41chevy

4" thick is considered minimum here. My slab outside of my shop is 25x25 x 6" thick 4000 psi fiberglass reinforced concrete with an expansion joint at 12' 6" and steel screen to prevent cracking. We did a 6" layer of compacted 3/4 to 1" gravel before the slab to prevent frost heave. Took about 9 yards as I recall and the Fiberglass reinforcement was only $100. more. One thing I wished I did was a slight crown for drainage. The Cat that holds my mail box in my avatar I tugged it all over the slab and no problems. Paul

i think the hotrod reunion is going to be in august in 2012. thunder valley is about a hour and a half from me its only 94 miles from my driveway to copperhead road entrance. i usualy go every year one of my best friends is real close to waren/kurt johnson and he takes pics for dragracing online mag.so i usualy get free tickets..

Told my wife I'd like to go this year and she already was looking for a place for us to stay.

Thunder Valley was the farthest we ever went. Our carrier was a 1967 D 500 roll back with a 225 slant 6. Learned a lot of new words that trip. I have "Super 8" films of when we were there,no idea how to get them on VHS or CD though. Paul

A lot was restored including his Dodge Hauler by fans. Don Garlit I believe has his '65 Belvedere in his collection. Paul

I never really thought about it on the B's but your right. My mixer has vinyl on the doors with the Mack logo, but your right its after market. I suggested a non fiber board panel because I've found the quality of what is out there now is poor. The color flakes off and they aren't moisture resistant as the OEM. Paul

Always wanted to go there and to the Marston Mile .....well the Hot Rod Reunion is stiil on and Cackle Fest at E town in May or June I think.

Hey Mike, isn't the old Thunder Valley strip near you?? Ran there in 1972 with the Icemaker, beautiful track and surrounding area as I recall.

Paul

Nice photo, it's just that damn Euro Grill that kills it. Paul

I know its off topic but whenever I read your posts Mark I hear them as Dale Gribble and it always makes my day.

HG

Me too LOL

nice 55 reminds me of my old 55 i used to race. i miss that car it had a tube chasis that me,my dad and 3 family friends built because it was diferent everyone else had a 67/69 camaro,or nova, with a few dragsters where we used to race. i won my first race in that car. then the next race i won was in my dads dragster the first time i ever drove it. then i went stupid and sold the 55 and bought a dragster not a bad trade off ive won alot with the dragster but i still miss the 55 it was my first competitive car.

Won alot of street races with it in the 70's. My pop set a national record with it in 1963 in E/G. At one point I put in a 427 and a 4 speed for racing on Cross Bay Blvd and North Conduit in Queens. I put the 6 back in it about 12 years ago.

When Funny cars and such went "corperate" I stopped watching. Gassers and street cars were always more fun to watch. When I was young we had New York National Speedway, Hamptons Drag a Way, Islip 1/8 strip, Freeport Oval, Islip Oval and Bridge Hampton Road course....all gone by the mid 80's. Now it's 3 hours each way to E town or Atco for 2 or 3 runs. I go in the early morning to the former Grumman plant in Calverton an make a blst or 2 down the closed runway, only thing left is Cruise nites....BLAH! rather buy an English sportscar and a kilt. Paul

I didn't get to watch the NASCAR race Sunday, but I heard that Michelle and Mrs. Biden were there and they were loudly booed by the race fans.

Nascar fans didn't forget in 2009 she called us "a bunch of white redneck hill billies". Personally I take that as a compliment!

Nice 55! reminds me of the one in "two lane blacktop"a real traditional looking car! i remember a few guys running sixes "back in the day",as they say today,always thought it was a sound idea. I remember one guy (cant remember his name),that ran a 56 chevy sedan delivery at Atco,NJ in the seventies,did real well with it, if i remember correctly it was also a GMC-6,backed by a four-speed. Never met Jack Merkle,but i do know of his work,i have an old model kit of a model-A gasser with decals for Merkle speed & performance..........................Mark

Tri 5 sedan delieveries were the way to go. They were classes as a commercial vehicle so you could run a 4 speed hydramatic. My 55 is a Bel Air Hard top. Originally had factory air and power windows. Merkle was the L.I. big shot as long as I remember for running with the big boys and sometimes beating them. Paul

Momma an me are laughing so hard I can barely type!!!!!!!!!! To funny with the bean. Momma farted on me one day when I was half under the dash board.....I bidded my time. When I got a chance to retaliate I let one go..... learned something......Amazing how fast a hot lump gets cold.....

