Projects 53 Studebaker Coupe Southeast Gasser Build and 1950 Buick Sedan

Finally, finally got some vintage skinnys on my property (thank you Sammy Weaver) for the 53 Gasser ! That's the fourth set I was told I could buy but the owners would never turn loose ! Guess they wanted them as much as I did. They are 15 x 4" Cragar SS.

 

Awesome score!

 

I don't have any idea how the business is arranged for the SEGA host track, but Silver Dollar would probably be a good site to look into hosting a race. Little bit further south is Macon National Dragway/Twiggs Dragway/Middle Georgia Motorsports Park....whatever they're calling it these days.....

 

Would be nice to have a SEGA meet in Central Georgia. For years we considered Silver Dollar our home track until they insisted on racing in the heat of the day in the summer months and made it impossible to enjoy with the heat and those extremely aggravating gnats !! Would really have to work to get spectators out. Without spectators, doesn't go over as good . The SEGA racing and show are always great just have to make sure there's someone there to enjoy it and make it worth while for the group coming here. Maybe Quain will chime in on this.

 

Great action at Darlington. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer 1/8 mile racing at 1/8 mile tracks. Just suits SEGA better IMHO.


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Weighed the old car at Silver Dollar with me in it, 3030. Not bad. The new axle and springs added a little weight. I have a large unused battery in the trunk 40lbs, the stock tube radio and speaker, 10 lbs and alternator, 10 lbs to remove. That gets it to 2970. The ladder bars will add some and I'm not sure of the wash between automatic and stick shift. Hopefully end up around 3000. right where I want it for D Gas with 306 cubic inches ! Ordered the rear wheels yesterday.

 

Great news! D/Gas is a blast!!!

 

Spent the day cutting up a set of chassis headers with 4" collectors ( I inherited , thanks again Sammy Weaver, had them put back for the 53 Gasser) and making fender well headers out of them for the Fiddle Picker. Still have some grinding and paint to do. Making room for a mid-plate for the upcoming 4 speed conversion.

 

Twiggs county will pull more spectators than Silver Dollar. Douglas always drew good crowds when we ran Gassers there. Glad to see you are making progress.
I took a few days off and went camping with my wife. Needed a break.

 

How long ago were you running at Twiggs? Heard it had changed hands and things are different.

 

I haven't run Twiggs for at least 10 years. they used to pack the house for any special race.

 

Finished the fender-well headers today. Got to paint them, do some maintenance on the car and get ready to ride up to Paradise Dragway this Saturday for the show, swap meet and several SEGA cars match racing !

 

Car is looking good Fiddle Picker, good work on the headers!

Last I heard, Twiggs changed hands again a few years ago (2 years maybe?). From what I've heard of the new owner, it should be turning into something less like a rap video. The track itself has been pretty decent generally speaking for a long time but hear they've made some good renovations to the facility now. Might be time to go back and check it out.

 

Did a little asking around yesterday, and it has changed hands again. Now it's owned by a guy whose main occupation is peanut farming on a big scale, sorta like a factory farm you might say.
He leases out the track mostly, and seldom promotes a race himself. Last weekend was a "10.5 Outlaw" event with a lot of big name nitrous powered cars down in the 4 second range on 1/8. Track owner was onsite, prepping the track after almost every run with more "stickum".
Couple of my friends went down and reported that the track itself was first rate now.

 

Yeah the owner is good ole boy from what I know of him. It's a small town there and the family has deep farming roots. Seems like him and Quain might get along fine . Just saying.....

 

Having talked to Quain a few times about coming to GA for an event once in awhile, I'm somewhat familiar with his thoughts on it. Most of his racers are from the Carolinas, TN, VA area and it's a long haul to GA and AL. He has had problems with things at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Paradise is sorta unsuitable, and all the good tracks are way South in Reynolds, Twiggs, and further South. His racers, or at least most of them, aren't set up to pull that far, just that simple.

 

They can tow to Indiana and Montgomery,Al. , but not Macon Ga. ?

 

Got the headers painted and installed. I like !! Also road tested to bake on the finish.

 

That's what I'm saying ! But it would be a haul for the Michigan, Wisconsin and Canada Guys.

 

With the amount of cars competing already and the new ones being built, theres pretty much going to be a full field anywhere SEGA goes. Its gonna be about fan support, that's the bottom line. If you feel a race is too far too haul, no worries, the way the points are set up you can miss a race and not be affected.

 

Good turnout at Paradise Dragway. Made a couple passes in the Stude, Chatted with some of the SEGA guys and bought a couple items from Rick Cathcart for my 4 speed conversion (1350 trans yoke).Loved the sound of the new headers. ET stayed about the same but picked up 2 mph. Good day !

 

Security Chief ?

 

I had to laugh at your "security chief" pic Johnny, I have one of those some of the time from next door, LOL!
Tony said he saw you make a run or two at Paradise and you looked pretty good doing it! What were you running for headers before you built those?

 

Hey Dave, the Chief doesn't belong to me either, just comes to visit everyday ! I was running 1 5/8 chassis headers with a 3" collector. The ones we built have 1 3/4 tubes with 4" collector.
Seemed to lose a little down low but picked up a couple mph. Only leaving at 2400 and shifting at 5500. The little motor I plan to run will spend more time in the upper rpm range. Hopefully these headers will benefit, they sure sound good !

 

They look good too. good thing you don't have security goat . They like to stand on top of cars too.

 

Think I'm the only goat (old too) around here and I can't get up there !!

 

If you want some bottom end back try different lengths of header extensions until you find the best length. Or try the old racer trick of rattle canning a stripe down the length and cut them off where the paint stops burning.

 

I dunno if it's on the newstands yet if you don't have a subscription, but the Dec. edition of HRM has a a short article and a chart concerning peak power, rpm and cid for different size primary pipes on headers. Im assuming you're planning on twisting that small engine tighter than the one in that Stude?

 

I think I can live with it, barely noticed. Can't try different lengths, I've already turned them out of the fender. I have used the paint stripe trick before. I was going to experiment with lengths until I went to buy 4" collector flanges. Those things were about 50 bucks each (3" are way under 10 bucks each) ! Went with weld on extensions ! Of course that was at one of our speed parts stores with a know it all salesman that, by the way, screwed up my order ! Thanks for your input Loudbang, always appreciated.

 

Thanks Dave, I do plan on turning the small motor a bit higher. Got what I got on the headers, hope they work out. If I had purchased a kit, I would have done some research. Already had these pipes so I made use of them and here's hoping cause I sure like them.