I remember seeing pictures of one of his blocks, the lifter bores had been relocated and welded in.

I have also heard of stories of Jesel machining early R blocks to move the lifter bores as well, just using an insert instead.

Not impossible, but when a super talented individual works 95 hours a week average at it, stuff happens😊

Like him or hate him, WJ was cut from the same cloth. I think WJ was probably given a lot more resources to work with, but he had a work ethic just like Bob.

Great comments, but I wonder who was the very first to correct the 59 Poly to allow the W2 to rev. I suspect it must've been back in the Trans-am days. Paul Rossi's 305 was keeping up with the Hemis and Boss 429's in the 71 Daytona 500 I'm sure he was turning well over the sub 7500 or so the 59 degree geometry would endure for very long.

To get an idea of the oscillation that goes on with a 59 degree lifter I would liken it to wiggling a drumstick between your fingers, LOL It's oscillating on both ends,

The best solution for the W motors (if you had a clean sheet of paper) would have been to properly offset the lifter bores (fore and aft as well as the pushrod angle) and cam lobes/lifter bores in order to straighten the path in BOTH directions and also reduce the severity of the rocker arm offset. This is actually what they did on the GM DRCE (adapted from the BBC) and it was a big reason the GM's would rev so high. This would spread the center to center distance between the exhaust and intake lobes for each cylinder.

Also, I suspect that Bob (being very familiar with the 9.2" deck height of the Ford Cleveland) had particular rod lengths and piston compression heights that he felt comfortable with for high RPM that he directly adapted to his Mopar.

I would love to see what parts and oiling mods he actually ran in the bottom end of that 315" motor, I can still remember the sound of that car through the traps when he ran it at Englishtown.

Somebody has to put those heads on a flowbench..Please!

Mad Dog is right up there with Big as the GOAT, long after his retirement he jumped in Cunnigham’s Ford at Indy and almost qualified, in Q1 he saved a run that anybody else would have aborted. I’ll never forget it, right up there with Wild Willy with a one handed burnout, Big shaving his beard and the Calvert/McCormack A/S final. Heard there were nine sets of those heads, I had one set that Herb tried several times to buy from me and ended up selling later after Herb sold out to Hensley. I’ll try to find the flow sheets, but know they sure flew on a 381 motor in a 3400 pound Duster.

Gosh, sure miss real Pro Stock instead of the current GMHRA offering….

Mario Rossi/Dick Brooks @ '71 Daytona 500

While on the subject......I've seen photos of the 305 in their Dodge Daytona with a dual plane intake. Do you know of any photos or info showing if that was an LD340 or some other intake? I'm guessing that the Trans Am version (Posey/Gurney/Keith Black) also used the same intake?





The Little Engine That Almost Did!

I can believe they were running a steel fan at 9800RPM, that must have cost 50 or 60hp at that kind of speed!

I'm pretty sure Keith Black must have straightened out the lifters, I think if the W2 heads were around in 71 it might have been another story!

[quote=Streetwize]Great comments, but I wonder who was the very first to correct the 59 Poly to allow the W2 to rev. I suspect it must've been back in the Trans-am days. Paul Rossi's 305 was keeping up with the Hemis and Boss 429's in the 71 Daytona 500 I'm sure he was turning well over the sub 7500 or so the 59 degree geometry would endure for very long.

To get an idea of the oscillation that goes on with a 59 degree lifter I would liken it to wiggling a drumstick between your fingers, LOL It's oscillating on both ends,

The best solution for the W motors (if you had a clean sheet of paper) would have been to properly offset the lifter bores (fore and aft as well as the pushrod angle) and cam lobes/lifter bores in order to straighten the path in BOTH directions and also reduce the severity of the rocker arm offset. This is actually what they did on the GM DRCE (adapted from the BBC) and it was a big reason the GM's would rev so high. This would spread the center to center distance between the exhaust and intake lobes for each cylinder.

Also, I suspect that Bob (being very familiar with the 9.2" deck height of the Ford Cleveland) had particular rod lengths and piston compression heights that he felt comfortable with for high RPM that he directly adapted to his Mopar.

