Rules Verification for a Newbie

[Tony Corley]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Dude, You're over-thinking this, IMO.
Sounds counter productive to tear it apart and eye- ball the parts. If you go that far, it makes sense to at least hone and ring it. Same for timing chain, bearings and other wear items.
Instead, I suggest doing an external check of things..Leak down, compression check, check seat pressure of the springs, cut the filter open, etc.
If it looks okay , put some fresh plugs and oil in it. Take it to the track and see if runs the index, before you dump a bunch of money into it.
Where do you plan on racing it? Combos ? Divs? Opens? Believe me, nobody cares about the "legality" of another Fox body that runs a few tenths under.
The only place you'd ever get torn down is at Indy. Trust me..you ain't ready for that scene.
Again ,IMO ,and I've been doing this for more than a few years ;-)

As I've already stated in my build thread, I'm going to pull it apart and hone it, new rings and bearings, valve job, new springs, etc. I'll cc the heads, verify stroke and rod length, and run the cam through the Cam Doctor and make sure what it is. Also go through the trans and rearend, just to be sure. And lastly, going to bring the rear suspension into this decade. The engine was built in 2014, I want to verify condition of everything as much as legality. I think it will be 2 weeks well spent, and I would do that even if I was only going to bracket race it. Last year the car was brought out for test and tune. Supposedly was at legal weight, on old slicks, and ran .6 under GT/PA index. We'll see, soon enough. This isn't my first foray into drag racing, just first time into Stock/ Super Stock. I grew up with my Dad building and racing legal gassers. My first drag car was a B/MC VW bug, when that class still existed under the modified/gas umbrella, and they ran NHRA classes locally on a weekly basis,before bracket racing took over. Been involved in everything from NMRA heads up stuff to Pro Mod since then. But my local heros were guys like Mike Saye, Bill Howell, Everett Keesley, Ronnie Courtney, Boobie Hornaday, etc., and I've always wanted to run a Stocker, or Super Stocker because of them. I'm just trying to get a handle on how the rules are interpreted, from people like you that have been running the class for awhile. Thanks

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Tony Corley

As I've already stated in my build thread, I'm going to pull it apart and hone it, new rings and bearings, valve job, new springs, etc. I'll cc the heads, verify stroke and rod length, and run the cam through the Cam Doctor and make sure what it is. Also go through the trans and rearend, just to be sure. And lastly, going to bring the rear suspension into this decade. The engine was built in 2014, I want to verify condition of everything as much as legality. I think it will be 2 weeks well spent, and I would do that even if I was only going to bracket race it. Last year the car was brought out for test and tune. Supposedly was at legal weight, on old slicks, and ran .6 under GT/PA index. We'll see, soon enough. This isn't my first foray into drag racing, just first time into Stock/ Super Stock. I grew up with my Dad building and racing legal gassers. My first drag car was a B/MC VW bug, when that class still existed under the modified/gas umbrella, and they ran NHRA classes locally on a weekly basis,before bracket racing took over. Been involved in everything from NMRA heads up stuff to Pro Mod since then. But my local heros were guys like Mike Saye, Bill Howell, Everett Keesley, Ronnie Courtney, Boobie Hornaday, etc., and I've always wanted to run a Stocker, or Super Stocker because of them. I'm just trying to get a handle on how the rules are interpreted, from people like you that have been running the class for awhile. Thanks

Obviously, I'm behind on my reading...
There are quite a few guys here that will help you spend your money, but it sounds like you've already got a handle on that. ;-)
Good luck

[Billy Nees]

Not-fer-nuthin' but........ you bought a running car in the middle of the season and you're going to take it apart to see if it's "legal"?
That sounds kinda counter-productive to me. IMHO, run the car as-is (it was bought as a legal car right?) and see what it has to tell you and learn from that. You'll have all winter to take it apart and freshen it or "improve" it.

[Terry Cain]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

Not-fer-nuthin' but........ you bought a running car in the middle of the season and you're going to take it apart to see if it's "legal"?
That sounds kinda counter-productive to me. IMHO, run the car as-is (it was bought as a legal car right?) and see what it has to tell you and learn from that. You'll have all winter to take it apart and freshen it or "improve" it.

Yeah, what he said.

[james schaechter]

Wesley Roberson is working more events and training some of the new tech officials.

Pretty refreshing to see some checks going on again.

I agree, I would not expect a full on teardown at a points meet, but check the obvious safety stuff.

4 cars were booted due to loose ballast at sgmp race 1. They all fixed it and raced in race 2

They later checked some carbs and head casting numbers and rocker arms for stockers.

