School me on Stock Eliminator?

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Matt went 10.68 @ 125 for the new SS/K record. Tear down obviously went well. Way to go!
 
Congrats man! Awesome job! That's almost .3 under from last time. A national record is a huge accomplishment, especially with having the car out only a few times. Again, great job.

I actually did look up the results, just wanted to hear it from Matt himself.
According to the Oahe Speedway website there were 5 records set at that track that day. Good air indeed!

Great pic of the car launching too...
 
Thanks, I had a good time this weekend, tear down went well,eliminations didn't, Red light on sat, nap on sun. The record makes up for it tho, even tho it's soft, but like I said earlier I've got some hp plans for the winter.
 
I forgot to mention I met a couple valiant nuts out there. One guy had a 66 with a 225 slant and a turbo, ran 11.50s, stock bottom end.
 
Any new pics of the record holder?

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I pulled this from the Oahe Speedway front page. Matt apparently was one of FIVE record runs that day. 10.68, 125 mph. 273 POWER!

Once again, incredible job.

DSC_0127.jpg
 
Way to go, this is sooo cool.
Congrats to the record, I would love to see and hear your Valiant running down the Q-mile.
 
You guys are insatiable. Unfortunately I'm done racing for the season because of lack of funds and I told my wife Oahe would be my last time out. Should have kept my mouth shut. Maybe an in car camera in the spring?!? How about when I pull the motor out next week I video some dyno time?!?
 
You guys are insatiable. Unfortunately I'm done racing for the season because of lack of funds and I told my wife Oahe would be my last time out. Should have kept my mouth shut. Maybe an in car camera in the spring?!? How about when I pull the motor out next week I video some dyno time?!?

LOL.Thanks, that would be great.
 
:toothy10:Hey Matt! Congrats on all the hard work paying off for you. SS/K and L have been 283 Chevy only playgounds for years. This oughta throw a dog turd in their yard !!!!!!
 
There is a guy named Bill Bushmaker who lives in or near Seattle who races small block Mopars in NHRA's Stock Eliminator, and has, relatively successfully for years. I think he's a TV camraman, or, used to be.

He has a daugher named "Angela" who has been running a 235hp 273/904 '65 Valiant 2-door sedan in J Stock Automatic at the Division VI Points races, and the Kent (Seattle) NHRA national event for the last couple of years. It was an uphill battle, but they finally got the car to run some pretty decent times at the 2008 Seattle national event. I saw on FastNews (the Summit site) where she went 12.06 in qualifying. That's competetive.

I think (don't quote me on this) that Larry Hollums did a lot of the engine work on that car, and if I wanted a fast 4bbl 273, HE would surely be the man I'd try to get to build the engine. He has a long history with 340's, and the 273 is just a little 340... He built the Esslinger/Winter SS/IA '71 Duster 340 record holder which won the Northern Nationals (Seattle) two years in a row, back in the eighties. His shop is in Kent. Hollums/Bragg Machine.

With the factor down to only 210 horsepower, that Commando is looking really good in J/SA. If I were going to build a Stocker, I'd give that motor in a Valiant serious consideration.

I don't think it was available in the '64 Valiants, but was in '65-up....
The NHRA Stock Car Classification Guide will tell you.

Good luck with this; I'm jealous.... wish it were ME!!! I just love those early A Bodies....

Bill, in Conway, AR
 
Bill,

I've been following the Bushmaker car this season. They seem to do very well with their combo. I saw they dropped down to K/SA for one meet, but they most often run in J. They're usually in the low 12s, about .6 or .7 under. I saw they went 11.76 one time. That's hauling!

See this thread here about 273-powered race cars. There's several posts about the Bushmaker's car.

I have some parts already for the engine - steel crank, 4bbl intake, (divided single-plane design) NOS(!) adj. rockers and a set of 302 heads. There's a drawback to the 4bbl intake though, the angle of the manifold flange does not match the later LA head intake face, needs milled to fit. That said, if I can get 375 hp at the crank, I could be in the low 12's with it. Tall order yes, but I think it can be done. The .015" stroke allowance helps. A .060" over 273 with the increased stroke nets around 283" and everyone knows how well the 283 cars run. Clearly, the valve job on the heads is critical. And obviously it will take a LOT of cam duration, relatively high compression and high RPM. Probably never drive it on the street, but you don't see any S/E cars on the street anyway.

