This is probably for the guys that drag race the Y blocks.
Fellows, where can I go to find out what I can and can't do to a car to have it qualify for one of the stock classes in bracket racing. Things like interiors, chassis, and engines. Things like, do you have to have paneling on the doors, do all the seats have to be in the car, can you use traction bars, what's the biggest tires I can use and still remain in a stock class etc. I've found articles about catch cans and the amount of rubber hose to the carburator but nothing on the car itself. Jim
Buy an N.H.R.A. rule book. There are a few guys on y-blocksforever.com that could help you out I'm sure.
Jim:
You say stock class in bracket racing, but they are two different things. NHRA was mentioned, but NHRA won't accept cars older than 1960 in their stock classes. IHRA will. Stock cars need to be very nearly as they came off the showroom, with safety upgrades such as seat belt, catch can, etc. Traction bars are considered safety items. Now bracket class is pretty much anything goes, again with safety items required. The faster the car, the more safety items required. If you can be more specific with what your car will be like and what you want to do to it to make it a racer, we can be more specific about what to expect from the tech inspector.
John
John,
I want to run the Y-Block shootouts in Ohio and also bracket race at a 1/8 mile track at Bunker Hill near Kokomo. Do I need an interior and back seat for that. It's not that saving weight would give me an advantage, after all your racing against Dial Ups. I just don't need another street car. I've got one of those. But, most of the cars I see at the Shootout have complete interiors, counting yours. I figure if I get into the 15's with a stock engine I'd be doing fantastic. I realize that you have safty equipment in yours because your so fast. What I want to build is a stripped down car with just the bare essentials to be able to drag race in a bracket class. At Gulfport all they required was a catch can, no excess rubber gas line and one spring return on the throttle. If I show up at Columbus with a stripped down 57, will I be able to race. Jim
I raced mine for many years in Nostalgia stuff. They don't care as long as the safety stuff
is there. NHRA rulebook for safety is your best friend. I think u mean 2 throttle return springs :003:
Have fun. I did.
Ron
at columbus this year they asked about two springs on the return.
Ron,
At Gulfport I only needed one that is securely fastened. I'd put two on before the trip to Gulfport because someone said I needed to. About 500 miles down the road on the way to Gulfport I realized the two springs was the reason my leg was cramping and I couldn't stand up when I stopped to refuel. I took one off and forgot to put it back on. I asked the tech inspector if I needed it and he said no. But, I'll put two springs on the next one I build. The only thing the tech inspector at Gulfport looked for was the catch can and rubber hose. Jim
Jim,
Buy a pack of those universal springs. They don't have to be stiff :003:
Stay away from flex fans IMO. Try to make it pull a 4:5 gear or so. Get the tank in motion. A
good cam and maybe dual quads would pull the gear. The Hurricane will know. I usually raced
FE's. I did run a 57 312 in a street car that ran real good.
Ron
Jim:
I haven't raced a Bunker Hill for a few years, but I remember them as being rather lax on rules. If you show up at the track at Muncie with some of the safety things in order and the money for the entry fee, you can race. If you need something changed or added, they will tell you what needs to be done and give you some time to take care of it, but will not stop you from running that day. Bunker is probably the same. Like woody said, a rule book, opened to the bracket racing section, will give you a good idea of what is expected. As for door panels, someone showed up at columbus with no door panels and had to cover the large openings in the sheet metal. The holes that are about 10 by 16 inches. For years the rule on deleted rear seat was that the area be carpeted. A lot of cars nowdays have aluminum panels instead of carpeting in the rear seat area. I got an ad from an auction/realty company a year or so ago, offering the strip and circle track for sale. Do you know if it ever sold?
John
John,
Don't know anything about the strip and circle track.
I've come to the conclusion that 57 Fords are begining to be more popular. I had a bid on a 57 like yours on Ebay out in California. It had very little rust and the guy had smeared some kind of rust preventative all over the floors to the point you couldn't tell if they were any good or not. He sent me pictures of the back floor without the rustproofing and there was a hole in one side and you could tell the rest was soft. Still it was a nice striped down car. I offered him 4K thinking he'd call me back any time and accept the deal. I figured by the time I got it trucked out here it'd cost me over 5K to have it sitting in my driveway. The damned thing went for 6K. Mind you he had 3 pictures of it with a dented up door and needing glass. Most of the people with cars for sale on Ebay have second hand titles with no way of getting a bill of sale from the guy that has his name on the title. As you know, that don't fly in Indiana. That's OK, I'm still looking. Something will come along.