I would love to see what parts and oiling mods he actually ran in the bottom end of that 315" motor, I can still remember the sound of that car through the traps when he ran it at Englishtown.

Somebody has to put those heads on a flowbench..Please! [quote]


Correct on the lifter bores, Glidden had special cams made to use those changes he made, he was a good welder of cast iron and not afraid to ‘cut and paste’. See his later work on the Cleveland and the Boss. He would change the ladder setup on new cars because the angle didn’t suit him then once he completely re-welded (tig) the chassis because it had developed cracks. He put together his engines sitting upright on the flywheel, said engine stands created abnormal stresses, warp and torques. It worked for him!
Also no one made the tunnel ram for the 340 so he got one that was for the Chevy, then cut and welded to fit his engine!

Didnt the Holley Pro Dominator for the W2-s come out in 79?

A lot of secrets back then.

Glidden 1980

In an interview with Dave Emanuel in the February 1980 Super Stock & Drag Illustrated (SS&DI) magazine, Glidden stated, “I use the new Holley® Pro Dominator manifold. I want to tell you, that’s one hell of a manifold. I use it right out of the box. All I do is match the manifold runners to the cylinder heads.” Glidden continued, “Holley built it right, so it works. If our ports weren’t so much larger than the standard W-2, I would not even have to port match.” When it comes to carburetors, Glidden prefers his trusty pair of Holley 6464 Dominators.

I actually have an uncut Holley Pro Dominator W2, If any racing part would qualify as "Art" I think this one does!

Holly made it after Glidden welded one up. I was 30 at that time and a few friends were ‘in the know’ type of thing, even KB couldn’t make it run. I guess Chrysler had too much invested in regular parts to change the whole platform or like said going broke at the time. Can you imagine a small block with straight up lifters spread out to accommodate the widest of ports and 4 bolt mains?!! Ever looked at a new NASCAR block and heads?

Whilst it is cool seeing some of this old stuff, it really is a reminder of how far engines have come. Take one of the late 70's Pro Stock engines apart andput it on a bench on the left. Do the same with an Aussie Pro Stock engine, or something from Comp Eliminator on the right. The differences will be night and day.

As far head flow goes, those Glidden heads will probably surprise you, and probably not how you'll expect. I had some very trick for their day 810 casting W2's, didn't crack 300 cfm. Saw similar results with some rectange port W2's that were done by McCandless for a Super Stock engine.

We've learnt a lot in the almost 50 years since these cars raced.

If I'm remembering correctly NHRA gave the SB Mopar a very favorable weight break, 6.65 lbs. per C.I. is what I'm thinking they got when Bob Glidden started racing them. I'm not sure that got raise ever
I'm not trying to put any one down, especially Bob Glidden

If it ran at 6.65 pounds per cube, it would weigh right at 2100 pounds with a 314" engine. At 160 mph the Moroso calculator puts it at 660 hp and about 685 for an E.T. of 8.41. Still pretty impressive number for a mill that small IMHO.

A friend had some cast iron W2 heads ported for his 417" 340 based street motor. Chad Speier out in Hays, Kansas did them and is a wizard with heads. This thing puts out north of 600 with a single 4 intake! Very impressive in that it's a 3,200 lbs. full interior all steel street car that runs 10.40's with mostly off the shelf parts and some massaging.

Long time ago Cab but I my recollection was that weight breaks were not by brand but by cylinder head type and block. For example this engine would be small block, non canted valve wedge or something similar.

Anyone else remember for sure?

I can see 700 hp for those heads. I don't believe 900 hp from that engine, and 800 hp would be very iffy with those parts, but those heads look like they would make 700 hp. I've seen a fair number of 700 hp SBC circle track engines and that is what the ports look like on typical 15 degree heads. If the car raced at 2100 lbs then it all makes more sense.

I can't remember exactly what the owner told me it weighed but I recall being surprised, like it might be under 2,100, maybe even 19 something. It was all acid dipped, the body panels are paper thin. He said the rules at the time required some level of finish for the interior so it had to have carpeting and door panels.

Yes, it was by engine type and cylinder head layout.

It was a nightmare.

That is a great looking car.

That is about what my car runs 350lbs heavier. W2 418" but with a tunnel ram.