Its the engine he innovated with so much, that when his car suffered a brutal rollover in 1986 at Atlanta, he climbed out of the car and covered his hand-made dual-quad intake with his fire jacket and helmet. The timing was perfect because the end of the Fairmonts tenure was plagued with pencil whippings administered by the NHRAs tech department. THere was no engine size limit, but it had to be the same brand as the car. And he's taken his daughters and made them as competitive as himself. https://www.tkmperformance.com Related Articles SMX Cylinder Head Gets New Valve Seats Part 2 1967 Nova with a 421 Small Block Chevy Engine, Content for engine professionals and enthusiasts, Speed Density vs Alpha-N Tuning Strategies, Solving Engine Bearing Fatigue Failures with Silver Based Materials, Gaige Herrera Dominates NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte, 1993 Buick Roadmaster Hearse w/ Twin-Turbo 427 cid LS3 Engine, Engine Sealing: High Performance Head Gaskets, All-Billet Chrysler Hemi-Based NHRA Pro Mod Engine. He won his first U.S. Nationals in 1973, and his first NHRA championship one year later, beating the Gapp and Roush team with their own car. From Fort Vancouver Yellow Pear to Santa Anna, these, This website uses cookies for functionality, analytics and advertising purposes as described in our, Bob Glidden's Undefeated 351C Powered Pro Stock Fairmont. Ford's sales literature said the Laser Stripes were so wild that "some people think they should have a switch to turn them off." I remember when Bob Glidden was top dog with his Thunderbird in the NHRA during the 80's and Bill Elliot was ruling in NASCAR with his Coors - Melling . Are there any racers you admire? In addition, cars have to be parked, and engines not covered so fans can interact with the racer and crews. There's Jeg [Coughlin] and [Dave] Connolly. Whatever our best-running engine was would be our base engine, and we wouldn't change anything on it until we found something better. 332-428 Ford FE Engine Forum > General Discussion > Member Projects and Build Threads > Bob Gliddens FE . If that race had turned out dif-ferently, I probably wouldn't have been able to continue on nancially. HRM] You worked a little in NASCAR after drag racing. But they required even more spring pressure causing more spring breaking. Shorter wheelie bars are now required at 66 inches. The new rules for 2016 became even more radical when injection induction was mandated. In Northern California, side grafting wasnt very successful either. The former ATS Diesel race truck is now owned by Justin Lyons of RG Diesel, complete with an engine rebuild and ready to debut next month at the Thoroughbred Diesel Throwdown. He chased Chevy Camaro driver Lee Shepherd for the 1980 Winston title all season, barely eclipsing Shepherd to claim his fifth overall and third straight championship. The "Bob Rydey" 584; 582 Air Camando EFI; 618 "Super Air Commando" 632 "Air Enforcer" Pro Street Engines. It would take three days and nights, nearly round the clock to make one. After fast start to season, DeJoria says, 'It's past time. When freshened I would watch for shiny spots on gap ends, and adjust if necessary. Had a championship. BG] Well, we tried to be organized. Home of world class custom built blueprint engines for street, racing, and pleasure. With wife, Etta, and sons Billy and Rusty, by his side, Glidden was dominant in the latter half of the decade, winning five straight titles. We did everything by hand. BG] Well, we bought up all the old junk 429 stuf we could fnd and that's what we raced with for the next, oh, 15 years I guess. Credit for pics goes to Petersen Museum, all pics found on the net. He raced a Fairlane, and Mustangs, in super stock, my favorite is his 68 Cobra Jet Mustang. It was the link to the next chapter in my racing career. We could port the heads and intake manifold till the cows came home. Many early Pro Stock racers still used flat tappet cams. by BRENT FAY Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:24 pm, Post Von Ahn chose a 1970 block with correct casting numbers, as per F.A.S.T. A career so full of hard work, miraculous wins, and pain-ful controversy deserves to be celebrated, so we took on the legendarily private Bob Glidden and tried to get him to spill some secrets. Falcon67. Just because I've heard that, mind you, doesn't mean it's going to happen. He even conceded that many of his competitors knew far more about the internal-combustion engine than he did, but none of them had his will to win.. If a racer ran a canted-valve engine such as the Ford Cleveland, they had to add another 50 pounds. Glidden, who amassed a record 16,035 points and lowered the national record to 8.59, fielded two winning cars that year: The first was his tried-and-true Ford Pinto that carried him to victories at the season-opening Winternationals and Cajun Nationals, and the second was his famed Ford Fairmont, with which he won the Summernationals and finished Due to a change in the rules, which didnt suit his Ford, Glidden switched to a Plymouth Arrow for 1979. He was humble with the fans, and feared by his opponents. (he was a friend of Bob and when his daughter was of age dated Billy) He wanted them freshened up. The connecting rod. Glidden ran Ford engines displacing as few as 332 inches and as large as 340. He fought like you wouldnt believe, his son Billy confirmed. I end gapped those rings as tight as allowed. They all run on gas and air. Tomato enthusiasts have long debated the merits of determinate versus indeterminate varieties. MESSAGES. See all 8 photos Glidden improved his engine building and race craft and that helped . Along the way, Bob made occasional appearances behind the wheel of son Billys small-tire Ford Mustangs. But it has always made me wonder what it was about or was it a ploy or did maybe something else use to be in there. HRM] Can you talk about the rumors of nitrous? 