i just picked up a set of valve covers for my sbf. the are finned and have nrs on them. one of the guys in the club has a set on his t bucket. it has a sbc in it. he was told the nrs stands for "nationwise rod shop" he does not remeber where they came from, they have been on his car for over 15years. i have never seen another set for a chevy, and i bought one of two sets i saw for a ford. i remember there being a nationwise parts store here in town, but it has been gone for years now. any one have any information on this stuff? it would be great to find something out about them, i have searched a little but not found anything. i plan on putting them on my motor this winter and would like to know a little about them when someone asks what the nrs stands for.
rod shop was gil kirk's thing....would guess somewhere in the mid to late 70's they joined up with nationwise...but thats only a guess.... i know they were still in the partnership or whatever you call it , in the mid 80's , when they had a bunch of different drag cars . again , i think that was something to do with kirk....brandon where's dave mccauley ...he knows all this columbus stuff....
thanks brandon for the information. i did not think about them being an ohio only company, that could be why i have not turned up much yet.
Brandon- You are correct that the Rod Shop was Gill Kirks deal. Gill is still around but has nothing to do with race cars anymore other than the fact he still has about 8 pro stock motors in his garage from the mid 80's when Butch Leal was racing for him. The valve covers were sold local in the stores here in Columbus in the mid to late 70's when Rod Shop merged with another local parts chain called Nationwise Auto Parts. Thats where the Name Nationwise Rod Shop came to be. I have great memories as a kid hanging out at the original Rod Shop in the late 60's watching the guys getting the cars ready to race. That was before it became all Dodge in 1970. Back to the valve covers, I have only seen SBF, SBC and BBC covers. They could have made others but thats all I have seen. They didnt sell that well so they are sorta rare. I have a freind who worked at the Rod Shop during those years and he is a collector of Rod Shop items if you need anymore info I can find out. I still see Gill Kirk a couple times a year and he has no interest in doing any type of reunions or anything to do with the Rod Shop. There has been a couple of small reunions here local at National Trail Raceway but Gill gets upset that others are using his old shop name for anything. He is mega rich so go figure. The Rod Shop Kid............Dave.
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