Event Coverage where are all the gassers ?

I'm always up for bustin a classmates balls.

 

I think he and I had the same idea when we posted. Mine isn't really a gasser either, but just wanted to explain that a street driven 11.00 car can be done it's just not easy... at least that was why I posted lol. Carry on...

 

gasser, street freak, whatever. Why do folks get soo jacked up on a name? All I know is that mine runs low 12's without too much effort, is a porker at 3850 pounds, doesn't turn worth a dang and slowing up at the end of the quarter takes a concetrated effort.
When I try to explain my car to someone I do use the term "gasser" as it kind of paints a picture of the type of car that it is. Is it a gasser? I used to think yes but someone will eventually point out something that disqualifies it from that hallowed name plate and honestly, I am OK with that. It's mine, I wrench on it, I get to the strip three times a year and drive it every chance I can.

 

Your car would have run in a Gas Class back in the day. I just don't think most people know there were a lot of Gass Classes, they think all of the cars were threw in one bunch and called "Gassers"

It's like everyone calling your car a BelAir when really it's a 210.

Nice 56 !

 

Going by the attached photo, if he was at an AHRA sanctioned track, it would have run MP. There doesnt appear to any engine setback, I dont have an engine shot, so I am assuming it doesnt have injectors. VERY nice car by the way.

The mis-use of a word ultimately renders it completely meaningless, When you have people calling cars with mid-engines(??!!) no fenders, ect. ect. gassers, pretty soon, it becomes what I have described in an earlier post, any car with 5-spoke wheels becomes a "gasser". This actually happened on a thread on this board that I posted on. I mentioned a stock '57 Ford with redlines and dark center americans, and some guy said "oh, I wouldn't build that car gasser style".
Honestly, when someone tells me their car is built "gasser style" its really meaningless to me, because I have no idea if they know what a gasser is, and most dont. The abuse and mis-use of the word doesnt get my panties in a knot, or upset me, it has reached such a ridiculous point (as aptly illustrated by the photo that started this little exchange, as well as the '57 ford example) that I find it humorous. The word "gasser" has become even more meaningless and mis-used than the term 'rat-rod".

 

Even without a front bumper? Not in NHRA, you had to have one for the Modified Production class.

 

So just out of curiosity what gas class would the car have run in? My math puts it somewhere in B class (3850lbs/454ci=8.480) correct?

 

NHRA no, not sure if the flip nose is glass, if it is, they wouldn't have allowed that either. AHRA, yes on both. NHRA did not allow solid front axles in MP cars that didnt come with them, AHRA did. So in the sixties, at several of the well-known So-Cal tracks, Lions, Carlsbad, virtually all of these cars that are being called gassers would have been in MP. Under AHRA sanction, the difference was down to the 10% engine set-back, and injectors or a blower. Was Bakersfield AHRA for a while as well?

 

I have an old AHRA rule book on my old computer, let me look and see if the breaks were the same as NHRA.
It might take a while to find, my computers are just as dis-organized as my magazine collection.

 

Mid 60's/NHRA, yep.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=334715
Larry T

 

Go back to the beginning with that much cu.in. that would have put you in A Class. So what year are you shooting for ? Hell a 302 could get you in the A class then, if you got the weight down enough. So, theres the no front bumber and less and less bolt on theory to it.

 

Thanks DirtyJohn, same reason here,
I posted the Van because it's a street driven 11 second "breadbox",
not a "Gasser"
I forgot how uptight the old timers get.
Sorry

 

Your quite welcome and that's one helluva breadbox you have there!

 

Hmmm, Uptight? Someone posting about garbage catching fire under his car doesnt exactly sound "anal retentive" but to each his own, I guess.

 

