nostalgia racing

I don't know how you guys feel, but timr marches on. I love nostalgia racing - that's why I'm getting a '65 hemi coronet ready for this spring. What really get's me po'ed are the the rules in some sanctioning bodies. I'm all for the nostalgia look but put a modern suspension and drivetrain/induction system in the beast. Why build a car with 40 year-old technology? Look at my profile picture - hemi with 4 split dominators. Unless it's a tribute car get modern. How do you guys feel?
updated by @tom-bergfield: 12/05/16 08:50:56AM

I agree with you , Tom.. For one thing, it is a safety issue. Can't comment on sanctioning bodies because we are primarily bracket racers. BTW, our car was bought a year ago from a man from Virginia. Was raced with bigblock, bought it less engine and trans. Now 409 stroker. Maybe you recognize it?? Ronnie Russell

Don't recognize the name but may recognize the car. Safety is a big concern. Also "back in the day" ss racers and afx guys were using every trick, avaiable at the time, to be competitive. How many guys here remember pounding finishing nails into spring bushings to stiffen them? Now we have polyurethane and aluminum clones.

better check your NNS rules. Most associations require cast intakes and correct type carbs. I highly doubt splits are legal.

HEMIFRED said:

better check your NNS rules. Most associations require cast intakes and correct type carbs. I highly doubt splits are legal.

Thanks, I know about the carb rule. I've 2 sets of top plates - spits and regular 4 bbl holleys. I,m gonna set it up with the splits and run nostalgia modified - use the holleys if necessary. I just gotta see what it does with the splits

I disagree.....If its nostalgia then build it to look like 1965. Do what ever you want INSIDE and out of sight but other than safety if you want modern technology go NHRA comp or S/S racing and spend the big bucks. Even the wheels on one of these cars shold be as in that era (ie: painted steel wheels and/or American spokes.)

That's sort of what I was getting at but we're all etitled to our opinions. By the way, I've got a set of Casler recaps and another set of shaved Atlas Bucrons if you really want to be noatalgic.

Modern technology for both safety's sake and performance? Absolutely! But don't alter the body's appearance.

couldn't have said it better!

im a nostalgia drag racer have a 65 dodge coronet straight axle 440 4 speed built by a freind and i in 1971 and redoing my 62 falcon gasser build by a buddy in 1969 drag both has was with just up dated rollbars and lap belts wouldnt change a thing. also looking to buy back my 61 starliner my uncle and i built in 1970. but good luck with your 65. billy the kidd bender

Thanks. It'll look retro, conform to Nostalgia ss rules, but i'm gonna try those split dominators just once!

I myself love the NSS racing and I prefer the cars look period correct. Thats why I like it so much as I can see the cars that I grew up with and love to see. I have no problem with modern safety if it is unseen. I also prefer the engines look correct which means no fuel injection on a 63 Max Wedge or a 64 Thunderbolt. Ron

I run a Nostalgia Super Stock web site at www.nss-racing.com and I personally own/run 2 NSS (Nostalgia Super Stock) cars and my crew chief and son each run a NMC (Nostalgia Muscle Car) in the NMCA.If you are a member of the NMCA -- you need to see the new Socialist Points System they're trying to sneak by. Check out the below thread, then give your Opinion and vote http://www.nmcadigital.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11067 There is still time to convince them that the Socialist Points System is for losers -- not winners.

Have to go against you on this one..Maybe it's because I am only 29 and didnt get to live it...But OLD is what I want..."Trying" to build my 55' with older parts..or atleast looking...Came up with 68' as thats the year my engine is..LOLtowards the "end" of good racing...No efi.no msd...shoot no radials hahaThis is also from a guy that kept a flathead in a 53 ford just cause "it belonged" and put a ford in a ford!lol

I gotta tell you, with all respect, that I race NSS (I have for years) and am pretty much a purist. My own thoughts are that if you don't use a period correct drive train, you pretty much have just another bracket car. I can see and race against them weekly......no big dea.I can see safety upgrades, absolutely, brakes, suspension, tires, cages, all of it. But, if the car has a modern style intake, transbrake, electonics, etc., you might as well take the Nostalgia name out of it. I can see engine internals, but as a pretty die hard participant I can tell you without a doubt that the majority of spectators who come to a "Nostalgia" race, and they do draw, do expect to see a true Nostalgia car. There is a reason these races draw so well......they are unique in today's racing scene. Take the uniqueness out of it and you lose it.I guess I am stuck in a time warp. I still use an iron 426 Hemi, iron heads, and a cross ram. A T-flite with an ATI converter and TA valve body. I still use SS springs, but do realize that for safety sake it may be time to make a switch in the near future.Nostalgia racing is about reliving 40 year old technology...........safety being the only exception.

