Hey fellas I am looking to put together a T based altered drag car for fooling with at some local tracks. Anybody else doing something similar? What sort of problems am I going to run into with getting it certified? Not looking to be John Force just wanna go fast with a bunch of stuff I have left from previous projects.
The least expensive route is going to be buyimg something you like, that is already running and is certified. When you build there are costs that are in the "Build" that you cannot escape from. An Altered Drag Car will be a ton of fun, but from my experience as soon as the Engine is out front, the rules tighten up, and it is more difficult and expensive to get to the Staging Lanes. Best of luck with your Project!
I am not very interested in buying things. But I hear your point. Basicly I am thing an un streetable T bucket with a cage.
Go out to Mission Raceways and talk to people racing Altered. If you want to run 9.99or quicker,it will cost more to get a car ready than running 10's. I have some stuff left from my selling out. BBC short block,Firesuit [depending on your size] Powerglide torque convertor. A few other things.
No faster than 10's I have a really heathy small block and an thinking four speed just for nastyness thanks for the offer though. What size is the suit? I am 6' and wear a 50 jacket. And I ain't fat.
Ok thanks anyway. Boyd wylie @marshall that car looks wicked. I think that is way out of my league though.
It wasn't that hard to do ,if you used an 2x4 frame it would be easier. You can do it trust me, all you need to do is get started.
Dumprat, pm rocket88 on here, he is an ex tech guy at Mission, he can tell you exactly what they will want to see at the track you will be racing at.
Hmm didn't know Rocket88 was a tech guy. Haven't talked to him in a few years. I will try that. And yes @marshall I will be getting started on this soon enough. Just gathering parts and ideas at this point. And that is always part of the fun.
Look at the NHRA rule book. It spells it out. 10.00 or slower safety stuff is minimal. Depends on some things about the car what type of suit you need. You may need tethers for your arms. Helmet with Snell rating can get pricey. A $50 cycle helmet isn't good enough. A car with suspension is the cheapest way to go. Less breakage.
I`ve done what you are planning to do running a 292 chevy six. 1 and a half by 3 frame ,solid mount rear, model a front end . If I had it to do all over , I would use a small block chevy in front of the powerglide, more power and much cheaper. I did all work myself except the machine work on the motor. I have about 5 grand in the whole car and run low 11`s. The biggest problem is I always want to go faster and that means more money
SamIyam did it in 2003, The famous (on the HAMB) BFD..... http://www.hotrod.com/articles/wednesday-night-special/ here is his build thread http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...second-strip-screamer-for-the-hamb-drags.430/
I'm doing the same thing now - Ive been sending pictures to the nhra division tech inspector as I go....he tells me what I need to change, or what his concerns are. Once I have his approval at a given stage, the tig comes out (just tacked until that point) mine is just a simple car too - 2×3 rails, no rear suspension, 42' rear track width 96' wheelbase, transverse spring 42' front axle, center steer with a corvair box, 12:1 283 poweglide - I don't know how you would shift a 4 speed with center steer....most early cars used a top shifted 3 speed with no first and only had to shift once.
Curious why the center steer? And wouldn't a suspended rear squat for better traction? At this point my plan is as follows. Using parts I already have 289 built out of roller 5.0. Done to the maximum I could afford. Specs to 400+hp. Mustang steering box Plymouth wavy tube front axle 23? T steel body Dana 44 out of a jeep Cherokee (good axles are cheap and I have lots of parts) 34 front spring 40 rear spring F100 pedals T tank
centersteer because weight and tradition. the cage becomes more involved when you go side steer and because, I think you`ll be in the 10`s, the tech people will look pretty close. solid rear is easy and light. we have a couple of events down here where tech is not much of an issue but towing for hours to not being allowed to run ****s. If you solid mount the rear use 10 bolts total
Center steer because all that suspension stuff adds weight and complicates things because you have to control it, Solid lets the tires (as designed) do all the work.. Get a copy of the rule book and follow the spec.. Being a slower car that does not have to have the ch***is inspected or tagged, It still has to meet requirements of the certed ch***is, thus one cant use muffler tubing to build the cage. The cage structure has to be made with 1 5/8 x .118 material minimum if mild steel is used, the problem is that size does not exist and one must use .134 wall to be legal which is hard to get at your local metal supply house. What they carry and called out as .120 wall, measures .114. . Why am I saying this--- because at any time NHRA could start certing cars 10 to 11.99 to start collecting a $50 cert fee, so why start over- do it right the first time. There are a lot of inexpensive cars on the market (racinjunk) that should be looked into before you decide to build one. main thing is that you get to start racing sooner, builds take dedicated time,space and money to complete- used cars are 0.30 on the dollar spent and if you ever do decide to build new later on and sell what you had, the loss you take on the used car is still cheaper then building new
as above I went with a 42" rear and a bantam body so I really had to go center steer - a lot of early coupe bodied altereds were left hand steer - nothing wrong with what your trying to do - I just wanted to build a really simple car that I will probably run 2-3 times a year.......The max I will shoot for in the 1/4 once its all sorted out and "improved" will be 10.90. I built it to fit in the early 60s B/A rules as far as dimensions, weight to cubic inches and setback are concerned.
1.625 .125 wall DOM is common here as it is the rock buggy tube of choice. The local shop has probably twenty lengths in stock. It mics out at damn near perfect. wonder why the stuff you are getting is thinner?
dumprat, I'll go through what is left from our racing. There may be something you can use. Pretty sure I have arm restraints ,weather station,delay box.
Because DOM is expensive compared to ERW. Look through any of the ch***is kits available and they are all ERW and 134 wall. For some reason ASTM specs were adjusted to allow the thinner wall of ERW to maintain its thicker rating. Years ago many ch***is companys took a big hit when NHRA started to sonic the ch***is and found that the wall was thinner then what they thought they ordered. If one had the source to buy Dom tubing at .125 fine, but I can buy chrom moly tubing cheaper. The whole point was to inform that what is listed or sold as is not always the case when it comes to tubing and most people don't check it before they buy
Fair enough. I used a chunk of .093 wall for my steering column and it measured right on size. I think what we are getting here is actually a seamless hydraulic pressure tube. I have bought 7/8ths before for motorcycle parts, all from a hydraulic shop for use as fluid transfer tubing.
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