Steering on SS/LA 58 Corvette

[Wade Mahaffey]

Tom, that is an excellent option ... a dog bone upright with the spindle mount angle corrected for more caster ... and raised on the upright to lower the nose a couple inches! That would be sweet if they make such an animal ... Thanks Tom

Wade Mahaffey

[Hacksaw]

They allow aftermarket drop spindles , so............ I don't see why a custom Automotive type spindle that suits should be illegal.

[FED 387]

53-54 chevy spindle upright will give you about 3/4 inch---the fat man is supposedly about 2/12 inch

[Wade Mahaffey]

Originally Posted by FED 387

53-54 chevy spindle upright will give you about 3/4 inch---the fat man is supposedly about 2/12 inch

You are correct, I have the 48-54 upright on there now with just over 3/4 inch drop from the stock Corvette. Fatman says there's is 2-1/2 drop based on the 48-54 Chevy. So the total drop from the stock Corvette 2-1/2 + 3/4 = 3-1/4 total drop... which is about perfect. They also have the 2-1/2 drop steering arm for that package

Wade Mahaffey

[Wade Mahaffey]

Originally Posted by Hacksaw

They allow aftermarket drop spindles , so............ I don't see why a custom Automotive type spindle that suits should be illegal.

Thank you Hacksaw, could you possibly provide the written rule location for that information

Wade Mahaffey

[Rich Biebel]

Those early Corvettes had a well deserved bad reputation for poor handling. That front steering arrangement was not good but the biggest issue was the tires those cars were riding on and the power under the hood. Once there was some play in the steering forget about it...Bias ply skinny little tires that maybe put 4-5 inches of rubber on the road. Whenever I see one today that’s stock, driving down the road and that’s rare, I always notice the tires first. Very little rubber on the road!

[Hacksaw]

Originally Posted by Wade Mahaffey

Thank you Hacksaw, could you possibly provide the written rule location for that information

Wade Mahaffey

No Sir. I can not find that specifically in the rules.

[Wade Mahaffey]

Originally Posted by Hacksaw

No Sir. I can not find that specifically in the rules.

Hacksaw, while your comments are appreciated, I want to tell you what I was told a few years back by a "NO NONSENSE" NHRA TECH MAN. I would call and ask him a question, and right off the top of his head ... he would say get your rule book and turn to page ...., then he would say ... on the right side, second paragraph see where it says .... and he would recite from memory ... word for word as I was reading it !!!! Then he would break down the paragraph explaining each word, and what it meant! Yes he was that good! Anyway, I would ask him about the rule book, gray areas, and what the rule book did not address ... he set me straight with this statement
"If the rule book says "you can" do this or that, then you can .... If it "doesn't say" you can do this or that, "THEN YOU CAN'T" So that's pretty simple, and it leaves absolutely NO GRAY AREAS ! There's nothing to argue, it said you could do it in Black & White. A lot of folks look at the rule book and say "Well it doesn't say you can't do it ... so I'm gonna do it" kinda like the Henry "Smokey" Yunick RIP would do. The problem then is if/when you get caught, and the book did not say you could do it ... THEN YOU ARE IN VIOLATION, AND THUS SUBJECT TO DISCIPLINE AND/OR PENALTY ... AND IF YOU GET AWAY WITH IT FOR 10 YEARS ... THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S OK ... IF THEY CATCH IT AT ANY TIME ... YOU ARE IN VIOLATION

Wade Mahaffey

Now I know that may not be the case in todays racing for many reasons. But that's why I look for the ruling in Black & White to say "You Can" LOL

[Hacksaw]

Wade: If what you say is true, then how did Jack Arnew and others get away with pie slicing and cutting control arms? That's far from stock front suspension as produced by the manufacturer.

[Wade Mahaffey]

Originally Posted by Hacksaw

Wade: If what you say is true, then how did Jack Arnew and others get away with pie slicing and cutting control arms? That's far from stock front suspension as produced by the manufacturer.

Don't know what they did back then, if they ever got caught, or if they even looked at this stuff. Never heard of anybody going to the barn to check their spindles out! But the way I read the rule book IT IS NOT LEGAL ... NOT ALLOWED ! I know jack and he is a friend, he told me of many things they did back then to gain an edge on the competition. I backed that up with a call to a NHRA Tech official, and he confirmed modified, fabricated, drop spindles are NOT LEGAL in traditional Super/Stock. Now do they hold the line on that ... who knows

I think I'm done asking if I can do what some others are probably doing only to be told NO .... maybe that's just part of the learning curve in Super/Stock LOL

Wade Mahaffey