RE: [Chrysler300] 1955 AMA Specs (Last update?)

["Dan Elliott" <us@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Rich, check out my web site for a brief discussion of Shelby at:
www.300b.info

I need to update it some now, since it has been in its original form for the
most part since I put it up on the internet in Feb, 2005, in commeration of
the 50th Anniversary of the Chrysler 300.  I maintain it on a nonprofit
basis.

I agree with the truck idea.  Yes, some of them were converted to hemi's and
ran like race trucks.  The fuel area was in the reefer area over the cab
where it couldn't be seen.

Kiekhaefer, at least in 56 and maybe in 55 used Dodge pickup truck
transmissions (stronger); at some point he started welding an outrigger to
the transmission to prevent breakage.  The number of manual transmission
cars in 1955 is murky; I suspect there was more than one.

Dan
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Rich Barber [mailto:c300@xxxxxxx]
  Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 10:43 AM
  To: 'Dan Elliott'
  Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] 1955 AMA Specs (Last update?)


  Dan:



  Thanks for your response.  I recall reading that Chrysler did produce only
one, very expensive, hell-for-stout, manual transmission for Kiekhaefer-at
his and his driver's request.  This to better compete with the stick shift
Centuries, 88's, Chev's, Fords, Plymouths and Dodges.  I don't think the
stick Hudsons were that competitive after 1954.



  I note that the gear ratios in the manual transmission offered in all '56
Chryslers are different from those in the manual tranny shown as standard in
the '55 Windsor.  For 1956, the stick is shown as optional in the 300B,
standard in the Windsor and N/A in the NY.



  I'm not a student of racing history.  Could you give me a nickel's worth
on the Shelby Fairgrounds crash?



  I do recall seeing a picture of one of Kiekhaefer's trucks with a '55 on
board and the external fuel barrel labeled "Flock Juice".  I've not been
able to determine the make of the trucks, but assume they were COE Dodges.
I also read where Kiekhaefer installed hemi engines in the trucks as they
were on the go so much.  I think it would be cool to get a truck like that
to drive my '55 around in, but another picture showed the long skinny ramps
used to get the race cars up to the high bed and that looked a little
spooky.



  C-300'ly,

  Rich Barber




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--

  From: Dan Elliott [mailto:us@xxxxxxxxxx]
  Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 8:19 AM
  To: Rich Barber; Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Cc: us@xxxxxxxxxx
  Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] 1955 AMA Specs (Last update?)



  Rich, I certainly believe that the AMA specs would have been updated for
the

  1955 300 at least once, to add the three speed manual transmission used in

  NASCAR starting about April 1.  Then there would have been a NASCAR
bulletin

  approving the use of the manual trans.  I just returned from NASCAR
archives,

   they don't have alot of that info publically available, so one needs to
go to private

  sources.



  On a slightly different question, it would be interested to know if the
355 HP heads

  had any markings on them that are different than the 340 heads.  My guess
is

  "NO", but one never can tell.  The part numbers were different of course,
but

  no 300B ever came down the assembly line with 355 HP heads because the
last

  300B was built and shipped before Chrysler dealers were notified that the
optional

  heads were available.  An unanswered question is whether the 355 HP heads
were

  used in NASCAR, to date no photos have appeared showing a car in actual
competition

  with 355HP painted on the hood, a NASCAR requirement after it approved the
use

  of the heads.  Photos at ElkHart Lake in August, and Darlington in
September both

  show cars with 340HP.  Carl K. could have snuck them in, unless he won
with the

  subsequent teardown, so I'm assuming he didn't.  He did sneak in higher
octane gas,

  which may have been his thinking with the 355 HP heads.  But perhaps by
the time

  they were approved by NASCAR in mid June, someone had gotten onto his
trick

  with the gas, and he couldn't use it anymore.  He certainly didn't want
any disqualifications,

  because Buck Baker was behind Herb Thomas during mid season, until the
infamous

  crash at the Shelby fairgrounds.  So if the 355HP heads were used at all,
perhaps it

  was after mid September, 1956.



  Dan Elliott



    -----Original Message-----
    From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf Of Rich Barber
    Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:10 AM
    To: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Subject: [Chrysler300] 1955 AMA Specs (Last update?)

    I have been able to obtain a copy of the 1955 AMA Chrysler specs with
the
    2-15-55 updated sheets that added the 1955 Chrysler C-300 on that date.
I
    find it interesting to note the similarities and differences in the
Windsor,
    New Yorker and C-300. Imperials are not included. I think they were
    considered to be a separate brand at that time.

    I had been asking about exhaust and tail pipe diameters and find they
are
    the same for the '55 NY and C-300. 2" exhaust and 1.8" tailpipe. It is
not
    clear as to whether these are OD or ID, but I guess muffler shop guys
would
    know. I plan to go with 2" and 1-3/4" if those are the standard nominal
    sizes.

    I would appreciate hearing from anyone that has another set of 1955
Chrysler
    AMA specs as to whether their set shows any further changes were made to
the
    specs after 2-15-55 during the year. I believe the idle speed of the
C-300
    was changed if nothing else.

    Twelve pages of the 1956 AMA specs were published in the most recent
Brute
    Force magazine and contained modifications into mid-April, 1956,
primarily
    to add the 355 HP engine with 10.0:1 heads. 1956 exhaust pipes for the
    "B's" are shown as 2.25" std, 3.0" optional-probably for the 355's.
"300-B"
    tailpipes had swollen to 2" in 1956. With the NY tailpipe now spec'd at
    1-3/4".

    I recall seeing a photo of the trunk of a '55 or '56 Kiekhaefer car that
had
    the tail pipes running across the top of the trunk floor and out the
rear
    panel below the trunk lid. Those tail pipes looked huge--3" or 4" and
the
    routing avoided the problem of minimal clearance between the rear axle
and
    frame and the likelihood of the tail pipe getting damaged or collapsed
    during the race and restricting flow. Probably a NASCAR rule allowed
this
    as it would also minimize broken off pieces of tailpipes on the track.

    The standard 354 hemi 300-B engine had 340 HP with 9.0:1 heads. The NY
also
    had the 9.0:1 heads and 280 HP at 600 fewer RPM and a single 4-barrel.
86.5
    octane gasoline was specified for all 1956 engines, as compared to 85
    (Motor) octane fuel for all engines in 1955. Anyone know whether that
was
    regular or premium "Ethyl" fuel at that time? I think it was regular as
I
    remember working in a Clark station that sold only one grade of
gas-Clark
    Super 100 and it was lower octane than major brand "Ethyl", but worked
well
    in most cars of the mid-late '50's.

    C-300'ly,
    Rich Barber
    Brentwood, CA
    1955 Chrysler C-300 (218.6"L x 60.1"H x 79.1"W, 43'-9" turning
    diameter-curb-curb)

    


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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