Stocker motor question

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

Ya know, Dwight's sight is a great asset to the S/SS family BUT it's not the final say AND neither is NHRA RACER with all of it's updates and revisions.
IF you're combo isn't correct in the OFFICIAL NHRA Classification Guide AND the OFFICIAL NHRA Blueprint Specs then it's up to YOU the Racer running the combo to bring it to an NHRA Official's attention!
If you show up at an NHRA event, the Tech people are required to follow what is written in the most current Guide and Specs. Period.
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This is an important understanding for every Stock/SS racer to grasp and retain. My website is intended to make determining classifications easy and to assimilate related data in one place to make it easy for the racer. If you rely on the NHRA information to wade through the process of classification, legal specifications, and related accepted parts for an engine/car combination, you will grow weary and confused. Quite frankly, it is such a complicated process, many seasoned racers know only the data relevant to their one combination and could not start from scratch with a different combination and get it right. Plus the time to do that is laboring.

That being said, the backbone of the usefulness of my website is the exact NHRA data they publish. I have no inside track to NHRA. They do not communicate with me about anything, so the updates I provide to you all is by my constantly monitoring their websites looking for changes. That is a commitment of my time that you all do not have any concept.

Also, there are unspoken "rules" about how to interpret and use the data that I have only garnered from years of conversations, inquiries, and pursuit of information and understanding. Old timers are familiar with the "secret" or "unstated" rulebook that tech officials carried in their heads. All that is reflected in the data on my website.

Referencing Oldskool's example of the 1962 SD 421 Pontiac pistons, here is an example of how the data is interpreted. The Accepted Piston list for Pontiac engines lists a Ross piston, pn 145415, as a replacement for "421 62-66 All Flat Top". That means that piston can be used in all 1962-1966 Pontiac 421 engines where the "Piston Type" specification in the NHRA Tech Specs is "Flat Top". However, the "Piston Type" specification for the 1962 Pontiac 421-405 is blank, indicating that there is no official specification. Therefore, according to NHRA information, that replacement piston cannot be used in that engine. Maybe Norman has a letter from NHRA in his possession that validates the use of that piston in the 1962 421SD, but it has not been published on any NHRA website and is not contained in any published NHRA printed material that I know. Consequently, for the sake of accuracy, I do not attach that piston spec to the '62 421 SD. (Part of the "unstated" rulebook?)

Billy's recommendation is exactly correct. If you know that the data for your combination is not correct, and you have documentation that has the correct specifications, please contact NHRA tech to get the public spec corrected.