The Maysville Hemi, as the enemy camps called it, wasn't always kind to me. Even though it never smoked, I had to keep a close eye on the oil level. While it was still under warranty, it ate the 3, 5 and 8 rod bearings for no apparent reason. Carpenter Motors and Chrysler put a new crank in it and new bearings. I didn't want it to happen again so my buddy Jerry and I put a deep Milodon pan on it with dual pickups and the trick adjustable oil pump. Back then I ran Valvoline 50 wt racing oil in it. I think that was why it was oil thirsty. The warranty adjuster did not like the headers on the car or the fact that the factory air cleaner wasn't on it and what little smog stuff was on it was rendered useless but he let it slide.
Another fellow from West Union, OH made the trip south to Aberdeen with a Torino coupe, 428 CJ, 4-speed (back then all self respecting gear heads drove 4-speeds) He was a friend of the Mailman and had raced and beat him. I don't remember the fellows name now but he came into Bisotti's Drive-In with an entourage of about 10 cars and 50-guys. He drove the CJ in the lot with open headers and slicks! He wanted to run for $100 and I agreed but I had to equalize the situation. Jerry and I made the short trip to his shop and opened up the headers and took the slicks off his max wedge S/S car (they were mounted on ugly factory steel wheels and I hated them but the slicks were great). We went back to Bisotti's and hooked up. By then, the entire drive-in parking lot was standing room only with people wanting to witness the race. About 5 other races were agreed to by others after my race with the CJ. It was to be one race, winner take all. It was reediculous when we got to the "track" on hwy 52. The race drew the greatest number of spectators I had ever seen. People just using the road could see it was going to be a race. Big rig drivers even stopped and helped block the road. We lined up and Jerry did the rosin thing and we did some hot burnouts through it. I could tell the hemi was going to hook because of the slicks and the traction glue and I would do well to pop the clutch at 4,000 rpm. The flash light lit and we were off! The hemi did hook like it never had (several people told later it lifted the wheels) and I was out a car instantly on the CJ. By the other end, the CJ just could not handle the hemi's top end motor march and I beat him by 2-cars. We got back to the starting line, collected our riders and went back to Bisotti's to settle up The crowd stayed for the rest of the races. I held my hand out for the money and he just grinned at me. Then a flock of his buddies that he had arrived with pulled in. He proceeded to tell me he didn't have any money and that he didn't think I was going to race him. Now friends, back in that day, I would fight at the drop of a hat. But there was just Jerry and me and about 20 of them. Jerry and I looked at each other and agreed that we knew an ***-whuppin' when we saw it. I told the CJ boy I'd catch him out somewhere one day. He said he didn't want to fight, apologized, and pulled out a new Barlow pocket knife and said, "This is all I got, it's your trophy". To this day I still have that knife! I broke the tip off of the big blade though using it for a screw driver. I also learned a valuable lesson: before any race, SHOW ME THE MONEY!!
Jerry and I went back to his shop, drank a couple of Stroh's, hooked the headers back up and changed the tires. When I started it up to head for home, we could now hear a distinctive evil sound in bowels of the hemi. My mighty elephant was sorely wounded. We parked the car in the storage barn and Jerry gave me a ride home. The next day, a Sunday, Jerry pulled the engine and found the rod bearings on 3, 5 and 8 were destroyed again. Everything else looked like new. I think the warranty adjuster should also have replaced those RODS the first time because they may have been egg-shaped. I was really wishing I had that $100 because now I really needed it! Another friend named Johnny Walker let me use his spare car, a sweet '67 Nova SS with 327/350 hp, 4-spd until the Maysville Hemi could get fixed. The following weekend, I went with Jerry to Mountain Park Dragway in Clay City KY to race the Max Wedge car. That was where I first got hooked up with Ronnie Sox, Buddy Martin and Jake King and therein lies another story. They were very instrumental in giving the Maysville Hemi a new heartbeat. Ronnie was there to match race Wally Booth and I got to help them on the starting line through the rosin burnouts, etc. Ronnie won 3 out of 3 with that bad fast back hemi cuda. Next time I'll tell you about the elephant heart transplant operation and what the patient did thereafter.
Pat
PS: without commercial interruption
Looking forward to the next post. 
