Thread: Looking at buying and racing this old dragster.

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I found a dragster that I am very interested in getting and wanted to get some oppinions from some of you that have been there done that or maybe doing it right now. The dragster was built for a very high hp supercharged engine in the mid 70's and is a very short dragster. Its been updated by a few guys over the years and is legal. Could I run this on a budget build for now? Whats your oppinons , you know every one has one. Heres the ad description.

pro comp rear engine dragster 225" wheel base nostalgia

Hope it's a big budget!!!! They're fun, and again the same stuff, big engine, glide, light car..... Better check the rule book on a class, or you going to run brackets with it?

Is this a roller less motor/trans or a complete car, ready to run? If complete, what motor/trans?

Its a roller and would probably just run brackets for now. I am going to make plans to go check out this weekend for being a older car could you guys also give some pointers on what I need to look out for. You know problem areas. I guess I should also take a string line to check for straightness.

I'd call and ask if it has a chassis certification tag on the upper frame rail in the cockpit. (the tag is about 2" long by 1 1/2" tall, silver metal foil with blue lettering for sportsman and red lettering for pro). If there isn't one, it may not be there because the chassis won't certify or it may be because none of the past owners bothered to get it certified. The chassis does not have to be certified until 9.99 and quicker, so if they were running 10.0 or slower with the car in brackets, then it may not have been.

Thing is, without a chassis cert tag on the car, you're buying a pig in a poke and may be compromising your safety. There have been umpteen chassis improvements since this car was built, mostly because someone got hurt or killed.

My motto is "Never buy anything until you figure out how you're gonna sell it". If the car is not tagged, nobody's gonna want to buy it from you later. That's not to say that the car WON'T certify. It might have had the proper chassis improvements through the progression of owners and be a certifiable car. You won't know until you've had one of the NHRA chassis certification inspectors in your area look at the car. Contact Craig Hutchinson phone 936-539-4474, fax 936-539-4477, email chutchinson@nhra.com or Chuck Nelson phone & fax 936-344-9589 (Monday and Friday only, 7-9 PM), email rbowers@nhra.com.
Get all the info you can on the car before contacting these guys, including all the previous owners. Chances are, Craig or Chuck will know the car.

As you can see here, there are four different chassis specs for RED's, depending on the ET the car will cert to.......
http://www.sfifoundation.com/

Oh, and by the way, 225" is NOT a short car.

Along with what Tech said, I ran one about 10 years back in Quick 8 and occasionally brackets..... Plan on adding a radiator, battery and mount, tubes and a catch can for the valve covers, probably put together a quick cool and start cart..... Not exactly the "easy deal" it seems like at first look.... When you get to the quarter and semi final rounds, sometimes it's down to about 10 to 20 minutes between passes, also have to have at least one guy with you to do some wrenching, probably a 4 wheeler to tow it to and thru staging.....

PS--Forget to mention the tailshaft, coupler, and tailshaft housing for the rear end....No room for a driveshaft.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

I'd call and ask if it has a chassis certification tag on the upper frame rail in the cockpit. (the tag is about 2" long by 1 1/2" tall, silver metal foil with blue lettering for sportsman and red lettering for pro). If there isn't one, it may not be there because the chassis won't certify or it may be because none of the past owners bothered to get it certified. The chassis does not have to be certified until 9.99 and quicker, so if they were running 10.0 or slower with the car in brackets, then it may not have been.

Thing is, without a chassis cert tag on the car, you're buying a pig in a poke and may be compromising your safety. There have been umpteen chassis improvements since this car was built, mostly because someone got hurt or killed.

My motto is "Never buy anything until you figure out how you're gonna sell it". If the car is not tagged, nobody's gonna want to buy it from you later. That's not to say that the car WON'T certify. It might have had the proper chassis improvements through the progression of owners and be a certifiable car. You won't know until you've had one of the NHRA chassis certification inspectors in your area look at the car. Contact Craig Hutchinson phone 936-539-4474, fax 936-539-4477, email chutchinson@nhra.com or Chuck Nelson phone & fax 936-344-9589 (Monday and Friday only, 7-9 PM), email rbowers@nhra.com.
Get all the info you can on the car before contacting these guys, including all the previous owners. Chances are, Craig or Chuck will know the car.

As you can see here, there are four different chassis specs for RED's, depending on the ET the car will cert to.......
http://www.sfifoundation.com/

Oh, and by the way, 225" is NOT a short car.

Thanks for the info and yes I would not want a car with out a chassis cert tag. 225" Is a short DRAGSTER , a short car is like a mountain motor in a Fiero.

I think our rear engine top fueler was 225inches---they are only 300 inches today

Jerry Clayton

greer black prudhomme car was something like 112 , inch wasnt it? and by 1969 chassis were around 180 werent they jerry? i know the jade grenade is lonnnng something like 205 inch? now 112 is SHORT 225 is long. and i think the ernies camera "shudder bug" was only like 95 inch !

I think if you are able to put all the questions to bed that Richard and the others have raised, this could be a cool little drag car. They established a class at one time called Econodragsters, and the premise was basically what you are talking about. The idea was to find an old dragster and put something like a mild 350 Chevy in it with only one carb, and go out and have fun without breaking the bank.

It is a super way to get a reasonably fast/quick car without the expense of building and maintaining a ultra high performance motor. I think those econo cars were running in the 9's, if I remember correctly.

I hope you are able to score this one and that the chassis meets current regs. It would be fun to see it come together. However, start looking for a loooooooong trailer.

Don

Don, while at the outset the Econo classes looked attractive, in the end they required as much or more money to be competitive as any other class. The cheapest way to campaign the car would be in E.T. Handicap Racing class. There, you could be competitive with a stock 350/'Glide. Success or failure would be determined by the driver's reaction time and consistency of the car.
Heck, you wouldn't even have to compete if you didn't want to. Just show up at the bracket races and make time trial passes.

Gasser196
Our car was built at 210 in 1969, we moved the rear end back 5 to 215 in 1971 when we added the side wings---everybody saw the wings, didn't notice the length--we lowered OCIR record that night form 6:63 to 6:41---

The rear engine car was built at 225"

This car will be difficult to drive around the pits if it doesn't have a reverser and would best be towed by 4 wheeler or golf cart. It'll take a lot of room to manuever---you'll need at least a 25 foot trailer

you are right, i didnt even notice it was that long!

They still sell 225" dragsters. Most new bracket dragsters are 235 to 240 now, but many 225" cars are running and winning

Pro comp if I remember from a few years back is a 7.90 bracket class. My dragster was a 225" S&W chassis. It was a pro comp when I got it. I pulled the alky set up and switched to 112 race fuel to slow it up some, backed off on the throttle stop and It was then a super comp 8.90 class dragster. The class change cut about 800- 900 rpm off the motor at the stripe, and was an easier car to drive. Much easier on parts and semi affordable to run.

About a gallon of fuel per run, 7.70 a gallon, thats driving it to the line, doing burnout, making pass, and driving back to the pits. and after each race DAY it got a 9 quart 10w50 oil change and filter. And then a once over on checking for loose fasteners and fluids, drain the puke tanks before the next big day. Just because the chassis is certified to run 7.90 does not mean you have to run it in that class. it just means thats the fastest class you can run it in. You can slow it down and run in other classes also. also running an 8.90 class requires a full length fire suit, a nomex liner in helmet, and arm restraints, at least it did about 5 years ago.