History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

CHUCK; This could very well be a Reichenbach Frme as Hank and Max were neighbors and very good frends.

 

Chuck; another good source would be George Holderman he lives and works in the St.Charles Ill. He and Max Reichenbach were very close to Hank Jeffreys. BK

 

Hey All, I need to get a hold of Tony Bonadies Jr.
PM me email or phone.
Tony, If you are already on this site just call me..860-986-3817
Denny Z.

 

Paul: Glad the piece fit; it was a standard midget driveline part before everything went to billet aluminum.

Bill: I ran into George Holterman at the Circle Track Expo. He mentioned having a Jeffries built chassis at the end. The car is definitely an Edmunds or Edmunds kit as it has all the right rolled sheet gussets and shock mounts. The nerf bars would fit on my coil car.

Joe Binter Sr. Purchased Autoresearch in late 1980 according to his son, Joe Jr. According to an e-mail I got from Mr. Edmunds his last car was chassis #400. [Mine is #393]. We have since learned that in addition to plans & kits un-numbered chassis sometimes found their way out of the shop. Brian Watson may know more after visiting Don in Oregon last month.

Joe Jr. is a philosophy lecturer at a California college. If you see the photo of the "house" coil car after his wreck on the Phoenix Mile you can understand the career change. He was rumored to be writing a history of Autoresearch. If it turns out as well as George Benson's book it will be a must buy.

Bill, I haven't "quit" on writing Max's story but have been occupied with work and race car prep. Once the season starts I hope to corral various old timers for interviews about your father-in-law. Gregg Kishline once asked Harry Turner for permission to write a book about him and got a profanity laced "no" so no history is coming on that front.

Way too many talented contributors to our sport have been forgotten already. Hopefully we can get Max's story into print.

Chuck Schultz
Winfield, Illinois

 

http://www.facebook.com/groups/102258789894833/

Denny,
Tony Bonadies Jr. goes on this site quite a bit. There are also many fine photos from time to time.

 

Stan, I thought he did but I don't know what his avatar is. I figured this was the way to find him anyway.... .Tony Jr, I was talking to Johnny Heydenrich the other day (he is recuperating in Connecticut), he asked if I knew how to get a hold of you and I thought I could. He wants to come over and take a look at the roadster (midget) he thinks you have. Thats all. Denny Z.

 

POSTED FOR MLIGHT9


Snook Midget at Williams Grove Old Timers November 1983. Story Board indicates that the car was driven by A. J. Foyt at one time

 

POSTED FOR mLight9 Snook Midget
Laudon Vintage Show July 1994

 

Snook looked good even back then.....................thanks for the post kjohns3203

 

where can I find someone to make me or help me make a radiator for my midget. talked to a few local radiator shops & they don't seem interested. the guy I bought the midget from said he would make his own top & bottom tanks from sheet brass then he'd call a buddy to get a core with a "tray/pan" already attatched to the core size he needed. then he would just braze/solder it onto the tanks he made?
I have no problem making the tanks I just can't seem to find someone to sell me a custom sized core.
any leads or info would be great!
Paul

 

I just had a new radiator built for my sportsman midget by Saldana Racing in Indy. Great piece at a fair price; all aluminum though. You specify the dimensions, fitting sizes, & fitting locations on a drawing from their website. It took about a month to arrive.

 

I am slowly digging out lots of midget stuff that I need to sell (some on ebay right now). I think I have two older radiators. One is a period correct Kurtis midget radiator, not sure on the other one. If you want to PM me or give me a call with what dimensions you need, I will check what I have. Thanks Allan 262-844-1557 Pewaukee Wi.

 

my progress report:
a few posts ago I was asking for info on useing the cornis In/Out box I had. after posting pics up of the pieces I had + the story behind them I got alot of great info from you guys with replies & PM's. I bit the bullet I decided to go with machining the rear bell off & mounting the I/O flush tot he crank with a mid plate. I haven't cut the block yet but I got the I/O input shaft & mid plate mostley done. here's a recap on what I did during my lunch breaks & a few saturday afternoons:
I found I could not weld the input gear to the stock cast steel crank flange, it started to bubble during the tig process so it must not be real pure casting? I ended up cutting a disc out of new steel on the plasma table then machining the dowl & bolt hole to match the stock one. then I machines a shoulder on the input gear ,squared it up on the flange & tig welded it up. afterwards I had my buddy face the assembly in a lather & we machined a piece of oilite bronze bearing material to be press fit into the center. we cut the input shat to length & polished it then honed the new bearing surface to mate to the shaft.
then I used the stock bellhousing radious as a templete + my frame ID to make a mid plate templete. once I likes what I saw I plasma cut a piece of 1/4" material for the mid-plate.
I have to drill & tap the plate for the I/O box + drill the box flanges but that should be a walk in the park. next I have to layout my cut lines on my engine block, cut it on the large band saw at work & have my engine guy mill it square to the crank face.
Paul

 

That looks great. I think you have a good handle on the situation. Jake Jacobson told me many years ago that he had converted one of their midgets to use cut blocks so he could use their hydroplane engines in it. That might be an interesting thing to explore as there are still a lot of limited hydros that use V8-60s and some are wicked fast.

