Bud came to my shop back in the early 2000s.
He retired from a job on the west coast and had been drag racing a dragster I thing mostly at Carlsbad for many years.
Somehow he found me by trying to find places of people that drag raced rather than dirt track.
We became good friend as I would send him to people for machine work and parts for his next project.
Well his next project was to build another front engine dragster like he had race back in Ca.
We made some trips to St Louis and picked up some chrome molly tubing he gave me some plans then I bent all the tubing for his new car.
Bud welded the car together and put a small block with stack injectors on alky with a glide and a 9 inch.
He was in his 70s when I net him.
When his crew could make a race Bud would call me and would crew for him.
I remember one weekend we went to St louis for a weekend show got the car unloaded and were trying to warm it up and the car ran like crap.
I asked Bud if he had been having problems with and he said yes he had. So I check the timing and plug gap and valves and things seemed okay.
Now I ask about what the leak down was set on the barrel valve and it sounded correct so I would try small adjustments that made no difference then would try difference timing and no change.
Funny how so many people would stop by and give there 10 cents worth. Car sounded like crap when it was running...didn't take long to draw a crowd.
Now the engine had a MSD distributor and had good spark so never gave it much thought but guess I just had to look so I pulled the cap and to are surprise the rotor tag had been knocked around and had the rotor and cap out of faze.
Bud gave me the crew chef of the weekend award.
I got the opportunity to shoe the car at the HAMB Drays.....can't remember the year.
Here's a picture I have of the car after he went to a blower and two port.
RIP Bud Smith.
He retired from a job on the west coast and had been drag racing a dragster I thing mostly at Carlsbad for many years.
Somehow he found me by trying to find places of people that drag raced rather than dirt track.
We became good friend as I would send him to people for machine work and parts for his next project.
Well his next project was to build another front engine dragster like he had race back in Ca.
We made some trips to St Louis and picked up some chrome molly tubing he gave me some plans then I bent all the tubing for his new car.
Bud welded the car together and put a small block with stack injectors on alky with a glide and a 9 inch.
He was in his 70s when I net him.
When his crew could make a race Bud would call me and would crew for him.
I remember one weekend we went to St louis for a weekend show got the car unloaded and were trying to warm it up and the car ran like crap.
I asked Bud if he had been having problems with and he said yes he had. So I check the timing and plug gap and valves and things seemed okay.
Now I ask about what the leak down was set on the barrel valve and it sounded correct so I would try small adjustments that made no difference then would try difference timing and no change.
Funny how so many people would stop by and give there 10 cents worth. Car sounded like crap when it was running...didn't take long to draw a crowd.
Now the engine had a MSD distributor and had good spark so never gave it much thought but guess I just had to look so I pulled the cap and to are surprise the rotor tag had been knocked around and had the rotor and cap out of faze.
Bud gave me the crew chef of the weekend award.
I got the opportunity to shoe the car at the HAMB Drays.....can't remember the year.
Here's a picture I have of the car after he went to a blower and two port.
RIP Bud Smith.
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