anybody run demo derbys here????

[200xranger]

i started last year when i ran into a long lost buddy who does them. rode one time and was hooked. we are running the compact aka small cars. cheaper and more fun i think. getting ready to start on my car for a team derby in oskaloosa iowa in june. just wondering if anyone else runs them???

[CRAZY70MAN]

ya......lots of em' years ago. Got a few trophies!! Used to run chrysler wagons with chevy smallblock motors!! I miss it....lots of time to get one ready though.......other priorities now. Maybe someday again.....

[200xranger]

yeah i didnt realize what went into building them until i was apart of it. lots of time and welding wire lol. we ran 10-12 last year between MO and ILL.

[Howdy]

I have ran 15-20 of them and won trophies in most of them. I only ran compact cars ( amc pacers, pinto's, spirits, mavericks, ect ). I ran a almost spotless amc pacer 8-9 times ( 4 1st places, 7 total trophies ) before it was too far gone ( I actually made money derbying it ). The wheelbase was 100" when I started derbying it and the last derby it was beat so bad it only measured 95". I took 2nd place in the last derby, my best friend beat the living crap out of my car ( he got first ). I never sandbagged, when the flag dropped my gas peddle was on the floor. WFO all the way!!! Had a special shifter I made that if I hit something with my front it slammed into reverse, then when i hit going in reverse it slammed into 1st. 80% of the time both my hands where on the steering wheel trying to control the car. I probably have 10-15 trophies.
As far as welding goes, We only welded the differentials ( we weren't allowed to weld anything else ). It was great back then ( 15 years ago ). I'm not sure my body could handle the beating now, but if I get the chance I might give it another whirl. Got rid of all most my derby goodies. The only thing I still have access to is my special battery box. It was made out of heavy plate steel and took many direct hits and I never lost a battery. Other drivers wanted to know how I made it and what it was made out of. Some things you just got to keep secret. lol I was working on a Gas tank guard when I quit. It got used for something else. lol

Howdy

[Nick_R_23]

Here are a few me and some buddies did this year. I wish I had more of the previous ones but I'll post what I have.

One me and a buddy did up, he took 3rd.

Before:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/photo1-2.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/photo2-2.jpg

After:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/photo6.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/photo4-1.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/photo3-2.jpg

And one my other friend did that I rode in, he took 1st! Couldn't see out the back, it was pretty much a guessing game where the other car was. Put it in reverse and floor it. The only thing to hold onto was the seat, and we ended up bending the seat frame where we were holding on to the hard hits! The dent in the passenger door was where the other guy's bumper hit us once, his rear end was bent upwards worse then ours. That was quite a view!

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/photo5-1.jpg

[brapp]

up here we have a truck class i used a 83 fullsize blazer with 3/4 ton runnign gear and a did the demop took 2nd on a friday night to a 12 valve cummins, hit the tuff trucks sat afternoon and the mud bogs sunday morning all with the same truck and still beat the balls off it when we brought it home. on the other hand back in 09 the ranger we tuff trucked didnt fare so well.

[200xranger]

thats funny howdy two of my buddies run spirits, they each got 10-12 runs out of them and we are restubbing one (welding a new front end on a preran car) right now. we also have a few pacers we just acquired recently. i guess some things dont change lol and we weld all kinds of stuff now days lol

[Howdy]

Nick, didn't you put a wire from the seat to passanger side front fire wall to support the seat? I normally put 6 strands of #9 wire ( 3 loops ) and then twisted them and wrapped them with foam and duct tape. I had 1 derby where we hit so hard we broke the wire ( 4 strands at that time ) and then the back of the seat. It's hard to sit up and hit with your backend when the seat is laying down. Front shots were the main hits the rest of the derby. lol After that we started wiring the seat from drivers door jam to the seat, and then the other side to the firewall. still broke a few seat backs, but at least they stayed up so we didn't laydown during the derby. lol

[Howdy]

200x, One guy that had seen the one pacer I had ( before derbying ) called me a couple years later wanting to buy it ( he lives 8 hrs away ). he said they are becoming collectors cars now. He wanted to buy it. I told him I had derbied it, but I did have a lot of parts I had removed.
I went to a derby last year and the Mustangs seemed to be cleaning house. And yes they are highly welded now a days.

[Nick_R_23]

Nick, didn't you put a wire from the seat to passanger side front fire wall to support the seat? I normally put 6 strands of #9 wire ( 3 loops ) and then twisted them and wrapped them with foam and duct tape. I had 1 derby where we hit so hard we broke the wire ( 4 strands at that time ) and then the back of the seat. It's hard to sit up and hit with your backend when the seat is laying down. Front shots were the main hits the rest of the derby. lol After that we started wiring the seat from drivers door jam to the seat, and then the other side to the firewall. still broke a few seat backs, but at least they stayed up so we didn't laydown during the derby. lol

No, we usually run 2" steel pipes from the floor to the roof directly behind each seat. Wire seems like it would be a serious safety hazard. These cars were literally 'day befores' (we didn't expect to run this time, too busy with B stock class) so almost no prep went into them. We have bent cars in half before too, in fact, we had a Subaru wagon that got T-boned from halfway across the field by a '69 Cadillac, car looked like it got wrapped around a pole! We straightened it out and ran it in another demo, it took first place over a 4 door Oldsmobile that time! It got bent so bad the middle of the car was sagging on the ground. Drove it off the track too!

It's hard to tell in the pic, but the pinion on the rear axle is pointing nearly straight down, with the driveshaft still attached. You can tell by the way the 2 side doors fit, that's where it was hit by the Cadillac the first time and then straightened out. The drivers door still opened and shut too! The spare tire is also wedged behind the drivers seat holding it up. The seat broke in half after the first demo.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/Nick_R_23/photo9.jpg

[Howdy]

Properly strung wire was actually safer than putting a pole behind the seat. i seen a pole welded behind the seat from the passanger door jam to the drivers door jam bend and push the seat into the steering wheel. The guy only got minor injuries ( bruised ribs ) but could have been a lot worse. We wrapped the wire with foam from the back seat 2" thick. You could hold onto it while driving backwards. Might not sound safe, but we never got hurt using it.