Projects Gene (Moonlighter) Cromer's A/G Willys Resurrection

The block, high rise heads, and B&M C6 trans have at one time been in the car before.

 

I understand, that was my question, what kind of E.T.s did it run with that combination?

 

As a fan who followed Gene around to the various tracks from 1965 -1967( I was in the Army from 1968-71 ), I remember the Willys running high 9's and 138-145 mph. It had a 468 stroker high riser. If I'm mistaken, please correct me.

 

That sounds about right. Since you mentioned 468 stroker, I asked Gene what engine was in the 58 Ranchero tow vehicle and it was a 468 stroker. I wish it was still around to tow the Moonlighter again.

 

I'm sure Gene or Melvin can answer this one best.

My guess would be about mid tens (mid-high 6's 1/8 mile) the way Gene described the motor.

With the technology at the time, that would be pretty darn fast !!

I remember people standing up and lining the fence at local strips when an 11 second super stocker staged up in the mid sixties.

9 and 10 second passes in that era were usually good for " low e.t. of the meet" awards, and lots of fan whooping and hollering.

-- Steve --

 

When Gene and the Moonlighter came to a strip, there was a lot of hooping and hollering as he ran these great times. He was usually putting a Chevy powered Anglia or a Hemi powered Willys on the trailer. FE power!

 

First time that I've checked this thread for a while and I'm amazed at the progress and the quality of the build. You guys are flat-out amazing with what your doing for Gene and the "Moonlighter". Ya'll should be pretty proud of your contributions to this effort!! Did I read somewhere about some shirts being available? Let me know when and how I can get one so that I can contribute in some small way to this resurrection. Thanks, Carp

 

Hey CatDad, Been a while. PM me if you get a chance.

Dave

 

Dave is another amazing individual,,I have known him for at least 35 years and his talents are seemly endless,,great to have him on board with the resurrection of the Moonlighter! HRP

 

Dad started roughing in the headliner tonight.

 

That's great John,I spent the afternoon with Gene and Melvin,the brake lines are almost finished and all the brakes are rebuilt. HRP

 

The Moonlighter is really looking good. Like many others, I am dying to see and hear it run. Best of luck to everyone involved. Oh yeah, I want a shirt! Prolly two!

 

Thanks HRP!
That is a great color.

 

Great to hear the headliner is going in, it has to be done before the body can go back on. Thanks to the gang at Anderson Auto Glass.

 

Old girl is looking great! I would like a couple shirts also, are they going to be ready before the Greer race ?

 

Love to see old cars with a racing history be brought back to life!

 

Wow, this car is going to be gorgeous !! By the way; Am I the only one that gets Moonlighter withdrawal symptoms after 24hrs without an update? I know you guys are really busy on it though.

-- Steve --

 

I check the forum 2 times per day!

 

I know how yall feel ever since it left my shop I can't wait for updates. Right now work has stopped for a few days untill the headliner gets installed. I made the roll cage so tight to the body to try and hide it as best as I could that the headliner has to be put in before the body can go back on. Gene and Melvin has every thing done that they can do untill the body gets back on the chassis. I'm sure the work will start back this week stay tuned.

 

In the meantime, we can stand up at an AA meeting, and declare we are addicted to an internet thread ... lol lol

 

I just got home from Gene's about an hour ago,finishing touches are being done to the brakes.

Gene,Melvin,Chris Harper,J Ed Horton,Gary Sanders and I we all over there this afternoon. HRP

 

Thank Danny for searching for parts today.

 

Glad I can help Gene,,

Gene and Melvin putting the finishing touches on the brakes. HRP





The rear wheels are on and waiting for Greg to finish polishing the front wheels. HRP

 

A lot of ya'll wanted to know what The Moonlighter ran back in the day so Gene sent me these time cards to post. They are all cool but the one from Indy is over the top on the cool meter.

 

Cool old handwritten timeslips! I don't know what the A/G record was in 1967, but the Top Fuel record was 7.26 early in that year. High 9's were really fast for full bodied unblown cars back then.

 

An interesting side story is the Shuffletown time card. Shuffletown was an 1/8 mile track but Tom Farrell managed several 1/4 mile tracks in the Carolinas and no doubt ran out of time cards at one of those tracks and used Shuffletown cards. Do you remember anything about that Gene?

 

Fred Hurst held the record i think at 9.83 in 1967.

 

Fred’s Willys ran a Chrysler Hemi, and was obviously a very high dollar machine. Running times close to his record was quite an accomplishment with a Ford FE engine Gene. Hats off to ya' for building some very stout engines.
--- Steve ---

 

The rolling chassis is just about ready for the body.

 

I don't want to derail this awesome thread, I just wanted to share another thread that Quain has going that may interest some of you here. We are testing the Willys today, along with Craig Owen, in preparation for Bristol next weekend. You can see all the details here http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=786734

Hope to meet some HAMBRs at Thunder Valley!

Daron