Funny Video About His Dodge Ram
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This Guy Drives His '65 Dodge Funny Car On The Street!
According to the NHRA's recent year-long promotional program and historical celebration, 2016 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Funny Car. According to the house that Wally Parks built, the 1966 Lincoln-Mercury—funded mini-fleet of four flip-top Comet Cyclones marked the birth of the Funny Car. Mark Tyrol begs to differ. With plenty of enthusiasm he says: "The NHRA has forgotten all about the 1965 altered wheelbase Mopars!" Then again, saying 2016 marked the fifty-first anniversary of the Funny Car doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
But history tells us the first public appearance of altered wheelbase, late-model drag strip machinery occurred on January 29, 1965 at Beeline Dragway in Phoenix, Arizona, a full year before Lincoln-Mercury introduced the tube-framed, plastic-bodied Funny Car architecture we still have today. On that breezy desert day, four Plymouths and three Dodges introduced the Beeline crowd to the sight of oddly proportioned, altered-wheelbase door-slammers packing 600-plus horsepower.
These cars were the start of a two-year fever that spawned hundreds of copycat door slammers based on Mopar and non-Mopar host vehicles. Drag strip announcers and promoters alike quickly defined them as Funny Cars because of their odd proportions, and a legend was born. Getting back to Chrysler's first salvo, a thorough review of the NHRA rule book mentioned nothing against the relocation of wheels beneath the body shell. That detail was of great interest to Ramchargers members and Chrysler performance engineers Tom Hoover and Jim Thornton.
Like all drag racers, they struggled to find traction using the hard, stiff drag slicks of the day. Some experimentation in 1964 revealed the fact that far greater traction was made possible by simply shoving the axle centerlines forward beneath the body of the car. Specifically, in 1964 Chrysler hired The Alexander Brothers (a key Detroit vehicle customization shop) to perform mild, undetectable (to the casual observer) front and rear axle shuffling on two Dodges (Ramchargers and Dave Strickler) and rear axle (only) shuffling on two Plymouths (Al Eckstrand and Tom Grove). Slated for Factory Experimental race action, the surgery wasn't illegal. With added mass supported by the rear tires, static weight distribution broke the 50/50 barrier, despite the hefty iron-headed Race Hemi resting over the front tires. Drag strip elapsed times fell by as much as 4 tenths with no other changes.
For a follow-up in 1965, the tactic was taken to the extreme and it was decided to shove the rear axle forward a full 15 inches, and the front axle centerline another 10 inches. Again, the targeted category was the NHRA's Factory Experimental, a sort of playground where factory engineers could go crazy and have some fun. But just to make sure this more radical fleet of 12 altered-wheelbase 1965 machines was acceptable, in late 1964, Chrysler flew NHRA tech inspector C.J. "Pappy" Hart to Detroit for a pre-Christmas look-see.
He didn't like what he saw. Fearing the latest altered-wheelbase approach was too radical and might alienate paying spectators, Hart barred it from NHRA racing and re-wrote the NHRA rule book to include specific verbiage limiting wheelbase alteration work to no more than two percent of the stock wheelbase total. Since the construction of several cars was well under way at Chrysler (inside a former ambulance conversion garage), the decision was made to keep going forward and to appeal to the AHRA for acceptance in its Ultra Stock class (comparable to NHRA Factory Experimental).
Always second fiddle to the NHRA, the smaller sanctioning body wisely saw the altered wheelbase funny car as a means of attracting competitors, spectators, and advertisers away from the NHRA. And so the 1965 altered-wheelbase Dodges and Plymouths arrived in Phoenix and dominated the weekend with wins in Ultra Stock and Ultra Stock Automatic. Within weeks of their dominating performance, drag racers of every stripe embraced the altered wheelbase strategy and applied it to drag cars ranging from Pontiac GTOs to Rambler Marlins for use on the new match-racing scene.
Sure, the Mercury flip-top formula was superior in most every way, but there's nothing street-friendly about a one-piece fiberglass body shell with no doors. So while cutting-edge professional racers developed the flip-top funny car with each passing year after 1966, steel-shelled, altered-wheelbase door slammers lingered in the sidelines.
