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My Demolition Derby build...by. harpua


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Hey kiddies. It's been along time since i have posted anything here, so here is some demo derby eye candy for your viewing pleasure.

 

I have been doing demo derby for a few years now. This will be my fifth time running, and my first time taking a bunch of pics. It always seems that i end up racing the deadline, but this year i found myself well ahead in my car build which allowed me to take pics.

 

So up to this point, the car has been stripped out, and we have started putting things back together. The fenders are just about ready to go back on. There is still alot of welding to do on all the doors and trunk. The rear control arms need to be shortened to raise the rear end up a bit. The driveline will be shortened to make up for that raise. Then i just need to tidy up my wires and hoses in the cab and i will be good to go. I literally have 3 more afternoons before she is ready to go....anyway..the pics

 

oh yes...she is a mid 70s Pontiac Bonneville with a big block 400...and hopefully if all goes as planned, 4.11 rear end locked up with a mini-spool.

 

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I'm going to mess some poor rednecks up with this car...:headbang:

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Oh yeah that babe should be able to rip thru anybody with that 400ci !! You mite win too! It all depends on how you drive and where you take the hit's!! Now that's a 76 right? I like the cragger's in the rear too bad there going to get mangeld:lol: OH! And a word og advice chance the radiator hose's because i've seen so many that burst just when you really get going!!

 

I saw a demo derby one year and there were alot of 70's Buick wagon's and Pontiac's but there was this 89-92 Chevy corsica 4dr and it lasted the longest! And it was so funny because one of the front tire's got a hole in it and there was fix-a-flat pissing out Hahahahaha!:lol: And after the tire went flat you could see the rim spining inside the tire and there's what seald it's fate!

 

But anyhoo best of luck with it and hope you win!

 

Chers, Tom.....................

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The mini-spool is the prefered method of rear end locking. We have had too many welded rear ends come apart on us in the middle of a derby.

 

Provided i don't get hung up on another car, i will be doing very well this year. I took 5th last year with a car that was only suposed to get 3 or 4 hits before cratering. This one is built to last 2 or 3 derbys. All i know is that this car is going to hit harder than anything i have driven before...and i know how to make a kill shot. I will be putting other cars out.

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Yeah he's going to put the fender's and radiator back on and what ever else! I think it would be a good idea to weld some bar's to the front of the fram just fo a little more protection! Ya know...

 

He's BTW did you see that other tread about taking a Subaru to a derby??

 

That guy was sick!! Why would you even think about taking a Roo to a derby?:mad: :mad: :-\ It would just be said to see a good Roo getting beatin and unloved! It was bad enuff with a guy on youtube doing a rear wheel burn out with a Loyale and that EA82 was screming:mad:

I love Subaru's to much to hurt one! Maybe it's just me.....

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Another thing to do there Donny is flip the leaf perches on the axle and flip the axle over (So the right side is on the left, and vice-versa) will make the car go backwards when it's in drive.. Since you wanna hit the other cars with the BACK of yours anyway, this helps since you can build up speed better sinc you'll have three gears instead of one... Make sure you have super loud exhaust so people can hear it shift... in reverse... :-P

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no need to shift in reverse as i will be using the front end the same amount (if not more) than the rear. These cars are very strong in the front end...most cars are...think front end crash test rating. Cars are built for front end collisions because nine times out of ten, that is what people crash with. Yes there is more meat in the rear, but we set them up to use both ends. Also, the crowd loves to see someone let loose and start using their front end. Gives them the "is he doing what i think he is doing" type thing...as they pick their jaws up off of the ground.

 

Hondasucks...didn't you notice the exhaust sticking out of the motor? Yea, it's loud alright.

 

So i have 3 build days left until D-day, and lots more work to do. I hate these last few days, but they come with the territory. They will be over soon enough, and i will be giving people whiplash with no insurance dings or hospital bills to deal with. This is such a fun sport.:headbang:

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So tonight sucked in a major way...

 

I was doing the final touches on the motor, like organizing cables and hoses and making the car run smooth. I got all done and started her up. I reved it up to see how she was running, reved again, and BOOM!!! chunks of the block went flying out of the engine bay...belts jumped off of their tracks...car dies quickly. I don't know exactly what happened in the motor, but i do know that the crank is now in two peices, and there are golf ball size holes in the block..and a smaller hole in the oil pan.

 

So i threw in the rag and went off to a friends house to drink beer. After a couple beers i calmed down and started to realize that i could still make the derby if i stopped crying about it.

 

So i went back and yanked the motor out of the car while my brother went off to pick up another one of my derby cars that has an Olds 350 in it. I won't have the same power as before with the Pontiac 400, but it will still move my car in a fast manner.

 

Tomorrow, i have to pull the Olds motor, and put it in the Pontiac. Still have lots of welding to do, and paint. Should be interesting to say the least...

 

I hate the derby gremlin...he bit my rump roast hard this year.

 

*goes to bed grumbling*

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So tonight sucked in a major way...

 

I was doing the final touches on the motor, like organizing cables and hoses and making the car run smooth. I got all done and started her up. I reved it up to see how she was running, reved again, and BOOM!!! chunks of the block went flying out of the engine bay...belts jumped off of their tracks...car dies quickly. I don't know exactly what happened in the motor, but i do know that the crank is now in two peices, and there are golf ball size holes in the block..and a smaller hole in the oil pan.

