Muscle

[Jerseyman]

Jerseyman, Did your brother ever race at a track named Strato-Rods Raceway? It located on an abandoned airstrip on Mcguire AFB and you entered through a gate right by the Pointville graveyard.

oji:

Not that I know; he and his friends would normally head down to Atco for quarter-mile strip racing. He had a friend with a V-8 Vega coupe. This car featured a 427 c.i. fully blown engine with a wheely bar out the back and rear tires so wide that there was only about four inches between them when you looked underneath the back end. The guy lived in Masonville and I think he still has the car. I have no idea what times he ran at, but I’m sure he could beat my brother’s Vega hands down.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Trailhead00]

Whoa, serious horsepower there. Congratulations!

What engine was the base for punching out to that many cubic inches?

Thanks, it is a Dart block. Basically a big block Chevy manufactured by a an aftermarket company. The block is just stronger and you can build more cubes with it. We can go all the way up 632 cubic inches and we will, we just had the stuff laying around to build the 612. Last year it was a 582. We are running different cylinder heads and cam this year as well. The compression is at almost 15:1!!!! The cam is huge, about .900 lift and we have to use titanium valve springs which come with rubber gloves because the oil from your skin can ruin the spring ( I kid you not). It is also fuel injected, no carbs. We use a laptop computer to tune it.

Thanks for the interest, it's fun stuff!!

 

[Trailhead00]

Trailhead:

You've got one heck of a car there and, frankly, I can't believe you lost in the finals! Back in the 70s and 80s, my brother used to run a V-8 Vega panel truck with a 350 c.i. and a 4-speed manual, but he could never touch the times you're posting. After much tweaking, he did finally make it into the 10s.

BTW, www.njpinebarrens.com in white or green lettering would look really great on the front fenders!!

Best regards,
Jerseyman

Thanks Jerseyman. Running 10's is nothing to laugh it, especially back then with a 4 speed. I bet your brother had to do a lot more work to run 10's then we do to run 8's. Times have changed so much in racing, the aftermarket is full of quality items. I have a lot of respect for the guys and girls that came before me, they laid the groundwork for us. It wouldn't be so easy if they didn't put in the hard work in the beginning.

Vega's were and still very popular at the drag strip. Nice and light!

I agree the sticker would look great and if I can get my hands on one I will put it on there. Technically we are not allowed to have stickers on the sides of the car, they want to look more like a street class in what we run. We can put stickers on the back window. The reason for "The Boss" on the scoop is that "the boss" was my friends mother who passed away earlier this year. When his father raced years ago he always had the same thing on his car. It's really not supposed to be there but we are not going to take it down until someones complains. Trust me they will too. Right after our first win they will say the car does not fit the rules b/c of the sticker. Then we will proceed to punch that person in the face, just kidding of course.

By the way we also have to run a 10.5 inch slick, which is fairly narrow. We are not allowed to run, as we call them, big steamroller tires. So it's a challenge to get it to hook up. But as you can see it does pick the front wheels up pretty nice.

Here we are going through the top end and pulling the chutes at Cecil County:

The car is owned and driven by a good friend of mine, he just lets me play on the team. We are at Atco quite a bit, so if anyone is ever down there just let me know, we will show you the whole car and how everything works if you are interested.

 

[Trailhead00]

Here are two things you do not see down at the track anymore.

49 Chevy's

Slingshot dragsters

 

[bertsdirtytoys]

any info on a car they called the magic carpet first owned by jim medows, then by bob scott from highway tire, then owned by ed wallace, then fast eddie of browns mills now owned by a guy named burt in mt holly if any of these gents are still around shout at me looking for pics of this car

 

[oji]

A white Coronet R/T

 

[bertsdirtytoys]

thats it

 

[oji]

The next time I talk to Ed Wallace I'll ask him. I believe I took some pics and gave them to him. I am also going to get new tires for my truck soon and if I see Bob I'll ask him. Fast Eddie is deceased and I never really knew Jim but I remember he was driving the funnycar and traded Bob the R/T for his half of the ownership.

 

[bertsdirtytoys]

ok thanks it must have been a blast racing on that track

 

[oji]

ok thanks it must have been a blast racing on that track

Are you talking about Strato-Rods?

 

[bertsdirtytoys]

yes they say thats where this car started out

 

[oji]

I never raced at Strato-Rods but I knew Walt Harris who let me work there for free admission. Several of my friends from Browns Mills raced there and Jim was qualifying for his Funnycar license there. Do you know the current owner of the R/T?

 

[bertsdirtytoys]

a co worker of mine knows him all i know is his name is bert and he lives by the esquire diner, walt was a hall monitor at pemberton high school

 

[bertsdirtytoys]

do you know frank kennedy, andy mull, phil sager

 

[oji]

do you know frank kennedy, andy mull, phil sager

Yes, I know them all and spent many nights hanging out with them at Highway Tire in Browns Mills. Nights that usually ended in a race on Mt Misery Rd. I went to P.T.H.S. in the 70s and became friends with Mr. Harris and would go to house.

 

[bertsdirtytoys]

what is yor name phil is my boss frank is a close friend and andy i know from andys auto

 

[oji]

My name is Tom. Ed wallace was my neighbor and a guy named Rob from Highway Tire lived behind me. Ed Wallace, his brother Mike and I were called Rob's pit crew.