Mopar Muscle Feature

We're pretty honored to get a feature article in the November issue of Mopar Muscle mag. This spread was shot on location in the Las Vegas desert by the very talented photographer John Machaquiero. He is a master at his trade and gave me a new respect for the profession as he "light painted" the shots after dark. The article was penned by our altered wheelbase mentor Steve Magnante and it was fun being able to chat with him about the build and general bullshit. He's a pretty great guy and doesn't give off any celebrity vibe whatsoever, which is good. When it comes down to it he is just a hot rodder like us who happens to be in the lime light. Anyways, he did the article justice and although we aren't the the type of guys who chase fame, we'll take it where we can get it if it inspires other people to built cool and interesting rides based on an idea and not a lot of cash.

Tens At Last!!

Last weekend we ventured down to Mission Raceway for the annual Langley Loafers Old Time Drags. (There's actually one in June at Ashcroft Raceway as well)In preparation for this and many races to come, Chris and I decided that it was time to get our shit together and have a torque converter built that suits our combo. So we set the team at TCS to work and they came up with something designed for our horsepower, weight and over-all strangeness of an altered wheelbase wagon. While we had the transmission out we decided to freshen up the old pushbutton 727 since it rarely get's treated very nice. Our class in Mission is based on Gasser and straight axle cars called "Nostalgia Gas" and over the past few years it has been pretty spotty at best with really low car counts. This year we were happy to see 17 cars in the field which really made for some exciting and competitive racing. We bounced around the 11.00 mark for all of Saturdays qualifying rounds but Sunday was another story. With a cool air first (and only) qualifying pass of the morning I nailed a good light and sent the front of the car skyward, hitting buttons on the money for a really clean, solid pass. The end result was a 10.98 @ 119mph!!! our first ever time slip with a ten on it and thank Christ since we were really getting sick of telling people that we race in the 11s. We dialed a 10.99 for the day and ran consistent 11.02 and 11.03s to get us handily through the pack of "Nostalgia Gas" only to get "tree'd" in the final round by Randy (?) in his (set-to-kill) '55 Chevy. That's how it goes and we we're happy to get runner up with a trophy and a cheque to put towards the diesel bill for hauling home. Another phenomenal weekend at the track with good friends, old records and Swing Bike rodeo with a dash of drag racing thrown in for good measure.

Couldn't Be Cooler

Here's a sneak peak at the Mopar Muscle article penned by our Altered wheelbase mentor, Steve Magnante. The photo shoot took place in Vegas this year at the 2015 Mopars at the Strip event and the evening desert shots were done with a process called light painting. Very cool to watch that process go down. Check this out and buy a copy of Mopar Muscle to prove that you actually know some famous hot rodders. Heh heh http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/1505-altered-wheelbase-tribute-flashpoint-for-a-new-hot-rodding-generation/

We'll Take Some Fame

It always surprises me when something goes to print without doing at least some fact checking with the people to whom the article is about. Case in point. The people from Mopar Collectors Guide did a 15 minute photo shoot on the car while we were in Vegas followed up by a 20 minute phone interview and we never heard from them again. Consequently, the article on our team and car in this month's MCG is peppered with a the odd inaccuracies. Oh well, we'll take the free press where we can get it, who am I to complain. In comparison Mopar Muscle magazine did a 6 1/2 hour photo shoot that same weekend with a photographer that was specifically flown in from Philly to shoot our car and there was a six page info sheet that we needed to fill out as well as several back and forth emails and phone conversations with Steve Magnante who is penning the article. He then sent me a rough draft to proof and correct as needed. Now that's pro and that feature will be kick-ass. This one is pretty good.

Vegas Action!!!

I like to call this little video clip "Hats".

Lil' Chupacabra Shirts

These little cuties couldn't get their new lil' Chupacabra shirts on fast enough so they could pose by the race car in Vegas. It's been a long time coming but we finally went to print with these tiny Ts. Available in 6-12month, 18-24 month and child sizes four and ten while supplies last. $20.00 plus shipping.

Mad Fame

Here's a little interview that Chris and I did with the ambassador of all things altered wheelbase, Steve Magnante. Steve literally wrote the book on how to build an altered wheelbase and we followed pretty closely while building El Chupacabra. It turns out that he is not only a real human being but also comes across as just another gear head like us who loves to talk about obscure drag racing history (among other things).

Vegas Baby

And without further adieu, It's the "Vegas Baby". Our chief maniac of the WOSN team (Chris) is heading to Vegas in the middle of March for a family wedding and since the "oh so famous Mopars at the Strip" race is happening a few short days later; he decided that it would be a brilliant plan to trailer the race car the scant 1250 mile journey so we can represent. This is where the whole "Vegas baby" thing comes into play. Chris and Ronni recently made themselves a cute little rug-rat and thought it would be important for the child's future to be exposed to a high profile drag race weekend before reaching 5 months of age. New parents rock. I decided that we would all continue to be friends if I flew down. I also decided to recruit a few friend to take the trek as well and help fly the banner of Wagons of Steel. I'm thinking that this will shape up to be an epic event and I'll try to post more once the cover comes off the car.

