Welcome to the history of Grem Reaper Racing!
Grem Reaper Racing was first formed in 1993, which was my first year of racing. The car I chose to race was my 1974 AMC Gremlin X.
The Gremlin came factory equipped with a 304, 998 Transmission, the rear end was a Ford 9 inch posi with 4.11:1 rear end ratio. The engine was basically stock with the exception of a Competition Cams 268H, Rhoads Lifters, Holley Street Dominator Intake, and a set of bad fitting Black Jack Headers through dual exhaust. The transmission was reworked by myself and had a shift kit and a factory high stall convertor, 2200 RPM. The only other addition was an upgrade to the factory Dura-Spark ignition from a 1978 AMC.
The car was running on 245/60/14 Radials and produced a best time of 14.53 seconds at 96 MPH.
The next year the car was modified by putting in a mild 401. The 401 was bored to 408" and was fitted with forged 10.5:1 pistons, Reed camshaft ( .536" lift, 304 duration ), Rhoads lifters, chromoly push rods, Harland Sharp Roller rockers, ported small chamber heads with 2.025, 1.68 Speed Pro valves, Holley Street Dominator intake (port matched), Quadrajet carb reworked by myself, Dura Spark ignition, and Black Jack Headers with open exhaust.
The transmission was upgraded to a 727 with a TCI super kit and a TCI Street Fighter convertor stalling at 3500 RPM.
The rear end received a set of Goodyear 27x10.5x15 slicks on steel wheels.
The car ran consistent 12.7 second runs at 105 MPH. By removing excess weight where ever it could be found, the car got lighter by 300 pounds, and faster by 3 tenths of a second, netting a best of 12.46 seconds at 107 MPH. Sadly on this best run the engine broke an exhaust valve and proceeded to shred the piston, head, con rod,and cracked the cylinder wall.
At the end of the 1994 season I decided to get serious about racing and ordered a full tube chassis kit from Chris Alston Chassis Works. The following pages show the progression from street car to all out race car. This transformation took 5 months to complete, and was all done by myself, with the exception of the interior aluminum work for which I had help from a few friends. The engine was a different 401 block bored to 418 inches. It was fitted with custom Ross forged pistons producing about 14:1 compression,it used the same camshaft and valve train as before, small chamber heads with some mild pocket porting, stainless steel valves, a Torker intake and an MSD 6AL ignition unit. The transmission was changed to a Power glide with transbrake and a 5500 RPM convertor. The rear end was shortened and received new Strange axles and a Strange Spool, and 4.56:1 Richmond gears. This combination never really made a full pass, the engine was not balanced properly, and it wiped out the main bearings on the first day of testing. The 408 engine was then put back together with a new cylinder sleeve and a new piston and rod. The pocket ported heads went on, as well as the rest of the "Big" motor parts, and I was up and running again. Transmission breakage plagued the rest of the 1995 season, and working the bugs out of the new car was taking longer than expected.
The 1996 racing season was pretty much a write off due to an accident in another race car at the end of 1995. The car did manage to make a few passes, only to break the transmission again. The best pass was 11.76 at 96 MPH, with high gear slipping all the way.
The 1997 racing season was a slow starting one, the car didn't make it out until September, but the addition of a set of Headers by Ed made a huge difference. The Power glide was replaced by the 727 with the 3500 stall convertor, and the car made a full pass! The first day of testing netted a handful of low 11 second passes at 120 MPH. The following day with some tuning and better air, the car ran a best of 10.99 at 123.35 MPH! This is without the benefit of a transbrake, leaving from an idle. With a transbrake and the proper convertor the car should run in the 10 second range with this combination.
Here we are all ready for the 1998 race season; new transbrake installed, and a pile of enthusiasm. The car had some minor valve related problems early in the year, which necessitated the removal and replacement of the heads. The replacement heads are a set of 993 castings which are bone stock except for a valve job. With this combination, the car ran a hand full of 11.50's, not bad for stock heads. The summer went by quickly and the car was fairly consistent despite some suspension problems that arose from the transbrake. This was sorted out later in the fall when the new fuel system was installed.
The new fuel system, which is designed for the "Big" motor, includes a Herman Lewis intake topped with an alcohol injection system. With some minor tuning, this step in the evolution netted a 10.98 @ 123 MPH!! Again, not bad for stock heads!
Coming into 1999. the "Big" motor is ready. Here is the latest update. 418 CID, Comp cams roller cam, 272/278 @ 0.050" with 0.672" lift. Milodon gear drive, Milodon external oiling kit, Internal oil mods (Lifter bushings, rear main feed, etc..), custom oil pan with windage tray, 13.52:1 CR, alcohol injection, MSD ignition, Header's by "Ed", 291 casting heads with full port and polish, undercut Chevy 11/32" valves, 2.08/1.62 (flowing 270 intake, 212 exhaust), Harland Sharp roller rockers, stud girdle, 727 trans with brake, 5000 stall convertor. This should make the car run mid 9's.
The engine made 610 horsepower on the dyno with a mild tune up, this has produced a string of 9.80 passes in relative altitude of 600 FT. With some suspension work and decent air the car should hit the mid 9 mark soon. Keep checking back for future updates.
Please take some time to view the following pages and if you have any questions feel free to E-Mail me at
smcvey1126@aol.com Thank you and enjoy the tour.