Gotta be one of the weirdest Top Fueler ever built...!

------------------------------------
Sounds kinda' like our little corner of the
hobby too. 'Back in the day' - circa
early-'70's, when I first started playing with
'hot rods', you could pick up some pretty
hard-core and sometimes, even really exotic
Buick nailhead, early Olds, 409 Chevy and
early hemi speed stuff for next to nothing at
swap meets because it was "obsolete" and
nobody wanted it. That same stuff is like
gold now.

Mart3406
============================

 

For the record, THIS is Chase Knight....... (the Golden Gator.)

 

Many years ago, I talked to Chase on the phone, when I called Crane Cams for something. He didnt know who I was, but I sure knew who he was. Afterwards, I called one of my less hard-core car guy buddies, his response was "Who??" I thought it was pretty cool though.

 

My dad's buddy out in the Phoenix area has a bunch of this stuff. I got to see it when I was out there for Thanksgiving, but my drunk*** didn't take any pics! ( His stuff is amazing! He's collected enough stuff to have 2 "complete" engines that he took to 2009 SEMA to display. they're "complete" because they're ***embled, but he doesn't have enough of the rotating ***embly to have one that runs yet. Besides those 2, I think I saw 6 blocks and a shelf full of cylinder heads, different exhaust & different induction systems! One of his complete engines has the original turbo setup. I'll see if I can get some pics to post...

Someone asked about the power output... I think he said the turbo version put out around 1100hp! It had somewhere in the neighborhood of 40psi of boost... if I remember correctly.

I always ask him what it's worth and he doesn't reply. He just says there's about 6 guys that are really into it, and they just trade for other parts they need.

3blap.

 

Ok, knew I had this somewhere. Here is the Hot Rod article on the Art Malone air car, but with the blower in place of the air. Hope these arent too big, wanted them large enough so you could read the text.

 

Leading up to the time of the rear-engined revolution led by Garlits, there was a lot of experimentation about what was the "right" answer for a dragster. One of my favorites was the Adams-Enriquez "Double Eagle." Twin 354 Hemis, injected on a big load of nitro. It sounded very cool, but wasn't fast enough to encourage hundreds of copycats like Garlits car did.

 

Dwayne Ongs Woody built Pawnbroker is another that springs to mind, probably the most successful rear engine car from that period prior to Garlits at Famosa in '71. Harry Lehmans "American Way" rear engine wedge, Kaiser Bros rear engine car from 1970, the history of TF seems to be periods of wild experimentation interspersed with periods of quiet evolution. '70-'72 was one of the wild periods.

 

Thanks guys for all the education. SO cool. Keep it goin.

 

Neet stuff. Keep it coming.

 

Ok....... I know this has been mentioned here before, but it is still crazy. This guy had a rocket? powered Go Kart that went 200+ in the 1/4 mile.

 

I heard it also.....quite the strange exhaust note !!
(Waaaay OT but the new 6.7 Ford Diesel has the same intake/exhaust arrangement)

 

That car has the set up I was remembering. Either there was another one similar, or my my memory it being built by a school and tested by Garlits was about a different car.

 

Tommy Ivo against the cart.......

 

Story by Joe Pappacena......

<CENTER>[SIZE=-1][/SIZE][SIZE=-1]
Was Bernie Schacker the first successful rear engine dragster?
[/SIZE][SIZE=-2]Photo by Ted Pappacena[/SIZE]</CENTER>
[SIZE=-1]I just finished reading the Story of the day (on Drag List.com) for September 9 about the "First Successful Rear Engine Dragster." It is very interesting but was that car truly the first successful one? I beg to differ. In early 1970, a rear engine dragster debuted on Long Island. It was totally built by Bernie Schacker. It had a supercharged hemi engine. The body was hand built out of aluminum. The car raced at New York National Speedway as well as other tracks in the Northeast. I first saw it at the AHRA Springnationals on May 24, 1970.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]It also raced at the Bakersfield Smokers race held at New York National that same year. At that race, a fellow racer by the name of Don Garlits was in attendance. He looked the car over for about an hour. He even sat in it! The car was the first rear engine dragster in he 6s. Ah, but was that the first truly successful car of the genre? What defines success -- campaigning, setting low E T, or winning?[/SIZE]

