We bought an old stock car | ASA tube-frame racer

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Thats it!  That has Grassroots written all over it!

In reply to Red5 :

When I saw Bruce, I asked about the car's current location. I forget the answer, but it didn't sound nearby. I believe it’s a chopped Cutlass. 

In reply to Driven5 :

No different from my perspective than 4 to 3 or 3 to 2...you just throw it in there.

As a long time fan of adapting circle track hardware for road racing, its great to see this project get rolling. I co-own American Muscle Car Masters, a series dedicated to these cars. Here are our two cars.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

Update - Apparently my dad built all of his T-10 transmissions! He's about an hour down the road from you. Said if you have the case number and tag numbers he can tell you exactly what it is and how it was built. 

Javelin said:

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

Update - Apparently my dad built all of his T-10 transmissions! He's about an hour down the road from you. Said if you have the case number and tag numbers he can tell you exactly what it is and how it was built. 

Relevant to my interests. I'll grab some numbers tonight or tomorrow.

Whenever he wants lunch bought for him while he hears dumb transmission questions he's welcome in Ormond Beach.

David S. Wallens said:

Red5 said:

I seem to recall someone running an open cockpit car like this in the Daytona 24 in the late 70's early 80's?  I cant find any photos...

Bruce Trenery’s Cannibal from the mid '90s? 

That was built from an Oldsmobile gts car

jh36 said:

In reply to Driven5 :

No different from my perspective than 4 to 3 or 3 to 2...you just throw it in there.

Synchro, dog, or both? I'm more specifically asking about their synchro behavior.

Driven5 said:

jh36 said:

In reply to Driven5 :

No different from my perspective than 4 to 3 or 3 to 2...you just throw it in there.

Synchro, dog, or both? I'm more specifically asking about their synchro behavior.

Sorry..I was speaking of my box which has dog, no synchro. According to the guy I purchased it from, JG's as it sits will use a clutch. (Unless/until modified)

Driven5 said:

jh36 said:

In reply to Driven5 :

No different from my perspective than 4 to 3 or 3 to 2...you just throw it in there.

Synchro, dog, or both? I'm more specifically asking about their synchro behavior.

Racers, real racers love dog ring. We don't have time it takes to speed up or slow down gears to shift.  The only time we use the clutch is to get the car rolling. From then on shifting is a matter of how fast we can move the  gearshift lever. 
    Yes, I realize some people just need to use a clutch to shift.  That's OK. Old habits are hard to break. If you try to use a clutch to shift a dog ring you'll quickly destroy dog ring gears. It's how I got mine.  The previous owner got tired of buying  gear sets and paying me to  change them. 
   I used it for years without the need to replace a single gear. 

I had a great chat with Al from AMCM who posted a few ticks up the thread the other day. AMCM is part of a growing group of race clubs in all corners of the country who are providing a format for converted circle track cars to go road racing, and the proliferation of these clubs is a big reason this project ultimately got greenlit. With ASA chassis alone, Howe built over 400 of them, and there's plenty of other series that ran perimeter chassis that are suitable for conversion as well, so there's an ample supply of starting points out there.

What's missing, as Al and I discusses at length, is the documentation of the "recipe" for making the switch from left turns to both way turns. There's a knowledge base out there, but it's somewhat decentralized, and one of out goals with the project is to give people hoping to build one of these things a decent set of guidelines to making their own projects work. 

What is a reasonable price for an ASA roller?

I think a good "circle track 101" guide would be useful to readers as well. ASA vs perimeter chassis?

In reply to frenchyd :

I'm not a 'real' racer, so I'm asking about more streetable applications for the transmission.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

 Track use it really depends on how far from home you want to race.  Do you intend to stay at "home" then a 9" Ford is fine.   You can have a few pumpkins and it's only about an hour to change gears. 
 But a variety of tracks you really should have a quick change.  10 minute gear change time to an hour. 
  State of "tune" in the engine?   You might even want a Quick change gear box.  If you've modified the engine for peak power, you can find yourself bogging below the power curve and then being forced to shift at the wrong time.  
     Weight bias?  Depends on the track.  For example. You can run reverse stagger  to help. ( circle track runs counter clockwise, road race runs clockwise).  You could also change the driver to right hand drive.   Or just move the battery, fuel cell,  springs & shocks. 

Keith Tanner said:

I think a good "circle track 101" guide would be useful to readers as well. ASA vs perimeter chassis?

Oh, yes, that's already on ye olde editorial calendar. 

Appleseed said:

What is a reasonable price for an ASA roller?

I've seen them for as little as $500 and up.  It depends on who built it, what shape it's in, what equipment is on it, spares, age,  and condition. 
   Not something you want to look at and buy.  At a minimum you need to string it and put it on a set of scales. Look at each tube for signs that it's been hit hard.  Or twisted. 
     A "winning" car won't sell cheap.   You probably don't want to pay for a "winner"  Circle  track is different from road racing.  Just like a winning boxer is different from a winning wrestler.  

Keith Tanner said:

I think a good "circle track 101" guide would be useful to readers as well. ASA vs perimeter chassis?

this question not only needs a thumbs up but a repeat via a quote.

(also, are there smaller tube framed chassis out there?)

alfadriver said:

Keith Tanner said:

I think a good "circle track 101" guide would be useful to readers as well. ASA vs perimeter chassis?

this question not only needs a thumbs up but a repeat via a quote.

(also, are there smaller tube framed chassis out there?)

Yes, but not with the proliferation or mass-produced nature of the full-size stuff, so don't go thinking you're going to backdoor yourself into a budget SCCA GT3 car. There's stuff like dwarf cars, and of course Legends and Thunder Roadsters, but so far I haven't found a mass-produced analog to the Late Model/Sportsman-sized chassis that's more compact. Most of the stuff I've seen in the realm of "mini stocks" seems to be factory tubs with catalog clips attached to them. That doesn't mean they don't exist, just that they don't seem to be as easy to find as the full-size stuff.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Keith, the AMCM site has a decent high level description of the differences between an offset and a perimeter chassis. The ASA cars had a perimeter chassis. Check it out!

In reply to Al_Fernandez :

It was a suggestion for editorial content, as sometimes it's nice to read a researched and illustrated print article instead of trying to find a website. It's kinda the value add of the magazine.

I'm not going to be buying one regardless of how offset the chassis is, I'm set for noisy track toys :)

Keith Tanner said:

In reply to Al_Fernandez :

It was a suggestion for editorial content, as sometimes it's nice to read a researched and illustrated print article instead of trying to find a website. It's kinda the value add of the magazine.

I'm not going to be buying one regardless of how offset the chassis is, I'm set for noisy track toys :)

I mean, when I get around to writing the story, I'm pretty much going to start my research on that page, so don't feel bad about getting a preview :)

Need something huge to hang on that chassis?

Lincoln

I'm going to be following this HARD, because I found recently an AMC Javelin as a stock car several states away and it gives me some ideas.

Leighton Reese raced this converted ASA car in trans am