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cuzncletus · 07-03-2011, 04:33 PM

According to the article, Newmire had some special Gilmer belt pulleys cut at quite an expense for 1955; $300. The overdrive was 1.8:1!!!

The article said the hoses blew off "by combustion gases getting into the cooling system". It also said they overtorqued the studs in attempt to keep the heads down. Navarro went on to say the heads were completely destroyed by hot gases buring pathways through the mating surface of the Weiand heads.

On re-reading the article, Newmire's first name was 'Bud'. I'm sorry I don't have the means at home to scan this and put out the entire article for the forum. If anyone would like to help, Tuesday when I return to work I'll copy and fax the article to all who would like to read or post it.

By the way, I talked with my old friend Charlie Overfelt a couple of years ago at a nostalgia race. He had a modified roadster running in the high 9's with a flathead. He used stock rods and crank. He did say that much of a load (25+%?) would push the crank out the bottom. Still, that's a heck of a statement for those spaghetti rods and parcity of main surface area.

07-03-2011, 04:33 PM	#10
cuzncletus Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sevierville, Tenn. Posts: 391	Re: 435 horsepower in 1955..... According to the article, Newmire had some special Gilmer belt pulleys cut at quite an expense for 1955; $300. The overdrive was 1.8:1!!! The article said the hoses blew off "by combustion gases getting into the cooling system". It also said they overtorqued the studs in attempt to keep the heads down. Navarro went on to say the heads were completely destroyed by hot gases buring pathways through the mating surface of the Weiand heads. On re-reading the article, Newmire's first name was 'Bud'. I'm sorry I don't have the means at home to scan this and put out the entire article for the forum. If anyone would like to help, Tuesday when I return to work I'll copy and fax the article to all who would like to read or post it. By the way, I talked with my old friend Charlie Overfelt a couple of years ago at a nostalgia race. He had a modified roadster running in the high 9's with a flathead. He used stock rods and crank. He did say that much of a load (25+%?) would push the crank out the bottom. Still, that's a heck of a statement for those spaghetti rods and parcity of main surface area.