<CENTER> </CENTER>

<CENTER>[SIZE=-1]
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]
Or was Duane Ong's Pawnbroker the first successful rear engine dragster?
[/SIZE][SIZE=-2]Photo by Ted Pappacena[/SIZE]</CENTER>
[SIZE=-1]If it is winning you want, how about Duane Ong's Pawnbroker? It too debuted about the same time as Schacker's. Whereas Schacker had the wing in the back, Ong's car had two vertical fins located over the rear wheels. His was powered by a blown hemi, too. He too raced at the 1970 Smokers meet. He raced at the AHRA Nationals at New York National on August 30, 1970, where guess who also raced? Duane Ong won that race, the first rear engine dragster to win a national event. I am sending two photos I took at those races.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Thanks.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Ted Pappacena
Nitroblues@Juno.com[/SIZE]

<CENTER> </CENTER>

<CENTER><HR></CENTER>

 

Kaiser Bros.....
<CENTER>[SIZE=-1][/SIZE]</CENTER>

[SIZE=-1]"These shots were taken right after the Winternationals in 1970 at the end of the track at Pomona.This was the Kaiser Brothers rear-engined dragster out of Denver, and built by Mark Williams. This car was a very close predecessor of the Garlits car, but he was able to make it work and win, and they were not. That little duck tail rear body panel seemed to be conceived to create a bit of a spoiler effect, but I can't imagine any point on the car that is less aerodynamically effective than between the slicks and behind the engine. Too bad it wasn't very noticeable from the stands."
[/SIZE]
​

<CENTER> </CENTER>

<CENTER>[SIZE=-1]<HR>[/SIZE]</CENTER>

<CENTER> </CENTER>

<CENTER>[SIZE=-1][/SIZE]</CENTER>

[SIZE=-1]This was taken at CDR in Castle Rock in 1969. The car was not originally built for the Kaiser Bros. but they ended up with it and it was only the lack of funds that kept them from possibly re-writing drag racing history as this car was built over a year before Garlits even bent a pipe for his. In fact, Don really went to school on this piece -from front to rear - before designing his first RED.[/SIZE]
​

 

Didnt know about the Bernie Shacker car, good info.

 

How about a local car from my area(lived about 8 miles from my place when I was growing up), although it wasnt the car that was "out there", it was the motor. Anyone remember Bill Phillips and his rotary valve hemi?

 

Harold Gunderson's twin unblown fueler out of Seattle, ran
very well, similar to Adams & Enriquez......


Adams & Enriquez.....

 

That sounds interesting! Fill us in..

 

I'll dig out an SS/DI article and post it. Saw Harold Gunderson race a few times over the years. Actually saw Rick race at a WDRS at Mission too, but didnt know him at the time.

 

---------------------------
Yep. I remember that one. There's a copy of
a 'Super Stock & Drag Illustrated' article from
June, 1985 on it on the net at the 'Northern
Thunder' site too.
-----------------------
http://www.northernthunder.com/rotary.html

<center>

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Swiss, Helv]ROTARY VALVE HEMI![/FONT]
​

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Swiss, Helv] Canadians Bill Phillips and Dan [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Swiss, Helv] Zimmerman try a different approach [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Swiss, Helv] to supercharged drag racing.[/FONT]​

</center>​

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Swiss, Helv]
Bill Phillips (left) and Dan Zimmerman flank
one of the four rotary valves used to power
their Top Alcohol Dragster. Canadian racers
cite more power and unlimited RPM with
rotary valve concept and hope to make it
work in a supercharged application using
alcohol and nitromethane.



Unique 498 cubic inch engine is topped
with 8-71 Dan-Cap blower on a homemade
manifold, beneath which is a Vertex
magneto mounted horizontally ! The four
rotary valves (two per bank; one each for
intake and exhaust) are gear driven
internally while Gilmer belts do the work
outside. This one of a kind engine requires
second and third looks to decipher its
design, which totally eliminates the
valvetrain and valve covers.[/FONT]
------------
The Rotary Valve Engine of Bill Phillips and Dan
Zimmerman of Burnaby,British Columbia, Canada
is finally in the testing stage.

After over 500 hours on the drawing boards and
3000 hours in machining,the motor has finally been
fired. However, excess blowby around the ring seals
on the rotating sleeve valves has thus far negated
track testing with their Top Alcohol Dragster.

This drawback has not dampened the enthusiasm
of Dan and Bill however, as they immediately launched
a research program in an effort to find a compatible
sealing system to replace the original piston rings that
were previously tried. The National Research Council
of Canada has lent ***istance in this field and now Dan
and Bill feel they have the problem solved. A few more
weeks of machining and testing will tell.

The Rotary Valve concept is not new, having been with
us since the1890's in various forms of experimental and
production engines, most recently by Mazda. The priniciple
of the Rotary Valve is simple in that a rotating sleeve with
ports in it unmasks a port in the combustion chamber
allowing free p***age of g***es without the restriction of
a valve and guide. There is also no reversion of g***es as
in a conventional engine when the valve returns to its seat.

