Bench Racing 101
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- Start date
HALIFAXHOPS
Beerening at its best!
Well taking a break from the hops today, busy first week. My hands are like 240 grit I need to wear some better glove I think. Truck is running great but of course the headline glue is not working well and it fell. What do you all use? I used 3m pray adhesive and do not like it.
LocuMob
Fluid Technician
I need to try something,my headliner is hanging right at the front of the cab, blocking my view of the sun!
Budnicks
Old Dog But Learning New Tricks
Bench racing hum
I can relate
here's a few of my old cars sorry the photos are really bad
many are digital photos of old Polaroids etc.
I was a big time into drag racing from 1975-2007, not so much time now
Family & budget get in the way
I've owned & build 26 racecars for myself
& easily that many more for friends, to help pay for my cars/builds
I was never rich, just addicted to speed, ran on a very tight budget,
usually against people with fat wallets, that spent way more than me...
I've ran Mopars Chevy Olds Pontiac Ford
various different styles & classes
GM stuff was cheapest, most budget friendly, especially early on,
my drivers, street strip were always Mopars
blowers 6:71 to 12:71
Mech. Fuel injection
Turbo's {not a good experience}
N20, multiple kits
Various styles of multiple carbs, tunnel rams & even FI Hats on tunnel rams
Dragsters, Altereds, Tube chassis door-slammers, muscle cars, street strip,
even sprint cars etc.
been in the hi-6's in the 1/4 & as fast as 227mph
I ran many different classes/brackets over the years,
got my NHRA & IHRA competition licenses in 1974 @ 15 y/o
Super Pro et brackets
Super Gas 9.90 class
Super Comp 8.90 class
Comp Eliminator AA-G B-A C-A
Super Eliminator 7.90 class
Pro-Gas hi-7's low 8's door slammers in the early-mid 80's
Super Chevy show in the 90's
Top-Sportsman all out run what you brung, early days of N20 for me
Outlaw Pro-stock, some legal P/S & big inch mountain motor stuff
sometime lighter, no ballast & blowers & N20 allowed etc.
somewhat the west coast/southwest version early days of Pro-Mod type stuff
Even dabbled in some Fuel Altered stuff, most the guys were running mid 7's
I ran Methanol thou, with just a tiny bit of Nitro,
a bit easier on parts, it didn't overpower the track that way too...
I'm not a big bracket racing guy, but did a bit of it too, just not my thing
I like to line them up & run it all out...
I miss it, but I don't miss the constant travel, living out of hotels & trailers
or being away from home or the extreme expense/costs thou...
There's more too, I haven't converted hardly to digital,
I'm not good with cameras...
I didn't take the photos in many cases, usually I was driving...
My partners have a bunch of vhs video, supposedly he/they
will convert to digital eventually someday too...
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To you and Hop's . I use the 3M adhesive in a spray can . I don't do enough interior work anymore to buy the 5 gal. cans . You have to spray it on both sides a little on the dry side and let it get a little tacky . If the headliner material has lost it's backing then it's a lost cause to try and save it . Your better off taking the whole shell out and strip any of what's left of the backing off the shell . "Do not" damage the shell when doing this . Just get all the fuzzy stuff off of it . Then get yourself some new material and re-cover it . Sometimes it's better to do half at a time if your not used to doing these . Hope this helped guy's !
Maaaan , Welcome to our little corner "Budnicks" !
Reading your background and checking out your pictures , brings back a lot of memories . Thanks for that .
Budnicks
Old Dog But Learning New Tricks
Thanks I never saw this thread before...
figure I'd toot my own horn a little, I was a nobody thou...
I grew up in a racers house, my step dad Bob got me started,
he was a Pipefitter/welder, always working on something car related...
Well rounded guy, he had a 64 GTO when he married my mom...
He had a bunch of different GTO's & Firebirds he was also a Mopar guy
{daily drivers, my mom drove a 68 Sport Sat. 383 4bbl 4 sp. 1st new car, had a 70 Demon too}
& he liked Fords too, he had a couple cool old 2 dr 57 Ranch wagon, 54-56 F-100's,
66-67 Fairlane/GTA...
Hell I followed him around all the west coast tracks as a kid, his shadow,
started going to races @ 6 y/o, fell in love with Fuel Altereds...
Fremont, Sear Point, Vacaville, Half Moon Bay, Lodi & Sac. a ton of SoCal tracks,
Irwindel, Riverside, Pomona, Lyons, Ontario, Orange Co., etc...
They all had fast full bodied tube chassis cars/door-slammers, FC's, Dragsters,
hay-day of the sport...
The rest was history I was hooked...
My next door neighbors were
IHBA Top Fuel Flat Bottom record holders, Crazy Horse...
Loved going to races with them too, learned how to do it right, not just spend $$$
I was their little shadow too, they tolerated me...
I learned a shitload of how to do stuff myself from, both step dad Bob & my neighbor Pete,
even from his wife Marlene, she knew how to run a show...
Because that's the only way I could do it...
I could NOT have ever been able to afford to pay someone else to build my stuff...
