RE: Racing Polys

[Rich Kinsley <rlkinsley@xxxxxxxxx>]

Nice story. Thanks for sharing. We all like to hear old car tales. 

I ran my '59 Ply Sport Fury at Lions Dragstrip back in '63. It was a 
factory 4bbl Power-pak and really had a good top end with my 2:93 gears. 
I ran like 16.84@ about 84mph. My car was bone stock. I ran against a 
'57 Olds J-2 on the highway once on my way to school at LBSC. We were 
cruising side by side at about 100mph and I floored it. The car 
downshifted and just absolutely blew him away! I was amazed!

Rich Kinsley '64 Dodge Polara 4dr 318poly w/goodies

dodge440@xxxxxxx wrote:
> 
> Don;
> 
> I used to race my parents 1962 Dodge Dart, Sedan, at Route 30 in Gary,  
> IN. That car was a 318 stock 2 Barrel. It was a radio delete. It had  
> an open rear end and I am assuming it was 3;23 but it may have been a  
> 2: something because on the open road it would get between 17 and 20  
> mi. to the gallon. Also it was single exhaust power steering and  
> manual brakes. It ran in F/SA. It was a 727 trans. It weighed exactly  
> 3,000 lbs. Also, stock 14 inch wheels.
> 
> The first time I took it to the track i had a cutout put on the  
> exhaust, standard 6 inch by 2.5 inch galvanized plumbing pipe and a  
> screw on cap. Back in the day it was against the law for a welder to  
> weld a cutout on a cars exhaust system if they were still on the car.  
> I found one in Chicago Heights, IL to do the job, I even remember  
> their name (The Brooks Brothers). Most welders wanted you to take the  
> exhaust pipe off the car and then they would weld the cutout on it.  
> The pipe and cape ran about  $1.25 and the welder charged me about  
> $2.50. He just cut a small hole in the exhaust pipe and welded the  
> pipe over the hole at a 45 degree angle.  The next step was a seat  
> belt only on the drivers side. Try explaining that to your  
> parents!!!!!! They will buy the safety logic but why for only the  
> driver. I forget what i told them, something like I did not have the $ 
> $ for two or the driver is essential to getting help if there is an  
> accident. What ever it was they did not make me take it out.
> 
> Anyway, everyone was going to be at there on opening day, March of 63,  
> and we were excited. I paid my fee $3.00  and go to tech. They tell me  
> to take a hick until I get a drive shaft loop. thats when I first  
> learned about unibodies My buddies were running Gm cars and they had  
> the X frame, thus a drive shaft catch. The next week I got two long  
> threaded cheap bolts 1/4" by 1 1/2 inch fine tread, several nuts and a  
> piece of steel probably 4'L x 1.5 W" from the trash at the gas  
> station. Located the spot on the floor where the drive shaft was  
> mostly still in the tunnel hump. Drilled two holes though the floor  
> dropped in the bolts and put two nuts up to where they would keep the  
> steel piece of the drive shaft and then put the other 2 nuts on after  
> the  small, and I mean small. piece of metal.
> 
> The next Sunday, i passed tech with flying colors. In those days the  
> rules said  at some point the drive shaft had to be encompassed for  
> 360 degrees. It did not say specifically what type of steel or what  
> width and thickness. If my dad saw it i would point out it was another  
> engineering safety feature that I read about to make the car safer.
> 
> We get to the line and i make my first ever pass and with that cut out  
> open I thought i was driving a max wedge. I make my first pass and my  
> time slip said about 16:45 and 80 something MPH. My buddy said i  
> should  let him drive it. I forget his et but he upped the MPH over  
> 90. I was mad. I did not realize at the time that the MPH was 60 ft  
> before and after the finish line. I do not think he knew it ether and  
> just kept his foot in it as long as the engine was still climbing. It  
> was not his car as long as he could get it stopped. So i came back and  
> and made 3 or four runs with a best time in the 16: teens. Every body  
> always lost in that class to a 1958 Old's 98 or 88 Convertibles, there  
> were several, with the J 2 option, 3 deuces. Man did they pull on the  
> top end. Kind of like how the Hemis would fly by the Thunderbolts in  
> mid to late 64. Never did win a trophy with that car. I never realized  
> until much later i was always smoking the right rear way too  much.
> 
> That is one of my other poly stories.
> 
> Just a side note and I will sign off. I would race a friends 64  
> Pontiac Cat. three on the tree  389 2 door with a deuce and he would  
> always beat me by  about 3 bumpers. If I opened up the cutout I would  
> have him by usually 2 to 3 cars. I kept telling him to put on a cutout.
> 
> Jim
> 
> 1965 Coronet 440CI
> 
> 
> 
> The next week we took a couple of long bolts
> On Jan 30, 2011, at 6:49 PM, Donald Gallimore wrote:h
> 
> Gary P wanted to know who raced polys.
> 
> Back around 1970, my brother and I raced a 318 Poly in IHRA/AHRA Pure  
> Stock.
> Pretty much a stock set-up in a 1965 Belvedere 1.  With a slipping  
> tranny, we
> set the National Record.  Best run was a 15.96 in L/SA.  This was in  
> legal
> trim.  Back then that was a very amazing performance for a couple of  
> guys with
> limited financial resources, if I can say so.  Would have been nice to  
> see the
> performance if we'd had a good tranny and the right gears.
> 
> Akron Don Gallimore
> 



Rich Kinsley '64 Dodge Polara 4dr 318poly w/goodies
http://1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/ml-kinsley64polara.html


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