Reviews

Shirley Shahan: The Drag-On-Lady

Classic American Reviews

Author: Patrick Foster Published by: Car Tech ISBN: 978-1-61325-581-0

Like so much in motorsports, drag racing is a male-dominated domain. Nevertheless, there have been several women competitors over the years, perhaps the most famous being Shirley Muldowney, who from the late Seventies and early Eighties won 18 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national events as a Top Fuel dragster driver. However, a decade earlier there was Shirley Shahan, whose relatively brief yet incredibly successful career in drag racing set records and wrote history like never before. With the support of her then husband, mechanic HL Shahan, she was the first woman to win an NHRA event, being named Top Stock Eliminator at the 1966 Winternationals.

Having driven competitively since the mid-Fifties she had the necessary skills and reactions to win and win consistently. She soon became known as the Drag-On-Lady, a name that was emblazoned on all her cars. Initially driving Chevrolets, including an incredibly rare 1963 RPO Z11 Super Stocker, her track successes rapidly came to the attention of Plymouth and later both Dodge and American Motors. Her well presented and extremely quick cars, whether they were Hemi-powered Plymouth Belvederes and Dodge Coronets or AMC AMXs and Hornets, quickly became legends, as did Shirley herself.

Surprisingly, in the mid-Sixties she also competed in Mobil Economy Runs.

She was a petite blonde, with a chirpy personality and an unshakeable determination to win. She was always smartly dressed and this combination, together with her consistent wins, sometimes caused friction among male drivers who resented being beaten by a woman. The fact remained, she was as good as them and frequently better. She retired in 1971 to spend more time with her family, but remained close to the sport. Even today as a greatgrandmother, she and her second husband Ken appear as celebrity guests at events throughout the States. This is a fascinating history of a remarkable woman. The story is well told and the supporting photos are superb, recounting another excellent tale of drag racing’s so-called ‘golden years’ and well worth a read. We’ve got a feature in the pipeline on the Drag-On-Lady in an upcoming issue, so watch this space!

GM 6L80 Transmissions – How to Rebuild & Modify

Author: Steve Garrett Published by: Car Tech ISBN: 978-1-61325-730-2

As modern vehicles become ever more complicated and sophisticated it’s no wonder that so few people are prepared to work on their vehicles, as they would have done years ago. Nevertheless, some areas of automotive maintenance have always been seen as a black art, tasks best left to the professional specialists. Of these, the most obvious is automatic transmissions. How do they work? What, if anything, in the way of maintenance and/ or repair can the enthusiast undertake? How has the technology developed over the years as cars become ever more computerised and reliant on sensitive electronics?

Well, it seems that you can take on much of the work that the professional will accomplish, as long as you have the right instructions and the necessary tools to carry out the work. That’s not to say that the average car enthusiast can become an overnight expert, but reasonably skilled mechanics with a clean, orderly workshop and a certain amount of savvy should be able to accomplish a fair bit, given the right information.

We’ve reviewed a number of ‘workbench how-to’ manuals on automatic transmission from Car Tech over the years. This latest one features the General Motors 6L80, which dates from 2006 and has been installed in a wide range of GM vehicles since then, as well as those of other manufacturers which GM has supplied. This ‘how-to’ claims to take much of the guesswork out of the process of repair and maintenance by breaking down the tasks into basic elements. As with all books in this series the easy-to-read text is supported by many full colour photographs which help to demonstrate what is required.

Four chapters deal with the fundamental aspects of the transmission. The first explains the basics about the 6L80, the principles of how it works, the tools one will need, how to inspect the unit, identify what it is and test its functionality and what adhesives, sealers and lubricants will be required. Chapter two deals with the mechanical electronic components. Chapter three explains about component service, disassembly and assembly and chapter four concentrates on TEHCM inspection and testing. TEHCM stands for Transmission Electrical Hydraulic Control Module, which is essentially the ‘brain’ containing the hydraulic solenoids, temperature sensor, pressure switches and the transmission computer. In addition, there are coloured flow charts in the extensive Appendix. I will happily admit to it being all gobbledegook to me, but then I’m no mechanic and I’ll be content to leave it to them. However, for the technically minded, this could be a real godsend.