Projects F.E.D. Build, Y not a Y-Block

See, you keep me around for a reason.

 

Mooneye's was a great "car show" but for me as a racer it was a bit of a bummer. First of all there wasn't many "Dragsters" so we had to do a lot of waiting for the AFX cars to do their thing (They did have a compe***ion going with prize money at stake) also there was a few wrecks, a few oil downs and a lot of delays. By the time I finally got on the track I did my burnout and when the tires cought all I heard was a clunking metal sound. Sheared all the studs on the torque converter! Well I guess the power of an old Y-Block is just to much for a Hughes converter. lol I'll have it fixed soon and we'll be ready to run next year.


Rocky Phillips (Toymaker) had a fun ride himself!

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Whoa, looks like Roc got an E ride !!!!!!!

too much traction for Elrod???

 

Hey, Rocky left 10 feet of unused real esate in the right lane! Tony told me of your troubles, sorry to hear.

 

I imagine with all the hard launches in the past it was just a matter of time, funny it would happen during a burnout though.

 

Well Tim Look at it this way , a convertor is cheap compared to what might have happened if you were along side Rocky, They say things happen for a reason, Somebody likes you besides all of us Tim Jones

 

That fact has been brought up more than once. We will both ride again.

 

Did you put the tri power back on Tim ? Looks that way in the pictures.

 

Yeah Larry! I put it on for Eagle Field and never took it off. I like the way it looks a lot better than with a four, now that I got my fuel pressure worked out it dosen't catch fire either.

Here's a couple of great pix from Holly Martin.






Here she caught me in the pits after I sheared the studs on the converter, she thought I was looking up her dress.

 

You were looking up her dress? Sly guy?

 

I like the tri power too, is it as fast with that setup as compared to the 4 barrel ?

And not catching on fire is a good thing

 

It runs very well! But the four has a bit of an edge.

 

Nice shots , I really like the black and white, Tim Jones

 

Split the engine and trans yeasterday, here's what I found.







Thinking of going with 7/16" studs and a "Beefier" spacer to prevent this from happening again.

 

You will have problems with spacers like that - it's two pieces of sheet metal with 4 separate spacers. The individual spacers will try and rock with the torque. the metal will fatigue and fail.

You could have a similar setup, but join each spacer together with steel straps to help them stay upright. Once they are joined into a single unit and resisting the tendancy to "fall over" you might stand a chance of it staying together.

Mart.

 

I think I would make a spacer plate out of Alum and balance it, something solid Tim that looks ugly now that I can see it............lucky it didn't do more damage.............

 

Hmmmm . . . I'd make a big spacer ring out of steel and then have it tig welded to the flywheel flex plate. Or cut it up into 4 smaller pieces (say 2" long) and weld each of them. Having a bigger single piece would give more area to weld and help prevent distortion.

Those offset stands/spacers will cause drama as others have said - almost guaranteed to sheer the torque converter in my mind (or holes in the flex plate).

Anyway, that is my idea . . . but I know **** about slush boxes!

 

Starting the fix! four blocks will be made to go on each corner of the converter plate, 7/16" studs to go through each one. New studs will be welded to the plate in the old position, the blocks/spacers will then go over the studs and be welded to the plate on the converter.

 

Be sure to show us what you do Tim with good pictures if you can and possibly share your issues with Gene at Flat O.

I will likely go ahead and beef mine up now while I'm in the midst of my build before I have a problem.

You might want to do the one on your A sedan too

Larry.

 

Here's the fix. Extentions made from 1" round stock, welded to the converter and tapped for 7/16" bolts. not 3/8" studs as before. I believe this wil hold up and last till some other link in the chain breaks. lol

 

This is what comes with the standard kit.

 

Looks good Tim, I'm looking forward to what you figure out for the last picture you posted. (Your A)

Like mine there isn't much room without the plate on the converter.

I'm a little shy of the standard converter stud extension now.

Larry.

 

Remember Larry, you wont drive your car like I drive the dragster. I had several hard launches that would carry the front a ways and it held up for a while.

 

Humm looks like that will do Timmer!!

 

That's true Tim however I would rather beef it up a little if possible. If for no other reason than piece of mind

 

Looks like a great improvement!

 

Got it all back together this weekend (yes checked the run out first) all went smooth and easy. Ready for Eagle Field fund raiser race on the 9th of Feb.

 

Glad you got it back together Tim I'll have to take a field trip from Vegas and see it run sometime.
Michael

 

Took Elwood out to Eagle Field this weekend, a good time was had by all!








That Carl is quick off the line and hard to catch!



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Great to see ya again this weekend Timmer, thank your niece for me!!