Offy Powered '60s-'70s Sprint and Indy Roadsters
A friend of mine noticed many years ago that these Offy powered cars sometimes had exhaust on the left side of the car but other times it was on the right side of the car. Back then he had a opportunity to ask AJ Foyt about this. AJ said the heads were symmetrical so they could be mounted either way depending on the type of racing or the desired location of intake and exhaust.. He's long wondered if AJ was just pulling his leg.
What say those at ApexSpeed who know about such things?
I do remember being at Indy for Huturbise and the Mallard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
E1pix
Presuming you mean ‘50s’ and ‘60s’ Roadsters, as I think the last Roadster that qualified (at Indy anyway) was Jim Hurtubise’s Mallard in the late ‘60s.
It seems reasonable that stagger variances vs heat from the exhaust exits, or more likely when going from dirt to oval, could affect which side to run exhaust.
I believe there were still dirt races on the schedule until about 1970, so one would think one side or the other might get more or less dirt on the pipes, so perhaps it was partly a cooling or breakage issue. And what about refueling, or even Aero?
All are mostly guesses admittedly, and apologies for not being very definitive as you seek.
Another forum I frequent likely does have more period Indy car historians, but with more dirt flying than here it may not be worth the effort. Which is partly why I’m here, this place is far more civil.
Paging Gokart Mozart and Steve Zemke…
Great sound from the Offy, almost as beautiful as the Novi. Don''t have a clue about the exhaust