Ray Allen versus Jack Werst '1970 SS/EA Showdown'

[BadBanana]

Originally Posted by Hemi Moose

Hey BadBanana, do you remember any more stories from the team that worked on Ray Allen's Chevelle SS that you mentioned in an earlier post, maybe talk about the camshaft profile they used or any other interesting points about them building the car, were you ever present at any dyno sessions, or did they ever talk about any extra weight added to the car anywhere, etc.

.

At the time I was working at GK was rejuvinating my friendship with Ralph Truppi after being re-introduced to Ralph by Bill Jenkins, after spending a few years on active duty in the US Navy. My acquaintance with Ralph Truppi and Tommy Kling began in 1964 when I was the driver of Ted Hartman's "Bad Banana" F/S ('57 9 pass. wagon/ 283 hp) record holder and they, with Ray Allen as driver, ran in the same class, with a 348" Chevy. The later built the "Terrible Tangerine" with the same combination 9 pass wagon/283hp).
My friendship with Ralph grew steadily over the years because of a mutual respect.; and I was deeply saddened a couple of years ago by his passing. He became a true "best friend".
As far as the Briggs Chevy is concerned, I believe they used a relatively mild cmashaft, by GK standards, that had been designed as a small block cam profile for 1.5 rockers. The 1.7 rockers on the Big Block, however, turned it into a very good combo. It was a 309/318 grind, can't remember the lobe center, but I think 110. I know the car was quite heavy but I don't believe they went through any deceptive measures to illegally **** weight around - that wasn't Ralph's or Tommy's style. At the time they were into cylinder wall finishes, ring combinations, etc. There was a time when they were into very smooth (polished) cylinders with chrome stainless .043 rings, moved higher on the piston, and low tension second and oil rings. At the time that was pretty innovative and it no doubt found its way into the Chevelle motor. They eventually went away from the smooth finish and more in to .043 dyke type top rings - still high on the piston. Hoffman Machine would fill in the original top ring groove, because back in those days they would use the TRW replacement pistons.

They felt that Chrysler really wanted a car in their class to dethrone the Chevelle; and the car that, I believe, was built particular for that purpose, was the Fink Brothers car.
I hope I have given you some info, but I will probably remember more later.
Dave Colbert
P.S. I am planning to try to reprint that GK catalog from 1972 because it has hundreds of pictures of cars from that era that were GK users (just about everyone back then) for every make and class except the top fuel cars. I think the folks on this site might be interested.