 

Could have been worse man, could have happened at the derby...

 

And I know cars are strong in the front, but ramming with the rear protects the radiator, although I have heard of people putting the radiator in the cabin, or above the motor.. Even heard of one guy who put valves and crap on the radiator so if the radiator got popped he closed the valves and had the heater core in a bucket of ice, didn't work for long but long enough for him to win :-P

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So i was able to get the motor swapped in and running by noon today. I welded about 3 miles, and got a bunch of other small things done. Have you ever been so tired that you couldn't feel your arms or legs? thats how i feel right now. I have a small list of things that i need to do in the morning, but they are pretty simple and will be over with quick. I should have no problem being ready for the 5 pm deadline...without cutting corners. :headbang:

 

 

Hondasucks...a car will run an entire heat in a derby without a radiator without too much trouble. Plus i bring spare radiators so i can swap them out in between heats if needed. Don't get me wrong, i will use the back of my car...just as much as the front. This is just the system that we have found to work the best...so we run with it. And unfortunatly, they won't let us move our radiators at all. I guess the crowd loves to see them pop and steam.

 

Oh...my tractor exhaust went away with the other motor...now i have a full set of pipes coming straight up and out of the hood. This car is looking mighty mean now. More pics will be coming later on.

 

Wish me luck...derby is at 7:00 tomorrow. Hopefully all of my hard work pay off....

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Alright, here is your update...

 

I painted my car flat black the morning of the derby in between rain storms. Tied up most of the loose ends that i had (yes, i forgot a couple of things) and transported my car to the fair grounds for the derby. I passed the inspection without too much hassle, and enjoyed the eye of the storm right before the derby for about an hour.

 

The things i forgot to do were...i forgot to pick up a belt for my alternator, and forgot to fill the rea end with gear oil. Neither thing was a super big deal, just made it so i needed to charge my battery in between heats. There was still some gear oil in the rear end...enough to keep things lubed.

 

Anyway, the derby started up and the first heat was an endurance run. The above mentioned rain and the cars mixing up the dirt turned the arena into a 6 to 8 inch deep mud soup pit. People were having issues with traction/speed/stopping, so the hits were weak. Everyone ended up lasting forever, and their wasn't a whole lot of nasty damage to their cars.

 

Second heat was my heat. The moment i have been waiting for. I drove in and squared up against a late 60s buick (not a very strong car) As they started the heat, i thought to myself..."i'm not going to hit this guy hard, i'll save the mean hits for later" which was a mistake because with thinking this, i didn't jump off the line, just took my time. As this was going on, i saw the buick start to move...but he was going the wrong way. He had missed his gear, and started driving into the barrier instead of towards me. Had i jumped on him, i would have been able to push him out of the arena, putting him out of the derby. This was the worst possible thing to have happen to me, because i got mad at myself for missing a prime opportunity. I decided to not miss any more, and let loose.

 

I ended up having better traction than most, so i used every bit of it. i started following people as they would get close to the barriers, then hammering down as they started to stop. Using their poor traction to their disadvantage, and pushing them out of the areana. This worked perfect to put out 3 other cars, but they let one of them back in for some reason. The action slowed down a bit towards the end of the heat until one of my buddies and i started ganging up on the others. It came down to the point of it being me, my buddy, and 2 other cars. We would take turns pinning them in, and holding them while the other made a strong hit on them. At this point, i kind of came out of my derby rage and realized that i was about to move on to the winners heat. This would be only my second time in the winners heat so far in my derby career. My friend and i made quick work of the last car so that only 3 of us were running...ending the heat. I drove up to my buddy and gave him the thumbs up, then motioned to spin some cookies. It was pretty cool, my buddy and I slinging mud over the field that we had just dominated...crowd going crazy, all on top of an excellent adrenaline high. Oh so sweet.

 

My car was hardly damaged. The trunk was packng in just fine, and the front was bending up in the right spots. Things were going as expected.

 

In the winners heat, i ended up stacked up against some fine cars. There were 12 cars in this heat (3 from each heat, and 3 from the loosers heat) Out of those 12 cars, 5 of them had once been owned by my older brother (he is way into this sport and had brought those cars into the valley from all over) The competition was steep to say the least. I ended up using my car alot more than the others. Ended up being by far the most agressive. I was able to push one more car out of the areana, and made some neck stretching full arean hits. My car started having some issues shifting between forward and reverse, and the motor started having issues making higher revs. Heat would end up killing me. I was able to stay in and make 5th place for the second year in a row. But i took out alot more people this year.

 

Last minutes of the derby, the announcer piped up and told everyone that some local businesses had chipped in to double to pot for the winners. Instead of 900 for 1st, they would get $1,800. Not bad money for a stupid redneck race. Maybe i can get a peice of that next derby.

 

My car is still in pretty good shape. I may be running it again this coming tuesday...but if not, i will run it the first part of september. Can't wait for that, it's going to be a blast.

 

Oh yea...i am sore....very sore.

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Hey zap, hows it going. My feet handled the derby pretty good, but the build is what hurt them. Way too many hours up on them leaning over a car made them scream in pain. Small price to pay i guess...or something like that.

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