dragster weight

[L79_Acadian]

 Yes Keith, I hade the body, from 5002 aluminum and the car has a firewall in front of my feet and a full floor.
  All I purchased from Worm is the basic, unwelded chassis that was tacked together. Everything else came from many different places, Mark Williams, S&W, Chassis Shop, Good Vibrations, Jegs, Summit, etc.
  Roger.
 Ps, there is a reason I put a full body on the car....................................................

[dusterdave173]

L79 I LOVE your car--was NOT talking about your car man--the one Roo saw was car I was speaking off--just making sure here

[wideopen231]

Oh I see! Did not say wasn't talking about my car. Man just not feeling the love. Yea in bs mood,

[Paul New]

L79 so is yours a 67 Acadian

[L79_Acadian]

 Paul, I sold the Acadian. It was a 66 L79 Acadian Invader,2 door sedan. Numbers matching, with a 3 on the tree and a open 12 bolt with 3.08 gears.
  Roger

[Paul New]

3 on the tree w/hot rod like that pretty rare car

[ss4]

Hey Dave, Keith is talking about my car.  Not fully sure what the devastating issue is with the lightening holes in the pan under my feet.  I guess it does let the sand in on the return road.  Can't say I see mine as a kit car, but I suppose from the on looker the major parts did come from John over the coarse of 2 years.  but at the end of the day I have the same amount of $$ into my Miller Tig welder than the chassis.

[dusterdave173]

Oh Lordy! I am not hating on anybody
It is clear that Worm cars are not thought well of-- on here--I was just working the crowd here to say that yea--he has sold a hundred and maybe just maybe there are some junky ones out there but my car, your car, and others reresented here are good fun safe cars--man thats it
I will be sure and keep my trap shut and if I get the chance to buy a solid gold california car that won 17 NHRA top fuel races in 1966-1970 with the same crankshaft
and slicks made from unobtanium metal forged by all seven Cali chassis gurus at a drunken orgey then...by golly I will buy it just to be cool too--but until then I am melting rubber and spraying alky everywhere with my unsafe, no good Worm car and ya know what?  I am having a frigging Ball doing it!!!!
Love ya ss4

[LaneM]

Im reading the posts and crackn up...kinda afraid to say anything..lol..but roger I do like your ride it looks like it is really coming together and like one post said..it might b a long winter..waitn to pull the trigger on it..I feel that weight already..got in a handful of passes then bam season here done...and it was 79 and sunny today! good luck with the ride

[ss4]

LMAO  Dave you know me and I am not hating back!   But your reply above is absolutely perfect to the impression pushed onto the rest of us (dummies).   By the way if you find 2 of those cars send the other to Northern Michigan.  We are looking for a Shrine for the sun to shine on in the middle of Winter.  Until then I am going to work on my reaction time as that seems to be the only anchor in my Worm car.

[rooman]

Hey Dave, Keith is talking about my car.  Not fully sure what the devastating issue is with the lightening holes in the pan under my feet.  I guess it does let the sand in on the return road.  Can't say I see mine as a kit car, but I suppose from the on looker the major parts did come from John over the coarse of 2 years.  but at the end of the day I have the same amount of $$ into my Miller Tig welder than the chassis.

