Gasser Era Questions

Wait a minute, Beaner is quoting Hemingway now? OK this thread has officially gone over the edge. I'm done

 

What's a Hemingway?

 

Actually paraphrasing, I can never remember his exact words.

Besides there has been every other kind of elephant junk on this thread so why not?

 

"There ya go, two real deal cars still turned out like the hey Day!!"


Your going to have to be more specfic about which hey day that was so we can start picking them apart.

 

Yep just call it Beanerway!

 

Well of course Benno can qoute Hemingway, he's had a "right proper brought up". Benno, you crack me up. nutz

 

I aim to please.

My hardest 4 years were kiddy garter. Hell I went plumb though the 6th grade.

 

And in reality Hemingway never said that, although a few times it has been attributed to him. It was actually Mark Twain, and even that was twisted around. He was speaking of Paris - "anywhere is better than Paris. Paris the cold, Paris the drizzly, Paris the rainy, Paris the damnable. More than a hundred years ago somebody asked Quin, "Did you ever see such a winter in all your life before?" "Yes," said he, "Last summer."

Jack London was having lunch with Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) and Oscar Wilde in Oakland.
When asked by Sam why he lived in Oakland and not San Francisco, London replied:
"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco so I refuse to spent my days there." Which of course was funny because it was paraphrased from Sam's own comments about Paris .....

 

Hey some guys posted pictures, I'm sure that will help the original poster try to figure out the direction he should go in. How about a cheaper alternative to the "correct" magnesium wheel that could be "affordable" to a guy that wants to drive his car through a couple pot holes by mistake.
Those faux spindle mounts cost say 150.00 each, what's in that price range that looks like the "correct" wheel. We've also determined that a 10 inch wide rear rim is about max for that era, now we are getting somewhere. This is the kind of stuff that needs to be out there, not all the drama shit.

 

AMEN!
The problem is, the ones that posted what I want can't be found on here for all the other stuff!
Thanks to those that posted some info.

 

Nice Marty! Got any other pictures of the interior you can post?

 

beaner---that's a samuel clemmons quote "MARK TWAIN"...

 

Cragar SS's. the only reason I am back on this thread is because I'd heard a rumour that Benno was quoting Hemingway...

 

I do have these pics of the firewall, and tunnel, notice what it is powered by?, it would have been "cooler" with an axle, but it should make a nice driver.

 

Ok, some constructive advice, right? Small-block ford with a tunnel-ram is completely off target for a jacked-up mid sixties gasser. Thats just a stone cold fact.
So, what to do? While its completely out to lunch for a gasser, its DEAD ON THE MONEY for a solid-front axle early seventies street freak. So why not take this theme and run with it? Straight axle, fogged candy panel paint, grump lump hood scoop, Cragar SS's, Accel dual point or BEI with tach drive, Moroso cable tach, Mr. Gasket V-gate, low-back fiberglass buckets with diamond pleat inserts, and dont forget the diamond pleat door panels. Too bad M/T Indy Profiles arent available anymore, but lots of guys were running McCrearies at that time, how about a set of 28x10 McCrearies? And as much chrome as you can afford. NO pie-crusts, NO moon tank, and ABSOLUTELY no A/G or any other such bullshit lettering. As an alternative, you could run some wide chrome reverses on the back. Some period photos for inspiration. None of these are Henry J's, and NONE of these are "gassers", this is the way these cars REALLY looked when I was a young guy.
I know, the idea of actually setting out to build a period car that really could have existed, rather than building some bizarre circus wagon, then ranting and raving about it being a "gasser" flies in the face of the way things are done nowadays, and I realise what I have suggested will fall on deaf ears, because in actual fact, none of the "gasser" guys remotely give a shit about what actually existed or was plausible, and are here to wipe their collective asses on history, rather than pay tribute to it, so I will post a few more pics of period seventies street cars, and then move on.
I just noticed the Corvette is a modern photo, but with the blue streaks and polyglas GT's on the front, the car is so period-perfect, I'm gonna leave it.

