Bill Grumpy Jenkins Liked · December 2, 2012 · Its surprising how few engine shots you actually see of Grumpys Toys. Heres one that was taken of the first Vega. 331 inches of giant killer. UnlikeUnlike · · Share You, Jerry Alderman, Glen Rice, Bunky Truitt and 434 others like this. 55 shares George Ott Vega... yes! December 2, 2012 at 7:10pm · Unlike · 1 Brandon Hodge The clear valve covers are awesome!! December 2, 2012 at 7:11pm · Unlike · 6 Jeff Herrick Jr. Mmmmmm charred small block December 2, 2012 at 7:12pm · Unlike · 1 Bill Tippett i had 2..wish i had em now!! a coupe n a wagon!! December 2, 2012 at 7:14pm · Unlike · 1 Bdi Bowling Lots of trimming....looks like little remains of stock front December 2, 2012 at 7:15pm · Unlike · 1 Mike Mathers I badly need a shot like this..... Or any shot of the engine in his 69 camaro December 2, 2012 at 7:23pm · Unlike · 1 Ed Wright Clear valve covers, and looks like a Ridgeway stud girdle. December 2, 2012 at 7:28pm · Unlike · 6 Gordon Moore Funny thing is that combo is still one of the best small block combos for SBC and SBF, they rev up like buzz bombs and make really good HP per cube... December 2, 2012 at 7:35pm · Unlike · 6 Justin Compton On one of his 331s wasnt he the one that said it took 4 heads to make 2 good heads things they did back them, way ahead of there time... December 2, 2012 at 7:49pm · Unlike · 6 Lance Dobson That was a hell of an engine!! December 2, 2012 at 7:56pm · Unlike · 1 Grant Meredith Clear covers. Wish list Santa !!! December 2, 2012 at 8:35pm · Unlike · 2 Randy White Note the plug holders on the fire wall. The single red Holley fuel preasure regulator for the two carbs, lack of stainless hoses and the milled down choke bodies/throttle horns on the Holley carbs. Rubber lines and hose clamps...old school. December 2, 2012 at 8:37pm · Unlike · 5 Ricky Campbell where can i buy the clear valve covers ? December 2, 2012 at 8:38pm · Unlike · 2 Gordon Moore Honestly this is one of the reasons I see some stuff at the races now that does not impress.. This was an engineered piece with cast iron heads, and small fuel delivery system, and if memory serves I think he got this combo well into the 8s in 73... So tell me again why you need that triple nickel or 605 to run 8s?.... December 2, 2012 at 8:44pm · Unlike · 6 Stephon Ironhead Hey Rick, i know a guy that may just have a nice collection of the clear covers. December 2, 2012 at 8:47pm · Unlike · 3 Stretch Williams i seen a pair at Iola car show once years ago December 2, 2012 at 8:49pm · Unlike · 1 Toby Mary Jones Those two little 660 CFM center squirt carbs (not progressive) with big ol 50cc pumps in them. The man was a magician! December 2, 2012 at 8:57pm · Unlike · 2 Bill Grumpy Jenkins ...and the carbs were his specialty. It didnt matter, AFBS, Carters, Qjets etc December 2, 2012 at 9:00pm · Unlike · 4 Frank Trendle Mike found those valve covers when he was cleaning out.They are pretty cool. December 2, 2012 at 9:02pm · Unlike · 1 Stretch Williams Jenkins even Built Some Cup Motors Back in The Day December 2, 2012 at 9:03pm · Unlike · 1 Stephon Ironhead I have seen him mill if carbs in half to modify them and do his magic! Trick shit! December 2, 2012 at 9:21pm · Unlike · 2 Dewey Church beat alot of mopar hemis, with a small block no less!! December 2, 2012 at 9:23pm · Unlike · 1 John L Bado What kind of intake manifold was it? December 2, 2012 at 9:39pm · Unlike · 2 Mark Dorsett Does anyone know approx. how much H.P Grumps little 331c.i engines made? December 2, 2012 at 9:40pm · Unlike · 2 Stephon Ironhead Common for Grumpy was the Team G Pro tunnelram, But, He modified the top portion. December 2, 2012 at 9:44pm · Unlike · 1 Stephon Ironhead 331CI, 680HP, 74 Jenkins Competition Pro Stock Small-Block Chevy Don Wallace, Tampa Bay, FL In the history of famous drag race cars, there are pivotal cars that changed drag racing technology forever. Big Daddy Don Garlits rear-engined Top Fuel car comes to mind. Within the Pro Stock ranks, you cannot talk about innovation