So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Moving stuff around so of course I pull a couple out to read for a minute or three.
Pop Hot rodding May 1982, they took a brand new 2.2 charger and in 3 weeks built it for Y/Stock for the Winternationals.
17.30 index and they crack off 16.34's and eventually a 16.259 which led to the line;
"Under the index by 1.041, we logged the furthest under-index in NHRA history!"

They also wrote; "it was the first time a front wheel drive vehicle had qualified first in any eliminator in NHRA competition...and with only three weeks to prepare."

They lost first round (breakout) to Dave Moreno's big block Mustang.


crap, gotta go, found lots on "Mr Dirt" too!

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Too bad 16.30's is little more than an index-runner today. The FWD classes and indexes are a mess, in both sanctioning bodies. In NHRA, the car is crazy heavy for one class and obscenely light for the next. In IHRA, the same run that's -1.04 under in the 1/4 is -.30 under in the 1/8.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

I remember that series on the Charger. It was a good read.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

I remember the Mr. Dirt articles in SSDI.

Still read them occasionally before the start of the racing season.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

And -1.041 would not even QUALIFY at some of the recent past US Nationals field (adjusting for a current -.741). 2004 (-1.051) and 2013 (-.78 and change/-1.08 under the old Index) come to mind.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/...y82article.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/...article001.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/...article002.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/...article003.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/...article004.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/...article005.jpg

http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/...article006.jpg

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Yeah, that's it Alan, good read. My point, before I had to take off was that mags actually did stuff like that, including hotrod etc. Building a Stock or SuperStock car in a mag would be awesome to see today but I don't remember seeing anything in many years.

I had a PM about "Mr Dirt" aka Brett Kepner, loved the articles and when I bought my mustang I went to the ford dealership with the "gt drivetrain in a lx body" part numbers. (mean mr dirt mustang)They wouldn't sell me what I wanted so being a dummy I bought a loaded GT instead. Still have it 27 years later though...

Loved his "Giant Killer" article in the Jan '94 issue of SS&DI and the article on racing a rental "rentals in the real world" in the Aug 2000 issue of Drag Racing USA which was a spin off of Bracket Racing USA. (which was my all time favorite mag, even more than SS&DI)
Trying to upload the pages like Alan but this POS scanner I got isn't working, dang it.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

I really like the old articles too. If you get a story in most mags in print now, it is a bought and paid for infomercial.
I will say that comparing a three week wonder from decades ago and lamenting that it won't qualify isn't any real comparison worth talking about unless of course you pluck a bunch of other cars from that same era. Pull any stocker from back then. Change nothing and see if you can qualify at Indy. LOL.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

True enough... Just for comparison..1978 Gators ,we qualified 16th. As luck would have it the top 16 got invited to the piston party at a local Pontiac dealership.
Oh, our ET ? .... 2 tenths under the index (high 13's in R/Stock)
Right now a good one has to go high 12's to qualify at Indy, with all the "enhancements" in the spirit of Stock Eliminator of course.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

That car had "advancements" Mark. They had backcut valves which at THAT TIME weren't legal.

Jerry

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

"Mean Mr. Mustang" was a Steve Collison project. I bought an '87 LX. Not because of that series, but it helped. Mine is a hatchback with the 5.0 option (which brought the engine, trans, rear and suspension and was the same as the GT) with a 5 spd. In addition to the 5.0, the only options other than the 5.0 were the no-cost 3.08 gears (2.73 standard) and a rear window defroster.
I bought mine mainly because it was the first relatively fast, affordable ($10,225) car Detroit had built since the muscle cars.
Went a 13.95 @ 97 mph stock (very good air), right down to the timing and air cleaner silencer.
Still have it, too.
Sorry for the diversion, just wanted to mention Collison.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Jerry, True, but anything that comes from the OEM A/FX dept. is legal now.
They were just ahead of the curve...That's all . LOL

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Your right! I got a good memory but only on half the facts! LOL! Regardless Brett was (is) awesome in his articles.

There were two quotes in my first post that nobody has addressed yet;
1) "Under the index by 1.041, we logged the furthest under-index in NHRA history!"

2) "it was the first time a front wheel drive vehicle had qualified first in any eliminator in NHRA competition...and with only three weeks to prepare."

Anyone have any comments, are these quotes true?

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Thanks for posting those images. That article inspired me to try the same thing.

In 1982 I was working at a Dodge dealer in North Jersey. For the weekend of the Division 1 opener at Englishtown, I got a hold of a new Dodge Aries sedan from the rental fleet. When I got to the track I slapped on some number decals and made a few half-assed mods. (Removed the hub caps and air filter housing, advanced the timing and rigged the electric fan to operate manually).

The car missed the Y/SA index in time trials by more than a second, but I had some fun and dialed -.01 for the first round against Dave LeBrun. I think he caught me before I even reached half track.

The whole deal was still a lot of fun, and as a bonus, later that year SS&DI did an article on dime-rockets in Stock and ran a picture of the car.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Modified Mustangs & Fords magazine will be featuring the build up of my Super Stock 1967 Fairlane. The first story was about the fuel tank and battery box install. We are behind schedule but they plan on having a lot of tech articles in up coming months. So if you want to follow along with the build and track testing subscribe to Modified Mustangs & Fords or pick it up at your local newsstand.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Those days of picking up a rental car and entering Stock are no more.
The last VIN car allowed in Stock is the 2010 Camaro SS.

Not one single 2011-2014 VIN vehicle is allowed in Stock.

Very Sad.

Re: So, I'm moving a box of old car mags....
 

Anyone know which issue exactly? Anyone have a copy?