1965 Plymouth 2% A/FX cars

[topside]

The story goes that the Lions test was frustrating because the A864 had Carters on it and couldn't outrun the Maxie by what they'd hoped. The change to Holleys came about as a result.
Yeah, the old salt with the stogie stands out as particularly intriguing.
I saw somewhere that the '65 Dodge 10/15 @ Amblewagon (and above by rmchgr) is Faubel's.
Looking at the "Meet The Mule" photo, it occurs to me that there were likely 3 scoops developed for Hemis: the RO/WO A864 & A990, the more angled '65 (Mule photo), and the angled & peaked '65 with the largest opening. All moot once they went to injectors, which happened pretty quickly.
The "unidentified rep" in the mule photo looks like the younger DiBari (Melrose Motors), but Tommy Grove was their initial driver...

 

[rmchrgr]

I immediately beelined to the old train depot senior with the cigar hanging out his mouth.

Kinda looks like Isky! Makes some sense - the pic is in Cali. Maybe they were testing cams? Don't know if the Lawman was running an Isky stick though.

Plus, if I'm not mistaken, the Isky "550 Super LaGerra(sp?)" cam was the hot ticket around that time.

 

[Jeff Peterson]

 

[fullmetaljacket]

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This here looks like almost a standard front fender wheel well opening, but probably isn't. The angle of the shot is probably hiding that the front wheel and tire are 3 or 4 inches forward. The rears are surely forward, but not by much. I've heard that one of these '65's 2% secretly and illegally had a leftover aluminum dash frame in it.

 

[Dave6T4]

This here looks like almost a standard front fender wheel well opening, but probably isn't. The angle of the shot is probably hiding that the front wheel and tire are 3 or 4 inches forward. The rears are surely forward, but not by much. I've heard that one of these '65's 2% secretly and illegally had a leftover aluminum dash frame in it.

2% car; lack of vent windows gives it away. I think 2 Dodges were made; Color Me Gone and Ramchargers. 2 Plymouths also made; Golden Commandos and Melrose Missle. All were later converted to AWB.

 

[Xslantracer]

The body lines sure don't look very good.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

The body lines sure don't look very good.

View attachment 1403060

The overall shape to identify the make and model was paramount, not the defining details such as body lines. One would think the opposite. Such is production and racing in haste which ultimately makes waste. Almost seemed like the 1965 2% cars in particular were non existent once the 10/15 cars bum rushed the show.
The 1964 2% cars the year prior got a free pass since they were not competing against radical wheel base measures, rather they were themselves the free radicals.

 

[topside]

Yeah, it seems that there was even more going on for the '65s than the '64s, so things were likely rushed.
A few things stand out to me in that Commandos photo: apparent buckling around the rear wheelhouse, the top body line quarter/door, and the upward angle of the fender.
Ironically, perhaps, there's also a photo of their gold 10/15 car with the quarters significantly buckled.
Another oddity to me is the Commandos ran steel wheels longer than most of the other contract racers.
That looks a lot like Lions, but maybe it's Beeline ?

 

[fullmetaljacket]

Yeah, it seems that there was even more going on for the '65s than the '64s, so things were likely rushed.
A few things stand out to me in that Commandos photo: apparent buckling around the rear wheelhouse, the top body line quarter/door, and the upward angle of the fender.
Ironically, perhaps, there's also a photo of their gold 10/15 car with the quarters significantly buckled.
Another oddity to me is the Commandos ran steel wheels longer than most of the other contract racers.
That looks a lot like Lions, but maybe it's Beeline ?

Might be a few things in play with that cars morphing into a pretzel. If IIRC, it might have been a stick car and combined with an alleged chemical milling practice already in play by the factory of by individuals, that could explain cars trying to buckle in all directions. Who knows. Just my keen sense.

 

[gooser]

beeline i think look at the sign in the background i dont think nhra would have a sign for the ahra

 

[autoxcuda]

View attachment 607226

That’s at Pete Haldiman’s old house in Colorado.
He finished that Landy car in 1989.

 

[autoxcuda]

I just wish some publication and well informed writer would do an extensive article on these 2% cars. Lot's of people do not even remotely know about these 8 sneaky predecessors to the 10/15 Altered wheel base cars.

 

[topside]

Lions was an AHRA track for a bit, bounced back & forth between NHRA & AHRA.
But yeah, LAST thing NHRA would do is acknowledge a competing sanctioning body !

 

[fullmetaljacket]

View attachment 1403334

View attachment 1403335

That's one hard catalog to get a hold of. Have been searching for it since when I heard of it a year after its printing.

 

[446acuda]

Here's some cotton candy and a saltine cracker.
A friend of mine right here in Brooklyn, NY threw away his stainless Lt weight K frame because it had too many cracks and seam separation.............................only in NY.

I can see using magnesium for K frames for the weight reduction but what was the reason for using stainless steel?

 

[fullmetaljacket]

I can see using magnesium for K frames for the weight reduction but what was the reason for using stainless steel?

I'm not sure if they discovered at the time that Magnesium not only could be flammable, usually in powdered form, but that it apparently had cracking issues.
Stainless, though being light but not as light as Magnesium, theoretically could be more stronger, but apparently also had cracking problems either because of the massive stresses from wheel stands or the fact that the gauge was just too thin as well. Some of the stainless K's were battered and bent especially in the strut bar areas, so I could imagine what the surviving Magnesium types might have looked like after a season.
That being said, there lies my theory that the '65 A-990 thin gauge fenders had cracking/distortion problems as a result of possibly being stamped out of a thinner gauge 0.20 metal and then having to change over to 0.18 for the factory run. The factory memo stated 0.20 whereas the actual real fenders read 0.18.

 

[Dave6T4]

I don't think the Chrysler racing parts designers were giving any thought to magnesium's flammability, but it is bad $hit in a vehicle fire. Same with aluminum. Many years ago, I was a member of my community's VFD. We learned early on not to spray water on motorcycle or VW bug engine fires. It results in fireworks! The hot alloy actually explodes.

 

[fullmetaljacket]

I don't think the Chrysler racing parts designers were giving any thought to magnesium's flammability, but it is bad $hit in a vehicle fire. Same with aluminum. Many years ago, I was a member of my community's VFD. We learned early on not to spray water on motorcycle or VW bug engine fires. It results in fireworks! The hot alloy actually explodes.

Yes. It must have been a wild, wild west lawlessness science class all in one.

 

[Xslantracer]

These photos are from a press release sent to the local newspaper. The sports editor was a drag racer.
The k member tag reads: Part 2660900
Name Frt. Susp. Crossmember Assy.
Vendor Carron & Company
Insp. by Joe Roberts
I can't read the last line and I'm not 100% sure on the zero's in the part number.

 

[Xslantracer]