I've read many comments from many people who are quick to critcize someone else's car/hotrod/gasser/streetrod/etc. because the owner has a "hotrod" taillight on it that was often used on many different kinds of cars but did not come on the particular car that presently has the "wrong" taillights on it. The main one being a Willys with the
'38-'39 Ford taillights. Personally, those Ford taillights are my favorite choice taillights on almost any OLD hotrod. But my main point is---- that's somebody else's car and they are the one that is paying for it/building it. As long as they use any type of hotrod stuff on their hotrod I don't think that we should criticize them. I might not like their choice of parts or paint but it isn't my damn car. I don't want to see a 6 cylinder in a Willys coupe--- But---if somebody has one it is their business. I'd probably just shake my head at their choices. However, I would get mad if someone deliberately destroyed one. I think that too many people are too critical of what other people like. There is one thing that I won't have on any of my hotrods because I think that they look ridiculous----- the Pimp Mobile wheels and tires on an old hotrod or a muscle car.
And is my car a gasser; a hotrod; a streetrod or a pro street or did I just build it wrong? Well, it would fit into any and all of those classifications. It's a '34 Ford
5 window coupe. It has a custom built 2 X 4 tube frame; a narrowed 9" Ford rear end with a limited slip, ladder bars and 4.88 gears; it has a turbo 350 with a 10" converter. It has mild 350 and it runs the 1/8 mile in 7.35 and the 1/4 in 11.70. Oh yea, it has a 6 point roll bar, power windows and air conditioning. I built the car to suit my needs. I am 59 years old and cruising town in an all out race car with mufflers is not a pleasant thought in the summer time. I'm sure that many people on this website would criticize my car because it has some things on it that don't belong on it and shouldn't be on it---because--- they think that it should be a gasser or it should be a pro street or it should be a streetrod or it should be a hotrod. The point that I'm trying to make is: don't be so critical of how somebody else builds their car. They are building it to suit their needs and desires. I wish that I didn't need air conditioning in my car but it is necessary. I live in south Mississippi; our summertime temperatures range from about 95--105 and the humidity is usually 75% or higher. That's why my gasser/hotrod/pro street/streetrod has air conditioning that, according to some people , does not belong on a car like mine.
Please, try not to be so critical of how other people build their cars and maybe they won't be critical of how you build yours.

 

Gofaster, you have a damn nice car! I would call it a street gasser but, again, everyone is so anal on things they are passionate about and in the next breath they become hackers of the English we speak and use. I really think your looks nice and able to turn out those ETs is nice. One question, you said it steers poorly? What would you contribute that too? Comparsion against your late model driver or ??? What axle/steering box are you using?

 

Man I love gassers, and don't see enough of them. My fav. was the Ford Anglia, any pics of those?

I found them...Very Nice, Choprodz!

 

Oldguard,

Thanks for the kind words. The poor handling comment is in comparison to my daily driver(Jeep Wranger which doesn't exactly set the handling bar real high) so it is more a introspective comment I guess. Althoth the weight of the iron head big block, manual steering/brakes, and 165/80/15 tires probably have something to do with the nose heavy feel. I just find that I have to "drive" the old girl and try to anticipate things more (other drivers, dogs, sharp turns) due to the limitations that I have built into her. Not the cars fault really. It does goes straight very well however!
Stock front suspension/steering with tall station wagon springs and ball joint spacers and manual disc brakes up front.

 

Here is mine!

 

Not really a gasser but this car ran 10.36 on pump gas. I drove it to the track.

 

This was a gasser in the south in the mid to late sixties, probably wouldn't have been legal at a national event but most of out superstockers weren't either. Injected 427 and a straight axel.

 

They're around. There are actually a couple here on the HAMB that get driven and are not poseurs. Unfortunaly a lot of what you see that are called gassers are all show and no go. I am impressed when I see one that runs. I'm not easily impressed.

 

It may not have won a National Event but I bet it was legal in the Gas Classes.

I know a guy in Bainbridge Ga. maybe we can track this car down.

Here's the reply I got from Bainbridge.

"Here is the story on the 55 race car. It was a beast that was co-owned by Wayne Martin and Levee Harrell. It was raced in the late 60's and early 70's. There was a race track in Bainbridge back in the day at the Comodore Airport. Tommy Ivo of drag racing fame had actually raced here.

I got the information Haisten Wilkerson. Their family has owned the Firestone store in Bainbridge forever."

 

Well thanks, filty frank! From Stan with the blue 55' chevy

 

stan, your car rocks ! it has a lot of history, thanks !

 

cool lookin 55

 

I'm still finishing up ours and then it'll be out there with regularity. I live close by so I'll be able to drive it there.

 

if you want to see some gassers run come to tulsa and watch the outlaw gassers . we race about five times a year and have a blast. we dont care too much about et's ( we say that but we all strive to go faster) some of our cars are street driven. mine drives around pryor okla all the time. i will drive to the next town occasionally but wouldnt want to go cross country. but we are all eat up with the love for gassers.....

 

ratrodnut you beat me to it... i was about to tell about our little group of misfits..
i think most of the cars are streetable ,except maybe hackys 55 (no front brakes) ...i see more racing next season..at least more test and tune nights....

 

Here's mine. Look for it at ANRA races in 2011 running D Gas. It's a real steel gasser from the Chicago area in the 60's- early 80's.