Think this thing was cheated up...? ;)

[Jimmy McKinley]

See that aluminum "wedge" along the driver's side?

Check this out...





Lookit all that lead...!

Pics from Bruce Griffin' site; says these were from the 1980 Orange Blossom 100 at Palm Beach. Wonder how the thing passed tech and even made the field?

Al Kuhn was driving it.

[ancrdave]

Back in those days, WPB and Hialeah ran Late Model Modifieds and it was just about "anything goes".... Some of those cars were downright exotic... Dick Anderson's cars at that time were unbelievable... Many of those LMM ran at New Smyrna as well as Clyde would pretty much let anything run as a Late Model... The old Hobby class cars at WPB and Hialeah were 'upgraded" and called Late Models in those days and featured a lot of good drivers like Jim Tuning, Donnie Rutherford, John Pettit and Daryl Shelnut who went on to LMM later....
When I first saw that number 12, I though that might have been one of your family cars Jimmy... then saw Al Kuhn's name on it...

[Woody]

thats when it was fun too race and cheap with out the $2900.00 bodies. Look at the left side weight on this unit 68-70%

[Boneman]

You can't say it was cheated up without checking the rules for the event. Maybe is was an open competition, open construction, no left side race.

[Dana Barlow]

There was no left side wt. rule then. So not a cheat,I also had 69%+ LS,just most cars could not get there and still be min=2800 if i remember right

[jacko241]

Those were the days! Too bad things aren't that simple any more.

[andre]

Those were the days! Too bad things aren't that simple any more.

There must have had something along the years that have brought the promoters to change all those rules!?!!?!?!?!? Would be nice to know what you all think it was. And if it was nothing, then why no promoter is going back to those (supposedly)glory days????

[jacko241]

I more likely think it was the racers that pushed the envelope, trying to go faster. By the same token, I have always felt the tracks should hold the rules steady, not allowing the latest and greatest pieces. That kind of thing is ok at the top of the food chain (I.E. the Cup series), but all it does at the local level is chase off the sportsman racers due to costs.

[fred23]

the issue is and always will be that people bitch if they aren't as fast as someone else.......they always think things should be even or fair.......mostly democrats i would imagine........instead of doing a little work of their own on their own cars. Then of course some company created a template body that looked like a cup car body and the promoters wanted to be like NASCAR and here came the body rules......then of course, like in EVERY FORM of racing.....money wins out thus the engines became more exotic and when cup went to 18* heads and such then a lot of old cup stuff was available so the promoters gave in and let the new, more hp motors in and here we are.....$3000 bodies and $30,000(probably more I know) motors.......titanium this and carbon fiber that......

I still would like to see a promoter or group of promoters ie....ULP to create a simple set of rules for SLM's ......
362 cu in
1 carburaetor
2800 lbs
60% LS weight
wheel base min/max
tread width
roof height
no traction control

RUN WHAT YA BRUNG .......Lets race (probably how it was with these type cars)

[jacko241]

Amen, Fred!

[larrytg]

Not cheated up

No left side rules. Do you think that bodywork would have been noticed?

[RSB]

about the pic on top...

Are they trying to figure out how to get the right side to go back down?

[ABYSS64]

the issue is and always will be that people bitch if they aren't as fast as someone else.......they always think things should be even or fair.......mostly democrats i would imagine........instead of doing a little work of their own on their own cars. Then of course some company created a template body that looked like a cup car body and the promoters wanted to be like NASCAR and here came the body rules......then of course, like in EVERY FORM of racing.....money wins out thus the engines became more exotic and when cup went to 18* heads and such then a lot of old cup stuff was available so the promoters gave in and let the new, more hp motors in and here we are.....$3000 bodies and $30,000(probably more I know) motors.......titanium this and carbon fiber that......

I still would like to see a promoter or group of promoters ie....ULP to create a simple set of rules for SLM's ......
362 cu in
1 carburaetor
2800 lbs
60% LS weight
wheel base min/max
tread width
roof height
no traction control

RUN WHAT YA BRUNG .......Lets race (probably how it was with these type cars)

Man you hit the nail on the head!! In response to another post above as well, I think rules were changed to some degree because your average fan couldn't tell what the cars were, that's what happened with wedge dirt cars. another point you made Fred, $30,000 engines and that's most likely the low side but here's where I run into a problem, the Baker engines that were ran in the old Holeshot wedge cost at least that in the mid 80's!! These promoters and rule makers think they are saving us money by coming up with some of these rules when in fact it cost us more.

Lets face facts here, there's not a legal SLM anywhere in Florida and we all know it, I worked for three engine builders (who will remain nameless) in Florida doing cylinder head work, on a simple bow tie head I would spend days working those and the intake, then spend a couple more days hiding everything, it cost twice as much to cheat up these cars but you have no choice because everyone else is doing it, and I don't give a damn who the tech guys were or are now they don't catch it. Oh I'm sure someone like Nerone will pipe in and say "it never got by me", I say bull$#!*. Hell "Hondo" ran mercury in the rollcage forever until he got hit so hard a tube busted and it got spilled all over Orlando Speedworld

Remember the old SARA LLM series? I know of 6 teams that had engines making around 700 hp. With a 2 barrel, steel heads and flat tops?? Yeah right! Why do you think we had the ultra course media in the glass bead machines? To hide the grind marks. Why do you think we bought so many hacksaw blades? so we could break them in half and spend hours simulating casting marks within the head.. Did you ever see a techman C N C a cylinder head? They know there not legal but bounce one and you have to bounce them all, then who fills the field next week?

What do you think would happen if David Rodgers got bounced at New Smyrna? It wouldn't be pretty. Dickie ran offset rear housing at Desoto for years, the rule book plainly stated no offset housings but at the time they didn't have the proper tools or even know how to check for it until one night Lawarre Motorsports showed them how and he got bounced, it was an ugly scene, Lawarre knew he had it, they had finished 2nd, when Dickie got busted Jimmy Cope who was driving for Lawarre at the time was awarded the win.

For the longest time we all ran those steel front fenders from Pletchers because we could pull the nose of the body down and nobody caught it, plus we ran what was known as iceman series rear 1/4 panels because of the severe offset, it gave us huge down force because of more air directed to the spoiler. I don't think I even need to get into carburetor air boxes, air bleeds and tire soaking.

Thanx for the pix Jimmy, that's bad a$$ for sure, I also noticed the lead isn't painted white!