Hot Rods Twin Super Red Rams?

Thanks, I was always skeptical about the times also.

 

I just talked to the S&W engineer and he said the chassis will hold the weight, but, as it narrows, they may not fit. He said he would add engine supports in front of each engine. Turns out they are located in PA, not far from Maple Grove. Now I can start looking into all the other issues. If I can find another 270 and mock them up, it would probably be easiest to just take the car back to them and let them do any work needed. They are only about 2 hours from me.

 

I have read the rules on the cars and safety equipment. With the 9.99 break you need fire systems, etc, etc. It starts getting real expensive. Chassis certs every 3 years, seat belts every 2 years. I talked to the S&W engineer and he said the car can take the twins. I haven't started calling people yet, was waiting to talk to S&W. Since I know they still race twins in Land Speed, I read their rules first. I saw stuff on cubic inch in different classes, Car to weight ratio's, etc. But I didn't see anything specific to twins? The guy from S&W said he thought the certs were on the chassis, but he didn't know of anyone running twins on one of their cars now. He did say if it passed in 2002 I shouldn't have much trouble now.

I think the real dream would be to make one pass at El Mirage. They have restrictions on rookie drivers. I can live with that. If I don't wet my pants, we can go on from there.

Talking to the S&W engineer, his only concern was as the car narrows, the front engine might not fit. Turns out they are only about 2 hours from me, by Maple Grove. I have seen pics of cars with twins that the chassis was pretty square until it passed the front engine, then tapered. If I need to do that, I'll just take it to them and get it done right.

 

9.99 is drag racing quarter mile.
El mirage is a whole different animal. Only a couple chances to run each year, and you have to know all the rules and conform to them at the track. Drags are like that too, but you have many more chances to go and get help as a newbie.
https://scta-bni.org/el-mirage-documents
You would be very smart to go visit and talk to people before even starting to plan on that.
You could reach out and see if you could go to a SCTA meeting if the dry lake is a long trip or you are in a hurry.
S&W is 2 hours from you, so PA =east coast. El mirage is west coast, same as Southern California Timing Association. That's a LONG HAUL! Are there any LSR racers nearby?
Here is the rookie info. This is a pdf link
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a0c5ccee-a57e-40cd-b11c-049ece37d91c/downloads/EL MIRAGE - ROOKIE ORIENTATION 2023.pdf?ver=1703629457839
This is the tech sheet for the car. Again, a pdf link
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a0.../TechInspectionForm-Car.pdf?ver=1703629454248
I didn't see a full rulebook. If it's like NHRA, they don't publish online, you must be a member to get a copy. That will explain each classification and the rules that apply.

 

You have the engine, measure it up! Once you get a chance to visit the car, you will have the info to check.

 

I do, and I don't. I gave it to a friend, and he gave it back. Just need to pick a day we are both available. Or, I could just call him and ask him to do it?

 

Bad news, good news. Just called my friend that I gave the old 270 to, and he gave it back a few years ago, but I never went and got it. He just gave it to someone else a few months ago. Not a problem, they are out there. Good news, he said one of our local tracks has 2-3 Nostalgia drags a year, and he said he is sure he saw at least one twin run there.

Edit: Looked on FB Market Place under Dodge Red Ram Hemi and the second pic that popped up was a rebuilt running engine. he wants $3,000 and I'm not paying that for a motor someone else rebuilt. But, I'll find a pair.

 

