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

[Paul Ceasrine]

K-Machine,

That Kwik-Way Model #FN portable boring bar was another good unit.
My father bought his new in 1971, for $1900.

Then later the Rotler.
If the block deck was square, that FN bar made a nice bore when using the low-speed, and of course a sharpened bit.
I still remember the hold down device, with the '3' thrumb screws,,,,,,
it loosened up on me a few times,,,,,,,.

Kwik-Way,,,,made very good valve grinding equipment too,,,,,

Rich Biebel,,,,,,,,,,you guys must have bought your Kwik-Way equipment off of
Lacey Williams also,,,,,,,,
pc

[Paul Ceasrine]

Jack Werst,,,

According to Jack,,,,,,,after the Superbird was 'specially treated', it was taken to ATCO (south New Jersey) for testing,,,and ran sub-11.00's,,,,,,well below the 11.51 SS/EA National Record.

It set a track record at ATCO, but what class was not mentioned.
If it was SS/EA, it was not in a 'legal car', as Jack had stated it was
'specially tricked up'.

The photo of the car at ATCO does prove that it was there.

A week later it was brought to Indianapolis.

When the car got to Indy for the 70' Nationals, Jack did state that the word was out,,,,,,,,,and that the Tech Inspectors for the NHRA gave him a terrible time during tech,,,,,,,but the car did pass, and was entered into SS/EA.

pc

[Rich Biebel]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

K-Machine,

That Kwik-Way Model #FN portable boring bar was another good unit.
My father bought his new in 1971, for $1900.

Then later the Rotler.
If the block deck was square, that FN bar made a nice bore when using the low-speed, and of course a sharpened bit.
I still remember the hold down device, with the '3' thrumb screws,,,,,,
it loosened up on me a few times,,,,,,,.

Kwik-Way,,,,made very good valve grinding equipment too,,,,,

Rich Biebel,,,,,,,,,,you guys must have bought your Kwik-Way equipment off of
Lacey Williams also,,,,,,,,
pc

Yes we did buy from Lacey Williams.....

We did buy a VJ machine form Charlie Cockey......The guy was relentless and hammered us to buy the machine.....

I did a lot of heads with it.....Neway.....damn thing worked great and when I did heads for Ralph at T/K's he loved it....Chrome seats he called them.....

I used a stone for a top cut as the Neway carbide cutter blades were not radiused and left a sharp edge....

I bought out a guys small machine shop from Pa. after I left Crows.....

I still have some of the stuff including all the KwikWay seat grinding equipment......

I did a lot of engine and heads at home for many years....

[Hemi Moose]

Here's another T/K customer.

[davidhuff]

Sound like you guys had a great time in those days.

[Paul Ceasrine]

Rich B.

Charlie Cockey,,,,,a smooth talker,,,,,he was from Maryland.

The NEWAY carbide cutter set-up,,,,,,,,,about $1800 or so for the kit,,,,
worked great for the foreign head soft seats too,,,,,,

Charlie Cockey, one pressure salesman,,,,,,,,,his commision base for
NEWAY was 50%,,,,,,,,,,$900 per unit,,,,,,,,not too bad for those
early-to-mid 1980's salesman,,,,,,
My father threw him out,,,,,,,,but still bought one anyway,,,,,
They did serve a purpose,,,,,,

Sounds like Jack Vogel may have been to your shop too,,,,,
he was the rep for Winona, Storm-Vulcan, Rottler and Tobin-Arp,
Goodsen, K-Line and few other companies,,,,,,

Winona FG-5000 Flywheel Grinder,,,,,,,,,,,,,another great money maker
for the shop,,,,,,,

pc

[Paul Ceasrine]

Tom,

According to Jack,,,,,,,,,he purposely lost in the 3rd round,,,,,,,
to avoid reaching the SS/EA Class Final.

As per Jack,,,,,,,,,Ray Allen had lost earlier, so there was no need to
continue,,,,,,,,,,and they never met..

1970 Indy Photo,,,,,,,,

[Frank Castros]

Is Weston Machine of Piscataway NJ still "THE" shop for block prep?

[Rich Biebel]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

Rich B.

Charlie Cockey,,,,,a smooth talker,,,,,he was from Maryland.

The NEWAY carbide cutter set-up,,,,,,,,,about $1800 or so for the kit,,,,
worked great for the foreign head soft seats too,,,,,,

Charlie Cockey, one pressure salesman,,,,,,,,,his commision base for
NEWAY was 50%,,,,,,,,,,$900 per unit,,,,,,,,not too bad for those
early-to-mid 1980's salesman,,,,,,
My father threw him out,,,,,,,,but still bought one anyway,,,,,
They did serve a purpose,,,,,,

Sounds like Jack Vogel may have been to your shop too,,,,,
he was the rep for Winona, Storm-Vulcan, Rottler and Tobin-Arp,
Goodsen, K-Line and few other companies,,,,,,

Winona FG-5000 Flywheel Grinder,,,,,,,,,,,,,another great money maker
for the shop,,,,,,,

pc

The Neway seat cutter had one bad feature.....the cast iron chips that were made from cutting seats piled up and blocked your view of the seat and top cuts......So your natural reaction is to blow the chips away.....Even with S-G's (safety glasses) you often get one in an eye.......Lets see freshly cut cast iron and moisture.....and your eyes propensity for capturing foreign objects........Lets just say I visited the eye doctor a few times and at least one was real unpleasant.......

I wear better protection these days (Plastic goggles) when I have to roll around under a vehicle at work just to avoid the eye doctor visits....

The Neway was priced right about what you stated...and I figured that guy Charlie sold every machine shop he could find one.

The Serdi guys did not have that kind of success......the price for one of those was off the scale.....

[BadBanana]

I remember the shop that Ralph, Tommy and Jerry were in in Piscataway (spelling?) before they moved up on rte 22 .........was it rte.22? can't remember the number now but I remember the place.

One thing about Ralph and the Chevelle that hasn't been said. One of Ralph's great abilities, and something he very much enjoyed, was researching classes and what best fits where. He knew that the hp rating for the Chevelle was NOT the best in relation to the hp it could make in SS trim - it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The thing about it was that there wasn't much, at the time, that was good in the class; and it took that body and that higher compression engine to favorably make the class. He knew, for example that the 425 hp 454 was a better motor in relation to what it would make but they wanted to run that particular class.
I'm not sure about this but I think there was at least a question of whether or not the street Hemi was ever really available in a convertible from your local dealer. Of course when Chrysler wanted to go after the Chevelle, they made sure it was available. At the time they built the Chevelle I don't think there were any Hemi convertibles running in the class.