It was fun while it lasted, what I did on $25k orig. exploded to $150k a year,
2 partners, $100k Kodiak intermediate rig & a 45' Featherlite 2 car trailer
& occasional financial support...
Most ever was $400k full sponsorship, still spent an extra $20k out of pocket
with funding from a dealership group {125 strong} I worked with
did maintenance/construction/facility management for & a couple bottling companies,
I was barely competitive against big open check book teams thou,
that spent $750k min.-$1.5 Million to do the same thing, I did...
I'd think the costs today like are nearly 10 times that 1990's-2000 $150k now,
I could never do what I use to do, with that money now...
The cars are $150k min. to build now, competitive parts are outrageous priced now...
I always said I had the fasted junk around, compared to most, my racing peers...
I was always car broke...
Ok enough about me, back on topic....LOL
figure I'd toot my own horn a little, I was a nobody thou...
I grew up in a racers house, my step dad Bob got me started,
he was a Pipefitter/welder, always working on something car related...
Well rounded guy, he had a 64 GTO when he married my mom...
He had a bunch of different GTO's & Firebirds he was also a Mopar guy
{daily drivers, my mom drove a 68 Sport Sat. 383 4bbl 4 sp. 1st new car, had a 70 Demon too}
& he liked Fords too, he had a couple cool old 2 dr 57 Ranch wagon, 54-56 F-100's,
66-67 Fairlane/GTA...
Hell I followed him around all the west coast tracks as a kid, his shadow,
started going to races @ 6 y/o, fell in love with Fuel Altereds...
Fremont, Sear Point, Vacaville, Half Moon Bay, Lodi & Sac. a ton of SoCal tracks,
Irwindel, Riverside, Pomona, Lyons, Ontario, Orange Co., etc...
They all had fast full bodied tube chassis cars/door-slammers, FC's, Dragsters,
hay-day of the sport...
The rest was history I was hooked...
My next door neighbors were
IHBA Top Fuel Flat Bottom record holders, Crazy Horse...
Loved going to races with them too, learned how to do it right, not just spend $$$
I was their little shadow too, they tolerated me...
I learned a shitload of how to do stuff myself from, both step dad Bob & my neighbor Pete,
even from his wife Marlene, she knew how to run a show...
Because that's the only way I could do it...
I could NOT have ever been able to afford to pay someone else to build my stuff...
It was fun while it lasted, what I did on $25k orig. exploded to $150k a year,
2 partners, $100k Kodiak intermediate rig & a 45' Featherlite 2 car trailer
& occasional financial support...
Most ever was $400k full sponsorship, still spent an extra $20k out of pocket
with funding from a dealership group {125 strong} I worked with
did maintenance/construction/facility management for & a couple bottling companies,
I was barely competitive against big open check book teams thou,
that spent $750k min.-$1.5 Million to do the same thing, I did...
I'd think the costs today like are nearly 10 times that 1990's-2000 $150k now,
I could never do what I use to do, with that money now...
The cars are $150k min. to build now, competitive parts are outrageous priced now...
I always said I had the fasted junk around, compared to most, my racing peers...
I was always car broke...
Ok enough about me, back on topic....LOL
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LocuMob
Fluid Technician
Thanks for the story!
It's good to hear about people and there back grounds some times or even some funny stories about what happened way back when . It's funny you brought up the cost of what it use to be and what it would cost now to run competitively . My wife was having that same conversation with Shirley M the summer before last . My wife was wondering if she would ever consider racing again after all this time . When she started running the numbers , it was mind blowing at how much money it would take and that was just to get started again .
Budnicks
Old Dog But Learning New Tricks
Yeah what I did back then I couldn't ever do today especially as a teenager,
costs are ridiculous, what I built for maybe $15k in 1979 $'s
Blown SBC Altered in a FC chassis, 23 T body with all the proper safety stuff etc.
it would easily be $150k today, "If" I paid someone to build all of it for me...
Let alone all the rig & trailer stuff
I started with a 74 Chevy step-side Pickup latter a 66 Power Wagon
towing a Big Tex 16' open wood deck, dual axle with brakes trailer...
I had maybe $5k in both...LOL
I did a ton of testing all the time too, that would cost a shit load now too...
Became kind of a professional tester...LOL,
get far more runs in & info for what doing what, at a test & tune session....
Same stuff would be ridiculous no way I could do it,
even how I did back even as a teenager, even with a really good income...
Now to get any funding or sponsorships
you need to look like you don't need the $$$...
Have a $250k rig & trailer, full uni's etc.
{we org. went in Venoila or Childs & Albert T-shirts & levis}
I had help from Vic Hubbard's, give me fuel plugs & oil
I had Venolia/Childs & Albert with pistons rings rods & bearings
{Joe Pisano} couldn't have do it with out his help, he helped a ton of racers
I had ERC helping with fuel pumps, carbs injectors & run ins tuning etc.
