Projects K-88 Dragster / 6 Cylinder

Looking killer Dave.
Can,t wait to see it in June.(HINT HINT)

 

Love your dragster & post - but, any more pics of the yellow cowl dragster facing yours in the one pic??? Looks like a great pair ready to run

 

Dave, your going to love this. Your not the only one. Here’s an original one being done by Jim Busby. I was at his shop for a “50 years in racing” celebration today and couldn’t resist taking a few photos. It has a little Dodge hemi for power.

 

Oh Man JD!! You had me pegged on that. I've seen some shots floating around of Jim's restoration and THANK YOU for snapping and sharing some shots of it. Hopefully Jim will share more about it's history but that is beyond cool - Thank You Again!!

 

Always have my eyes open. All the internal parts were on a bench. Ross pistons and aftermarket rods and a finished crank from Marine Crankshaft here SoCal.. they do mine too. I heard it was found in a scrap yard field. I looked for a # but didn’t see one.

 

So dang good and I love that kind of stuff. I'm not sure if Scotty Fenn and crew ever numbered the chassis....for some reason I don't think they did but I'm not 100% sure on that. Hope Jim posts more updates as that is a gem for sure.

 

Thank you for sharing your pictures Larry and it was great to see you again!! And driving model A's from New Mexico no less!! Always good to see you!!

 

Here's a few shots of the car prior to the Denver Timing Association club meeting. Still a long ways to go but bolted the bare headers on there to get the effect. Headers will probably get painted white here pretty quick and time to start figuring out some simple scallops and what not.

 

It was a pretty fun night with some deep Denver history in the house. First off is Bob Corbett's record holding dragster. The 12 port on this GMC was designed by Bob and this car still holds the Inliner International record...ET 7.79 @ 170mph. This was set at Bandimere (on 85% fuel) and I highly doubt it will ever be broken. @AmishMike this is the car you were asking about.

 

Also a special treat was seeing Joe Umphenour's engine again now owned by Mike Nicholas. You may recall at the beginning of all this, Joe's first dragster (a TE-448) was the major inspiration behind my dragster build and the fact that this engine is still in the area is incredible and it's in very good hands.
Here's Joe's dragster that I'm referring to:

It's really cool that the engine is still in the area and is being very well taken care of.

 

And yet another 12 port that we were treated to was Cal Kennedy's. Many of you know Cal from the T-33 car and the Hot Rod Hill Climb. As I understand it, the T-33 is getting a new bullet and it was on display prior to going into the car.
That's Cal on the left and Bob Corbett on the right of Cal's new engine.

Cal with his new engine.


And the legendary T-33 that it's going in.

 

Wow, what a collection of beautiful 6’s. Did Bob Corbett design that head and cast in iron or aluminum.?

 

Outstanding brother!!

 

Yes..Bob designed that head and it's machined out of aluminum. Here's another picture I took of it a couple of years back. That whole car is truly a work of art and hauls ass!!

 

Thank you Steve - that means a lot!! June isn't that far off so I better get my crap together.

 

Very cool meet you guys had down there in Denver! Do you know why the Corbett engine has a side cover on the left side? For looks? Or some super secret speed tricks? I also have a GMC infection, my Bonneville O/T race car has a Howard/Arias 12 Port head and Mike Kirby @ Sissell’s built my Lump Port stock head blown engine. Definitely no 1-800 stuff going on with these badass Jimmy’s!

 

It was nice to meet you too and sounds like a hell of a stable you have!! And you are so right....no 1-800 stuff going on with the Jimmy crowd.

 

Not much progress as of late but was able to carve out some time and get the brakes plumped.

 

High on detail, beautiful stuff !

 

I just sold my120" wb K-88 dragster with flathead which hadn't been run since 1970

 

One of the things I've been putting off is how are we going to start this thing. After much thought and ideas of threaded holes, riv-nuts, etc...my brother Jay had the idea of drilling/tapping the mid-plate and bringing bolts in from the backside to act as mounting studs for the starter.
From there I was then able to squeeze a mini-starter down in between the frame rails and when it was all said and done I lucked out with having the correct drive-ring gear clearance with enough depth engagement to where I think we can check this off the list.

 

In case you get the itch to build an I-6 comp coupe here’s a little gem you might like.

 

Neatly done on the starter. Looking great.

Cheers,
Harv

 

In case you get the itch to build an I-6 comp coupe here’s a little gem you might like.

That's such a great car. Ricky Neal is so talented and definitely builds some cool stuff!!

 

Carved out some time and finally started plumbing this thing. Was able to get from the tank to the barrel valve. Still need to source new nozzles and injectors lines but some progress anyway.

 

Neat job on the plumbing. You get a smiley face stamp and two brownie points for not using red or blue anodised tube fittings (mebbe it's just me, but they scream 1980's).

I'm at a similar point with my FED. Decided to run -8 suction and -6 return lines, mostly bent rather than use bend-fittings or hoses. Bought stainless line, in hindsight should have bought aluminium. My el-cheapo tube benders have done a lot of work on bundy tube, but the stainless tube laughed at it, crimping every time. Bit the bullet and bought a pair of high-end Rigid benders. They are clunkier to use (long handles) but make beautiful bends.



Do I spy a Hilborn F500 filter in your photo? I've got one, but elected for a smaller, later model filter for now. I suspect weight is going to be my enemy (220HP and chasing a 10.99 cut-off for Modified bracket), but may fit the F500 later if I can make the cutoff.

Cheers,
Harv

 

Nice Work Harv and that looks great!! Yeah this is my first rodeo with this AN stuff and it's kicking my ass. Guess I'm a rubber hose and hose clamp type guy but trying to build a car with a late 50's / early 60's vibe while being able to pass current tech is a fine line.
I too opted with -8 between the tank and the pump and then -6 for the rest. I don't like my Rube Goldberg antics coming out of the pump with the 2 90 degree fittings but needed to move the shutoff inward for the pill holder(and lines) to clear the chassis. I was trying to come up with some type of bracket but no good way to mount it to the engine so it is what it is.
Yes - that is a F500 filter. A sprint car cast-off spare that was basically NOS - there again trying to run the early stuff if possible.
I'll be pulling for you to make the cut-off in yours and keep us posted! In my case we just bracket race and I can't go faster than a 11.50et otherwise I need to start adding roll-bars and what not which I planned from the beginning not to do.

 

My very good friend "Big Dick" Deutsche built this rail back in 1952. It was powered by a 216 Chevy. If you look close by the shoe on the frame rail, you can see the special scattershield. I believe it's a 6.50-16.... That's Dick standing with his hand on the carb.... Ironically, his next rail, which he began building that year, was a rear engined design....

 

Wow! I'd guess a tire would slow down some things. Too early for a radial. In early Colton days I saw an Olds-powered Chevy Sedan Delivery pass (after warning the week before) with flat black painted cardboard.