Doc

 

I recommend Superior Radiator in Mt. Clemens Michigan. They do everything from custom turbo-trucks to motorcycles. I had them do one for my Willys coupe and just recently for my '46 Ford. I found it best to make a cardboard mock-up with the shape of the top tank and the size and location of the outlets and filler neck.



This one for my 460 cost me about $350 with a trans cooler.

http://www.wwwsuperiorradiator.com/

 

Altho it is slightly off topic [by 5 or 6 years] I thought I'd update you guys on the "trailer find" Gregg Kishline is prepping for sale.
He has confirmation from Don Edmunds that it is one of his cars and the consensus is that the car was orginally built as a low bar for a 2x4 Sesco, possibly for Howard Linne, before being crashed and converted into a high bar VW chassis. The conversion was started while Harry Steinfat owned the car with work done by Tom Steiner & Doc Tyler at Sunby's near Madison. The conversion was never finished [frame sections only tack welded, no Dzus tabs, incomplete nerf bars & front bumper].
Any help in confirming/denying this storyline is appreciated. A couple photos are attached to stimulate your memories.

Thanks,
Chuck Schultz
Winfield, Illinois

 

I can second that. We bought at least four different size & shape radiators, different thickness cores, for vintage restoration projects, and the prices, service, quality and workmanship were excellent.
As to: "I found it best to make a cardboard mock-up with the shape of the top tank and the size and location of the outlets and filler neck." That will get you what you need and want.
A couple orders were just for cores that we put our own brass tanks on. Others for finished radiators ready for the hoses and caps.

 

what kind of prices are you talking about?

 

I was watching the chilli bowl yesterday on TV and after seeing those guys flying around I started to wonder how quick they were going (MPH) & how much HP they make? then I wondered how much HP and speed could they get out of a v8-60 back in the hey day of midgets, obviously the speed would vary on different lenght tracks?
Paul

 

A really good v8-60 might make about 120 hp. A really good Offy might make 145 hp (more for some of the great builders). I know (I've seen the dyno sheet) that Don Schilling's Pontiac dynoed out at 375+ hp! Don was spending Connie Kaleta's money so he had nothing but the best.

Doc

 

These are pictures of a 30s midget with a Drake conversion for a twin Harley engine. Richard Denables in Orange has built this one and several more. Very cool car and engine.

Rex

 

First midget race after I went to work at IRP, Don was the fast qualifier. I think that a little later, he was largely responsible for Doug Kalitta's success in midgets and sprint cars.

 

Back about 10 yrs. ago, USAC had SC/sprint/midget shows at PPIR, a banked 1 mile paved track here in Co. At the time, the midgets were cutting laps in the high 130mph range. After the tires burned off a little, those little 72" wb cars got a little "twitchy" to say the least.

 

Rootie, didn't Mel Kenyon have the lap record at Trenton when it was turned into the 1.5 mile lima bean at 138mph?

 

Well there is a story there.
Don was the VP of maintenance for Kalitta Air. Doug was flying for Uncle Connie and Don discovered the Doug is one of the world's greatest welders, so he commandeered him every time he had a very tricky job to do. Doug decided he wanted to go oval racing and he and Don put together an asphalt Beast for Doug (they built it so it could run dirt too, but it was an asphalt car). He was fast and brave and started to win right off the bat.

Don put together an asphalt sprinter that was very quick, but he did not ever feel comfortable in it. He hired Doug to drive it and they ran away with the championship in the one year it ran.

Doug is one of the best pilots in the world. Don is no slouch in an airplane either (neither is his wife, Margie - she is as good as they get).

Anyway, this was a potent team and fun to watch for the few years they ran.

Doc

 

Could be, Jim I really don't know. The latest I have is the USAC record from 1969, which was still held by Jmmie Davies set in 61 at 102mph. Of course that was in a little ol 110 Offy. No doubt the record got bumped up a bunch over the tracks remaining years.

 

I have access to an aluminum 215 cu. in. Buick from the early 1960's... Any interest out there?

 

Just a quick photos of a nailhead powered car!!!!!

 

Bob Dejong in a Bob Rosen car looks to be indoors at Oakland? photo above