Re: Racing Polys

[Gary Pavlovich <glpavlovich@xxxxxxx>]

Jim,

Very cool story on your Poly racing days.  I would love to own a 1962 Dodge 
Dart.  While I like all the 62-65 cars I would have to say the '62 Dart 
would be my first pick and of course it would have a 402" Poly Stroker motor 
in it.

Thank you for sharing your history with us.
Gary Pavlovich
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Rowland" <dodge440@xxxxxxx>
To: <1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 6:31 PM
Subject: Re: Racing Polys


> Don;
>
> I used to race my parents 1962 Dodge Dart, Sedan, at Route 30 in Gary, 
> IN. That car was a 318 stock 2 Barrel. It was a radio delete. It had  an 
> open rear end and I am assuming it was 3;23 but it may have been a  2: 
> something because on the open road it would get between 17 and 20  mi. to 
> the gallon. Also it was single exhaust power steering and  manual brakes. 
> It ran in F/SA. It was a 727 trans. It weighed exactly  3,000 lbs. Also, 
> stock 14 inch wheels.
>
> The first time I took it to the track i had a cutout put on the  exhaust, 
> standard 6 inch by 2.5 inch galvanized plumbing pipe and a  screw on cap. 
> Back in the day it was against the law for a welder to  weld a cutout on a 
> cars exhaust system if they were still on the car.  I found one in Chicago 
> Heights, IL to do the job, I even remember  their name (The Brooks 
> Brothers). Most welders wanted you to take the  exhaust pipe off the car 
> and then they would weld the cutout on it.  The pipe and cape ran about 
> $1.25 and the welder charged me about  $2.50. He just cut a small hole in 
> the exhaust pipe and welded the  pipe over the hole at a 45 degree angle. 
> The next step was a seat  belt only on the drivers side. Try explaining 
> that to your  parents!!!!!! They will buy the safety logic but why for 
> only the  driver. I forget what i told them, something like I did not have 
> the $ $ for two or the driver is essential to getting help if there is an 
> accident. What ever it was they did not make me take it out.
>
> Anyway, everyone was going to be at there on opening day, March of 63, 
> and we were excited. I paid my fee $3.00  and go to tech. They tell me  to 
> take a hick until I get a drive shaft loop. thats when I first  learned 
> about unibodies My buddies were running Gm cars and they had  the X frame, 
> thus a drive shaft catch. The next week I got two long  threaded cheap 
> bolts 1/4" by 1 1/2 inch fine tread, several nuts and a  piece of steel 
> probably 4'L x 1.5 W" from the trash at the gas  station. Located the spot 
> on the floor where the drive shaft was  mostly still in the tunnel hump. 
> Drilled two holes though the floor  dropped in the bolts and put two nuts 
> up to where they would keep the  steel piece of the drive shaft and then 
> put the other 2 nuts on after  the  small, and I mean small. piece of 
> metal.
>
> The next Sunday, i passed tech with flying colors. In those days the 
> rules said  at some point the drive shaft had to be encompassed for  360 
> degrees. It did not say specifically what type of steel or what  width and 
> thickness. If my dad saw it i would point out it was another  engineering 
> safety feature that I read about to make the car safer.
>
> We get to the line and i make my first ever pass and with that cut out 
> open I thought i was driving a max wedge. I make my first pass and my 
> time slip said about 16:45 and 80 something MPH. My buddy said i  should 
> let him drive it. I forget his et but he upped the MPH over  90. I was 
> mad. I did not realize at the time that the MPH was 60 ft  before and 
> after the finish line. I do not think he knew it ether and  just kept his 
> foot in it as long as the engine was still climbing. It  was not his car 
> as long as he could get it stopped. So i came back and  and made 3 or four 
> runs with a best time in the 16: teens. Every body  always lost in that 
> class to a 1958 Old's 98 or 88 Convertibles, there  were several, with the 
> J 2 option, 3 deuces. Man did they pull on the  top end. Kind of like how 
> the Hemis would fly by the Thunderbolts in  mid to late 64. Never did win 
> a trophy with that car. I never realized  until much later i was always 
> smoking the right rear way too  much.
>
> That is one of my other poly stories.
>
> Just a side note and I will sign off. I would race a friends 64  Pontiac 
> Cat. three on the tree  389 2 door with a deuce and he would  always beat 
> me by  about 3 bumpers. If I opened up the cutout I would  have him by 
> usually 2 to 3 cars. I kept telling him to put on a cutout.
>
> Jim
>
> 1965 Coronet 440CI
>
>
>
> The next week we took a couple of long bolts
> On Jan 30, 2011, at 6:49 PM, Donald Gallimore wrote:h
>
> Gary P wanted to know who raced polys.
>
> Back around 1970, my brother and I raced a 318 Poly in IHRA/AHRA Pure 
> Stock.
> Pretty much a stock set-up in a 1965 Belvedere 1.  With a slipping 
> tranny, we
> set the National Record.  Best run was a 15.96 in L/SA.  This was in 
> legal
> trim.  Back then that was a very amazing performance for a couple of  guys 
> with
> limited financial resources, if I can say so.  Would have been nice to 
> see the
> performance if we'd had a good tranny and the right gears.
>
> Akron Don Gallimore
>
>
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----
Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person.  I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic.  Thanks!

1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html.