@@TrumplicanYep that was one of the first things I was taught when I started driving a little Ford 8N around and around the hay field raking it into windrows. I was small enough I had to slide off the seat to push the clutch and brakes. But I got it done. Had to shut it down and run away one day because it got swarmed by ground hornets. They were off of it the next day so we towed it a bit before restarting. I made a wide circle from that area!!
Uncle Tony- thank you for these zen nerd out talks. I know it’s a smaller percentage of your general audience that gets off on the details like this, but when you can be that much ‘in the zone’, that’s where the magic lives.
I have never commented on one of your videos, but this time you really spoke my language. I worked in professional racing (my dream) for a famous driver/ builder and quit for the reasons you talked about. It was not fun anymore, it was work! Endless work and stress to win. Going home broke, with a crashed car meant more work and no fun. I can hardly watch races anymore knowing the facts, but I do enjoy watching old school drag racing by amateur guys... I also was involved with pro drag racing and tractor pull guys because of the driver I worked for introduced me. I still enjoy the sound of the track near my house on race weekend and can sometimes smell the alky...but like you, I work on small blocks and enjoy the ride, my big block stuff is over. Much happier and my wallet is too!
I was a Richard Petty fan before I even watched NASCAR. Got into NASCAR when Dodge got back into it in 2001. When Dodge got out I stuck around for a couple of years but lost interest after that.
When the video starts with "This is gonna be one of those long rambling videos", I get big smile on my face, grab a beer (in the evening) and sit down to enjoy! At somewhat older than Tony, I get the idea that I don't need the fastest most iconic car/engine combination. I am now inspired to get something with a Slant 6, and could even see myself putting a 170 and manual gearbox into a more modern early 70s car and loving life.
When I was mud racing I would go as far as using my knife and a screwdriver to dig the gravel and pebbles out of every tread on my tires. I remember hearing a couple of guys walking by and one pointing out what I was doing then them laughing. Well guess who was getting a trophy at the end of the points year and who wasn't?
@@bw3506 People who think outside of the box are always laughed at....Many years ago I posted a comment about putting solar panels on a RV....People were telling me it was a dumb idea. Some even it couldn't be done/wouldn't work. 😂 Now of course everyone does it. I was recently looking at the Edison 2, very lightweight, very aerodynamic car that gets over 100mpgs . Using a turbocharged 250cc motorcycle engine & E85 for emissions. Also seats up to 4 people. Since it doesn't look like a normal car/the rest of the herd. Most people are quick to dismiss it. Most comments were saying. It's "too dangerous" or looks too flimsy/brittle. If you buy one for like $15K . It'd pay for itself in fuel ⛽ savings & lower maintenance costs. It beat the most efficient electric cars in the race because it doesn't need to carry heavy batteries...Why do we still drive 3500 lb cars to transport one 200 lb person?
@@michaelbrinks8089 Sounds like an interesting car. I'll want to read about that. I've been contemplating stripping down but leaving interior on a first generation Kia Sportage. It's got a cracked block my brother in-law left at my shop. Then installing a 12 to 16 hp mower engine (whatever I could pick up cheap) and experiment with it. I've got machining and welding capabilities for mounting. Just to drive a couple miles into town and around close and see how it works out and holds up.
@@bw3506 Robot Cantina YT channel did that with a 1st generation Honda insight....I ride my 2 stroke motorized bicycle 🚲 around more than my motorcycle. In my population 10,000 town...No use pushing a 500lb 700cc motorcycle out of the garage just to ride 1.5 miles to the store & back...Instead I use the $120 motorized bicycle 2 stroke engine kit.
@@michaelbrinks8089 I better check out that build then. Thanks! I've seen a couple of those 2 stroke bikes here in my town running around. One goes out on the highway regularly and cruises pretty fast. I've got several solar panels and have wanted to get an ebike but IDK how durable a cheap one would be. Maybe a conversion but again the durability issue because I wouldn't want to spend much on it.
In the movie Bullitt, you can see Steve Mcween (or his stunt driver) palming the wheel around corners. I always wondered why. Now I know. Love the channel.
As usual your advice is nothing more than common sense to every good mechanic of our generation, but hats off to you for breaking everything down to a painfully simple level for the benefit of the new age kids, they need to get off the scantool and learn the basics first, good job 😊
A piston with a long pin to crown dimension wants to cant over and when that happens there is a lot of friction between the crown of the piston and the bore of the motor. When there is excessive friction between the crown of the piston and the bore then the piston will start "picking up" on the bore (not much lubrication in that area) and at that point the motor is screwed. To prevent that friction from happening you need to prevent the piston crown from ever contacting the bore. So take the diameter of the crown down a bit. Then make custom rings that are still above the surface of the crown when the ring is in full contact with the bottom of the ring groove. Then you have a piston/ring setup that WILL NOT ALLOW the aluminum piston crown to make contact with the cast iron bore. Which means no pickup. HOWEVER the bore on the side that the piston is being canted towards will show excessive wear. Because the ring is constantly rotating in the ring groove there is probably not much to see on the ring itself besides a lot of wear all the way around. That is probably why you are seeing what you are seeing in the blocks of those trick motors. Even in a 500 mile race, the motor only has to last 600 miles (practice/qualifying) at race RPM and if you are in the winners circle collecting the prize money then a motor rebuild is a price worth paying.
Saw the same video, love to hear the stories, especially about the "gray areas" of the rule book and the "innovation" of some teams, the King, the Chief and Dale Inman will always be legends and the occasional 388 cu in engine might be discussed as well, everyone was doing something and the heavy hitters were really good at sneakery, but they were very talented too and had the financial backing to play the game but many eventually got caught doing something somewhere and it still goes on to a degree today but the game has changed and UT is spot on about detailing every detail
One other detail Tony, the electrical tape used on racing steering wheels was the cloth type in dirt track days, not the plastic electrical tape you are showing. I was not associated with NASCAR racing other than junior circuits so what tape Richard used on his machine on the paved ovals someone with more knowledge may know. That plastic tape is slippery and super slippery when wet from sweat no matter what direction or how you wrap that stuff. The cloth type electrical tape was sticky on both sides and gave a great palm grip when the racers custom wrapped their wheels to their preferred grips. Turned your gloves black like pine tar in a hot car, fine dust and dirt from the track would get inside the car and all over everything also helping with a good palm grip on the wheel with the sticky back electrical tape. I would guess, and only an educated guess, that Richard was taping with the older cloth electrical tape as well.
