I didn't see this addressed in the SEGA rules PDF's but are Funny Car cages, (and SFI 25.4 or 25.5 chassis with box/rectangle tubing for the main frame rails) allowed in the Southeast Gassers? I realize a Funny Car cage isn't exactly "period correct". And I realize lot of gassers out there probably won't ever be fast enough to actually "need/require" a Funny Car cage or a SFI legal chassis. But as I become more of an old fart the added safety of a Funny Car cage (and the extra required diagonal bars a SFI chassis requires) sounds more and more like a good idea to my few remaining brain cells. If a Funny Car cage was deemed legal then the SFI 25.4 or 25.5 specs could be OK too since they both allow the use of box/rectangle tubing for the main frame rails (instead of requiring only round tubing for the chassis like the 25.1, 25.2, & 25.3 specs require). Opinions?
I am pretty sure that they are not legal as Quain is striving to make the cars look as period correct as possible.--Call him Roo
That's the SEGA rules PDF's I already have and they don't say if a Funny Car cage is legal or not (or maybe my ancient eyes missed it ). Thanks, I just sent him an email.
I haven't built anything Gasser related yet. I'm just tumbling ideas around and asking questions (that aren't really answered in the rules PDF) to see what's legal and what's not. Fore example the A/Gas rules do state that cars won't have to be weighed (the weight to cubic inch rule) unless you run 5.799 or quicker. Meaning that they do expect some cars will probably be able to run 5.70's and faster at some point (if a few don't already). Now 5.70's and faster is getting pretty damn close to the 5.35 1/8 mile ET cutoff where a regular 8.50 1/4 mile cage is no longer legal at NHRA member tracks and a SFI cage is required (8.49 and faster 1/4 mile, 5.34 and faster 1/8 mile).
Unless there is an issue with being visually period correct I can't see why there would be and issue with going above and beyond on the safety aspect of a cage. I have to agree that I wouldn't to be dependent on some of those rollbars / cages you saw in gassers back in the day now.
Heh, I'm trying to cover both ends. My brain-box likes a F/C cage over it (regardless of how slow I go), and my fat butt likes more diagonal braces under it.
If they weren't being used in the un blown gassers in '67, they're not likely to be legal in the SEGA now. There is no reason the A/G cars need to go 5.35 or quicker. I'm pretty sure that Bob Glidden had the first current door slammer style funny car cage installed after one of his crashes in the late 70's.
IIRC the first of Glidden's P/S cars with a F/C cage was the 1986 Thunderbird built by Jerry Haas. It's also the same one he famously crashed where he got out of the wrecked car after the tumble and threw his fire jacket over the busted up intake manifold. None of his P/S cars built before that time (built by Don Hardy) had a F/C cage. I think the wild-guess chronological order of Bob Glidden's Pro Stock cars is maybe something like this (but I could be wrong). 72 Ford Pinto - His first P/S car was an ex G&R car [Don Hardy?] Ford Pinto [Don Hardy] Ford Mustang II [Don Hardy] 70 Ford Mustang [Don Hardy] Chevy Monza [Don Hardy?] Later sold to John Lingenfelter 78 Ford Fairmont [Don Hardy] 79-80 Plymouth Arrow [Don Hardy] 80-81 Ford Fairmont [Don Hardy] 82 Ford EXP [Don Hardy] First year with the new 500" + 2350lb rule change. 84 Ford T-Bird [Don Hardy] Bob's First T-Bird 86 Ford T-bird [Jerry Haas] The "Crash" T-Bird, Bob's first F/C cage. 88 Ford Probe [Willie Rells] His true "first" Probe cuz the Haas Probe wasn't ready yet. 88 Ford Probe [Jerry Haas] His "official" first probe. 95 Ford Probe - next gen Probe [Jerry Haas] 95 Ford Probe - next gen Probe [Gateway] Often driven by Billy or Rusty Ford T-bird - next gen T-Bird [Jerry Haas] ???? ????? ??????? The first time I remember seeing a F/C cage in a P/S car was a magazine pic of Frank Iaconio's T-Bird that was built by Don Ness (IIRC the first P/S car to have one). Frank's car didn't pass tech that day because there wasn't any rules for a F/C cage in a P/S car back then and the tech guys didn't like the way it was done and said no-go. So Frank & Don had to make a mad dash to a shop over night & slap some new cage bars in the car next to the bars that didn't pass so they could race the next day.
Not trying to be a smart ass, but if you've already talked to Quain, why and what is the purpose of this thread? His rules are his rules, and the die is cast.
If you read the thread again you will see that I contacted Quain after this thread was already started, not before. I didn't know to contact him until after Roo suggested it. Quain was great, he took time out of his busy day to answer the questions I had.
If you are interested we are starting a sega group in Texas. same rules, Quain is in charge and if you haven't been to one of our meetings I would like to invite you. It looks like we will have some events this year where we fill in until we get enough cars to have our own race. It is called Southeast Gassers Texas Style
You could consider the cage style where the main hoop is forward a bit and your helmet is behind it. Then all those extra FC bars are not as obvious and the door entry area is uncluttered. I'm doing a double A car myself and that is how I'm designing mine.
What you are describing (main hoop completely in front of helmet, forming the front bars of the F/C cage) is what I like to call a "Jerry Haas" F/C cage layout. IIRC he was one of the first builders to do it this way, and probably used it more than any other builder. It creates a nice rounded cradle for the driver's body & helmet. It's my second favorite F/C cage layout. My favorite layout is where the main hoop is over the helmet (forming the second bars of the F/C cage). Both of these 2 layouts work/hide very well in a body that doesn't have a real long door (where the B pillar is fairly far forward and/or the driver sits at or behind the B pillar) like an Anglia, a 37 Chevy coupe, and the early 30's-40's Willys stuff. But if I was to build a Gasser it would most likely be one of the smaller 60-65 Rancheros, that have a fairly long door. Using the main hoop forward layout in these early Rancheros would really standout like a sore-thumb in both the driver & passenger door and be very hard to hide. I chose the small/narrow/lighter Rancheros because (A) I don't want to deal with the bigger/heavier body styles anymore, (B) The small Falcons are OK but it seems like there are a bunch of them already, and (C) because I don't have the balls to try a short wheelbase Anglia (Heh).
Out of respect for Mr. Stott I feel it's not my place to share his side of our conversation without his prior knowledge or his approval. It just would't be a cool thing to do on my part. Heh, you could always contact him and ask him.
I really liked Gliddens T bolt Fairlane, Pintos and Mustangs. But my all time favorite Glidden car was his Arrow.
My personal all-time-favorite body style that Ford has ever made is the 69-70 Mustang, (it's also the best Mustang body ever IMO). But when it comes to Bob's cars it might sound strange but my #1 fav is his EXP.....it was a very interesting combo. It was the first year for the big block 500 inch rule change in P/S combined with the EXP's tiny body style that was aero for it's day.....damn interesting combo.
From what I understand, the EXP was the car he liked the least. He said the car was evil handling due the short wheelbase.
In a Car Craft magazine article from '82 Bob said that the EXP's design/layout ended up being a mix. The cage/chassis was similar to the Arrow, and the 4-link used was similar to what they had in the last Fairmont. Heh, the tiny rear deck wings they had back then didn't help either.
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