Drag Illustrated Issue 113, September 2016 | Page 61
DIALED IN
Jeff Russell
Restored for Racing
W
hen Jeff Russell arrived at a rustic barn in rural Indiana a few years ago to look at a cool 1966 Plymouth Barracuda
for sale, he was actually under the impression he was going to
look at a Dodge Dart. “It was advertised as a Dart—and a Dart was indeed
what I was looking for—but when I walked into the barn I immediately
realized I was looking at a Barracuda,” he recalls with a laugh.
Although the car was in genuinely rough shape, Jeff ponied up the
dough and hauled it home, all the while figuring maybe he’d just restore
this Barracuda and scrap the Dart idea. It wasn’t long before he received
a telephone call from a buddy at a Mopar swap meet who’d discovered yet
another TLC-needing ‘Cuda of the same model year. Jeff persuaded his
friend to put a deposit on the car until he could get there and complete
the transaction. After bringing the second car home he went right to work
stripping them both down and collecting the best parts from each vehicle
to produce the great-looking finished car he races today.
Aside from the installation of the Barracuda’s trademark wrap-around
rear glass (which is a two-man job), Jeff performed every step of the restoration himself, including paint and body work, engine assembly and
especially the transmission installation since he makes his living as a performance transmission specialist through his company, J. Russell Motorsports in Liberty, Indiana. His attention to detail even shows up in the
mill work he performed on the rear set of Rocket brand wheels to tastefully alter the car’s overall appearance.
For horsepower Jeff relies on a 360 small block with components from
Ohio Crankshaft. The engine features a 425 stroker kit with early-generation, ported W2 cast-iron heads, but still burns 93 octane pump gas. The
727 Torqueflite transmission boasts plenty of in-house mods with parts
from A&A Transmission. Jeff depends on a sturdy combination of vintage
Super Stock-style leaf springs along with a modern and durable Moser
9-inch rearend housing/center section to plant the rear tires. The total
package embodies an early Funny Car mystique combined with Super
Stock engineering, while specifically built for footbrake bracket racing.
At age 60 Jeff remains very competitive, even leading the points in the
Pro category at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis as of mid-summer this
year. “I still very much love drag racing,” he says. “It gets me off the couch!”
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September 2016
DragIllustrated.com
| D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | 61