Billet??.. OR NOT to Billet??

[Charlie Yannetti]

SOOOOOOO, Da Rumor Mill is getting greased with a lot of stories after the Gators.. are billet heads now NOT allowed in the Altered and Altered Automatic classes??.. what about the Dragster and Dragster Automatic classes??.. I'll have to admit that my rule book is a bit out dated, BUT THEN, so is the head rule..

Are these SUPPOSED infractions going to now get cars parked??.. OOOORR, is it rectified by engraving a part number onto a part that is not readily available from one of the Big Three??.. maybe every head and block builder is supposed to send their stuff to NHRA for approval??.. let's remember the classes being referred to here.. we're not talking about Econo, or Super Mod classes.. Altered, and Altered Automatic, are just that, ALTERED!!

Could it just be a NHRA Tech faux pas??.. a bad cup of morning joe, perhaps??.. someone whining about someone else's stuff??.. OOOOORR, am I just not getting all the facts off Da Rumor Mill??.. inquiring minds would like to know.. help me out here, folks..

 

[chris bozic]

I haven't downloaded the '21 rulebook yet, but '20 mentions for altered cylinder heads 'I, K and L are restricted to OEM generally available'.

Gas dragster section specifies 'H/D and I/D billet head prohibited'.

 

[Clinton Neff]

I K and L have been OEM no billet since I started running K/A in 2007 and obviously all along. Not saying that there won't be changes as some heads aren't being made anymore. I guess we'll see what happens.

SOOOOOOO, Da Rumor Mill is getting greased with a lot of stories after the Gators.. are billet heads now NOT allowed in the Altered and Altered Automatic classes??.. what about the Dragster and Dragster Automatic classes??.. I'll have to admit that my rule book is a bit out dated, BUT THEN, so is the head rule..

Are these SUPPOSED infractions going to now get cars parked??.. OOOORR, is it rectified by engraving a part number onto a part that is not readily available from one of the Big Three??.. maybe every head and block builder is supposed to send their stuff to NHRA for approval??.. let's remember the classes being referred to here.. we're not talking about Econo, or Super Mod classes.. Altered, and Altered Automatic, are just that, ALTERED!!

Could it just be a NHRA Tech faux pas??.. a bad cup of morning joe, perhaps??.. someone whining about someone else's stuff??.. OOOOORR, am I just not getting all the facts off Da Rumor Mill??.. inquiring minds would like to know.. help me out here, folks..

 

[Charlie Yannetti]

Thanks guys.. I kinda remembered it that way, BUT, some say I'm getting old too.. hopefully the SRAC reps will pick up on this, and bring it to the "Left Coast".. especially since these heads have been around, in use, and passing NHRA Tech for 3 to 5 years now..

Quick question.. since I might be getting old.. does J still fall between I and K??.. what was that saying about the goose and the gander??... HMMMMMMM..

 

[Clinton Neff]

Charlie I'm gonna say since I'm not sure of any 2 valve aluminum inline OEM 6 cyl heads made either in forever or at all? Besides maybe some foreign stuff?

Thanks guys.. I kinda remembered it that way, BUT, some say I'm getting old too.. hopefully the SRAC reps will pick up on this, and bring it to the "Left Coast".. especially since these heads have been around, in use, and passing NHRA Tech for 3 to 5 years now..

Quick question.. since I might be getting old.. does J still fall between I and K??.. what was that saying about the goose and the gander??... HMMMMMMM..

 

[Rob Harrison]

I found a 2007 rule book , nothing has changed ...... why would they ?

 

[Charlie Yannetti]

What would Forrest Gump's momma say??.. altered is, as altered does??...

 

[Raymond Martin]

429 K/AA Old Dude
The last (3) classes always had the OEM head rule. The really stupid part comes in play when in F/ED dragster which is a multi carburetor class I built some flat slide carburetors designed after an Electron with their permission just a lot bigger. NHRA allowed me to run for years until Steve Benoit wore out a telephone complaining to the Tech Dept. For a while they agreed it had a float and a float bowel so it was indeed a carb. Benoit kept whining so they eventually gave in and told me they were now illegal. I went back to Webbers but knowing me I had to modify the boosters to make them more efficient. Benoit got back on the phone and eventually NHRA gave in again and told me I couldn't modify the Webbers in a multi carburetor rule class. I said let me get this straight, I can run (14) carburetors in this class but I can't modify the (2) I'm running? NHRA said that is right. I quickly put (2) more stock Webbers on the F/ED making a total of (4). I think the F/ED dragster carb rule might still be in the Rule Book thanks to Steve (Whining) Benoit. This stupidity thinking still exist today in some class rules... I was also told NHRA had a file on me that would choke a horse. Oh well....

 

[Charlie Yannetti]

You seem to be correct, Mr Martin.. he who whines the most comes out on top, while the "innovators" suffer.. the last F/ED I was involved with had a motor with a 4 Weber set up on it that made MAD power.. although it seemed to be legal, it certainly would have brought out the worst in some folks..


While parts availability comes into play, so does innovation.. when competitive parts become unavailable, innovation steps up.. and I'm talking about "Altered" and "Dragster" classes, not Econo classes.. those classes were created for a reason..

I'm sure we could all point fingers at several combinations, and question its legality, but the answers just may come back as "It's An Altered Class", or, "It's A Dragster Class".. my response??.. EXACTLY!!

When manufacturers could not produce competitive cylinder heads, billet heads were introduced.. and also billet blocks.. apparently, some got part numbers, while others did not.. is it a difficult task to ISSUE PART NUMBERS???