By late 1967, the racer's quip "there's nothing older than last year's race car" had claimed many once-proud altered-wheelbase champions. Though a handful have survived the last half century, the vast majority were retired, parted out, and scrapped, which brings us to the core of this feature story: the Gold Rush '65 Dodge.
A lifelong Mopar fanatic, car owner Mark Tyrol is a mechanical engineer whose job involves destructive testing of commercial building materials. It turns out, construction contractors can't just throw structures together using the most convenient materials at hand. From steel roof support girders to aluminum paneling to fiberglass decorative wall molding, every element of modern construction has to pass a variety of safety tests. That way, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and other disasters are less threatening to life and property. It's Mark's job to be part of it all.
Mark says, "My job is to blow things up and set things on fire to make sure government certification is warranted." At age 51, Mark is also a Mopar collector. "I have twelve cars, all of them Mopars of one type or another. They include a 1969 Road Runner, 1970 Super Bird, and even a 2011 Challenger. I'm really hooked on the brand. A major factor is how Mopars are over-engineered compared to some other muscle cars. They're stronger, more potent, and have better driveline parts. As an engineer, I notice this stuff."
So when Mark decided it was time to add an altered-wheelbase Mopar to his fleet, he reached out to noted Seattle builder Rich "The Performance King" LeFebvre. At first, Mark spotted one of Richard's just-completed cars—a primer-covered '65 Coronet with a tunnel ram 440—in an online auction a few years back. Bidding commenced and Mark won the car. Though he lives in Mansfield, Massachusetts, Mark flew to Richard's Seattle, WA Funny Car factory to pay off the purchase and make cross-country delivery plans. But during the visit, Mark says, "Richard took me for a ride in another altered wheelbase Dodge he'd assembled—the Gold Rush—and when we returned to the shop he said, 'why don't you just buy this one?'"
LeFebvre's Gold Rush was built in 2005 and was an early member of the Match Bash movement. In a nut shell, many modern hot rodders feel that the original altered-wheelbase era (late 1964 through early 1967) ended too soon. Match Bashers reason, why not build modern-day tributes to them and tame them just enough for regular street and strip use?
And so the Match Bash building style has emerged as a popular alternative today, with growing numbers of altered-wheelbase machines emerging from shops coast to coast. In fact, your author is a proponent of the Match Bach building style and has assembled a few altered wheelbase machines, producing several how-to DVDs and books.
Richard's proposal to Mark made good sense. Compared to the primered, semi-complete Dodge he'd initially sought to bring home, the Gold Rush was virtually completed. With its Hilborn injected Hemi, Mark was saved the task of replacing the primered car's 440 wedge and out-of-date tunnel-ram induction. The attractive gold paint and hand-lettered body graphics were another huge bonus. An amendment to the original deal was made and Mark ended up having the Gold Rush shipped back to Massachusetts in 2006.
Like many buyers of cars other people built, Mark singled out a few areas he wanted to change. The Chrysler 8 3/4 rear axle and 4.56 gears weren't suited to daily cruising, so Mark had Mike Mancini's shop replace it with a stronger Dana 60 and 4.10 cogs. The exhaust system also came in for a second look. Richard LeFebvre was a former punk rock record producer. His low-fi, raw aesthetic encouraged the in-car racket produced by a shorty exhaust system with outlets positioned ahead of the rear axle, but Mike says, "With the rear axle over a foot closer to my ears than in a stock Dodge Coronet, the sound was fatiguing on longer trips." So he had Mike Mancini construct a full-length 3-inch dual exhaust system that reduces sound without harming efficiency. Interior comfort was also enhanced with a full A990 Super Stock interior kit from Kramer Automotive Specialties to add a touch of factory exotica.
Under the hinged steel hood, the big Hemi ran well for a while but eventually suffered a severe failure. At an exhibition drag race event, the oil pump froze. Thankfully, the failure immobilized the intermediate shaft, which halted distributor rotation, and the engine. A post mortem revealed that small bits of metal lodged inside the oil pump had caused the stoppage. Further investigation showed the metal bits were knocked loose from the tops of the valve guide bosses, the result of valve retainer contact at full valve lift. The rebuild was performed by Richard LeVangie of Norwood, MA with extra care taken to assure proper valve-guide clearance.
