HOW CRAZY ABOUT GASSERS ARE YOU?

[Dr. Cranky]

It's no secret that both EYEGORE and Doctor Cranky have lost their mind over early years Gassers. I've been reading up on those suckers since I got a whole bunch of great books (thanks DONN YOST!) and the pictures have me reeling.

I have a few questions for you seasoned Gasser War vets . . . and those of you who lost your minds on the subject matter before I did.

Can you share some of your expertise here (with eye candy to back it up, please). I am interested in particular in those models you might have built that never existed. I.e., Phantom Gassers.

Are there rules to this? If I want to make up my own, how do I go about it. I got two sets of decals from Slixx that I am dying to use . . . .

What do the number mean? The classes? Etc . . . for example, I know that the Mazmanian 41 Willyses were colored red, blue, BUT could you paint them in other colors.

Please, let's make this thread a conversation about the specifics and the details . . . of EVERYTHING GASSER!

Thank you in advance for your generous feedback and suggestion.

Yours, Doctor Cranky!

Edited December 4, 2011 by Dr. Cranky

[Nitrozilla]

Your first response to your question violates the spirit of the topic 'cuz I haven't built a gasser since I've started building again back in March, ergo, no Eyegore eye candy. However, when I do get to a gasser, and I will, it will be TOTALLY off the gasser hook. Nothing normal for me as most of you know. I have a couple of ideas rattling around in what's left of my grey matter. It will have MOPAR power, but not necessarily a Dodge / Chrysler / Plymouth body. Then again, isn't there a Chrysler 300 on the Polar Lights drawing board? It'll be a highboy too; no taildraggers for me. lol

Hopefully, someone will post pics that will amaze and inspire me. Gotta finish the Topless Terror, then the Deora with the trailer and Charlie Allen car. Maybe after that. Then again, I did start a 2009 Challenger Hemi Under Glass.........

[a/gass]

this should be answers for all your Q's - http://gassermadness...asses/index.htm - this will take you strait to class break down and rules through the years - then just dig around and youll find every thing elis. and gassers can be any color or combnation of colors.

oh yea plenty of eye candy of real old gassers - even ones you never herd of lol

ill look through my notes and see if i can find some other good sites for you but this is the best by far.

Edited December 4, 2011 by a/gass

[a/gass]

hears a copple more for pic's - www.gassersinc.com/ - www.geezergassers.com/ - thatll keep you busy for a copple days lol.

[High octane]

The "Gasser Wars" book by Larry Davis and also "Supercharged Gas Coupes" book by don Montgomery are EXCELLENT reference books and one could learn a LOT by reading both books and studying the photos.

[Dr. Cranky]

Thanks, this is a great start. Very informative links.

[Dr. Cranky]

I'm just trying to figure out what kind of realism I can muster if I start making my own phantom gassers, a la Doctor Cranky . . .

I'm curious if any of you have done your own . . .

[Greg Pugh]

It seems like no one ever mentions the "Gasser Wars" DVD.....why? That's also hugely inspirational.

[trogdor]

To me gassers can be as wild as your imagination Doc.

Here's a nice example

http://www.vetteweb.com/features/vemp_1006_1963_chevrolet_corvette/viewall.html

[W-409]

Gassers are amazing! They just look right. When I joined on this forum, I was thinking that screen name between W-409 and Gasser Madness... Well, I ended up as 409, but Gassers are really great.

Here's one example:

[Dr. Cranky]

Thanks for the inspiration Niko and Rick. Excellent.

Greg, there's a Gasser Wars DVD? I will now look for it. Thanks.

[Tony T]

I haven't built any yet...got a "Miss Deal" on the back-burner. Have been kicking around ideas in my head...

[Dr. Cranky]

Tony, I too have one, and would like to build it one of these fine days . . . looks like a great kit.

[LoneWolf15]

Virgil ,

Check your email , I sent your requested gasser eye candy ! Hope it helps .

[scalenut]

Good timing Doc , I started dabbling with a Henry J kit, it's a little booger to assemble. But I'm getting a small case of gasser fever lately

[Dr. Cranky]

Donn, what a treat! I have to share it!

[Dr. Cranky]

A few more:

[gasser59]

Those are really some fine examples of gassers although I question the Fiat as a gasser since the window decal has it listed as a AA/FA making it a Fuel Altered. I've got a few gassers knocking around in my head too and they will be ficticious and vintage.

Great thread Dr.

Edited December 4, 2011 by gasser59

[Terry Sumner]

Doc...one thing you have to remember about a "TRUE" gasser is that the class was meant for cars that could be street driven. They had to have a complete interior, they had to have a complete cooling system and the engine centerline at the crankshaft could be no more than 24" off the ground, among many other things. This means all these so-called Gassers with their noses so high in the air the driver would need oxygen are not legal gassers. That 24" equates to 1" in real measurement on the model, so if your lower engine pulley is higher than an inch, it would be wrong. And all gassers did not have straight axle front ends. They look cool but are not a prerequisite for a car to be a gasser.

So Brad is indeed correct... The Fiat, The Green panel wagon and the Cobra are not gassers. The Stone Woods and Cook Willys is obviously a true gasser. The green Willys and the Vette were built in the Gasser style but are street cars with those tires.

There is a huge difference in a gasser that meets the rules vs. a Match racer type gasser. Those match racers with flip-top bodies, tube chassis, big engine setback and a host of other illegal mods could not race in the regular "Gas" classes.

It seems a lot of modelers think that any car with a straight axle under the front end makes a model a gasser.....it does not.

Here's a link to my Fotki page with the gasser rules from NHRA in 1970. There weren't many changes in the few years prior to that and the late 60's was the height of the gas class activity.

Hope this helps you! )

Terry

[Peter Lombardo]

I haven't completed that many gassers,but here is one I did a few years ago.....a Competition Resin body, scratch built frame, parts box Hemi, HOK paint and Slixx decals...and a few other parts box items thrown in. I have a Fiat coupe in the works and a few SWC variations working too.....So yeah, I enjoy gassers, how could you enjoy cars and not love these beasts? Ok, so it is really an Altered, but in my mind it is lumped under the "Gasser" heading.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Peter Lombardo

[Terry Sumner]

LOL...lumped under the gasser heading???? Not anywhere remotely close to a gasser. This beautifully done model is a singular purpose built Altered...

[Swifster]

If you are not aware of it yet, check out the H.A.M.B. and do a search for gassers. You'll have a lot of inspiration. One word of warning. Quite a few really ARE cranky...

Gassers are OK. I'll build one at some point. But I also like Super Stock, Altereds, Modified Production and road course stuff like early Trans Am. At some point at least one of each will be on the shelf.

[Terry Sumner]

I'm sorry Fred...did my passion show? LOL You're right though I have to admit...I am a little on the passionate side about Gassers...like the good Doctor says...a lttle Crazy. But I think it's because I was there...drag racing in the late 60's albeit not in the gas class. I was racing a 66 Chevelle SS in C/MP back then. I ran in a gas class once just to say I did but my car was not competitive with the true gassers. So I stayed in C/MP (modified production) God that was agreat time to be a gearhead!

Edited December 4, 2011 by Terry Sumner

[Craig Irwin]

I was with you Terry, just at a different strip a few states away! So far I have seen Modified sport cars (M/SP) Competition Roadsters, street freaks, Altereds, and a few Gassers. All are very nice models, but only a few true gassers. It's kind of like every altered wheelbase car called an A/FX..

[Dr. Cranky]

That's a nice model, and I am still wondering how many of you have done gassers that never really existed.