In reply to Knurled:

Wasn't that two cylinder thing done by Frieburger?

I put all-terrains on the Subaru yesterday and proceeded to crack my radiator shortly after.

Wall-e, something you want to tell us?

1937 Maserati Tipo 4CM 1500 (Viotti)

Knurled wrote:

Doc Brown wrote:

carguy123 wrote:

What is this?

Somebody only had enough money for one Ardun head? Wait... no exhaust... Ardun headed flatty running on only four cylinders? Wait, the head bolt pattern is all wrong... Four cylindered V8 running in a displacement class? Salt flat racing is weird sometimes. I remember a story of a guy who blew up spectacularly, looked at the class records, disabled all but two cylinders in what was left of his engine, and went for the new displacement's record.

But why the spark plugs and wires on the right hand side?

"Wasted Spark" ?

In reply to Knurled:

Chevy midget engine

Woody wrote:

I remember those things. Weren't they called "king cabs" or something like that....

I always (and still do) thought they were ugly.

slefain wrote:

I ususally like quirky, but that is on another level

Wall-e wrote: In reply to Knurled: Chevy midget engine

Rules rules rules, I saw the midget timeline from the 70's on. We saw many different combinations rise to the top. Then USAC would smack them down limit cubic inches because one design was dominant.

Chevy II motors were heavy and could not make big power without lifting the head at the left front corner when the block gave up because the water pump location weakened the block. With a non crossflow head they were allowed 200", USAC slapped them down when guys put crossflow heads on them and then Barnes came along with a single overhead cam for them.

Meanwhile Volkswagens were showing their stuff @ 160 to 180" USAC slapped them down to 120 or so.

Cosworth 4 valve double overhead cam heads then became the prize winner, their cubic inches were taken away.

USAC had a formula that they adjusted to limit the exotic motors that came along, each step of progression took away cubic inches with the biggest being an all iron pushrod non-crossflow.

We took a 2.0L Ford and welded up the combustion chambers opened up the bore so we could get big valves in it opened up the ports and got a stroker crank from Scat. That showed great potential but only had 3 cam bearings so when cam lift got over a certain point it kept breaking cams. By then Ford motorsports had released the aluminum head for the 2.3L 5 cam bearings, the iron block then became the target of the weight reduction crew. Esslinger introduced the aluminum 2.3L block that could be opened up to the rule limit cubic inches for a crossflow single cam 2 valve head. This motor ran very well but had bearing problems, that was solved by machining the block at operating temps and heating the motor before it was started (because it would not turn cold).

Along in this same time frame the big Pontiac Iron Dewque' (cross flow pushrod motor was allowed more cubes) had it's 5 minutes of fame and some light bulbs came on. More and more folks were getting access to CNC equipment and disgusted with the rules read between the lines. Big inch pushrod motors were the new winners.

Stolen NASCAR technology put V8 heads on generic aluminum blocks that were sold based on bore spacing needed for what ever head tickled your fancy, you could get a block with a blank deck that you could drill to fit your favorite head. No substitute for cubic inches the magic was getting it to breathe and live at 9500rpm but the blocks were still clunky heavy and compromises were made.

A year or so farther down the road MOPAR and Toyota seized this trend and their motorsports divisions produced blocks made specifically for their screaming V8 pushrod 2 valve heads. Lighter weight and with USAC racing in mind.

It's not at all surprising that Chevy has jumped on the bandwagon and upped the ante. It's a natural progression. I always wondered why those early Indy V8's reversed the airflow, I had thought it was due to packaging for aero. But the pushrods have always been a problem on the intake side, limiting factor for port size and shape. Moving the cam to the exhaust side is a great idea, they have been laying the motors over on the left side for weight bias for many years. The oil tank and even radiators have been mounted on the left side by some.

So now the pushrod motors have become the exotics and without one you can't win. But with the big money behind these pushrod monsters USAC would face serious political damages if they take away their cubes. Their last mockery was to require starters on the cars to facilitate restarting to try and make the races more digestible for live TV. This resulted in many racers boycotting the USAC TV races and other associations like the BCRA gained car counts.

