Bob Ida's 1940 Gasser Willys In 1965, 21 year ancient Bob Ida was at a crossroads in his racing career. He turned into having a blast working the BB/GS category together with his blown 409-powered 1956 Chevy. however the always weight-conscious Bob felt he become at a disadvantage with the Chevy sedan physique and chassis he changed into working. He believed in reality that to dwell on correct within the Gasser wars he obligatory to get lighter.
The mid 1960's saw a surge in the recognition of pre-war Willys race cars. both and 4 doorways have been a big hit with the race crowd, because of no longer only their decent looks and "rushing whereas standing nonetheless" profile, but their easy weight as well. The competencies of being capable of add weight where you necessary it became a huge draw to serious drag racers. Its skinnier waist line gave the racer options he did not have with many of the other wanna-be race cars that had the looks, but were just too hefty the place it didn't count.
Tipping the scales on the gentle aspect truly gave you a large talents with the Willys, however their cost effective asking rate became additionally a large plus for a young scorching rodder like Bob, who changed into scraping via with simply his personal day-job's weekly salary to fund his race program.
© Scotty Lachenauer 21-Ida-willys-tightlow.jpg Bob chose the four-door over the greater widely wide-spread coupe. notwithstanding he cherished both-doors styling, he was all the time involved about how the coupe handled. "From my previous observations of alternative fats fender coupes making runs down the music, i noticed that once guys didn't latch their trunk lid, the trunk would raise as they made their runs. This made me involved that the rear of the coupes become fashioned like an aircraft wing and the body changed into creating elevate", states Bob. After using each patterns, he felt the sedan changed into a tons greater reliable experience at accurate speeds.
The Willys turned into instantly despatched over to his dad's gasoline station/storage in Brooklyn, big apple for its metamorphosis into a competent race automobile. He and his 14 yr historic cousin Vinnie Quarato labored diligently on the automobile outside on the station's property right through the day, and then loaded the car into the again of a field truck for safe retaining at nighttime. most of the elements for the Willys have been picked off of Bobs fifty six, including of path the blown W-series motor.
and the way did that particular powerplant grow to be? and the way did a high schooler get his fingers on it? neatly, that's a story in itself. Bob tells it this fashion, "In high faculty i might stash away the lunch money my folks would give me, and make it throughout the day on handouts from the women." The younger ladies knew Bob became saving for his race automobile and had no difficulty assisting him see his dreams develop into a reality. He additionally tuned local racer's 348 powered 1961 Impalas to suit-race Corvettes.
© Scotty Lachenauer 27-Ida-willys-moving.jpg With that stash of money, $752 to be accurate, Bob bought a 409 from a native Chevy broker after which went to work on it. He had to supercharge it, to run with the Gassers available. "It become essentially the most interesting class obtainable through far. people would just leave their seats and hug the fence when the Gassers ran. i wanted to be a part of that," claims Bob.
So he tore down his 409, and tried to figure out a way to lower the compression satisfactory to run a blower. He selected deciding to buy a 409 truck block which had low compression notches machined in. He then started piecing together the motor using materials from his fashioned 409. The largest challenge right here became getting the compression low sufficient to run the blower efficaciously. and not using a aftermarket materials to supercharge a 409, Bob needed to use his noggin.
fortuitously Bob labored right across the corner from efficiency knowledgeable Jack Merkel. Jack came up with the conception of machining the piston tops right down to reduce the compression enough to add the vital boost. respectable friend Tony Eck, did the computing device work, and then Jack balanced the rotating meeting. From there Bob took over, assembling the short block, building a custom manifold from a 348, and sourcing a 6-seventy one supercharger from a bus scrapyard. Bob disassembled the blower, had it anodized, after which rebuilt it. A small-block Weiand force and magneto were modified to work with the 409. lastly, a Hillborn 4-port gas injection unit was ordered and put in. Now Bob had an engine he could work with.
