FLATCAD RACING Bonneville 2011 Build

Thank you sir. I am eager to see it in full dress. That will truly be worth it for me. Since I do not posess those parts at the moment, I have to try and see it in my head.

 

Those are some clean cuts Prez shes lookin real good

 

I finally got her outside. My camera really sux so bear with me and the fuzzy pix. They really do not do her justice. Tomorrow it is on the the interior bracing and garnish mouldings.

 

I will also be starting my own thread on this. I want more people to be able to see it.







this shows part of the insert I built for it. This is the way I was taught to do chops. Extra strong. Lets hope we never have to test this theory though....



makin sure I got all of the pinholes.

 

You are doing an amazing job on this chop my friend I can't wait to get it back here in missery (yeah I intentionally misspelled it cause its colder than a well diggers ass here in missouri) and get this thing all put together

 

do me a favor. The minute it gets back, mock it up and get a good pic for me. I am dieing to see her all mocked up. So hard to picture it all in my head.

 

In due time first thing is motor and trans install along with the quickchange then some rust repair but ill see what I can do I can't wait to see it put together with the injector hanging out the hood

 

Looking Great Boys! I can't wait to get some big steel parts back from Crower! I'm working on bottom end stuff at the moment (girdle and cap designs) - then I'll switch my attentions "up top"!

 

Appreciate the info -- the same techniques work in just about all engines. You push the seats out to the edge of the valves on the intakes, but you leave margin on the exhausts (or you'll burn a valve). The FlatCad has about a 7 degree valve angle which makes the bottom of the valve seat (by the bore) very deep. I haven't done the relieving as of yet, but it will probably not be uniform depth - will be deeper by the valve seats (at least that is what I'm thinking). Will post porting pictures once I do this work. I'm waiting for some serious flow-bench work to be done to test a few theories!

 

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Jackson, I got delayed for 48 hours here in Pennsylvania, so I'm a little behind schedule. I'm off to Albuquerque on Monday, to see Joe Abbin for the flowbench work. Weather permitting, the car will be there Wednesday morning.

I too, would like to do a quick mockup! We can take measurements of everything, then I need to send the intake and intercooler to Bored&Stroked.

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You guys are truckin along!

 

dale, couple questions for you... when porting what sort of gauge do you like to use to check the ports for uniformity? what type of flow bench are you using?

things are looking real good fellas, good luck!

 

I was about to post up another update but photobucket just shit all over. I got the garnish mouldings done today. Probably should not say this, but this was my first set. What a pain in the ass!

 

I usually make a gauge for the top/shape -- and then die-chem the surface and scribe the shape. Truth be told - the way I make things uniform is a couple things:

a) I always use the same cutter across all ports - doing the same basic operation - the same way. In other words, if I'm using a particular carbide flame shaped cutter to open the bowls, then I start on one INTAKE bowl - finish all operations with that cutter and do the same on the next one. I do all the same/similar operations on ALL the bowls, before I head to another part of the port.

b) I always use the cutters the SAME WAY on the operations above. I start on the same area of the port/bowl - use the same cutting paths, same pressure, etc.. Also, as funny as it sounds, if you're doing the same things - it should take the same amount of time . . . so this plays into it as well.

c) I know the above isn't rocket science, but I have found that I'm pretty damn accurate this way. I think you have to be totally in tune with your grinder, your cutter, how you place your hands, the "pattern" you use to cut, etc..

d) Sometimes I'll use different mics to measure things - but the vast majority is by hand, by eye, by feel.

I use carbide cutters for all the heavy work - even with aluminum. It is much easier to gauge the amount of work and material removal with them. Once the major cutting/hogging work is complete, the sand paper rolls are just used to blend and finish . . . no major material removal.

Hope this makes some sense I probably didn't answer your questions - but it is the best I can do. It is one of those things that is more ART than SCIENCE

Flowbench: I don't have one, we're having a guy (don't know if I can share his name) do a bunch of flow-bench work on a stock block. He'll try different port designs, valve sizes, reliefs and our head chambers. We'll use his findings to influence what I do on the real block. I won't go hog-wild on this first engine build -- don't want to ruin a block, so will hopefully be a bit more conservative than I would on one of my flathead fords. Also, I've never ported a FlatCad . . . so my bunghole might pucker a bit more than usual

 

here we go

 

I wanted to post on this thread concerning the chop on your 38 chev coupe.

I have had to many to count 37, 38 and 39 chevy coupes since the late 50's and I for one have always thought that these body styles where perfect just the way they are.

But I just wanted to say that you have absolutely nailed this chop. Way kool 38 chevy coupe.

Thank's for starting this build thread!

Fred

 

Thanks Fred! Appreciate the Kind words. This car will be down your way, at Sam Woodards probably in February.

Come by and see us!

Wrenchbender, see you next week!

