Originally Posted by Chipper Chapman (Post 248373)

When I said parts aren't easy to find for old combos, I meant it. The population of all 3 maritime provinces of canada (where i live) doesen't equal that of most single US cities. Therefore there never were as many castings and far fewer now. So if i find a set somewhere else and them have them shipped to me, At 50 or more pounds each, all of a sudden those old castings aren't cheap. Buying something new over the counter makes a difference. And good luck finding crack free 624 heads around here too. And no, moving isn't an option just to find castings or race. Thats why i started to build a CM car, I asked a simple question and some of you got your panties all up in a knot as if I want to kill stock eliminator.

Originally Posted by Chipper Chapman (Post 248373)

When I said parts aren't easy to find for old combos, I meant it. The population of all 3 maritime provinces of canada (where i live) doesen't equal that of most single US cities. Therefore there never were as many castings and far fewer now. So if i find a set somewhere else and them have them shipped to me, At 50 or more pounds each, all of a sudden those old castings aren't cheap. Buying something new over the counter makes a difference. And good luck finding crack free 624 heads around here too. And no, moving isn't an option just to find castings or race. Thats why i started to build a CM car, I asked a simple question and some of you got your panties all up in a knot as if I want to kill stock eliminator.

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez (Post 248242)

Well then there's three trains of thought.
1)Spend the money for a combo with all the "hard to find parts and castings".
2)Look in the guide for a combo that you can find/buy parts for.(For example I run an AMC,there's a ton of parts available if you want to search them out)
3)The description that Dwight used is the ultimate definition of a bracket race car.You can do that.After all we get reminded now and then that class racing isn't suited for everybody.

Originally Posted by Dwight Southerland (Post 248331)

Ed, I have to disagree with you on the statement that what I said is the "ultimate definition of a bracket race car". When I see bracket racing only, I see cars where the performance level of the car is little importance. It doesn't matter if you have a 700 cu.in. motor with two Dominators and a blower on N2O in an Opel Cadette body dialed in at 16 seconds as long as it passes safety requirements. Where you have a clearly defined set of engine specs, body modification specs, limitation on engine definition selection, defined performance expectations, and you are faced with the possibility of racing someone heads-up with no breakout, that is outside the definition of bracket racing.

Besides, I'm not a crusader for crate motor cars or classes. What I am concerned about is why all the vehement reaction to the idea? Any claim to retain the "purity" of Stock Eliminator loses its impact when you consider the liberties of replacement and aftermarket parts rampant throughout the tech bulletins and class guides. It's even more lost when you look at some of the modifications allowed and the inclusion of cars and engines that were never available in production outside the parts counter or special order forms. Even on old cars where we know what they were when they were purchased new, we allow transmissions, cylinder heads, rear ends, etc. etc. that didn't even exist when that car was produced. If the crate motors and cars they are installed in are governed by the same restrictions and the competition venue is the same, why is that such an unacceptable idea?

Originally Posted by CrateCamaro (Post 248395)

answers
1) found out quickly that there isnt any stock or superstock guy that sells a "good" combo. They squirrel everything away and sell the junk and advertise it as good.
2)I love AMC's but do I really need to answer why there are so many parts;)
3)Answers like this will kill stock eliminator for good. Wow racing NHRA stock is apparently like getting in the Union or being accepted into the Town Legion.

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez (Post 248402)

I never said for you to build an AMC.Just used the example of "different" combos available.
And I meant you could have stock castings brought up to you from the States for the
combos you can't get parts for up where you are.You have John Armstrong up there if you want to build a killer combo,otherwise I'm sure there's competent builders that can prep the parts for you to make your car a legal NHRA car.Or just keep your crate combo and run association races.We have choices in life.