Front End Designs / traction issues

[Van]

I have had 3 cars that were fixed that way, One Frank (the old man) RCS did - another Dave CCE did & I did the last one myself. Never regreted doing any of them that way. I do understand what's involved, thats what I enjoy doing.

[DragsterNut]

Thank you all for the input and advice!  I think for now I'm going to get the Jesels installed, lengthen and lower the wheelie bar, get the gear ratio right to turn 8500 thru. the traps with the 31x12 tire.  I may play with the 10.5's a little because I have them but I see the 31x12 is probably where I will end up.  As for cutting the car up, I did that once before to get to this point.  Not a problem but my plan is to learn what I can with this car and graduate to a real Jr. Fuel car in the future. I've attached a pic of the old car and the new car.

[DragsterNut]

Here is what the car looked like before the new motor and smaller tires due to Good Year discontinuing the 30 x 11.5 I had.

[DragsterNut]

Thank you all for the help and advice. Over the winter I put in a new A1 7 inch billet aluminum conveter, 4.56 gears, 12 x 31 Hoosiers, new Weld 2.0 rims, and set the wheelie bar at 1.5 inches. Last night at Gateway I finished all of my licence passes endind with a 7.80 at 170.  1.140 60 ft.  No violence at all. The converter is stalling 7500, shifting at 8800.  The converter ratio at the trapps was 1.05. Still spinning too much but getting closer.  I didn't want to experiment too much. I just needed to get my licence passes in. 

[masracingtd1167]

We were just talking about tires in another thread ! Is the Hoosier you are running a new tire ? I had heard that they were working on  A new Junior Fuel tire . Sound like you are heading in the right direction with your car !

[LZ]

Thank you all for the help and advice. Over the winter I put in a new A1 7 inch billet aluminum conveter, 4.56 gears, 12 x 31 Hoosiers, new Weld 2.0 rims, and set the wheelie bar at 1.5 inches. Last night at Gateway I finished all of my licence passes endind with a 7.80 at 170.  1.140 60 ft.  No violence at all. The converter is stalling 7500, shifting at 8800.  The converter ratio at the trapps was 1.05. Still spinning too much but getting closer.  I didn't want to experiment too much. I just needed to get my licence passes in.

Nice going Bud,  especially with the 335 ford. 3 cools for you
Luke

[tire wiper]

Thank you all for the help and advice. Over the winter I put in a new A1 7 inch billet aluminum conveter, 4.56 gears, 12 x 31 Hoosiers, new Weld 2.0 rims, and set the wheelie bar at 1.5 inches. Last night at Gateway I finished all of my licence passes endind with a 7.80 at 170.  1.140 60 ft.  No violence at all. The converter is stalling 7500, shifting at 8800.  The converter ratio at the trapps was 1.05. Still spinning too much but getting closer.  I didn't want to experiment too much. I just needed to get my licence passes in.

Congratulations. Can you share with us the weight of the car accross the scales; rod length; and who did your heads? You might consider shortening the ram tubes when they get near the top of your 'Bang for the Bucks' list. McKray built a 406 Cleveland-Head Ford (tall block, long rod) back in the mid 1990s that was promissing. That car was sold to a SWJFA participant who in turn sold it to the Frye Bros of Ohio. They had a crash and a trailer fire that greatly affected their racing.

Thanks

[DragsterNut]

Congratulations. Can you share with us the weight of the car accross the scales; rod length; and who did your heads? You might consider shortening the ram tubes when they get near the top of your 'Bang for the Bucks' list. McKray built a 406 Cleveland-Head Ford (tall block, long rod) back in the mid 1990s that was promissing. That car was sold to a SWJFA participant who in turn sold it to the Frye Bros of Ohio. They had a crash and a trailer fire that greatly affected their racing.

Thanks. The car is 1650# with me.  Im 218. The rod lenghth is 6.125.  I did all of the head work.  I'm no expert but have a local mentor who is.  These are not the good heads.  I have a set that I'm working on for the next motor that have many more hours in them.  The tubes are shorter thsn in the old pic.  Here is a pic of the new motor.  I've also invested in a dynamic cylinder pressure analyzer from TFX that also shows the intake and exhaust pressure waves.  I have done some preliminary dyno work with it.  I'm still learning about what to do with what it is telling me. 

[DragsterNut]

We were just talking about tires in another thread ! Is the Hoosier you are running a new tire ? I had heard that they were working on  A new Junior Fuel tire . Sound like you are heading in the right direction with your car !

This is not a new tire as far as I know.  These were out at least for 2 years.  I was looking at them 2 years ago but was not smart enough to know I needed them.  The folks here got me on the right track.  My car was so violent with the 8 inch converter and the old 10.5 tires that I couldn't make more than 3 passes without severe back issues.  Now it is so smooth it is somewhat boring.

[225digger]

what is the tire part # ?

[DragsterNut]

what is the tire part # ?

18225C11

[LZ]

Hi Drag:
Once again way cool with the 335. Love those engines and great to see one in a FED.
So am I seeing high port heads in that photo??  Did you do them or are they older heads? Are you using them again or going to an aftermarket on your new heads?
Thanks for posting on your gr ogress . This is way fun to read about.
Luke

[DragsterNut]

Hi Drag:
Once again way cool with the 335. Love those engines and great to see one in a FED.
So am I seeing high port heads in that photo??  Did you do them or are they older heads? Are you using them again or going to an aftermarket on your new heads?
Thanks for posting on your gr ogress . This is way fun to read about.
Luke

Thanks for the complements.  I did these heads myself.  The new heads are done the same way.  I'm not aware of any aftermarket iron heads that are in production any more.  CHI used to make an iron version of the 3v head.  They quit and I haven't found any for sale.  I have a complete 429ci Windsor smallblock with c302 heads that I may drop in sometime and run the 7.50 pro NDRL class.  For now my goal is to run 8.00 and sqeeze as much out of this old Cleveland as I can. 

I bought my first fed when I was in highschool (wanted a fuel altered, MOM said NO). I put a real stock Boss 302 in it and ran 9.50's.  Then I built my current car from scratch in 2005 with a stock 351c and ran 8.50's but burned up parts right an left learning the whole way.  Wanting to get into porting, I built a flowbench and started on a set of Cleveland heads for the car.  Needless to say, I'm still learning... These heads on the car flow 315 and I have a new set that flow 330.  My goal is 360 or higher.  I've thought about designing a new iron head and having it cast(something that would flow 420 or so).  I've laser scanned the stock head and have played with it in solidworks for a bit.  I had to stop for a bit and kill some cancer. But now its game-on!

[Mark Midler]

You didn't say what length your car is. If it is a long wheelbase car you need to go to as narrow a front end as you feel comfortable with while still staying legal. This makes the car easier to steer then ad some weight to the front. Then try launching it at 4000 instead of 5500, you'll find it having real control of traction at the moment of power attack and it won't take any time after the start to get to where it usually runs, but, these things should help. Additionally, it is always a good idea to remove the front suspension on these cars. You can weld on the axle if you include two braces that are  welded. This keeps the lift of the front axle setup from promoting chassis lift. You mite not think it can do much of that, but, on our old Top Fuel car it was all we had to do to prevent another terrible wheelie up on the chutes, and change that to a controlled carry of the left front wheel just an inch off the track for 100ft or so. Remember the less power you have and the higher you stall the more likely you will lift the wheels. Good luck.

[retroboy]

I had a quick look at the Hosier page and it shows the 31 x 12 tyre 18225C11 as being a medium/firm compound with a stiff sidewall. Lot of tyre talk here of late.