jors. I could not afford tires or an engine. Got $1,500.00 for the car.

 

Now those cars look to be early to mid 60's. A lot of cars that raced against mine back in the day looked a lot like them. My car is quite similar, but is a coach, not a coupe. The car in the first post still seems a lot newer than '58 to me.

I have become quite a student of this era of racing in Minnesota because of my ownership of this car, and in my opinion, up here we transitioned from Modifieds to Super-Modifieds about 1968-69. There is a guy on here whose dad crewed for one of the cars and drivers the competed in the standings with my car in the mid '60's. He posted some pictures of the car throughout the years and in '65 and '66 you could see the resemblance to my car, crudity and all. By 1969, his pictures are of a full-blown Super-Modified that looks a lot like the car in your first post. They may have been 10 years ahead of Minnesota back in those days, but I haven't seen it.

 

Mr Frames,,,Are your eyes brown?????They should be as your so full of it.

 

I'm SO glad to see this thread... I went thru high school watching them race in Waukegan, IL 1962-66. But I must admit it looks a lot newer than 58, too, as only OEM frames were allowed then, and NOT totally fabricated frames. Add 10 years? Regardless... love your build. Just love it. Where are you going to run it? You may know of this driver and their team cars? My high school hero driver, Johnnie Reimer. Gary

 

heres a little newer one down the road from me.bought some 40 ford wheels from the guy.http://appleton.craigslist.org/cto/5853677835.html . don't know him but real nice guy.

 

From the looks of this and some of the other bumpers I've seen come out of that part of the country they must have played rough and racing was a full contact sport.

The one I remember most was a bumper made from a six or seven foot long piece of rail road track.

 

They weren't called booger bars for nothing !!!

 

Picture of Buzzy Gleason taken at Slinger Speedway before it was paved Aug. 66 .....and the same car today.

 

^That's one of the Champion Chicken cars, right? Gary

 

Buzzy bought the Champion Chicken car and painted it Petty blue, it was restored years later as the C.C. car.

 

Neat!

 

Yes I know JR well. The coupe is 1970. This Crosley bodied car I built won [ from dead last] the opening race at Waukegan. JR's sedan is beutiful. A show car but fast too. And #72. A legal MSC 1970 car I built. Tube frame from bumper to bumper. Light weight 33 Willys frame rails hung below to meet the rules.

 

OK you caught me. Back then [ 1958 ] no one used Heim joints. X-shift did not exist. No one used magnesium engine plates. Frankland open backing plates did not exist. No one used Halibrand torsion bars. No one off set the chassis. No one used Buick rear brakes. No one had mandrel bent 4130 roll bars. No one used TIG welding.

 

^ What I also miss were the hand operated clutches, and you could see all the drivers "let 'em fly" when the green dropped! Gary

 

Tube frames were outlawed in 1959. Here's a MSC 1957 tube frame car. Schwister built and driven by 20 year old Billy Schwister. Fast time every night at Hales Corners that year. I built a USAC [1979 Granada] for Billy. Premature white hair.He also had many top name drivers drive it. PS; I chopped the top on the Granada. No templates in USAC.

 

After 1958 only OEM frame rails allowed. MSC, IRA, and EWRA. Frame must run axle to axle. 1967 Jim Jones wanted me to build him a EWRA car. I like 28-32 Chevy rails. He brought me a really badly rusted pair. I said no way but I have an idea if you give me the OK. I used 2x4 TUBING. Welding to make it appear boxed. Drilled outside like it once had fender and running board holes. I called them 1928 Essex rails from Arizona.

 

So. just to set me straight... tube frames were allowed until the late 50's, then everything reverted back to OEM auto / truck based frames? Seems bass-ackwards to me, as my old man often said. So what was came first, the tube or the OEM frame. And then when were fabricated frames allowed again, when the cars went to a more super modified style? Gary

 

I can only talk about Wisconsin. 1949 to 1955 they ran Ford coupes. Mostly 1939. Hardly any rules in 1956. A few guys built modifieds 1956 and 1957. 1958 Only 2 guys built tube frame cars. Greg Krieger and Billy Schwister. Both 20 years old. They ran fast and the old timers decided we can't have that so they wrote rules 1959= OEM frames. Around 1971 IRA opened up their rules to allow tube frames. 2" OD. 1 3/4" OD cage. 30" wide. I do not know how long they kept that rule before they opened up the rules to WOO cars. This is an IRA car I built 1971.

 

Thanx for clearing that up for me. I have a 1963 or 64 rule book around here some place, but I can't locate it at the moment. I got it from John Surges some time ago, to help me work on a generic Wisconsin modified model in 1/8th scale. Sadly, that project got a little side tracked. Gary

 

^ Thanx for the pix! Gary

 

Frames, I'd sure like to meet you some day and talk about those old race cars. Ever come to Tampa for the NSRA show? Regardless, please check out my 29 model A build thread (just getting restarted on it) by clicking on the last link below in this post. Gary

 

Awesome thread! Thanks!

 

#19 same car 1 year later. I rebuilt it and installed a 35 Ford truck grille shell. No over heating problem with it.