Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race

[Chevy454]

I'm not sure but I'm sure they would be skinny! They had really narrow tires on them.

[Rowdy Rat]

I guess I'm with Rob on the Nova issue. I have no doubt about the Harrell COPO cars, but just beacause a Nova is an L-78/M-40 car doesn't mean it is an L-89 car too. Regardless, I'm not making the rules or running the event (probably a good thing - they seem to be doing very well without my input!), so that is obviously their decision to make. Still, I'd like to know what information they used to make this determination.

As far as the tire sizes on the 1966 - 1969 Corvettes, I'm pretty certain that the 66-67 cars used a 7.75 x 15 tire on a 6" wide wheel which, as Joe mentioned, is really narrow. All of the 68-69 cars used an F70 x 15 tire on 7" wheels in 1968 and 8" wheels in 1969.

A 1969 ZL-1/late L-88 would be an interesting combination. Corvettes of that era weren't exactly light, but the weight distribution was quite good even with the big block. The exhaust manifolds are a much better design than the Camaro/Nova style, but they still don't work very well with that camshaft. Exhaust pipes on all 69 Corvettes were 2" (!), but I think the rules allow 2.5" regardless of what was installed originally. What do the rules allow as far as rear axle ratio? If you have to stick with available ratios, that pretty much rules out a ZL-1/M-40 combination (or late L-88/L-89/L-71 for that matter) because the lowest (highest numerical) gearset you could get with the automatic was a 3.36 while the ZL-1/L-88 four speed cars were available with a 4.56. Still, that ZL-1/M-22 car would be a nice combination!

I guess I have to side with Rob on this issue too. I'd rather see a real car out there running than a "tibute car" no matter how close it is to the real thing so maybe building a car just to win the event isn't the best idea.

Regards,

Stan

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Rob/Stan:
I wasn't saying that any '68 Nova L78 built after the 2nd week of July is an L89!! The logic is that after Gibb started the L78/TH400 combination, the L89 option was 'possible'. Whether they made any or not is unknown. I also didn't mean to insinuate that the Gibb cars were light-headed, they weren't. But it is unknown if any got changed over to light heads before being sold/distributed by Gibb.

I agree that I would rather see the real deal at the race as compared to the 'tribute, fake, or clone' cars.

M

[Edited by YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY (09-25-2000 at 10:12 AM).]

[JoeC]

I wonder why the '69 Nova was not used. I don't know if any were made but it seems more likely that there would have been some 1969 L78/L89 TH400 Nova's sold then in 1968. I base this on the numbers for 1969 L78/L89 Camaro and Chevelle production numbers. A very late '69 Nova would even have a 402.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

JoeC;
Of the 4 L89 Novas that showed up at this year's event, I believe that two are late '68's and 2 are '69's.
M

[sYc]

A couple of items of note. A Harrell car, such as Ray Morrison's, is not legal, or a Gibb car that would have had al. heads added, as the cars are supposed to be FACTORY stock. Dealer prep cars, at least Chevys, are not legal. We were told to change our 7-15 Torque Thursts to 7-15 Rallys, which we did. I have never understood the exception for the al. headed '68s. Also, a Yenko Nova, such as our '69, is not legal. If we get into "POSSIBLE", the sky is the limit, since Chevy has not released key records. Just look at the many COPO stories out there, including a 1969 427 Yenko Nova. Hey, that is a thought, maybe our Nova is legal, since the Red car Kevin S. has been reported as a COPO 427 car. The event is a fun event, but is starting to be overwhelmed by all of the bickering. I have suggested having two classes, one for the true factory stock cars, that are truly the way that were when new from the factory and the owners are there just to show/enjoy their cars, such as Mark Hassett in his ZL-1, and another class, stock appearring, for the serious racers who have built/designed their cars for the event. Each class would be fun to watch, as it would be a chance to see pure stock cars run against each other AND a chance to see what some of the cars can do with a little race prep. Tom

[Chevy454]

M:

I hope I didn't sound "testy" in any above statements above...it's hard to transmit "tone" on a bulletin board, which makes discussion sometimes tricky. But anyway, like I said above, a '68 is a twin to a '69, so it is a minor "problem" if their are '68s running those "shiny" heads. How did Neal's weekend turn out? I remember watching, but for the life of me, I can't remember if he or Simpson won! I know they pair you up by et's, but wouldn't be cool if they could line you up against a different make, also? Simpson's COPO cars had to run each other last year...he drove all those miles just to race his own car! But, that's part of it I guess.

Also, here is a link to the PSMCDR for future reference: http://www.geocities.com/psmcdr/

As far as the 'Vette issue goes, just stayed tuned...it's on it's way...

[Edited by Chevy454 (09-25-2000 at 12:50 PM).]