Selling the NSSRacing.com domain with the forum and Registered membership list.
Frankly I haven’t been doing a good job with promoting the site, soliciting advertisers, adding race dates to the calendar or promoting the Classified Ad section. It was once a very active forum for those interested in Nostalgia Super Stock Drag Racing. This might be a good opportunity to for a NSS Group, vendor of a product or service of interest to NSS Racers, or a computer Geek willing to build the site and sell banner ads.
I feel the the domain name, membership and Vbulletin license is worth more than $1000 as-is, Where-is – but I’ll accept the $1000. Any of my help or domain hosting would be extra. If the site doesn’t sell within a month or so — then I’ll list the domain name on an auction site, sell the Vbulletin license and delete the site. If you are interested in the site, domain name or Vbulletin license — contact me via email at davetheoldhippie @ Gmail.com.
I created a Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/nssracing/ that appears to be taking up a lot of the slack for NSS Racing — although a Vbulletin board is far more efficient with regards to categorizing posts by topic, calendars, searching, and income opportunity with banner pay for view or pay for click ads.
The first week of May 2019, I raced in Memphis. See the Memphis Recap for that story. After I returned from the Memphis Race — here’s a few of the items accomplished at the shop, in no real order.
First we had a butt-load of rain here. I actually had more flooding coming closer to my home and the shop than the last two hurricanes and the last Tropical Storms.
My pond grew to about three times its real size
got pretty close to the back door of the house
The five acres that the house and shop are on had hundreds of truckloads of dirt brought in before building – so we fared much better than our neighbors
about three days later the water receded and I mowed the very wet yard as the grass had grown knee high and the varmints were taking refuge in it
Speaking of varmints, this fried up little guy climb the power pole and got electrocuted going from wire to wire — cutting off power to the property for a couple of hours – until Centerpoint got here.
Moving to the topic of cars, the following was part of the happenings.
This is how the seats (once light grey) for Screamin’ Woody now look after 12 coats of dye. Still a little splotchy so I ordered another 16oz of dye, which came in Yesterday.
While on the subject of dye, 48oz of Evergreen Dye has been applied to the interior of my 64 Imperial. Still needs more so I ordered another 16oz this morning.
And while on the subject of my 64 Imperial, I took it for a 60-mile shakedown ride yesterday. The goal was to identify what problems I still have to address after all of the work (new brakes, power steering pump, complete exhaust system, major motor tuneup, leaking transmission fixed, odometer fixed, convertible pumps fixed, carb rebuild, new shocks – and a ton I’ve forgotten). The below is the first of five videos I took, which documents the repairs I still need to make.
None of the problems were really major — and two actually corrected themselves. However, about 29 miles into my trip I kept getting smoke looking like it was rolling out from under the dashboard. I stopped the first time and looked under the hood and under the car – but could find nothing. When I started driving again the smoke reappeared only thicker. I stopped again and looked under the dash and found nothing. As I was getting back in the car I noticed smoke coming from the back seat — and that’s when I saw my carpet was on fire. Fortunately I carry a fire extinguisher in most of my old cars — as I was way out in the sticks and had no water. After I got the fire put out — I found that the brand new exhaust was too close to the floorboards and set jute on the back of my 56 year old carpet caught fire. I order a fire mat made for Turbos and catalytic converters, which I’ll use as part of my repair — but I will have to get a new carpet. You can see the other videos of the test drive on my You Tube Channel.
Moving onto Race Cars, The Thugs now has Wheelie Bars as twice I was surprised with Wheel Stands far higher than I was expecting.
Before trimming back some
Finished Product
Yesterday I picked up the block to my wagon, the Screamin’ Woody, from the machine shop. After a thorough washing the crank was sent in, and then the rest of the rotating.
Also on the wagon, the cage was painted hammered gold to blend in a little with the Maple wood on the pillars.
I intend to leave the carpet black — but will make new interior door cards in a red vinyl that will match the seats going in.. The car is on the home stretch to getting finished.
I’ve had a 63 Studebaker GT Hawk for about thirty years now. It’s bounce around a couple of shops to get converted into a Mopar Powered chassis car with a 53 Commander front clip and 60 Plymouth fins — called the Mohawk. It’s come back worse from each of the shops its been to in the last 20 years — so I bought it to my shop to try to tackle the job. The body has been separated from the chassis.
