The Road to Nitro, week 7, The Boss is Back!
So I am going back to
work on Aug 21st after my burn accident. No, I am not the Boss, I am
just a regular worker but the statement “The Boss is Back” is just a tease so
you will read on. The statement has meaning!
I haven’t been able
to do much except to dream because even though I have been feeling pretty good
lately I did not want to work on stuff while on workman’s comp and have to
explain to them why if I got hurt.
I did get to go and
watch Bryan run his AA/FA and that was allot of fun. Winner, Winner! Yes, Bryan
won the Pepsi Nightfire nationals at Boise which is a huge event for fuel
altereds. And he won his first Wally! That was a real accomplishment and he now
is the car to beat in AA/FA!
After next Monday it is back to square one on the “Road to Nitro”. There have been some updates since the last installment and the weeks have grown into months but I will keep on as if it is only week 7.
Since the last time
we talked you know that the Hall Bros roadster was funded from the 39 Merc fund
and this will be a true Hall Bros looking roadster. Cliff went back and picked
up the new car and he, Bryan and Billy got it in the garage and ripped
and tore. I watched as Lisa took video. You have probably already seen it if
you are on this page. It is now cut down to 118” wheelbase and just needs the
new front end parts welded on.
Just to give you a
little history about the Hall Bros original race team we were always Ford guys.
I started thinking about all the engines that we have raced and we have raced
almost all of them. Dad (Ray) raced a Y-block 292 and a Hi-rise 427. Mark raced
a 351C and 427s. Russ raced 427s and still has a Mach 1 with a 351W that
he races! Lee raced small blocks and 351C. Cliff has raced Windsor’s, Windsor
strokers and still racing big block 460 strokers. Even Bryan, Rickey, Shantel and Kelley raced a Ford.
So I started thinking
about it and it just doesn’t make any sense to run anything but a Ford even
though I got off the reservation for a bit when I ran blown BBC. That was mainly
because there was just not that much aftermarket Ford stuff back when I
switched to blown. But things have changed.
I forgot to mention
that I had a Boss 302 car when I was a kid and I also raced it. Boy was that a
learning experience. I built it like it was going to run 10,000 rpm but only
had valve springs to go about 7,000 which by the way is when those really start
to move. It was fun and I have always liked the Boss 302 and Boss 429 Mustangs.
And now on to the big
news. The statement the “Boss is Back” has meaning! Remember when I talked
about all the Ford engines the Hall Bros have run well there is one we never
did so here it is!
The Hall Bros. are
going to run a Boss 429 on
Nitro!
That’s right, there are plenty of aftermarket Boss 429 parts
out there and they now make solid aluminum race Boss 429 blocks with
replaceable sleeves. And there are also solid race Boss 429 Heads!
This will probably be the only Fuel Altered with a Boss 429
so that will be fun to interact with all the Ford fans. Lisa and I had allot of
time to talk about it while we were on Bryan’s western swing and we are both
excited about it!
And as a (AA/FA) AA Fuel Altered it really needs to have a
name, and the name will be…..
”The
Boss”
I really like the
looks of the Boss 429 and I will be putting 429 below the Boss in ghost letters
so I can’t wait to see how that turns out.
It will not be as
cheap as running a Chrysler but after adding up all the parts it is real
comparable in price so the tribute to my Dad and the Hall Bros race team will
be worth every penny. I can’t thank Les Stripe enough for the tremendous amount
of help he has given me to get to this point. I still have to sell off all of
the old race parts to fund this and Les says he has a garage full of goodies we
can sell. I can’t wait, this will be fun!
I will keep you
updated on the build as it goes along with some shorter blogs. I came up with a
great idea for a Fuel Injector today when I was looking at some Boss 429s and
it will be different than all injectors out there! I will keep that news for
another blog so stay tuned! It will knock your socks off!
The Boss is back Baby!