Projects Front Engine Dragster update

Makes sense, after all the work of make it fit nice and tight.

I wonder how much "pressure" the "Ram Air" actually builds up?

 

Enough that it will make a difference. At the line when you leave with 0 psi of boost, at teh far end you may have as much as 4-5 pounds of boost. (just a guess of course)

The only time we ever pressure tested a scoop and tray is when a customer's nitrous system was being dialed in. The scoop and tray both failed. So did the butterflies in the carb, and the cast intake came off in 2 pieces.

I dealt mostly with supergas cars and bracket racers, so consistency was key. Not that this wont apply to you.

 

Rocky,
if you see anything that you want to see in more detail (even though Glenn has posted a bunch of pix) I have just under 1000 photos of my part of the build.

Roo

 

UPS brought a little present to me today from Roo Man. It might make it easier for you to hear the engine.

 

Damn those are NICE, I forgot it has a Pontiac, COOL!

 

Everything looks fantastic I'm jealous. Hey I noticed The hard lines for the fuel. Is there any braided in the mix. Just saying these cars move alot going down track. Please make the snow go away!!!! Bob

 

Yes, between the fuel pressure regulator and the hard line to the engine, and than again between the hard line and the carb.

 

Cool Glenn , Did you say you were taking this to Florida To shake it down? Bob

 

Glen would you have any interest in comming to Lebanon Valley August 20 and 21 for the Dover Drag strip nostalgia Drag's . I would realy like to see your car there!

 

Yes, that is the current thinking. I have a place to stay on Pine Island (GC)

 

I do want to travel a little and you are not far away so that may be a good choice. I will see how it shakes down.

 

Ok, I have come to the conclusion that the dragster will look very nice at the Indianapolis show on the 9th of February, but it may not be a runner. I believe there are just too many things that need to be completed.

Progress was made at the OFFICIAL Car Nuts (I say this as there are a group of upstart Rochester Street Rod members in the sissy warm state of Florida that are tiring to latch onto the name).

Lenny has taken on a number of tasks. He has become the computer operator and has been pressed into service as an order placer with both Jegs and Summit. He also started incasing the wiring harness in split harness covering. He also has gapped and replaced all the spark plugs.

Tom has moved on to finishing the install of the remote oil filter bracket. He has welded it up and powder coated it. All that needs to be done now is to bolt it in.

The headers have arrived. The holes in the header flange were flame cut and were a little irregular. Billy and Jack spent a fair amount of time filing out the holes so that all the bolts could be installed at once. As it was about ¾ of the bolts could be install, but the last one or two would not thread into the head. That has been remedied. It was also found that the header bolts I had on hand were not long enough and new ones have been ordered.

The differential was disassembled and inspected and then reassembled again. We found there was a fair amount of grime inside the housing and on the axles themselves. Look closely at photo P1150024. Gears are 3:70

We went to bleed the brake system and discovered there was a vent hole in the master cylinder cover. Normal, correct? Well not in this system as there is a remote reservoir on this system that is above the brake calipers (calipers are above the master). When we filled the remote reservoir we had a brake fluid fountain out of the top of the reservoir. That problem was fixed by welding up the vent hole. The system was bled and we had a very spongy petal. The master cylinder was removed and bench bled. The result was it was much better, but still not acceptable. A vacuum pump was used to draw the fluid out of the calipers while tapping the sides of the calipers to try and get the air bubbles out of the system and this helped but it still is not right. This will have to be revisited.

So.......we have fluid in two systems now with no leaks.

Tomorrow is kitchen work day and morning I will be moving a car.

There will be no unofficial gathering on Monday.

 

Your so close I'll bet you can taste it!

 

Hey I was at that meeting, I would have introduced myself if I knew you were going or which one you were..lol The meeting seemed promising for the new mod class.

 

I did not end up going, the word I got was it was canceled due to the weather. I have read the meeting update on the gasser web site.

http://www.gasserracingseries.com/

I'm not so hot on the new class, I liked the old class it replaced "center stear" I know they did it to increase the car count, but thought they should have been a little more patient and let that class grow as did the gasser class.

As it is now I will be racing against door slammers (nothing against door slammers, I think it will look kind of funny though).

 

At least it will be a pre 67 and no electronics door slamer. Someone did ask if the dragster class was front engine only so your not the only fed.

 

Wondering if you are going to tie the header tubes together with a strap? I have had problems in the past with the flange welds cracking due to vibration, tire shake, etc. Car looks bitchin. Keep up the good work.

 

That topic is under discussion at this very moment. They are pretty short.

 

Very nice rig and a wonderful write up. You have a better crew than mine. My guys show up only to drink all the beer and plug up the toilet. Please tell me that you plan on Thompson this year. Keep us posted!

 

Very nice man! Hope to see you all at Thompson this year!

 

Regarding tieing the zoomers together,Glendora decrees that they are to be tied together or have braces from the flanges to the tubes.

 

"Glendora" ?

 

Just starting to think about this summers races.

Indy May 7 ?, Beech Bend July 30 ?

 

Glendora = NHRA Headquarters. LOL

 

Glendora = NHRA headquarters. LOL
OOPS Double clutched.

 

I suspected that but had not heard that term before.

