Crizila

Al Eckstrands 64 Plymouth wedge.

Some candid pics.

Actually ran in to Ivo at the NHRA museum a few years back.

OOTB build.

Clutch explosion in my 63 Plymouth. - I was racing at US30 dragstrip in Indiana. I was side by side with another Max wedge car when I missed the 2-3 shift. Of course no scatter shield. Clutch and flywheel both let go. Disintegrated the bell housing. Cut the brake line ( single master in 63 so - no brakes ). Cut down the right front tire. MANY parts came out from underneath the car. Damaged the car I was racing. I coasted through the traps at 79mph with no brakes, a flat right front tire and the oil pan laying on the steering center link. I was pooping bricks!! Luckily this track had a long shut down area with tall grass on both side of the track. I got it off in to the grass and actually had the ambulance pull along side of me as the car came to a stop. I had clutch springs laying on top of my cross ram manifold and the firewall was pushed in, put nothing came in to the driver compartment. I was very lucky. I couldn't even look at the car for about 6 months. I finally decided to put it back together with an automatic, which is how I raced it for another year before I went in to the service. 64 Dodge: The car was originally purchased from Grand Spalding Dodge ( My Norm was actually the sales man ) and we bought our parts from them at a modest discount. The Holley rep for the Chicago area lived down the block from us, so we got free carbs, carb parts, and spark plugs - hence the Holley logo on the side of the car.

Yes, 3 speed manual trans. Only 8 cars were built with that combination - as far as I know. Original 426 in this car was the 415hp, 11.1 comp. motor. Rebuilt it after a year with 13.5 comp. slugs which upped the hp to 426. Original trans was a T-83 3 speed manual. Mopar did not make a 4-speed trans until 64. I actually ran this car with a 3 speed, 4 speed, and automatic. With the 3 speed, the car ran high 12's. Had a horrendous clutch explosion with the 4 speed ( trans cam out of a 64 hemi car ). We were speed shifting at the time ( gas pedal stayed on the floor between gears ) and I missed the 2-3 shift. I was very lucky not to get hurt. Switched to a Torque Flite in 65 and it ran it's best ET's with the torque Flite.

Thanks Michael! I ran the Atlas Bucrons on my Plymouth, not the Dodge. We ran 10" wide M&H Racemasters on the Dodge and yes, we had to cut the inner lip of the rear wheel opening to get them to clear. Yes, we ran the tallest and skinniest front tire we could find ( 28 - 29" tall) on 15" X 4" front steel wheels and 15"X10" rear wheels. It was a tight fit. Big diameter front tires gave us more rolling time through the "beams". We moved the battery to the trunk - over the right rear tire. Common for the day. Battery cables ran along the right side frame rail to the front. Headers were "Dougs". Primary pipes were very long and big (2" X 36" long). We had problems with them cracking at the header flange until we added a strap at the collector to the frame. Yes, it was loud. Trans was a B&M torque flite. No high stall convertors at the time. Rear end was a Mopar 8 3/4 with 4.56 gearing - which we blew up several times. The car left like a snail with a basically stock stall convertor, but really ran strong once we got it rolling. I think our best speed was 119. Car weighed 3410. 3400 was the minimum it could weigh. We ran two vacuum secondary 750 Holleys on the cross ram.

Took my time. Used Testers decal set under and on top of each decal application. Still had to make some cuts on some of the more prevalent compound curves. Clear coat over all to hide the cuts.

Actually, there wasn't much basic about this build. A lot came from my parts box. The original body on Bleekers car was a Bantam body. I used a Ford Vickie body that I chopped, channeled and sectioned through the doors to shorten it up. Most of the frame came from AMT's double dragster kit. Scratch built front and rear suspension and drivetrain. On a 60's west coast swing, this car put many of the big name fuel altereds of the day "on the trailer". Bleekers home track was Oswego, Illinois.

That car went down the Oswego track many times. I cut my teeth on that track in 63 with a 1963 Plymouth Sport Fury max wedge convertible 3 speed car. Flag man start back then. Car ran high 12's with a 4.56 gear and Atlas Bucron cheater slicks. Ran a best of 12.41 @‌ 116.88 at Rockford drag way - racing 4 wide. Used a resin body for the model build. Most of the lettering was done with dry transfers. Holley sponsorship took place at a later date.

Carl Caspers Cosmic Charger. A real decal challenge.

This is the car I raced in 1968/69 in AHRA Midwest division. Car ran Formula 1 B stock automatic and held the record in that class at 11.61 115.38. Speed was later uped to 117mph.

Rich Gusco's AA Fuel altered.

Midwest AA Fuel altered.

Monogram Indianapolis Racer. Kit # P12

Older build. Can't remember the kit. Sorry. Someone else please feel free to chime in.

Last of the roadsters

The rear engine revolution.

Signed by Rodger Ward. Note written by Rodger Ward.

The "Arizona Hard Chrome" midget out of Phoenix Az. Off-loading at the Unser museum.

Beautiful build. "This Bud's for you!"

To get the spacing correct, I started with the roof stripe by the roll bar main hoop and then worked in ether direction. Decals gotta be fresh. Lots of decal set - and patience. Still had to do a little touch-up with red paint.

Awesome work and detail.

Kinda creepy.