The Rumbler

Just got to heat those whitewalls up a little. Don't know if it makes any difference...but it sure is FUN!!!

Just a little bit more...

There we go...Perfect.

Now let's just stage it until the pre-stage light goes off...

...leave on the last yellow and hang on! Looks like that little burnout worked. There's some serious weight transfer happening here! This shot was taken on the way to a 14.87 sec pass at 93 mph. Not bad for Grandad's old Rambler!

Here's me about to get hosed by a GT Falcon. I think it was running in the 13's. For all you foreigners out there, this car was the fastest 4 door sedan in the world in it's day with a top speed of around 140mph! Not bad for a hotted up Taxi.

This is what you don't want to happen! I watched this unfold from the staging lanes and it was pretty quick and messy. Launched real hard and turned left until it was almost facing the other way. Hit the wall and rolled a couple of times. The driver walked away and I was told that all of the welds held together on the chassis. Nice job. I think this was only it's second or third time out.

This is on the way back from the Quairading Speeway Run. I saw these fields covered with bright yellow flowers on the way up and thought "That looks like a good photo opp." I think it turned out alright, a little "cheesy" maybe.

Here's the Rumbler and the Supa Coop at Neville Marney's shed. We just thought we'd cruise out one day and see what was new. There's always something interesting to see and if not, Nev's always got a story or ten to tell.

This is me and the Rumbler on our maiden cruise. The event was Big Al's Poker Run 1995. No carpet, no door seals, no clearance between the exhaust and steering...teething problems. I've fixed one or two of them since then!

...and finally a shot of the engine. This is after 6 years on the road, so it's starting to look a little tired. If you look carefully you can see the custom made alternator bracket and the shortened oil filler tube and the latest addition, the Mallory Unilite ditributor. Specs - AMC 290 V8, 0.125" overbore to make it a 309. Heads are stock units from a 343 which have much larger valves. Intake is stock 4 barrel with an Edelbrock 600 cfm carb. A Crow Cams camshaft and stock exhaust manifolds going into a twin 2" system. All in all a simple, but strong package. It goes a LOT better than anyone thought it would :)

Here's the latest addition to the motor. Of course, they don't make it go any faster, but boy do they look GOOD! Best thing was I got them for a song. They're available brand new still for around $175 US! Ouch! I scored these off a friend of mine, Stewart Campbell. They're used, but that's OK, it makes them look like they've been on there forever. For $150 Australian, I couldn't pass them up. I didn't even haggle!

Just in case you couldn't quite tell what they looked like from the previous photo, here's another. Can you tell I REALLY like them. Best thing about them is how tall they are. Should be able to fit roller rockers no worries... now just to get the roller rockers.