"The old car was rotted out," Fluffy admits. "It shouldn't have been going 15.60s much less 8.00s. The car ran a best of 8.05 at 170 mph on 10.5W tires before the new car was built."
"Look, I don't want people to think Fluffy bought himself a car that was ready to go," Fluffy told us. "The chassis guy had put a 25.1C chassis together, which meant the transmission couldn't be pulled. Max [Gross] and I had to do a lot of work to get this car where we wanted it!"
More specifically, the "X" between the two main framerails running under the car interfered with removing the transmission for even routine between-race maintenance. Ed welded in a front crossmember that could legally arch as long as it was gusseted. Now, the transmission tailshaft clears the front of the "X" for transmission servicing. Besides that little setback, Fluffy and Max soon discovered that the ladder-bar crossmember was of mild steel (all bars have to be of chrome-moly to meet SFI spec), and the arms of the ladder bars were welded in 1-inch out of square (the right side was one inch in front of the left). While Ed says this is great for "roundy-round car," it's the kiss of death to a drag race car that is already going to have a tough time going straight.
"The chassis works," he says of the final product. "It's not a violent chassis at all. If you're looking for big wheelies-like what I used to do-you're not going to see it."
Fluffy is the proud four-time...
Fluffy is the proud four-time champion of the MOM's Racing Mustang shootout serious in upstate New York. As a tip of the hat to his fellow MOM's Racers, Ed contracted Mark Witzel to paint a MOM's Racing mural on the trunk of his latest creation.
Fluffy brings the whole family...
Fluffy brings the whole family to the track when it's race night. Pictured are Ed with his wife Norene "Pretty" Imhoff, their children, Shelby and Justin, as well as Ed's brothers, Wayne and Larry.
The final car is truly a state-of-the-art car even if it is a Fox body. With it, Fluffy has continued his pursuit of excellence in the SSO class at the NMRA. With only 22 psi, he's already gone an 8.00 at 173 mph (1.260 second short time), and with his newly acquired F3R ProCharger, look for Ed to be right in the hunt with 7.80-7.90s right from the start. Ed believes it will take 7.60-7.70s to be competitive this year, so that is where he's set his sights with the small tires. He's also got the option to go to 31x10.5Ws if the race calls for it. But, he admits that to be competitive with that, it takes more than just a tire change. This includes a gear and converter change, especially if it's an eighth-mile race. For 2006, Ed wants to get back in the hunt at the NMRA. Watch for the Fluff-mobile at a track near you.