Mark has made it a point to drive the Gold Rush on the street as much as time allows. Beyond that, he's also very active on the nostalgia drag racing circuit. "I'm no professional, but I appreciate the special attention track owners give me and the other Match Bash racers when we attend their events." With consistent low elevens to his credit, Mark also enjoys car shows, and says, "The first time I brought it to a car show, a moving crowd of people followed me into my parking spot. People can't get enough of the car."
So that's the story of Mark Tyrol, the second owner of The Gold Rush altered wheelbase '65 Dodge sedan funny car. Built to celebrate an age that ended too soon, it stands as a monument to the days when Funny Cars still had opening doors. Best of all, Mark makes a point of driving the Gold Rush on the street as much as possible, spreading the gospel with every mile. He even has a Massachusetts vanity plate that readsAFX1!
Fast Facts
1965 Dodge Coronet
Mark Tyrol; Mansfield, MA
ENGINE
Type: 511ci Hemi
Compression ratio: 10.5:1
Block: factory 1965 Hemi casting
Rotating assembly: Winberg billet crank, Manley billet rods, Ross forged pistons
Cylinder heads: aluminum Mopar Performance Hemi, machined for valve retainer clearance,
2.25-/1.94-inch valves
Camshaft: Indy solid roller, .700-/.700-inch lift, 310 degrees advertised duration,
COMP double-roller timing set
Valvetrain: Indy adjustable roller rockers, 3/8-inch chrome moly push rods, Chrysler
aluminum rocker shaft stands
Induction: Hilborn aluminum FI modified to accept EFI bungs and fuel rails, 15-inch
aluminum ram tubes (as per Ramchargers specification with automatic
transmission), Simple Digital Solutions electronic control module and
programmer
Fuel system: high-volume, in-tank EFI-spec electric fuel pump, 3/8-inch body lines
Oiling: Milodon high-volume pump, 7-quart oil pan, Milodon -inch pick-up tube,
Exhaust: Hooker headers, full-length undercar exhaust system, Flowmaster mufflers
Ignition: Chrysler electronic distributor, MSD coil, MSD Heli-Core wires
Cooling: stock 22-inch wide radiator, MP high-volume water pump insert,
direct-mount fan
Output: 600 hp at 6,800 rpm
Built by: Richard LeVangie
DRIVETRAIN
Transmission: 1965 Chrysler 727, cable-operated, full-manual, reverse-pattern valve body
Shifter: standard column-shift with rearranged gear quadrants to suit
reverse-pattern valve body
Rearend: 4.10 Dana 60 with Sure Grip
Chassis: altered wheelbase, axle spindle center lines moved forward 15 inches in
rear and 10 inches in front. Final wheelbase is 111 inches, 5 inches less
than stock to place 55 percent of static vehicle mass on rear tires at rest.
Front suspension: stock 1966 Dodge A100 van leaf springs and beam axle adapted to
Dodge Coronet frame. Axle narrowed 2 inches to yield 60 3/4-inch front
track width
Rear suspension: floor pan (with leaf spring anchor points) cut free and moved forward
15 inches. MP 3,800-pound Super Stock leaf springs (PN 454/455),
extra-length MP shock absorbers.
Steering: stock manual steering, aluminum steering box
Brakes: A100 van 11x3 front drums and 10x2.5 rear drums, modern plastic
two-circuit master cylinder
Wheels: American Racing aluminum Torq Thrust 15x5 and 15x8.5 inch
Tires: 7.75-15 Uniroyal (front), M/T ET Street P275/60R15 (rear).
Body: born a slant-six 4-door Coronet Deluxe, converted to 2-door sedan
configuration by Richerd LeFebvre in 2004. Steel doors, trunk, and hood
with fiberglass front fenders and bumpers from Fiberglass Plus
Paint: stock 1965 Dodge Gold Metallic by Richerd LeFebvre, graphics by Bob
Thompson/Team Thompson, Pomona, CA. Detailing by Mike Mancini
Interior: 1965 Dodge A990 door panel, carpet, and seat cover kit from Kramer
Automotive Specialties, A100 van bucket seats, reproduction fiberglass
dashboard and roll bar by Richard LeFebvre
mccrackencomir1936.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.motortrend.com/features/guy-drives-65-dodge-funny-car-street/
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