Drag Racing Discussions > Gassers

What did you do on your Gasser TODAY?

<< < (3/3)

Dolmetsch:
Block assembly is finished except for oil pump which should be here tomorrow. A friend gave me a perfect trunk lid so I changed that. Then I radiused the rear fenders for tire clearance and for a moment I could actually see the end of the major body work. There may be hope for this project yet.
don

Dolmetsch:
Hobbled to the shop and began reworking the distributor for the VW, I have to behave myself with this car and build it just for fun as the other one got too fast for me. I know you young lads won't understand that (yet) but I would rather slow down and have easier entry and exit then quit all together. 12s or 13s will be ok. Anyway I m back at it.
don

ricardo1967:
Don, maybe it's just me, but I don't get it of how the VW Gasser would be any safer than the Sr. Dragster. If I think about the 'stuck throttle episode', I'm not convinced that the outcome would be much different.

Dolmetsch:
OK. Well first tis true a stuck throttle is a stuck throttle. What stuck it was so small it would make one sick when they discovered it and it was so preventable. I hope and pray I never  give it a chance to happen again on any car I own.
However the dragster was getting too fast for me. Why I don't know. I just felt since I put the tunnel ram and headers on I wasn't comfy  at the far end of the track. Most of my race cars ran between 116mph and 122 mph in the traps and I was always comfy with that. I still enjoyed pounding the daylights out of my 426MAX Wedge 63 Dodge. So I would just lift early, hundred feet or so out and all was well. But that alone wasn't the only problem I had. In 1990 I slipped in my shop while carrying  440 block in with a friend and landed with my back stuck into another 440 block on the floor. After several months of goofing around they discovered I had torn the intercostal joints on the left side of my back and ribcage and they now move quite a bit instead of holding the ribs snug to the spine. So I lived since then in constant discomfort.  Getting in and out of the Sr dragster was never easy for me even with the large roll cage but the last year or so it has been pure xxxx. Enough that by the time you are in a buckled up you really don't feel like bothering to run. In fact when I got in in Set 20 I knew for sure this would be my last time climbing in the car. On top of that I had developed the bad habit of riding the brake hard all the way down. The faster I went the harder I rode it. I could talk myself into putting both hands on the wheel after launch which made a huge difference in performance but then I would forget to stage up on the converter or something. I finally came to the conclusion that I am just not a good FED driver and am not likely to ever be. I am in my 65th year so I didn't feel too bad .Certainly my dad and my granddad were not doing anything like this when they were that age. The performance I achieved from this little rail and its slant six far exceeded anything I imagined when I built it so it was OK all around. In the VW gasser I sit normal. I installed a school bus seat so I can get in the passengers door and slide across to the driver side where the door bar is to protect from side hits. I knew I could never get over it going in and out so I planned ahead. It has a foot brake so I will only be on the throttle or the brake  I hope. It weighs more by about 400 to 500 lbs and has less Hp , probably only about 270hp and does not have a Frank Lupo converter so it will be a much slower car easier to enter and more comfortable to drive.  I suspect 13s or high 12s will be all it will do and I will have to be happy with that whether I like it or not. My max wedge runs around there in street trim so I know I can handle that. I have to stay safe, I have to be inside my personal comfort zone and I need a car I can get in and out of without enduring a lot of pain. I am not ready to stop racing but tis time to turn the page and this is what I am thinking and why. I had a phone call tonight from a shoe I built BB mopars for for almost 20 years. He drives a RED currently and offered to shoe the Sr dragster next year at the Shannonville track. He has driven for me  before (The car pictured below)for several years and would do a good job I am sure but I did not build the sr dragster to race competitively in Bracket racing. Nor do I any longer have an interest in competitive racing. Spent too many weekends chasing the rainbow. Bin there dun that! I built it in my retirement to explore a few old ideas I never had time to look into before and so I could have  little fun myself. It has fulfilled that role more than I ever hoped for and I would like to tie a ribbon on it right here. The VW will give me an excuse to go to the Picton track a couple of times a year just for the pure enjoyment of it. Make a couple of passes against my friend Bill's VW Chev powered gasser and sit around enjoying the company and conversation with friends I have had now up to 40 years in this sport. I really enjoy that now. I hope that helps you understand where I am coming from.

ricardo1967:
Don,

Thanks for your note. I do understand your reasoning now. I felt intimate with the Sr. Dragster - without ever seeing it - based on your daily posts that I followed like people follow soap opera. Every night I was reading them and learning something, or having a laugh, or both. I am sorry about your back (have couple herniated discs myself).

You closed a very accomplished chapter in your drag racing life, and you're just starting a new one.

Best luck.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page