I had Tri-Valley Machine & Baily Bros. for help on the engines
I had Don Hampton or Mert Littlefield help with Blower & drives
I had a racer buddy from Chevron Research help me with the transmissions
Even with a discount & help I was strapped
I worked as a Carpenter & was going to school too, Architecture OU
only reason I worked was to fund my racecar...LOL
Latter I got more help from a few more co.'s,
when I started looking Professional, nice tow rig nice enclosed trailer
nice canopy etc.
but I still funded probably 75% out of my pay check or my partners help...
to do what I did even as a mid 20 y/o, traveling all over NHRA, IHRA & ADRA
Nostalgia races, Super Chevy Sundays etc., it'd cost easily $500k a year today
to do it & just survive, not be competitive even, maybe not even make the show...
I'm not complaining, I still love the sport too...
I just don't have the gumption I did as a kid to do that anymore,
I'd be a rich man today or richer anyway, if not for spending so much on racing...
Being self employed helped a ton too...
I could have never done it work a regular job, for someone else...
Don't get me wrong I still worked way over 40hrs a week, just longer days,
so I could leave Wed or Thur. to get to where ever I had to for Fri or Sat/Sun races...
40 weeks a year, some were local races/tracks thank goodness, probably half....
costs are ridiculous, what I built for maybe $15k in 1979 $'s
Blown SBC Altered in a FC chassis, 23 T body with all the proper safety stuff etc.
it would easily be $150k today, "If" I paid someone to build all of it for me...
Let alone all the rig & trailer stuff
I started with a 74 Chevy step-side Pickup latter a 66 Power Wagon
towing a Big Tex 16' open wood deck, dual axle with brakes trailer...
I had maybe $5k in both...LOL
I did a ton of testing all the time too, that would cost a shit load now too...
Became kind of a professional tester...LOL,
get far more runs in & info for what doing what, at a test & tune session....
Same stuff would be ridiculous no way I could do it,
even how I did back even as a teenager, even with a really good income...
Now to get any funding or sponsorships
you need to look like you don't need the $$$...
Have a $250k rig & trailer, full uni's etc.
{we org. went in Venoila or Childs & Albert T-shirts & levis}
I had help from Vic Hubbard's, give me fuel plugs & oil
I had Venolia/Childs & Albert with pistons rings rods & bearings
{Joe Pisano} couldn't have do it with out his help, he helped a ton of racers
I had ERC helping with fuel pumps, carbs injectors & run ins tuning etc.
I had Tri-Valley Machine & Baily Bros. for help on the engines
I had Don Hampton or Mert Littlefield help with Blower & drives
I had a racer buddy from Chevron Research help me with the transmissions
Even with a discount & help I was strapped
I worked as a Carpenter & was going to school too, Architecture OU
only reason I worked was to fund my racecar...LOL
Latter I got more help from a few more co.'s,
when I started looking Professional, nice tow rig nice enclosed trailer
nice canopy etc.
but I still funded probably 75% out of my pay check or my partners help...
to do what I did even as a mid 20 y/o, traveling all over NHRA, IHRA & ADRA
Nostalgia races, Super Chevy Sundays etc., it'd cost easily $500k a year today
to do it & just survive, not be competitive even, maybe not even make the show...
I'm not complaining, I still love the sport too...
I just don't have the gumption I did as a kid to do that anymore,
I'd be a rich man today or richer anyway, if not for spending so much on racing...
Being self employed helped a ton too...
I could have never done it work a regular job, for someone else...
Don't get me wrong I still worked way over 40hrs a week, just longer days,
so I could leave Wed or Thur. to get to where ever I had to for Fri or Sat/Sun races...
40 weeks a year, some were local races/tracks thank goodness, probably half....
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Budnicks
Old Dog But Learning New Tricks
That's cool, for a Minivan
I bet he "still" has trouble with the child seat ! lol
A new TV show just started called " The Lifted Life " . It's about some shop that lifts trucks . They had a truck trivia question . It was ( What year did Dodge introduce the "Rams Head" into there logo ? ) A - 1962.... B - 1993..... C - 1974.....
HALIFAXHOPS
Beerening at its best!
I would think 93
That's what they said the answer was . But I could have sworn that they used the Ram Head in the 80's on the side badges on the fenders of there trucks . As well as the hood ornament . I've got a few of them in a box but I keep forgetting to look when I'm out there in the garage .
LocuMob
Fluid Technician
Taken from Wikipedia, which is probably what they based their question on:
- Ram's head: Dodge reintroduced the ram's head hood ornament on the new 1973 Dodge Bighorn heavy duty tractor units. Gradually the ram's head began appearing on the pickup trucks as Dodge began to refer to their trucks as Ram. The present iteration of the Ram's-head logo appeared in 1993, standardizing on that logo in 1996 for all vehicles except the Viper, which uses theViper's Head.
Yeah , That's something I eventually thought of it being . But you should have seen me yelling at the TV at the time saying that they where wrong and they don't know crap when there answer came up with 93 . lol So I thought I'd post it up here as a trivia question .
LocuMob
Fluid Technician
What was the significance of the RAm name with the new '81 models? I could find the answer, I have some ads for that year truck, but don't have time to look. Was it the use of the name Ram officially? Or the Rams head hood ornament? This is your mission should you choose to accept it.
And the answer is ... Ahmm ...Ahmm.... BOOM ! , Shoot the tape recorder just blew up in my face ! lol Sorry I guess I was to slow . lol