Big Daddy.

I have a question something I've wonderred for awhile now. What period or at what point would the NHRA stock class cars, in this case Mopars, but would apply to any I suppose, were they run moct close to actually being no more than truely 'blueprinted' stock motors with headers and gears. Just always wonderred when I look back at the old drag cars I see pics of, chiefly stockers. Since I was just a little kid in the 60s I certainly have no personal recollections of seeing or hearing those cars run. Of course now, it is quite apparent to the ears when a 'stocker' is not running a stock cam but one of the high duration 'cheater' cams. I look back at some of the old literature and articles I have collected over the years at some of the Mopars and what they did to the drag cars and then what they ran and I always wonder, ok was that truely a blurprinted stock motor or ? Just for example and to make my point, 1967 E/SA record, 340 Barracuda Coletti Bros. ET 12.79 mph 109.80 Personally I dont see a stocker 340 Barracuda running that kind of ET with the stock cam and just a blueprint job to the motor, headers and usually hefty gears back then, but I don't know. Could it be said those cars were a whole lot closer to true stock than these stockers are today? I do know for a fact they also checked duration closely back then also which they dont do nowadays, hence these rumpety cams that are blatantly nowhere near stock. In another case, someone built a 68 383 Roadrunner to run that same class;E/SA back then, they simply blueprinted the motor, tweaked carb, ignition, headers, 4.56 gears, Hemi convertor and it got close to that 340 Barracuda just barely missing breaking into 12s. Supposedly the factory cam also. Were the guys running the stock class cars circa mid/late 60s getting the relatively decent ETs like that from them with that simplistic approach? Seems like somewhat of a 'lost art' to me with all the high $ off the shel stuff nowadays, no one approaches it that way anymnore and in some ways to me thats a shame. No challenge just boltin mega $ parts on it, and thats why I like the old stock and superstock cars so much.

I have a NHRA blueprint spec from the late 1970s for a 1969 340 that lists the cam duration at 336°/348°. The Chrysler cams had a lot of duration, not sure of other brands. I think the old White Performance Book had a section on these specs, if anyone still has one of those. Mine fell apart but I put them into individual folders like they were originally.

I also have an old Cam Dynamics "7000 series" stocker cam for a 340 that met the duration specs. Still in the original box. Maybe I should stick it on Ebag and label it NOS!

1964 Plymouth Fury 3425 lbs with driver ALL Motor

451 ci Bowman Performance 9.68 @ 138 mph

It's been kind of quiet lately - thought I would try to stir things up! Here is a photo of a Canadian SS/DA Challenger.
Mark J

Transformation - 1

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(hat tip to Wade Owens)

Here is another - Shay Nicols Dart Sport probably around 73-4. Note the Direct Connection sign in the background - "Stronger & Faster - the Factory Way"!
Mark J

Does anyone know anything about this car? This was owned by the "late" Richie "sixpack" Sansonia
Thanks,
Mark J

Sorry, duplicate

Post deleted by CH3NO2

Heres one too...one of the first "Funny"cars on the west coast...Hammons-Williams,andHammons "HAIRY CANARY"..66 Valiant...Typical driver Richard Hammons...wheels up and smokin the rears...One night at Fremont this car went backwards through the lights @ 166 MPH on FIRE!

night pic....

I suppose what I'd like to see some more pics/info of would be the mid-lower class stockers and superstockers, chiefly 383 and 440 cars, well known or not so well known, doesn't matter.

Not that old, but certainly one that can be or will be considered historic for reasons good and bad...

Here are some pics I found of a D/stock 273 Dart built by Ted Spehar. Along with some text regarding the car. Was apprently called 'The [Edited by Moparts - Keep it clean]' at that time, and looks rather unrestored to my eyes...

The [Edited by Moparts - Keep it clean]: Thanks to Ralph Costa and Alan Hvizdos

Ralph Costa was a CO-owner and driver of the car. His job on the car was to take weight out of it -- eliminating unnecessary brackets and using aluminum brackets here and there, cutting off bolts and installing aluminum bolts here and there. He did a fine job at that. Tech inspection never knew that they were using aluminum motor mounts and that the fenders were held on with aluminum bolts.

Ralph also had 24 old time slips from when the car raced. None of them were dated but they all had D/S on them. They were from Milan Dragway, Detroit Dragway and National Trail Raceway. Ralph lent then to me and I made color copies of them. He also gave me a few of the originals from each of the tracks.

At Milan it ran between 12.94 @ 104.04 and 13.20. One slip had 13.09 @ 105 on it. Ted Spehar made notes on some of the slips like valve lash, timing, type of plugs used and there gap, what lane they ran in and if they won or lost. The 12.94 slip had "7000 through the eyes" on it. Looks like Ralph really wound out that little 273.

The Detroit Dragway slips range from 12.92 @ 102 to 13.41 @ 102. Notes on the slips indicate that they were shifting between 6700 and 7000 RPM's. They were also playing with timing and tire pressures. Of the 24 slips, the 12.92 was it's best ET.

At National Trail Raceway, they ran between 13.06 @ 104.89 and 13.28 @ 105.26. There is one slip with 13.11 @ 104.16 it has the "WIN" box checked of and a large "T" on it. According to Ralph, they won that day.

From what I can see on all the time slips, it looks as though the car ran in the high 12's and low 13's at around 104 MPH.

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