Gasser question

[crazyjim]

Can a gasser be an open vehicle or does it have to be a coupe?

[Longbox55]

Gassers are closed vehicles, there was a separate class for open cars. IIRC, the class was called Street Roadster.

[Jantrix]

From what I have read, gassers have to be a coupe or sedan.

http://www.nostalgiagassers.com/category/nhra-rules/

[Nitro Neil]

No, Gassers has to be coupes or sedans. There was a class that was similar to gassers for roadsters, but you would have needed a early roadster-style car to be competitive in that.

You could have a convertible in the Altered class.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Nitro Neil

[High octane]

When the announcer called for the gassers to race at the local strip, he asked that the Gas COUPES & SEDANS come up to the staging lanes.

[crazyjim]

Darn it! I thought that might be the case. I've always called them gas coupes. The problem is, I have a Jeep about done with big slicks out back, heavily arched springs & straight axle up front, and a big ol' Hemi under the hood. I wasn't going to run the top that came in the kit. Maybe I'll paint the top and call it a coupe?

Maybe it would run in the altered class?

[Nitro Neil]

Jim,

That would be a perfect candidate for an Altered.

[ScaleDale]

At this year's Northwest Nationals in the Seattle area there was no traditional (as I recall it) Gas class. The cars I would have called gassers ran in Super Gas on an ET bracket system. Here's the section from the '13 rule book. Tons of corvette roadsters.

NHRA Super Gas.pdf

Dale

[tooltas]

put paddels on back and call it a pro stock mud or sand racer,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[crazyjim]

Sounds like altered class. The build is for the MAGS show in Tampa in October and their theme is gassers and altereds. Thanks for the info folks. I really appreciate it. At least I don't have to remove the slicks and put street tires on it. And that could be a problem because I'm waiting for a tire order from Ma's Resin.

[JunkPile]

Put some rust on it and we will break a few rules for you :)

[crazyjim]

Me rust? Not a chance. If it ain't SHINY :) , you're just dull .

[Harry P.]

Me rust? Not a chance. If it ain't SHINY :) , you're just dull .

One day you're going to have to break out of that self-imposed shell you've created for yourself and try a rusty or weathered model.

[heatride]

Well Jim I posted a 33 Willys Van without the front clip under the drag racing section and had C/GS and Nick enlighten me

that it is altered , because it has no front clip . Welcome to my world .......

[iBorg]

Okay......

Let's look at this discussion one more time.

First....

Well Jim I posted a 33 Willys Van without the front clip under the drag racing section and had C/GS and Nick enlighten me
that it is altered , because it has no front clip . Welcome to my world .......

A lot of gassers ran without their front end on. They'd show up, look over the competition or the national records (which figured into the head start on the Christmas tree) and decide they had a better chance to win as an altered. They'd shoe polish over the numbers and become an altered for that meet.

Darn it! I thought that might be the case. I've always called them gas coupes. The problem is, I have a Jeep about done with big slicks out back, heavily arched springs & straight axle up front, and a big ol' Hemi under the hood. I wasn't going to run the top that came in the kit. Maybe I'll paint the top and call it a coupe?

Maybe it would run in the altered class?

Another option would be modified sports (?) which was the home for MGs, Austin-Healys and Corvettes. It should be noted that the NHRA merged the MS cars into gassers (with full fenders and lights) into the gas class around 1968.

Finally remember that the rules varied from the association NHRA or AHRA and individual circuit or track. One constant was the cars had to have a square or rectangular stock type frame (which means several of Revell's Gasssers are really altereds). Class designations are also a moving target. The double lettering for blown cars changed yearly and from association to association.

[zenrat]

Didn't Modified Sports class cars have to run with the top up? I know the engine set back was much more generous in MSp (25%) than in Gas (10%)

The answer Jim is to create the CJDRA (Crazy Jim Drag Racing Association) with it's own Gas class rules that allow roadsters to compete against coupes & sedans.

Then you can build what you want, call it what you want and put whatever class labels on it you want.

[ScaleDale]

Sounds like altered class. The build is for the MAGS show in Tampa in October and their theme is gassers and altereds. Thanks for the info folks. I really appreciate it. At least I don't have to remove the slicks and put street tires on it. And that could be a problem because I'm waiting for a tire order from Ma's Resin.

Since this is for a show with a theme, have a look at this site as a reference if you decide to stick to gasser. They race this stuff.

http://www.nostalgiagassers.com

Dale

[1972coronet]

Anyone have a link to vintage AHRA classes ?

[crazyjim]

I'm going to go with it as running in an altered class. Thank you for all the input.

Oh, and Harry, not a chance.

[ScaleDale]

Found some more info in my rule book.

Current rules for Altered and street roadsters. It starts part way down the page. They run in Comp Eliminator.

Current Altered:Roadsters.pdf

Dale

[heatride]

I'm just curious now because im clueless and just want to know . A 33 Willys van with the clip on would be A/GS and without the

front clip would be C/GS is this correct ? It's not like I'm so serious about my models that they have to be just exact I'm just wondering .

Thanks in advance ......

[ScaleDale]

With the front clip being what they call the hood and front fenders these days, a car with a clip can run as a gasser, but without it it's an altered. Full fenders are required in gas and optional in altered.

This keeps changing over the years, but the A and C in your designations would refer to engine size in relationship to the cars weight. An A would usually have a bigger engine than a C car and be lighter, too. The S means it's supercharged. A/GS = A/Gas Supercharged. Some years you will find the first letter doubled for supercharged cars. AA/G or CC/G instead of A/GS and C/GS.

Dale

[heatride]

With the front clip being what they call the hood and front fenders these days, a car with a clip can run as a gasser, but without it it's an altered. Full fenders are required in gas and optional in altered.

This keeps changing over the years, but the A and C in your designations would refer to engine size in relationship to the cars weight. An A would usually have a bigger engine than a C car and be lighter, too. The S means it's supercharged. A/GS = A/Gas Supercharged. Some years you will find the first letter doubled for supercharged cars. AA/G or CC/G instead of A/GS and C/GS.

Dale

Thanks Dale I really appreciate the information .

[Muncie]

Probably depends on the year of competition- the NHRA rulebook changes...

Here's a line from the 1967 Rule book - from the of the gasser section -

Bodies: Gas Coupes/Sedans ---

" ... Full-fendered steel-bodied roadsters and convertible coupes/sedans may compete in this division without top but must have a roll bar..."

The rule book also has body requirements for Modified Sports Cars and Street Roadsters so those classes were also current that year

kind of dry reading, but hope it helps

[zenrat]

If you decide you want to build a gasser and make it 100% "correct" then you really have to pick your year and your ummmm whatchermacallit, authority(? you know NHRA, AHRA, CJDRA etc - my alzheimer's is playing up and I can't think of the correct word).

Then download/obtain the rules for that year. These will give you the class divisions as lb per ci which gives you with the designation to paint on the side of the car (it varied by year - some years supercharged classes were AA/G, BB/G etc. Some years they were A/GS, B/GS etc).

Now the fun bit (if you are not building a model of a real car) is working out what class the car you are building would fall into.

You'll need to find the weight of a stock example of that car and then try to work out what it would have weighed with the engine you'll be fitting and with all the bits removed you'll be removing. Fibreglass front end & doors? That'll remove weight but then in some years that meant a roll cage became mandatory (would you race without one though?) which would be added weight.

It's often easier though to just go through "Gasser Wars" or one of the many fine websites and find a car similar to the one that you are using and see what class that was in.

Or just guess.