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Notable B17 Mechanic

Taking care of those puppies… That’s the Smokey Yunick we knew. I was a kid at most but tough men with soft hearts will never be forgotten.

Musicians and racers were a lot alike.. they all helped each other and shared information. now that they are both a money game there is 100% division between all racers and performers.

Thank you.

He was a genius

My first new camshaft I bought, was an Iksy 505T-Magnugum. I learned to adjust valve lash cold at 0.008" intake and 0.010" exhaust every Friday before the Saturday races. My high school buddy had the money somehow but didn't know a 6-point socket from a 12-point box end wrench. This was age 14 with mostly "Globe Master" tool set bought at a small town grocery store of all places. But I knew how engines worked and transmission and it didn't hurt I was the tallest kid off a family farm who knew who to arc weld. They had a "Crank-Top" Lincoln welder that my step dad could barely use. But at age 11, I grew 6" that one year. Like it was my fault, my own birthing person told me; "If I was going to grow like that, I needed to buy my own boots and britches." I asked "With what? I don't get an allowance only a place to shower off dirt, eat cold cut meat sandwiches and work!" I was like an indentured servant, allowed time off between hay cuttings and rabbit hunting which she hated. At 14, I questioned the two different birthday cards, only to find out I was adopted. I stacked hay in the top of the barn, feed sacks of feed to chickens, pigs, horses and drove a flat bed Ford truck across a field into another pasture, cut and kick off hay, finished and had to count them on the way back. I took Muncie 4-speeds apart and made a fixture to grind off every other tooth to make a "Rock-Chrusher" trans, the bolted a Mr. Gasket "V-Gate" shifter onto it. No one knew what the double finger ring was for! It was a lockout for reverse. I ask questions and watched two brothers who worked in the shop in town. Later, helping a skinny guy with 2 or 3 girls, helped him build a large two man shop in his backyard that opened to the alley. Customer pay was $12 per hour which he paid me in full. He made his money of the parts I installed. Some days we ran out of work at 2PM, he paid me cash, see you tomorrow and I left. I had a 65 C10 Apache, 283 cu in w/power glide trans. I paid $150 for the truck from a construction company. I was driven by their maintenance man who serviced the truck, but brought diesel, oil and waist from the job site. They had bulldozers, backhoes, graders and scrapers. All big stuff. I miss that truck, faded Red Lacquer paint w/soaked wood floor. DK, ASE master tech since 78. Retired.

Your interviews/ comments are excellent. I hope you will assemble all the Smokey interviews etc on 1 you tube page.

I went to high school with both of his sons in Inglewood California

Gow is the Scotish (Gael) word for blacksmith. Don't know if that's the basis for a gow job, but it'll do.

Yes carrol Shelby can’t hold a light to Smokey in my book and no disrespect to carrol but GM should have more than 1 car with atrubutions for him there should have been a chevelle and a Camaro and a Camaro Z/28 with some kinda recognition for the motor he built or rather invented to beat the hemi being a 302 for the 1965 Daytona win the year after the hemi swept 1,2,3rd place in 1964 if there was any drive in nascar he was it I’m not talking about driving the car I’m talking about heart, soul, and backbone with innovation, charisma, ad the ability to accelerate it all in his head and bring it to life and then make it work! His inventions his wisdom ad all the other things like cutting up and joking around all the time is so much inspiration to me just think if he would have been in the time and same team with dale sr and Richard Childers ? What do you think would have happened there ? I can say myself if you would have listened the others in the sport would been saying well let’s go see how bad we get beat this weekend or damnit after 1 decade you think them guys would at least let some one else win a championship! Or headlines in the newspapers saying GM won so many races and has sold so manny cars made so much money they’ve bought controlling interest of ford and dodge ! With the ability to go around all the rules and build a car like smokey and a driver like earnheart and Richard Childers ability to see air and run a race team the way he did it would have been no holds bar also with GM backing sponsership nascar officials would have not known what to do they would have look like the umpires in MLB throwing there finger up in the air screaming your outta here ! Yeah there some greats out there but remember there are a certain few out of the greats that are the greatest ! The worst thing about it is is some of them are not give any or even half the credit and recognition they rightfully deserve smokey is one of those ! Hats off to the man behind the best damn garage in town !

I run an isky magnum cam in my 65 gto. 469 c.i. with tripower. This is an old cam, but it is wild as it can be. Gets 4 mpg but is fun to drive. Ed may have ground it himself. 525 lift, 320 degrees.

My dad was of that cut of leather....I miss him.

What an awesome guy he lived in the good old days.

I Like Circle © K Tomorrow.

Legend, back early 50s-60s there wasn't much out there but isky!!

Never hard of this guy but thanks for sharing I rember my dad tell me they use to take a pore moon shine in the old model T and model A to make them run faster that's about it I love videos like this thanks

What I hope is you get a film made of Smokey. Can bet you that it would be a home run. Thanks you for letting us all know that one great man can change this great big world. Thanks.

Wonder why the fossil fuel industry wasn’t interested in his 3cyl, 250hp, 50mpg Motor?

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What a hilarious story. I'll always remember that voice. I just saw a clip on NoRotors.com of your grandson running your old Fiat. What a cool car.