There are no problems with the lightened pedal plate at all, just the fact that the car has no belly pan. If sand can get in on the return road, what happens if you have an engine fire? Highly unlikely in that sort of car but this is drag racing and I have seen lots of strange things happen over the 50 yeas that I have been doing this (including some at the CHRR this past weekend). NHRA Rule book section 7:5 (under General Regulations) states "All cars without floors must be equipped with floor pans made of steel or aluminum that must extend the full length and width of the driver's compartment to the rear of the driver's seat. Cars equipped with floors or belly pans made of fiberglass or other breakable material must have metal sub floors." Despite the "rear of seat" wording a floor that extends from the motor plate to under the front of the seat area is normally the acceptable standard in dragsters. I am not sure if you copied that aspect of Worm's house built cars but I have seen lots of them without belly pans including the one that his daughter drives.
  Your car is very well built and presented and a credit to you but I would suggest putting a belly pan on it and also making sure that the front of the cockpit in the vicinity of the motor plate is sealed up.  You may also want to follow duster dave's example and do a seat pour deal so there is something supporting your lower back when you slide your butt forwards to get your legs over the rear end. This past weekend I spent some time with Ken Gentry (NHRA's lead tech guy on the nostalgia side of things) and it appears that there will be a bulletin going out to tech inspectors at NHRA tracks addressing the floor pan issue in general and also the motor plate to frame sealing issue. The generally accepted practice is to put the motor plate at the motor upright (as defined in the SFI spec) so that the plate and body combine to seal the cockpit off from the engine bay. For some reason Worm does not do this so oil, fire (or return road sand) has an easy entry to the cockpit.
  I agree that Worm has put a lot of people in cars that would otherwise still be spectators (but I will also state that is is not the 150 that he claims) but as I have also stated in discussions on Facebook he has been building the same car since he started while every other chassis builder that I know constantly strives to improve his product. The Cen-Pen car that I have been reworking for one of my customers came with a steering box cross member that was simply a piece of .095 wall tubing with a hole drilled in each end where it was tabbed to the frame--no bushing or slug to support the tube. The fact that the motor plate is not at an upright is also poor engineering practice and he only gets away with it because of the .095 wall tube that he uses. And that brings up another point. Slip fitting 1 1/4" tubing into 1 1/2" x .095 is also poor practice as there is considerable radial space between the two. Normally accepted practice is to go in 1/8" diameter increments with .058 wall tubing which is a close slip fit. I know that he has told customers that purchased his kit frame that they need to rosette weld the tubes at the step as that is what the spec calls for but that is incorrect. At a step down splice welding at the step is sufficient although in the case of the case of Worm's frame the rosette as probably a good idea as it will reduce the chance of the small tube moving around inside the large on and fatiguing the weld at the step.
  Everything that Worm has done with the design and construction of his cars is aimed at making the cars quick to build from his end. That is why he does not cope the front frame tubes where they intersect the torsion bar. The mounting "rings" (for want of a better term) and doubler plates that he uses add a little in material cost but that is more than offset by the time that he saves. Likewise the fact that the cockpit diagonals are only notched to the uprights rather than being fitted into the corner of the upright/frame rail junction, the single plane notch is quicker. Let me add that some chassis builders do the single plane notch but in their case is to allow some flex in the frame and with Worm's all 1 1/2" x .095" back half that is not the reason that he does it. The car that I have here has a splice in the front lower frame rails about half way between the motor and the torsion bar--I guess that he ran out of long sticks of tubing, or as this was the "Giveaway" car from a couple of years back maybe he was just trying to save money.
   And while we are on the subject of the "Giveaway" car did you ever wonder how many people anted up the $25 for a T-shirt to get in on that deal? At a cost of around $5 or $6 dollars for the shirt there is plenty of money coming in to cover the cost of the frame and the "winner" will usually spend more money on parts to complete the car.   There have been lots of comments about how cheap Worm's cars are but if you go to his web site and tick all the boxes on the spread sheet to come up with a roller package you will be within about $1K of the cost of a Neil and Parks car and they are the Cadillac of the FED world.
   Rant over!

Roo

[L79_Acadian]

 Hi Keith (Rooman),
 For what I paid for Worms chassis, I couldn't buy the Chromoly tubing up here in Canada. That's all I bought from John. The front axle is a Mark Williams piece , the steering box and spindles are from Strange,parts came from S&W race cars, and the Chassis Shop. Why would I buy something from Worm when I can buy the same piece from somebody else for less money. I have emailed Worm for two decals to put on the car, giving credit when credit is due, but after numerous attempts, John has never replied to me. Maybe because I haven't bought anything else from him, who knows? That's why I put a full body on the car, to hide that front end mounting system, thus disguising who actually made the car.
I have a firewall in front of my feet, and a full floor, sealing out the elements, like a door car.
 Enough of a rant for now,
        Roger

[dusterdave173]

I will be the very first to admit it--If or when I ever do another FED I will make a trip to Roos and or Neil and parks--That is a promise!!!!
My first rodeo has been like my first marriage--I did not do a very complete interview and then had to live with the shortcommings for a lot longer than I cared to
I know enough NOW to do different--but 2 3/4 years ago when I started this I did not--bought my chassis unwelded with frt axle for $2K from a divorce deal--thought since I could have it welded that I could control that crucial issue and go from there.
We rookies really DO appreciate that this forum gives us access to some real car building GURU guys--THANKS for your time!!!! Really Thanks!!!!
So....help the guys like us that are darned determined to be safe, have FUN, and field an  FED in this world of NOS Mustangs and otherwise boring  --drag racing.
We need ya'll but you guys need us too- maybe??
Everybody smile now.
Oh...and please change the Featured Dragster for Petes sake

[GlennLever]

I will be the very first to admit it--If or when I ever do another FED I will make a trip to Roos and or Neil and parks--That is a promise!!!!
My first rodeo has been like my first marriage--I did not do a very complete interview and then had to live with the shortcommings for a lot longer than I cared to
I know enough NOW to do different--but 2 3/4 years ago when I started this I did not--bought my chassis unwelded with frt axle for $2K from a divorce deal--thought since I could have it welded that I could control that crucial issue and go from there.
We rookies really DO appreciate that this forum gives us access to some real car building GURU guys--THANKS for your time!!!! Really Thanks!!!!
So....help the guys like us that are darned determined to be safe, have FUN, and field an  FED in this world of NOS Mustangs and otherwise boring  --drag racing.
We need ya'll but you guys need us too- maybe??
Everybody smile now.
Oh...and please change the Featured Dragster for Petes sake

"Featured Dragster"

[Paul New]

I think he is referring to the home page
http://www.frontenginedragsters.org