Hi, Uncle Tony!! 😋 I know the electrical trick because I have used it on some of my push rims on my wheelchairs. Ya gotta overlap it ib a certain direction for grip and the opposite for more slip! I never liked the feel of it though, and your skin oils remove the plasticizers in the vinyl and it causes the tape to stiffey and shrink, and if the stiffened tape breaks, it can cut your hand! Also, the plasticizer migrates into the adhesive, both weakening the grip on what it sticks to to, and the tape starts coming off and the adhesive mixed with plasticizer is messy and gooey. But in a pinch it does work, though not as well on wheelchair push rims as it will on a steering wheel, for obvious reasons! Cheers and cool video! 😊
I was racing MX on quads at a high level in the early 2000's. The dedication to compete at a high level, very few can understand. Many within the given spot can't even understand, it is only the people at, or near the top that truly understand.
Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!!!!!!! Exactly what I used to try to convey to people looking in at what I was doing. I summed it up this way; RACING IS ALL CONSUMING. And yes Tony, I feel the same way about it as you, it's part of why I no longer race (in truth I must admit that I have been trying to go sprint car racing for about 3 years. I have all the parts and the car almost ready to race, but I never find the time to push over the edge and dive in. It's taken me so long that I will need to replace my un-used belts etc. because the dates are now expired)
It seems it's an art more than anything--this is how one learns a musical instrument and succeeds in performance in the fine arts. Total focus--and then one day you've just had enough of it!
Interesting, especially how you lacked yourself up to give yourself a little "Edge " in reaction time. Along with the psychological talking. I still remember how quick you reacted to the tree was startling to me, like you switched on the inner racing Tony that none of us had ever seen. Amazing moment explained.
Reminds me of when I worked on a Pro Modified Harley bike team for a couple summers back in Jersey. We would try all kinds of little tweaks to pull faster times out of the bike and give the rider more advantages over his competition. He was always coming up with ideas as well. Between him, the bike owner and main mechanic, and myself when I was feeling brilliant, we had a ton of fun running that thing across PA, MD, DE, and NJ. Even did a 'spectacle run' against a jet car with a J-57. The bike was quick to the 60' but then the jet car just blew by it like it was standing still. Best time was always Atco, my old home town. Fun, FUN times!
Tony! Youve been around the block and have seen alot of crazy shit most of us could never even think of! If YOU say youve never seen pistons with the pin bore that low, and also have never seen the goofy wear pattern in the top of the bore I can pretty much guarantee they are related!
The mention of the chop shops and stolen hemis triggered a memory. Small town rural Manitoba (Canada) - late 70s - I'm about the same age as you are, Tony. My Dad and I are out enjoying a demolition derby. Dad starts talking about how (allegedly, I cannot vouch for the absolute truth of the story) many of the serious demo derby guys owned tow trucks and allegedly they would cruise the parking lots at football games and/or hockey games looking for certain big cars that were good for demo derbys. If they found one they would hook on and grab the car and off to their shop! Coulda happened ...
I totally agree with the total focus when you're into racing... My issue has always been budget, I had been racing by the skin of my teeth for years... But now, I have a medical issue that might shelf that forever.
Reminds me of an old framing hammer I used to have. The handle was so worn and slick that I had a hard time gripping it especially in the summertime. I didn't want to have to get used to a new one so I wrapped it with tennis racquet tape.
See my other comment too. Tony is right. Example: does anyone remember the yellow #4 Kodak car in nascar cup racing owned by Morgan & McClure, and driven by Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin? THAT car during that era was THE car to beat at every super speedway, including the plate races at Daytona & Talladega. There are interviews in recent years with McClure where he stated their car was so dominant NOT because of the engine, but all of the other little things that they did to the car, that added up. The tiniest details. The result was that Irvan and/or Marlin could hold that car at wide-open throttle through the turns, where everyone else was lifting slightly. McClure stated "We put so many tiny little things in that car to make it handle better, and our drivers could drive the car where the other teams were not". They were so dominant on the super speedways, McClure stated that Bill France Jr would tell him before every race: "Don't you stink up my show". ( Meaning: ya better take it easy out there, and not make it apparent that you were the car to beat. ) While they did have strong engines with really trick heads & intake manifolds for the plate races, they didn't even have the most powerful engine......yet they were almost always the fastest car on the track. Back in those days, as we were all watching the cup races, I would always tell my buddies during the super speedway races: "There's something about that #4 car, those cats are always flying on the bigger tracks".
I wish he had said where on the cylinder the "dip" was located. Outside walls on both banks? On the "turn" side? At what tracks were the engines run? Perhaps Bristol and Martinsville with a tight radius turn affected centrifugal force?
Yep Tony, when I was dirt track racing, My car was ready when I loaded it for the track. I would get there and there would be so many with their hoods off trying to tune carbs, timing, whatever. My hood did not come off except when they had me teched, after so many protest techs, the tech guy told the tower he's never out of tech and you need to tell those other guys to work on their cars like he does BEFORE the damn races! Little things make horsepower, little things make handling, I was laser focused on those things and that`s why I won so much. I drove with my palms too,...thumbs out.
Maybe because of the shorter stroke the pistons were acting differently in the bore. Not sure but I was looking to see if anyone had commented about the wear pattern in the cylinder.
If the distance between the top of the piston and the pin hole is longer, but the stroke of the arm is shorter, it would definitely change the angle of the rods relative to the bore, I could see the piston getting slightly more pressure lower on the body canting the pistons in the bore just enough to give an uneven wear pattern.
@sunnyray7819 I got this theory, mabey it's intentional, I did not see it, so this merely hypothetical but, if the groves were low in the cylinder, and did not exist on top towards compression. It would allow gasses to pass quicker reduce -ing internal pressure, and drag. Swifter lifter's.
So true... The same applies to rules. Really studying the rules and finding different ways to interpret them while still being legal can make a huge difference. There are plenty of people that race that have bottomless wallets, and they can afford to have the best of everything, but if they don't have the focus and determination, they will never be at the top of the game.
Focus is what it is all about at least is was for me. I raced kneel down outboard boats for several years. We raced on both Saturdays and Sundays. I would envision how I was going to run the race for a week before the actual races. I usually did very well on Saturday but Sunday I didn't do so well. My focus and concentration was gone by then all used up on Saturday. I totally understand what you are saying. Setup was also critical. Steering tension, motor kickout and most important which prop to use on each course and of course wind would have to be factored in mainly for water conditions . I got a couple of season high points which required consistency not necessarily the number of podiums. Fun times but a lot of work and mental conditioning.
