Author Topic: Barn find with questions!  (Read 6681 times)

Offline Chevytruckdude

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Barn find with questions!
« on: January 04, 2016, 04:15:38 PM »
Hey guys, this is my first post. I got what I believe is a early 60s front engine dragster frame and others parts with it. I was told it has a 160 wheelbase. The dragster was sitting up in the rafters of a barn in New Jersey. Then the guy I got it from bought it and it was hanging up in his garage in PA until I just got it. Now it's back home in New Jersey. Does anybody have any idea of who built this or any info on it? I cants seem to find any numbers on it. I also need a front axle for it. Who sells them? And sorry for all the questions but I have one more. What do I have to do to it to make it legal to run on the track? I was told I need to add another hoop over my head. Thank you guys for any answers.

Trevor

Offline crider

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Re: Barn find with questions!
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2016, 04:46:55 PM »
I drove about 16hrs round trip to look at that chassis. The first thing you'd better do is get a tech inspector to look at it. From what I could tell the tubing was all way too thin and it has been brazed together, so not sure if it can ever be made to pass tech again

Offline Chevytruckdude

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Re: Barn find with questions!
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2016, 04:54:50 PM »
Yeah I pretty much got it for free. Traded him a car I had. I can tell its thin. I was told to take half pipe and weld it on the bottom rails. That would make the pipes thicker and that is legal. I'm not positive on that, that's just what I was told.

Offline crider

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Re: Barn find with questions!
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2016, 04:59:52 PM »
He told me that too, but not sure I believe him. I hope it works out for you, it would make a cool old car.

Offline Chevytruckdude

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Re: Barn find with questions!
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2016, 05:06:50 PM »
Thanks man. I appreciate it. I'm just looking at running high 10s low 11s.

Offline crider

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Re: Barn find with questions!
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2016, 05:10:15 PM »
Cool deal. I haven't been on this site very long, but there's some really helpful people here.

Offline Mr Froggy

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Re: Barn find with questions!
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2016, 07:30:46 PM »
Not trying to rain on your parade but welding half pipe along the bottom would not pass tech and would not make it any safer.  Who knows how old it is and what kind of shape the tubing is on the inside besides the weld quality.  Even at only 11 seconds it's dangerous.

It's a cool looking chassis but if it were mine I'd make it into Cackle type car and fire it up when your buddys are over or make it into wall art if you have the space.  It won't take much to go 10s but find a good used, newer chassis and stay safe.   

Offline Paul New

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Barn find with questions!
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2016, 07:59:07 PM »
I like it but it needs several additional tubes along with the cage that is without regards to the welds that I cannot see in the pics and how thin the tubing may be. Before you put any money into this chassis it would be worth a trip to a chassis cert just to verify the wall thickness is correct before you start spending money on it.
Or you could make a gate like my dad did
« Last Edit: January 04, 2016, 08:01:21 PM by Paul New »

Offline rooman

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Re: Barn find with questions!
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2016, 05:22:27 AM »
Apart from the cage mods needed the big problem will be wall thickness of the frame. If it is too thin the car is toast as there is no way to fix that short of building a new back half. If the frame is usable there are plenty of sources for front axles--Dyda, Me , Mark Williams, Dragster Supply, Chassis Shop etc.
  First step is to contact one of the guys on this list and get an informed opinion of what you have.

http://cms.nhra.com/chassisinspectors/

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dreracecar

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Re: Barn find with questions!
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2016, 07:51:56 AM »
Boy, The things one could get away with back in the day, My R&B car was raced up to the early 90's being all .035 wall tubing, NHRA bought some sonic testers and that was it. Old chassis are for the resto crowd to deal with, if you want to race, you almost need something that was built after 1990