Funny you would say this about a 200 inch 4-holer. I was thinking the same thing while comtemplating a prime mover for a HA/GR. What I settled on is a Pontiac Tempest slant 4. They were made for 3 years, '61, '62 and '63. It was the passenger side half a 389 V8, so it was 194.5 cubic inches. Cool thing is, all 389 internal pieces and head work. Bore it +0.060" and use stock 400 pistons to make a 200 cubic inch motor. And you have the excellent-flowing Pontiac head. I can see one of these with four Carter single-barrel side-drafts. Too cool. A 455 crank will fit if you turn the mains down. It would take custom pistons, but you'd end up with a 225 cubic inch 4-holer. (4.120 x 4.210) Not sure what crank work would be involved to balance the whole mess though. Lakewood makes a steel scattershield that fits..... http://www.lakewoodindustries.com/P...jID=152&minID=1521&selection=0&minselection=0 I was doing some reading on the motor and found out that it came to light after GM asked Smokey Yunick to come up with a 4-cylinder motor for their new Tempest car. Smokey being Smokey, he just sawed a 389 in half and there it was. Funny stuff. Apparently PMD liked it because they could machine it with the same tooling used to machine the 389.
Interesting Pontiac point: Mickey Thompson ran a 4 cylinder Pontiac in one of his dragsters during the late 60's or early 70's. He also built a 2 cylinder Pontiac and ran it in a dragster. I remember that he said it shook so bad at 7800 rpm that his hands would be numb and he couldn't feel the steering wheel. When the "Iron Duke" is built for NHRA drag racing they make close to 600 hp. Ron
Another potential four would be the International Scout engine, similar to the Pontiac in that it was basically half of the I-H 266 V8. Later models went as large as 196 c.i. from the factory. Production started in 1961 so it would be OK.
Toymaker, do you have any dimensions? I guess I am worried about making it the right size. I do not want to make it to big to make unneeded weight but I do not want to make it too small for me to fit. I will have to take a look through the rule book
I think you're trying to make it WAY more complicated than it has to be. There basically AREN'T any rules to this effect My whole chassis is based off of the width of my shoulders-- that is- I actually laid down on the floor with my shoulders on a yardstick, had my wife set a square on the yardstick, bump each shoulder, make a mark. Measure between the marks, add an inch to each side. I figured with the hoop behind me, all the safety gear on, etc, it'd be a perfect fit. For simple sets of frame dimensions, check the T-bucket folks. California roadsters sells plans, I think e-bay has them on occasion, Total Performance USED to, etc. If you use box tube you're essentially copying a T bucket frame, minus rear suspension if you choose, then add roll bar.
I ordered several sets of blueprints from Mark Williams to get ideas from. Best $50 I've spent. Their altered and funny car blueprints will cert 6.0 in moly (if built correctly). Lot's of good ideas in those. AND, they look badass. I've got mine framed and hanging in the shop when not on the bench.
My deminsions wouldn't help you, I wish I would of made our car bigger. I'd offer 24" minimum between the rails and leave plenty of leg and head room. Lay the frame out, mount a seat, lay out your floor board and build around that keeping the upper bar above your knees. The rule book states where the bar behind your shoulder should be I believe. Follow the rule book and you'll be alright. Check this page out, it has a copy of the altered/funnycar chassis rules http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=239412&highlight=nhra+rules&page=3 Hope this helps and good luck. Rocky
you know if you stood that front roll bar up a little straighter and raised the cowl line so that it was straight to the fire wall instead of angled down you would have a older looking car plus more leg room
Trust me I want to do everything right the first time. That is why I am asking questions now. I just got a price on steel for the rails. just curious, how often do they change the rules? I don't want to start on something now and then 2 years when I have it done find out they changed the rules and I have to change something important/not easy to do.
That roll bar has an angle rule attached to it it's design (as I understand it). I believe it's angled (at a particular range) so it doesn't dig in or grab as hard when your upside down.
Check out this thread and look on page 5: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138837&page=4
The Jalopy Journal