 

Ok, I feel like a schizophrenic, one update predicting doom and gloom and this one that is all good.

For an unofficial car nuts meeting we had Tom Deyle, Vince Falco, Jim Boehly, and Jack Dennis show up to lend a hand.
<O
Tom finished up the install of the modified remote oil filter. He also modified the volt meter bracket and installed it (does not sound like much until you realize this is all stuff that has to be created).
<O
Jack went through all the hose clamps and removed the excess band that was sticking out to the clamps. Verified that all clamps were tight and filled the coolant system. The water pump was run and there are no leaks! That makes two of the five fluid systems that have fluid and no leaks.
<O
Vince removed the valve covers, and cleaned any grime that had fallen through the holes in the covers before they were covered with tape (more of a precaution than anything else. He then added 8 quarts of oil into the engine. The oil system was primed and brought to pressure. It was noticed that there was no oil come up to the rocker arms. It turns out that the Pontiac engine is like a Chrysler engine in that the oil for the lifters comes through the number four cam bearing. If the cam is not lined up so that the oil can pass through the lifters will not get oil. Pressure did build in the system and we had no leaks! That makes three of the five fluid systems that have fluid and no leaks.
<O
Jim put fuel in the tank (after he was reassured that the fuel system had been gone through and that all fittings were tight). The fuel pump was run.

Guess what? I had forgotten to check the fittings at the carburetor. Jim almost received a gas shower. After those lines were tightened up the fuel system was run and brought to pressure. No leaks. That makes four of the five fluid systems that have fluid and no leaks.
<O
The neutral safety switch in the shifter was checked (not intentionally). We went to crank the engine over with the starter but it would not crank.
<O
We brought the mulitmeter out and starter to check wiring and relays. In checking the wiring we found the wiring for the neutral safety switch. We then realized that the shifter was in gear (remember there is no drive shaft and the shifter cable is not hooked up to the transmission). There are parts coming from California to get that task done (why are all the good parts 5 days way in California?).
<O
It should be noted that all these test runs were through the wiring system that has been installed over the last two weeks.
<O
Speaking of wiring the harness is almost complete. The transmission brake has been wired; the low oil pressure warning has been wired; the volt meter wiring has been completed; shift light wiring is complete ( in that process the air scoop was removed and disassembled. Any bolt that could come loose inside the air scoop has either been double nuted, and the screws in the lights have been covered in silicone sealer so that the carburetor will not get the chance to suck any unwanted stray items into it.
<O
We are looking to fire the engine up that Saturday. Before that we have to get the transmission cooling system completed and filled with fluid (the last fluid system), the coil has to be installed, the spark plug wires installed and the oil pressure gauge has to be plumbed.
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That does not sound like much, but tomorrow I have to move a car, Wednesday I will be in the shop powder coating. I believe it can be done.
<O
I talked with Roo Man today and he said the drive shaft should have been drop shipped today, he is checking to make sure that was done. If so it will not be long before the dragster will be able to move under its own power.
<O
Don’t get me wrong there are still a lot of loose ends to complete. Not the lease of which is wiring the steering wheel to activate the air shift and transmission break (we are really not sure how to accommodate this, in the Firebird there was a lot of steering column to rap a coiled cord around, in the dragster the steering wheel is right up against the gauge panel and does not allow for this); plumbing for the air shift; receive and install the control cables for the fire system, main power shut off; driveshaft; the list goes on, I will keep you updated.
<O
There will not be any unofficial meeting of the car nuts Tuesday or Wednesday, but will be Thursday and Friday with an official meeting on Saturday where the intention is to fire up the engine. This engine has not run in over a year! It needs to live again!

 

It appears that is what the rules call for, so yes they will be tied together. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

Here's the part of the exhaust rule out of general regs as pertains to you.

General Regs. 1:3 EXHAUST

"All cars must be equipped with exhaust collectors,headers,or stacks installed to direct exhaust out of car body to rear of car,away from the driver area and fuel tank. Exhaust stacks must have a metal connecting strap to prevent loss of one or more stacks during competition."

 

Correct
1:3 EXHAUST<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
All cars must be equipped with exhaust collectors, headers, or stacks installed to direct exhaust out of car body to rear of car, away from driver and fuel tank. Exhaust collectors/stacks must be securely fastened (i.e., metal connector straps, bolted, welded, etc.) to prevent loss of collector/stacks during competition. Flexible Tubing or “flex pipe” prohibited in all categories. If mufflers are used, they must be securely attached to exhaust system and car body or frame. Consistent with its endeavors to maintain drag racing’s acceptance as a recognized sport and recreation, NHRA is enforcing maximum decibel levels for Super Street, Super Gas, and Super Comp vehicles competing at national events. NHRA may enforce the same or similar requirements on other categories in the future.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Part of NHRA’s mission is to preserve the right to race. In many communities, the right to race is contingent upon reducing noise and complying with local noise and muffler laws, ordinances, regulations, or agreements. Therefore, all competitors must comply with any muffler rules applicable to his or her class in the Rulebook, and must comply with any noise-reduction requirements (including mufflers) mandated by any member track at which he or she races. Member tracks have the authority to impose muffler rules and noise regulations beyond those required by the NHRA Rulebook.<o></o>
<o> </o>