I'm torn between the stocker 273 idea and just putting a small-block stroker in the car. Like you say, making a 273 run quick is a daunting task! Plus never driving it on the street is hard to give up. But, I'm drawn to the 273 for some reason.
 
There's a Division IV racer named James Paul who ran a '64 Valiant 2-dr. post car with a 273 2bbl/904 for several years with some success.

I;m not saying the 2bbl motor would be ant better (or as good, even) as the 235hp, now, with the horsepower off it, but James probably learned a lot about what that car liked before he sold it. He now runs two cars, both small blocj Mopars, one in Stock and one in Super Stock.

Probably a good guy to talk to. I think he lives around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, but I'm not sure about that. Sorry I can't be more specific.

Somebody said the "302" heads aren't legal on that motor. Have you checked that out? I have no idea, but maybe the blueprint spec sheet in the NHRA site might tell. Worth looking into, if you haven't.
 
Somebody said the "302" heads aren't legal on that motor. Have you checked that out? I have no idea, but maybe the blueprint spec sheet in the NHRA site might tell. Worth looking into, if you haven't.

AFAIK, the 302s are legal for this engine. I've had some contact with Chris Barnes (Mopar Max, Wagons Of Steel, A/SA racer) and he has told me that these heads are indeed legal. He was putting a 2bbl 273 together for a '66 Belvedere and planned to use 302s. He was actually the guy that told me about the Bushmaker's car, he posted a photo of it on Mopar Max earlier this year and we exchanged a few emails about it.

The valves are small in the 302s, I think the same size as the original '65 273 castings so they offer no real performance gain in terms of volume. Not sure of that, but as I understand it, the real advantage of these heads is the swirl port chamber. Of course I could be wrong. I'd definitely double check with the NHRA before I actually put an engine together.
 
heres something interesting:

NHRA SuperStock Legal Cyl.Head Volumes

"302" Intake Max CC 162 Exhaust Max CC 70~ 1.78"/1.50" Valves
"915" Intake Max CC 158 Exhaust Max CC 75~ 2.02"/1.60" Valves

makes yah think about them "tiny" 302 heads eh?
can't find if they are legal on any year Stock or SuperStock engines tho.
 
The NHRA Blueprint spec. website lists the following casting numbers as legal on a 235HP 273 1965 engine: B = 2465315,2843675,4323302


They also specify a 57.3cc combustion chamber volume.

Looks like the 302's are indeed legal, and should be the way to go.

Here's a link to the spec page you need.

//www.nhra.com/tech_specs/engine/blueprints/CHRY-65.rtf
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The 302 head has bean legal for quite a while, I have them on my s/s car and have also done a couple pair for stock elim. As far as the early intake fitting just offset drill the intake holes and spot face.
 
Classracer.com would be a good place to get info about these combos. The racers on that site are hardcore, been class racing for years, can't imagine doing anything else kind of people! The 2 bbl 273 (180 hp) in 65ish B body wagons (U/SA) has been popular for years and has quite a following. A friend of mine ran one in the 80's. It's biggest downfall was the 2 bbl, which made it relatively inconsistent and hard to dial. IIRC, the 235 hp combos were never run because the factor wasn't favorable. Sounds like that has changed. Oh, those wagons run 13's (Well, the quickest ones do, the index is a 15.15.) weighing about 3800#!
 
Classracer.com would be a good place to get info about these combos. The racers on that site are hardcore, been class racing for years, can't imagine doing anything else kind of people! The 2 bbl 273 (180 hp) in 65ish B body wagons (U/SA) has been popular for years and has quite a following. A friend of mine ran one in the 80's. It's biggest downfall was the 2 bbl, which made it relatively inconsistent and hard to dial. IIRC, the 235 hp combos were never run because the factor wasn't favorable. Sounds like that has changed. Oh, those wagons run 13's (Well, the quickest ones do, the index is a 15.15.) weighing about 3800#!

I lurk over there a bit. Kinda hard to sift through some of it though unless you're actually a regular competitive racer. No one really gives out any info on their combos except for what parts are legal or not. I read a debate over lifters awhile back, like the solid lifter 273's were outlawed even though they came that way from the factory. NHRA was trying to level the field but the U/SA 273 racers were having none of it.

As Victory273 stated, the HP factor is down to 210 which makes it much more attractive and the '65 Valiant is a fairly light car. As I've been saying, it would take around 300-325hp at the wheels to be somewhat competitive. I think the J/SA record is like 11.1xx, so I'm not shooting for that, more like 12.0 -11.9 or something which is hauling for a 273.
 
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