Taping handlebars on pro and olympic level racing bicycles goes to even crazier extremes. It seems pointless until you live in that world and learn how critical the actual difference it makes really is
Hard for us petrol heads to get our head around, but bicycle racing is the ultimate sport from a mechanical and material point of view, with the possible exception of high performance sailing. Every gram and every tiny gain in efficiency has a massive cumulative effect.
@@hendrikvanleeuwen9110my uncle tells me a little of the bicycle world stuff , the carbon fiber ,the titanium,the unobtanium for 12k for a high tech one. I mean I totally understand the cost ,some guys freak out. Well yeh that's a whole yard of junk cars 😂
I remember in the early 80s in los Angeles on a Saturday morning a commercial came On the radio about a warehouse sale by Mickey Thompson . race car parts. So I picked up A buddy and headed to Long Beach. I pulled in the gate and the guy at the gate said everything must go, ok great! I walked in and thought I’d start in the office so I went In and started taking some Pictures of Mickey Thompson pictures off The walls and this guy came up To me in a colorful shirt and straw hat and said those aren’t for sale , that was Mickey Thompson. So I wandered out to The warehouse and saw race car bodies hanging from the ceiling and Tons of parts on the shelves . Pretty cool Day.
Totally agree unless Tony I raced circle track and did demolition derbies. And yes certain things like taping steering wheels, seats and even seat belts made all difference on your mind set for that day on the track. I even went as far as having a air freshener hanging on the roll bar above the windshield to guage the amount of slope on a race track and found that based on how much that thing tipped or bounced around is how I would guage how to set the suspension and air pressures of the tires for that track.
Richard was the king at the track but Maurice was the tyranical despot back at the shops. I remember a mid 70s article in i believe Hot Rod about how Maurice was in charge of building the cars and engines . There was a separate building for engine assembly that was cleaner than an operating room - a clean room before modern computors needed micro chips . Anyone who tracked dirt of any kind into that building would bear the wrath of Maurice and then Richard and Lee even if they were family. At the time they had cars and engines built for specific tracks and races and had spares for crashes and blown engines . There were races where the Petty crew swapped engines in the pits so that a race could be completed even if they were many laps behind at the end . They were totally dedicated to winning and not losing any points
Note that for a critical application like a steering wheel use a quality tape like Scotch 33. Good tape when stretched retains the tension and keeps it tight over time.
I personally think it takes 25k miles to get comfortable with a new car,to unconsciously know every sound, vibration, so on. . I started commercial driving at 15 a carrier, heavy duty century flatbed with a heavy duty Vulcan wheel lift. My current truck is a modified 2008 1/2 ton Silverado LTZ with a Corvette engine, custom exhaust and performance chips. I bought the truck because it was red, silver and rust free. I didn't know it was modified until I brought it to my mechanic 😂
Nawp no electrical tape. Real friction tape is also crap for that, the black dye comes off really easily and makes a sticky mess. It's just cotton tape, comes in colors and widths that vary. Sold as hockey tape.
I think that a motor that's doing all it's miles at High RPM, on a short round track turning Left... would have some interesting and unique wear patterns... ⚡🏁
I do distance running. Different type of racing, but the 2 big rules are: (1) ABC Always Be Comfortable, and (2) NNORD Nothing New On Race Day. You're gonna be suffering for a long time, so yeah make sure your shoes are laced right and everything is as comfortable as possible to start with.
My chemistry is different too Tony. I was crushing the tree in the left lane at, darnit i forgot the name of the track but its mid michigan... Anyway my 442 was running the number and in front of me was the kid of Steve Atwell, a known big dollar Mopar collector guy. The kid looked back at me and my dial in for the class and said i didnt think Oldsmobile's would run like that. I was cocky and said "you're about to find out" He was driving a real deal 68 dart hemi car, im not a mopar guy so i cant say what that designation is but his was a 4 speed hemi car and we were about to get down the track together... I did a huge x large burnout which i learned freaked some people out. I had been practicing on my practice tree at home and was ready to go with my 3713lb Olds against this Hemi car. Our dial in was within 1 tenth...pretty sure mine was 11.28 and his was 11.40. He went first but i still treed him....i ran it out and was ahead by a car and a half...i lifted and that's when i learned dont lift on a hemi when index racing...i held the win and kid came over and thanked me for a good race after running over the scales. I will never forget that race because he thought an Oldsmobile wouldn't run with that hemi... I freaking drove my car there to that track, mid Michigan, it was like 110 miles from my house. I wont lie my car was 13:1 compression and i fed it good fuel the whole time but still... I still have not met Steve Atwell in person nor have i seen his son since then...if i call them out over this race im afraid what they will bring!
I apprenticed for a guy who built cammers for GAS in the mid 60's and the tricks we used on engines were ridiculous. Our circle track engines took about 10lb on a torque wrench to turn over when they left the shop... most used engines coming in took 20lbs or more to rotate. Plus we lightened the reciprocating masses with gapless rings and reduced compression heights etc. It's like the story the old man told about Dale Earnhardt back in the mid 70's... he said dale got in the car with a 2lb sledge and beat the floor pan nearly flat to the depth of the frame so his seat sat down about 2" lower than it normally would... WHY? Because when going into a banked turn of a superspeedway... the lower seat allows you to see further around the corner than other guys can see, because you are looking out of the top left corner of the windshield at that point and 2 inches allows you see about 2 car lengths further ahead than the other guys.
Actually, for decades, many if not most of the nascar drivers have always had all of their seats specially tailored & designed to fit them, and I'm talking right after they got away from the stock truck or van seats they all used to use back in the 60's & early 70's. Dale Earnhardt Sr for example, ALWAYS built AND installed all of his own race seats. I've seen interviews with various past crew chiefs or other team members with Earnhardt, who said they helped him install his seat, ( Dale had already built the entire seat, they were talking about the seat installation alone ), and it would take them all night, because he had to have his seat at just the right position & angle. They say he was one of the most fickle about his seat of all the drivers. Dale would literally design & build his own metal seat pan, and then install the foam rubber & stitch the entire thing with whatever covering.......the entire seat, from start to finish HIMSELF. Because he never did like the job that anyone else did for his own racing seat in the cars.
I believe on a "Scene Vault Podcast" episode, a racer described racing one time with the tape wrapped the wrong direction. Cut his hands to the bone during the race.