 

The Kansas City Star used to have a pic of Hemingway with the quote in thier lobby, maybe they still do I haven't been back there sine '03.

I knew that Sam had said it and perhaps Hemingway was paraphrasing Sam, much like London. At least it has been atributed to all three. Time changes things and people get misquoted. Nothing has changed a magazine that farms the HAMB for tech articles recently misquoted me in an article and I will never ever be famouse.

What is written down as history for the most part is someone's idea if what may have happened or how they would like it to have happened. Don't believe me just open an gasser thread.

 

Seems to me that the gas class called for 10% set back, measured from the #1 spark plug. bowtie40...

 

Early '60s was up to 10% that would be percentage of wheel base as measured from axle centerline to first plug. It was not required it was allowed. Engine could set in stock location. There was also a 24" crank center rule. Some of the guys raised the engine for weight transfer.

Wat happened a lot of tims if the tech was savvy or another racer protested, was that a minor infraction could get you bumped to altered class.

Getting bumped a class or out classing yourself was always a bad deal. A long time ago I raced an old ford that just was not competitive in Gas class. I always tried to enter Stock. Sometimes I would not pass tech for stock and have to run D/G. I could run but I never brought home the bacon on gas class. I just didn't have a D/G budget back then.

 

Cool info. Thanks.

 

Cool Marty!
Like it!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, I know when I looked at this the 10% was a maximum set-back and crankshaft centerline could be no more than 24" from the ground......but don't quote me on this I can't recall if it was '64-'65 or a little later.

I'm thinking mid 60's before the gasser became less of a car with working lights and license (basically a street/race car) and more of a purpose built race car.

 

I think Marty Strode has more Gasser expertise in one fingertip than many of the so-called experts on the H.A.M.B.

That's just an observation.

 

I like your style, and foremost, have fun!!!

 

Thanks!
My buddy that's helping me build most of it ran against some of the old gassers & came up with some of the ideas!

 

Only rules I got on my desktop are '64 NHRA rules and they state no more than 10% measured the way that I stated previously, full interior or if the rear seat was removed OEM type of interior in its place, 24" max crank center, working lights etc.

There were some rule changes in '65 that made a gas class car more of a dedicated race car and less of a street legal class. The rules continued to change almost yearly as the gas class cars became mor radical in thier build or the cars became more radical in their build as the rules changed.

It was a popular class and a good draw because they were cars that the working public could identify with. Even after it became a class that was primarily for dedicated race cars they were still real cars and could be recognized as such.

I am probably wrong about this but I think that gas class was what made drag racing popular. There was a time that any freak, boho or greaser could build and race one, and way more did that then have gotten credit for doing so.

 

MOST of the posts on the HAMB are trying to re-write history.
International trucks were never considered for traditional hotrods nor were most of the off brand cars we see here

 

I had them at one time on my old computer and no backup when it crashed, and Byrons old site used to have them, but at least I was close on the year....

As for any freak, bozo and greaser I looked at an old '62 Falcon that was for sale (was an old race car from way back) a few years back that used welded re-bar pieces for a custom drag link and its support... the fabrication was awesome*, car wasn't smashed up, so it must have by some miracle stayed on the track...lol

 

Many...,
I think that off brand cars got used at least some of them that we see here, they just didn't get as much love as the old standbys.

I don't recall seeing a binder used for anything but hauling stuff so in experience they were just old farm trucks. Maybe someone rodded one but I never saw it.

Now on a different subject I have seen a couple of jeeps running fuel altered in my time.

Send me you email and I'll send you my '64 rules. I snagged them from a gasser rules thread when I was building a car to '64 rules. Someplace on here there is a thread that has rules posted for many years and sanctioning bodies. Maybe someone remembers where it is.

 

Thanks much.. PM sent

 

Not a big Henry J fan normally, but I like that. Good looking package and nice work.