I'm at the point in my life I can do pretty much anything I want within reason. I heard the Tulsa Gun Show was the biggest in the world, so my wife and I drove out, went to Louisville first and got a bottle of Wellers 12 Year Reserve, stopped in St Louis for bar-b-que, on to Tulsa. El Mirage is a 1.3 mile track, one pass.. They have a shut down and chute point. If you blow past it your in trouble. They have rookie car and rookie driver classes. Bonneville is 2.5 miles but you have to turn around and make a return run. I think I'd like El Mirage better. There are a bunch of land speed tracks, but some of them may not be SCTA sanctioned. Most are old Air Force runways. I saw several in Ohio, I think at least one in Tennessee. What ever I found on El Mirage took me all evening to read. But, I read what I could find on the NHRA too, so since it was just an exploratory night, I could easily cross stuff up. While I was talking to my friend about the engine, we got into Licenses and Certifications. He's going fast enough he has to have a license and fire suit. His car is a 65 Barracuda. It started as my room mates first car. He worked for Fletchers Amaco. Harry owned the Harry Fletcher Special Sprint Car. Steve Smith drove for him. Steve later went on to make a name for himself in Sprints. Harry would let us use his shop on weekends. We Tubbed, caged and put a Dana in the 65 Cuda. He was running in the tens. When he got tired of racing, he sold the car to my friend that I talked to today. He never got happy going one speed, always wants to go faster. Thanks for all the info you have dug up for me. I'm starting to feel obligated to finish this project. Thanks, Joe.

 

Here's one of the land speed sites I found. these guys are paved 1 mile tracks.
https://www.ectamile.com/

 

You are welcome!
If you are like your friend and will want more, more, more, I'd get the car recert'ed and running as built.
It's easier to go faster when you start slow!
Look into Texas Speed and other modern half mile or longer tracks, too.
EDIT: looks like what you posted!
While a computerized twin turbo Lambo might seem a completely different animal, it's still moving a human and machine to top speed. The physics are the same and equipment from tires to cooling to safety all have to live within the same world.

 

I had a thought, years ago I saw a 325 Dodge Poly in a street rod and thought it was cool, so I added them to my search.. I checked Market Place and Ebay for 270 Red Rams. How you word a search means so much to what comes up. First try I entered Red Ram Hemi, and got 16 pages of brand new dealer adds for Red Dodge Rams. I entered Dodge Poly Engines and think I found 1, but 5 early Dodge Hemi's came up. Only thing, when a lot of people see the Dodge Poly's , they say cool, love those 409's.

 

There are several old threads on running twin engines. In one someone asked how to keep the rear engine cool. My car has a radiator. What do you think of using a flat head radiator, one set of hoses to the front, one to the rear? Or, a modern aluminum radiator made for a flat head? Since there would be no water pump to the rear engine, I'd have to run an electric pump. At that point, might as well run electric pumps on both?

 

Since you are open to consideration of the Poly head you have a few more choices; 241, 259 Plymouth and the 270. The 315 and 325, a bit larger physically, also command a bit more money.
One thing to keep in mind in the cost of building the engines is that some piston manufacturers have an upcharge for the small 3.4375 bore in the 241. This may or may not be a deal breaker for you just an FYI.
As to the water pump query, does the rail require its own battery? If so, then electric pumps may be the best way to move water, if not, can you tolerate the added weight? There is a near endless supply of various belt driven water pumps across the industrial scene but, again, not light weight. If you are a decent fabricator you might look at an LA front cover and water pump and consider making stand alone pumps that could be belt driven off the coupler.

 

The coolant circulation concern is going to change a LOT depending on the track, too.
I've known quite a few quarter mile runs that tossed a belt and didn't hurt the engine. Not good, but not catastrophic. A half mile or more? Shutdown or meltdown.

 

As for searches, try putting model years, size, 'classic' or 'vintage' and try "-truck" after. The search function can get fairly advanced.
Here is one page talking about it. There are also a ton of videos out there.
https://www.lifewire.com/advanced-g...rs Cheat Sheet ,that inc ... 24 more rows

 

The car has a battery so I figured I'd just leave it. I'd really only worry about the water issue if I was drag racing it. I remember back in the 70's, we had a guy with rear engine dragster bracket racing it. He would sand bag, put a dial in a little faster than the competition, but way slower than he could run. The other guy would either red light trying to get a jump, or cut a good green light, then a second later they would launch, and hang their front tire on his front bumper and ride him out. He would either run out, or they would nip him at the line. Then one day one of the street racers figured he would just keep doing burn outs and backing up real slow until the line judge made him stage. Burned the rail down. After that every one would take forever staging on him.

