Ok Boys and Girls it's Storytime

[regan wilson]

Well anyone that knows me also knows everthing I do tends to snowball . I decided that a 502 would not be enough . So I got rid of all the 502 rotating assembly and bought a 4.25 stroke Lunati crank used from a friend . I also sent the heads(Chevy Bowtie Pro Stock) and a Dart Intake to Kenneth Abbot for a workover . When I got them back in 95 they were really state of the art for the time . They were angle milled 125 welded up in a buch of places and filled with epoxy . When I said they were state of the art they were . You couldnt just go buy a set of heads that would flow 413 @ 800 lift . Anyway that stuff just sat in my closet for a few more years . I still didnt have the means to do much else , but when it eventually came together it ended up being a 950 hp 15 to 1 565 !

[regan wilson]

Not much else happened till 97 when I took the truck to my old friend Tony Smith . Tony is a meticulous fabricator who is also a skilled machinist (which makes him a little slow but the work turns out nice ). We got the ladder bars , tubs , motor plates , wheelie bars ,and the cage done . then it was back to my shop for awhile . Here is a pic from Tonys in 97 that is Kenneth Herring (from Pinks & Pass Time) standing behind the truck . (I believe he was asking why are you doing this)

[regan wilson]

Back at my shop I built my 5 lug front end and added rack & pinion steering . I was talking to a friend of mine Jeremy Cooper about fixing the bad spots in the paint since the rest of it still looked good even though it was painted in 84 . He volunteered to paint for free if I just bought the materials . The truck had been painted four times so we decided to soda blast it and get it down to bare metal . So I loaded it up and took it to a guy named Lawrence Harper and stripped it down .

[regan wilson]

We got it stripped and took it to Jeremys to start a six month job of getting some color back on it .

[regan wilson]

Here are some pics during the painting process . By now Im getting fired up . Everything turned out good but my hood got messed up and would not get fixed for a few more years . He tried to have me find another one but I wanted mine and the louver press we used was long gone ..........








And when we rolled it out ..............

[djracer]

I can't wait for the day mine has paint.

[nomrlz]

love the wheels up launch pic

[regan wilson]

Well in 99 Donnel Gaines at G&G machine in Stephenville Tx put the 565 together for me and like I said before it dynoed at 950 hp . My longtime friend David Hale and I built my th400 and I finally got the truck together . By that time all the tracks were closed except for an old outlaw track down by Waco Tx . I had valvetrain issues and kept breaking lashcaps . That combined with a less than marginal racetrack all the old truck could muster was a dissapointing 10 flat . Here is one pic I found from that day......

[regan wilson]

After that with no more racing till next year I had plenty of time to sort out the problems . I fixed a few bent valves and got the rest of the valve train sorted out . I started the 2000 season at Hallsville and the truck did alot better then . It ran 9.60 @ 138 with a best 60 ft of 1.31 (it still hasnt had a better 60 ft than that ) . I raced all year and at the last race before the bracket finals the 565 gave up . It was late at night on a poorly lit track and it windmilled two rods going through the traps . I still had no hood so when it grenaded the front of the block and virtually cut the oilpan in half the windshield was completely cover in oil , sparks were flying becuase the alternator was destroyed in the process . Hallsville had a short downhill shutdown and I couldnt see a thing (I thought it was going to be real bad) but I got it stopped and off the track . It took all winter to clean up the mess. There was not an inch of the truck that wasnt coated in oil . Here is a pic of the block and the pan .....

[Chlsnk]

Dang its always hard to hear about having a engine grenade. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[william-theglassman]

i am realy liking this thread . thanks regan. you were always the badest around to me.cant wait to see it in action in person again.

[tomtuna1978]

OUCH !!!!!!!

[kennyd]

Originally Posted by regan wilson

After that with no more racing till next year I had plenty of time to sort out the problems . I fixed a few bent valves and got the rest of the valve train sorted out . I started the 2000 season at Hallsville and the truck did alot better then . It ran 9.60 @ 138 with a best 60 ft of 1.31 (it still hasnt had a better 60 ft than that ) . I raced all year and at the last race before the bracket finals the 565 gave up . It was late at night on a poorly lit track and it windmilled two rods going through the traps . I still had no hood so when it grenaded the front of the block and virtually cut the oilpan in half the windshield was completely cover in oil , sparks were flying becuase the alternator was destroyed in the process . Hallsville had a short downhill shutdown and I couldnt see a thing (I thought it was going to be real bad) but I got it stopped and off the track . It took all winter to clean up the mess. There was not an inch of the truck that wasnt coated in oil . Here is a pic of the block and the pan .....

this is about the time the phrase "it could have been worse" started getting used around the shop

[regan wilson]

Originally Posted by kennyd

this is about the time the phrase "it could have been worse" started getting used around the shop

And you know that I have thrown half full beers at people too !

[cableguy0]

Originally Posted by regan wilson

And you know that I have thrown half full beers at people too !

Thats alcohol abuse next time throw a wrench it shows em your really serious about trying to inflict pain

[regan wilson]

Picking up where I left off . I found a good used Gen 5 block with the splayed billet main caps and a used 4.5 stroke crank and built a 598 . This combo dynoed at 980 hp . I also changed the converter to a 9" from Kenny ford at PTC . I think the converter was too much for the combo and it would only run 9.50 at 139 . Here is a pic of the 598 .

[regan wilson]

I ran the 598 for another year or so but you know I was never satisfied . Pontiac style 18 degree heads were becoming popular back then and I really wanted some (but they were way too pricey) . I had an old friend Travis Buhman that owns a local camera store come to Hallsville Dragway and take some good pics and made up a folder to send to Jeff and Micheal Brotherton at Brodix in an attempt to get some sort of sponsorship . Here are some of the pics .

[regan wilson]

Well Brodix didnt give me anything but they did sell me some blems at a reduced price . I also kept my word to put the Brodix insignia on the windshield that is still on there today . I built the new motor with the 18 degree heads and it made 1070 with one 1250 Dominator .....I will have to find more pics to scan so I will have to leave off here . I'm really busy at work right now and I have to pic up all my motor pieces and get started on that this weekend so I dont know when I will post more .

[SCOTI]

Don't leave us hangin' too long. I remember this truck from the various TX tracks (Super Chevy shows back in the day).

[jgh64pkup]

wow this is an awesome story and not too far from me

[hotrod 80]

Following right along with you guys . Cool story , i am enjoying it .

[drag_72]

ur truck looks similair to mine except the year and cage lol and obviously the heart lol

[butternut1972]

Cool story! keep em coming. I would have loved to see the face of the driver of the mustangs after they get their -$$ handed to them by a chevy truck.

[custom72c20]

This is an awesome story amd you have one bad truck! I can only dream of building a truck like that one day.

[Hart_Rod]

Great story Regan! Did you ever race any at the Paris dragstrip? I had a good friend, Donald Blake, that used to run a black and gold 70 down there in the early to mid 80s. His truck was running in the 12's at the time and was pretty sporty for an old truck, . He drove his truck to the races and used to have to leave a couple of hours early because of the 4.56 gears, . Speaking of the Brodix Boys, I grew up about 20 miles from their shop. They use to have some of the baddest 67-72 trucks in town. Nobody wanted to mess with them on the street.... Great memories and even better story, keep it coming.