without acknowledging Bill Grumpy Jenkins. Jenkins Competition was best known in the late 60s and early 70s for Jenkins ability to make amazing power with a small-block Chevy. He also had a reputation as a giant killer for slaying those powerful Hemi cars. While his 74 Pro Stock Vega, Grumpys Toy XI, only won one race that year, it has since become one of the more famous cars of Grumpys Toys. Don Wallace is the current owner following its recent restoration by Scott Hoerr. What brings this story full circle is that Joe Tryson, Jenkins original crew chief, built this engine back in the day. He just retired from Jack Roush in Charlotte, North Carolina, near Hoerrs shop, and since Tryson and Hoerr are friends, it only made sense that Tryson should assemble a 331-inch clone some 35 years later. In addition to the Vega, Wallace also owns Grumpys 70 big-block Pro Stock Camaro as well as the Sox & Martin Cuda. Those two cars accounted for all the Pro Stock wins in that inaugural year of NHRA Pro Stock competition. Don also owns the 73 Bob Glidden Pro Stock Pinto that powered Glidden to his first Pro Stock championship. Its these little pieces of history that add a dose of clarity to todays performance world. Imagine racing in Pro Stock with production iron heads. It wasnt all that long ago. A. Dry-Sump Hidden behind the water pump and electric water pump drive motor is the first application of a dry-sump oiling system in a drag race car. Jenkins employed a Weaver pump assembly, placing the tank at the rearmost portion of the engine compartment. B. Ignition Its shocking to learn that even by 1974, Pro Stockers were still using dual-point ignition systems. Jenkins used a 62 Corvette cast-iron dual-point distributor even though the engine was spinning more than 9,000 rpm. C. Drivetrain Games Grumpys Toy XI was the first Jenkins car to run a Lenco four-speed planetary transmission. The previous car had attempted to run the lighter 12-bolt rearend assembly, but it was problematic, so Jenkins went back to the dependable Dana 60 rearend cogged with a stunning 6.17:1 rear gear. The rear suspension relied on a three-link while the rear tires were Firestone 14x32W slicks. Assuming the tires were growing 2 inches in diameter at 152 mph, that means this little small-block was pushing 9,300 rpm in the lights. Yeowzah! D. Macpherson Strut This was the first Jenkins car built by SRD with the now-standard strut system designed via collaboration between SRDs Dick Whitman and Roger Lamb of Lamb Components. The struts allow more room for a gentler header tube radius away from the cylinder head. E. Pressure Plumbing Jenkins used this separator to connect hoses on both valve covers. The hoses lead into the firewall where eventually they connect to a very early pan-evacuation system plumbed into the headers. The small, white, plastic pressure line leads to a vacuum gauge where Jenkins could monitor pan vacuum at speed. F. Engine NHRAs Pro Stock rules in 1974 favored a compact car with a small engine, so Jenkins maintained his efforts with a 331ci small-block using the stock 3.25-inch 327 stroke crank and a 4.030-inch bore. Compression was pushed to the limit along with a mechanical roller camshaft. This was before the days of aftermarket aluminum heads and sheetmetal intakes, so Jenkins had AFR port a set of iron fuelie heads bolted to a massively modified Edelbrock tunnel-ram. He also traded those older center-squirter 660 carbs for a pair of 1050 Dominators. Jenkins says this engine made as much as 680 hp-thats 2.05 hp per cubic inch using factory iron castings. Try that today. G. Radiator While plastic-tanked aluminum radiators are now commonplace on production cars, Grumpys radiator was still copper brass in 1974. H. Fuel Cooler This was back when almost all competition drag race engines used a Moroso fuel cooler. Inside this can was a coil of fuel line immersed in ice water to make the fuel denser. When was the last time you saw one of these?
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 00:14:56 +0000