Actually, I think I'll just plumb it and not worry about melting my motors.

 

Why not run alcahol insteasd of gas? I have a friend who runs a blown hemi deagster with no cooling system. When he started out tunning gas cooling down after a pass was a huge hassle for a quick turn around he would drain the water and refill the engine. Once he swithced to methanol the engine hardly got hot, and made more power. Another plus is its way cheaper then race gas.

 

It might be cheaper per gallon, but not when you tune for it.
Alcohol requires more fuel to run the same distance or measured to the air entering the engine.
The stoichiometric air/fuel ratio, which is 9:1 for ethanol, is 14.7:1 for gasoline.
It pulls more heat from the surroundings when changing from liquid to gas (runs cooler).
It also is more forgiving to tuning, since it's ratio is closer and it is less likely to detonate.
I will tell you, when you start going quicker (9s, not 10s) and have it dialed, it does take some time to cool down between rounds and when they hot lap you, it can add up to running hotter than you want.
This is from ten years ago, SBM, alky NA, tiny radiator. My friend's altered.

 

Hey, rf;
For at least the long(er) races, & since you're using a fairly long wb chassis;
If you're going to use a rad, waterpump(s) & a battery, would it work to run the fuel tank at the very front of the chassis, & create a laydown radiator 'twixt the rails(requires a custom rad, yup, looong thin wedge-shaped) using electric fans to pull the air up? If you use a full body, a small thin scoop under the rails would be needed(I think), & hotair outlet(s) on the top n maybe the sides. I'd run the fuel line(s) under the rad, have it tipped up abit in the front(mostly to help w/getting air out, but also for some easier airflow?) & use a surge-tank(like a lot of the wet-block rails did in the 60's) near the top of one, or both, engines. It'd look better & may be more aerodynamic than a flat rad sitting in front of the mill upright. For waterpumps, there are some auxiliary-types that use a scroll(inlet at center, outlet at 90*) that are fairly small. Usually use an electric motor(which is a heavy draw, but can be run off of a pulley). Sounds like you're about to have Too Much Fun... .
Marcus...

 

I like the idea of a flat radiator. I'd love a full length Topolino Coupe body. But, that's putting the cart ahead of the horse. I need to get it certified as is, then start putting the dream ride together.

There is a company in Western Maryland that builds glass bodies, and they have a Topo Coupe for a 15' chassis. I would think the could stretch it out to fit my chassis. They are on my list of stuff to do a year or two down the road.

 

Another to consider, have no idea of the quality...
https://glorydayfiberglass.com/product-category/alter-bodies/

 

I cant speek for the quality of the bodies in your link, but Glory Days Fiberglass made me a one off hood for a very reasonable price and excelent quality.

 

The pic of the rail made me think of the glory days of the swoopy-tailed-rails. Maybe a little late for here, but f-that, looks n performance are everything. A lengthened GBP rail, or the Old Master, or Sneaky Petes' sohc, etc.
Then of course, there's the Ridge Route Terrors, Odd Couple, et-al.
& one almost never seen, Bushbys' twin dohc ford indy engines w/dbl bag-o-snakes, ohhh, lordy, help me... it's the big one...
Stuff I'll *never* have...
Marcus...

 

This is just for inspiration, this has always been one of my favorite, twin engine, sling shot dragsters.

 

& the D&R rear-engine funny snuck into the pic. . Another interesting one.
& if I was going to do an early dragster, it'd be like the Magwinder, but w/a tube axle instead of the interesting-but-evil-handling-acvw-front-susp. No idea how to do one of those in a twin-engine setup. But now the imagination is rolling - thanks a lot... .
Marcus...

 

Going back to the PG adaptor...Best thing to do is use the 392 to Chevy adaptor & Chevy bell. The kit would have the right stuff to match the Chevy torque converter to the Mopar 426 hemi flex plate that you'll need to fit the crankflange. The LA bell & 392 to 727 adaptor wouldn't help with the T-C situation.