A good bit of work has been accomplished since these photos. The body is wrapped in a tarp at the moment, but the chassis has been reinforced and the welds smoothed. It is about ready for paint – and then will be brought into the shop to get the all of the chassis components right. On the body — it needs to have those nasty home made rear fins cut off and a set of 60 Plymouth fins I have grafted on — and then blasted, repaired and primed.
A lot of wet sanding has occurred on the 60 Plymouth that will be my Petty Clone — but I don’t have any photos of that.
I took my Magnum XE for a shakedown ride, and it’s almost ready. I’ve had this car for a very long time and love it. Ought to be the fastest Magnum out there.
I putting a cactus garden at the entrance way of my race shop and so I picked up a couple yards of a sandy soil mix at the local dirtyard. Photos of the cactus garden to be in the next shop update.
Finally, I’m thinning my cars down from 31 to about ten. I have a lot of real nice ones for sale. The list includes:
67 Marlin
99 Vioer GTS
79 Magnum GT
86 Buick GN
72 Demon Roller Race Car
69 Barracuda Race Car
70 Superbird V-Code
09 Drag Pack 42
78 Dodge Diplomat
64 Dodge A-100 Pick up
58 Dodge Pickup
a pair of low mileage 09 Challengers with 6-speeds
So in my last post, I was racing in Atlanta – and there was a rain delay. When we resumed and I completed the third of three Qualifying passes — I had qualified 4th of 25. On the ladder that put me up against Jim Netherland in the first round. A little humor was Jim wearing my T-Shirt.
Jim Netherland Sporting a Texas Whale Championship T-Shirt from the DDC in 2015
Jim was gracious enough to give me lane choice and I took the Left as I swear the roll out on the Right lane was quicker and had me red-lighting. Jim runs a 10.5 Index and I run the 9.50 — so Jim got a 1-second head start. I caught Jim too Quick meaning I must have had a much better light, even though I had bagged a couple of numbers. I blipped at the MPH cone and took the stripe by a few feet. I saw my win light come on and when I got the ticket it was a RT win – .039 to .110. Jim Broke out with a 10.497 and I had a 9.550 at a slow 133mph.
In Round two I had the points leader Mike DiChicco. We both wanted the left lane — so we flipped – and I lost. The weather turned on us hard, and I had to take any extra weight out of the car. I removed a battery, the weight box lids and the passenger seat — to shake about 80 pounds.
Neither of us would lift at the stripe and we had a double breakout when Mike took the stripe by three feet.
For the next round I had Kurt Neighbor. With just having a .028 light in the right lane — I felt I’d figured out how to wait — and now wanted it. So did Kurt — so we flipped – and I again lost the flip. The weather was really getting tough and I had nothing else to take out. While Kurt didn’t have a great light (.05X) — mine truly sucked (.090). There wasn’t enough steam left in the Thug to catch Kurt and my time was 9.58 to Kurt’s 9.55 on the brakes.
It was 7:30pm Sunday night and I wanted to get on the other side of Atlanta while it was still Sunday — so I rushed to load up and get on the road at 9PM. At about 11:30 I stopped about 50 miles west of Atlanta to spend the night. Up at 6 and back at the Shop in Beasley, TX at 9PM. Tim Frees won the next round against Kurt, and then against Corky Bumpus in the Final. Congrats to Timmy.
Back At The Shop
The trailer was unloaded
The seats of the 64 Imperial are now finished, with the exception of one last coat of semi-gloss clear, which is on order.
Here’s a before pick
Engine and transmission stabbed into the Petty Tribute car.
motor mounts made and welded in
transmission mount made
clutch master cylinder mounted
clutch Z-Bar modified
drivetrain yanked back out
On the Screamin’ Woody
Front end metal put on the car – although the red lights need to go inboard
The grey seats have 8 oz of red dye on them — but I had to order another 8oz to finish
The roll cage is being painted a hammered gold
So that’s going to be it for a while. Deb’s and my 40th anniversary is coming up — so we’ll be leaving for a couple of weeks in Europe, only to return just in time to make it to the Memphis race.