The Roots of Midget racing go very deep it is one of the purest forms and oldest only surpassed by stock cars of late. In the early years there were many race tracks to choose from in every metropolitan area, Midget racing was the four wheeled version of Board track motorcycle racing.

Midget racing has come a long way from the Offy powered Kurtis with Firestone tires leaf springs and friction shocks. Or a tiny V8 flathead, outboard boat motors were even winners at one time. Some Aussies screwed together a couple of Hyabusa heads into a V8 configuration in 2010 at the Chili Bowl.

If you find this kind of racing interesting put the Chili Bowl on your bucket list. It's the world series of Midget racing and all indoors at the Tulsa Expo center in January. Preceded the week before by the Tulsa Shootout which hosts smaller 4 wheeled conveyances. Get your tickets (and hotel) VERY early, as the Chili Bowl sells out in advance every year. http://www.chilibowl.com 145 days til the next one! This is an elbows up, stomp and steer, pedal to the metal, take no prisoners, winner take all, race. 300 cars show up to compete in the final 24 car race for one Golden Driller.

You will recognise some of these names
Chili Bowl Nationals Champions:

Year - Driver (Owner)

2017 - Christopher Bell (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian)
2016 - Rico Abreu (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian)
2015 - Rico Abreu (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian)
2014 - Bryan Clauson (Joe Dooling/Rusty Kunz/Curb Records)
2013 - Kevin Swindell (Swindell Motorsports/Curb Records)
2012 - Kevin Swindell (Swindell Motorsports/Curb Records)
2011 - Kevin Swindell (Swindell Motorsports/Curb Records)
2010 - Kevin Swindell (Swindell Motorsports/Curb Records)
2009 - Sammy Swindell (Swindell Motorsports/Curb Records)
2008 - Damion Gardner (Jason Leffler)
2007 - Tony Stewart (Tony Stewart Motorsports)
2006 - Tim McCreadie (Steve Smith)
2005 - Tracy Hines (Wilke - Pak)
2004 - Cory Kruseman (Andy Bondio)
2003 - Dan Boorse (Dan Boorse)
2002 - Tony Stewart (Keith Kunz)
2001 - Jay Drake (Keith Kunz)
2000 - Cory Kruseman (Andy Bondio)
1999 - Dan Boorse (Dan Boorse)
1998 - Sammy Swindell (Pete Willoughby)
1997 - Billy Boat (John Lawson)
1996 - Sammy Swindell (Rusty Kunz / Jay McKinnie)
1995 - Donnie Beechler (Zarounian Motorsports)
1994 - Andy Hillenburg (Keith Kuntz / Rusty Kunz)
1993 - Dave Blaney (Ralph Potter)
1992 - Sammy Swindell (Dave Ellis)
1991 - Lealand McSpadden (Andy Bondio)
1990 - John Heydenreich (Tony Finley)
1989 - Sammy Swindell (Jack Runyon)
1988 - Scott Hatton (Jerry Hatton)
1987 - Rich Vogler (Bob Lowe)

This thing is AWESOME.

TRZ06

Have we lost our love for the Mercuiser 1/2 460 Ford with the Chevy bolt pattern?

Now with the availability for much better lighter heads.

You could have a 4.0 L 4 cylinder with the proper crank and pistons! Now here is you a NA porshe 944 swap.

bentwrench wrote: Rules rules rules, I saw the midget timeline from the 70's on....

Great post.

You might want to create a thread for it, or write an article for the mag.

Not sure why I just found out about this or why I'm at all surprised by it.

John Schneider at the 2002 Silver State Classic.

Orlando: Leaky propane tank, passenger lights up a cigarette.

Chadeux wrote: Not sure why I just found out about this or why I'm at all surprised by it. John Schneider at the 2002 Silver State Classic.

If I was at a race and he pulled up in that....it would probably be the high point of my decade and there absolutely would be a selfie with him sitting in one window and me sitting in the other.

Sadly, I would then spend the rest of my days looking for Burt in every Trans Am.

914Driver wrote: Orlando: Leaky propane tank, passenger lights up a cigarette.