Rules Verification for a Newbie

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Tony Corley

Since this is a "get my feet wet in Super Stock" type of deal,and an older build, I'm just going to run it in it's current form. I'm just trying to go through it and make certain everything is still legal. I'll have the engine apart in the next few weeks. Then I'll be able to verify everything internally is still legal. As long as it is ( or can be made legal under current rules without spending thousands of dollars), then I want to give SS a shot. Otherwise, I'm just going to bracket race it. Ether way, we'll have a lot of fun.

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 ;-)

[goinbroke2]

I think he's just like me, want to get into it but am concerned I'll be illegal or do some obvious faux pas without knowing it.

"overthinking it" DEFINATELY fits me!!

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by goinbroke2

I think he's just like me, want to get into it but am concerned I'll be illegal or do some obvious faux pas without knowing it.

"overthinking it" DEFINATELY fits me!!

There's no tech.
Belts, helmet, weight, fuel...maybe..That's it ;-)

[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 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.

[Tony Corley]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

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

I appreciate your opinion, and in different circumstances would be inclined to agree with you. I'm not spending much money to freshen it. Just the aforementioned parts, so a couple thousand at most. (cheaper than building a new engine if this one comes apart for something maintenance could have prevented) Labor and machine work are free. I already have all brand new suspension parts sitting here that I had bought for another project , so no wait time there. And I still have a few weeks down time anyway, waiting on my back to heal.