Question for you HAMBers out there that are in the know. Would it be feasible to build a true JR fuel car and run it today at NHRA / IHRA events? I'm talking about 150 inch front engine dragster running small blocks with injected fuel. I know guys like King Ch***is, Rooman and others build *****in new cars how hard would it be to drop in a sbc with iron heads and run fuel?
A/ND in Comp is what you want. I sometimes crew for one of the faster guys in the cl***. 150" would not be compe***ive. I believe the front runners are over 200". Also, alcohol, no nitro.
Todays Jr. Fuel car is not the old 300 inch nitro motor car of our youth. My friend Al Liest built one some time ago and tried running Jr. Fuel with a 406 SBC. Pretty common stuff but good stuff. Now he runs some 7 second circut. Couldn't run NHRA National events because he didn't run enough of them. Couldn't afford to follow the NHRA around so that he did run enough of them.
Nope. True 60's and 70's Jr. Fuel is a thing of the past. The NHRA runs Nostalgia cl*** in Comp. Eliminator, which is an alcohol fueled engine and larger in inches than in the old days. Same engine/car that runs in the nostalgia races. Mike
The closest things today to the old jr fuel cl*** is A/Fuel and Jr Fuel. Today's A/Fuel cl*** includes front motored dragsters with injected nitro engines. Today's Jr Fuel cl*** includes front motored dragsters with injected alcohol engines. I'm presently in the process of building a Jr Fuel car. It can run B/ND in NHRA Comp, Jr Fuel or 7.0 Eliminator in the Nostalgia series. It would be tough to make short car (like 150" wb) compe***ive. Weight is extremely important. You would need to run so much front end weight that the overall car weight will end up too high.
The biggest problem with the current NHRA A and B cars is that unless you are a very talented engine builder you will have to spend at least $50,000 on a motor to be at all compe***ive and close to $80,000 if you want to win. 1 Drag, I presume that you crew for Brian Darcy--ask him how much he has in his motor, I know what it cost Dean Carter to be able to run as quick as he does. What G***er 1961 is suggesting would be better suited to events like the HAMB drags and groups like the NPCA, southern Slingshots etc. Apart from the blower, Brian Fox (King Ch***is) has just the sort of car that we are talking about. Short, direct drive and truly nostalgic looking and a bunch of fun. Lately I find the whole NHRA thing irrelevant as it is horribly expensive, even in the so called sportsman cl***es where there are a lot of people spending pro type money to play for hobby type prizemoney. Roo
I agree with Roo. You have to seriously and realistically consider your budget before building. NHRA racing is clearly the least bang for the buck. Insanely expensive to be compe***ive and relatively nothing in return when you win.
Roo, good call, I do indeed crew for Brian Darcy. And I agree with you. I would guess he spent $80k on his latest motor too. The car is 225" and super-light, lots of ***anium, etc. To save weight, this guy doesn't EAT. I would guess he spends $50k per year. Also, to be compe***ve, the cars are not really that nostalgic looking, which to me is the real bummer. But that's NHRA Comp. I think G***er 1961 should build the car he wants to, and go nostalgia racing and have a ball for cheap. That's what I do. I know he lives in Ca, but here in the NE there's NETO, Mandra, and Back Seat Drivers (BSD's is all FED's), to name only a few. I also love the King ch***is, and find NHRA unappealing. I club race and love it. The original question was "would it be feasible to run NHRA?" The answer is no.
When I say NHRA or IHRA I'm talking about running at one of their tracks. I would guess a car like this could run in NE1 a 7.60 index. I was asking is it was feasible (money wise) to run a sbc on nitro. Has anyone here run a sbc on fuel?
Troy Coker from Indiana ran a nitro injected small block about 2 years ago in the NPCA here in the midwest. He had his entire operation for sale not long ago, I don't know if he sold it or not. You could find him on the NPCA web site (I don't know what name he goes under on there, but I know he is there) and I am sure he would share any info with you that you might want or need. He is also on facebook if you do that.
I believe Crowerglide on here has run some little chev's on fuel. With the good blocks we now have I would think it would be viable. Vince, A/fuel would be fun with a little chevy I think. Build it simple and light. Lippy
I could be wrong, but I believe Sneaky Pete Robinson ran an SBC on fuel in his Southwind FED back in the early 60's and won Top Eliminator...with the amount of boost he ran I can guarantee he ****tered a few blocks here and there though...
I've never run one on nitro but I can't think of a reason that you could not. They used to do it back in the day and there are better parts available today. You could even baseline the car as injected alcohol and then progressively step the nitro percentage up. I believe that you'll get the crackle and smell out of the pipes at about 20%.
150 is pretty short. Tires are a lot better nowadays. And tracks. I was thinking 180 in and 39 or 40 out. But there goes your 150 wb. LOL. Lippy
How much do you want to spend? I am currently in the same situation. I have priced up a long block with aluminum rods and pistons coated for nitro. $8,000. I did not factor in an injection set up with that because I already have one. Nor did I factor in a rocker arm set up. VP nitromethane is $900 for 42 gallons last time I checked. http://www.fuelinjectionenterprises.com/ if you go there and click on the link labeled "Nitro Notes" there is information there. He runs a SBC injected nitro motor. The drivetrain is what I think would be extremely expensive, if you wanted to get really good parts. I'm not sure if your planning on running a clutch set up or a powerglide. A clutch would be over $1,500 then add the lenco, if not doing a direct drive, then the reverser.
I thought the south west Jr fuel guys were trying to get going? Spec motors and such to keep the cost down. I really want to get into something like that also. good luck.
Ours was 147", went 7:80's and 200+ high gear only- if it didn't run 200, it needed springs. Light and LOTS of rpm. Here it is @ Fresno, loaning tires to Rance McDaniel after he beat us in the semis: (I'm on the right) Getting ready to push down, I think this is Fremont (Mybe Fresno?)- My dad was very involved in the late 60's California Jr Fuel scene, the above car is the former Dwight Hughes car that he bought when they (Berry Bros n Hughes) went Top Fuel. Dve
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