Excellent post. I'm kind of hoping mine will cert to 7.5 but I don't plan on running anywhere near that fast. It does still need a couple of small vertical pieces at the firewall. Here's mine for reference.
i was wondering when Kerry would show up. nice car. that might be the direction i head. but i still like the Chassis Research TE 448.
Yeah, I've got a fond spot for the TE 448 as well. I debated between the two designs and went the Dragmaster route since it looks more correct to me in NHRA acceptable mode.
In o5 I wanted a nother fed, so I got the sfi specs and some drawings, 4130 tubing and contacted a friend that builds cars for a living, I now have a 134'' 301/2 sbc powered fed. the chassis wt is 88 lbs, it had the r/b hoops bent in cal by a old builder. the car has drawn lots of talk about this is what a 60-63 fed looked like. Its a bit small for me but I do fit. its low and dosen't have a funny car style hoop. outward appearing it omly has a few things not period correct, battery, ign, shorty glide. cert to 7.50 for the second time with no problems. best time has been 10.30 @ 131, will go faster ,but i am happy.i wear all the correct clothing for the car.
You need to talk with Don Ross, who built the Scorpion Dragsters. You want to run it, make it legal. You will want to go faster !
Dragsters ain't toys. If it won't pass tech, maybe you will kill yourself or somebody else. Get a grip.
I'm going to say this because I love you. Do not let anyone who does not drive and build, or race these cars tell you how to build, drive or race or maintain this type of car.Find someone you trust and stick with him and him only. With all my Love....... Lippy
WTF is that about ?? a CAR is not a toy period,,yet there are some pretty tragic ones out there.. He is asking question cause he wants to know and wants to do it right and safe.. I understand 100% what Lippy is saying,,but really tired of all the "make it modern or don't build it" I feel it can be done and done with safety in mind if you have the commitment to research
Here's why I'm doing my new racer the way I am: I drove the 7-11 coupe (blown injected '34 5-window on alky) for a couple seasons. During the build, they wanted a vintage look, while keeping NHRA legal. TECHNICALLY, they accomplished that goal. In reality, they built a car the NHRA tech inspectors weren't used to seeing and it freaked 'em out. This meant extremely long waits to get through tech, while the inspectors contacted Division Reps to verify the legality of the car (mostly the cage). This culminated in a FULL DAY to get through tech at Pomona! It was no fun taking that car out to race, period. My new car will look vintage and unique, but will be by-the-book under the skin. Scotty
lippy ... u so sweet...i know what ur saying and will live by it... i been around racing and building and people with more knowhow than me for a long time. the questions im asking is how to make a " as vintage look as can be" dragster run on a track . not wanting to be flamed or danmed , but u see restored dragster and wonder how they race them. i guess they dont. "wall hangers" well id like to drive one. so i ask a simply question . i understand the reasons for tech and have respect for it. i just want to know is there a way to build a chassis research style frame and make it safe and legal for the track.
Jesse: You can build a Nostalgia looking car and still meet specs. Its not going to be period perfect but if you research the beautiful cars like Kerry built or Roo, Jacin etc....... Spend the ching and get the SFI sheets and check here. http://www.nhrahotrodheritage.com/rules-09.pdf Once you get some Tin on her you can cover a bunch of safety specs anyway. Unless you are looking for a Pipe rack type pc. Then you have to compete with the rich people paying Bookoo bucks for old Moon , Eelco , etc pcs.... Your going to want to run it so why deal with the Hassle. My Fiat will be far from the period pcs we oogle over of better days but I will have a much better chance of walking away if things get bad... Turn a car over on its top and think if you would want to still be against the wall in it... Gary Cagle had a bad accident in the days of Brave men. and went through the bottom. Think about that... Best regards and keep us updated. We need more FED's out there Luke
When I decided to build my Cackle Car, I started by getting the latest SFI specs for a 7.00 FED chassis. All the 4130N tubing in my chassis meets or exceeds the requirements. To make it a completely legal chassis, kidney tubes, Steering shaft cross support tube, change the rollcage to a 5 or 6 pointer and put on 3'' shoulder belts to make it legal. Make sure you keep the reciepts for the tubing as proof of material used. Grow a money tree too
All I can say is that these cars (diggers) are very LIGHT - it doesn't take a ton of power to start running some decent times. My motor is nearly stock - went 9.50 @ 142 mph yesterday. I too wear ALL the safety gear - everything. I run two chutes - two fire bottles - two hoops. And after seeing the Chicken Hawk get rolled I vowed to finally get the diaper on the motor. If I was worried about the look of the diaper I suppose I could extend the body side panels to cover it - but to be honest I don't care about that part. I wanted to build a FED - old style - I tried my best to conform 110% with modern rules and still maintain an older flare - whether or not I accomplished that is probably debateable depending on who you ask - the opinion that matters the most (to me) is well frankly it's MINE. Just as the most important opinion for your car will be YOURS. Build it how you want - but please make it as safe as you can. A little creativity can go a long ways. The old guys were pioneers - they too conformed to rules - some things never change...... Luke, where are you?? I thought you were coming to the Reunion at Thompson????
