Messages

46

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: bracket racing a FED

« on: February 14, 2022, 07:03:47 PM »

Put in a radiator and an electric pump. An inexpensive one is a Teel. It is better to build it in initially than to realize later you need one and have to rearrange everything on the car to make it fit. You can always remove either the rad or the pump or both if you feel it is unneeded. I predict you'll need it at some point - hot days, oil downs just in front of you, round robbining, etc.
I use a Sirocco type and and Teel pump.

https://teelpumpcatalog.com/

EDIT: It appears Grainger does no longer carry the Teel 12V bilge pump. Jabsco or Marco are alternate brands.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184409770558?epid=24019157637&hash=item2aefadca3e:g:edAAAOSwduNiCvb6

https://www.ebay.com/itm/301733368029?epid=1222226781&hash=item4640b5d0dd:g:cQkAAOSwcwRevRPq

47

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: bracket racing a FED

« on: February 13, 2022, 07:35:07 AM »

I don't normally drive a FED but some guys think that running against my six cylinder altered would be an easy time. So there is that similarity.
Let 'em.
I don't care who I race - anybody can beat anybody. Hero-to-Zero in nuttin' flat.
Just get your car consistent if you want to bracket race. Even if you have to sacrifice some e.t. to do it. If you want to set a personal best e.t. every time you suit up don't expect to excel at bracket racing. Consistency wins. I want to race a competitor who would refuse to lift because he might be on a personal best [breakout?] pass.

Having said that, there ARE certain types of cars I WANT to race. For example, on a hot sunny day give me the guy in a black driving suit with a flat black helmet driving a doorslammer painted black. Hopefully he's strapped in there with a crew member opening and closing the door like a Geisha Girl waving a fan in an effort to keep air circulated to keep him from baking. And if he's a really fast car even the better. I feel that guy sub-consciously can't wait to get out of that car and I will be happy to oblige him. There are other examples too.

Win or lose be cordial to everybody. I try to. But on the starting line if I'm lined up next to my Mother I want to trounce her!

48

Altereds / Re: Thoughts on cooling systems

« on: February 13, 2022, 06:53:35 AM »

...I used the throttle as a Horn--rump! rump! get out of the way!
...

All my race cars have a small motorcycle horn. Sometimes spectators are oblivious to a race car approaching frombehind, and even less aware that there could be cooling / fouling issues if the car is left idling while they saunter down the lanes.
Likewise, I have two small headlights for night racing for the same reason.

49

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: FED Build

« on: January 25, 2022, 11:12:49 AM »

I do something similar. It once saved a LOT of people from being injured when I was semi-conscious in a run-away race car.

50

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: FED Build

« on: January 15, 2022, 06:47:02 PM »

Nice!
If you do as good a job on the body as you did on the frame it will be great.

51

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Initial engine install:

« on: January 08, 2022, 06:49:37 PM »

I never ran a rail, but my gut feeling is most of the chassis flex will be ahead of the front motor plate. Not much will be at the engine bay.
Having said that, it is still best to mount the front plate on saddles with clamps. "Not much" bend is still not zero, and twisting of the chassis due to the engine torque will put some stress in the block if the front mounts are not "saddled up".
Some builders use a bolted engine mount in double shear taps on the left side where torque tends to pull the plate up and a saddle on the right side where torque tends to push the saddle mount down on the frame rail.

52

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: FED Build

« on: December 29, 2021, 01:29:16 PM »

I had to go up a gauge size to insure the tube I used met NHRAs spec of .120" min for mild steel.

53

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: FED Build

« on: December 23, 2021, 05:00:04 AM »

^^^  X2

54

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Re: Good Powerglide Build Book?

« on: December 04, 2021, 05:04:19 PM »

Depending on your carburetion and camshaft you will need a stall speed that will get your engine in its optimum operating range. With too low of stall speed it will take forever to get it "up on the pipe". I would consider a 4000 stall at the minimum .

55

Jon's Wheel House / Re: Tyre slip on the Rim

« on: November 30, 2021, 03:17:56 PM »

Also, I block up the axles on my altereds if it will sit for several days.

Also also, in Ford's assembly plants they had a product called "murple" (get it?, it is the only word that rhymes with purple). It was used on hoses and vacuum lines as a lubricant but after installation it dried and acted as an adhesive bonding the rubber to the nipple. I hesitated to mention that initially as I do not know if it is proprietary or available commercially. There may be a similar product on the market.

56

Jon's Wheel House / Re: Tyre slip on the Rim

« on: November 30, 2021, 03:09:47 PM »

Leakage is an issue. Tire pressure needs to be checked often. I do it every round just before pullout, as do most bracket racers. If you lay a typical slick on its side and wet it down with soapy water and come back an hour later it will be full of suds on the sidewalls. Just the nature of the beast.

57

Funny Cars / Re: Funny Car Chaos

« on: November 30, 2021, 05:49:02 AM »

How many FCs were there? Here in the Midwest there is a nostalgia FC series also. They are fun to watch.

58

Jon's Wheel House / Re: Tyre slip on the Rim

« on: November 30, 2021, 05:46:10 AM »

Thanks Flyer, I was planning on marking the tyre position. Any particular reason for not using tubes.

Yes
Rotational weight has a much greater effect on performance than static weight in the car. A pound of weight on the tire circumference has about the same effect on performance as ten pounds in the chassis (fun fact: on a bicycle with most of the weight at the outer periphery the ratio is about 16:1.)

59

Jon's Wheel House / Re: Tyre slip on the Rim

« on: November 28, 2021, 08:19:24 AM »

Clean the tire beads and rims with solvent before pressurizing the slick.
At the suggestion of another altered driver I stopped using bead screws years ago. We don't use tubes. Neither of us have ever had problems.Tire pressures in the 5 - 6 psi range.
It might be interesting to mark the tire and rim to give you confidence.

60

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: FED Build

« on: November 24, 2021, 07:45:57 AM »

I'll tell you a funny true story.
My friend and his wife raced altereds. At one point they had a new car built by a prominent local chassis builder. I went over to see it when it was done. He had welded the kingpin bushings in UPSIDE DOWN. I suspect he mail ordered a base axle and when it came in to the shop he welded on the radius rod batwings upside down and when he realized it he just said "F*** it" and swapped the spindles left-to-right. With such a messed up kingpin inclination angle the scrub radius was a mile outside of the tire contact patch. I explained to him he could have an evil handling car on his hands.
Well call me stupid. His wife won two IHRA Modified Eliminator championships with that car.

As a post script to the story she did end up rolling it in the lights. I do not know if the messed up front end geometry was a factor in the crash. I never spoke of the front end mess again.

I guess like the little girl with the little curl "... when it was good it was very, very good, and when it was bad it was horrid."