Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Norton
My statement may have been unclear but, to restate it more specifically, the thorough teardown of a Stock Eliminator car takes at least ten times as long as is required to P&G a Super Mod or a Street Roadster. All FS cars running in Comp will need to be thoroughly inspected and qualifiers should be subjected to a full teardown. Current practice with regard to teardown is that it happens only a few times per year under the best of circumstances and that's not enough to keep everyone within the fences.
A thorough teardown requires the engine out of the car and the oil pan off. Crankshafts should be inspected, tops of pistons will need to be inspected, cylinder head chambers and runners need to be poured, casting numbers on cylinder heads and camshaft lift need to be verified, blower specifications confirmed, and throttle bores measured. All that is just the tip of the iceberg for making sure that any Stocker is legal. Even a run-of-the-mill Stock teardown involves all those things and more minus the removal of the oil pan. If there is not even at least a remote possibility that these variables will be subjected to inspection it won't be long before the FS cars will be capable of running more than a second under the proposed index and the only thing separating them from a thinly disguised Pro Mod will be the tires. If they get a big tire... I don't think that the Honor System will suffice!
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It's taken me a while to reconcile my opinion on the incorporation of these cars in to Comp. Specifically the rules (or lack of) for FS/XX, and the tech/teardown procedures needed for both of these classes. Both classes have been showcased in shootout formats for some time. Both classes have (in there own ways) exceeded the NHRA standardized practices for their accompanying Eliminators.
So I suppose bringing two more classes into Comp, with their current "Run What You Brung" formats should not burden the tech department too much. I could envision P&G, cam lift, throttle body, supercharger, and tires as the primary focus of tech for FS/SM. As for the Hemi cars? They are already Comp-style Super Modified Body/Chassis as it is. Need more counterweight? Just pull the dash and tunnel to get to the bellhousing access window. Except for pouring runner and chamber volumes how could you do any less than they currently do to their engines?
I can see where moving those two classes to Comp could possibly improve their respective Eliminators by slowing the rules "creep" that these classes foment.