© Scotty Lachenauer 04-Ida-willys-side.jpg When it came to the transmission, the young Ida confirmed each his creativity, and ingenuity. Bob knew the Hydrostick changed into the transmission he wanted to run. He determined to build his personal. now not having any actual "trans" tools, he had to use his resourcefulness. He first harvested a GMC truck's Hydramatic transmission and went to work. "I used a tire computer to compress the snatch packs to get the snap ring off. I made the entire adjustments myself and rebuilt the transmission the use of defense force tank clutches that I purchased from a military surplus store." of course, Bob's work turned into perfection, and the trans labored flawlessly.
The chassis additionally obligatory an overhaul. Bob soon realized he had to cut out each the X-member and entrance crossmember to healthy the engine and transmission. "We all the time felt the motor actually kept this experience from falling apartthat is, they both crucial each and every other for guide," chuckles Bob. Up front, the straight axle become inventory, and the front springs had been then re-arced for height. Wedges have been used between then axle and spring to enhance caster for greater hello-speed coping with. A converted Corvair field helped out with the steerage. Bob admits, his racer turned into "effortless to pressure," compared to other racer's rides.
Out returned, a 1957 Olds rear, operating a 1964 Pontiac posi middle area, stuffed with four.88 gears received the vigour to the pavement. "I preferred the posi over the locked rear for protection explanations; that is, it was easier to steer," states Bob. Axles had been 31 spline items that had been customized made to fit. at the corners were drum brakes, stock Olds out again, and inventory Willys up front. To seize the pavement, Bob used correct gasoline tires on American Racing magazine wheels. Skinny Cragars had been run up entrance.
© Scotty Lachenauer 14-Ida-willys-sidelow.jpg The indoors changed into Spartan at finest. a set of Stingray seats stored Bob pointed ahead, and a roll bar saved him "secure." Between the buckets became the Hydrogate shifter. Three gauges gave him the entire information he obligatory; tachometer, oil drive, and temperature. A PTO cable from a truck would flip the fuel on and off. He also had a kill switch for the Vertex magneto.
On race days, Bob would stop at a Sunoco station and refill on 104 octane. "we might also deliver one set of fresh plugs," says Bob. The crew would warm up on closing week's historic plugs and when able to run, would throw in a new set. and how did the young guns do with the Willys? "We set the long island track listing all through an IHRA event ,0.2 seconds below the NHRA list. as a result of there were so many supercharged cars in the enviornment, we elected no longer to set the NHRA list any lower. That gave us an capabilities when it came to operating tremendous Eliminator. The rules talked about you could run as much as 0.09 below devoid of getting disqualified. We preferred that and did that regularly."
Over the next two years, Bob ran the Willys all over the East Coast, racking up wins by using the handful. Over the route of its run, he experimented with the sedan. changing out the entrance Cragars for smaller rims, he observed some thing enjoyable; the smaller the entrance rim obtained, the quicker the car went. That remark changed into vital in Bob choosing what his subsequent quarter-mile terror could be; the famed "Hemi Healy." With its low stance up entrance, the compact racer would now not simplest launch Bob's love of British sizzling rods, but it surely would additionally deliver him to speeds he had never seen before.
Now 50 years later, Bob had an itch to revisit what it become like to run a Willys sedan. So he made an effort to scout out and procure a usable 1940 to start his venture. It also got here with a 'glass nose like his usual. Over a two year span, Bob labored over the automobile, recreating his common 4-door dominator. From the driveline, to the chassis, to the body, this new Willys is every little thing the normal changed into. There was just one deviation on this selected construct; including "409" to the tasty hood lettering. it truly is it!
today Bob is already enjoying the fruits of his labor, but he knows he could not have finished it on my own. particular thanks exit to his son Rob, who inspired him to recreate his historic four-door racer. another big shout out goes to Nick Mannarino at up to date performance in long department, New Jersey, for handling the 409's desktop work. And finally, a distinct salute to "cousin" Vinnie Quataro, who suddenly passed away this spring. Vinnie became always via Bob's facet all through his racing years and continued as a life-lengthy chum. His help become vital in bringing returned this in fact striking 1960's racer.
No comments:
Post a Comment