[PONTIAC DUDE]

Here's the deal.
After 2 years of trying to buy it. Matt couldn't decide if he really wanted to sell it. He was kinda embarrassed when he made passes as he felt they were expecting 8 second passes as they came to the stands and it ran 10 teens with his combo. I bought it less engine & tranny. At the time they were gonna start a southern Nostalgia deal which even now never has taken off!!!!!!!! I put my spare 12.2 second street 400 out of my 76 T/A I had in there and ran 10.20's. At the time Karen had made lots of low 10 second passes in my 76 T/A and she wanted to run it so I put her in the car to get seat time. Was gonna do the Bunny Burkett type of campaining. Made over 40 passes in the 10.20 range. I then stepped it up with a 455 10.5-1 with 197 HO heads and a roller. Ran 10.43 all day long and Karen put about 75 passes or more on the car geting ready to get her Comp licence and then step up to a Nostalgia 428 6-71 Blower deal. I always made the first pass to make sure everything was OK.

Her 2rd pass after my 1st pass that day as the car air shifted into high gear (PG) the car went sideways and I could see the complete side of the car. I personally feel she got in some ricer's A/C water as they had run right before us. I shoulda waited for some faster cars to run down the track. Plus the track wasn't the best shape and a little greasy. Anyway she lifted then reved it to try and straighten it out. Glad she tried or it woulda barrel rolled sideways (about 120 mph plus at that point) and really coulda been a lot worse. But she was sideways and ended up climbing the guardrail and then the car ran down the rail and rolled over on it's roof. She was pinned up side down with fuel draining out the overflow of the fuel cell. Had to put my thumb over the vent the whole time hoping no fire developed while she was upside down. At that time the track was run down with the past owner not really caring about the trak and the ambulance had 4 flat tires. (Either run a vent tube with a full loop past the bottom of the cell or install a check valve.)
But she was strapped in, her butt was still pinned up in the seat. A little dazed too. After about 15 minutes we got the car flipped over and pulled what was left of the roof off. She ended up with a bruised elbow and that was it. She still complains on wet days of pain but coulda been worse.
I don't have the shop or knowledge to do any Fiberglass work and the damage was kinda extensive. Still have the pics with half the front corner gone, etc. but with those OLD F/C's built like Bass boats it coulda been worse. Found out that Matt had someone install the wrong steering box along with the steering brackets welded to the frame instead of the straight axle which contributed to the handling issues in a correction situation. Fixed that and the complete front end is brand new and updated. Hind site is always better, but what happened, happened.

Brian; I called a few on fixing it and making a mold. From M.O to KY and south Florida. Was looking at $4,000 plus with repairs to the 5 I talked to. Then the 3 Hurricanes hit and other issues developed so it took a back burner for awhile. Found a 78 Corvette body in Miami for under a grand went and bought it was gonna do the revamped T/A or the Factory Banshee deal. Had it mounted with a 428 and 6/71 fired and ready to go., Then more personal & family health issues hit and I said it just ain't meant to be and put it up for sale.

Hope for the best as it has a history.
Looking good dude.
http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/pontiac.../FunnyCar.html

[Brian Baker]

$4000? That's nuts...especially considering buying something else that was new is less than that (from Donnie Reeves at the time, for example) and you just KNOW they would pull more bodies from the same mold for resale. Sounds to me like you didn't talk to the right people and say the right things...like that bloke in West Palm Beach.

[PONTIAC DUDE]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

$4000? That's nuts...especially considering buying something else that was new is less than that (from Donnie Reeves at the time, for example) and you just KNOW they would pull more bodies from the same mold for resale. Sounds to me like you didn't talk to the right people and say the right things...like that bloke in West Palm Beach.

Brian. It needs a front fiberglass nose. There was no useable pieces left to mold back on. I think Misus still has the 30 pic plus I sent him. Have you priced out that and then glass it. Then the roof is comletely ripped off. Then new lexan. The door is ripped up the side and the body is twisted as the frame work is molded in with metal tubing into the body. This is nothing like the later style bodies. The body itself weighed over 350lbs Then you have the cost to form the mold. You never saw the damage and talking without actual visual knowledge. 2 people didn't even want to mess with it. I had a dude that was gonna staple it just to make a mold but that was about 2 grand. He retired and can't find him as he was doing my Dude Scoops too!!!! And then body wasn't raceable only as a mold.

Dolp. Why do you think I let it sit. and bought another body. Was waiting for someone priced right. Another body is cheaper unless you have the facilities to fix it yourself. Ask him how much time and expense he has in it. The body is repairable and the chassis is premo.

[Brian Baker]

I knew it was FUBAR, I saw the pics. When you said $4000, I was assuming this was the cost of piecing it together enough so that a mold/plug could be pulled from it and a new body made from that. I never took refitting Lexan or tinwork and mounting into account, because I wasn't aware that was part of the discussion (it wasn't). It sounds like they wanted $4000 to fix this body to reuse, correct? Piecing it back together to pull a mold/plug from doesn't cost that much, nor does a new body once the mold is paid for (which is where I said a deal could be worked with the mold maker since I KNOW this body would sell). And I do know how much these old bodies weigh, I have one, remember? It takes at least 3 guys to lift it off the chassis...4 works best.

