No one who has EVER let go of a transbrake, yanked the wheels, and felt that "shot out of a cannon" feeling would ever make a statement like that. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, 'cause you'd sure as hell never go back to foot braking, that's for damn sure!
With all due respect Doug your car running an 8.74 should give a shot out of a cannon feeling no matter how you drove it. My car was considerably slower than yours with a best of 11.02. I'm just an old fart with old ideas. I was still racing when the electronics came out and started getting beat by some of the people I beat all the time. Just barely, but beat just the same. I have hated electronics with the exception of the transbrake every since. Bob H
I started to run a brake this year for the first time it is great........check this out....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3BnHtEiGLU
What was the decision on the car? There are small tire cars running 8's and pro streeters that can't get out of the 15's. Build what you want to look at when you're not behind the wheel! BTW, my car is tubbed 'cause I like it. It's an over dressed snail, so my .02 may not even be worth .01.
Perry ... step away from the keyboard! Not to sound negative, but I just don't see it happening anymore. These cars are 35+ years old now. There just aren't that many left, let alone built to run fast. Even NHRA Stock and Super Stock are migrating toward late model cars now. I think you have to look at history and learn from it.
Well Bob, I agree with your assessment of electronics and I don't like them or run them. But as far as the footbraking goes, the times I've done it (due to a broken transbrake switch) my car feels to me like a lazy pig. I let my friend Engie Bauza take his comp license passes in my car and he refused to use the transbrake when he drove the car. He said he wasn't comfortable with the idea of the track horizon disappearing. :laugh: I watched him launch and it actually did lift the front wheels about a foot and a half and ran a 9.13. I climbed in the car an hour later and ran a 9.11 launching on the transbrake. I know .02 isn't much quicker, but I'm almost 200 lbs heavier than him so it's apples to oranges. The main difference wasn't the ET but the wheelie, which was tremendous!:TU: I watched DUBUICK's car launch on the transbrake a few times in New Hampshire last week and he looked like he was having fun!
I have raced both styles over the years. Electronics make the good racers better and the average racers pretty good. With the level of racers we have around here, you have to put together .010 or better package on every pass in Super Pro. That's tough. The footbrake guys are even cutting .00 lights and running dead-on. No matter which way you go, it's a tough road. Oh, I already pretty much knew what I wanted to do, I was just stirring up the pot a little! I'm gonna put a t-brake and a box in it, put some 10.5" slicks on, and take some weight off the nose with a 'glass hood and lightweight seats. You should talk to some of those small tire car guys going 8's about what they have to do to get there. It ain't easy AND the track has to be prepped to the hilt. Bobb can cry on your shoulder on that subject! My problem isn't getting my car to hook, it's getting on the track when it's prepped and not behind 15 pairs of pick-ups, Explorers, and Mustangs dragging dirt up to the starting line. Have fun.
I've had my car go almost on the bumper just using the footbrake. I'll be puckering up the fist time I let go of that button with this car, for sure!! Yee Haw!!!! In all honesty, it takes more tuning to make a high powered footbrake car hook. A transbrake will hit the tires harder and generally make it "easier" to hook. The converter is alot more important in a footbrake car. It has to be dead-on. Have fun.
Jeff I will agree with you on the junk on the track and the way some tracks prep it. That's one reason I race NMCA, I got tired of all the junk you go through at a local track. Dallas and Clay do a good job at Bowling Green for their weekly program, but they are one of the few. As for the transbrake, I have one in my car but have not used it in 6 years. The only race I every ran with it was the Quick 16 at the Nationals in 2002. I had never ran with one before the race and only got 2 passes before first round, had a .002 light first round and then was off second and that was it. The car was fun with largest wheelies ever, but ran the exact same 60' and 1/4 mile ets. I made 4 brake passes at Bowling Green, then drove to Rising Sun, Maryland the next weekend for a NSCA race and broke the ring gear and pinion on the first pass. Had to install a new one that night by myself in a 12 bolt. Only made one other pass on the brake and the track was not good and it was a bad run. Six seasons later I still have the same ring and pinion I put in the car in Maryland in the car. I will stick to the footbrake, guess I should have went with a 9", but we cannot run a brake in Nostaglia Super Stock anyway. Jim Netherland
While we're dreaming: Buick bodies with doors legal Buick V6 or V8's 3,000 lbs NA 3,400 lbs 1 power adder Must have stock front frame rails and stock "type" front suspension Pro Tree Anything else goes. :Comp:
It is a shame with the little response and lack of participation for these 2 classes. This is the reason we race them....Heads Up. I also can appreciate trying to raise a family and run a business. There is something special about these cars whether it is with the "OLD" rules or the "NEW" rules. We have never been the fastest in the class,but it is about competition. I will really miss these classes. I just have to figure out what to do with both my GSE and GSP cars now!
Jim count me in lol I'll be first in line. Tied to let them let me into TSO but they said you must be kidding.
thinking out loud for a sec here... if I may interject an HONEST then and now opinion.. I think it's time that GSE and GSP died a famous passing... R.I.P. put a fork in it, remember the good times, trials and tribulations, and move on with life as it is NOW it's just that point in time, in the time tunnel of life.. remember it for what it was, because it will NEVER again be what it could be we ALL, and I sincerely mean ALL of us, diverse personality's aside, have had great and unforgettable years together... I have had one life to live, and there is absolutely no way i'd have lived it any different, in this car hobby we call Buick friendship. so, with that said, and for whatever good or bad it determines in your particular situation, grab a cup of coffee, or a beer, or both :moonu: , venture out to the garage... stare at your car... if your a past GSE or GSP player, and remember it for what it was, and where you are now.... size up your inventory, and what/where your life is at the moment... in the end, do what you want with your car, and quit banging your collective heads upon this rules thingy as for me, I have my eye on a certain '67, so don't count me out just yet, i'm just as stupid, dumb, and naive, as the rest of you it seems :bla: JH
