This is a great thread, sure lets us see what it takes to go fast. I really like the photos of the cars in the driveway, always nice to see landscape in different states we haven't been to. Bob
g The spider gears showed up today. As promised here are the pics. The regular spider has a broken tooth. the special gear has the groove cut into it. thats what you look for. Good luck hunting.
On drag week 2013 the spiders broke. We think the cause of the failure was the bolts loosened up on the sure grip case. The case is two pieces. The cross shaft holding spiders ; the clutch pack; and side gears are inside. when i took it apart to repair it some bolts were loose. The bolts need to be lock tighted. I dont remembee doing that step. This time around i dont know. The early pro stock cars did have enough power to break them on occasion. It was not a wide spread problem. Chrysler asked dana for a fix and these gears were the cure. I hope with the new gears and a car that weights 700lbs less the trouble will be gone. I will still keep a extra set with me. Just in case. Good luck on drag weekend.
Thanks! I wonder if it's time for spool? I haven't had any trouble with lockers. Hopefully the new spider gears will help
the spool would not be any fun on the street. I'm not sure if they make a locker for a dana. the four speed is pretty rough on the gears. i might put a bruno/lenco in the car. i had one in the 65 they work great.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dtl-225sl29a/overview/ http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dtl-915a387/overview/ for the different ratios.
Ive driven a spool on the street, its liveable, and that's about all you can say. Really fairly unpleasant, IMO, but some guys are ok with it. I gotta think something else was a contributing factor when the spiders broke, like Racer X says. I have seen sure-grip equipped dana 60s live long and prosper in some pretty whacked out stuff. They don't come by their reputation lightly.
well that answers that question. thanks guys. the stock unit is usually all thats needed for most cars. thats why i never looked into it. i will check it out.
i think the weight has a lot to do with it. the old pro stocks were a lot lighter. my coupe weighted in at 3200. it could get a 60 foot et in the mid 1.3 range.
This is the way the cage will be made. Each color represents a specific diameter and thickness tube. These plans must be adheared to. When a car is going for a 25.1e chassis tag it will be looked over very closely. They have a gauge that checks the outer diameter of all the tubes. A sonic checker is used to measure wall thickness. A visual inspection of all welds is done to make sure the tubing is welded all the way around. The chassis is compaired to nhra prescribed plans. If it all goes well you get the tag. The inspectors doing this kind of work are not your local track tech crew. They are nhra chassis safety inspectors. We are just waiting for the mid plate material to show up today.
Parts just seem to keep following me home. This time its a lenco three speed with a 1.89 first gear. I had the option of a 1.81 first gear. My thinking is with only 392 cubes i need more gear in first. Its like new inside. It has the larger helicopter spags front and rear. The shafts are the larger fine spline and the clutch units are both lightened. Every thing has been coated for longer wear. I need to modify a gear in the reverser so i can have a neutral. A lenco is other wise in a gear all the time. a cetrifical clutch would normally provide the needed slip to make the forward to reverse changes. Also it makes it easier to push the car around getting rid of the trans drag. The coupler unit on the back needs to be changed to a slip yoke style. Im taking the air pods off so i can shift it with levers. A friend has some he is not using. If i did the air shifter i would need a air bottle the size of a fifty five gallon drum to drive it on the street for long periods of time. Im looking at a bruno conver adaptor. Im hoping to get that wednesday. With the torque multiplication of a converter i can use a three speed. This will save weight and shorten up the trans by a needed foot. If i do a clutch i have to bolt on another case to make it a four speed. Im a hard core manual trans guy. There is just something about a engine at max rpm and pulling the next gear. Its a lost art. I just dont think i can shift the car four times in seven to eight seconds with a h patterned shifter. With the damage to my knee im not sure leaving a clutch in the car would be a good idea. Parts breakage will be reduced with the converter which is a plus. For those not familiar with a bruno it uses a torque converter to drive the lenco replacing the clutch. There is a band over drum thats air activated. The power needs to be stopped going into the lenco to be able to shift from forward to reverse. Activating the air brake does that. Once the lenco is in forward the shift levers do the rest. I ran a identical set up in the altered wheelbase car. They work great.
I forgot to mention the input shaft needs to be removed. They just pull out by hand. The lenco bolts directly to the brunos splined shaft exiting the rear of the unit. I hope i did not confuse anyone. Also the bruno fluid does not pass through the lenco. the reverse unit can be flipped over to put the lever on the passenger side. i will most likely set it up that way to provide extra room on the left side.
I'm glad you liked the explanation. its nice to get feed back on how I'm presenting this. its my first try doing this tread thing. i thought i would explain the parts choice and how they work because I'm thinking most guys have no experience with them. its fun to learn new stuff. its how we all grow and further our knowledge base. i don't want to loose followers of the build because they don't get what I'm doing. this is really common blown alky/nitro parts selection. i know the vast majority would never need to use these extreme duty parts. I'm using these parts for safety and reliability. these parts are readily available overnight if need be from several sources. at the track in a emergency these parts would be the most common for someone to have in their trailer. i'm familiar with these parts so my thinking is why reinvent the wheel. I'm just going with a proven combo. time and money are tight so I'm going the easy way out in this area. i have enough on my plate with other areas on this car.
I'm happy that you are moving forward after such a horrifying incident. And the fact that it serves as a teaching process, as well, is just gravy!
If this is your first HAMB Built thread it sure is a great one! I think most of us would like to have a full out race car, following your build is the next best thing. It takes passion, and a healthy bit of funding to get something on the track, you'll have a roller by the time we get back from Hershey. Bob
Its a big day for me today. I stopped by the chassis shop to get my first look at the frame. There is not alot to look at but every long journey starts with a first step. What you are looking at is the frame table with the main rails on it. bar -1 and 2-a from the plans posted above. This table is the flattest thing in the county. It allows bars to be clamped in any position. Being the foundation for the entire car everything needs to be flat square and parrallel. Nothing can move around. It all starts here. The bar in the fore ground will have the main hoop attatched to it. The small hoop goes under the dash. Jim and i went over several details pertaining to the car. After the main hoop is attatched there will be a day or two of measurements and tube bending. It will go back and fourth. This kind of work cant be rushed. I will continue doing my part to get all the components freshened up so when the chassis is done everything can go right in. At least thats the plan. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.
More progress today. The main hoop bar 10 bar 8a and 8b are tacked in. The hallow and a pillar bars go in monday. I got a call today the front wheels will be done friday. Pics to follow. The torque converter was ordered from dynamic converters in delaware. I have used their products in the past. I highly recommend them. The shift levers are in the mail for the lenco. The flex plate has been ordered. As you can see there are a lot of details to take care of.
all i can say is WOW ! yeah, I'm jealous !! really ??? FUEL,AND A LENCO ??? you dog.. I know it'll be first class, and brutally fast.. crap, now i have zero chance of racing with ya!!! LOL what about A/C ?? might as well !
Fantastic build going on here! This is the stuff dreams are made of. What a monster this is going to be.
I love seeing a racecar frame coming together, from a stack of pipe to a work of art. Glad you walked away from the accident and best of luck with the "new" car. That 66` is outstanding, the slots seem to be a rare sight these days but set it off. One of my favorite years for the Chevelle (year I was born).
thanks everyone for the kind words and encouragement. im glad there is interest in the build. steve if you show me how to do the ac i will show you how to do the nitro boogie. you have almost everything you need to pull it off. nitro would fit you and your cars personallity perfectly. drag week next year would never be the same with two blown nitro coupes. think about how much fun that would be. doesnt the world need more blown nitro street coupes? i think so.
The Jalopy Journal
