Back around 1976 I was working at a manufacturing company on a drafting board drawing up valves and welded pipe assemblies for nuclear power plants. There was a guy that worked in the shop that had a circle track car that I bought a SBC block and heads from to build a race motor. I bought a 294 hydaulic cam from RHS, and I asked the guy if he had a solid lifter that I could use to mock up my assembly. He said after work one day we'll get one. We met and he took me to the shop of Jim Bucher, who had set the record in Top Fuel in 1973 with a Chevy block. He was still running TF with the "SSP" dragster. We hung out for awhile and Jim gave me a lifter to use. I was in awe as a 19 year-old kid, as I had been to Indy and Columbus several times and had seen him run TF.

I think Jim died about 6 months to a year later from a blood disorder, I still have the lifter.