Hmmm...think I like it (Caution: NASCAR CONTENT

Is there where the Dodges i've seen with "TRD" motors in them come into play?

In reply to iceracer:

I quote myself, "besides being completely bespoken race-only setups that are hand cast"...

None of the engines share any parts (or even dimensions anymore) with anything even vaguely production.

All of the engines, however, are loosely based on the design specifics of the 351 Ford, ie - the staggered intake/exhaust head layout, front distributor location, etc.

Javelin wrote:

novaderrik wrote: they had to run actual factory stampings on the hood, roof, and trunk until the early '00's sometime. the trunks even had to have all the factory bracing in them.

I used to have an 89 TBird NASCAR decklid hanging up in the shop, and it most certainly did not have the factory bracing.

watch some old race footage and pics from the garage area, and from time to time you will see them open the trunk for whatever reason.. the trunk lids weren't just floppy skin like the hoods and they had the stock bracing in them as raced. maybe they quit requiring the bracing by 89..

Funny that SCCA GT and Trans-Am cars don't get the same grief about being tube-frame racers with fake headlights, non-original drivelines and "re-contoured" body lines. Just saying.

Going left and right all the time makes you overlook a lot of things.

David S. Wallens wrote: Funny that SCCA GT and Trans-Am cars don't get the same grief about being tube-frame racers with fake headlights, non-original drivelines and "re-contoured" body lines. Just saying.

and no one ever makes fun of all the people at the local 3/8 and 1/2 mile dirt tracks that run in the faster stock car classes with cars that are also tube frames except with plastic bodies on them instead of the steel bodies the Cup cars run..

novaderrik wrote:

David S. Wallens wrote: Funny that SCCA GT and Trans-Am cars don't get the same grief about being tube-frame racers with fake headlights, non-original drivelines and "re-contoured" body lines. Just saying.

and no one ever makes fun of all the people at the local 3/8 and 1/2 mile dirt tracks

...because they eat at Waffle House and are well armed.

Javelin wrote:

novaderrik wrote: they had to run actual factory stampings on the hood, roof, and trunk until the early '00's sometime. the trunks even had to have all the factory bracing in them.

I used to have an 89 TBird NASCAR decklid hanging up in the shop, and it most certainly did not have the factory bracing.

It should have. We were still required to put them in as late as 96, which was the last time I hung a body. We used the factory hood skin, roof skin, quarter panels, trunk lid outer skin and inner structure.

A lot of people are hung up on the name. They are not stock but they are not far removed from what thousands of local racers around the country run as stock cars, I guess somewhere along the way someone should have thought to rename them to keep a bunch of people on the internet from getting upset. While we are at I would like to see prototypes renamed as they have been built around the same basic idea for about 40years and still haven't reached regular production. And the NHRA needs to quit using the name Pro Stock. When is the last time a compact car came with 500 ci.

Wally wrote:

Javelin wrote:

novaderrik wrote: they had to run actual factory stampings on the hood, roof, and trunk until the early '00's sometime. the trunks even had to have all the factory bracing in them.

I used to have an 89 TBird NASCAR decklid hanging up in the shop, and it most certainly did not have the factory bracing.

It should have. We were still required to put them in as late as 96, which was the last time I hung a body. We used the factory hood skin, roof skin, quarter panels, trunk lid outer skin and inner structure. A lot of people are hung up on the name. They are not stock but they are not far removed from what thousands of local racers around the country run as stock cars, I guess somewhere along the way someone should have thought to rename them to keep a bunch of people on the internet from getting upset. While we are at I would like to see prototypes renamed as they have been built around the same basic idea for about 40years and still haven't reached regular production. And the NHRA needs to quit using the name Pro Stock. When is the last time a compact car came with 500 ci.

so you got out of that line of work right before Ford had to start using sheetmetal from other manufacturers to get the Taurus onto the track in place of the Thunderbird? i recall (but could be mistaken) that they had to use the roof and trunk from the Monte Carlo for a few years to keep the Taurus race cars from becoming wings at 150mph, and then after that they just kinda totally got away from the stock sheetmetal totally over the following years and let Dodge pretty much do whatever and throw an"Intrepid" sticker on the nose when they came in.. then the COT came out, and those don't even have any stock stampings on them but rather "factory provided" hood, roof, and trunk panels..

David S. Wallens wrote: Funny that SCCA GT and Trans-Am cars don't get the same grief about being tube-frame racers with fake headlights, non-original drivelines and "re-contoured" body lines. Just saying.

Trans Am still exists!!??!

In reply to novaderrik:

they were good times until the money ran out