 

haha, makes perfect sense, thanks for explaining. i have been referring to your formal post about flathead porting for racing and also talked with Pete1 over the phone some weeks back with general questions as well... just need to buy the expendables and i can start up.
http://66.154.44.164/forum/showthread.php?t=420484

knowing your procedure will definitely help out since ive never done anything like this before.... im planning on a practice run with the carbide tip and a junk block before moving forward on my merc block, which will get the full race treatment.

if i have time before Bonneville '11 i want to build my own flow bench... dont personally know anyone with a flow bench in SoCal.... ven though i wont get specific data i can still see what is working and what isnt.

thanks Dale! ...looking forward to more updates on the Flatcad project as well, chop is bitchin and will give it identity in the distant future

 

Well, we're no longer going to try and build the car to run in BVGC.

Wrenchbender called me last night, and asked me to come over. After mocking the car up last night, I just decided it wasn't worth it. The 2% engine setback rule doesn't bode well for the Flatcad! Randy had set the engine in, and the rear cylinders are in the same location the stock engine's rear cylinder would be. To meet the rule, the engine sets, in my opinion, way to far forward- we would have to move the engine 2.5" forward. In addition, I have a traverse front spring. To set the engine far enough forward, we would also have to raise the engine 2". If we installed an IFS, or similar, we wouldn't have to raise the engine.

Moving a 1000 lbs 2.5" forward. and up 2", is just too much. I really want to bring the engine DOWN another 3". I'm not comfortable, having all that weight, that high up in the air, in that location.

Instead, we're going to concentrate on building a car that should be more 'balanced', with a low CG. We'll set the engine back probably 10-12%, and concentrate on BVGCC, and BVGALT.

 

Good call Buddy, with the speed this vehicle should do, you want it sitting right.

 

Buddy, Sorry to hear of your switching to another class. As it is for your safety, it is probably the best thing you could have done. Hope you set the records book on it's ear !

Dave

 

Russ, Dave- Thank you.

Well, I had to head back To Colorado yesterday. I had a couple of texts/phone conversations with Randy (wrenchbender), about what we thought we needed to do. When I turned on the computor this morning, I had this message and pics from him.

Great job Randy!!

"Here we are 14 1/2" (13%) setback down 4" the first pics show it without intercooler but with the injector gives you an idea where it will be in relation to the hood. The next ones show it with the intercooler. The blower should be just under the hood with the injector just poking through. The next pic shows the scrub under the car the piece of tubing is 2" square the oil pan is about 3" above the floor and the scatter shield is 1 1/2" so I will have to raise the front of the motor about 1/2" to level it up."

I think we will shoot for 2" clearance, and limit trave to 3/4" down, and 1/2" up. It's starting to look like one mean ass racing machine, IMHO!

 

Crazy, Cool, Very Nice!
I really whan`t to see this one down the salty road!

What about a picture of the hole car with the engine!? & injector?


..............................
Taildragger&fenderless

 

Oh Man is that lookin cool. Gets me really excited!!! What happened to the exhaust manifold plate/engine tie in plate, or have plans changed. It's getting kind of squissy in there.

 

Any pix with the clip on yet?! The suspense is killin me!

 

Push it back baby! I think we're now getting the dang engine where it belongs in a race car . . . under the damn cowl - then sticking up through it. I love it when the injector needs a cut-out in the cowl . . . now we're talkin'!

Given that we're in Vintage Comp Coupe and Vintage Altered Coupe - get that dang engine back where the driver can touch and feel it! We need about 10" in front of the block for the blower drive, crank support system and a bit more . . . the only decent way to do that is with a lot of engine set back. Also, once we have the engine back, then it can sit a lot lower in the frame -- I like the center of gravity low and I like as much weight on the rear of the car as possible. This year we're going for a manageable set-back . . . who knows, next year the driver maybe cooking eggs on the bastard and keeping his gweets warm.

I just love how the whole car is now coming together . . . with a bunch of 'stray dogs and cats' (all you goofy bastards) working on it from around the country - all working toward an August 2011 goal. This is what the HAMB is all about - commitment, collaboration and making the journey . . . with the types of cars/engines/builds that we are passionate about!

We have so much to do -- keep the momentum and focus boys . . . we've started the BVille journey and we need to keep humping it to the end!

 

Nice guys, real nice!~

 

Well...it is possible from out of the US - even without a ton of money!! It's gonna be my 3rd time this August on the salt...

 

Any pics of a front clip yet?

 

Gonna be a while. Randy is working on body work, then we need to finish the setback, rework the firewall, and build an interior 'doghouse' to cover the engine.

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome A Chopped Coupe and Strombergs97 to the FlatCad Racing team!

A Chopped Coupe brings not only racing experience to the team, but mechanical enginnering.

Strombergs97 specializes in carburation and injection- most of you have probably read some of his posts.

John, Duane- Welcome!