So we’re at Atlanta Dragway, and it’s raining – so its a good time to catch up on what;s been goin on since last week’s post.
Racing
I’ll start with racing. I loaded up Tuesday morning and Deb, I, Smith & Wesson left at half past noon. That’s 12:30pm for digital Snowflakes. We drove to just north of Hammond, LA (350 miles) at about 7pm, and spent the night in a Walmart parking lot . We left the next morning at 9am and drove the remaining 550 miles, arriving at the staging area of the track at 8pm. The track started letting us in at 7:30am. By 11am my pit was setup, credentials established, and car teched in.
On Thursday you can buy two test hits in the afternoon, and I did so. The first was a 9.48 off the trailer. While that’s normally OK to run the 9.50 Index, the weather is going to be all over the map and I need to bag a 10th. So I took one of the 37 pound batteries out.
I made a second hit and got a 9.45. I have another trick or two up my sleeve if I need it. So I put the car away for the night. It drizzled and light rained most of the night. It is still 1pm, and they claim that we’ll all hit the track at 2pm – but I’m not thinking so. Still light drizzle, track still wet, and this track tends to seep.
We were suppose to have a time trial in the morning, then two of the three Qualifying passes today. Now its down to one Qualifying and no test hits – if that even happens. It needs to stop drizzling and the sun and wind needs to appear for that to happen.
Update 10pm
The track went hot at 5pm, as they were havinf problems getting the timing to work. They finally gave with right lane not getting an accurate MPH and neither lane getting a 1000′ time. We were called at 6pm, but it was almost an hour later that we finally ran because of a lane cleanup.
I went a little more “go for broke” than usual. I usually just try to get in the first Qualifying, then go for perfect in 2nd and 3rd Qualifying. I’m not sure if we’ll get another qualify, so I went for broke. It appears everyone had that plan because my 9.510 on a 9.50 index was only good for 3rd after first round. Pretty amazing everyone did so well as the weather was all over the map, the lanes are way different and you can’t plan which lane you get, and we sat in our cars for and hour.
Family Grows
Last week, Son number 1’s wife gave us Grandson number 4. The wife of his younger brother went into labor a couple of hours later, but Grandson number 5 didn’t arrive until the next day. Everyone is doing well.
My youngest daughter is due in October. We’re hoping for Granddaughter number 2.
My Petty Tribute
I have a 1960 Plymouth that I’ve been building to be a Petty Tribute, that looks like its been sitting out in the fields for 50 years. Click Here is you want to start at the beginning of this build. The latest news is that the motor and transmission has been test fitted and mounts made/tacked in. I’ll have a professional come in to weld the mounts in purdy.
Engine is coming back out and the car , and the body will get about 80 hours of wet sanding 400/600 grit; and High Build Primer and more sanding – until the body panels are as smooth as a baby’s ass. In June, it has a date with the lady in Indiana to wrap it. I ordered the clutch assembly last night; but I’m still needing to find a decent shifterless steering column and a 4-speed shifter.
Screamin’ Woody
So the wagon is getting there. I’m pretty sure my last post spoke of the new red paint under the hood. My shop Rat and Assistant Shop Rat spent the week getting the over spray off the brand new Lexan, and polishing it up. I took the headers to get blasted and recoated.
After blasting, a ton of pin holes were discovered, so I had to go bring back to the shop to get wet welded up. I’ll take them back to the powder coater when I get back home from racing.
1964 Imperial
Still finishing up the leather on my Imperial convertible. Repaired and dyed the front seat, but the the tint was off a little so we had to coat with adhesion promoter and dye all leather, plastic and vinyl. I had to order more Top Coat last light, so the gloss will happen when I get back.
Well that pretty much catches me up, and just in time as they just came over the squawk box saying that its time to get cars ready, as they project they’re going hot in an hour.
The NMCA race in Commerce, GA is coming up, so a lot of the focus has been on getting ready for that. Today, it was on the lift having the underside inspected and tightened. The torque converter bolts were pulled and had some Locktite applied, and then the death grip applied. A couple of small leaks were addressed, and all nuts and bolts tightened. The passenger seat was pulled and weighed (36 pounds) and thread-certs pressed in the floorboards so I can quickly remove the seat without help, and without having to climb under the car.
