Cool Old School Engine Calculator

[MachUno]

I thought some of you might get a kick out of this. My dad raced Pro Stock when I was a kid and this is the 'calculator' he used.

 

[carver]

Ya got to love these old school " computers " Hah. !!

 

[Mad Hatter]

No batteries to worry about!

 

[302BOB]

Ya got to love these old school " computers "

Where did I put that slide rule?...I got it from somebody but never learned how to use it......My Texas Instruments TI-30 still chugging along..................

 

[302BOB]

No batteries to worry about!

Forgot to mention my TI-30 is solar...so no battery worries here also.....

 

[Mad Hatter]

Forgot to mention my TI-30 is solar...so no battery worries here also.....

Youngster! With those dam newfangled gadgets

 

[blacksheep-1]

Babbage never got enough credit.
the 16 inch guns of the Iowa class of battle ships figured in range to target, target course and speed, the gun tube's course and speed,, also roll of the ship and time to reload through the ships gyro, once the gun went into battery, if the target had not changed it's course and speed, the gun would retrain right back on the target with no adjustment, regardless of the gun's course and speed, if the target changed, it could be easily fed into the firing solution since the gun was already tracking the predicted course. All mechanical computers.

When and where did your dad run Pro Stock? if it was Florida in the early 70s, I probably saw him run.

 

[Dave_W]

I've used a "Stevens Wheel" on Time-Speed-Distance rallies in Stock class, were you're not allowed fancy computers like a Terratrip or Alfa. You set your odometer correction (your car vs rallymaster's car) with the two hands next to each other and lock them in, then set the mph for the leg on the other hand. Once the mph is locked, you can swing all 3 hands to any number to find how many minutes to cover an official rally distance (and your odo's reading), miles travelled (official and your odo) for a given amount of time, etc.

 

[MachUno]

Hey blacksheep-1 My dad did run in Fla. They had kind of a drag strip circuit they would run from Martin, MI. All the way down to somewhere around the Ocala, Fla. area With stops in Indianapolis, Bowling Green, KY and Union Hill, TN.
There was probably more but I was young then. One of his cars was a green 71 Cougar Eliminator with a ‘glass tilt front end.
1 of the things I remember most was the car dealers back then would keep the parts dept. Open till midnight on big race nights.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Hey blacksheep-1 My dad did run in Fla. They had kind of a drag strip circuit they would run from Martin, MI. All the way down to somewhere around the Ocala, Fla. area With stops in Indianapolis, Bowling Green, KY and Union Hill, TN.
There was probably more but I was young then. One of his cars was a green 71 Cougar Eliminator with a ‘glass tilt front end.
1 of the things I remember most was the car dealers back then would keep the parts dept. Open till midnight on big race nights.

Well, my neighbor was named Don Wright, he owned a 69 Pro Stock Camaro, I was the 13 year old kid helping him wrench (you didn't have to be 18 back then, just accompanied by an adult) They had a deal called the Big Dog vs Little Dog which was basically small block cars and big block cars, at the end of the night they handicapped the big dog and they raced for the overall win. That circuit went from Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tampa Drag Way (RIP), Oldsmar Dragstrip (RIP), Sunshine Speedway, West Palm, Miami and Desoto. I know it paid 1K to win which was a big deal in 1970 (I worked for hamburgers.. lol). There was so much racing in Fla that there wasn't much reason to leave the state, he did run a few national events in the southeast but not many.
I remember the local dealers staying up on race night as well.