A/FX 62 Chevys

[wally409]

Hey guys - I've been trying to search out information on the history of A/FX Chevys. I just finished reading about Dyno Don Nicholson and how he campaigned a 62 Biscayne to a couple of championships.
How different were the A/FX cars compared to the factory 409/409 cars that came out that year (Phil, Aubrey?) - and I'm not talking about those with any Z-11 components.
I'd appreciate your input on information about the differences - ie, suspension, brakes, frames, engine, tranny, shifters, rear ends etc and I'm sure it would be interesting reading for everyone.
And what kind of factory or dealer add-ons were available that year for drag racing?
I'm picking up a 62 Biscayne tudor this fall and this might be a great clone to build.
Thanks. wally

 

[CDNpontiac409guy]

Wally, because the F/X and Z11 cars were purely an American phenomenon, 20 years before my time, I am by no means an expert...
However, if I'm not mistaken... What would be classed as a 62 F/X car.... meant EXACTLY that.... the Z11 style heads and aluminum body components.

 

[ROYALOAK62]

Didn't the NHRA make the A/FX class more of a marketing issue so they could drop the gasers cars and have the match racer cars on the racing card which were more exciting in the eyes of the masses. With the altered wheel base and fuel plus the looks of the Detroit iron it was the best of two worlds.

But 62 would be a little too early for that look IMO.

Dave

 

[NASCAR FAN]

Wally:

All the articles and photos (there are many) show Don Nicholson's 1962 409 as a white Bel Air Sport Coupe--not a Biscayne. Don Nicholson ran the car in S/S with the original steel front clip and in B/FX with an aluminum front clip.

The factory built 1962 409s with the aluminum front clip came from the factory with a stock 409/409 engine. The "Z11" style heads and intake had to be dealer/owner added. It has been reported the factory built 12-18 of these cars and they were all Impala Super Sports.

There is a new book out that has several photos of these cars plus others. The book is :FACTORY LIGHTWEIGHTS-Detroit's Drag Racing Specials of the '60s by Charles R. Morris. There are two color photos of Dave Strickler's "Old Reliable III" '62 B/FX Impala SS.

Rick

 

[Dick MacKenzie]

Old Reliable III

Last year at Cecil County Dragway Jody Aberts (troublemaker427 here on the board) introduced me to Mike Strickler, Dave's son. I asked Mike if he had any pictures of the Old Reliable III. He sent me the attached pic.

 

[62sedan]

Biscayne A/FX

With the altered wheel base and fuel plus the looks of the Detroit iron it was the best of two worlds.

Here's a pic (rather what seems to be an artist's conception) of a '62 Biscayne A/FX that I always thought was neat. Don't know if there ever was such a car, but the look is certainly right for the period.

 

[Dick MacKenzie]

Altered wheel base 62s may have been built, but not in 1962. The first AWB cars I remember seeing at Cecil County were built by/for the Chrysler teams with the 1965 model year cars.

 

[oil4kids]

I believe Dick Harrell also had a altered wheelbase 1964 Nova powered by a Z11 in 65


heres a video of him racing Richard Pettys 43jr

http://www.oil4kids.com/harrellvideo/HarrellvsPetty1.ra

Harrell vs SOX

http://www.oil4kids.com/harrellvideo/HarrellvsRonnieSox1965.ra


video courtsey Bee ON Video

 

[BubbletopMan]

Biscaynes in Drag Racing in '62

I wish I had a scanner to scan this old photo I have of the Nalley-Nicholson Biscayne from 1962. My dad and I put together a scrap book years ago of old magazine clippings from when he was a boy and one of them has a '62 biscayne with cross flags on the door and Nalley-Nicholson Dyno Shop on the quarters. It has SS/S 910 on the fenders and the caption reads," Hubert Platt drove big Nalley-Nicholson Chevy to Stock Eliminator victory over team mate Gene Anderson's Chevy station wagon." Gene Anderson's car was a '61 wagon, can't tell if it's a Bel Air or Biscayne, can only see about 25% of the car from the angle. Don't know if the clipping is from national magazine or local magazine (Dixie Drag News or Drag Speed Illustrated, etc.). Also have a pic from U.S. Nationals that year that shows Dyno Don and Dave Strickler in the B/FX final round in '62 Impalas. It says that Dyno won with a time of 12.93 seconds. Hope this helps- Jeremy

 

[chevytaylor]

Wally

A must have book by the name of, Super Stock, drag racing the family sedan by Larry Davis.

