{"id":5225,"date":"2014-04-24T15:20:16","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T22:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=5225"},"modified":"2015-11-11T10:12:43","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T18:12:43","slug":"its-whats-up-front-that-counts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/its-whats-up-front-that-counts\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s What\u2019s Up Front That Counts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RJ29<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be hanging on a wall!\u201d said Dale Milanowski of Milwaukee, Wis. He was talking about a front engine dragster that an Illinois car collector was storing on a balcony. Milanowski had his own front engine dragster on display at \u201cThe Gathering on the Green\u201d\u2014a concours-style car show that\u2019s part of the Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival held each fall. Milanowski said it was rare for him to put the 1962 Chevy powered dragster in a show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first show I\u2019ve ever taken it to,\u201d said the drag racing buff. \u201cI\u2019ve always just taken it out to the track before this, but my fianc\u00e9e knows one of the head people here and he wanted us to bring it, so I said sure.\u201d Milanowski has restored the car to mostly original condition, although the built Chevy 350 V-8 is newer than 1962 and he needed to make certain upgrades to be able to run the car today. It sounds like more work may be done in the future, too. \u201cRight now it runs in the low 10s and should be doing better, so I gotta tweak it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Milanowski said the project started when a high school drag racing buddy ran across a\u00a0 front engine dragster for sale. \u201cWe checked it out and he bought it and we raced it for several years,\u201d he said. \u201cThen, he found this frame with the rear end and some of the front end parts and bought it. So when I decided I wanted to have my own front engine dragster, he offered it to me and I bought it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milanowski doesn\u2019t know who made the frame. He had to find the engine and he knows that Chevrolet didn\u2019t make 350s in 1962. The engine looks good and works good. He also found a radiator, did the gearing in the Pontiac\/Olds rear axle and found a two-speed Powerglide transmission for it. \u201cThe light one-not the old cast iron one,\u201d he emphasized. The front end was all rusted from just sitting, so Milanowski had to take it all apart and have it all rechromed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took awhile to find the front and rear rims,\u201d Milanowski admitted. \u201cI found them in Indianapolis at the swap meet at the Hot Rod Nationals. The tires I got right to of the Summit Racing and JEGs catalogs. But, most of the stuff came from swap meets and I had to make a few parts or have them made.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Burnout asked Milanowski if he has to meet all the modern safety regulations when he runs the car in nostalgia drags at strips today. \u201cOh yes, definitely,\u201d he answered. \u201cI had to have the frame re-braced with what they call kidney bars that sit off to the side and I had to rebuild the cage so it was safer.\u201d Milanowski did not keep track of the costs involved in restoring the car and upgrading it to race today. \u201cTo tell you the truth, I just wanted to do it and I did it and I didn\u2019t want to even think about what it cost me; I just knew it was worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milanowski used to belong to a club called The Nostalgia Boys from Illinois. \u201cThey had about eight of these cars, but they got kind of broken up over the years and I\u2019ve gotten away from them,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe used to go around to different tracks in the Midwest with the club and we\u2019d run on weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that when he hauls his car to a drag strip and takes it out of the trailer, there\u2019s always a crowd of people around it. \u201cThey gotta come see it, because it brings back memories,\u201d Milanowski point out. \u201cThey all lived through the front engine dragster era and now there\u2019s not that many of them around.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for his own interest, Milanowski admits he loves the old front engine dragsters, too. \u201cI think they were the neatest ones that were ever built,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen Don Garlits started putting the engine behind the driver, it was a whole different ballgame. I still like the \u2018old school\u2019 style with the engine it front.\u201d<\/p>\n