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Drag Racing Discussions => Front Engine Dragsters => Topic started by: L79_Acadian on September 19, 2013, 05:16:24 PM

Title: a few pictures of the car
Post by: L79_Acadian on September 19, 2013, 05:16:24 PM
 Hi again,
 Well I have progressed a bit more on the car. So far a lot of the extras are only tacked on for now,if they all work, they will be welded later. The motor is 39"out,thanks guys.
 Oh I plan on adding a diagonal between the two uprights under the engine, thanks Roo.
  Roger
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: dusterdave173 on September 21, 2013, 08:09:53 AM
Will tranny clear your steering box bar? I have a Cenpen under construction and my engine is a lot lower in chassis--mine still hits with a shield on the trans case..I would love to have my engine higher for pan clearence
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: L79_Acadian on September 21, 2013, 04:30:50 PM
Ah the steering box support bar. There is about 5/8" clearance between the box and the tranny. Obviously not enough, so I think I'm going to put a bend in a new bar,and remake the mount plate from some more 4130. All I bought from CenPen was the basic unwelded chassis.
 As for the engine height, I set the rear axle almost in the middle of the uprights, then used the line up bar to make the mid mount and tabs. I have about 3 degrees of motor drop, but I also set the chassis up with a 33" tall rear tire, because thats what I had.
 If all goes as planned with a 8" oil pan, I should have about 3" of Clarence under the pan.
 Good luck with yours dusterdave.
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: JrFuel Hayden on September 21, 2013, 10:16:37 PM
Unless it's too late, you might want to consider building your FED to work with 31" tall tires. I have talked to a number of racers that wished they built the car to run shorter tires, and not have clearance problems. With your motor back at 39" and the 33" tires you could dead-hook, there by pulling the motor down below it's HP rpm range.
Our motor is at 48" running an all iron SBC on alky in NHRA Heritage JrFuel running 7.0's at 189mph. The light weight [ 22.6 lbs] GoodYear 31x12x15 tires allow us to keep tire speed up and rpm up to where they are both happy.
The farther back the motor is and the shorter the wheelbase the more weight you have on the rear slicks, which equal more traction, but it could work-out to be too much traction, unless you race at a lot of crappy traction tracks.
Good Luck with your FED project.
Feel free to call me if you'd like to "brain storm", 805-444-4489

Jon Hansen, Hayden Wheels
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: L79_Acadian on September 25, 2013, 02:04:28 PM
a couple of updates, just tacked in,just in case.I now have 2" plus between the tranny top and the steering support bar. Oh and I'm planning on using a 31" x 12"tire also.
  Thanks guys,
                  Roger
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: proriv63 on October 21, 2013, 01:12:41 PM
Hi,
What wheelbase car are you building?  I'm interested in the motor placement questions being asked.  Trying to decide if a should use a shorty or standard length glide?

thanks,
John
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: ricardo1967 on October 21, 2013, 03:00:19 PM
John, here's my take... For nostalgic look, shorty PG, for track performance, standard PG. What wheelbase do you have in mind?
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: proriv63 on October 21, 2013, 04:55:31 PM
I'm thinking 200"WB. I already have a full length glide and a SBC that makes about 750HP. The tire size issue seems a bit crazy too.  Any help is appreciated.
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: ricardo1967 on October 21, 2013, 07:25:42 PM
I'm thinking 200"WB. I already have a full length glide and a SBC that makes about 750HP. The tire size issue seems a bit crazy too.  Any help is appreciated.

I'll let the pros speak up, but I'd use the PG you have on hand. You're not messing around... that's a nice combination you've got.
Title: Re: a few pictures of the car
Post by: George on October 22, 2013, 03:52:52 AM
I would study the class rules for the JR fuel class. A lot can be learned from their builds. Tire size and weight along with engine location is key to performance. Several pros have offered their advise on this forum. That advise is priceless.