Old Stock class guides, pre 1960

[Dwight Southerland]

Originally Posted by amxron

Dwight S.
NHRA had all these guides and misplaced (?) them years ago. Why wouldn't
they accept a copy of their own guides?
Strangely enough 55 up chev's are still in their copies.....Every other brand is gone.
I remember my first Jr Stock Elim loss was to a 52 Olds called Tokyo Rose. (in 1962)

Ron.

I doubt is they misplaced them. I suspect the major reason they eliminated so many of the listings is because of the inability to support the tech side of things. When Jr Stock was begun, it was class guide only, no tech bulletins. The tech bulletins came later as racers began to get serious and the need was great to root out cheaters. It's one thing to classify someone's daily street car or family car driven off the street, but when people began building purpose built race cars the verification becomes much more involved. Think about it, there were no hot rod parts directed toward stockers. Even the first rate of lift camshafts did not come along until the mid 1960s. NHRA didn't build a good technical information base until the mid 1960s. When the current Stock Eliminator was begun in 1971, part of the change was the limitation to the set of technical information they had. There are some leftover remnants of that move that can be noted in the fact that there are Oldsmobile tech sheets back to 1949, but the classification guide stops for Oldsmobile in 1960. Also, Cadillac has classification sheets back to 1955, but no tech specs until 1977. To expect NHRA to do the work (read that as spend the money) to fill out there technical specs to meet all of American auto production since 1950 is unrealistic; they don't support what they have now very well.

[dmir55]

[QUOTE=amxron;528792]dmir55,
Would you post the 57 Ford sheets for me?

Thanks,

Ron.Could narrow it down some. There six engines listed and 52 body combos. 26 with a stick and 26 with a FOM. I have to hand print them for you.

[Lew Silverman]

So what would happen if someone showed up at an NHRA Lucas Oil event with a vehicle that is listed in the Stock Car Guide (for example, a 1955 Cadillac) but there are no tech spec's published/available? IIRC the rulebook states that the vehicle must be listed in the Guide, but there is no mention of technical information.

As loose as the rules have been/are interpreted, and if the information was/is still available in some format, how difficult would it be to "recreate" those lists and fill-in the missing documentation. The complaint that it would be too costly doesn't seem to be a reason not to do this. How hard would it be to build a Microsoft Word document?

I know some folks have complained that there are too many "classes" in Stock and Super/Stock Eliminator, but has anyone had a problem with too many valid "combinations" in the Guide?

[Dwight Southerland]

Technically, Lew, they have to let the car race. Their problem comes if they have to verify that it is legal. Right now, all they have is bore, stroke and displacement.

[Lew Silverman]

Thanks, Dwight!

More projects for another lifetime!

[fordteacherguy]

Originally Posted by Tony Janes

The only good 57 Ford would be the 300 HP supercharged 312. The rest have to much horsepower.

How about running a 1957 Ford 2 dr post in SS GT class with a 1974 460! There we go!

[amxron]

dmir55,
The Retractable hdt (Skyliner) w/ the 300, 270, and 245 hp with auto would be great.

Thanks,

Ron.

[Bunkster]

Originally Posted by amxron

dmir55,
The Retractable hdt (Skyliner) w/ the 300, 270, and 245 hp with auto would be great.

Thanks,

Ron.

If you've never seen a retractable Skliner in operation, you have to see it to believe it:



It's Rube Goldberg on steroids!

[dmir55]

[QUOTE=amxron;529057]dmir55,
The Retractable hdt (Skyliner) w/ the 300, 270, and 245 hp with auto would be great.

Thanks,

Ron. 57 Hardtop Skyliner (Rtract) 245 hp 15.98, w/FOM 16.32, 270 hp 14.50, w/FOM 14.81 and 300hp 13.05, w/FOM 13.33. This is why I asked for a certain body style. It's like this for every body style and is two more engines. Hope this helps.

[dmir55]

[QUOTE=Lew Silverman;529047]Thanks, Dwight!

More projects for another lifetime! As long as I have the book out. Hdtp Cpe 5 (DeVille) 250 hp 17.33 w/Hyd 17.69 and 270hp 16.05 w/Hyd 16.38. Those old trannys must weigh as much as the engines.