Well another weekend at Eagle Field is over, the Flathead/6Cylinder clash is completed, and man am I tired. I can only imagine how Rocky and all the crew who put in countless hours feel today. To Earl Boyajian, Lynn Gomes, AJ Thomas in the tower, I cannot thank you enough for your patience and tolerance with all us idiots out there. This wekend must have been trying on your nerves. Just remember that if it wasn't for your efforts those of us with different cars would not have a place to run our cars, and I for one, and speaking for all the Flathead/ 6Cylinder class do truly appriciate all of the effort you made this weekend. Your efforts make it possible for this ol man to relive his youth thank you................. Carl Lembke Forever 43 Flathead Dragster
A quick question please. I am in the process of building a FED (chassis about 1/2 done, pulling together the rest of the parts), running a GM Holden inline 6 and powerglide. Intent is to be IHRA compliant so I can run at the local track. 150" chassis. Not the fastest thing in the world (perhaps 11 seconds) but it will make me grin. Rear end will be Chev bolt pattern (5x120.65) on a Toyota Hilux axle. Forgive me HAMB.... I know I have sinned but there are few choices locally for a nostalgic axle that is not overly beefy or has limited ratios... this thing will run only about 200hp and a 9" or similar would be overkill. I'm thinking a set of American Racing Torque Thrust D's. They appear to make 14", 15" ad 16", though widths and offsets are relatively scarce except the 15". What size wheels and tyres are on your FED please, and what chassis length? To me the proportioning looks spot-on. Cheers, Harv
Problems with drag racing. The wait, then told to fire up, then told to wait while overheating… have u considered alcohol? Expensive but cooler - maybe..
Harv my chassis is 135" wheels are 28.0/9.0/15 Mickey Thompsons, I had some 12" s on her at the start but was way too much tire for the ol Flathead the 9's are way better. Oh a 3.42 rear end.....Carl Mike I spent about 4 years fucking with alky and gave up last year and went back to gas........Carl
Thankyou sir, much appreciated. I suspect I will have the same over-tyred problem with my Holden grey motor. It will only pull 200hp (though that is a little more than the 75hp it came from the factory with ). Cheers, Harv
60 ponies in a humpy. By the time the EJ came along, another 15 horses had been added. Mind you, many of those horses were driving the water pump, fan and generator. Not too many of them were out the front pulling on the harness. Cheers, Harv
Many thanks - this is useful information. Still a few high-HP, blown FEDs out there, but very few of the lower-HP variety that I am aiming for. Finding practical info can be a challenge, and is appreciated. The 10" Torque Thrust D's are on their way, so I figure I'll run them for now. They may not be the fastest thing, but I'm guessing that they will look pretty good and keep me grinning like a Cheshire cat for a while. The diff is being positioned into the chassis next week, but has yet to be narrowed. I've got the opportunity to set it up for multiple wheels, so your info was timely. The Torque Thrust Ds in Chev bolt pattern range from 2.16 - 4.5" backspace, so will make sure there is enough room to let me try out narrower ones (10" are 3.77" backspace, 8" are 4.5"). Cheers, and thanks, Harv
Hey Harv, what model Hilux diff are you using and what ratio and is it limited slip or open centre? I've got an Austin A40 cab/chassis that's begging to be raced.
Austins is cool You thinking of something similar to the Oztin gasser? I'm running a Toyota G-series diff (8" live axle) from a HiAce. These are identical to a Hilux, but cheaper. The rock-crawlers are interested in the carriers, so the housings, crowns and pinions are cheap. They will handle 400-odd ponies with no problem, are a lot lighter and take less power to drive than a 9". The awesome bit is that they have a hell of a lot of ratios - factory has 41 crown and pinion options from 3.154:1 through 7.636:1. The G-series diffs come in a 2-pinion (40mm bearings, used in 4-cylinder vehicles) and beefier 4-pinion (50mm bearing - V6 Hilux's) option. I'm running the 2-pinion setup from the HiAce, with the carrier replaced by a spool from Nitro Gear (they do spools for both 2 and 4-pinion options). It'll get cut down to only about 3' wide (36" of diff and 20" of tyres ), so some stumpy Mark Williams axles will get used. There is no chance in hell this thing will be under 7.5 seconds or over 2500lb, so the local interpretation of IHRA rules says that I don't need floaters. Fancy-ass diff for my motor that hales back to 1948 Cheers, Harv
Old man makes stupid mistake hits tow vehicle trying to get to line...........OOOPPPS this was first thing saturday before we even got started, she ran perfect friday and I quess I was a little to anxious to get going saturday. Was unhooked and thought I had enough room to clear NOT. Well now on to axle straightning class.................UGGG
Well Tom not as bad as I first thought, axle is 3degrees off. I think i can get er back by the drag links, replacing all the hardware for new stuff, can't be too careful! turning 1/2 pipe pins:
well after a day of futzin and banging around we got er to within 1/2 degree, now on to some structual plates on the wishbones and all will be well in flathead land.........
The Jalopy Journal
