Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

[Shawn Anderson]

I got this a bunch of years ago, it was in a pile of stuff that was going to thrown out. It's a guide to building a Pro Stock Ford Pinto with a 351c ;D It covers engine trans chassis with all the specs. I will post a few pages, would be way cool to build a new mid 70's prostocker.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

Awesome!

There's a group of guys getting a nostalgia pro stock group together which should be bad ass.

[milner351]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

A friend / mentor of mine used to race a 351C-4v at Martin near kalamazo in the 80's and early 90's.

The car was back halfed when he got it - I think it had a way way shortened dana 60 in it, and a C4. He ran it in sportsman with a junkyard engine - just lots of tuning - way consistant - ran right at 12 seconds and left straight every time.

I think a pinto wagon with this sort of treatment and a streetable powertrain would be very high on the badderasserness scale.

[studemax]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

The motor was cool, the Pinto's weren't.

[LS1 ZR2]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

When I was 16 years old, and I worked at the local hot rod Sunoco gas station. The owner had been a drag racer for years. While I worked there we built a Pinto Pro Stock car. We ran it for a couple years, mostly races in the Michigan area, but were not real successful. We always qualified, but needed more power to make the final. The owner, and my boss, was a guy named Dave Lyle. He still does a few things with Ford, and I see him around from time to time.

Looking at those pictures sure bring back memories. Little tricks like cutting the rear bumper in the middle to tuck it into the body were normal in those days. We never considered doing the things like they do today.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

...was a guy named Dave Lyle

Same guy that raced the Bob Ford owned T-Bolt and had the "Goin Thang" Mustang in the late 1960's/early 1970's? He was one of the early guys at Roush too right?

Hell of a guy to work for Mike!

Brian

[LS1 ZR2]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

Same guy.

He owned the local "gear head" Sunoco station. He had one pump modified so we could pump Sunoco 270 gasoline. We used to have all the local racers in on Saturday and Sunday morning buying fuel. Most of the local street and drag racers would hang out there on weekends. There was a traffic light about 1/4 mile from the station. We would street race off the light, and everyone else would stand in front of the station to pick the winner. I met a lot of hot rodders and racers working there.

Do you remember a 6 cylinder Pinto called "Preperation H"? It was a very competive Comp Eliminator car. They used to come in and buy gas all the time. Years later I was looking for a drag car. I heard of a Don Hardy built Pinto that some guy had for sale not far from where I worked. I drove to the location, and it was a truck box manufacturing company. There were about 100 old trucks parked in the lot. The owner took me out to this old truck, opened the back, and the sister to the Preperation H car was sitting in there. We worked hard to make a deal, but in the end we could not agree on price. I have often thought about stopping there to see if he still has the car.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

Man that's cool as hell!

I think you really need to stop by the place to see if the car is there. Mike, the only thing I know about the Pinto is that it was run by a guy named Bruce Sizemore and it was an ass kicker. There were times that it ran quick enough to qualify for divisional pro stock fields back then! I learned a little bit about it while working on a story a few years back. I've never seen photos of the car.

Well it's clear to see how and why you followed the path that you did, you've been neck deep in this stuff for a good long time!!

Brian

[mustang13]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

SSSSSHHHHHHHHHWWWWIIINNGGG!!!!!!!


That there would even make a gelding rise up ;D

[LS1 ZR2]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

My path was set long before I met Dave. I grew up with a street racer for a dad. As early as 4 years old I was in the garage working with my dad. I remember having my hand inside the door on a 1954 Ford holding a bolt so my dad could tighten the window regulator up.

In 1964 my dad bought a new Galaxie 500, convertable, with a dual quad 427 4 speed. We would drive Telegraph (local street race road) to visit my grandparents. It was common for him to street race all the time. When he would jam shift 2nd gear, I would climb up and look out the window to see how far ahead we were. My mom used to street race as well. She was faster at the strip than my dad, and he never lived that down. I remember my dad having a money street race with another 427 Galaxie. My mom, sister, and I stood on the shoulder of the road while they raced. My dad won, and 2 weeks later when the other 427 swallowed a air cleaner stud, my dad used that guy's slicks to win a money street race the other Galaxie was supposed to run.

Someday, if you are interested I will tell you how, at 13 years old, I learned to mix nitro with gasoline in my race mini bikes.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

Us interested in mixing nitro and gasoline in mini-bikes....nah. :D

Sounds like a great story!

Brian

[stk1697]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

That was back when Pro Stock was much cooler. Lots of inovation and anyone could play with the big guns. There was so much diversity in cars. I recall a pic in an old issue of Pop Hot Rod if memory serves of Wally Booth an a caption who's singing me an my arrow/ LOL. The weight/cubes formula should've stayed but it def made techs job harder. Todays cars may be safer but they lack the character of those days. In many ways todays pro classes have become very cookie cutter. Please post more of this type of old stuff.

[Bobbie Kincade]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

First time I saw Dyno Don's Pinto I was in heaven, the mini-PS cars were pretty cool, the Dusters and Challengers looked huge as compared. Back in those days, the weight breaks dictated what would win.

[Bobbie Kincade]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

That was back when Pro Stock was much cooler. Lots of inovation and anyone could play with the big guns. There was so much diversity in cars. I recall a pic in an old issue of Pop Hot Rod if memory serves of Wally Booth an a caption who's singing me an my arrow/ LOL. The weight/cubes formula should've stayed but it def made techs job harder. Todays cars may be safer but they lack the character of those days. In many ways todays pro classes have become very cookie cutter. Please post more of this type of old stuff.

Wally didn't run a Mopar in P/Stock, he ran AMC and Chevy.

However in '69 Wally Booth ran a '69 Dodge Super Bee in Super Stock.

You are thinking of Butch Leal.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Cool old Pro Stock Stuff

ford new pro stock program ? hee hee , cunningham/enders keeping the dnq streak alive , larry morgan will run great though in his new mustang
see ya in pomona
can't wait
oldies ? lee hunter used to thump with a cleveland , sold his zephyr to animal jim , the rest is history