They also checked me for a clutchless.

They checked wheelbase on some SS cars.

Great way to tighten things up and get some training done.

I would look for more of this.

I heard there were checks at the Earlville Iowa race as well

[Tony Corley]

Originally Posted by james schaechter

Wesley Roberson is working more events and training some of the new tech officials.

Pretty refreshing to see some checks going on again.

I agree, I would not expect a full on teardown at a points meet, but check the obvious safety stuff.

4 cars were booted due to loose ballast at sgmp race 1. They all fixed it and raced in race 2

They later checked some carbs and head casting numbers and rocker arms for stockers.

They also checked me for a clutchless.

They checked wheelbase on some SS cars.

Great way to tighten things up and get some training done.

I would look for more of this.

I heard there were checks at the Earlville Iowa race as well

And anyone that knows me, knows that my luck is the type that I would show up at the 1st race, get checked and disqualified. I'll sleep better knowing what I have, lol

[ken robinson]

The only thing I learned from a friend who runs a Ford SB is you need a really good pin for the cam timing gear .

[Sean Marconette]

Originally Posted by james schaechter

Wesley Roberson is working more events and training some of the new tech officials.

Pretty refreshing to see some checks going on again.

I agree, I would not expect a full on teardown at a points meet, but check the obvious safety stuff.

4 cars were booted due to loose ballast at sgmp race 1. They all fixed it and raced in race 2

They later checked some carbs and head casting numbers and rocker arms for stockers.

They also checked me for a clutchless.

They checked wheelbase on some SS cars.

Great way to tighten things up and get some training done.

I would look for more of this.

I heard there were checks at the Earlville Iowa race as well

I was one of the cars that was looked at at the National Open at Earlville, and I was #2 qualifier for both races that weekend. Anyone racing Stock or SS this is what we signed up for. If that means taking it apart to check its legal then you better make sure its legal, and be ready if asked. We need more checks that what we are racing is per the rules. Otherwise go bracket race. I agree with Jim, we need more tech checking cars.


Suggesting the guy that bought someone elses car is legal, and not checking it seems risky to me. The lack of a rear firewall would be one of the items I would take another look at on your car.

Sean

[Tony Corley]

Originally Posted by Sean Marconette

I was one of the cars that was looked at at the National Open at Earlville, and I was #2 qualifier for both races that weekend. Anyone racing Stock or SS this is what we signed up for. If that means taking it apart to check its legal then you better make sure its legal, and be ready if asked. We need more checks that what we are racing is per the rules. Otherwise go bracket race. I agree with Jim, we need more tech checking cars.


Suggesting the guy that bought someone elses car is legal, and not checking it seems risky to me. The lack of a rear firewall would be one of the items I would take another look at on your car.

Sean

Sean, it actually does have a firewall. The cell is recessed into the spare tire area, and it has an aluminum cover that Dzus fastens over the top of the wheel well, covering it completely. So no issues there. But there are some things I see that I know are not legal. Like it has an electric vacuum pump connected to the valve covers. I also am not certain that the current rods are listed in the legal replacements. ( Because truthfully, I’m not certain what they are). The build sheet part numbers don’t match anything I know of. And I want to CC the heads and make certain they’re legal. I don’t think the car was built illegal, but there have been rules changes since 2014, and this car had been caught in a time warp. It’s been sitting for the most part. I have to learn how NHRA polices the Stock and Super Stock cars, but I will rest easier knowing that every thing is up to date and legal. Thanks for the observations.

[Tony Corley]

Originally Posted by Billy Nees

Not-fer-nuthin' but........ you bought a running car in the middle of the season and you're going to take it apart to see if it's "legal"?
That sounds kinda counter-productive to me. IMHO, run the car as-is (it was bought as a legal car right?) and see what it has to tell you and learn from that. You'll have all winter to take it apart and freshen it or "improve" it.

Everybody has a different situation as to why something works for them. As I posted in my build thread, I have Stage 4 Prostate Cancer, and just had to have spinal surgery 3 weeks ago to remove a tumor that was pressing against my spinal cord and basically paralyzing my legs. Surgery corrected that, but I'm still several weeks out from being able to race. So what better time than to go through the car, while I'm sidelined? And while part of it is to verify legality, the main part is just to make sure that everything is in good shape. There is not a log on this engine showing runs, and it was built in 2014. I'd rather do the maintenance now, than have it come apart for something I could have prevented. It won't take long to do, my 2 sons are involved in the physical labor part, and I have a full machine shop at my disposal, so no down time there.