Just a heads-up for all 1964 race hemi owners

[Rory McNeil]

All good points. Dave Wren still has the aluminum nose 63 Max Wedge Plymouth that he R/U`d at the 68 Winternationals with, and ocassionally bracket races it at Mission, but he told me that the thought of somebody banging into the car is a real concern. Pretty much non existent for replacement parts! I guess thats why he normally runs a 62 Max Wedge clone.

[bsa633]

Originally Posted by mr340

NHRA legalized the Edelbrock heads for Stock and SS to reduce the cost of finding old, wore out heads.

Nothing against the poster ...and sorry for high jacking....but that cant be the case....the shortage is way more severe for some that dont get them than most they do get them...

[Alan Nyhus]

Originally Posted by Dick Butler

Since the expense of the parts is out of this world why wouldnt fiber glass replacements be legalized for original Aluminum on all brands. The wt wouldnt seem to be less. The availabilty would make them cheaper. Then the AL parts could be protected in the garage and the cost of repairs would be reasonable. I have heard of AL fenders and hoods torn up by motor explosions and THOUSANDS of $ spent to repair the stock AL parts. To me this seems a desirable rule change to make these cars more affordable. They are a BIG part of the SS history and current show. Other brands might also need this to become affordable.
This seems to be a common sense rule much along the line of aftermarket heads, al heads, aftermarket carbs. They are not available to purchase. THE WEIGHT of the car still would enforced as the same....SS and S need these cars for the show.
Thanks

Mr. Butler:

That's the most reasonable, well though out idea I've heard in a long time. -Al

[Mopar Steve]

An old D1 Hemi S/S racer questioned the use of fiberglass in place of aluminum last year to the technical directors. They told him that the Hemi racers got away with too much already and that there was no way they'd let them run fiberglass.

The fiberglass replacement idea was also discussed at Moparts.org last summer.

[Dick Butler]

I spoke to Bruce Bachelder regarding Fiberglass replacement parts for all cars built originally with Aluminum front components. He stated he would bring it up to the Tech Committee attention for discussion soon. I think the committee make up and thoughts have changed since this was originally considered several years ago, Now is the time to make your opinions known to Bruce and Danny Gracia and your representatives. This seems to be an extremely reasonable idea for them to consider again.
Good Luck

[James L Miller]

Originally Posted by bsa633

Nothing against the poster ...and sorry for high jacking....but that cant be the case....the shortage is way more severe for some that dont get them than most they do get them...

Well, that was my thoughts for the Edelbrock heads. I wish they picked heads that at least looked closer to a stock head. I certainly don't pretend to understand NHRA in their thinking.

Dick: I'd love to see an aluminum nosed Z-11 or swiss cheese Poncho out there. That was the heyday of Stock and SS. I hope NHRA remembers that two of the Pro classes came out of SS - FC and PRO.

I'd be in favor of heavy (durable) fiberglass that was equal weight to the aluminum, but I think their would be too much bitching about it. Just let us poor folk run the steel equivalents.

[chris ok]

just a question from a fan.
if you can you use reproduction/restoration parts made in japan for camaros, chevelles etc... which are supposedly lighter, why can't you use heavier oem steel to prep vintage race cars too. forget aluminum, this is economics 101. we the fans want to see the beautiful race cars being assembled that we americans live for. wake up nhra. chris

[Dick Butler]

Chris, You are correct. If Carbon fiber Pontiac fenders, doors and hoods are legal because they have a mesh basis but recognized as lighter I am sure the reality of allowing Fiber glass subsitiutes for Aluminum parts can be argued fairly... It seems to have been an issue but would be a great upgrade to the rules S and SS as cost and availability problems are not limited to motors or trans parts.... This is a much more severe problem for these great cars....

[Bill Belden]

I thought I read somewhere that IHRA allows fiberglass replacements for the aluminum on the mopars due to the rareity

[Jeff Lee]

I'm all for steel in lieu of aluminum, i.e., heavier replacement parts, not lighter replacement parts. The problem you run into when allowing fiberglass replacement parts is fiberglass turns into carbon fibre. The argument will be " well it's mesh, same difference". And once you allow this then every fiberglass hood ever produced (T/A Challenger, T/A Pontiac, W-30 Olds, etc.) now has a standard to go by and subsequently can cut hood weight in half. Those racers would then have an advantage over their competitors. I imagine all the SS/AH cars are carbon-fiber'ed instead of fiberglass'ed as per OEM but they have their own seperate class and they only have to deal with each other.
Glad to see NHRA is at least looking at these issues. We had aluminuim (non-OEM) radiators addressed this year, now they're looking at fenders and such, now NHRA should pay more attention to racers with fiberglass front bumpers being used in lieu of the (heavy) endura bumpers their cars had as an option.