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What makes a Gasser a Gasser?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by 1933t, Feb 13, 2013.

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  1. In the gas ranks you could run fuel injection, the tank out front was your fuel supply once it became a not street legal class. 3 gallons would just about make your pass and get you back to the pits.

    A lot of the fellas use old moon tanks for radiator overflow tanks these days. *Richard was poking fun at the "street gassers", that are mainly a '70s street beast that is called a gasser to get passed off as a traditional ride on a traditional hot rod and custom message board.

    Up to '64 a gas class car also known as gas coupe sedan was a really souped up stock class car basically. They were still required to retain street legal equipment. The rules got tested a lot, that's racing. By '64 a lot of them were actually dedicated race cars so street legal was sort of a nominal term.

    It has always amazed me that the public is more impressed with a car that nearly doesn't make it out of the staging lanes than one that will just stand up and cut a straight line. Granted this is from the prospective of an aging racer and not a show man. I am way more impressed with a car that smoothly knocks out an 11 than one that is all over the track and knocks out a 14.

    OK off my box, next?



    *Just to be open and transparant I did say that for the panties in a bunch crowd.
     
  2. First off, you did not have to remove your bumper to be in the Gas class. V V V
    [​IMG]

    Secondly, today as well as back then, there are street gas classes.
     
  3. BobG
    Joined: Oct 22, 2008
    Posts: 350

    BobG
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    I never said you had to remove your bumper........... I said IF you did remove it from a car that ran in lets say a Hot Rod class it would change your class alot of times to a Gas class.
    And your right a street car could run in a Gas class back then.
    My comments were to designate the difference between a Street Gasser and a Race Gasser of the modern day build.



    Some tanks were even pressurized back then, The tank being mounted out front and above the pump center line made it a short distance to the pump so you would never starve the pump of fuel.

    The reason the tank on some Gassers was mounted out forward in the grille area was because most likely there wasn't any room under the hood for the tank.
    Some cars like tri 5 Chevy's could get the tank behind the grille or right in the grille opening.
    Take a car like a Chevy II or Falcon you would have to mount the tank right out front.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2013
  4. drofdar
    Joined: Jan 2, 2008
    Posts: 172

    drofdar
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    from Fresno Ca

     
  5. Hotrod 35
    Joined: May 26, 2007
    Posts: 52

    Hotrod 35
    Member

    I ran D/MP and F/G with my 55 Chevy every Sunday. Had pins in my front bumper, pull the pins, drop the bumper, adjust the throttle linkage and go run F/G. That was back in 1966
    Then have a cold BEER.
     
  6. Bob, I understood what you were saying, I just wanted to re-post that portion of the rules so that everyone understands that it was not mandatory. This is a common misconception that can't be more wrong, especially here in WNY where guys have been told to remove their front bumper or they can't run in the gas class.

    Depending on what nostalgia event you race at there are provisions for a "Street Gas" class. The Sunday Niagara race at Lancaster Speedway/Dunn Tire Raceway Park has always had a "Street Gasser" class that I'm aware of.
     
  7. Hotrodbuilderny
    Joined: Mar 20, 2009
    Posts: 1,646

    Hotrodbuilderny
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    Where did I say you had to remove your front bumper?
     

  8. I think that pressurized tanks had a lot to do with the sanctioning body and the year that you were racing. They are handy if you don't have someone to squire fuel down your injectors and you can't get the tank above the pump.

    Sometimes the rules would even vary from one track to the next in gas classes. That makes it even more difficult to define. I used to run the Vic in stock class. There was an outlaw track that we liked to go to that would without a doubt bump me to C gas. I liked running C gas it made me feel like a grownup but the Vic was just not modified enough to really compete. It was right at the turning point of needing more money thrown at it.
     
  9. Lytles Garage
    Joined: May 6, 2011
    Posts: 621

    Lytles Garage
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    The Outlaw tracts will be taking over REAL Drag Racing! If you want to call your car a Gasser, Its a Gasser! No Horseshit! We have a Outlaw Track here in Washington, Riverdale Raceway, that is the best thing to happen in Drag Racing in 40 years!! Eagle Field is going to be HUGE! Support Your Local OUTLAW TRACK !! Chris
     
  10. Hotrod 35
    Joined: May 26, 2007
    Posts: 52

    Hotrod 35
    Member

    We did it for wt. per cu. in.
     
  11. That's right.

    Although many did remove the front bumper, many did not. That's why it was not a "mandatory" rule.
     
  12. 1971BB427
    Joined: Mar 6, 2010
    Posts: 8,719

    1971BB427
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    from Oregon

    Do all those cars have a factory frame under them? One thing that held true throughout the rule changes was the car had to utilize a factory frame from some vehicle.
    My feeling is any car that ran in the era and met the rules, was/is a gasser. Any car built today in the spirit of the rules of any year the gassers existed is a gasser. Any tube frame car, or an all fiberglass body, is NOT a gasser.
     
  13. Well of course you know that Ohio George's Mustang ran his old Willys frame.

    Ha Ha!!

    Now this is gonna start a shit storm. :D

    Although I don't recall what was under Oddy's Opel GT.
     
