First Demolition Derby

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Chuckman

Chuckman

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My teenage son was in his first demolition derby last week and came in first out of 18 cars in his heat, and third in the feature with 4,000 pound wagons. He was in a 76 Volare Sedan we drug out of a field. The slant 6 was locked up, so we installed a slant 6 that literally sat upside down on the barn floor for 12 years. A little tuning and it ran great. I honestly think he would have won the feature too, but he had a dead spot on his starter that came up near the end of the event. After the feature was over we pecked on the starter and he drove it to the truck.
 
I saw a demo derby flyer once that had across the bottom in bold print "NO CHRYSLER IMPERIALS!".
 
65cuda360 said:
I saw a demo derby flyer once that had across the bottom in bold print "NO CHRYSLER IMPERIALS!".
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Yep. They've been banned pretty much nationwide for a long time now. Every once in a while you can find an outlaw derby that will allow them.
 
65cuda360 said:
I saw a demo derby flyer once that had across the bottom in bold print "NO CHRYSLER IMPERIALS!".
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That is because they had a double frame in the rear. That is considered reinforcement which is not allowed.
 
cascius said:
Yep. They've been banned pretty much nationwide for a long time now. Every once in a while you can find an outlaw derby that will allow them.
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Theres a derby up here that allows them still but they run in a special class with pickups and suburbans instead of running with other big cars.
 
yep, I bought a beautiful , 1969 imperial LeBaron 2 door hardtop off a guy for 250 bucks that got it from his grand parents. he was going to derby it but couldnt because they are outlawed here. just like this one but triple white. not many people know , but they use 5 on 4 3/4 bolt pattern and 4 piston Kelsey hayes disc brakes
 

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Kool car, I don't know why he would want to derby a 2 door like that.
 
That's great. Keep him hooked on it and he won't get hooked on anything bad.
 
We used to call the big full size cars "battleships", thats what they were, not the fastest-quickest cars around yet they were so tough-strong they caused big problems, lol. They could not catch the lightweight muscle cars but they could knock them right off the road--and stay in control.

These newer cars are very nice, they do drive "better" in many ways but they sure don't hold up very well in a hard crash. I feel safer in say a 1974 "bluesmobile", plus its roomier inside...what happen to bench seats, ugh
 
Chuckman said:
That is because they had a double frame in the rear. That is considered reinforcement which is not allowed.
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That and the subframe is damn near doubled up and there's ten feet between the grille and the radiator.
 
Not to be a wet blanket here, but i don't get the thrill that someone would get from destroying an old Mopar.
I guess it's better to get some use out it before it's crushed, which would have probably happened to it anyway.
It's just that i have seen too many Mopars ruined along with their good parts and panels over a day of fun.
Actually, i've pulled a lot of good parts off these cars before they were crushed, like rear ends, engines, disc brake set ups, etc.
 
The thrill is wrecking what ever car. If it is old and beat up, all the better. After all you have to remember that for some people, it's just a car. Not the jewl you see or what it could be.
 
Dartnut said:
Not to be a wet blanket here, but i don't get the thrill that someone would get from destroying an old Mopar.
I guess it's better to get some use out it before it's crushed, which would have probably happened to it anyway.
It's just that i have seen too many Mopars ruined along with their good parts and panels over a day of fun.
Actually, i've pulled a lot of good parts off these cars before they were crushed, like rear ends, engines, disc brake set ups, etc.
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The motor used was used in two previous derbys, that includes the carb. The original slant 6 in the car was frozen up when we got it. The rear floor boards were completely gone. You would have had to lay across the back seat to sit back there, or else run awfully fast. The quarters were rusted at the bottom, and the trunk floor was about gone.
 
hemitheus said:
thank god... derbying a classic should be a crime.
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Back in the 80's I sold a complete 68 Imperial Crown for $200 after I pulled the 440 to put in my charger. It really was a cool car. Even the vent windows were power!
 
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