I've had this blower for quite a while. I got a little info on it but not much and I was wondering if anyone on here had any info on the blower and or company. It came off a alcohol gasser. http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/InsaneRob/18583000_0151.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/InsaneRob/18583000_0150.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/InsaneRob/18583000_0149.jpg http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/InsaneRob/18583000_0148.jpg
Mark Danekas was a T/F racer back in the 80's I believe. He was hurt real bad when the car ran off the end of the track and a chain or wire caught his helmet. I think he recovered enough to work but not race. For a while Lucille Lee drove his car. NOW ! don't take this to the bank, I'm relying strictly on memory. I don't think it's his blower, it looks like a GMC blower but he might have made the end plates for himself and other racers. Hope this is a little help.
I have been fooling around with GMC blowers for a long time,and I dont recall ever seeing any with those pipe fittings coming out of the case. It is definately a GMC type blower,with Danekas end plates.
Looks to me like a V series GMC blower. There is a small aftermarket for them, my best luck has been E-bay. Nice to have an endplate like that.
Don't the V-series cases have long bolts that go through the base at an angle? That's they way the ones that I have seen are. I'm no expert, but I haven't seen a case like that before with shrouded mounting holes along the base.
It looks like a water cooled unit , that`s why the hold down bolts are so deep in the case. Don`t remember why they built them. Maybe boat racers, you could use lake water to cool them down. Gasserman
No mystery at all. It is an industrial "water cooled" 671. GMC made these for the oil field for estreme hot climates. Drag racers tried them back in the late 50's and early 60's without much success. They didn't make any more power but wieghed much more. Plus you had to carry water. Now with today technolgy like instant cold liquids? Mmmmm, who knows. Just think of almost frozen air coming trhough your blower......
Thanks! I've been looking for the front plate for a while! And yes I know Alcohol & Gasser sound like an oxymoron but hey thats what the guy ran...or atleast thats what the previous owner said. My bet if it ran alcohol it was a slingshot. I really would like to know a little more history on Danekas blowers what he did other then a small peice on the internet about his funeral nothing much around about him. I figure 6 Strombergs would look good ontop of it, if I ever get it on something.
The only history you will probably find will have to do with the time Lucille Lee drove his car and than at that, most of that will center around the final round at national trail raceway in 1981 i think it was when she raced shirly muldowney in the final. Hey even with a lack of documented history, you still something that does seem to have racing history and thats pretty damn cool to me.
Marc Danakas was a really smart racer who ran out of money at the end and was involved in bad deals. I was told drugs. He was most famous for the " super blower". It had the same 6/71 base but had huge rotors. It never caught on. He made his own tooling for a case that the base was far stronger than the stockers. When Marvin Grahm (sp.) drove his car, they were contenders.
Big Ed at the swap meets has another one of those. Look for it out at the Long beach swap this Sunday. His has different end plates on it, but the same blower I believe.
hey i have one with danekas case & end plates i was told two brothers were racing & building blowers 1 bro was married to a gal & the other bro started to screw her so the other bro killed the other & supposably is in jail still trying to the news artical on it will post picts of mine in a day or so. moses
Jeff if you can't figure out how to post a pic of the one you have, send me an e-mail pic and I will post it.
Group - There was just a lengthy discussion about Danekas on another board - where several members knew Mark and/or Lucille Lee. Mark was shot to death over a drug deal gone bad. Lucille Lee is dead too - can't recall the circumstances though, either a traffic or racing accident I think.
The more I think about this blower and the history of it I find myself wanting it to go on a vintage racer. Unfourtenatly atm it doesnt look like I'll be using it, my next few projects are either N/A or I already a blower for... So in the spirit of keeping something with such a history and personality (more so then anything you can buy now) I will donate this blower and help bring it back to life to anyone who will use it just let me know. Ofcourse I have to be sure it will get used I could give it to a collector or shop but they would just put it on display somewhere and I dont know to me it just seems like its something that should be on a track. Hell the coolest thing would be if it went on next years H.A.M.B. engine giveaway now that'd be cool!
I know this is an old thread but i was curious what kind of money did the Danekas front cover go for back in 2006? I have a polished cover that needs to be cleaned up that i was thinking about selling. Just trying to get a current valve on it in today's market.Thanks.
I know this is an old thread, but I just happened on it - to set the record straight, the first time she came up against Shirley Muldowney was the Finals at the March Meet in 1982 - her third year drag racing and first year in T/F. Lucille Got the Victory over Shirley that day! She was an Executive Secretary for high end wax manufacturer TR-3 and it was in Marc Danekas' car. Lucille passed from Cancer in 2003.
The Jalopy Journal