Last week the oil was changed, slicks swapped sides, valves run, the vacuum tanks puke tank relocated, the hood repaired and dropped of to the paint shop. I pick it up tomorrow and put it on Thursday. The car will get washed Friday, and loaded up Monday. We leave Tuesday mid-day.
Late last week was Spring Cleaning in the shop. Everything was moved out, the floors scrubbed and as much of the red paint over-spray from painted under the wagon’s engine compartment cleaned off the floor. Today the cars moved back in.
My Shop Rat washed the motorhome and stacker last week, and while he was reroofing the shed today, my youngest daughter Hope (she goes to college during the day and works late afternoons as my “Assistant Shop Rat”) polished the wheels on both.
The wheels and rear bumper found their way onto the Screamin’ Woody. Hopefully the engine assembly will start soon. Waiting on rotation assembly still. The pistons and rings are in, and their weight sent to Molnar to balance the crank. Some over-spray from painting under the hood got onto the new Lexan. The “Assistant Shop Rat” spent some time today clay barring it off, and will finish tomorrow. I bought some Gold hammertone paint, and she’ll paint the wagon’s roll bars with two coats of that while I’m racing.
A couple years ago, I made a strap rack out of some scrap metal. I mounted it and a Pit Pal fire bottle holder with some #10 self tapping screws. On the last trip both unmounted themselves. Today I drilled some bigger holes and filled them with rivet style thread-certs. I then applied Liquid Nails to the backside and screwed them down.
A little cleaning left to do in the stacker before loading up for the race. I bought some closed cell foam rubber (Yoga Mats) that needs to be mounted under the Strap Holders.
Finally, the 60 Plymouth Post car I’m putting together as a weathered Petty Nascar got the underside of the hood painted Petty Blue.
No, no motor yet. Still waiting on the rotating to get delivered to the Machine Shop. However, some progress was made to prepare for the engine’s insertion.
Black paint was scuffed
car wrapped in Plastic
Hit with a coat of prime
Hit with first coat2nd through 5th coats
plastic and tape removed – wheels and tires on
Hood installed
Still to come
Transmission and torque converter have been freshened and waiting for the engine to get assembled.
New braided fuel line and 00 battery cable has been run to front, and will get connected to it’s under-hood components.
Rear bumper ready to be installed.
Cage painted red
Red Leather/Vinyl dye and adhesion promoter ordered, and will be applied over the previously beige/gray seats. After a top coat they’ll get installed.
New belts will be ordered closer to go time.
Engine should be ready to go in this time next month.
The front body parts installed
The car cleaned up and off to get the cage installed.
Here’s a recap of the Happenings in my MoparStyle Racing shop in the last week.
Texas Thug
If you followed the hood ejection story at the Bradenton race earlier in the month, you know The Thug lost it’s hood in warm up. A quick repair with pop rivets and duct tape got me through the weekend. Once back home, about 10 hours was spent repairing the broken off corners, the rivet holes, and the scrapes and breaks. On the underside it was reinforced where the reinforcement was broken, sanded and skimmed.
This poor hood been through Hell. Dallas lost it warming up the car in Maryland 6 or 7 years ago, when the car was black. Its been repaired so many times that it weighs more than a metal hood. On Thursday I took it to a friend who owns a body shop. He says still needs about ten hours worth of putty, sanding and three coats of high build primer before the paint. I should be picking up next Tuesday Morning, and put it on in the afternoon.
The Thug had its oil changed, interior cleaned, and aluminum tank and weight boxes polished. Valves were run, header bolts tightened, and plugs looked over. After the hood is reattached, the slicks will get swapped, the car washed and wheels polished by my Shop Rat (a 70-year-old Latino who is strong like Bull) and my Assistant Shop Rat (youngest daughter Hope, who goes to College in morning and works four hours in evening). I also got Summit racing to swap out my 16v battery charger.
