click images below to enlarge |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The new car carries an engine built by Stringer based on a 706 cubic-inch Chevy by Donovan with Big Chief Dart heads. The rotating assembly begins with a Callies crank pushing Venolia rods topped by JE pistons and the valvetrain includes Smith Brothers pushrods and Jesel rockers controlling Dale West valves, with it all kept in time by a Comp cam. Stringer said all custom machine work is handled by Sky Tower Automotive in Stanford, KY.
A three-stage NOS nitrous system boosts a pair of 1150 cfm split Dominators delivering the air/fuel mixture through a sheet-metal intake, and MSD ignition sends the spark through Taylor wires to NGK plugs. Spent gases are routed through custom-built headers.
After the engine’s power makes its way through a Coan Engineering torque converter and is managed by the Lencodrive, it transfers to a Strange Engineering rearend with Strange axles turning Weld Magnum Drag rims shod by 17-inch-wide Goodyear Eagle 1490s. Goodyear Front Runners handle the steering duties and Strange provides the braking components for all four wheels, with a Stroud chute providing back-up for stopping.
According to car builder Garret Livingston, running the converter—though it has great potential to go fast and quick—makes it a little harder to get the chassis set-up just right. “There’s no room for error with a torque converter because you have no clutch tuning between rounds for track conditions,” he explained. “You’re stuck with what’s there and you have to make the car work every time. So it’s a little more difficult.”
Inside, Stringer is kept safe in a Simpson helmet and driving suit, and secure with a Stroud window net and seatbelts. He rides in a custom carbon-fiber seat and steers with a Grant wheel while keeping tabs on his motor’s vitals with Autometer gauges.
The striking graphics on the Tim McAmis bodywork were designed and applied by Aaron Glasser at Twist-N-Shout Race Paint in Louisville, KY. “Basically, he picked it,” the car owner said of the multi-colored paint job. “I trusted his judgment and I think it came out alright.” He also gave free rein to Livingston, “because I’ve dealt with Garret for six years now and I know what he expects out of his racecars.”
Although Stringer said he made the decision to get a new car nearly two years ago, Livingston didn’t begin work in earnest until early last summer and delivered it Oct. 29, 2005. Livingston, who concentrates on building Quick 8, Top Sportsman, and Outlaw Pro Mod cars at his Marble Hill, MO, shop, called Stringer’s 25.1E chassis “pretty much a straightforward Pro Mod set-up,” certified to six seconds over the quarter mile.