He could build engines that is for sure

Smokers brother keeping his word. th-cam.com/video/scW-nyN8RYQ/w-d-xo.html

If they made a movie it would sort have to be like a Forrest Gump movie because he was everywhere and how would they do the adventures with the women . The girls would take up 3/4 of the movie.

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There can never be another just like him. He is a hero of Folk History who really shines. Examining his turbo Indy car tells me in every detail there was a giant intellect that really knew exactly what he wanted in its design. He actually escapes description. We can all say a lot of nice things and that’s important stuff. It’s impossible to capture all of the nuances about this guy. He taught me how to read and understand patents. I studied his Hot Vapor Engine design patent until I understood the way it worked by the feel of imagination imparted to me. It trained my mind for analytic pursuits. The only reason I went through that is because I trusted in him that he wouldn’t let me down by the end of it. I never met him. But, I reckoned with his genius in small part. He was an amazing guy who had a brain which worked for him.

Ole Smokey

This man is a legend in the hot rod world an innovator in high performance camshafts.

I have a custom cut roller from these guys in my nova. First non box cam, and buddy it runs out real strong.

I went to the elementary school across the street from Yunick's garage. Bill France Sr. was also a car mechanic before NASCAR. I believe he was incredibly envious a Yunick's creativity.

Trish, thank you for sharing this video with us!

People ask me to name a hero, for me it's Smokey. A special mind.

Thanks for sharing the interview.

Smokey was an idol of a racer, engineer, inventor, and last but so far from least--MAN!

One of the greatest innovators of oir time. Not enough is spoken about him.

WOW, huge new respect for him. After I read an article wherein he claimed that drum brakes were superior to disc brakes I more or less wrote him off. His humanity was a wonderful read.

Yeah I'm laughing at this guy who called iski cams and got a live person...I called Schumacher battery chargers and got jerk around on the computer answering service with a question about a battery charger and still never got a live person to answer my question I finally thru that new battery charger away after 40 years of being a loyal customer piss on em..to busy to pick the phone up....never again....junk.

I think the coolest thing about hot rodding...was my friends were a lot better at going into the motor and changing something like a hi p.o. cylinder head with bigger valves and I was clueless about that and finally I ask my good friend who was real good how he learned this and he said we go to the junk yard and need parts so we take the junkyard motor apart carefully and learn that way.man I was like wow da smart....I always like going to the junkyard in those days because chances are you'd see a race version of ur car factory stripes an all....my friend told me the guy at the junkyard was happy with what they were doing if someone needed a head or intake it was sitting in the trunk nice all taking apart so they were saving him time....where I live now things changed....I found a 1967 Pontiac tempest 326 with a powerglide...2 door looks like a GTO and I wanted to buy the whole car ...any other county around here I could have these yards nope it is a clone to the 1967 GTO one if the best looking cars or that era and they were just gonna destroy it because of new dumb rule insurance...plus I need frame parts for 1967 mustang after a year of people telling me that there was one sitting in a junkyard I finally go and they tell me I can't have the frame parts either due to insurance risk...I said if I'm welding the parts on how is it your risk....dumb.

I was very talented at sports when I was a kid but what I did know yet was I loved motorcycles and cars because they hadn't come into my life yet cars at least,so in high school by chance my local school was back by Ford so it was basically what is today know as a technical high school so being a good athlete my metal shop teacher who was a helicopter pilot in viet nam,and the coolest person I met,did not give me any wait in class because atheletes flounder in shop class,so he was happy to see that I was interested in learning his agenda...more so than auto shop which shocked a lot of people too I guess that this athlete was seeking auto and metal shop technics,either way I have learned a lot metal shop and gone on to have an Auto painting business with a focus on doing things the right way and the best way,and when I go there wouldn't be any real technical trades people left so who do I give the keys to the shop too,because people just work and play on the computer and forget that hands on is most important...because u have to think and it makes u think....THANKS

Hey the way I see it he was the best kept secret in performance motorsports.....he was a true master....he said he was a test engineer pilot ill bet he got a chance doing that to be around a lot of brilliant out of the box type of innovators...that put him far ahead of the curve....

I am happy to say I did meet this iconic tech.I got to shake his hand and to this day his autographed picture hang on my living room wall.A RACING ICON !!

Ya gotta gotta give Smokey credit, true genius. Learn about him, he was real, great story.

She speaks with grace and a down to earth kind of beauty.

I know Danny @hillcountry machine and performance in Springbranch north of San Antonio TX and would love to see that hot vapor gas engine back in that little red Chrysler. Would make for an awesome TH-cam video. 🇺🇸 God Bless Smokey.

Last time I talked to him, he had just got a huge tank from NASA ..(surplus) It was a Vaccum Chamber to simulate space. He was going to make cams in it!!...friggin space cams LOL

Smokey Yunicks, the man from outerspace

They can have my "Power Secrets" book when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Boy, I sure know what ur sayin, he was was one heck of a person !

I meet Smokey a few times in my life, he was always with his very nice and well dressed wife. She always carried the worlds biggest thermos and supported him to the end. Rest assured there is a great women behind every great man.

The intro to THE broadcast of 50th Annual NHRA GatorNationals on FS1 this past weekend, March 17 2019, was absolutely amazing. So nostalgic. Never imagined they'd have Dave do the intro. Thanks, Dave! It reminded so, much of every Diamond P Sports videotape I ever watched! 😁

What a fantastic video, made my day, thanks.