The Stacker
I took it to get inspected today and renewed the registration. Shop Rat washed it. Assistant Shop Rat cleaned out the cabinets and washed the shelves. She’ll polish the wheels and scrub down pit mat. Have a few repairs to make, like reattaching the rear strap hanger, the fire bottle holder and gluing up some pads for the straps to bang against. The Coach is cleaned in and out and full of 15 gallons of DEF.
The Screamin’ Woody
If you’ve been following the progress at www.screaminwoody.com , you know the car is pretty close to finished. The underside stripped and painted, new fuel system, new 00 battery cables, new wiring, back compartment finished in spatter paint, new fuel cell and weight boxes, rear end rebuilt, transmission rebuilt, converter freshened and new Lexan. We’re waiting on the rotating to arrive so Damon can build the engine. I hope to bring the car to the Hot Rod Reunion in June.
Today, I took the tailgate to Tasco and had them match the color to a quart of single stage paint. The engine compartment was wet sanded with 400 grit and the first coat of red sprayed.
60 Plymouth Post
Moving on to my street cars, I’ve had this car for many years. In the last year or two, the interior was pulled and floor sanded to bare metal before getting a couple coats of POR, and new interior made from Indian Blankets I bought in New Mexico.
I bought a 8.75″ rear end out of a 68 Newport and rebuilt it with new brakes. The understide was also taken to bare metal, painted with POR15, and new rear end installed.
The Leaning tower of power and three on tree yanked and a bad ass aluminum head 383 built.
That engine and a yet to be purchased Passon Performance 5-Speed 833 will be installed. The car will be wrapped to look like Richard Petty took his NASCAR from 1960 after the season and drag it out back to let 58 years of weather beat it up. This brings me to what was recently done, and that was to paint the engine compartment Petty Blue before the engine goes in. The front end was also rebuilt last week.
1978 Dodge Magnum GT
I’ve owned 9 Magnum XEs, but this is the only Magnum GT I ever seen in person. I’ve owed it for about 16 years. I’m in the process of selling what I don’t drive, so this whole car has been gone through to make run like new.
The driver’s seat was looking worn, but not ripped.
So I Cleaned the leather and redyed it red.
Last week top coated the leather. It looks pretty damn good.
1964 Imperial Convertible
For the last 40 years I’ve always had a big Chrysler convertible. There’s nothing like cruising down a country road at 70 with the top down in a big barge. First I had a 67 Newport, then a 64 300 and then a 65 300. About 15 years ago I bought this off the original owner old lady, who was in a nursing home. We’ve been going through it to fix anything not perfect. I intend to keep this car forever. The driver’s seat was a little rough, so I bought some leather repair and green dye.
It took about 10 coats to cover the repair. It still needs top coat. The closest match was a Ford color called Evergreen. Its a little too blue, so I ordered another pint so all of the interior can be done.
and Finally
I managed to mow five acres before the sun set, getting the Zero-turn stuck in the mud and having to pull it out with the John Deere.
Leaving Sunday evening for the NMCA race in South Florida, so a lot of the last week was spent getting the Motorhome (Not driven since October), Stacker and car ready. Loaded the car and golf cart today as it appears to have had the only two hour window of no rain between now and Sunday.
Getting my Magnum GT ready to sell, and the only real sore spot was the front seats.
I bought some dye from autoleatherdye.com, watched the video, and taught my shop rat how to do. He dabbed on six light coats to get to here.
Next he needs to scrub the dye off the buckles, apply the Semi-gloss topcoat, and finally the conditioner. The pictures don’t do the job justice, and it will look pretty damn good when finished. I ordered dark green dye and self-leveling crack filler to do the seats on my 64 Imperial.
My Magnum XE (Ginger) has had a ton of retro-mod upgrades over the years. Motor, 8.75 Rear-end, stereo, convert from column shift to factory floor shift, new carpet, addition of power windows, headers and 2.5″ dual exhaust, modern leather seats, and a new dash and custom gauges. Click here to read more. This week it was new wheels and fabricating the missing console plate out of 1/8″ aluminum plate and black wrinkle paint to match the dash. The AC leak was fixed and recharged, and the turn signal issue from the gauge upgrade fixed. Also added a deep trans pan with temperature sender to go to the gauge. I normally wouldn’t have an oil temp gauge, but I had an extra hole to fill when I did the gauge panel.
