We use to take the spring arm off the old set of points and add it to a new set with the thought it would allow us more revs without point float. Never proved it worked but you had to watch the gap because the wear block took the abuse.

What did you try?

While talking about old tricks but on 56 customline 3 speed transmission, i was probably 19 and would go through a gear box pretty regularly, youthfull destruction! some would jump 2nd gear or top or rip the teeth off 1st gear and i remember armed only with a jack and 1 stand, pulling trans in gravelly driveway, dismantling it on piece of cardboard and replacing bits and adding 2 selector hub detent springs, "the wire like circlips" to selector 2/3 selector hub to increase detent pressure, reassemble it all, take off up the street, give it heaps and if something else wasnt right, go straight back to oil puddle in driveway and do it again, i could pull that trans in no time eventually! now it take me twice as long just to change the oil!. Ah memories, although i cant remember what i did yesterday. regards bill.

Killed the alternator drag when going down the 1/4.

Not sure if it really worked but "Da Grump" did it so it was good enough for me.

Oldmics

I had a push pull switch on the dash of my ’56 Customline Victoria that was placed on the lower face of the dash just in front of the shifter so my knuckles would push it in upon shifting to third gear.  At this point the car had a top loader four speed with a T handled Hurst shifter.  This would shut off one set of points in the dual point distributor and retard the timing.  This allowed more ignition timing for the launch and then the ignition retard was good for mph at the end of the track.  It took MSD quite awhile to add that retard feature back into their boxes so I could do the same thing again with an electronic ignition.

This just went along with side gapping and indexing the spark plugs.  Although each little trick didn’t accomplish much individually, together they made a big difference.

was a timber bridge over prarion bayou just wide enough for

two cars. Only about 100 yards long, but we made do. One of

the guys had a 57 fairlane with 312 tbird special engine (4 bbl) , and another had a 56 with a 312. Some how the 56

always got to the end of the bridge first. Asking him years

later, he said he used to put rosin on that plank deck on his side of the bridge. Don't know if true. I was driving my dad's

53 f100 with it's flathead. Did'nt race it though. My driving

privileges were too precarious to risk.

I

mothballs in the gas tank??!!

Mark

This little car was very quick (especially from a rolling start) and the local hot shots soon learned to fear the little grey car - Corvettes, Mopars and especially.....the knuckleheads at the Fina station across the street ('57 chebbie)....got a lesson in being humble. So....my buddy Brad Davis and I decided to try our own version of the "magic chemical" in the Davis family Poncho. This involved a windshield washer from the salvage yard - and numerous concoctions we dreamed up to try. Isophryl alchohol and water seemed to work the best - but our seat of the pants dynamometer was probably less than calibrated. At any rate - the Davis Pontiac must have had the cleanest spark plugs in southern Missouri.    

At the same place of business - one of our steady visitors was a Doctor  - who owned a supercharged Avanti 327? (normally driven by his wife). She was constantly getting into trouble with the local cops - more than any of us - and the guy woulkd remove the belts to slow her down.....whereupon she would show up at the station with $10 (+belts) and smile sweetly.......Pretty soon (sometime the next week) a redfaced Doc would jump out of his Caddy and threaten anyone handy within an inch of their life - if they ever put the belts back on the Stude.

 [/quote]

    Steve, Probably was a 289 Studebaker engine. The 327 was the Rambler/AMC motor. Completely different. Friend of Hoosiers has a versions of this motor in a Lark called the red Tomato, runs 12's @ 110 mph, pure stock.

The Avanti II had a 327 Corvette engine.

#1 Putting a screen under the carb. It was suppose to atomize the fuel better. They even sold little fan assy. that were to do this.

#2 They had a module that fit into the dist. cap before the coil wire that was suppose to increase your spark.

#3 And even the injector spark plugs or the plugs with 2 or 3 ground electrodes. Was suppose to increase hp by 5 to 7.

#4 Installing exhaust cut-outs, some with cables to open and shut from inside the car.

Oh those were the days!

Also the "friend" at the airport that would sell you some Aviation fuel on occasion! Since high octane gas was still available out of the pump I'm not sure how much the avgas helped. Used to go to the "dial a grade" pumps for what 108 octane or something like that. Only on race weekends though it was near 50 cents a gallon.

I also have an old HC catalog, also a JC Whitney when they were about 6x9 inches.