  14. I think that what has gotten some of us a little stirred is that at one point the cars in question were being passed off as traditional gassers and we were thinking '64 cutoff date.

    Even after the rule change that would have allowed a '55 chevy to run a truck axle there were a lot of cars that were still running IFS and winning nats. Like today there were a lot more straight axles and mega lifted cars on the street than on the track.
     
  15. Moon Rocket
    Joined: Dec 26, 2012
    Posts: 540

    Moon Rocket
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    from GA


    My opinion is that it's not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of documented facts as preiously stated.

    It's not like the rules are not availible and no number of opinions is ever going to retro-actively change them.
     
  16. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,798

    Marty Strode
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    Gene Adams had his on the passenger side floorboard, so he could reach over and "pump it up", on his 50 Olds!
     
  17. black 62
    Joined: Jul 12, 2012
    Posts: 1,895

    black 62
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    from arkansas

    the deviation becomes the norm---basic principle of manufacturing also explains the axle build intensity----but what explains all the bitching about it---still say if you posted your praise for that sema 57 ford you lost your right to complain about axles and ride height
     
  18. Moon Rocket
    Joined: Dec 26, 2012
    Posts: 540

    Moon Rocket
    BANNED
    from GA

    "I am way more impressed with a car that smoothly knocks out an 11 than one that is all over the track and knocks out a 14."


    Then you should spend more time looking at new Mustangs. :rolleyes:


    Fact is, there were alot more 14 sec. "GASSERS" than there were 11 sec. ones. Old Gassers are like old Harleys, old tech, slow, cool.
     
  19. NOT THIS AGAIN!
    Seriously, what's called a "gasser" today has nothing at all to do with what it was in the 60's! Different place, different time, different everything. You can't recreate the past, why try. Why the obsession with this anyway? What is traditional about this?
    Just built it the way you want, forget about this! ALL these constant threads show is that you weren't there, so why pretend? Give this subject a rest!
     
  20. Moon Rocket
    Joined: Dec 26, 2012
    Posts: 540

    Moon Rocket
    BANNED
    from GA

    Exactly when was "back then"? What year are these rules for?
     
  21. ididntdoit1960
    Joined: Dec 13, 2011
    Posts: 1,030

    ididntdoit1960
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    from Western MA

     
  22. joel
    Joined: Oct 10, 2009
    Posts: 2,467

    joel
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    A lot of hot rods had to race in the gas classes before mod. production came along because they had a different make engine. Chevy in a Ford, Olds or Buick in a Ford or Chevy, etc. The guys that got hooked, made the changes allowed in the gas class rules. I.E. engine setback, slicks, removing weight from the front of the car and adding it to the rear, any amount of carbs or fuel injection; 4.56, 4.88, 5.13 gears and big cams and injection made the cars pretty much undrivable on the street. Thus a lot of hot rods became dedicated race cars. Also, if I remember correctly, insurance was a problem if your agent saw the car.
     
  23. Absolutely 100% NOT TRUE! I know this for a fact as my car not only has a square tube frame but it was an NHRA Legal National Record Holder as well as an Irwindale and Lion's Record Holder. I'm not sure what year the rule change happened and it got interpreted in different ways, but by the late 60's and early 70's tube frames were allowed for sure in the Supercharged classes, for unibody cars, and the mods allowed to stock frames were enough that you could build a tube frame using a very small amount of the original frame.

    As for Glass Bodies, they were also allowed. The 71 rule book (the one I have handy) plainly states "Use of a Fiberglass body permitted in Supercharged Classes providing it is an exact duplicate of the original." That also allowed for the chopping, chanelling, and sectioning that was permitted to stock bodies which was limited to 4" in TOTAL overall height reduction.

    So while both of these were not legal in say the late 50's or early 60's they were legal Gasser mods before the class went away.
     
  24. landseaandair
    Joined: Feb 23, 2009
    Posts: 4,485

    landseaandair
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    from phoenix

     
  25. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,875

    Larry T
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    Must run PUMP gas (not racing gas, not alky). Kinda hard to do now days.
     
  26. landseaandair
    Joined: Feb 23, 2009
    Posts: 4,485

    landseaandair
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    from phoenix

    Look at post #6, wish I knew how to blow them up that big.
     
  27. hog mtn dave
    Joined: Jul 14, 2004
    Posts: 1,352

    hog mtn dave
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    I know right? Tech guys would run us off the property for that now.
     
  28.  
  29. landseaandair
    Joined: Feb 23, 2009
    Posts: 4,485

    landseaandair
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    from phoenix

     
  30. "Just to be clear, my comment had nothing to do with fasion, which I am anything but.:D Just as regards to gas class cars on here. My personal favorite piece of the pie is '65-'67. Magnesium, metalflake and match racing."

    OK, my point was a state of mind, not fashion. AND the point is pretending it's the past. THAT seems anything but "traditional" to me! It sure doesn't represent the pre-1965 mindset! That's my favorite period as well I was a teenager that was drag crazy. I love the cars back then. But today is today, then is now.No more from me on this "gasser" thing!
     
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