Topics

16

Front Engine Dragsters / Material For Seat/Interior Wrap

« on: July 09, 2022, 10:01:17 AM »

I have patterns made to do the interior wrap/seat for the FED I'm building and wondered what material to use. My plan is that the wrap will be on the inside of the roll cage/chassis structure and will extend to a vertical tube just behind the rearend housing and will also be used as the seat. I have 2 - 2" X 1/8" steel straps welded to the cage which are curved to form the seat bottom, and will be either riveted (maybe solid driven rivets), or welded to the wrap to make it one piece. My patterns are Left and Right and will be butted and spliced together with a strip again riveted or welded together in the center behind the driver's spline. I would put the splice strip to the outside, so the inside would be smooth. I plan to install it using Dzus button head fasteners. FWIW, the outer body panels (outside the chassis tubes) would extend slightly past the forward edge of the interior so they would actually have an overlap.

All that being said, I have three types of material in my shop to do the wrap and the seat bottom and wonder if any of them would be an appropriate or acceptable material....18 Ga. mild steel, .040" aluminum and .063" aluminum. I believe the aluminum sheets are 5052 alloy.

I would appreciate some input from experience and say "Thank You" in advance. There's probably a spec somewhere in some rules, but I haven't dug around the internet for it yet.

Thanks

Lynn

17

Front Engine Dragsters / Coolant Tubes

« on: July 08, 2022, 10:05:51 AM »

I'm building my FED with a very small radiator and electric fan so (hopefully) I can "lap" the car without getting temps to a dangerous level. Not wanting to run flex hose to and from the radiator, about 3' one way and 4' the other way, I decided to use 1" X .058" 6061-T6 aluminum tube I had in my rack for the easy, mostly straight sections that will run along the chassis tube. Knowing 6061-T6 tube is tougher than the back of Superman's head to bend I remembered hearing about annealing it with an oxy/acetylene torch. So, I sooted up the section I wanted to bend with straight acetylene, neutralized the flame and heated the tube to burn off the carbon soot. First 2 tries I got it too hot and the end of the tube fell off onto the floor. Third time I was much more careful and after heating let the tube cool. I used a regular conduit bender and was able to easily and cleanly bend about a 45 degree angle near the end of the tube which is about what I need for the one connection.

I had also borrowed a tubing bead roller from a aircraft friend so the bead would help retain the hose when clamped. It did work on the regular 6061-T6 but the bead roller really didn't like it. After the end of the tube was heated to anneal it I used the bead roller again and ended up with a very nice "factory" looking bead at the end of the tube.

Since it might be a little while until I'm really ready to run the coolant tubes I'll be returning the bead roller for now, but at least I'm past the "proof of concept" stage of what I'll need to do.

You just have to love it when a plan works out!

Lynn

18

Front Engine Dragsters / Throttle Linkage

« on: May 23, 2022, 03:17:04 PM »

I've been rolling a few thought around in my head about throttle linkage. I want it to be constructed to be rod linkage so with a toe loop on the pedal the throttle can be returned to idle positively in case a return spring fails. The engine will have a single carburetor and I've been doodling various linkage arrangements, trying to work out the throttle pedal travel and position to travel of the linkage on the carb. Lots of balls in the air when working out the geometry. My head hurts already.

Just to have some clarity, does anyone have the body off of their FED to take a photo or two of your throttle linkage arrangement? Posting photos here can be a challenge (to me at least) so you could e-mail or text them to me at the e-mail address or number below.

Thanks....in advance!

Lynn Winter
winter62@att.net
(573) 286-3335 Cell

19

Front Engine Dragsters / Parachute Sizing

« on: May 08, 2022, 10:51:35 AM »

Just how bad would it be to use a parachute on a car about 2/3 the weight of the specs on a manufacture's sizing chart. The car would also be slower than the speeds listed for the heavier car chute as well.

The reason I ask is that I fully intend to put a chute on the FED I'm building, but at the races last night at my local 1/8 Mi track I never saw a single car deploy a chute and they were running much faster MPH and much quicker E.T.'s than what my car will be capable of. I read of "soft" and "hard" opening chutes, but I would think that any particular chute would open softer at 100 MPH than it would at 140 MPH or more.