Talking about stolen cars to retrieve the block to sell to drag racers only makes sense why certain guys decided to make aftermarket blocks in cali... The ed pink and others only make more sense now. Ive never heard that story before but i believe you
I'm building a 305 right now for the street using: off the shelf TRW forged pistons (with pins in factory placement) Bryant Racing billet crankshaft (2.96 stroke) and Cunningham custom connecting rods (longer than stock).
I remember reading that back when Nascar cars had actual decals that they'd take a razor blade to the leading edge of the decal to make it slip through the air just a little better.
Moving the pin down makes the top of the piston top heavy causing it to wobble it TDC plus the downward pressure of ignition forces, the rings downward against the cylinder wall.
I ran🇨🇦highbank 1/2mile for 3 years. Crazy superstition habits🤪 Night racing I had weird focus. So bad that everything else was black&the race looked like an 80's CAD computer with greenline animation. Listening to every audio cue of my car,other cars with 2 ears&the 3rd ear. My seat(butt)I could only mention this description to this group&Uncle Tony.
Nu.ber 42 marty Robin's met him in 1973 My dad had a music store and marty played a reo palm mile and my dad store was on the way from the reo to Texas speedway. He stoped into my dad's store . Being a huge marty fan my dad got to autograph one of his song books plus pass to watch the race. I was young and was fascinated with the race car hard not to be . Marty raced for the excitement of it. A lot of DNF 's he just wanted to be in the race.
My Dad loved his music he grew up a rancher and country music fan and he LOVED Marty Robins!!!! I loved him for racing and liked his music! Too bad he died young in 1982. I bought a 1979 Dodge Magnum because that car looked so cool that he drove(I loved all his other Mopars too). In 1986 I bought a slick 2 tone 1979 Magnum black/silver E 58 360 4bbl/duel exhaust/3.21 rear ratio/console/tach/150 speedo car did 140 mph before I backed out! No lean burn,750 carter..in 1989 I added 340 high flow exhaust manifolds, LD 340 intake(manifolds off a wrecked 70 340 Challenger) a purple cam head job gained over 150hp.Shoulda kept it,oh well I bought a 1968 440 GTX needed cash for schooling/trade school. I would have loved to meet Marty back in the day to talk about racing and my Dad seen him in concert twice!
A lot of people knock the Pettys because they think factory support was the reason for their success. The real real reason for their success was the methodical excellence they applied to every single little thing just like Tony explained. If you want to succeed in racing, it is the only way.
I can't speak for you, but if I could make my current salary racing prostock drag bike again.. I would do it in a heartbeat. I miss the total dedication to a goal. I miss talking to the other racers and pushing things to the limit. When you drove through the gate...nothing else mattered. It was such a relief. Family problems, politics, social issues, money... nothing mattered for 4 days. You had a couple days after to make everything else work. Most of all Tony, I miss going fast. I miss my friends helping me to go fast. I miss trying to cut somebody off at the tree. After a tough day of racing, I even miss the garbage grilled hamburgers with my friends. These were the guys in the 90's that pushed me to be the absolute best. To say you have no desire to do that or experience that feeling anymore.. just seems dishonest. I got tree'd at a race.. 1st round.. and at the top end, while waiting for a tow, one of my "buddies" told me... "jesus, you were absolutely flying when I passed you. Rick... your hamburger was not fully cooked that night. LOL
what was the video you were watching and uncle Tony? I can’t believe you had all that small block cool stuff. That’s the kind of stuff. I am looking for right now. lolol
4 wheel drive is similar but you don’t grip the wheel tightly and allow it to jerk back and forth while you guild the rig where you want it to go. Holding on to tight will wear you out in a real hurry.
Any one who ever became a true mechanic, knows a man like you sir. Thanks to all of you! Carry on the wayward son.
growing up on a dairy farm we did the same thing palming the wheel because the old tractors would break your thumb if you hit a woodchuck hole or rut.
@@TrumplicanYep that was one of the first things I was taught when I started driving a little Ford 8N around and around the hay field raking it into windrows. I was small enough I had to slide off the seat to push the clutch and brakes. But I got it done. Had to shut it down and run away one day because it got swarmed by ground hornets. They were off of it the next day so we towed it a bit before restarting. I made a wide circle from that area!!
True that.
I learned the hard way runnin fast through the woods.... keep your thumbs out of the wheel....
@@bw3506 we had a 8n i drove as a kid too i miss it
@@Trumplican I'd like to know how many miles I have driven those little Fords. I bet it would be surprising.
Uncle Tony- thank you for these zen nerd out talks. I know it’s a smaller percentage of your general audience that gets off on the details like this, but when you can be that much ‘in the zone’, that’s where the magic lives.
Tony is a fountain of wisdom and an encyclopedia of knowledge, the more he puts out into the world the better.
This is the reason I follow UTG. None of that fake nonsense but real mechanic stuff and actual experience.
I have never commented on one of your videos, but this time you really spoke my language. I worked in professional racing (my dream) for a famous driver/ builder and quit for the reasons you talked about. It was not fun anymore, it was work! Endless work and stress to win. Going home broke, with a crashed car meant more work and no fun. I can hardly watch races anymore knowing the facts, but I do enjoy watching old school drag racing by amateur guys... I also was involved with pro drag racing and tractor pull guys because of the driver I worked for introduced me. I still enjoy the sound of the track near my house on race weekend and can sometimes smell the alky...but like you, I work on small blocks and enjoy the ride, my big block stuff is over. Much happier and my wallet is too!
One of your better ramblings UT.
Racing in any form, the obsessive attention to detail and mastery of skills.
I read where Richard Pretty said he figured he could drive as well as anyone else so if he made the car a little bit better he'd win.
“Racing is life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.”
Micheal Delaney approves
I've been a fan of Richard Petty since I was 7 years old! 61 now
I was a Richard Petty fan before I even watched NASCAR.
Got into NASCAR when Dodge got back into it in 2001.
When Dodge got out I stuck around for a couple of years but lost interest after that.
Had my STP stickers on my lunchbox.
@@danfarris135 Was it Petty Blue?
I can’t remember not being a Richard Petty fan!
Its crazy how i saved the 1974 charger Petty Brothers vid and watched it this same day as this vid came out.
Love ya bro.
When the video starts with "This is gonna be one of those long rambling videos", I get big smile on my face, grab a beer (in the evening) and sit down to enjoy!
At somewhat older than Tony, I get the idea that I don't need the fastest most iconic car/engine combination. I am now inspired to get something with a Slant 6, and could even see myself putting a 170 and manual gearbox into a more modern early 70s car and loving life.
