Rossi's SS/FA Challenger

[GTX JOHN]

Only one real Paul Rossi Aspen = the one we currently race.
Paul Rossi was at the Winternationals today in staging
lanes and we chatted with him about the car for a while!

[Don Kennedy]

By The way, Paul was one of the racers I talked to when I was putting together the New Rules in Super Stock For the GT Classes in the early 80 s. Along with Joe Scott and Dick Henry and I believe I talked to FJ Smith. Darell Zimmerman the NHRA division Director gave the notebook I had to the decision-makers at NHRA. My Car and Dick Henrys were the first cars built under the watchful eye of NHRA Tech Director Dave Danish over the building of My car. Danny Davis build my Trans AM after I got two cars from Pontiac Motor Division and a Oldsmobile from Arlen Fadley. Arlen gave a lot of Oldsmobile cars for the GT classes to racers. FJ was the One who started the front wheel Cars to the rear wheel Conversion. My good friend Keith Lynch was the first one to have a Buick race car. it was the early 80s a few years back lol

[jmcarter]

Originally Posted by GTX JOHN

Only one real Paul Rossi Aspen = the one we currently race.
Paul Rossi was at the Winternationals today in staging
lanes and we chatted with him about the car for a while!

Remember seeing the Aspen in full Rossi livery a few years back at one of your shops while you and Jon were digging out pieces to add to my collection. That car plus the Demon that Etter had his unfortunate accident in stand out but frankly lost count of all the cars!

[Rod Greene]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

Remember seeing the Aspen in full Rossi livery a few years back at one of your shops while you and Jon were digging out pieces to add to my collection. That car plus the Demon that Etter had his unfortunate accident in stand out but frankly lost count of all the cars!

Demon was my old car sold to Bill Riddle crashed by Etter

[jmcarter]

Originally Posted by Rod Greene

Demon was my old car sold to Bill Riddle crashed by Etter

I remember some of the car’s history, it was a beautiful piece. The ole master cylinder rod which hope everyone learned from. Ken sure took a hit plus his more recent health issues, it’s great to see him back campaigning the Shadow. Great driver.

[Dave Gantz]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

The ole master cylinder rod which hope everyone learned from.

This maybe should be brought up again. I have no knowledge of the Etter incident, but I know it happened on occasion to different cars. It was because the m/c pushrod would fall out if the brake pedal was inadvertently lifted a bit.
I don't remember what caused it. Was it something to do with converting to manual brakes?

[CMcAllister]

In the old ,manual brake Mopars, the pushrod had a groove in it that a rubber ring snapped into. The piston in the MC had a receiver groove in it that the ring snapped into to retain the pushrod. There was also a bumper, brake switch, etc, the kept the pedal from coming up too far. Power brake cars didn't use this .

Most of that stuff disappears on a race car and the rubber ring is a one time use deal. New ones are difficult to source and they are a pain to get apart.

There are different types of retainers made by many of the race shops to prevent this by capturing the pushrod and keeping it in the MC. I've even fabricated simple devices to do the job. They allow the MC to be removed and reinstalled without having to deal with the rubber ring, while keeping the pushrod in the piston.. I also like to see a redundant bracket or tab of some sort which is a positive stop for the pedal itself.

I've seen a lot of cars torn up over the year because of this. Simple fix to prevent it..

[GTX JOHN]

Paul Rossi has been helping us the last Couple
of days at the Winternationals. A million stories
and lots of sage advise!
Must be working as we both have made it
to final 4 in Stock (Me) and SS (Jon).

[bigshow2966]

Originally Posted by CMcAllister

In the old ,manual brake Mopars, the pushrod had a groove in it that a rubber ring snapped into. The piston in the MC had a receiver groove in it that the ring snapped into to retain the pushrod. There was also a bumper, brake switch, etc, the kept the pedal from coming up too far. Power brake cars didn't use this .

Most of that stuff disappears on a race car and the rubber ring is a one time use deal. New ones are difficult to source and they are a pain to get apart.

There are different types of retainers made by many of the race shops to prevent this by capturing the pushrod and keeping it in the MC. I've even fabricated simple devices to do the job. They allow the MC to be removed and reinstalled without having to deal with the rubber ring, while keeping the pushrod in the piston.. I also like to see a redundant bracket or tab of some sort which is a positive stop for the pedal itself.

I've seen a lot of cars torn up over the year because of this. Simple fix to prevent it..

My Valiant has a slotted "L" bracket where the brake light switch used to be. Weighs a couple ounces and takes a few seconds to adjust. Good insurance for sure. I hate crashing.

[4406mopar]

Here is a source for the brake pushrod retainer. This is also a great source for rear end and disc brake parts, look it over.

https://www.doctordiff.com/manual-br...r-grommet.html