i'm new here , as i just joined . my name is jack kissling . i'm a die hard ... i say ..DIE HARD ford man , and that's all i build . i've been a race fan since , litterally , before i can remember , as my parents started taking me to races when i was a toddler . i have an interest in all forms of racing , and i build mostly race cars [ fords ] and showroom stock cars [ again - fords ].
having introduced myself , i hope no one will mind if i answer a couple of questions .
the offy midget engine was a much smaller version of the offy used in champ cars . it was smaller in external dimensions as well as C.I. displacement . they usually displaced around 110 C.I. ,where as the offys that ran in the '50 and '60's were around 255 C.I.
someone asked if midgets used quick changes . yes , most midgets in the '40's , '50's , and '60's ran QCs . however , the edelbrock was somewhat unique . i've always been interested in that car , so 20 years ago or so i started a mostly scratch built model of the car [ including the engine ] . shortly thereafter i found myself in the middle of a divorce , and the model "died on the vine" ... but that's another story . about the time i started on the model , i called edelbrock and spoke with bobby meeks . he'd been with edelbrock since forever , and built the engines for vic - including the original midget engine . he was in the process of restoring the original car at the time [ a 2 part story on the restoration appeared in "circle track" magazine in the late '80's or early '90's ] , so i thought he'd be the best man to ask about details . well , to make an already too long story short , he told me the original car ran a 2-speed rear .
i belong to a forum called "randy ayers' nascar modeling forum ". don't let the "nascar" fool you , however , as they cover all forms of racing - in different sections . i've posted several pix of the edelbrock , as well as bill stroppe' V860 [ these 2 were considered the best fords on the west coast at the time ] in the "drag racing and open wheel" section of randy's , if anyone would like to check them out . they're in the post announcing the midget kits .
sorry to go on . i'll try to keep it shorter next time .
"genuine jack"
