sexybabyjamie
Active Member
Please read Pts 1, 2, and 3 including another confession in part no.3's thread.
OK now it's time for the final and best chapter in thia series. About 3 days after I picked up my 61 Chev I was given word that "Butch has been looking for you". He was the owner of a 283/270 HP Chev that was regarded as a "runner". This was my very first drag race with a stick shift car so I requested a 25 MPH roll start. I was of course nervous but pulled him by about half a car. A rematch was requested a few weeks later this one being of course being a "grudge race" Several spectators were on hand. He pulled me out of the hole and while shifting into 3rd and closing the gap missed a power shift and lost. Rumors came back that I faked the missing shift. Not only was this painful I allso learned how important it was to take care of a bent pushrod without delay. I was lucky, however, I didn't have to replace no.3 piston. A third run was arranged and the matter was settled once and for all. I pulled him about a car and a half. One day while in a friends car at the local drive in 2 guys in a 62 Impala 327/300 HP w 4 speed backed in next to us. My 61 was parked on the other side of the lot facing us. Not knowing it was my car one of them made a comment that "I don't like the way the front ends of 61's look, I think they look cheap". I called him out and after beating him 4 in a row asked him if he thought the back looked as cheap as the front end. My favorite run in that car. The only thing I ever did to this car was remove the heat riser damper in the exhaust manifold, adjust the carbs so they opened all the way and play with timing. My method was simple I advanced it and then backed it off until the engine didn't ping.
I don't know how many runs I had with this car but I had a lot and suffered 2 defeats notwithstanding the power shift mishap. One of my wins was with a 406 Ford convertable. I don't knpw who was more surprised, me or him. Probably him. My wins included several 327's some 352/300 HP Fords one 389/318 HP Pontiac. My closest win, less than a fender, was with a 327 and it was not a Chevy either. It was with a 59 AMC Ambassador stick shift. This motor had the same bore and stroke as a Chevy 327 and I believe was the same block that evolved into AMC's brutal 390 C.I. motor. Thank god it didn't have a 4 speed. I would vote this car as the all time sleeper record holder. Anyone else ever come up against one of these? My two losses were with another 61 348/350 HP owned by Dean LaPole and another 406 Ford. Four races with a 59 Plymouth Fury 361/305 HP ended up in 4 dead heats with another bent pushrod. This time I didn't have to replace the valve. Whew!
I have witnessed many humorous events, usually associated with a degree of stupidity, during the 348/409 era. The occasional driver taking off in reverse when the green light went off, a competitor running out of gas on a trophy run while ahead, hoods flying open near the finish line, and inexperienced driver's smoking their tires coming off the line in a GM powered car while the Hydra Matic transmission shifted into second and sometimes third gear before the driver knew what was going on. The record belongs to a driver who tried to give the impression his brand new 66 SS 396 was fishtailing by using his steering wheel sending the car tumbling over and over as he approached the finish line. The driver escaped with minor injuries and a brused ego. Anther good one was a drunken passenger peeing down the back of a state troopers trousers while a caravan was on it's way to Clay City Ky. The drunk thinking is was a pee call was unaware the trooper was inspecting tow bars. I think Fred and Dean saw all of these events. Did they ever mention them to you?
Indeed all of the fun I had, friends I made, even meeting my wife, may never have happened had that that driver of the 57 Chev that took me on that first thrill ride introducing me to the 220 HP motor, that changed my life decided not to listen to his passenger, that he stop and give a 14 year old boy a ride to a skating rink a long time ago in the fall of 1957. I think it is time for me to again thank Fred Totten for making that request and Dean LaPole for taking it, so for the second time, thank you, Totten-LaPole for stopping to pick me up. That was the best ride I ever had in my life. NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY.
P.S. Thank you Phil Reed for the C.D's. They arrived today.
OK now it's time for the final and best chapter in thia series. About 3 days after I picked up my 61 Chev I was given word that "Butch has been looking for you". He was the owner of a 283/270 HP Chev that was regarded as a "runner". This was my very first drag race with a stick shift car so I requested a 25 MPH roll start. I was of course nervous but pulled him by about half a car. A rematch was requested a few weeks later this one being of course being a "grudge race" Several spectators were on hand. He pulled me out of the hole and while shifting into 3rd and closing the gap missed a power shift and lost. Rumors came back that I faked the missing shift. Not only was this painful I allso learned how important it was to take care of a bent pushrod without delay. I was lucky, however, I didn't have to replace no.3 piston. A third run was arranged and the matter was settled once and for all. I pulled him about a car and a half. One day while in a friends car at the local drive in 2 guys in a 62 Impala 327/300 HP w 4 speed backed in next to us. My 61 was parked on the other side of the lot facing us. Not knowing it was my car one of them made a comment that "I don't like the way the front ends of 61's look, I think they look cheap". I called him out and after beating him 4 in a row asked him if he thought the back looked as cheap as the front end. My favorite run in that car. The only thing I ever did to this car was remove the heat riser damper in the exhaust manifold, adjust the carbs so they opened all the way and play with timing. My method was simple I advanced it and then backed it off until the engine didn't ping.
I don't know how many runs I had with this car but I had a lot and suffered 2 defeats notwithstanding the power shift mishap. One of my wins was with a 406 Ford convertable. I don't knpw who was more surprised, me or him. Probably him. My wins included several 327's some 352/300 HP Fords one 389/318 HP Pontiac. My closest win, less than a fender, was with a 327 and it was not a Chevy either. It was with a 59 AMC Ambassador stick shift. This motor had the same bore and stroke as a Chevy 327 and I believe was the same block that evolved into AMC's brutal 390 C.I. motor. Thank god it didn't have a 4 speed. I would vote this car as the all time sleeper record holder. Anyone else ever come up against one of these? My two losses were with another 61 348/350 HP owned by Dean LaPole and another 406 Ford. Four races with a 59 Plymouth Fury 361/305 HP ended up in 4 dead heats with another bent pushrod. This time I didn't have to replace the valve. Whew!
I have witnessed many humorous events, usually associated with a degree of stupidity, during the 348/409 era. The occasional driver taking off in reverse when the green light went off, a competitor running out of gas on a trophy run while ahead, hoods flying open near the finish line, and inexperienced driver's smoking their tires coming off the line in a GM powered car while the Hydra Matic transmission shifted into second and sometimes third gear before the driver knew what was going on. The record belongs to a driver who tried to give the impression his brand new 66 SS 396 was fishtailing by using his steering wheel sending the car tumbling over and over as he approached the finish line. The driver escaped with minor injuries and a brused ego. Anther good one was a drunken passenger peeing down the back of a state troopers trousers while a caravan was on it's way to Clay City Ky. The drunk thinking is was a pee call was unaware the trooper was inspecting tow bars. I think Fred and Dean saw all of these events. Did they ever mention them to you?
Indeed all of the fun I had, friends I made, even meeting my wife, may never have happened had that that driver of the 57 Chev that took me on that first thrill ride introducing me to the 220 HP motor, that changed my life decided not to listen to his passenger, that he stop and give a 14 year old boy a ride to a skating rink a long time ago in the fall of 1957. I think it is time for me to again thank Fred Totten for making that request and Dean LaPole for taking it, so for the second time, thank you, Totten-LaPole for stopping to pick me up. That was the best ride I ever had in my life. NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY.
P.S. Thank you Phil Reed for the C.D's. They arrived today.
Thanks