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Future project, automatic or manual?

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Doc Sprocket

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Yeah, I love free mods.

I used to dirt oval race a 1970 firebird with a 455 and a turbo 400 tranny in the Street-Stock class. Everyone built their cars as cheap as possible because the racers could 'Claim" your whole car for $450, and you had to sell it to them or you couldn't race in that class the rest of the season.

We raced on a small 1/4-mile track and my poncho had like 275 gears so I needed it to stay in 2nd gear. So I bought one of those B&M shift kits, installed everything but my tranny still shifted into 3rd even when I had the shifter held down in 1st...

I talked to a buddy that worked in a tranny shop and he told me about wiring/securing the governor weights so they couldn't expand. This simple solution made my tranny full-manual and stay in any gear desired, It also gave it brutally hard shifts.


Some of those B&M kits come with metal retaining clips to keep the governor weights from spreading, but bailing wire would work just as well.

We even welded the spider gears in the rear end for a freebie/DIY locker-3rd member.




Very, VERY cool- you even had a "Lincoln Locker", eh? Between the engine, tranny mods, and your poor man's posi, it sounds like it could have been a real handful to drive in the dirt!
 

anderkart

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Very, VERY cool- you even had a "Lincoln Locker", eh? Between the engine, tranny mods, and your poor man's posi, it sounds like it could have been a real handful to drive in the dirt!

Yeah, testing that car on the paved street it just totally screamed and would absolutely smolder the tires through 1st, second AND 3rd. (i thought I was gonna have the quickest car on the track)

But that big-ol Poncho engine was just too dang heavy, a lot heavier than all the chevy small blocks I was racing against. I couldn't ever get that car to hook-up, handle/turn as well as the other guys cause I just had too-much weight up front.

Although I did manage to finish a main event in 2nd place once before that engine finally blew up. I shoulda just installed a small block then, but I'd gotten all frustrated, so i just quit racing and sold the car off.

After that, I never raced at any track again for 20 years, (besides R/C cars) until I finally got into karts.
 

South Kart3377

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My volvo has p/r/n/d/2/1
1990 760 turbo 4 cylinder omc 160 hp
395,000 miles and still kicking!!!
 
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