Shirts for Sale

We can't be expected to wait on other people to make us famous, so we decided to create our own fame. Be a part of Wagons of Steel history and own one of these amazing 100% cotton Gildan tees. El Chupacabra front image is a five color print with a three color Wagons of Steel logo on the back for $30.00 plus $3.00 S&H in Canada and the lower 48. We also did a run of the WOS logo only on black tees for $25.00. I currently have sizes L,XL and XXL but will be printing M & S soon as well as XXXL by request.
Contact me at alligatorpie@telus.net for size and color requests and a paypal invoice.

 

This Never Gets Old

The match race weekend was a blast and the first time ever racing against Gaffo Jones and the Wagons of Steel stock eliminator flag ship. It was a bit of a knife to a gunfight scenario given their experience and car set-up but we embraced the challenge of duking it out like wide eyed children with nothing to lose and the competition was tight. Alas, the Americans prevailed in a two out three victory but the saga will continue and the next time we meet in a heads up battle we'll be faster and wiser. Just seeing these two wagons lined up together gave me chills. The opposing stance  in both cars makes them look like an ad for a suspension shop.

Enjoy some video and don't be afraid to crank the volume.

Match Race!!!!!

We've officially thrown down the gauntlet to our class racing wagons of steel brothers from the American contingent. A stock vs altered; '64 Dodge vs '64 Plymouth; wagon on wagon showdown. weights are similar for the two cars, as is power but their behemoth is set on kill when it comes to chassis tuning for the highly competitive stock class racing that they sometimes enjoy, whereas our jalopy is set up like a hot rod shopping cart. The '64 Savoy, aptly named Britney Spears (so named during their drinking days) had better be wearing her big girl shorts cuz El Chupacabra is coming for her. This will be the first time these two heavy hitters line up against each other and the stakes couldn't be higher. No seriously, the loser buys steaks and probably near beer if memory serves. This race goes down July 11-13 at Pacific raceway for their Wild West Nostalgia weekend. The match bash will probably take place on the Friday for the test and tune evening so we can be sure that they won't try to sneak into a different lane to avoid a heads up race!!!

                                                                      VERSUS

                                                We're coming for you Gaffo Jones!!!!!

And We're Back

Mr. Carlson and I made the long journey to Ashcroft B.C. last weekend for the Langley Loafer's Old Time Drags. Weather was perfect all weekend although the air was a bit dense and it's surprising to see clouds in this video since it was almost always blue skies and scorching sun with a reasonably consistent tail wind.
We did a few upgrades over the winter that really tightened up our program; first and foremost we ditched the sleepy 4.11 gears for some aggressive 4.89s. We also sent out our valve body to Turbo Action to have it converted into a full manual reverse pattern which meant that I also had to switch the buttons around on our push button shift panel. Not an easy task but it looks and performs pro. Another upgrade we did, which may sound trivial, is to replace the chrome, period correct looking tach with a monster tach and functioning shift light. It looks wrong in a car like ours but we want to win some races.

 Old Chubby Cobra was working like a thoroughbred stallion this weekend, pulling a foot of air under the front tires (not quite yet in this shot) with 1.55 60' times. and averaging 11.13-11.17 E.T.s. Of course when it came down to eliminations on Sunday we were pitted against a fellow in our class with a '55 Chevy straight axle car that ran a 10.50 on a 10.50 dial in with an .020 reaction time. I may as well have stayed at home with a run like that. We ran an 11.16 on an 11.15 dial and I cut my best light of the weekend with an .027. A great run by most standards but that, my friends, is drag racing. We packed up the camp in record time, cracked a beer (and a near beer), said our goodbyes to our racing family and Chris put the hammer down on the Duramax as we headed for home. It's funny that I still classify this as a phenomenal weekend, even going out in the first round but going racing is sometimes more than racing. We see friends that we haven't seen in a long time, we went fishing on the way and I brought two of my Swing Bikes which offered a 100% chance of hilarity with a side of road rash. Did I mention that I love my life?

Remember These?

I was feeling a bit nostalgic this morning so I decided to flip through some old pics. Can you believe El Chupacabra came from this beast? Not only that but I still had a carport before it was overtaken by snow load which ultimately lead to the fantastic garage that I have now. Thanks nature.

 

 Uh Oh!!!The consequence of this post crushing the roof of our car was also a blessing since it was rotted beyond repair from years of mouse piss deteriorating  all of the vertical supports. Everything happens for a reason.

 

The Monkees wish that they had a '64 Dodge altered wheelbase convertible wagon.

 

Mmmm rotisserie Dodge...I'll take mine medium rare.

 

Couple of dorks having a dork off with their new hoopty

 

 Then the standard issue "getting the bugs out" scenario which involves melting down a couple of tired big blocks before we sell our first born to buy....

