'66 Belvedere at the track

This is a car that a couple of local guys built this year. It was a stock Belvedere last winter then they pulled it into the shop and fired up the tools. I don't have many pictures of it but it came out looking super nice. I supplied a few parts and helped tune the EFI system. It has a 505 with TF 270 heads. Should run mid 9's once it gets sorted out.

Here is a picture taken back in Jan of this year. This was right before they started to pull the car apart.

Neat car. Too bad about the solid axle.

They run the car in a NHRA Gas Eliminator class so that is the look they wanted. The car looks pretty cool and it goes down the track really nice. I did the tune on the EFI system and so far it is working great. They ran the car at sea level then the next track they were at had a DA of 4500 feet. They didn't have to touch the car, the EFI system handled all of the tuning changes just fine. They have run a few races now without even needing to open the hood. Just fill it with gas and go rounds.

That pic reminded me that it's been 40 years since I raced at Woodburn...

They still have a big sign at the starting line that says "BradH raced here".

Lmao!

That has to be a weird class... straight axle gasser style cars with...... EFI... not real consistent with a nostalgia deal...

Hmmm... it was supposed to say: "BradH won here... once."

That is cool if they are into it. It could always be put back to torsion bars I would imagine. The EFI stuff is amazing. I like not having to open the hood.

Cool! any pics of how it sits statically? I've been contemplating a straight axle under my 66.

No I don't have any other pictures. I think the nose is slightly higher than the tail when the car is parked but it isn't a huge amount. Maybe an inch taller up front. The front has to sit high since the straight axle gets close to the oil pan. If I was going to build one of these cars I'd use a front axle with a little bit of drop in it. Even a two inch drop would help provide some oil pan clearance.

The track was open for test and tune today so I went down to help with the Belvedere. It had slowed down a little bit from where it had been running so they wanted my help to look things over. Eventually we figured out that the throttle linkage had backed itself off a bit and the throttle blades were not opening all the way. Once that was fixed it ran 9.84 at 134 mph. Fun ride for the guy. Engine is a 505 with TF 270 heads, solid roller with a Holley EFI setup.

Yea, what’s that all about?

Just what he likes I guess. He has some other gasser type cars as well as a super nice '56 Chevy. The Chevy was there today and it was moving. I saw it run a couple of passes at 141 mph and 142 mph. I'm not really used to seeing a '56 Chevy go by at 142 mph!

Not a fan of the straight axle on this body style. Maybe a 64 or 65 perhaps. I own a 66 myself and knew it was not the look I wanted for this body style. Although I do want it to be somewhat period correct. My Dad is in the process of making the straight axle swap on his '55 Chevy and I'm stoked ! Call me closed minded, but that looks just belongs on those cars. That's how they were done back in the day.

Went to the track today with the guys who own the Belvedere. It was running pretty tight grouping, 9.88, 9.87, 9.89, etc. Speed is 135 mph with the 3.88 gears.

Here is a picture of his brother's Chevy (the silver one). The shoebox runs 140+ mph. I also snapped a picture of a '65 Coronet 500 since I own a '65 Coronet 500. I talked to the guy a little bit. I think it was a stock stroke 440 with Edelbrock heads but I didn't talk to him to much. He was busy chasing some sort of mechanical problem.

Nice! Looks like your acclimated with the track enough to get that Duster out now!

Given the current state of affairs, maybe consider adding WU to the graphics, works both ways

Andy F....

Sent you a PM a while back, I need to see if you can answer my question.......

Took a longer lens with me to the track today so I was able to pull in a little closer from the stands.

I love the graphics on the door.

Wow, what a cool ride! I admire the individuality in the combination of ideas brought together that make this car. Bracket and index cars can sacrifice a little bit of aerodynamics and still be competitive, which makes drag racing so great. The color really caught my attention as my Lancer is currently undergoing an orange paint job to compliment it's nostalgia gasser theme. As mentioned by an earlier reader here, I would enjoy seeing a couple non-moving shots of this car. Am really enjoying this post. Hope more like it show up. Bill

Great name on the car

Yearly Dead Mans Curve car show at the Mawah Hilton in NJ.

I have 2 silly questions
1) Why do you need to open the hood of a carbureted drag car and can leave the hood closed on an EFI car?

2) Why is there smoke coming out the exhaust and black on the fender above the header outlet? Isn’t EFI better than this?