Calling Ray Morrison

[BBIGG BLOCK 396]

Man I love those old pictures,especially the old 55 Chevys.I know the Nova is the special car in this thread but I am partial to old 55 chevys!Although the Nova is a cool looking car.

Bobby

[Belair62]

Ray...do you still have that 63 Sportster ? I want to find a nice early Sporty...

[copo-2]

Thanks Rob for posting the pictures. In answer to Rick's question about the fiberglass stinger hood, notice the hood scoop. We didn't want to cut an opening in the original hood to install the active hood scoop. We simply gutted a steel hood to save weight and cut and installed the scoop on it. The old 55 "Orange Crate" as it was known, ran in the AHRA C/HR class with a modified 396 and had to weigh 9lbs per cubic inch, meaning nearly 3600 lbs. to be legal for that class. The Camaro was the car we were running when we gave up racing in 76. This car was built by my Tom and I to run primarily A/SA formula 3, which was a 440 cubic inch (427 overbored .060 and built by Wes Jerde) running a 2bbl. carb. The DH engine and original Turbo 400 out of the Nova, was installed in this Camaro for its maiden voyage with a Brasswell prepared 2bbl Holley carb that flowed about 600cfm, running 4:56 gearing, and stall converter of which may have been the B&M 3500 rpm we ran for awhile, ran a 12:49, which I do remember. The Camaro was our final attempt at drag racing. Tom and I both enjoyed our free days of being single, but when we got married, things had to change. Personally, I don't think either of us have ever regretted waiting and doing what we liked to do while we were still young?

Ray

[Mr70]

What kinda ET's you were laying down back then with the DH Nova?
Most memorable,..etc.

[copo-2]

[ QUOTE ]
Ray...do you still have that 63 Sportster ? I want to find a nice early Sporty...

[/ QUOTE ]

Bob,

I wish I did have it. It was a 63 XLCH model I bought new for $1550. Original color was turquoise and white. I sold it for $750. There were 3 of us that bought new XLCH's here in town, and rode a lot together. We had a 62, 63, and 64 among us. The guy that had the 64 kept his in the shop more than he got to ride, I believe? In sharing one of the funniest moments I believe I ever witnessed, Roy (the guy with the 64) stopped in the middle of the road, revved the thing till it sounded as though it were going to fly apart, released the clutch, and the show began. The thing reared on its hind wheel and looked as though the whole thing left the ground almost unloading him, made another bounce, this time unloading him on the road. If you know anything about the old Harley's, they did not have a return spring to shut the throttle off? With that said, the Harley was still screaming and lined itself down the road in as straight a line as you could ride one. What was so funny, was Roy came up in a flash, knowing what was happening, and started chasing the thing. The thing was still wide open when it finally left the road with Roy in pursuit. The dust boiled as the cycle hit the ditch and turned on its side with the front forks folded back underneath. By the time we got to where the cycle crashed, Roy had gotten there completely out of breath and got it shut down. I remember him saying, almost in tears, "My Motorcycle, I Ruined My Motorcycle." Funny things just seemed to happen back then, but we enjoyed ourselves.

[Belair62]

[hvychev]

WOW!! You just can't beat this site today! TWO orig owner Nova supercars being discussed at the same time!

[copo-2]

[ QUOTE ]
What kinda ET's you were laying down back then with the DH Nova?
Most memorable,..etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Rick,

In just going from memory, the way the car was origianally set up by DH, with open headers and 9 inch slicks, we ran mostly low 12 teens, this with the original 4 bbl. The Salesman's daughter, who sold me the car at Knowles Chevrolet, would drive it in the powder puff competition, ususally running 12:40's and 50's by letting it shift itself. She was pretty consistent and handled it well. When the competition starting lowereing the records in C/SA formula 2, we decided to try C/SA formula 3, which was a 2bbl instead of 4 bbl. The national record for this class was 13:00. We ran a 12:80 putting us where we needed to be. Ran that combination for quite awhile. We never ran the car with the set-up in the pictures posted, that I remember. All the runs we made with the 427 Harrell combination, were those of the 4:10 gearing, no traction bars, and no high stall converter. The pictures Rob posted of the car, was of those with a 396 that was built by Ronnies Speed Shop in K.C., Mo. With this combo, we installed 4:88 gearing, aftermarket stall converter, and as you can see from the pictures, filled the rear fender wells with tire. This put us in D/SA with the smaller engine were it ran a best of 11:71. This was with the 4 bbl carb. Too, our first try of an active air scoop.

[Charley Lillard]

I'm thinkin it would really be a treat to see it run at SCR8...

[sYc]

Ray has been gracious enough to attend several SCRs with his Nova, and even race it. I remember the first year at Nashville, Ray's son Mike walks over and shows me Ray's last time slip. He cut something like a .01 light, but I noticed his ET was down. Well, when I questioned Ray about this, he kind of grinned, and then told me he accidently shifted from 1-3. We all laughed, and felt a little better, as it was good to know we were not the only ones messing up that day.

But, head to head, be careful. At SCR3, my youngest son Jonathan was there in our Camaro, racing for the first time. The first pass, he cut a nice light, ran well and won against a COPO Camaro. Well, when he returned to the pits, was pretty excited, and maybe a little cocky. But that did not last long, as his next opponent was Ray. Well, needless to say, Jon was brought back down to earth, as Ray showed him how the "big boys" do it. But, was a Kodak moment, especially for a 17 year old kid, as he has a picture of he and Ray leaving the line.

Maybe at SCR8 Ray will enlighten Charley in the finer points of drag racing.