Marc's (67belair427) 62 Belair 409!

[67BelAir427]

Thanks to everyone for all the favorable comments. Tom, we went to the track on a Friday night with the repop Silvertowns on the car, and traction was a big issue. The best pass was a 14.20 at 101 MPH with a short time of 2.30. This was with me granny shifting. On the next pass I got the launch sorted out a little better and had a 2.0 short, and for every tenth in short you will shave 2 tenths off your ET, so I gave up on shifting like granny and was banging gears hell bent on seeing a high 13 second timeslip on stock tires and full exhaust. I think it was about 3/4 track and I made the 3-4 shift and suddenly there was complete silence. Someone(not me) had used grade 2 bolts on the timing gear, which let go and resulted in a couple of bent valves. Woulda, shoulda, coulda counts for nada when you are racing, but it sure felt like it was a high 13 second car. And the MPH was enough to put it there. Sorry I turned the answer to your question into a pale imitation of a "Cousin Eddy" story! (They are way more interesting)

Two weeks ago we went to the Gasser Reunion in Thompson Ohio. Over 40 409 cars there, some running in the nines. A friend of mine with a stroker 409 in an otherwise stock bodied 62 was running 12:40's at 115 MPH. Got to meet and talk with Doug Marion, Bill Burge(The Living Legend Z11) and the man himself, Hayden Proffett. Hayden is sharp as a tack at 85 and was willing to talk about racing for as long as you wanted. To hear those stories first hand was a real treat. Not to high jack my own thread, but hear are some shots from that event.
http://sports.webshots.com/slideshow/577885988CLSTfC