Of course, there is also no such thing as valve float or the
devastating results of valve to piston interference.Air flow
characteristics in this type of head have proven to be
20-30 percent superior to any poppet valve engine and
RPM capabilities are virtually unlimited.

The crankcase itself is fabricated of 44w steel plate,
MIG welded,heat treated and stress relieved. It has
then been relief milled and lightened to such a degree
that is five pounds lighter than a Keith Black aluminum
block, while maintaining a 400 percent strength
advantage.

Bolted to this are the cylinder boxes which house
standard TRW replacement sleeves that index a full
inch into the heads to effect an absolute gasket seal.
The heads themselves are machined from 6061-T6
aluminum billet and house the four rotating sleeve
valves.

They feature a true hemispherical combustion chamber
and hemispherical dome on the piston with no valve
shrouding or reliefs in the pistons. Compression ratios of
16:1 and higher can be achieved with plenty of cylinder
head clearance. Also, the true center-fire plug ***ures
even flame travel upon combustion.

The engine, if successful, could be the wave of the
future for supercharged fuel-burning engines. Just
imagine an engine with a flat torque curve and
virtually unlimited RPM without the valvetrain or
block maintenance problems of a conventional
engine.

Bill and Dan have done virtually all the machining
(and financing) themselves in their small shop in
Burnaby, BC, Canada, (Phillips-Zimmerman Racing
Developments) which specializes in the manufacture
of blower drives,specialty machining and
prototype development. In fact, there isn't very much
they can't build.

Bill and Dan would also like to thank Bob Gage and
Gaines Markley of Custom Machine in Seattle, Larry
Van Unen, Bud Childs, Kerrisdale Speed Centre and
the National Research Council of Canada, whose
***istance and belief in this project has made it
possible.

Bill and Dan expect a few problems but none they feel
they can't over come when track testing begins in a few
weeks at Seattle International Raceway. It's an entirely
new concept for drag racing, but certainly one that shows
lots of promise, not to mention the innovative talents of
its creators. Far from euphoric, Phillips and Zimmerman
are also working on a new supercharger design that
could eliminate blower belts forever!

Was it Frank Zappa who said something about necessity
being the mother of invention ? Probably not, but that
hasn't stopped these two Canadian drag racers from
exercising their imagination. For them the need is for
more speed, and they refuse to bow to convention.
====================

 

That rotary deal sounds good in concept but obviously,it never went too far.

How about the McGee 4-cam motor that Gary Beck drove in 1989?

 

I saw Gary running that car at SIR, car was skating around on the top end like a drunken Tanya Harding. I was walking by his trailer later, and he was standing there (no entourage), so I said "Jeez Gary, you were DRIVING that race car" He says "huh, what are you talking about, it was like driving a caddy." or something to that effect. Then he grins and says "Yea, it WAS moving around a little". Old school TF racers...

 

Yup thats the one, thanks, now I dont have to dig it out. Guy was a real character, he earned his nickname, thats for damn sure.

 

The various types of rotary valves were pretty much sorted out in the '30s, including the combustion sealing issues. The biggest problems compared to the ordinary cam and poppet valve are higher friction, lubricant control/loss, and inferior time vs area capability. The fantasy of unlimited RPM potential is limited by what the connecting rods can tolerate.

 

i think they are all crazy

 

Beck was certainly old-school to say the least...I saw him run the absolute dagger 5.39 @ Fremont when the record was 5.51 I do believe...shows you just how damn impressive that run was...at a superb almost below sea-level track!

 

----------------
Reading about Gary Beck just now, made me think
of another Canadian drag racer, also from Alberta.
Who else here remembers "240 Gordy" Bonin???

Mart3406
===========================

 

G.B experimented with this low slung ch***is & wing @ Indy 1978.....

<CENTER>[SIZE=-1][/SIZE]</CENTER>

[SIZE=-1]Gary Beck in his Thrush sponsored car. Beck defied conventional wisdom with a very low rear wing designed by Eldon Rasmussen. He was also testing the Keith Black 180 degree crank which emitted a very different sound from the fuel hemi. The 180 crank by theory should have been easier on main bearings but as it turned out, there was no difference. Beck was back to a standard set up before the end of the year.[/SIZE]




​

<CENTER> </CENTER>

<CENTER>[SIZE=-1][/SIZE]</CENTER>

<CENTER> </CENTER>

<CENTER></CENTER>

<CENTER> </CENTER>​

 

By the way Gary Beck isn't Canadian........(state of Washington boy.)