There was some work done on the the Screamin’ Woody. The fuel system’s AN -10 hose was run to the front of the car, as was some double-ought battery cable. Stopped short of running under the hood as that needs to be freshened up with new paint.
Turned the shop rat loose with some sand paper to scuff it up. Need a couple days of 70+ degree weather with no rain before being able to paint. Ordered the rotating and bearings for the wagon’s motor. The block is done, so assembly will start soon. Getting down to home stretch.
Wheeled my 60 Plymouth into the bay. While it doesn’t look like it, a lot of work has been done in this car. Click here to check out it’s story.
Its getting all new front-end parts. Then then engine compartment will be painted Petty Blue. Then the trim will get removed, body wet sanded and spray with clear. Then a bad ass lowdeck and 5-Speed stick installed.
Finally it goes to the wrapper to get wrapped to look like Petty’s 60 Plymouth in the woods in back of his shop for last 55 years.
So other than a little cleaning of the shop and some parts that I’m selling/sold; ordering new parts and shipping sold parts – that’s most of it for this last week.
The back of Screamin’ Woody had two (cutdown) Aerospace Components battery holders, two weight boxes, fuel cell, and battery cables mocked up; taken back out; the compartment Spatter Painted and Cleared; the aluminum polished; and finally everything reassembled with fuel plumbed to Fuelab Pre-filter.
The back of Screamin’ Woody had two (cutdown) Aerospace Components battery holders, two weight boxes, fuel cell, and battery cables mocked up; taken back out; the compartment Spatter Painted and Cleared; the aluminum polished; and finally everything reassembled with fuel plumbed to Fuelab Pre-filter.
New Double-Ought positive cable to the front. New AN -12 braided also going from pre-filter to Fuelab pump, and then new AN -10 heading to front for the post filter & regulator.
Allante got it’s first power buff since it left the factory in 1993. I bought this car new in June of 1993.
Did some Spring cleaning on the cars in one of my warehouses. All walls and the floor cleaned, and all cars detailed in and out. The Superbird, Demon, Barracuda, Grand National, Drag Pak, Magnum GT, Marlin and 58 Pickup are for Sale. I also have a nice 2014 Ford Pickup for sale. I might even sell the Viper if enough money was waived in front of my face. It has sentimental Value and I have mixed emotions on that. It would have to be someone wanting the best 3000 mile 99 GTS available. I’ve posted an album of thumbnails that can be right-clicked and enlarged to full size. If you know of anyone interested in any of these cars, let them know. Below is my business card. Email or text as I don’t answer the dozens of unknown calls I get daily.
Last month I sold the Vitamin C to Dave Lewis in Oklahoma, under the condition that he kept it as the Vitamin C. He stripped the car down, did the minor bodywork needed and repainted with replication of the Original Graphics. Looks great.
A couple of years ago my 3000 mile Viper GTS had it’s fluids drained, battery and tires removed, and put in a climate controlled bubble. Last month we took it out, restored fluid levels, replace plugs and wires, replaced the battery, puts its wheels back on, and completely went through it. Broke it back it and then I ran it up to 140mph.
So the new Lexan is in, replacing the 2006 version. Moving onto mocking up the fuel cell, two battery hold downs, weight boxes, and fuel system. Them pulling back out for a couple coats of black spatter paint and a couple coats of clear top coat. Then all back together. After that, new fuel line and battery cable will be run to the front.
I n 1996, I promised myself that if I ever hit a homerun selling the largest of my three businesses at the time, that I would reward myself with a new black on black Viper GTS; and my family with a lake house and diesel pusher motorhome. In June 1998 I sold that business and ordered this car. It took almost a year to arrive. I never really drove it much, and in 2005, with only 3000 miles, I took out the battery, drained the coolant, took off the wheels and put in a bubble. Last month it came out, all fluids changed and topped off; new plugs, wires and battery, and the car started and taken for a ride. It ran great (and fast) and my shop rat power buffed the paint and my youngest daughter detailed the inside. Today, I applied for collector car insurance and when I receive the card I’ll take to get inspected and register It was raining today, so I’ll wait before taking for photos.
