Quote:
Originally Posted by David Lee
i wonder if we crossed paths. back then i ran a 67 charger with a 440
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I remember you David. How have the decades treated you?
https://www.autoimagery.com/gallery-...000jE85nde7IOE
Go to the O.C.I.R. Pic link I posted above. Does that car look familiar to you?
Please disregard the bashed in front grill (the night before that shot was taken at The County, I was in the lanes at Big Willy and Tomika's Outlaw track on Terminal Island and an Altered was right in front of me about 4', and I was in the seat engine off in park (with a car behind me close), when the lane master began pulling our lane, I saw the driver click that altered in reverse and hit the throttle and I hit the brake pedal with both feet, but he drove right up into my grill. The owner (of the altered was right there, he apologized profusely for his driver, paid cash that very night), but it took a couple of years to find another straight grill at Pick-a-Part!
I know that sounds stupid, but very few online pics were ever published that I can find of that car, though I own a bunch of Magazine, N.D. pics/articles, and pics I purchased or took of it personally. Finding that autoimagery site was like gold, but the 1 pic I found of that car that was magic to me back in the day, and yet due to the evident damage, usually embarrasses me to post the link to it.
And that photo was actually taken in 1984 not 1982 which is the database I found it in (the key is the car number shown is 6839 E.T. not my usual 7839 (and that was the 1 year NHRA combined Div. 6 & 7 temporarily into Div. 6). I won the Firestone/Centerline Div. 6 Bracket 3/Heavy championship later that year (October 1984), in that car (a 250 car field at Famoso and my very first Wally. And "The County" our beloved O.C.I.R. in Irvine, CA, was closed forever after the last bracket points race that season. (Dang I miss that track still today!)
Lots of great pics in that database for those that care to peruse it for "back in the day stuff"!
Added:
https://www.autoimagery.com/image?&_...FxKTQ--&GI_ID=
Pete Berkuta's SS/DA Car photo also found in a different O.C.I. R. photo collection, he prepped that White 63 Polara car originally as a bracket car from a junkyard roller build, added a 440/727-B and .430/8-3/4" rear, sold it to Richard Gabaldon who added the lower rear sky blue to cover up after rolling/flaring the rear fenders to fit the wider slicks, and I bought it later from him less than a year later. (The winningest bracket or otherwise car I ever owned... Drove it to and from the track, Fill it up at the Union 76 out on Sand Canyon, (unload the tow bar, slicks and tools in the back seat area and trunk), run it, race it and dial down a hundredth every pass, and just run right on...almost every pass).
I wore out that 440 (a low 11.20 car, but no rollbar or cage so was limited to 5,200 RPM short shifting 12.00 flat@111-113 MPH), over the years (hundreds and hundreds of SoCal passes, I raced all over and 5 days/nights a week some periods), pulled it out just before it blew up one night (it all of a sudden picked up 6/10th's on a semi-final pass for no reason). My uncle wanted to trade me a fully re-built and ready to install 13.5-1 C.R. 383 that came in his Road Runner Factory, as he wanted a 440 6 Pack Edition, so we met with the other finalist, agreed to split the final payout, he got the trophy as a bonus, then we headed to his house in San Diego and pulled out my worn out but still running bullet 9by that time I was burning Grade 60 Valvoline oil, the rings were good, but all the bearings were razor blades)...Dropped in that 383 the next day, fired it up and I drove it home to Anaheim Hills. (A few months later he had his 440 Six Pack car running and was a happy man!) And I did not miss even 1 race day/weekend.
It was sure down on torque, but it squirted off the line, instead of pulling the wheels up, ran the same ET 12.00 flat at 121MPH (a 9 MPH increase just made the top of the bracket car even more deadly), and was just as consistent as it ever was with the 440 in it. (Lotsa fun for many years, and more success than any 1 person ever deserved).