History Real Blood Sport: Old-Time Demolition Derby

Yep, gotta wire the kickdown at least half way open or it will kill a Mopar tranny quick, 904s are the same. I just run a small trans cooler wire tied to my dash bar, hasn't failed me yet.

 

Manual valvebody, brass screen, kevlar, and yep cooler probably undersized. That trans had a few shows on it. I figured the fluid foamed the first time, then it finally overheated. The vent was obviously overwhelmed. It was a little over a quart low on fluid after it burped. Smelled burnt but it worked after we cooled it. In the feature something broke in it with a big clang. I hate myself for not freshening the trans beforehand and using a bigger cooler.

Par for the course the way my year has gone with my roundy round car, my drag racing, the derby, etc, etc.

 

Well, hell, all you can do is the BEST you can with what ya GOT & the TIME available to work on your car(s), right? DON'T beat yourself up, man!!! You're a competitor and -- obviously -- not a quitter! Salute!!!

 

Thanks for the good words 'Shemi. After-pic attached.

 

X426X, man, I LOVE seening these cars that have been iN repeated battles being trailered around. Great pic!

 

Hey, congrats man!!! Mad dog awards are cool. They let everyone know who drove they're ass off and didn't lollygag around. Good job!

 

I always like when the beginning of the week comes 'round & whoever RAN over the weekend sobers up & POSTS the results!!! LOL You guys have been fun to talk with and to listen to. Good stuff!

 

Oops! Didn't mean to imply that any Derby artists would tip a cold one or two to celebrate!!

 

Mad dog........that means I kickeds everyones ass at least once or twice!!! Good job man!!

 

Hey, you guys got some Derby "expressions" you say pretty frequently, for particular situations?

Example: "Hey, man, you really put the hurt on him!"

 

Not to sound like a tight-alec, but in all honesty I just can´t see any entertainment or sportmanship in an activity where the only objective is mere intentional destruction of something...
These pics posted on here are painful to look at for me, even though I realize they are from a time when these cars were as common as used-up ´91 Toyotas now, or the fact that they probably represent a mere fraction of other similar cars that were destroyed in real traffic accidents and salvage yards that same week alone...Still I can´t help having all the ideas come to mind how that car or even a part could´ve been put to a better use.
Even watching people derby with ´80s-90s rice-burners(whom I admit I hate with a passion) today doesn´t do anything for me, not only for failing to see the "sport" in it, but also the fact that the cars barely move and the little they move they do in reverse. So for me it´s either the horror of seeing something I like get destroyed or sheer boredom...So in short, the whole thing does nothing for me...Sorry

 

The oldest I ever saw was a Hudson Hornet and it won after 2 heats and the Main. That car came back three tiimes at the Knox County Fairgrounds just outside of Mt Vernon, Ohio. The Koslowski Brothers back then always used the late 50's Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth full size cars. I started watching those shortly after my Grandfather shut down his 3/8's mile Dirt Track in that same town. I prefer the memories of the 30's and 40's dirt cars, but, the 50's and early 60 demo cars were a site. 2 of my brothers competed in those, 1 in Chevies, 1 in Fords. Aaaah, the good ol' days.

I know, like Sauli above, many people are under the impression that the demo cars from back then were good cars. No, not by a long shot, rusted dout beaters, all of the salvagable stuff already removed. Modern day demo cars have roll cages and safety equipment in them, no, huh-uh, not back in the day. Maybe a couple of bars weldedin to the drivers side door area, but most of 'em had the doors chained shut, the glass, headlights, tail lights and trim removed, including the ever dangerous hood ornament, gas tank and battery relocated inside the rear seat area aaaaand here we gooooo!!!! Did we really lose much? No, most of those cars were bought out of junk yards anyways.

 

You must have watched some of those peanut derbies where guys like to save their cars and not muss the paint jobs. Thats Ok, I hate rat rods, and big dollar show cars do nothing for me too. Just look at it this way, the many thousands of '59-60 Chevies wiped out in derbies makes yours worth that much more!

The oldest car I ever personally ran against was a '48 Cadillac. The oldest car that I ever ran in a derby was '60 Pontiac wagon. Both sucked. When I was a kid in the late '60s I saw a Model A run in a world championship derby on TV, Wide World of Sports. Saw lots of late '30s and early '40s cars derbied at the local fair way back when. Lots of '55-57 Chevies too!!
Loved every second of it.

And cleaning house with the stoutest, best running car in the feature is better than the best sex you'll ever have!

 

I'll be the first to admit thta I have not YET read every word of the lastest exchanges here (and you notice, nobody is ARGUING that some of the cars crunched are a shame to see trashed).

But, I would say that Demo Derby was a pretty strange (yet enchanting) development in the performance arena. WHEN I POSTED THE QUESTION IN THE FIRST PLACE, I DIDN'T EXPECT TO LEARN THE DERBY IS ALIVE, WELL AND STILL METAMORPHOSING FROM ITS BEGINNINGS.