Nice pictures Paul! thanks for sharing! dig the old funny cars for sure! i'm a bit of a gasser fan myself,buddy of mine owns a 41 willys coupe,owned by none othe than Stone,Woods& Cook,it was destined to become another "Swindler" in the sixties,but they decided to change classes and body styles so it never happened. Doug "cookie" Cook autographed the firewall at englishtown back in the late seventies,its never been anything but a street car,but looks like it walked right out of the sixties! straight front axle,pearl white tuck and roll uphostery,etc. only picture i have of it is a crappy polaroid! one person i'd add to that list is of course "Miss Hurst" Linda Vaughan,always gracious about signing pictures and talking with people,and (still) not too hard on the eyes! LOL!....................................Mark

Never met her but read her interview in Hot Rod good person. One who lives next town over and did some engine machine work and balancing for me is Jack Merkle. The engine in my 55 is a 302 GMC 6 from 1957, with a Wayne head my dad built in 1960. Jack Merkle remembered the car running 1/8 mile in its day. He was the only one who wasn't afraid to set up the bottom end. Here is Merkles page. My 55 today, people see only one fender well header and get confused..

http://gassermadness.com/merkel/index.html

Everybody have a great Thanksgiving, and for those who have to be on the road, remember we thank you and be safe. Paul

My 29 AC crane carrier will be a 100% resto including the crane unit because it worked hard for 40 years. It will never be perfect, ther is a few modern things hidden in the drive train to make it useable today, like rear disc brakes and a 12 volt alternator hidden in the Gen case, but I hope it will look as it did when it was a year or two old. I have a 2nd AC crane carrier for crane parts. Now as my '29 gets sections completed, the parts truck spares are sold to other AC restorers. The majority of vehicles in my yard I saved from scrap and will go to others. I'll save it till it finds a good home.

AS for using them, thats what they were made for. I restored my 41 Chevy convert to stock and drove it on rte 66 to Cali and back home. Took it to Charletteville Va, and drove to the PA turnpike 50th anniversary. Questions asked were "what if it gets hit?" I Fix it! The cars still worth the same after its fixed. The best was "What if it gets dirty?" I clean the it. The person I sold it to drove it once I think...shame on him!

My 55 chevy was my fathers D gasser til 1971, I raced it till 1985 on the track and the street. I still use it almost every day as long as it isn't wet. Most fun is the statement "do you know how much its worth?" I usually tell them "yeah, $900 just what I paid for it in 1972." Drives them nuts.

Point is no vehicle car,truck or bike was designed to sit in a garage and not be used.

Seen this in the paper today........your dog come home???

Here in Mid-Missouri, I just filled up my blushing brides little wagon with gas-o-lene for $2.97 a gal.

Diesel cash price here was $3.91. Close to $1.00 a gallon spread.

Paul - How much is a gallon of gas on Long Island?

$3.69 for reg at Hess and $3 97 for hi test. Seem L.I. is always about 75 cent to a dollar more than anywhere except Cali. Paul

What kind of car Paul? vintage drag racing is kinda' another hobby of mine,i always enjoy stopping at "Big's" museum,one of the few "celebrities" i ever met who actually took the time to talk to people on a one to one basis,great guy! one of my alltime heroes!......................................Mark

This is the original photo of my AA/FC at N.Y. National Speedway in 1972. Sponsered by Marino's Italian Ices from Brooklyn N.Y.. It was never a competitive Alcohol car. The 392 ended up in the late 70's in a 1968 Dart 'c' class racing fire truck in Oyster Bay N.Y.. The rest was picked at for 38 years,left about 70% complete or so in as raced trim from 1973. I got pics of it loaded whenI can find the camera chip. Swapped it for a 1964 Corvair Rampside. Don Garlits, Arnie Beswick and Shirley Sheanan (drag-on lady) are 3 of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, bar none. Paul

Door panels are probbly going to have to be made from 1/8 marine plywood or Masonite and covered with Vinyl or Naugahyde. The headliner is a hard piece to find or make. Paul

Mack is in Ontario , Canada.

It hasn't got below $4.29.9 on L.I. for a year some stations are $4.79.9 or more..Paul

Subject: Michelle Obama's previous job.

WORKING THE SYSTEM

Wow, she must have been really good at her job.

At the top right hand corner of page 17 of the New York Post, January 24, 2009, was a column entitled, "Replacing Michelle" in the National Review, The Week.

Here it is as it appeared:

"Some employees are simply irreplaceable. Take Michelle Obama: The University of Chicago Medical Center hired her in 2002 to run 'programs for community relations, neighborhood outreach, volunteer recruitment, staff diversity and minority contracting'.

In 2005 the hospital raised her salary from $120,000 to $317,000 - nearly twice what her husband made as a Senator.

Her husband, Barack Obama, had just become a U.S. Senator. He requested a $1 million "Earmark" for the UC Medical Center. Way to network, Michelle!

Now that Mrs. Obama has resigned, the hospital says her position will remain unfilled. How can that be, if the work she did was vital enough to be worth $317,000?

Let me add that Michelle's position was a part-time, 20-hours-a-week job.

20hrs. X 52 weeks = 1,040 hours per year

$317,000 divided by 1,040 hours = $304.80 per hour.

My thoughts: How did this bit of "quid pro quo" (scratch my back - I'll scratch yours) corruption escape the sharp reporters that dug through Sarah Palin's garbage and kindergarten files?

My dad always said,,"Well, I be damned, YOU tore the sumbitch up!" To hear him tell it, I must have been responsible for every breakdown in America in those days. randyp

Nope! I'm the one...my pop told me that 10000000's of times. Got a flat? why the "h" did you run over that nail for??

AHH SOO....I'm DMM foolish not to know that..