 

This!!!!

Now you should be all caught up and ready for another stellar year of racing in 2014.

The track schedules don't generally come out until the new year but you will be the first to know when they do.

 

 

 

 

Who Doesn't Love Shaky Video?

This was our last outing of the season and it was a bit of an ugly day. The forecast called for 5mm of rain and we foolishly still drove all the way to Osoyoos to get our final fix of adrenaline therapy. Fortunately the rain staved off for us and we settled for a strong headwind and (as usual) no traction. The good news is that nobody had traction so it was a level playing field. The starting line game became a fickle a balance of soft throttle tip in coupled with a slow brake release and some aged Gouda. Mmmm Gouda. Once we felt reasonably confident that we could work with these conditions we easily made it through the first round but by round two I actually hooked and despite a huge lift scrubbing 10mph from our speed we still broke out with a 7.20 on a 7.27 dial in. That's racing folks.

So in the off season there will be a lot of this happening. I'll do my best to give updates on maintenance and upgrades but I encourage you to keep your expectations low to avoid disappointment.

See you in the funnies

O.K. One More

More Weekend Shots

These glossy shots were sent to me from our buddy Melinda from Galore Racing.

Thanks Melinda

Mission Old Time Drags

Well I'm officially still exhausted from our raucous weekend in Misssion B.C. for the  Langley Loafer's Old Time Drags this past weekend. This is our big outing of the year and as usual it did not disappoint in the least. The weather was perfect and the car behaved itself, clicking off consistent 11.1 passes @ 119 mph. The new motor is nothing short of mechanical art and people flock around the car in pits like flys to honey, making it a full time job explaining what the hell is happening in the land of altered wheelbase wagons. It's also fun to kick back and watch people walking by the car as they take time to try and pronounce "Chupacabra" before giving up and continuing on. 

We still have a bit of work to do in terms of chassis tuning, gear selection and some transmission tinkering but the program has a clear and decisive path that can only lead to faster e.t.s and bigger wheelstands. We had a tight crew throughout the weekend that consisted of the entire Babe's Automotive staff, so confidence was high when minor malfunctions arose (as they always do). 

Here you can watch a couple of great passes between me and our pal Steve Chase in his awesome '64 Merc pick-up. Steve is responsible for creating a straight axle specific class for us and we're forever grateful to him for lumping our wierd-ass race cars together with like minded people. I'll post more pics as they roll in but until then enjoy these videos shot by our own "Dangerous" Chris Carlson and be sure to crank the volume for maximum smile factor. 

Torque Thrusts Baby

When we realized that our 29/10.5Ws mounted to the kidney bean wheels we had hoped to use were experiencing serious interference in the rear wheel openings and our old steel Cragars up front were noticeably out of round and uber heavy, we decided that some classic looking American Racing Torque Thrust "Ds" were just the solution.

Damn if we didn't nail that one.

The Phoenix!!!!!!!

Rising from the ashes of a devastating shop fire comes the illustrious new race motor for El Chupacabra II. So you take one semi-retired 1964 413 stocker race block with every go fast trick known to man inside, then bore it .140 over and order up some one-off pistons to achieve 13:1 compression, then you may as well add a roller cam for good measure. Port some already heavily ported iron heads in order to match the intake orifices of a brand new cross ram from A&A transmissions. Hell, we may as well port that too in order to achieve larger that max wedge size ports. Top it all off with some custom built Edlebrock 750s and we have a serious combo. This is very much the Coles notes on what's been done to this motor but we need to keep some sectrests in the name of mystery

Here we have it with velocity stacks which will need some clearancing to work.

And K&Ns for the sake of longevity.

A Little Racing

We made it back to Thunder Mtn last weekend after a one year hiatus and it was great to see all the familiar faces and be able to flog our new combo at a mere 4500 feet above sea level. We scored some new Hoosier slicks but unfortunately ran out of time before heading out, so we were forced to run our old cheaters that gave us so much trouble last year. So it wasn't much of a surprise when they spun like crazy off the line all weekend long. We did manage to make some traction later in the afternoon when the track was well seasoned and followed by a massive "I have a tire sponsor" burnout. Best 60' was in the 1.63 range and our best e.t. was 7.42. We're in the process of ordering up some sweet Torque Thrust wheels to cover all four corners and we'll wrap the rears in 29x10.5W steam rollers. Say goodbye to traction issues. It was a good weekend over-all giving us an opportunity to really put some test passes down on the old Maxed wedge. This motor sounds and runs better than expected. Once the chassis is better dialed in this thing will be a serious contender.
Our next outing will be the long awaited Mission old time drags on July 27/28 and we're feeling like our shit is pretty tight. The goal is high tens with some wheels in the air action. Come out and see us in the pits, you might even get to meet my mom if you're lucky. She'll be the one trying to make you eat a sandwich and potato salad.