4,531. Everyone in the NHRA community is saddened to learn the news of Bobs passing, said NHRA President Peter Clifford said in a statement. In the world of tomatoes, there are countless varieties that offer unique flavors, textures, and growth habits. The story of Blair's Speed Shop is excerpted from Bob McClurg's latest book The American Speed Shop published by . "We only had to give up 150 pounds and back then that meant a whole lot to us," Glidden added. Front brakes, headlights and side mirrors werent required. "Not one single warning," Glidden recalled. This was perhaps his most dominant season, as he made 10 final-round appearances, won a record 42 rounds of competition, and he qualified number one in all 14 events! Billy Glidden, Bod Glidden son claimed he wouldn't build an engine hanging on a stand because the bores would be distorted during the tq sequence. In fact, Glidden admitted the chassis in the Fairmont was nearly a knock-off of the one he ran cloaked with a Pinto body in 1976 and 1977. And of course, all was neutral balanced or even overbalanced. Glidden hit the railing nose first, which caused the car to flip over and then barrel roll multiple time before coming to rest right-side up in the shut-down area. So as soon as I got out of There are enough fanglers out here that aren't totally locked to strictly cleveland block and heads. Glidden claimed his first national win in 1973 at his hometown race, the coveted NHRA U.S. Nationals. Do you know if the valve angles were changed? Bob Glidden's Pro Stock 351 Cleveland Heads:His Secret Revealed DragBoss Garage 15.1K subscribers Subscribe 178K views 2 years ago SANDUSKY This video is going to reveal the secret of Bob. We were just really heated competitors. He won his first championship in 1974 and in 1975 he scored five top qualifiers and eight top speeds. During the height of nitrous accusations in the mid- 1990s, Glidden pointed out to the NHRA how easy it would be to hide the power-adder, dem-onstrated on his son Rusty's Pro Stock car, which had qualified for a race and been through tech inspection. the ex ports came up thru the plate at same angle as the valve to almost to the top of plate. Despite the additions and subtractions and various avenues of combinations, the racers welcomed the switch, although not immediately. . Well, Lee goes out, second round, and we get to the fnals. The rods we used were Brooks aluminum windage rods with knife edged beams. But regardless of those impressive stats, Bob Glidden was the guy Ford fans rooted for, and even if you didnt like Ford, you respected him. The lot and information presented at auction on the auction block supersedes any previous descriptions or information. And, yes, Glidden was a mother with his 1978 Ford Fairmont, which never lost a round of competition, national, regional or match race. -I had heard that Larry Widmar (theoldone.com) was THE reason for Gliddens big Ford head success. He didn't like me and I didn't like him. Glidden got his start while working as a line mechanic at Ed Martin Ford in Indiana before making racing his full time career. Delivery: Estimated between Fri, May 5 and Mon, May 8 to 23917. . These cars had stock frames with some fiberglass body parts available. HRM] What took you from Super Stock to Pro Stock? But maximum horsepower was still the main ingredient. Glidden returned to the next race with a new mount, though his first victory of the season came in July at the Mile-High Nationals. minimum weight. But it was just a real short wheelbase, and it just wasn't built for the big engine. In this blog p. Tomato Varieties: From Determinate to Indeterminate & Dark to Yellow Research Your Options Before Planting! The Boss 429 engine featured a semi-hemispherical combustion chamber head fit over a massive 4.900-inch bore-spacing block that allowed for huge pistons and plenty of room for valves. Glidden had a handle on the longer-wheelbase Thunderbird, and the 500-inch Shotgun engine and that allowed him dominate the 1985 season. Bob Glidden. Darin maybe the RM crew might have seen this during tear down at the track back then? Back in a Ford for 1980, Glidden was the man to beat. In February of 1997, just two races into the season, Glidden retired citing inadequate sponsorship. HRM] Did you grow up in a car family? Notice one of his other auctions depicts a steel de-stroked . by Guest Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:44 pm, Post In 1983, even the NHRA dumped factoring. He says the Cleveland is 200 pounds lighter than an FE block, and a Mustang coupe is 200 pounds lighter than a fastback or convertible. So I came across this crankshaft in his shed marked "340 3.250 stroke, 2" rod journal, Bob Glidden 79 Pro Stock" so I looked up Bob Glidden's successful '79 Plymouth Arrow that did indeed run a small block. BG] Most of them I do! When Pro Stock racer Bob Glidden retired in 1997 with 85 event victories, he was the winningest driver in NHRA history. I would have redone everything anyway, but at least I would have something to start with! BG] Well, we thought they were all very fortunate. It's the engine Mickey Thompson used in his Mach 1 Mustang Funny Cars, the one "Ohio" George Montgomery twin-turbocharged, and the one Bob Glidden covered with his fire jacket after he rolled his Pro Stock car in 1986the Boss 429.