I also want to add that I respect Ryan and the senior board at HAMB for entertaining this thread -- BECAUSE, as I said early on, lots of the guys who started Derby were rodders too, garage mechanics, junkyard guys, etc. I SURELY DIDN'T INTEND THTA THIS THREAD WOULD, IN ANY SENSE, HIJACK THE H.A.M.B. AS A FORUM FOR THIS OFF-SHOOT OF RODDING AND HI-PERFORMANCE. It's just an automotive oddity that has lived on and, yes, worthy of an historical note.

THANKS, HAMBers for putting up with this exercise!!! The H.A.M.B. -- one GREAT forum (explains why I don't subscirbe to ANY other car or rodding message board!).

 

I thought that was the Honey Cake Trophy sponsered by Sunlite Iron Works, And Barracuda Drill Bits.

 

you must be doing it wrong!

 

No doubt I'm doing it wrong but I do have references. A guy can get laid on any street corner any day of the week, but the derby only happens once a year.

How many derbies did you say you've driven in? The closest thing to it is getting the six to ten winlights in a row at in eliminations at the dragstrip. The best sex you'll ever have is third on the list. Passing everybody at will on a dirt oval is fourth (paved oval fifth).

 

Yo, KCSledz, maybe kicking some sheet-metal ass is just X426X's brand of "foreplay" ! LOL

 

No, they gave that one out in the main. Ha ha. I wasn't in the main, I can't seem to make it that far anymore. Happy Hooker, huh? That's pretty good.

 

They have derbies in Finland? I worked with a Finnish fella once, he was a welder, a good one too. Anyway, all that dude talked about was guns, killing people, and scuba diving. I would ask him what it was like over in Russia, and he would tell me he was gonna get his gun out of his truck and kill me. Ha ha, he was rad. He didn't know anything about demo derbies, but he also told me there were no hot rods in Finland. If you ever see a REAL derby, you would look at it differently. They can be a real spectacle, but I have seen a few that would give me a low opinion of the sport, if it were my first time attending.

 

Easy 426. Sledz, I think, was just messin' wit'ch!

 

I think that they do have derbys in finnland, but they call them something different. Think it might be called bannger racing????????

 

It's all good, nothing but love here... except for rat rods (and sandbaggers)!

 

X426X, I STILL don't know what the fuck a "rat rod" is. What the hell is a rta rod. SOMEbody out there throw me a bone & tell me where I lost track (I was OUT of the rodding network raising a family, so I don't KNOW what the hell these nappy, strange, rusty machines are. HOW would I avoid getting tentanus off of a scratch off off one of these things. PLEASE! Just WHAT is a so-called "Rat Rod," so I'll know what to look out for.

 

A rat rod is any car put together for shock value. Cartoonish wheel bases, halloween decorations plastered all over them, ridiculous proportions, and shoddy craftsmanship are a few signs. They will normally have a 305 Chevy with a mailbox for a carb scoop, or some other garbage wired to it, and some retarded looking zoomie pipes. A 6 ft. tall shifter hooked to a TH-350 is also a must. Spray bomb flat black covers most of them also.

 

To me, a rat rod is ANY modified, or "made from a pile of parts" vehicle incompetently and unsafely assembled by an ignorant amatuer wannabee, with little or no attention to safety, style and/or proper engineering. Evidence of a rat rod include but are not limited to things like tractor seats attached to plywood floor with wood screws, steering and braking componenets mounted to sheetmetal with nails or turkey turd welds, clear plastic fuel lines, jerry-rigged suspension systems, non-automotive grill shells, conduit radius rods, etc, etc.

 

Crash&Burns and X426X, YOU guys finally caught me up on what I missed when raising my family. IN RELATIVELY FEW WORDS (WELL-SPKEN, TOO!) THERE IS THE DEFINITION & SIMPLE ANSWER I NEEDED. I was just so DAMN sick & tired of hearing tons of people call cars rr, or projects rr.

NOW that I know, what the hell a rr IS, I can steer clear. Sounds like most of those don't have one-tenth of the expertise invested in THEM as YOU GUYS' Derby cars!

Thanks again, guys!!! I'LL NEVER UTTER THE TERM "RR" AGAIN !!!

(Besdies, RRs sound like a waste of at least a few decent PARTS!)

 

WOOOH! Easy there tonto. didn't mean to get dirt on your pride so you felt you had to throw your references around. it's all in opinions and priorities. ya gotta learn you will get ribbed here once in a while.

never driven in one but I have seen a few. just not a priority to me that's all.

 

Tough crowd!

 

sorry going in a straight line to me is boring it's like watching a tractor pull once you've seen the first ones sa'll the same after that.i suppose if your driving it's quite different,i don't like watching i prefer to participate.

Driving in a circle to me is boring till someone whipes out.

get in a car identically built as mine and meet me on the track with 8-10 other cars.i guarantee you after the first time i paste you,your outlook will change 180 right now.
There is nothing and i mean NOTHING like this to get your adrenalin pumping hard.And watching the crowd get up on thier feet at the site of cars 6-8 or so feet off the ground from hitting that hard back to back,well there's nothing that compares anywhere.if that doesn't put a fire under your ass then there is something really wrong with you.