Little details are important when doing anything well. That's what gets you ahead or behind everyone else.
When I was mud racing I would go as far as using my knife and a screwdriver to dig the gravel and pebbles out of every tread on my tires. I remember hearing a couple of guys walking by and one pointing out what I was doing then them laughing. Well guess who was getting a trophy at the end of the points year and who wasn't?
@@bw3506 People who think outside of the box are always laughed at....Many years ago I posted a comment about putting solar panels on a RV....People were telling me it was a dumb idea. Some even it couldn't be done/wouldn't work. 😂 Now of course everyone does it.
I was recently looking at the Edison 2, very lightweight, very aerodynamic car that gets over 100mpgs . Using a turbocharged 250cc motorcycle engine & E85 for emissions. Also seats up to 4 people. Since it doesn't look like a normal car/the rest of the herd. Most people are quick to dismiss it. Most comments were saying. It's "too dangerous" or looks too flimsy/brittle. If you buy one for like $15K . It'd pay for itself in fuel ⛽ savings & lower maintenance costs. It beat the most efficient electric cars in the race because it doesn't need to carry heavy batteries...Why do we still drive 3500 lb cars to transport one 200 lb person?
@@michaelbrinks8089 Sounds like an interesting car. I'll want to read about that. I've been contemplating stripping down but leaving interior on a first generation Kia Sportage. It's got a cracked block my brother in-law left at my shop. Then installing a 12 to 16 hp mower engine (whatever I could pick up cheap) and experiment with it. I've got machining and welding capabilities for mounting. Just to drive a couple miles into town and around close and see how it works out and holds up.
@@bw3506 Robot Cantina YT channel did that with a 1st generation Honda insight....I ride my 2 stroke motorized bicycle 🚲 around more than my motorcycle. In my population 10,000 town...No use pushing a 500lb 700cc motorcycle out of the garage just to ride 1.5 miles to the store & back...Instead I use the $120 motorized bicycle 2 stroke engine kit.
@@michaelbrinks8089 I better check out that build then. Thanks! I've seen a couple of those 2 stroke bikes here in my town running around. One goes out on the highway regularly and cruises pretty fast.
I've got several solar panels and have wanted to get an ebike but IDK how durable a cheap one would be. Maybe a conversion but again the durability issue because I wouldn't want to spend much on it.
@@bw3506 Check out Keyfarm. He has put different sized Predator engines in several different platforms, from a tractor, MG, and a F350 with ag tires.
In the movie Bullitt, you can see Steve Mcween (or his stunt driver) palming the wheel around corners. I always wondered why. Now I know. Love the channel.
As usual your advice is nothing more than common sense to every good mechanic of our generation, but hats off to you for breaking everything down to a painfully simple level for the benefit of the new age kids, they need to get off the scantool and learn the basics first, good job 😊
May the king (43) live for ever.
lol, your revolutionary forefathers would hang their heads in shame on hearing that.
Some people just need a boot to lick, I suppose.
You don't have to race to have fun with a car. When racing is so much that it becomes a job, it's not fun any more, it's work. Just go have fun.
Can't afford to race in this economy
Thanks for the shout out to Petty Brothers Racing. They are doing a great job sharing Petty history. 👍👍🇨🇦
A piston with a long pin to crown dimension wants to cant over and when that happens there is a lot of friction between the crown of the piston and the bore of the motor.
When there is excessive friction between the crown of the piston and the bore then the piston will start "picking up" on the bore (not much lubrication in that area) and at that point the motor is screwed.
To prevent that friction from happening you need to prevent the piston crown from ever contacting the bore.
So take the diameter of the crown down a bit.
Then make custom rings that are still above the surface of the crown when the ring is in full contact with the bottom of the ring groove.
Then you have a piston/ring setup that WILL NOT ALLOW the aluminum piston crown to make contact with the cast iron bore.
Which means no pickup.
HOWEVER the bore on the side that the piston is being canted towards will show excessive wear.
Because the ring is constantly rotating in the ring groove there is probably not much to see on the ring itself besides a lot of wear all the way around.
That is probably why you are seeing what you are seeing in the blocks of those trick motors.
Even in a 500 mile race, the motor only has to last 600 miles (practice/qualifying) at race RPM and if you are in the winners circle collecting the prize money then a motor rebuild is a price worth paying.
Saw the same video, love to hear the stories, especially about the "gray areas" of the rule book and the "innovation" of some teams, the King, the Chief and Dale Inman will always be legends and the occasional 388 cu in engine might be discussed as well, everyone was doing something and the heavy hitters were really good at sneakery, but they were very talented too and had the financial backing to play the game but many eventually got caught doing something somewhere and it still goes on to a degree today but the game has changed and UT is spot on about detailing every detail
One other detail Tony, the electrical tape used on racing steering wheels was the cloth type in dirt track days, not the plastic electrical tape you are showing. I was not associated with NASCAR racing other than junior circuits so what tape Richard used on his machine on the paved ovals someone with more knowledge may know. That plastic tape is slippery and super slippery when wet from sweat no matter what direction or how you wrap that stuff. The cloth type electrical tape was sticky on both sides and gave a great palm grip when the racers custom wrapped their wheels to their preferred grips. Turned your gloves black like pine tar in a hot car, fine dust and dirt from the track would get inside the car and all over everything also helping with a good palm grip on the wheel with the sticky back electrical tape. I would guess, and only an educated guess, that Richard was taping with the older cloth electrical tape as well.
I bet youre right.
hockey stick tape is great of anything you need a superior grip on
Friction tape.
Hi, Uncle Tony!! 😋 I know the electrical trick because I have used it on some of my push rims on my wheelchairs. Ya gotta overlap it ib a certain direction for grip and the opposite for more slip! I never liked the feel of it though, and your skin oils remove the plasticizers in the vinyl and it causes the tape to stiffey and shrink, and if the stiffened tape breaks, it can cut your hand! Also, the plasticizer migrates into the adhesive, both weakening the grip on what it sticks to to, and the tape starts coming off and the adhesive mixed with plasticizer is messy and gooey. But in a pinch it does work, though not as well on wheelchair push rims as it will on a steering wheel, for obvious reasons! Cheers and cool video! 😊
The young man chases adventure. The older man chases simplicity
I was racing MX on quads at a high level in the early 2000's. The dedication to compete at a high level, very few can understand. Many within the given spot can't even understand, it is only the people at, or near the top that truly understand.
Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!!!!!!! Exactly what I used to try to convey to people looking in at what I was doing. I summed it up this way; RACING IS ALL CONSUMING. And yes Tony, I feel the same way about it as you, it's part of why I no longer race (in truth I must admit that I have been trying to go sprint car racing for about 3 years. I have all the parts and the car almost ready to race, but I never find the time to push over the edge and dive in. It's taken me so long that I will need to replace my un-used belts etc. because the dates are now expired)
It seems it's an art more than anything--this is how one learns a musical instrument and succeeds in performance in the fine arts. Total focus--and then one day you've just had enough of it!
Interesting, especially how you lacked yourself up to give yourself a little "Edge " in reaction time. Along with the psychological talking. I still remember how quick you reacted to the tree was startling to me, like you switched on the inner racing Tony that none of us had ever seen. Amazing moment explained.
Thanks uncle Tony!!!!!!
We thoroughly enjoy your long rambling videos.
You sir are a great story teller
Story time with Uncle Tony. Gather 'round folks. 😅
Reminds me of when I worked on a Pro Modified Harley bike team for a couple summers back in Jersey. We would try all kinds of little tweaks to pull faster times out of the bike and give the rider more advantages over his competition. He was always coming up with ideas as well. Between him, the bike owner and main mechanic, and myself when I was feeling brilliant, we had a ton of fun running that thing across PA, MD, DE, and NJ. Even did a 'spectacle run' against a jet car with a J-57. The bike was quick to the 60' but then the jet car just blew by it like it was standing still. Best time was always Atco, my old home town. Fun, FUN times!
Great topic, loved this show, thanks UT. …. Cheers!
My 7 year old boy is a huge petty fan!! His museum is awesome if you have a chance to go do it. We love your channel .
Tony! Youve been around the block and have seen alot of crazy shit most of us could never even think of! If YOU say youve never seen pistons with the pin bore that low, and also have never seen the goofy wear pattern in the top of the bore I can pretty much guarantee they are related!
The mention of the chop shops and stolen hemis triggered a memory.
Small town rural Manitoba (Canada) - late 70s - I'm about the same age as you are, Tony.
My Dad and I are out enjoying a demolition derby. Dad starts talking about how (allegedly, I cannot vouch for the absolute truth of the story) many of the serious demo derby guys owned tow trucks and allegedly they would cruise the parking lots at football games and/or hockey games looking for certain big cars that were good for demo derbys. If they found one they would hook on and grab the car and off to their shop!
Coulda happened ...
Another amazing video to watch to the last second👍
I miss driving stock cars. I don't miss having stock cars.
I totally agree with the total focus when you're into racing... My issue has always been budget, I had been racing by the skin of my teeth for years... But now, I have a medical issue that might shelf that forever.
Bingo! Thats how you kept shaving times off the 1/4 mile when you were writing for the magazine, I still have my issues!
What you are explaining is exactly what champions do! It isn’t any different in any competitive setting
Reminds me of an old framing hammer I used to have. The handle was so worn and slick that I had a hard time gripping it especially in the summertime. I didn't want to have to get used to a new one so I wrapped it with tennis racquet tape.
See my other comment too. Tony is right. Example: does anyone remember the yellow #4 Kodak car in nascar cup racing owned by Morgan & McClure, and driven by Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin? THAT car during that era was THE car to beat at every super speedway, including the plate races at Daytona & Talladega. There are interviews in recent years with McClure where he stated their car was so dominant NOT because of the engine, but all of the other little things that they did to the car, that added up. The tiniest details. The result was that Irvan and/or Marlin could hold that car at wide-open throttle through the turns, where everyone else was lifting slightly. McClure stated "We put so many tiny little things in that car to make it handle better, and our drivers could drive the car where the other teams were not". They were so dominant on the super speedways, McClure stated that Bill France Jr would tell him before every race: "Don't you stink up my show". ( Meaning: ya better take it easy out there, and not make it apparent that you were the car to beat. ) While they did have strong engines with really trick heads & intake manifolds for the plate races, they didn't even have the most powerful engine......yet they were almost always the fastest car on the track. Back in those days, as we were all watching the cup races, I would always tell my buddies during the super speedway races: "There's something about that #4 car, those cats are always flying on the bigger tracks".
Exactly. The little things matter totally.
fantastic video!!
Do you think the wear is from the wristpin being so low in the piston? Piston cocking in the bore under compression?
Yes l do well done
I wish he had said where on the cylinder the "dip" was located. Outside walls on both banks? On the "turn" side? At what tracks were the engines run? Perhaps Bristol and Martinsville with a tight radius turn affected centrifugal force?
That's why I'd need Jungle Pam to help me perfectly align the dragster.
😁😁😁
Interesting video Uncle Tony. Thanks for the history lesson on racing 👍👍👍👍👍
This applies to everything in life, it's not just racing
Yep Tony, when I was dirt track racing, My car was ready when I loaded it for the track. I would get there and there would be so many with their hoods off trying to tune carbs, timing, whatever. My hood did not come off except when they had me teched, after so many protest techs, the tech guy told the tower he's never out of tech and you need to tell those other guys to work on their cars like he does BEFORE the damn races! Little things make horsepower, little things make handling, I was laser focused on those things and that`s why I won so much. I drove with my palms too,...thumbs out.
Maybe because of the shorter stroke the pistons were acting differently in the bore. Not sure but I was looking to see if anyone had commented about the wear pattern in the cylinder.
If the distance between the top of the piston and the pin hole is longer, but the stroke of the arm is shorter, it would definitely change the angle of the rods relative to the bore, I could see the piston getting slightly more pressure lower on the body canting the pistons in the bore just enough to give an uneven wear pattern.
The low pun height would definatly make the pistons flop back and forth in the bore.
@sunnyray7819
I got this theory, mabey it's intentional, I did not see it, so this merely hypothetical but, if the groves were low in the cylinder, and did not exist on top towards compression. It would allow gasses to pass quicker reduce -ing internal pressure, and drag. Swifter lifter's.
Great. Thanks. Details
THIS is gonna be one ot those "long rambling videos with twists and turns." So, just one of your regular videos. Got it.
Love story time with UT.
Smart man. Racing is by and large a young person's sport. And smart racers hang up their helmet-while they still can
Great video, Tony absolute gospel.
HOWdy U-T-G, ...
" You gotta' Keep 'em CONCENTRATED " !!!
Thanks
COOP
the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA
...
