rebuilding after the crash

Thanks for coming out to watch.

 

In NY they put signs saying "rough road" and boy is it true ! One place was so bad it was better to drive on the grass, looked like a mortor round had hit the road..

 

Block crack. Its about 2 inches.

 

Yeah, a couple thousand mopowers will do that.
That's a different scale than Horse power often used by non-brands


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

That sucks. Was that a common problem with these blocks on fuel? Is your block filled at all?

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

not filled. the common problem is they rust from the inside. gene adams told me if they are going to crack this is were it happens. it starts happening around 70 percent.

 

I'm not a Hemi man but I would say that is not long for this world. Even with some block fill.

The old Chinese proverb says "It is better to press your laundry than press your luck"

 

No JB Weld I'd guess...

 

That makes sense never thought about it rusting out.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

That block is a piece of history, good call not to run a pass yesterday. Without water mmmmaybe but please fill it as a safety precaution. "It'll hold one more pass" the famous last words on a track...

 

It's absolutely unbelievable what those old New Yorker motors have been doing all these years!

 

Here are the two photos I snagged off the Hot Rod Magazine photos of the day shots that they posted today .
I just took them with my camera with my coworkers asking what I was doing as i took them while we were on break. I think they can be downloaded off the page.

 

Well that didn't go as planned here is the other one.

 

Is that Steve Dulcich on the left admiring the engine master's work?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

no, dulcich has long hair

We might see him tomorrow at the Zip Tie Drags in St Louis.

 

Looking forward to see you make a pass at rock falls. Your coupe is sweet. Thanks for taking the time to explain all of this to us.I would like to do drag week once. I may have to see what I have to do to make my car legal


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Hey, Brian;
Sorry to hear of the cracked mill. I do love your attitude(too bad you can't bottle it n sell it... Hmmm... Brians' Magical Nitro-charged Attitude-Adjuster Elixir... ). "Opportunity to ugrade"... . Glad to hear you won't tempt fate, chancing a major "spectacular event". I can hardly wait to find out how you get the Donovan to run on the street, since I've figured out that by now, that is "fate accompli"... . Hope things go well for you on the rest of the trip.
Marcus...

 

I have never been one to not deal with car problems quickly once they are identified. Going race after race with the same issues is not my thing. A points mag is a problem. Yes they work and guys use them. They take maintainance and the parts are drying up. They are 70s technology. I used my super mag 4 because i wasnt sure if my ideas would work when i built the car. With the mag problems this past week it was time to go in a different direction. While we were thrashing on the car tuesday i told mark this car will have a pro mag on it real soon. we will also be removing the generator before we go street driving. we think the rough roads killed it. Little did i know how soon. At union grove a guy approached me about some nitro he wanted to unload. He was no longer bonniville nitro racing. I asked if he had other stuff and he mentions he has a pro mag 20 amp he needs to have go away. How conveniant is that. So i bought 30 gallons of uncut nitro and the ignition. He delivered it this morning. We are installing the pro mag today. The water will get drained from the block and we will be at the fallout. With the addition of the pro mag the only missing piece of this nitro puzzle is the donovan. All the parts will be in place then to add some lead; some boost and some percentage. This is getting serious now. i see header flames in my future.

 

Sometimes it seems that it is preordained to happen, and some people seem to have the parts pop up just when they need/want to buy them! I will be watching closely to see how this all works out for you, good luck, although with your tenacity I'm not sure you need a lot of luck.

 

So how do you keep a Donovan block cool on the street? I was poking around the 'net last night and only found drag racing applications.

 

the problem with a donovan block isn't a cooling problem but more of a cooling containment problem. they were never designed to hold water unlike some late model keith black blocks. the issue is the bottom of the sleeve area won't seal the water. to solve this we want to machine aluminum sleeves that will be pressed into the block then welded into place top and bottom. after welding they will be bored so a steel sleeve can be pressed in. the girdle will be removed and modern caps installed so i can use a regular oil pan and starter. it will take some work but it can be done. this has been done by one other guy successfully so i know it can be done. with a long cold winter coming up soon this project will give me something to do.

 

Damn man how far will you go


There is a madness to my methods

 

as far as it takes to win the unlimited class. we don't mind thinking outside the box.

 

So much for those "honey do's".

 

This pic had me wondering about if it does make night flames
Not to sound too naive.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Good news folks our favorite car show will be producing more episodes this winter! Looking forward to it Racer-x.

 

I was curious, when switching from strip to street, do you have to also change the blower drive ratio?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

If the Donovan (417?) block doesn't work out for some reason, let me know. I have an A-1 '57 392 block that I could deal on, especially to keep this thing moving.

 

Well so much for getting the grass mowed. I wanted to see if it would fit. Its alot bigger than the super mag. I still need to mount the box and coil. This mag makes so much spark i need to make grounds from each head to the box. If for some reason the mag doesnt fire the plug the spark could arc to the cylinder. The result will look like a cutting torch was used. I have seen cases were the entire wall seperating cylinders was removed. These mags have some big time power. They will fire the mixture regardless of cylinder pressure or load of fuel. They can only be timed with a light. A bux box wont work. In the world of cars that go boom this is the ultimate ignition.

 

That's a good mag brian we use one in our Flatcad motor at bonneville and it will definitely burn a big load of nitro that's for sure


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.