Heaps of great info and cool photos. bang

chevytaylor

 

[tripowerguy]

Hey guys the term A/FX had nothing to do with altered wheelbase. A/fx was what you got put into if you were running factory stuff that wasn't readily available from the dealer. When Don Nickolson and Sanders showed up at the 61 Winter Nationals with 409's everyone screamed because the 350hp 348's couldn't compete in Super Stock. NHRA came up with classes called factory experimental to run these cars in. You had A/FX, B/FX and C/FX depending on horsepower to weight ratio. All of the Z-11's and aluminum front end cars were A/FX because the factory didn't make them readily available to the general public. The later altered wheelbase cars fell into that catigory. That is where the term funny car origininated was from altered wheelbase cars. And that's the way it was. Roy

 

[tripowerguy]

Adding another thing to this. Hayden Profitt is a really nice guy but he would probably have never ran a 409 if it hadn't been for A/FX. He was in the Mickey Thompson camp running a Pontiac Super Stocker and doing quite well in 1961. The 409's in 62 were running all over the country in match races. The engines in the match race cars were anything but stock, from strokers to roller cams,etc. It was big money and Hayden wanted in on it but Pontiac wouldn't go for it so he switched to Chevrolet. Phil you are in touch with Hayden ask him if I have my facts straight. Roy

 

[wally409]

I'd like to refer back to Roy's statement that you were put into the A/FX class if you put stuff into your car that wasn't readily available from the dealer.
My question is, how and where did the big name racers get the ultra-hi performace parts that put them into that class?

 

[wally409]

(hit the enter bar too quickly) Had another query...What class would one have been in if running a stock 409-409 from the factory in an Impala, Bel Air or Biscayne?
Thanks wally

 

[W Head]

classes

(hit the enter bar too quickly) Had another query...What class would one have been in if running a stock 409-409 from the factory in an Impala, Bel Air or Biscayne?
Thanks wally

At most tracks (AHRA & NHRA) the 409/409 would have been in Super Stock (S/S) class and the single 4 barrell carb. 409 would have been in A/Stock.

W Head

59 El Camino 348-3,2s
59 Impala 409-2,4s

 

[NASCAR FAN]

Don Nicholson's 1961 Impala 409/360 won the top stock class, which was S/S, at the 1961 NHRA Winternationals. Later that year in the fall of '61, at the NHRA Nationals, Nicholson raced the same car with the recently released large port heads and 2X4bbl carbs in a newly created class for these cars, which was O/SS (Optional Super Stock). The '61 Pontiacs with the recently released 421 engine were also in the O/SS class. Nicholson was disqualified in O/SS. I believe the reason was valve springs.

http://www.nhra.com/50th/years.html?year=1960

Rick

 

[tripowerguy]

You're right Nascar Fan when the dust cleared they moved the 350Hp 61's to A stock but when 63's came out they had so many factory OK parts on the factory teams. By factory Ok I mean Isky cam or Howard cam, one of heads, etc that the average racer could not get their hands on them. That was the beginning of A/FX. The factory teams were micro managed by the factory lots of times picking who would win etc. It got really bad by 1965. It was win at all costs for the factories. Chrysler was really bad about who could win and who lost. Several drivers quit Chrysler because of that. If Sox and Martin showed up they won if another Chrysler car was there he was told to lose if he was running agaist Sox and Martin. I know that might rub some people the wrong way but ask Whily Cossey why he quite racing Chrysler products. Roy

 

[tripowerguy]

I was wrong with the last post. I in my old age have two facts mixed up. In the match racing in the southern states it was run what you brung. That means that you could do about anything as long as it looked stock. But for A/FX class you had to run factory parts. It didn't matter what engine it came out of just as long as it was factory parts. I read somewhere that a Chevrolet running a cam that was made by Howards cams and it had a GM part number. My cousin ran a D stock 348 with a 4 barrel that had an Engle cam in it. Chevrolet was out of it by 1964 and the war was then between Ford and Chrysler. All GM including Pontiac were out of the factory wars by 1964. If you were running stock class and not Factory Experimental you had to have all stock parts like pistons, valve gear, etc. You could run bigger tires not like when I raced and you had to run the same size tires as the factory shipped the car with. I'm going on 40 year old memory but I believe that is the way it was. Roy

 

[Race Artist]

Bits ...

Hayden Profitt started 1962 driving Mickey Thompson's '62 Catalina 421 Pontiac. Later in the year, around mid Spring he built the '62 Chevy 409 out of the Bill Thomas shop in CA. The car ran SS/S or Super Super Stock as the class was called in '62 (only in '62). He didn't run the car as an A/FX until very late in the year after the NHRA Nationals in early September. He'd driven Mickey Thompson's A/FX Tempest before he ever ran the '62 Bel Air. In early '63 he ran the '62 in A/S along with his short-lived '63 Z-11 in A/FX. Not far into 1963 he left Chevy and was running Plymouths which he did until 1965 when he ran a Mercury Comet.
Joel