Modified Eliminator Wars in the 70's

[Ghost Missle]

Engine assemby in; Glass in. Many details seemingly every minute. These steel elephant ears are
just for the mock as after their final fitting was confirmed, the new aluminum ones are in machining.
Two weeks to go before unveiling at the Mopar Nationals in Columbus.

I am stating again that although I probably would have much preferred that the engine compartment
finish was in white and not satin black, this is the way the car was originally built. The general concensus
was that the black on factory cars was per Mr. Hoover, possibly to camouflage minor structure changes.
Obviously everyone didn't adhere to this (witness Sox & Martin).

[mopar68]

Originally Posted by Ghost Missle

Engine assemby in; Glass in. Many details seemingly every minute. These steel elephant ears are
just for the mock as after their final fitting was confirmed, the new aluminum ones are in machining.
Two weeks to go before unveiling at the Mopar Nationals in Columbus.

I am stating again that although I probably would have much preferred that the engine compartment
finish was in white and not satin black, this is the way the car was originally built. The general concensus
was that the black on factory cars was per Mr. Hoover, possibly to camouflage minor structure changes.
Obviously everyone didn't adhere to this (witness Sox & Martin).

a) There's nothing like a 426 HEMI in the looks dept. The biggest, baddest, coolest-looking American engine ever produced as far as I'm concerned. Those big cylinder heads and beautifully sculpted valve covers are what give it its cool look.

b) Presumably you're talking about Sox & Martin's SS/A Barracuda (1974 era) because there's no need to camouflage anything in a Pro Stocker of that era in the engine compartment area.

c) The plus side of having your engine compartment painted semi-gloss aka "satin black" is the ease with which you can touch-up a scratch or scrape and blend it with surrounding paint unlike a glossy paint, as is very easy to do if you do any maintenance on the engine, especially when you pull the valve covers off to adjust valve lash.

Pete

[mopar68]

[mopar68]

[mopar68]

[Ghost Missle]

I love new toys!

(Note: These are only the mock-up motor plates. The "pretty ones" arrived from machining tonight)

[Ghost Missle]

A few pictures of the Flash at Columbus.....Plus we hosted driver Butch Leal, Gil Kirk (The Rod Shop), Joe Pappas (Don Carlton Mopar Missile crew chief), Carrol Fink (SS/EA Hemi Cuda convertible), Greg Charney (Retired Chrysler Powertrain Engineer - 9-second street legal 68 Dart), Al Adam (Mopar Missile team member; invented the 069J torque converter), Tom Coddington (Mopar Missile team member & Original Ramcharger), Mike Kayrouz (Leal '65 SS/B) and Magrath Kean (Billy the Kid Stepp Demon).



[IMG]






Joe Pappas, Tom Coddington, Al Adam, Butch Leal & Gil Kirk.

[beetlejuice560]

I grew up in the 70's and was a big fan of Modified. Class was gone by the time I started racing. How did Modified work? Handicap start with each class having an index. Was is similar to Comp with no breakout but if you run X number under you index, you would reset the index of that class? Thanks. Great pictures. Makes me remember the times watching Modified at Green Valley and Dallas International Motor Speedway.

[Hacksaw]

In the early days a Modified car ran off the National record, then later off a Nat. index, in both cases it was flat out to the finish line. IHRA Modified, I believe was the same in the beginning then changed to the index system with no breakout.

[FED 387]

modified ran off of the national record then later on off of an "index" type of racing--there was no breakout flat out first guy there wins---NHRA are you listening???--it was **x** number of pounds per cubic inch classification-- It was modified production/gas classes--any way a few guys me included figured that some of the Gas classes had either a better record(softer) to run off of and the weights/pounds per cubic inch might be more favorable to them--Modified production cars could cross over and run in the gas classes but a gasser could not run as an MP because of the rules limitations---287 CI to 339 inches-- 4/5 speed trans --600/717 geared rear ends --3200-3700 pounds --flat out from the water box to the finish line---NO BS racing --you had to live it and see it --nothing like it exists today