I don't want to disregard a manufacturer's recommendations or safety. I was able to pick up a nice chute but was told it's for a heavier car and wouldn't be suitable for my FED. I can fully understand the danger of using too small a chute for the speed and weight of a car, but it seems a chute a bit too big to not be as critical, especially at slower speeds.

Thanks, in advance for advice from a user's standpoint.

Lynn

20

Wanted to sell / Stroud Parachute

« on: May 06, 2022, 07:19:48 PM »

I picked up a Stroud single chute at a swap meet, but after laundering it and sending to Stroud for evaluation I was told it's too big and for a much heavier car than the FED I'm building. Per Stroud it is a 430 32 chute. Here's the sizing chart from Stroud's website:  https://stroudsafety.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SizingChart-Chute-2013.pdf

It's currently set up to be a "launched" chute (pilot and deployment bag are attached to one another) rather than using a spring loaded pilot chute for deployment. Also, there is currently no chute pack (black "cube"). The chute itself is in good condition per Stroud, and is still at their facility waiting for my instruction on what to do with it.

I was told it could be converted to a spring pilot chute with new deployment bag and bridle, and a new chute pack for $210.00 plus the return shipping. For comparison, a new Stroud 430 32 Chute is $465 so the final cost would be about 1/2 of new if the chute were retro-fitted to be deployed by a new pilot chute. I'm flexible on how to sell it so please give me a call if you're interested and we can talk over options available (modified/updated or sold as-is). I have a couple photos of the chute but because of the size of the file I'd have to send them via e-mail. Contact info is below.

Thanks

Lynn Winter
winter62@att.net
(573) 788-2574 Home/Shop
(573) 286-3335 Cell

21

Front Engine Dragsters / Stroud Chute

« on: May 01, 2022, 09:22:21 AM »

I picked up a Stroud chute at a swap meet last week. The lines and chute are all in very good condition as far as I can determine just by my novice inspection, but I do have some confusion about it.

On Stroud's website there are several videos of chute packing and maintenance, but the chute I have seems different that what is shown in the videos and diagrams in that the deployment bag and pilot chute are attached as one unit by flat nylon straps rather than them being separate pieces with the deployment spring being between the pilot and the deployment bag. The chute didn't come with a chute pack or deployment spring. In the case of the deployment bag and pilot chute being one unit, would a  deployment spring be the first thing into the chute pack and it would eject the whole works out together, or how would that be set up?

I plan to call Stroud and perhaps send photos and likely ship the chute to them to inspect and complete it, but in the meantime could someone satisfy my curiosity about how my chute might all go together?

Thanks.

Lynn

22

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Perry Competition Pro Shifter

« on: April 25, 2022, 07:10:31 PM »

Parts and pieces accumulation continues......

Does anyone have any experience with a Perry Competition Pro 2-speed shifter? Found out about one at what seems a reasonable price but wonder if it would work OK for a FED? Handle seems a bit bulky and wide for a FED but perhaps it could be narrowed down a bit. It looks fool proof enough but do they meet the requirements for reverse lockout?

Thanks

Lynn

23

Spud Miller's Cave / E85???

« on: April 17, 2022, 03:25:50 PM »

Yet another idle-time brainstorm as I work on my FED build....

Wondering about using E85, which I understand had gained a fair amount of popularity.

For now (at least) I'll be running a Quadrajet carburetor (save the snide remarks please) and since it is a less than mainstream carb for drag racing I don't know if there's much guidance available for possibly converting it to run E85. One of the main reasons it seems appealing is it's cooling effect, much like running methanol. I will be running a small radiator but think it might need a bit of help. Also understand the E85 might offer a bit of performance boost. I just don't know where to start, as far as re-jetting, since my (limited) experience with methanol was with a Holley carb on a dirt circle track engine.

Any suggestions or info?

Lynn

24

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Torque Converter Selection

« on: April 12, 2022, 07:19:33 AM »

I'm building a FED for bracket racing and I'm getting ready to buy a torque converter for the Powerglide. I expect the car to be about 1650# with driver, HP of the carbureted 305 Chevy I expect to be about 250-270, rearend gear I have is a 3.23 and I plan to run 1/8 mi tracks. Also, I plan to foot-brake the car rather than running a trans brake.

