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A long time ago I would go to the street drags on S. Eubanks in Albuquerque. This guy rolls up in a beater Corvair. Starts powerbraking it, burning up the stock
by CodeWriter23 9y ago
A long time ago I would go to the street drags on S. Eubanks in Albuquerque. This guy rolls up in a beater Corvair. Starts powerbraking it, burning up the stock 14” wheels on the back, egging anyone on to race him. Everybody is ridiculing him. One of the regulars with I’d guess about a 12 second muscle car (quarter mile in 1977, pretty fast) takes his challenge.
The Corvair totally smokes the muscle car. I only recall a couple of seriously built cars being that fast. Corvair guy dies his victory lap, comes back to the starting line, stops and turns on his dome light. He’s got a Pontiac 428 where the back seat used to be, a 2 speed automatic is hooked up to a static rear axle via chain drive. Absolutely brilliant in its simplicity and ROI.
- joncrane 9y agoWait, did you say chain drive? How does the chain handle all that power? Must wear out the sprockets quickly.
- CodeWriter23 9y agoI’m taking Corvair guy’s word for it. The transmission was buried under the floor pan, so we couldn’t see the final drive. The car was nearly silent, it didn’t have the typical rumble of a V8. It had this odd whine it made when it was in motion, which he attributed to the chain drive.
- dsfyu404ed 9y agoI see no reason it couldn't last if built right. You can buy really big roller chain.