So true... The same applies to rules. Really studying the rules and finding different ways to interpret them
while still being legal can make a huge difference. There are plenty of people that race that have bottomless
wallets, and they can afford to have the best of everything, but if they don't have the focus and determination,
they will never be at the top of the game.
Thank you Tony, you just justified my addiction to coffee and doughnuts. ☕🍩
Awesome. Thanks for the video.
Enjoyable distraction from the day to day politics and war.
🤘🏼⛽️🥾the vid of Kyle running pops old race car @ goodwood is badasss ,, and ya can see the taped wheel too 👌🏼
Focus is what it is all about at least is was for me. I raced kneel down outboard boats for several years. We raced on both Saturdays and Sundays. I would envision how I was going to run the race for a week before the actual races. I usually did very well on Saturday but Sunday I didn't do so well. My focus and concentration was gone by then all used up on Saturday. I totally understand what you are saying. Setup was also critical. Steering tension, motor kickout and most important which prop to use on each course and of course wind would have to be factored in mainly for water conditions . I got a couple of season high points which required consistency not necessarily the number of podiums. Fun times but a lot of work and mental conditioning.
Taping handlebars on pro and olympic level racing bicycles goes to even crazier extremes. It seems pointless until you live in that world and learn how critical the actual difference it makes really is
Hard for us petrol heads to get our head around, but bicycle racing is the ultimate sport from a mechanical and material point of view, with the possible exception of high performance sailing. Every gram and every tiny gain in efficiency has a massive cumulative effect.
@@hendrikvanleeuwen9110my uncle tells me a little of the bicycle world stuff , the carbon fiber ,the titanium,the unobtanium for 12k for a high tech one. I mean I totally understand the cost ,some guys freak out.
Well yeh that's a whole yard of junk cars 😂
Your passion is infectious, I love it!
I bought a set of NOS 66-67 Hemi spark plug tubes that originated from Cotton Owens shop, which obviously makes them extra special.
I'd love to see Tony interview crew chiefs from back in the day
love these stories!
I remember in the early 80s in los Angeles on a Saturday morning a commercial came
On the radio about a warehouse sale by Mickey Thompson . race car parts. So I picked up
A buddy and headed to Long Beach. I pulled in the gate and the guy at the gate said everything must go, ok great!
I walked in and thought I’d start in the office so I went
In and started taking some
Pictures of
Mickey Thompson pictures off
The walls and this guy came up
To me in a colorful shirt and straw hat and said those aren’t for sale , that was Mickey Thompson.
So I wandered out to
The warehouse and saw race car bodies hanging from the ceiling and Tons of parts on the shelves . Pretty cool
Day.
Totally agree unless Tony I raced circle track and did demolition derbies. And yes certain things like taping steering wheels, seats and even seat belts made all difference on your mind set for that day on the track. I even went as far as having a air freshener hanging on the roll bar above the windshield to guage the amount of slope on a race track and found that based on how much that thing tipped or bounced around is how I would guage how to set the suspension and air pressures of the tires for that track.
Always like story time!!!
Richard was the king at the track but Maurice was the tyranical despot back at the shops. I remember a mid 70s article in i believe Hot Rod about how Maurice was in charge of building the cars and engines . There was a separate building for engine assembly that was cleaner than an operating room - a clean room before modern computors needed micro chips . Anyone who tracked dirt of any kind into that building would bear the wrath of Maurice and then Richard and Lee even if they were family. At the time they had cars and engines built for specific tracks and races and had spares for crashes and blown engines . There were races where the Petty crew swapped engines in the pits so that a race could be completed even if they were many laps behind at the end . They were totally dedicated to winning and not losing any points
That '67Belvedere (2 dr) is the NASCAR car for most season wins by car and driver (the King and 27)
But the coolest was Bobby Isaacs Winged car!
@@glennnickerson8438 That '67 been sitting behind Uncle Tony for 10 years. That could be a Mopar matched set with his
Charger.
Note that for a critical application like a steering wheel use a quality tape like Scotch 33. Good tape when stretched retains the tension and keeps it tight over time.
I personally think it takes 25k miles to get comfortable with a new car,to unconsciously know every sound, vibration, so on. . I started commercial driving at 15 a carrier, heavy duty century flatbed with a heavy duty Vulcan wheel lift. My current truck is a modified 2008 1/2 ton Silverado LTZ with a Corvette engine, custom exhaust and performance chips. I bought the truck because it was red, silver and rust free. I didn't know it was modified until I brought it to my mechanic 😂
Every Chevy truck comes with a corvette engine.
Didn’t you know that?
@@fastinradfordableOr is it every Corvette comes with a Chevrolet truck engine in it?
@fastinradfordable I always wondered where all those Vettes with no engines are stashed. Seems like there were more engines made than cars
It's interesting to here about NASCAR like this because you don't ever think about how human and imperfect NASCAR competitors were
If electrical tape helped Petty win races he should have played ice hockey too (they put electrical tape on hockey sticks) 😆!
I think it was cotton hockey tape
@@0004612 a sticky situation indeed...
We called it friction tape, electrical tape, same color much different.
Nawp no electrical tape. Real friction tape is also crap for that, the black dye comes off really easily and makes a sticky mess. It's just cotton tape, comes in colors and widths that vary. Sold as hockey tape.
I think that a motor that's doing all it's miles at High RPM, on a short round track turning Left... would have some interesting and unique wear patterns... ⚡🏁
You really have to have tried it to know exactly what your talking about, and it is a trip down the rabbit hole for sure.
I do distance running. Different type of racing, but the 2 big rules are: (1) ABC Always Be Comfortable, and (2) NNORD Nothing New On Race Day. You're gonna be suffering for a long time, so yeah make sure your shoes are laced right and everything is as comfortable as possible to start with.
My chemistry is different too Tony.
I was crushing the tree in the left lane at, darnit i forgot the name of the track but its mid michigan...
Anyway my 442 was running the number and in front of me was the kid of Steve Atwell, a known big dollar Mopar collector guy. The kid looked back at me and my dial in for the class and said i didnt think Oldsmobile's would run like that.
I was cocky and said "you're about to find out"
He was driving a real deal 68 dart hemi car, im not a mopar guy so i cant say what that designation is but his was a 4 speed hemi car and we were about to get down the track together...
I did a huge x large burnout which i learned freaked some people out. I had been practicing on my practice tree at home and was ready to go with my 3713lb Olds against this Hemi car. Our dial in was within 1 tenth...pretty sure mine was 11.28 and his was 11.40.
