Durango Deuce II
1963 Four Door Sedan. 327 engine, bored 30 over. Holley 4150 double-pumper, 650+ four barrel carburetor. DART iron heads. Custom cam. Roller rockers. Flat pistons. 11:1 compression. JR headers (modified), Dr. Gas "X" pipe. 25 inch Summit aluminum radiator. Ford Taurus electric fan. 400 RWHP. Torque band from 2800-5400 RPM. MSD limiter (chip) set at 6300 RPM.RAM air box
Global West front suspension parts. Richmond Super T10 "x" ratio. 750# coil springs in front; 150# Eaton leafs in back. Currie Ford 9" with 3.25 gear. Eight-point 1 5/8" x .132" ERW cage. Cobra/Kirkey racing seats. Five-point G-Force belts. 22 gal. Jazz fuel cell with re-circulating fuel system to prevent vapor lock. Toyo A-888 racing tires on 225 x 50 x 15. 7" rims. Wilwood M/C and six pistons brakes up from; four piston in the rear. Global West rear spring bushings.
Durango Deuce II - The Mexican Road Racer
Gerie Bledsoe has participated in La Carrera Panamericana, the Mexican Road Race, for ten years. The "Pan Am" is a seven-day, 2000 miles long "stage rally" from southern Mexican to Texas each October. Six or seven times a day, the cars are lined up for top speed time trials through mountain roads. There are no cash prizes, only trophies. Photo passing a Porshe 911
Bledsoe entered a stock '63 Nova SS, the "Durango Deuce," in 2000 and finished in 4th place in class, and returned with Mike Goble as his navigator and chief mechanic in 2002 to win his class with a more powerful engine and revised suspension. The car also finished 2d in class in 2004.
However, in 2005, the "Durango Deuce" was destroyed in a spectacular accident in Mexico, when Gerie allowed his co-driver a turn at the wheel. The car had been re-painted white by the new sponsor. Both Gerie and the co-driver had broken arms and other medical problems, but survived a crash at 130 MPH.
The Durango Deuce II is a tribute to the original car. It was entered in the Carrera in 2008, but spun a rod the first day. It will returned in March, 2009 to ran in the Chihuahua Express, a 1000 miles stage rally in northern Mexico, but blew the engine in the third day of competition.
It returned to Mexico with a new engine in October 2009 and finished 37th of 107 cars and 8th in class. Last March, Bledsoe finished 2 in class and 10th overall in the Chihuahua Express. He plans to return to the Carrera Panamericana in October.
It has also be invited to race at Road American (Elkhart Lake, WI) in May and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in July.
Bledsoe says, I first bought my Nova in 2000 because it was one of the first four-speed cars at a reasonable price I could find. Since then, I have come to love the little car. It's the right size -- weight and length -- to road race, and, of course, you can do anything with a Chevy engine. The drawback is the handling, but we've got the car so it will go around a curve without too much push. But I really enjoy beating the $100,000 Shelby clones and Corvettes in a car that was"mother's" and no one else races on a road course.