The NSS scene is starting to pick up in the North Texas area. I agree with keeping costs down, otherwise run NHRA SS if you have more money than sense (or cents). The only thing I don't like about most of the current NSS cars is the BIG BOX airscoops. They ruin the look of the car IMO. I know everyone wants to run a taller scoop and intake for more power. They used to have an AFX Hemi scoop that was taller at the front that looked decent.I saw the '62 Bubbletop Chevy that ran about 15 years ago as a Dyno Don clone and was supposed to be nostalgia. Tube chassis and Pro Stock style 409 - NOT NOSTALGIA. Closer to Pro Mod.I think a Nostalgia Pro Stock class would be cool. 427 Camaros, 429 Mavericks and Hemi Dusters and Cudas would be cool. There was some discussion about it on Moparts but no one could agree on rules. I would prefer the 1970 rules (first year) with up to 1975 bodies allowed and NO tube chassis cars. Most guys wanted tube chassis, but I thought that was where PS went down the tubes and got really expensive. At some point safety would have forced them to run tube chassis as the cars got faster, but just keep the index at 9-flat and leave it there. Hemi Fred would have to detune for that index, right Fred?

Jim, a Nostalgia Pro Stock class has been discussed, many times up here in the Northeast and until Kevin Christener's passing was sort of taking shape. Maybe in the future.Everyone agrees with the ideas of modern ignitions and the like because they make life easier, and certainly with any safety upgrades. That is a no brainer. However, lettering, outward appearance, and engine appearance and "correctness" (correct type engine in correct type body) would have to be a must in NSS. Same with induction, if the factory produced it with a cross ram, then that is what it should have. Perhaps a single plane Indy with a Dominator might be quicker, but it ain't nostalgia!!

I think the answer is the addition of more flexible classes so that more racers can be included. I have been around a while and have great respect for the purists and feel that they are certainly the "A-SHOW" and should remain so. I also feel that the guy who has a clone powerplant or tube chassis 50-60s-70 vintage steel body bracket car that he can race competitively at weekly events should be able to do the occasional nostalgia show even if he does leave on a transbrake or 2 step and has a small wing. Especially in current economic times ,what young racer is going to build a dedicated nostalgia door car that can't pull double duty at his weekend track?Some day,the current stock will all be retired and so will the racers that drive them. My son is 32 yrs old and I've taken him and his sister to the track since the 80s. To him,a composite bodied Camaro or 114"w/b Hairy Glass vette with power adders is a typical race car along with a cookie cutter carbed alky dragster and pro built tube roadsters.When he sees a metal roof and qtrs car on something near a stock wheelbase,to him it nostalgiac. Everything is billet, glass/carbon these days if it runs quicker than 10.90 it seems. Class cars are super sophisticated pro builts capable of destroying the meaningless index on any day . This nostalgia thing is going to have to roll with the flow to grow and we won't be the ones planning the shows or buying the tickets in 25 years. I think the more racers we can include ,the bigger the shows and the more the interest/growth of the movement. I believe that us older guys can be a little too hard on change,the young fans and racers are who will keep the energy going.. Hopefully my little grandaughters will be the ones going to the track in years to come to see the cool old 80-90s door cars at the old time drag race event. The future is in the youth!RH

I have raced with the NMCA and NSCA and also at the Chrysler Classic events over the years. I guess I would have to lean towards the purist, in the fact that I always thought the cars should look as close to Nostalgic as possible.I ran a MAX WEDGE clone, with factory cross ram and carter AFB's correct for the year,1964.I also still shifted the trans with the push buttons that came in the car.No fiberglass seats for me. I ran A-100 van seats like would have come in a 1964 HEMI car from Mother Mopar.

Just like to make people aware that a new digitally remastered DVD of "American Nitro" is available on our new website Americannitro.comOriginally released in 1979 "Nitro" was in theaters all across America. Now, this new DVD is the 30th Anniversary Edition.I won't brag here about it, because I'm one of the producers, but it is Nostalgia Racing that's for sure.It stars all the top racers of the era, plus Jungle Pam and heaps more stuff.The quality of this new edition is also the best I've seen since the original release.bill

I am going to try split dominators just once.