i'm sorry if this is a duplicate question, but... i've done flames on my car and a buddy's car before and i know flames but can anyone offer some tips/advice for throwin' big lazy balls of flames rather than shootin' a common flame? i'd really rather not use propane, but open to hearing about other flame 'aids'... thanks.
haha... let me tell you this story. I first had flamethrowers on my shoebox in high school 11yrs ago. My shoebox ford. I had the "normal" flame throwers with a choke. I had bigger flames than my buddy in his '47 ford so he put a CHOKE on his 350 4bbl set up. GOT BIGGER FLAMES. SO BIG YOU COULDNT SEE THE CAR. one tailpipe would light roll around in the air in a spiral and light the other side... then both lit rolling behind the car in two big swirling fire balls So big and crazy he couldnt stop running around throwing flames... and his engine was toast in less than a month. SECOND STORY went to a show in St.Cloud Mn. Some kid had some goofy ass injection setup useing a furnace igniter. He injected GAS. So he came by my shoebox and was like dude you have flamethrowers... bla bla bla... he could tell by the big blue/chrome discolored pipes... im like Yeah. So he wants to show me his... gets his yellow nova 4 door and starts REVVING his engine injecting gas but no flames... REVVVV REVVVV no flames injecting the whole damn time... then... this burst of fire about 20 feet long comes flying out the ass of the car and back up the pipe like a dragon coughed... looked like one of those military throwers.. I could see underneath his car the flames ran up the pipe, jumped outside the pipe and onto the rearend where all the excess gas was running. The rear end went UP IN FLAMES... everyone starts screaming at him... YOUR CARS ON FIRE. Dude jumps out and tries to get into his TRUNK where the fire extinquisher is. he gets the fire out... and his "MOM" walks up to me and asked... Does that ever happen to you? WTF is wrong with people??? I'll give you a TIP BIGGER FLAMES and FIREBALLS are DANGEROUS in any form. I laughed my ass off at the pileup with king vd king giveing other guys "pointers" like he was a PRO FLAMETHROWER... flamethrowers are cool but when they get too big they're just stupid. I'll stick with my marginal flamethrowers...
thanks tuck, that's what i'm lookin' for: ADVICE. there are some good points there, some reasons for me to stay with the traditional flame, but i can't reason it out in my head why your buddy's engine was spent from throwin' too many flames... any ideas?
To much raw gas being pumped through the engine. Washed all the oil off the cylinder walls. Also diluted the oil to the point where it wouldn't lubricate any more. Goodbye new motor... You need to change the oil very frequently when using the choke method. -Bugman Jeff
Ditto what Bugman said. It is really cool to see flames shooting out the tail pipes, but from a functional stand point, you ruin your engine, you waste gas, and run the risk of blowing your car up. Are you 100% positive your gas tank has no vapor leaks coming out? If it does, it'll be in the rear of the car, the same place the flames will be shooting from the tailpipes. Just a couple more things to think about.
the reason my flathead is still running fine is that I change the oil every night I light up the throwers for a long period of time... If I do it a few times no big deal but they wash down the walls like they mentioned above... and I too wrecked my first flatty by NOT changeing the oil. I change my oil every 500 miles now, sometimes less... i dont really care its the cheapest form of prevention... and it SHOWS my car is still runnin smoooooth.
In friends Dodge is flamethrower that choke kind of, in last summer we fired up barbeque grills with it Now I'm working with my flamethrower there is some four cylinder distributor which is operated with heater blower's motor, diesel fuel/gasoline mixture is injected before sparkplugs but after extra air intake holes. Watch out tuning-teens I'll melt down your front wings kidding
When i first started using my flame throwers I went ape shitt, I would lite them at the drop of a hat the only problem is ......I can't see'm while I'm opperating them. Now I only lite'm up at a show or for the neighborhood kids. It's much cooler when you moderate the use.
thanks,all... i thought that was the reason, but like i said, i couldn't 'follow thru' in my head. it seems everything i do, i do the hard way, so i'll be shootin' flames and draggin' frame, but i'll definitely do the oil change after a show/every 500 miles. i believe that anything is possible, some things are improbable, but anything is possible. i just have to figure how to make it work (i.e. frequent oil changes, SEALED gas tank). later.
or another idea.... "t" off your gas line, run anelectric pump, "t" off that run to NOS solinoids, and spraybars in the tail pipes, it's adjustable and won't hurt the motor, i got that set up on my car, small 3-4 footers, but fun, and completely adjustable
Sick picture... my friend just set some up on his Galaxie. I need to get some shots of it pretty soon... he's got those fishtails on it, so it makes the shape of the flame really something.
Ok, so I'm gonna jump in here and ask maybe a dumb question. When I was at the Ducktail Run in Indiana they had a get together at the local high school on Thurs nite. A bunch of guys were there with their flamethrowers, which is pretty cool to watch, but what's up with the back firing? Intead of "who's flames were bigger" it was "who's car could back fire loudest". I don't get that. It's just plain annoying, not to mention hard on the ear drums. There were people there with small children, which I think is cool, but they should have had ear plugs for 'em 'cause this was freakin' loud! To me, it's kinda like watchin' those jumpin' cars. Maybe I'm just too old.
yessir, get me some flame throwers, some hydros and a spinning bed for my truck. I be bouncin, throwin fire, and tiltin my p/u box. I will be the KOOLEST KAT in the parking lot at the next WWF show! keepin it real!
[ QUOTE ] but what's up with the back firing? [/ QUOTE ] Either they're not letting the car warm up or their plugs ain't firing right...