Uh oh! Drag racing carnage

I raced my 65 Econo (302 HO/3 speed/9" POSI) at the Hunnert Car Heads Up last month. My first pass ever resulted in a 16.3 quarter because I jerked the wheel going into 3rd and it got squirrelly, so I had to lift

On my 2nd pass, I stomped on it and the rear wheels hopped, but instead of letting up like I knew I should have, I kept my foot in it... resulting in the destruction of my 240 driveshaft. A place that works on Semis replaced it with something much bigger.





Today I was prepping the van for much better heavy duty springs and some homemade traction bars when I saw something peculiar. Yep, the rusty unibody spring mount (front of the rear spring) pulled away from the frame and twisted.



With 20 days until the Meltdown Drags, and limited funds, I don't think it's going to make it.

Carnage is right! Nice replacement! Nice exhaust work too! Got your hands full with suspension work now... best of luck.

Joe I see you got the springs from Tim. Thats a bummer about the spring mount. I would strongly urge you inspect the frame itself for further rust damage. I could get you a replacement spring mount but not anytime soon. Im working 12 hour shifts this week then off to the Nats next week.

The frame itself doesn't look too bad, but the mounts and some of the floor is bad, but I'll give it another look. Better check the front mounts again, too!

You have some really solid mounts? When could you get to them and how much? Send me a PM. I need to balance the cost of building new ones and using solid old ones.

Yes, Tim's springs. They're really nice. I have all new bushings and shackles... and now I can't use them!

Does anyone know if there the mount is repopped, or a similar sized mount for something beefier? With the added v8 horsepower, I'm thinking that new, thicker steel would be better

why not add some angle or channell iron to the frame areas if possible?

Twinpilot001 wrote:why not add some angle or channell iron to the frame areas if possible?

What do you mean? In the corners where the brace joins the frame? Not a bad idea.

I think I may replace the brace with some box tubing (3/16"... or go for overkill with 1/4"). I need to take a look again tonight, but the actual spring mount may not be damaged, so may be saveable... but re-creating it in thicker metal and/or bracing it would be a good idea. I mean, I'm only going to drag it 2-3x a year, and it's just a stock 302, so not high HP, but I don't want any more damage!

Nice meeting you and your girls, hopefully you can get it back on the road soon.

always think =Overkill = 1/4' to 3/8 then just do it & forget it!!

yup I would agree with that. And besides, Overkill has never hurt anyone...at least not me any way....lol

It looks like the brace and mount are made from puny 1/8" steel... if that! In that case 3/16 would be a huge improvement/ 1/4 may be even better, but it's only as strong as what it's attached to.

It was nice meeting you, too, TBMain! Thanks for hauling the springs back for me.