He went first but i still treed him....i ran it out and was ahead by a car and a half...i lifted and that's when i learned dont lift on a hemi when index racing...i held the win and kid came over and thanked me for a good race after running over the scales.
I will never forget that race because he thought an Oldsmobile wouldn't run with that hemi...
I freaking drove my car there to that track, mid Michigan, it was like 110 miles from my house. I wont lie my car was 13:1 compression and i fed it good fuel the whole time but still...
I still have not met Steve Atwell in person nor have i seen his son since then...if i call them out over this race im afraid what they will bring!
good one Tony
Guess UTG didn't get flooded out , Good thing
I apprenticed for a guy who built cammers for GAS in the mid 60's and the tricks we used on engines were ridiculous. Our circle track engines took about 10lb on a torque wrench to turn over when they left the shop... most used engines coming in took 20lbs or more to rotate. Plus we lightened the reciprocating masses with gapless rings and reduced compression heights etc.
It's like the story the old man told about Dale Earnhardt back in the mid 70's... he said dale got in the car with a 2lb sledge and beat the floor pan nearly flat to the depth of the frame so his seat sat down about 2" lower than it normally would... WHY?
Because when going into a banked turn of a superspeedway... the lower seat allows you to see further around the corner than other guys can see, because you are looking out of the top left corner of the windshield at that point and 2 inches allows you see about 2 car lengths further ahead than the other guys.
Actually, for decades, many if not most of the nascar drivers have always had all of their seats specially tailored & designed to fit them, and I'm talking right after they got away from the stock truck or van seats they all used to use back in the 60's & early 70's. Dale Earnhardt Sr for example, ALWAYS built AND installed all of his own race seats. I've seen interviews with various past crew chiefs or other team members with Earnhardt, who said they helped him install his seat, ( Dale had already built the entire seat, they were talking about the seat installation alone ), and it would take them all night, because he had to have his seat at just the right position & angle. They say he was one of the most fickle about his seat of all the drivers. Dale would literally design & build his own metal seat pan, and then install the foam rubber & stitch the entire thing with whatever covering.......the entire seat, from start to finish HIMSELF. Because he never did like the job that anyone else did for his own racing seat in the cars.
I believe on a "Scene Vault Podcast" episode, a racer described racing one time with the tape wrapped the wrong direction. Cut his hands to the bone during the race.
Talking about stolen cars to retrieve the block to sell to drag racers only makes sense why certain guys decided to make aftermarket blocks in cali...
The ed pink and others only make more sense now.
Ive never heard that story before but i believe you
I'm building a 305 right now for the street using: off the shelf TRW forged pistons (with pins in factory placement) Bryant Racing billet crankshaft (2.96 stroke) and Cunningham custom connecting rods (longer than stock).
Low pin height making the piston flop around
Maybe the bores wore uneven because of the wrist pins being low in combination with an unheard of amount of wrist pin offset?
So as they ca,e up to TDC they 'leaned' forward and on the downstroke they "pulled" backward.
I remember reading that back when Nascar cars had actual decals that they'd take a razor blade to the leading edge of the decal to make it slip through the air just a little better.
I remember Kyle saying, when he was working on his dad's cars, how all the slots on the screws in the dash had to all line up the same way.
Moving the pin down makes the top of the piston top heavy causing it to wobble it TDC plus the downward pressure of ignition forces, the rings downward against the cylinder wall.
I ran🇨🇦highbank 1/2mile for 3 years. Crazy superstition habits🤪 Night racing I had weird focus. So bad that everything else was black&the race looked like an 80's CAD computer with greenline animation. Listening to every audio cue of my car,other cars with 2 ears&the 3rd ear. My seat(butt)I could only mention this description to this group&Uncle Tony.
please uncle Tony tell the story where you blew up your house with Nitromethane! I still have that podcast with that story on it. Priceless
Nu.ber 42 marty Robin's met him in 1973 My dad had a music store and marty played a reo palm mile and my dad store was on the way from the reo to Texas speedway. He stoped into my dad's store . Being a huge marty fan my dad got to autograph one of his song books plus pass to watch the race. I was young and was fascinated with the race car hard not to be . Marty raced for the excitement of it. A lot of DNF 's he just wanted to be in the race.
My Dad loved his music he grew up a rancher and country music fan and he LOVED Marty Robins!!!! I loved him for racing and liked his music! Too bad he died young in 1982.
I bought a 1979 Dodge Magnum because that car looked so cool that he drove(I loved all his other Mopars too). In 1986 I bought a slick 2 tone 1979 Magnum black/silver E 58 360 4bbl/duel exhaust/3.21 rear ratio/console/tach/150 speedo car did 140 mph before I backed out! No lean burn,750 carter..in 1989 I added 340 high flow exhaust manifolds, LD 340 intake(manifolds off a wrecked 70 340 Challenger) a purple cam head job gained over 150hp.Shoulda kept it,oh well I bought a 1968 440 GTX needed cash for schooling/trade school.
I would have loved to meet Marty back in the day to talk about racing and my Dad seen him in concert twice!
A lot of people knock the Pettys because they think factory support was the reason for their success. The real real reason for their success was the methodical excellence they applied to every single little thing just like Tony explained. If you want to succeed in racing, it is the only way.
Good to know
Coffee and donuts is the Zone
I can't speak for you, but if I could make my current salary racing prostock drag bike again.. I would do it in a heartbeat. I miss the total dedication to a goal. I miss talking to the other racers and pushing things to the limit. When you drove through the gate...nothing else mattered. It was such a relief. Family problems, politics, social issues, money... nothing mattered for 4 days. You had a couple days after to make everything else work. Most of all Tony, I miss going fast. I miss my friends helping me to go fast. I miss trying to cut somebody off at the tree. After a tough day of racing, I even miss the garbage grilled hamburgers with my friends. These were the guys in the 90's that pushed me to be the absolute best. To say you have no desire to do that or experience that feeling anymore.. just seems dishonest. I got tree'd at a race.. 1st round.. and at the top end, while waiting for a tow, one of my "buddies" told me... "jesus, you were absolutely flying when I passed you. Rick... your hamburger was not fully cooked that night. LOL
the ridge thing might be the move of the piston pin you talked about! keith black pistons for 318 are made in the same way
what was the video you were watching and uncle Tony? I can’t believe you had all that small block cool stuff. That’s the kind of stuff. I am looking for right now. lolol
4 wheel drive is similar but you don’t grip the wheel tightly and allow it to jerk back and forth while you guild the rig where you want it to go. Holding on to tight will wear you out in a real hurry.