I had been thinking about a 9 to 10" converter that would stall at about 2400-2800 RPM up to this point. Yesterday I called a company nearby, BuiltRite Converters, who suggested a 8" converter that he typically would consider a 5000 stall but with my low HP he thought it would stall at about 3000. He's used to building converters for some big HP engines. The price of what I had been looking at is ~$400 for an off-the-shelf converter would go up to about $850 for the 8" unit from BuiltRite.

I think what he's telling me makes sense, that I need higher stall to come off the line, but I know that my little 305 is going to be running out of steam at 5500-ish RPM. The Elgin cam I'm running had a useable RPM range of 2200-5200 if my memory serves correctly. I'm completely new to this and can certainly spend money to do the right thing, but I only want to spend it one time.

Input and advice appreciated. If I'm missing info needed to make suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks

Lynn

25

Front Engine Dragsters / Brake MC Diameter

« on: April 11, 2022, 07:37:28 PM »

I'm debating what diameter master cylinder I should buy to use on my FED. I have a 3/4" bore MC on my T roadster hot rod and even with 4 wheel brakes (discs) I have good brakes and a reasonable amount of pedal travel (not excessive). Thinking with just rear brakes on the FED I'm building I might go to 5/8" to get a bit more line pressure without excessive foot pressure or pedal travel using about a 5.5:1 or 6:1 pedal ratio. Since I'm not planning to use a trans brake I'm thinking the higher line pressure using a smaller diameter MC might help hold the car on the line just foot braking.

Thoughts and experience based on what you have in your car for MC diameter and pedal ratio?

Thanks

Lynn

26

Front Engine Dragsters / Air Scoop - Production or Homemade?

« on: March 15, 2022, 11:27:20 AM »

I would like to have a air scoop similar to the one on the dragster in the photo below for the carbureted FED I'm building. Anyone know if it was or is a production piece from someone or is it a homemade, one-off piece?

Thanks

Lynn

27

Spud Miller's Cave / Injection Alky Vs. Carb Gas

« on: March 09, 2022, 05:01:13 AM »

There's a war going on in my head about the fuel system for the FED I'm building. The car is being built to have some fun and do some bracket racing. Not going nuts with needing to have things really "period correct", just want to keep it simple and hopefully have it be somewhat consistent.

I had been planning to keep things to what I know and that for the most part would be a carburetor on gas. Planning to install a small cooling system to be able to 'lap" the car rather than towing back the return road. Lately I was thinking stack injection on alky would be cool so looked into that and it would be a possibility, but it seems that brings up a world of things mostly new to me and also potential for problems and added complexity and maintenance.

Keep in mind that I, unlike probably most here, am not looking for that last .05 second reduction of the ET. It's for bracket racing and keeping things simple.

Thoughts, input?

Lynn

28

Front Engine Dragsters / Bootheel Fuel and Gas Drags

« on: March 01, 2022, 06:23:45 AM »

See link below for info on the Bootheel Fuel and Gas Drags scheduled for July 29 & 30 in Sikeston, MO  I really enjoyed it when they hosted the event last year and hope for even a better turn out this year.

I'm not affiliated with it in any way...just passing it on.

Lynn

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-2nd-bootheel-fuel-gas-drags-july-29-30-2022-sikeston-mo.1257466/

29

Front Engine Dragsters / Thread "locking up"?

« on: January 25, 2022, 07:10:20 PM »

The thread I'm speaking of is my thread on front engine dragster section titled "FED Build". Checking for new posts to the forum at the top left of the page, it showed that "Rat" posted at 6:04 PM, but the last two posts I see are from earlier. Mine is post number 48 and Supercat posted number 49. There's not even a thing to click to reply. Something similar happened on an earlier thread I started. I admit, I am not computer savvy so if I am doing something wrong I'd love to correct the error I might be making.

Thanks

Lynn

30

Spud Miller's Cave / Going Price for SBC Fuel Injection System

« on: January 16, 2022, 08:18:34 PM »

I'm getting way ahead of my FED build but I'm curious what a reasonable price for a used, complete stack injection system might be for a SBC? I plan to run with a carb on gas, but at some point switching to alky and injection is appealing. I go to several swap meets a year (some quite large) and have seen FI systems for sale but never priced any of them. I think I'd be looking for a 2" or smaller system since the largest engine I'd ever expect to run is a 327 Chevy.

Just thinking at this point but I'd appreciate some input in case I'd come across something..

Lynn