As far as the rules for bracket racing goes door panels and seats are probably not any heavier than .024 aluminum. Either way, apparently you need something between the panel frames and the interior of the car. I'll keep that in mind. Jim
Jim:
Gordon Payne bought a Fairlane 2 door HT in OK a couple years ago, didn't give 6K and I think it was better than what you described. He's building an F code with the help of a donor car.
Regarding interior, you might keep in mind some other items. As long as you use the original seat and don't go quicker than 11.50 in the 1/4, you can use an original type lap seat belt. I have a 40 year old belt in mine, no tech problem. If I install a roll bar, I have to use a racing type seat and the 5 point seat belt that has to be replaced every two years. The seat belt rule doesn't make sense, if I use a 5 point with 3" webbing, it only lasts 2 years and would be unsafe in an accident. But my 40 year old 2" belt is still safe. Go figure? Oh, I see. The belt manufacturer would be out of business once all the racers had a set of belts. Then he'd have to stop paying off NHRA.
Hope you find a suitable pfoject car soon.
John
John,
The kid selling the car emailed me back and wanted to know if I'd give more than 4K for it. Seems the guy that bid it up over 4K is from France. Now, I haven't paid for the shipping of a car to France so I don't know exactly what it would cost but I do know that if I were in France and was going to foot a large shipping bill as a car would surely cost, I wouldn't pick out a car that needed restoring. Don't make much walking around sense to me. I figure that when he finds out the whole thing is a scam he'll email me back.
I didn't know you didn't have a roll bar. I figured as fast as your car was they'd make you have a full roll cage, fire suit and Hahn's neck device. Jim
I guess the rules have changed since I raced mine. Used to be 11:99 and quicker. Mine had a 6 pt.
and the 5 pt harness you describe. Had to cut all that out when I re did the car.
If you remove the rear seat and go with alum, make sure it is .032 not .024. The rules require 20 gauge steel or .032 alum.
Woody:
You're right, it used to be 11.99. That's why I kept my car running low 12s for years. Then the kids showed up with their new Mustangs off the show room floor running in the 11s, and NHRA in their infinite wisdom decided these kids wouldn't put roll bars in, so changed the rules to keep the car count up at the races. The rule now says 11.49 and quicker, so what did I do? Ran an 11.43 a couple seasons ago. Had to slow the car down again.
John
Hi Jim,
Just looked at your post on drag racing and there is a lot of things you can do to your car. Just drag racing a 57 is a easy project. At slower speeds all you need is a catch can for the radiator and a working seat belt.
This is a strip I race at , Portland Int Raceway and this is the tech page for the drag cars,
http://www.portlandraceway.com/docs/Basic20 Tech 202009.pdf , should be the same for most drag strips that are NHRA. Here is my web page that I show a lot of mods that can be done to 57's.
http://home.comcast.net/~57bracketracer/ email 57bracketracer@comcast.net
The 57 third member is good to about high 11's with slicks and 4.56 gears. With a 312 probably last forever.
When I did the trunk and frame I also removed all the window cranks, windows on the doors and side windows, then I trimmed all the metal out of the doors and window areas then covered them with aluminum. Both doors and side windows now have plastic windows with only the door opener still functioning.
I replaced the windshield with 1/8th in Lexan a long time ago. Only the back window is still glass.
Still other stuff I have removed to make it just a bracketracer. Have no intentions of ever driving it on the street again, Now 5000 rpm converter and will be wiring in a MSD Launch Control.
I am in the process of making the frontend into a tilt and remove front. I am copying Albert Schaper's way of doing it. I will have pics when complete. Also sometime or the other I would like to put a straight axle of some sort under the front to help lower the weight and give it the old gasser look.
Any questions ask away!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob Lewis 57bracketracer@comcast.net
Guys,
Thought I'd write back and let you know I couldn't find a 57 that I liked. Sooooo, I bought a 63 Galaxie XL Boxtop out of New Mexico. Absolutely rust free and with newer interior and rebuilt no's matching 390 Z code and COM transmission. Just got the 3.25 Trac-Loc installed today. I've already put a set of MadDog full length headers on it. ( They fit nice, but you have to remove the splash pan from under the generator ). The Xpypes are coming tomorrow along with the Hooker Maximum Flow mufflers. The headers are 2" primary/ 3 1/2" collectors. They may be big but I wanted something that my engine could grow into if need be. Other than some cheap traction bars and soft tires I should be ready to go. I don't plan on setting the world on fire, just melt the ice a little bit. I'll see how this works out before I get too involved. Besides, the MX transmission isn't going to take too much torque to begin with. Jim