Yes,
The car was owned by Brian Batchelder owner of Portland Speed in Maine chassis was built by Herb McCandless.
Car was raced at NED/Epping by Dave Flaherty. He was the person I purchased it from.
Bostonian 71 demon
- Thread starter B.R.E.Demon
- Start date
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The car was owned by Brian Batchelder owner of Portland Speed in Maine chassis was built by Herb McCandless.
Car was raced at NED/Epping by Dave Flaherty. He was the person I purchased it from.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
That makes sense. I bought a pair of Chrysler X heads, fully race prep that were supposedly off this car from a guy in Maine when I first got in the racing. These things were a trick everything was done to them.
Back in the day they pushed the limits with this car. The stories Brian used to tell me were pretty cool. The one that sticks out is that they had two sets of heads one set in a toolbox that were on a hot plate for tech inspection and the cheated-up set on the car. The car was acid dipped exhaust tubing for parts of the roll bar. It was originally a 71 Duster but converted to a Demon for the weight break.
Also, another fun fact Brian's brother was a tech inspector for the NHRA at the time.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Put in 11 hours today (yeah, I’ve been keeping track), but I was on a roll. Got the cowl fully welded in, metal worked, and prepped for leading. The real time sink was dialing in the bar spacing. I also built these boxes to support the ends of the bars, adding extra strength—especially once the ballast bar goes in. Wrapped up by trimming the gas tank to fit around the boxes and tacking in the front gusset bars. Now it’s time for a Liquid Death and a snack before diving into the trans crossmember tomorrow.
EdsWelding
Well-Known Member
Those bars that are on an angle to stiffen the bars going to the front of the car thru the firewall, are you going to tig them in all the way around 360 ? Have you ever welded using a mirror ? I see there's a blind spot there where you can't get your head.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Oh no 100% understand yes the bars will be welded 360° around a local chassis shop is going to do all the cage Welding. I’m just fitting it and tacking it in place.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Got in the shop early Sunday to put in some more work on the cage. The support bars are now in, and I started on the shock bar (not pictured). After that, I moved on to the transmission cross member and the removable support. For a bit of fun, I marked and drilled the holes for the fuel pressure gauge. Finally, I pulled out the X-bars to get a better idea of their fit.
abdywgn
dismantler
What artistry! I'd be lucky to draw out with pencil/paper half as good as what you can accomplish with metal!
Those Doritos are the best .
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Thanks I'm by no means a pro but I can't afford to hire one either so I have to figure it out.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Battery trays from Jegs showed up in record time so they should be going in shortly.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Pretty happy with the twin-plug valve covers that just arrived for the backup motor. Despite some shelf wear and overspray, they look like they've never been mounted. The plan is to remove the Mopar logo and one vent from each cover so they match the set I sent out for chrome—but ideally, these will turn out even nicer and more professionally finished.
dusterbing the peace
FABO pyrite member
Is the trimming in the corner for the master cylinder, or..? Guess I’ve never paid attention before. But I see that they both have it…hoping you can educate me (and anyone else who may not know). Thanks!
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
That I don't know and unfortunately I don't have a master on that side of the firewall anymore to check.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Picked up my order of chromoly just in time before the price increase—this should be the last batch needed to finish the car. These will be used to build new subframe connectors. While I was in the shop, I went ahead and cut the initial holes for the battery trays. Still plenty of work left before installation, including welding the pan to the frame rail and cleaning up the openings, but I’m happy with how they sit. They only hang about an eighth of an inch below the furthest rear point of the quarter panel, making them nearly invisible.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
With the doors coming off to be rehung on the car, I have the perfect opportunity to showcase some of the clever detail work we put into reducing weight. This is just one of many components that have been modified throughout the build over time.
dusterbing the peace
FABO pyrite member
Is it aluminium? If not, it needs holes like the rest of the car;)
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Yes it’s aluminum
EdsWelding
Well-Known Member
What is the name of the shop that will be welding your roll cage ? I would be interested in seeing that outcome. I had a similar problem in the same area on a 66 Plymouth Hemi Super Stocker and I had to use a mirror with alot of practice first as you have to tell your hands the opposite of what you are looking at ! Definitely the most challenging weld I ever did. I know the car was sold to MMissle, Mike Rickets but I don't know where it went after that. I originally did the cage work for Sean Dornan of Attica Oh.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
So its a local fab shop Heavy Metal fab in town that is going to do it they do a bunch of pikes peak cars and off road stuff, we don't have a huge drag car community out here in the Springs it seems. The main focus seems to be the hill climb stuff then a mix of off road and drift cars. There's stuff here for sure its just not a lot of hard core drag cars like im used to in the North East and Kansas City
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
One side of the battery box is finished, and now it's on to the other. I burned through another 125 tank, so a trip to the welding supply is in order to wrap that up. I also stripped down the doors, getting them ready to hang soon in preparation for the quarter panels. Plus, the lightened door hinges look killer. Now I just need to decide whether to run 36", 38", or 40" tubs with the 32" slicks. I’ve got 36s, but I’m trying not to go too big with the tubs.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
It was a nice low 60s day here, so I got out to the shop right after work and made some good progress. Finished up the battery trays, did some welding under the car, and removed the old shackle hangers. I also cut out the old shock mount underneath, though I still need to take out the stamped version. Wrapping up early tonight so I can get up early for the swap meet in Denver tomorrow morning.
B.R.E.Demon
Well-Known Member
Had a solid weekend haul and made some great progress in the shop. Super stoked to have scored that old drill bit set from Bandimere’s booth—definitely a cool find. On Sunday, I got to work prepping for quarter panel removal by melting all the lead off the seams. Took the plunge and drilled out the spot welds on the old shock cross member before yanking it out. Then, I cut the shock holes in the floor, made block-offs for the old ones, and wrapped up by fabricating a fresh cross member under the car that’ll double as a vertical wheelie bar mount. I also repurposed some old tabs into mounts for the ballast bars at the base of the cage. Plenty to tackle this week, but it’s nice seeing the progress come together.
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