Hi-Speed Power Equipment

[Dog427435]

[b]Growing up on Long Island in the fifties and sixties was very different then it is today.
Nassau County was mostly farm lands and malls were nonexistent.
The closest place to shop was the Village of Valley Stream, a sleepy little town one block wide
and eight blocks long. When we would go to town my greatest thrill was to walk the couple blocks
away from town to Hi-Speed Power Equipment.
Having gone with my Dad to West Hampton Drag Strip and Freeport Speedway since the mid fifties I
was totally obsessed with cars of all types and any kind of race car!
Frank Dominianni is the owner operator and has been in business since the forties. Frank was a
road racer and there were always cars by his shop I had never seen before. You must remember back
then foreign cars were few and far between. Frank raced a Crosley powered Nardi in the early fifties
later graduating to Corvettes.
Hi-Speed was the first shop in the area to have an engine and chassis dyno and did everything,
engine swaps, conversions, repairs, you name it. He was a master with the early Vette FI units.
He had customers who wanted small / big blocks in sports cars and he got it all done.
In the fifties Frank had a number of business deals with Tony Pompeo, an importer of Italian racing cars.
"I bought 300 Italmeccanica superchargers from him one time, Frank said, I sold and installed them
for every variety of car including Cadillacs, Fords and Studebakers."
The amazing thing is, Frank is still running his shop 7 days a week 10 plus hours per day!
The shop is a time capsule - I don't think the exterior has been painted in forty years. I can not even
imagine the parts and pieces that are in this shop.

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[Dog427435]

[b] There are items in the windows I'd swear I was looking at over forty years ago!

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[Dog427435]

[b] I'd love to have a week to explore every part of this fabulous shop and discover the
treasures it holds!

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This picture is dated 1970

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Frank - still having the time of his life!
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[Dog427435]

[b] Engine dyno - 40+ years ago!
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[Dog427435]

[b] Frank with Crosley powered Nardi 1951 - note radiator mounted behind the engine.
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Nardi being restored
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[Dog427435]

[b]
September 22, 1962

At the Watkins Glen raceway in Watkins Glen, New York, an SCCA National race is held for
A and B Production cars.
1st in A Production, 1st overall: Richard Thompson in a 1962 Corvette.
2nd in A Production, 2nd overall: Frank Dominianni in a Corvette.
1st in B Production, 3rd overall: Don Yenko in a Corvette.
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Frank & Don Yenko
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Frank won the SCCA B Production National Championship twice!

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[Dog427435]

[b] Frank's '62 currently owned by Mike Yeager


Generation: C1
Year: 1962
VIN: 20867S104248
Race Numbers: 69
Ownership: Mike Yeager
Sponsors: Hi Speed Power Equipment
Drivers: Frank Dominiani
Status: Collection


Original Color: Red
Tires/Wheels: Tires: Goodyear Bluestreak 600 Sports Car Special Wheels: 5.5 x 15 Steel
Engine: RPO 582 327, (then 283) fuel inj.
Driveline: RPO M22 4 speed, RPO 687 heavy duty brakes, suspn, 3:70 posi
Top:
Interior:
Condition: Vintage Race Prep

Unique Characteristics:
Modifications: RPO 488 24 gallon tank, roll bar
Notes/Race History: Frank Dominiani bought and raced this car from new. In 1964 up against
all odds, he was the SCCA BP National Champ driving this car against Cobra
and newer Stingray Corvettes.
Registry ID Number: 21




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[JoeG]

Ive passed that shop now and again--Merrick Rd?-------.
Always stared at the window also-------Sorry to say I never stopped in..
"Real Nice" history of the shop and owner........

[Charley Lillard]

Leave it to Dog to come up with more simply amazing stuff.

[Stefano]

I was doing some consulting work for Valley Stream Chevrolet about 7 or 8 years ago (?) and I drove by Frank's shop on the way to our favorite cigar shop.

I stopped in and tried to buy some of those vintage parts.

Spent quite a bit of time with Frank, interesting guy to say the least. Muscle cars, roadracing, even motorcycles (he had a turboed Kawasaki which he had built) was not the ice breaker.

He let his guard down when I noticed an original radiator for a 1936 Fiat Topolino, he had sitting on a shelf.

He had both a Chassis and engine Dyno. First on Long Island he said.

Now don't shoot the messenger, but he told me that he did a lot of Dyno work for Joel Rosen, before he got his own, as Motion Performance was just down the Road.

I can't find my old post? Glad you had a chance to get that info posted. Very Cool stuff. Most people just drive by and have no idea of the history contained between those walls!

John Gunnell and I were just discussing Frank at the Vette Fest and he just interviewed Frank for a future story. (I hope this is ok to post)