Bob.. That was a really nice display. Do ya think ya might have sold at least one person on a HA/GR..???????
Bob you might consider putting your display pic over on the main board , create some interest over there.
After a very long awards ceremony where half the population of the Five County Mosquito Control District was thanked for one thing or another, I got my "Thanks for Coming" plaque. I was one of the last to be able to get out of the arena but eventually we got out of there and home. Actually, It was fun watching the cars leave. More dynamic than the show itself. There were some excellent competition cars on display and I didn't expect any high level award. I enjoyed meeting old friends and making new acquaintences and talking about the little dragster. Now, it's time to get it back together, without the new head and without the new block. They are still being held captive in machine shop Gitmo.
I took a stock cam and lifters to Berry Cams, a little cam grinding shop about 75 miles west of Stillwater. They have been in business forever. I gave them specs suggested by the Guru on the Slant Six web site. Also ordered valve springs. My block is decked. Just needs to be honed. Tomorrow I'll go to the shop that is supposed to be working on the head and find out why they are a month overdue.
Looks like I'll have about .004" skirt clearance with stock pistons in my slant six. That's much looser than I've ever set stock pistons. A number of people are telling me it will be ok, with maybe a little piston slap when it is cold. The Kieth Black site shows up to .0045" with cast pistons on up to 4.100" bores. I guess it's just my nature to worry about things like this... Opinions?
Seeing as how you don't want to run the thing dead cold anyway, I wouldn't worry about it. Than again, I've always set up my engines on the loose side...the little mechanical noises are interesting.
How many slant 6's with 200K miles ran perfectly with much more wear than that? Much more important to have straight, round bores than a little extra clearance. File fit rings will handle the sealing. My $.02 By the way, great work!
4 thou. on the skirts.. Man that tight in my book.. I run 6 thou. in my altered. and 10 on the nitro motor.....
BobW, Are you planning on going to the Minn. Hot Rod Drags on July 31st? I was thinking of traveling up to that, it is about 8 1/2 hr drive!!! Sounds like a good event, are you familiar with it?
2b-banjo, I sent you a PM. I was able to get the dragster into the front garage Sunday and today I pulled the engine and transmision. There's a few clean up items on the frame as a result of switching from the stick trans to the automatic. My engine machininst/long time friend has been sick and I'm not expecting my healthy slant six block to be prepared for this season. I'll be running the $100 Craigslist engine as is, like I ran it last year. This will be a good test comparing the worn out four speed with the inept driver against the no-brainer automatic. If anyone around here builds a HA/GR with a stick trans, I'll switch back so I can beat him fair and square.
A friend gave me the flatbed from a 1940 Chevy big truck. I narrowed it 7 1/2". It will shortly be a trailer for my dragster. Going to keep it looking like a trailer from the 1950's, except where legal/safety requirements interfere. I have scoured the HA/GR rules and am confident this trailer does not violate either the "spirit" or letter of the rules.
I like it Bob ... I am a fan of the "In the Spirit" haulers as well as the cars. there is an old single axle equipment trailer in the town next to where our shop is. When (if) the HA/GR get done I might have to inquire.
Got the flatbed welded to a home made 2 1/2" by 4" frame. Sure would be nice to have the front and rear weight of my dragster in order to locate the axle.
One trick that can be done is set the car on the trailer with a pipe underneath the trailer frame like a roller in the area where you want the axle and a bathroom scale under the tongue. Then move the pipe fore and aft (or roll the trailer on the pipe) until you get the tongue weight you are wanting. Primitive...yes, but it has worked for years. Forget who told me about that trick...it was back in the '60s and my memory ain't that great anymore.
64 Dodge 440, I did what you suggested and it worked great! Now, I need to make some teardrop fenders, cheap and easy. Looking for suggestions...again.
Don't know about teardrop fenders, but the tread band from an old continental kit will make nice cycle style fenders.
Here's the '40 Plymouth truck I've been working on. It will be the tow vehicle for the dragster. I just scored a pair of rear fenders the same as on the truck. They will go on the trailer so the truck and trailer will match. The pic of the truck is when I got it. Most of the fab work is done, but there's lots left to do this winter.
Hi Bob, I really enjoyed your write-up [ it has inspired me to build one ] I also am very interested in learning how to make "Teardrop Fenders" , Because I live in a "little 'broken assed' rock in the South Pacific" the shipping costs get prohibitive. Does anybody know how to Roll Tandem Fenders?? [ eg: as a manufacturing process, not a guy hand hammering them out ] A few friends [5] want me to help build them race car trailer each, so we might need to group together and help each other [all at once ] I've built a few nice trailer over the years [ NZ towing laws are different to the USA laws, eg 2500kg GVW and 2.5m max width ] We make our trailers Tilt decks, This makes it easier to balance the payload, the xtra weight needed on the hitch comes from the trailer tongue which weighs approx 70kgs [150 lbs ] A tilt trailer makes the lowest of cars very easy to drive on. Teardrop Fenders really improve the appearance of the trailer
Hey Kerry, I like the "Amish" trailer raising idea ... you could really parlay that into quite the event. I have a Kiwi friend I love to tease about being "an Aussie" ... he knows it is all in stride and takes it well (until the day he disembowels me with a razor sharp boomerang !!! )
Trailers are like hotrods, everybody has their own stupid idea they want to use. So if I can get 5 people + myself to aggree on a design it will be a world first. I'll take the logical and mathematical approach, if we can standardize a design it would be beneficial to everyone [ and cheap ] sort of like "T-bucket kits" for comparison No offence taken over being associated with Aussies Whenever I get in "trouble" with the law while overseas, I tell them I'm from Australia [ this is standard practice for most Kiwi's ] Everybody knows that Australia was once colonised by a bunch of criminals [Haha!]
The Jalopy Journal