[ho428]

It's been a few years since I built this car but we took a 240Z front end, cut the fenders and hood and spliced in 8" to stretch the front, then had a mold and two front ends and hoods made for $750.00

Also, did anyone see the FGF glass body at the PRI? Think it was Pro-Mod but was nice.

[500plus]

Well so far I only have about $130 in fiberglass stuff and the clamps that were needed to hold pieces together and we have spent 2 days with 2 & 3 guys working it...none of us are expert fiberglass guys!! I feel that is is going together well. It was only missing a piece of the lf grill, rt center of hood , rf fender and lr sail panel. The biggest missing piece is about 10" in daimeter the rest are about 3-5"...easy fixes. It will need a new windshield and to straighten up some tin @ rf dash. The under bracing was easy to get straightened out without removing from body. I should have all the extra glass work laid underneath now that is pieced back together by this weekend, then Scott will get to have fun with the finishing of the body...of course I will help with this. The plans are to be running it before the Pontiac Nats here in Tulsa in May. I will be getting the drivetrain assembled within the next month. Our track is scheduled to open in March and I will try to get there. Bill

[Brian Baker]

Well...if Dave Sano can piece back together his '73 Grand Am after it was literally cut in half (at speed) by a transmission explosion, just about any 'glass body can be repaired to like before. Dave Milcarek has pictures of that mishap from Atco somewhere on his website if you need some inspiration. Good luck!

[David Holmberg]

Ken didn't tell the whole story.

He left out the part about us going to Burger King after leaving the track, and making Karen sit upside down holding a fram oil filter. Ala John Force...

[PONTIAC DUDE]

Originally Posted by David Holmberg

Ken didn't tell the whole story.

He left out the part about us going to Burger King after leaving the track, and making Karen sit upside down holding a fram oil filter. Ala John Force...

That and ordering an Apple turnover at Burger King for her. LOL. Tin Injun from Ga was there right after it happened too.

[x-bird2]

wow, sad to see it like that--didn't know it went over, and good that it's getting put back together! though pretty much an unknown, it's still a piece of history. if you want some slides (35mm) of it from the hpp shoot, let me know--i still have that one in my files with a few extras. from what i could find out about it back then, it was supposedly bbc powered.

[500plus]

Originally Posted by x-bird2

wow, sad to see it like that--didn't know it went over, and good that it's getting put back together! though pretty much an unknown, it's still a piece of history. if you want some slides (35mm) of it from the hpp shoot, let me know--i still have that one in my files with a few extras. from what i could find out about it back then, it was supposedly bbc powered.

I would appreciate that, I called Wise speed shop in Ks City..they are still in business!!, they told me to come up sometime and look through their photos and I can get some copies. It was BBC and injected. Thanks, Bill

[Brian Baker]

Originally Posted by x-bird2

wow, sad to see it like that--didn't know it went over, and good that it's getting put back together! though pretty much an unknown, it's still a piece of history. if you want some slides (35mm) of it from the hpp shoot, let me know--i still have that one in my files with a few extras. from what i could find out about it back then, it was supposedly bbc powered.

Pretty much "unknown" as oppossed to say...Jungle Jim, or McEwen, Prudhomme, etc...but the Wise Speed shop is known within the funny car circles. It all depends on what circles you run in...I can say Jim Wangers to the funny car fans and they go "Jim who?"

[500plus]

Here's a scanned add from Fairbanks trans back in 69 that shows my funnycar in the lower rt corner.

[SupergasDil]

The body really is a very cool design. And it's looking really good going back together. We're all seeing light at the end of the tunnel and we can't wait to see it running.

[BruceWilkie]

What a flashback seeing that add. makes me feel old. IIRC Wise sponsored a AA Fuel Altered at one time too. I miss those days! That bird will be sweet once again. Pontiac power will really be interesting. 535 with a blower would be wild.

[455firebird1969]

It sounds like you are doing the repairs yourself, and I'm not sure how experienced you are at this type of work. I recommend using a quality aerospace epoxy resin, like Epon 828, it performs superior to polyester resin when subjected to elevated temperatures. Also, investing in some vacuum bagging equipment, which will allow pulling trapped air pockets and excess resin, will help assure a quiality repair. Otherwise you could end up resin rich, which will not flex, eventually leading to stress cracking adjacent to your repairs…

Air Force TO 1-1-690 composite manual (the composite Bible) has all the info needed to perform specific composite repairs, to aircraft specifications, which is what you want on a race car...

Here are a couple links that might help...

http://composite.about.com/od/aboutc...l/aa000109.htm

http://www.canardzone.com/members/Jo...uumbagging.htm

If you already have a handle on this type of repair, pardon my interruption...

[SupergasDil]

Have no fear as the craftsman on this project are professionals, utilizing the best materials available for this type of repair.