Now we're talkin. This is shaping right up, FED; 59a flattie; blower; killer zoomies..now about that distr, a gm hei will give it gender confusion!
Got back from Arizona and finally got the coupling half I was missing, got the engine in and am starting on a new mounting for the Vertex Mag I picked up, have to make new lower unit for it, also re doing the steering idler as it was in the way of my zoomies and I didn't like the original attachment. Happiness is a five gallon bucket of shavings..... Anyway we're off to the races maybe.............The HEI is one I did about ten years ago for another flat project one of many around here......
Carl Ya got the Race Face down pat - That machine is gonna be fun to run or for us less fortunate - to watch.
You're a madman, Carl! I love front-engine dragsters, and a flathead, even better! If one of the moderators could put the pictures in a vertical format to make it easier for us laptop users, that would be great.
I'm not trying to be a smartass but, why the transmission?? We just used a multidisc clutch in the olden dayz.
Course in the olden days I could rebuild this flattie for 250 bucks out the door but no more... Auto trans because I,m gettin older now, and easier is it for me, thats why no hand brake, it may not be the fastest but you won,t be able to wipe the grin offn my face...........thanks to Rocky for gettin the juices going again......
I can tell you from experience, that it takes quite a while to get the grin off your face after a pass!
Added coupling guard, finished adapter for ign, welded up zoomies, fabbed rear trans mount, been busy..........
Great job Carl. Your fabricating skills are top notch! I don't know you and please don't take this wrong, but that rearend housing mount is bothering me. Please put a plate over the top of the housing on the ends with some sleeves in the upright behind the housing like you did in the rails. Just bolt it to the front mount bolts you have and bolt it in the same way behind the housing and weld the plate to the housing. Please don't take this wrong. Just encapsulate the housing.BTW, you are dead on with the coupler, no u-joint, perfect. Lippy.
Lippy I wasn't happy with the original rear mount as the 5/8 bolts only went through a piece of small dia tubing that's why I made a large sleeve to run the top bolt through, the rear mount is also attached with another 5/8 bolt and a 1/2 bolt through a 1/4 plate attached to both the upper rail and the lower rail and added gussets to the rear end I don't think it will be a problem with the flattie power but I may revisit this, thanks.........Carl
Got the most important pedal in today then it was time to try to make er stop one gusset here one gusset there....... Soo much to do so little time..............
I'm with Lippy on this. Also no offense intended and if you say the word I'll shut up and not bother you again, but until then... why not make the rear end mount the same as they do on the modern cars? Meaning a plate welded to an upright and a matching plate welded to the axle and then bolted to one another. Also IMHO you're gonna want an anti rotation device on the axle as well. Am I missing soemthing or are you not planning on having a motor plate at the rear of the block? Nice car - it's gonna look super!
Hemi, thats the way the rear end is mounted, a 1/4 plate welded to the axle and a 1/4 plate welded to the frame and uprights with two 5/8 bolts and a 1/2 bolt to secure them, there was no gussets originally, I added those for extra support........
Roseville Carl, Maybe I am confused a little, but here's some pictures of what I was trying to say. The mounting plates on my chassis (actually 2 per side so the bolts are in double shear) are welded from top to bottom spanning the full distance and are welded to 3 rails. The bracket on the housing is also welded a full 360 degrees around the housing. In addition there's the anti rotation device mounted to the front of the pumpkin. The rules state that has to be attached to the frame with at least (3) 3/8" bolts - so naturally I used 4 - a little overkill never hurts. My coupler cover bolts to the front bearing support - nothing wrong with yours just showing mine - matter of fact I like the fact that yours splits to inspect - mine slides forward. IIRC the mounting bolts for the rear axle are 1/2" (maybe 7/16 - I forget) but these are also spec'd out of the rule book. In my case I was too cheap to use the NAS bolts and instead used LONGER than "normal" bolts so that the FULL SHANK goes thru all 3 plates and then I machined off the extra length so they were just enough for the nuts to go on. I also show the adjustable trans mount. Once everything is loaded I can still tweak the trans up/down left right so that the coupler "rattles" meaning it is perfectly aligned. Just some food for thought - I'm no expert just a fairly well read amateaur.
Hemi thanks for the pics they save a thousand words, I might have to revisit the rear end, that's a nice setup you have there............ Carl
Yea Rocky the worst part is for every 3hrs working I have to spend 1 hr cleaning up so's I can find all the crap I left laying around.......
Wow, Carl.....I just found your thread....Love the Flathead FED build. I am in the process of a "Very Similar build".....I'll post a shot of it as of last weekend.(wish I could figure out how to post large pictures as you do, but as of now, haven't been able to figure out the "simple" instructions that I have read). We have come up with some very similar solutions on our Dragsters... "great minds must think alike"....haha I'm gonna post some shots after the Roundup this weekend, and I didn't want to "dilute" your thread....Great Thread.
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