Messages

1

Spud Miller's Cave / Re: Injection recommendation??

« on: January 12, 2021, 03:40:19 PM »

What fuel? Alcohol

2

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Re: Gear ratio and consistency

« on: December 29, 2020, 03:43:53 PM »

The smaller tires were every bit as consistent as my larger tires. I got a real deal on them as a guy had them on his doorslammer and they rubbed so he took them off. A prominent Comp Eliminator inline racer who runs 9" slicks (!) said the stiff sidewall is the best choice for my combo. I lucked out .

3

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Re: Gear ratio and consistency

« on: December 29, 2020, 05:33:22 AM »

I am running an altered too.  Last year I looked at my car. When I built it we were racing the full quarter mile in Super Pro brackets. Now almost every (insured) track has switched to eighth mile S/Pro racing. In addition, even the smaller mom-n-pop strips have taken to doing effective starting line prep for good bite. I'm using 4.30 gears and 12 x 32 slicks on my 1800# altered with an inline six. So I asked myself "why am I still running 4.30 gears and a 1.76 'glide and carrying a huge tire down track?" I need more gear and less tire. So I switched from a 12 x 32 to a 10.5 x 28S which not only increased my effective gear ratio but also reduced the rotating mass of my tires since each of the smaller tires weighed about four pounds less. I did not change gear ratios.
I picked up about .05 in the sixty and around .10 in the eighth.
My six cylinder is making about 550 HP on gas. It runs 5.6 / 5.7 in the eighth and 9.0 in the quarter.

With 650 HP I'm guessing you are running around 5.1 / 5.2 times. If your track preps the track why not try a smaller tire before switching to a taller gear?

4

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Re: New to powerglide

« on: December 23, 2020, 06:32:00 AM »

It's stamped steel.

Some racers will tell you that the 1.82 gearset is weak, due largely to the stamped steel planetary carrier. Here is what my transmission supplier told me to do to make them survive.

The 1.82 will fail because the twelve pinion shafts will flex in the stamped housing, leading to the pinion gears to moving around. Using silicon bronze rod TIG weld each shaft on both ends with three small beads to essentially fuse the entire carrier assembly into one large unit, significantly increasing its strength. Go slowly so as not to anneal the heat treatment on the pins.

At the power levels I'm using I have not had a 1.82 planetary / carrier failure.

5

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: New to the page

« on: December 07, 2020, 05:09:45 AM »

One with a recent chassis cert is a BIG plus.

6

Wanted to buy / Re: Rules

« on: December 02, 2020, 05:50:22 PM »

Why not put a "sunset clause" on ads, e.g., they automatically expire after a fixed time? 30 days? 2 weeks?

7

Wanted to buy / Re: Fuel tank

« on: December 02, 2020, 05:48:16 PM »

Fun Fact:

1 gallon = 231 cu.in.

If you decide on the aluminum square tube you could split it down the middle and add a wedge or panel to fil the space between the rails.

8

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: New to the page

« on: December 01, 2020, 07:04:12 AM »

Jon, does that car have a cooling system?

9

Altereds / Re: What did I do

« on: November 14, 2020, 07:07:21 AM »

Its not uncommon for an altered to have greater than 50% of the weight on the rear wheels. On my 1800# car I have about 1050# on the rear wheels. I'd start with an IC out around the front axle, 6" up. I set my wheelie bars to limit maximum possible wheelstand about a foot high.

10

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: SPE steering box rebuild

« on: November 02, 2020, 07:14:04 AM »

When I opened mine up it was the sector pin wobbling around in the arm.

I was told by my chassis guy to avoid turning the car at rest by cranking on the steering wheel as it puts undue stress on the steering box guts. I try to turn it by grabbing the front tire - or roll the car slightly while turning it.

11

Door Cars / Re: Fuel tank?

« on: October 31, 2020, 06:20:19 PM »

Some EFI systems have a Schraeder valve to check rail pressure. (I know Fords do.) If so you could remove the valve core and pump it out from there. Or split the line...

12

Door Cars / Re: Fuel tank?

« on: October 31, 2020, 01:41:54 PM »

I presume its EFI? Maybe pump the gas out using the EFI fuel pump. Maybe hook up a hose to the fuel return line into a can?
Don't try to start it with cloudy gas. It may gum up the injectors.

13

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Fed with front suspension

« on: October 26, 2020, 11:53:39 AM »

I see your point now. A car should stage off the front tire and always trip the finish beam with the nose - or never - to get consistent e.t.s.
Not tripping the finish beam with a nosepiece, i.e. nothing protruding past the front tire like BK's avatar RED, makes your race course a couple of feet longer than if you have body work.

14

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Fed with front suspension

« on: October 25, 2020, 07:25:49 PM »

OTOH, with a little creative use of a canard wing for down force you can shorten your side of the race track by about 30". Just sayun'...

15

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: FED bounce problem.

« on: October 20, 2020, 05:36:11 AM »

Congratulations on your championship season. I too prefer an altered as you describe (except I do not use front brakes so I can still burn out across the starting line and get a "read" on the track) for the reasons you mention. Altereds have a reputation of being squirrelly and hard to drive, but with the application of modern Pro-Stock-like suspensions the chassis are easy to tune. Good luck with your new car.