stupid ?

[Billy Nees]

I would think that the valve would see it as a 15* valve angle.

[Bobby Zlatkin]

I remember a '61 convertible with 250 HP 348 fit right at the top of the 15 lb. class (was F/S then, later H/S) with a 4-speed. Was a very competetive car for Little Stock Elim (D/S and lower). Hooked up pretty good with a 7 in. tire with all that weight hanging off the *** end too. Guy was from around Melborne, FL. His name was Fred Hines I believe. He later got a 235 HP 273 Baracuda called "Brand X Eliminater". That car was not so competetive.

I'm not really old. Just have a good memory (for things 40 years old and older). I had a '57 220 HP 210 four door hardtop that ran that class. 3306 lbs. shipping weight in a 3300 lb. class.

My home track was Amelia Earhart field in Hialeah, FL. His was Valcaria Dragstrip midstate Fla. Both tracks were old airports, now long gone. Never got to run him. We drove our cars to the track back then
and to drive to Valcaria with a 5.13 gear would be like driving all the way up the east coast now.

[X-TECH MAN]

I remember a 1959 Impala Convert in the last year of the 7" tires (1971). It was a "Puke" green rusty old rag back then with a 283 FI 250 HP P/G combo for O/SA. It was out of NOO JOSEY and it flat flew. It ran 13.30's at Suffolk Raceway (Little guy Nationals) when some of the Div. 1 and Div. 2 killer cars ran 13.50's. Remember this was 1971 when springs and cam had to check as per OEM spec. I think it had a T/K engine. Oh well.....I cant remember everything. Im getting old.....lol.

[Larry Munk]

With the lifting ot the Year rule on SS/GT couldn't one do one as a GT car? And hasn't NHRA allowed the use of fiberglass replacement parts for the rare aluminum stuff? HMMMMMMM?

[X-TECH MAN]

As far as I know IHRA allows the fiberglass parts to replace the rare alum. (63-64 Plymouth, Dodge) but NHRA turned down the request the last time I heard?????

[danny waters sr]

Terry ,You are correct. Except pure stock does not allow fiberglass replacement for allum. We had this isue earlier this year on a pure stocker.Maybe i'll see you at MIR this year.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

It seems that the only way to get one of these 348/250 engines to really work would be to build a sheet metal intake.The OEM part is way too restrictive. The trick intake would eliminate a lot of the breathing problems that the engine has. The 4-jet on these engines was larger than the early 220 horse 283,and it was the same as the 327/250, and the 65-66 283/220. There are some really good roller cams out there for 409's,some new technology wouldn't hurt.This set up would really be interesting,I haven't explored what class it would fit,what is the factored horsepower,and what does the car weigh?This gives us all something a little different to toss around during the off season.It's by no means stupid.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

I remember a 1959 Impala Convert in the last year of the 7" tires (1971). It was a "Puke" green rusty old rag back then with a 283 FI 250 HP P/G combo for O/SA. It was out of NOO JOSEY and it flat flew. It ran 13.30's at Suffolk Raceway (Little guy Nationals) when some of the Div. 1 and Div. 2 killer cars ran 13.50's. Remember this was 1971 when springs and cam had to check as per OEM spec. I think it had a T/K engine. Oh well.....I cant remember everything. Im getting old.....lol.

Well Terry , You're not that far gone, if you remember all that.
Now I'm going to have to tell the "Rest of The Story"

Joe Santangelo and I built that car in ' 71 with the drivetrain out of his '61 J/S 283 / 245 'Vette. The 69 Chevelle 350 /255 cars had just come out ,and we had to find a way to hide from them.
I found two 59 convertibles in my hometown that were both the same "puke green " color. One was a 348, BTW, and the other a 283 2bbl. I switched all the good parts ,including the top, to the 283 car, which had fewer power options on it. We put the rear end center section and the Henry's Axles , the Vitar aluminum PG , and the Lee Crupi built long block from the Vette, right into the 59 . We bolted on a 62 327 / 360 fuelie unit which was a legal superceded part at that time. I cut about a 5" hole in the radiator support and ran a clothes dryer hose right to it from the fuelie unit .
Might have had to change the headers and gear ratio
We built the whole car in a week, and I know you're going to say, it looked like it. By the time we went to Suffolk with it , I had put some new paint on it, so it wasn't all that bad. You might have seen it before that at Delmar,too.
Anyway, the thing fell at 15.02 in O/SA and it did fly, right away. The 56's and 57 220 cars were the bad boys at that time, and our convert could run away and hide from them. At The Little Guys , it ran a 13.42 on a 13.64 ( Val Hedworth ) National Record.
I'd have to say,that FI deal was the smoothest leaving car I' d ever driven for a long time after that.
In 1972, NHRA put us all in S/S and that was the beginning of the end for this saga. The 57's picked up about 4-5 tenths with a flat tappet cam and a TM1 manifold. We couldn't gain anything from a manifold,(we didn't have one) and the cam was only worth a couple tenths at first.
I ended up swithing the drivetrain to another X frame deal, but that's another story.

I could tell you about when we took the 59 up to Epping for the Grand American series, but I think I'll let Dave Ribeiro tell this one

MY

[Bobby Zlatkin]

Neat story Mark. Back then you couldn't add and subtract weight to change classes. You had to build a whole different car. Allowing weight changes (from factory shipping weight) was definately one of the good rule changes made. We didn't have to run ugly body styles any more (four doors) to make the top of a class.

I was at the Div. 2 points meet in Suffolk in '71 (had a white '69 Corvette F/SA) but don't remember the '61 convertible. That was a 1,000 mile tow from South Miami (2 days) back in the days before interstate hwys.

I believe the 350/255 was a mid year thing. Not available at the start of the year. Not many people knew about it at first. But it didn't take long. And it didn't take long to realize how bogus the HP rating was and start adding HP to it, I do remember the Nova's ran J/S & J/SA with it at first.

[Jim Woods]

jim davis, you should post some pics of your 61. that is one of the finest built 61's I have ever seen .