Shop Tour - Hardcore Drag Racing

                              Street Machine Spotlight   Even though this 1962 Plymouth Savoy Max Wedge is a clone it holds true to the originals.    With an original 56,000 miles, It was built with no frills at all.  The interior features an excellent original cloth & vinyl interior, a Hurst shifted 4-speed & rubber floor mats - no carpets and no radio or heater.    Under the hood it's very clean and highly detailed.. The engine was built by Krammer & Krammer Ent. ,a 440 big- block with dual quad Holley carbs mounted on a reproduction cross-ram intake manifold. On the Dyno it made 517 H.P. The rotating assembly was balanced & blue printed with Forged pistons & Crankshaft.. Hardened valve seats were also installed in the 906 heads to run on today's unleaded fuels .   Here is a view of the spartan interior, no frills here . Just a bench seat and a 4-speed shifter. The rear end is an 8 3/4 unit filled with 4.10:1 gears & Sure-Grip differential . Front and

Street Machine Spotlight    Shortly after this 1971 Ford Pinto was purchased new in Ohio , it was converted to a full-time drag car, complete with a small-block V-8 and a 12-point roll cage.   The first order of business was to replace the engine. The original inline-four cylinder boat anchor gave way to a 302-cu.in V-8 & C4 Transmission with a 4000 RPM stall converter .The engine was bored .030 over and fitted with 12:1domed pistons and a roller cam shaft.. The cylinder heads were milled .080-inches equipped with roller rocker arms.       The fuel system is complete with  a 10 gallon fuel cell via a Holley Red competition fuel pump and sent to dual Holley 400 CFM carburetors on a tunnel ram intake. The rear end is a Ford H.D. 9 inch from a 68 Mustang , filled with 4.10:1 gears and a spool . When the car was on the chassis- dyno, it put 398-horsepower and 318.5-lb.ft. of torque to the rear wheels, which is enough to send this Pinto into the low 11’s in the quarter mile.  

                              At any given weekend in America in the 1980's you could find a car like this at a car show, drive- in or just cruising the streets showing off .  The trend of Pro-Street started taking shape in the mid 1970's after the Street Freak movement, these cars were considered more street friendly because the rear tires were tucked in and they had some sort of exhaust system.   Don't think for one minute that these cars were slow by any means . They were just as powerful as before  and you could say that they were getting even more horsepower .  In the 80's builders were looking for the next new big thing to put into their cars , blowers & nitrous oxide , if one kit wasn't enough then three must be better , who needs two carbs when you could put on four of them . Later on there were multiple turbo's . And the best part was the over the top paint jobs with pin- striping and air brush work and more chrome plating then a Street Rod going fo

  This wicked Willy's is powered by a 1957 Chrysler 392 Hemi   stroked to 427 C.I. The induction system features a GMC style 6-71 blower with dual Holley Dominator's carburetors , mounted up top is a rare Don Garlits Street Catcher scoop , it's made in Australia  by Al's Blowers.  A set of vintage Top Fuel iron heads keep the combustion gasses flowing. The exhaust  fumes exit trough  stainless steel ceramic-coated headers. A high flow electric water pump and dual cooling fans keep things cool .   All the Hemi's horsepower is sent through a heavy-duty TH 400 with a billet case and 4000 RPM converter. Then it makes it way down to a Ford style 9-inch rear end filled with 4.30: gears and a  Detroit Locker differential. The interior is filled with classic bucket seats and a hand formed center console covered in black leather.  A billet Ididit polished column & wheel keeps the wheels pointed straight, modern touches include power locks & windows , and don't fo

  Durring a ban from NASCAR during the 1965 season.  The  Plymouth AFX program was created to maximize the potential of the 426 Hemi engine in straight line acceleration competitions. The AFX class was  Factory Experimental , the A was the largest engine displacement class.  The Plymouth engineers found that if they could alter the weight distribution to create more traction for the powerful 426 Hemi engine, it would result in quicker elapsed times.  By the rules, there was no rule as to where the wheelbase needed to be located.  So the Plymouth and Dodge engineers moved or altered the wheelbase forward under the body for two reasons 1. to move the weight of the Hemi engine closer to the rear axle and 2 to put more weight over the rear tires. Smith was an Illinois racer who had a sponsor association with Learner’s Sales & Service, one of the largest Imperial sellers in America. That and his success in 1964 had gotten him one of just six Plymouth's created by Chrysl

  Robert George is from New Zealand and races this cool old school 1974 Camaro Z28. The original steel body was outfitted with fiberglass doors and front clip from Hairy Glass .  In race trim it only weighs 2350 pounds.   It features a full Chris Alston tube chassis with a Mustang II front end. Out back a set of ladder bars mount to a Dana 60 filled with 5:13 gears & a spool.  QA-1 shocks handle the bumps front and rear.   This is Robert's office. More high quality tin work is through out the interior. An old school cable drive Moroso Tach. sits on the dash , and only a trio of gauges is needed to keep an eye on things.       For power an LS7 454 fills the engine bay. It breaths through a big Holley Dominator carb. And it's filled with old school speed secrets. Dress up items include vintage Moroso valve covers.  The horsepower is sent to a TH-400 transmission with a trans-brake and a high-stall torque converter.     Here is a view with the front clip installed , we can s

  Formerly part of the private collection of world champion Bruce Larson , it was purchased  in 2001 and restored it in 2007. This Top Fuel Dragster was raced by TV Tommy Ivo, It debuted at the '74 NHRA Winter Nationals  and sponsored by Honest Charley's Speed Shop. Ivo's Digger was one of the first Top Fuel cars to go 250 MPH in the 1/4 mile , It features the original chassis built by Larry Sikora in fall of 1973 . The Stream-liner body was designed by the legendary Nye Frank .   In an attempt to create better aerodynamics the front wheels were enclosed with what looked like rudders from an airplane . They were referred too as wheel pants.  The body work also extended below the lower frame rails and wrapped around the bottom giving it the look of a Monocoque Indy car . Ivo was quoted as a saying - "It was a brand-spankin' new car on my fourth run in the 1974 Winternationals. The engine exploded so fiercely that it turned into a fireball and punched a hole in

                                                  This 1968 Nova is a tribute to the past with the Yenko stripe treatment over the refrigerator white paint job . With its supercharged big block sticking through the hood and tubed out Pro/Street rear-end ,Don Yenko would call this a modern super car !         This Pro/Street special features a Chevrolet 8.1L 496 Stroker big block that makes  850+HP on 93 Octane Pump Gas.   It features a Scat Steel Crankshaft, Eagle forged H-beam rods & pistons. And the star of the show is the Weiand 8-71 Supercharger with a nitrous oxide injection system.   The big block is finished with a set of Brodix 360CC aluminum heads.    An ISKY roller cam with Crane lifters bump the valves. A polished BDS finned air scoop covers a pair of  Holley Pro-Series XE 950CFM 4BBL carburetors .                                                                 The body is all steel except for the fiberglass 3 inch cowl-induction hood.