Here is some pics of my Front motor cars, car one is a 5 point and the other is 6 point I built the 5 point in 1990 and the 6 point about 3 years ago. I have a copy of the sfi Quality Assurance Specifications manual if I can help you at all The 5 point was a certed chassis but I won't spend the money to cert the 6 point I built it out of 4130 and overkill on some of the tubing with .065 wall like the uprights. the sfi sticker won't keep me from getting hurt only being stupid at the wheel will,Don't let the wrong Head do your driving for you if you get my point. Good Luck Bud so build it safe, I try to put my personnel touch in it that makes it one of a kind look close and you will see what I mean. no one builds anything on my car but me thats just the way I am a Retired Boing Quality Engineer
Haven't seen these in person, but personally, I like 'em. Not PC, but a reasonable compromise, I'd say. Anybody seen these in person?
build your car to your taste. I had many people tell me when I was building my car. " It wont be allowed to run anywere" F- that. I am in love with the look. 1960s look. You willl have people tell you that it is a "wall hanger". Ha,Ha. I have been trying to sell the look for three years now. Only two people have agreed. Anyone that has more excuses than doing it . MUST BE SCARED. Lets make this deal work!!! My digger is totaly 1964 tech and has made as hard of a pass as my right foot has alowed. At five different tracks. I just dont understand all the "if they would let me , or I cant". MAN UP. Buld a full body and hide all the safety stuff. Buy a modern clutch can. JUST LOOK AT ALOT OF OLD PICTURES AND MAKE YOUR CAR LOOK LIKE THAT. PLEASE, Not just another bracket, square top gutter and down spout boddied number maker dragster on this planet.
I just layed down for bed and was thinkin. Did everyone forget about Tim Conders diggers. The best lookin legal cars on the planet.!!!!!!!!! Build a new car and make it look similar to those. NOW YOUR DOING SOMETHING.
This car is legal to 6.30 and apart from the 6 point cage that the owner wanted is about as period as I could make it. It would look better with zoomies and stack injectors though. This one was done nealy 10 years ago and is 6.30 legal--ran 7.20 with the blown small block and now has an early hemi. This one ran 7.15 at 187 on Thursday night at IRP, shutting off 6.9 seconds into the run. Last October at BG it ran 6.98 and 200.89. All three of these cars need only a pair of tubes in the rear end bay to be top fuel legal and go as fast as you can. I am about to build new T/F cars for Brendan Murry and Dan Horan/myself and will post pix of them as they come together. Both will be five point cage deals with full bodies. I may even put a tail on the one that I am doing for Dan and myself. Roo
Jesse: See there's a lot of passion here... The only thing thats going to be a little more difficult for you is the Lyndwood - Dragmaster style . Roo: New Car for Brendan ?? You do great work on your pcs.. Brendan's stuff always looks Toolmaker straight too.. Thanks for your Posts. Look forward to see your future plans. Bud: Nice pc, must be fun?! Jacin: My friend has been busy at his Shop. So no FED fun yet. Should be out this weekend. The Gasser Gang runs this weekend also so will post pics. I got my Sons Car out last week It was fun. With that out if the way the Fiat comes to the Front of the Garage again finally... King Chassis: Great looking Tubing Sir. All your stuff looks Great and thanks for your Postings. Ryan: Thanks for the HAMB. You brought many like minded people closer...
LZ, Thanks, Brendan's current car is a Stirling but he just sold it to a guy in Oz and it will be going down under after our summer tour. The green car is pretty much a clone of Brendan's current car with a couple of feet added to the wheelbase and the motor placement adjusted to suit the fact that is has a transmission. Roo
as stated before these are not toys and they go fast easy and the short wheel base ones like to stand up every now and then (moon shot) especially on todays sticky tracks. re-create an old style or buy one, make sure your comforable in the rail (allow room for fire suit,helmet & any uphostry ect) conform to saftey rules and go have fun. It's great that theres such an interest in old FED's but all it takes is one bad accident on a track (God forbid) and this house of cards will fall I've aready witnessed it back in '95 when the NHRA outlawed running all the old original rails (unless you were big daddy) that didn't meet current specs for wall thickness,bracing,safety ect. Paul
Wing - the gerdelman car was copied from the original because the tubing was in question + someone tried to add tubes to the original and F***ed it all up. they transffered 90% the parts fromthe original to the retro copy. Nice job too! they are slated to run this in exhibition later this year at the jolopy drags. paul
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