Drag Racing Discussions > Front Engine Dragsters

The boys from Kansas are at it again

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Andy Carlson:
The N&P Chrysler Hemi powered B/Jr fuel car won the Bakersfield March Meet Nostalgia drags yesterday. I talked at length with Scott after his amazing 6.81 saturday run which placed him as the #1 qualifier. The #2 qualifier was Don Enriquez, who was the driver of the Gene Adams FED Desoto Hemi powered Jr Fueler which in the 1960s was the 1st un-blown car to top 200 MPH. Don has won many of the Bakersfield Nostalgia Jr fuel events, all in SBCs and runnered up this year to Scott.

The engine has OVER one inch valve lift, and besides larger diameter lifter bores also has the individual shaft T&D rocker arm system. This car is so trick, everywhere you look you something very cool. The engined is oiled with a multi-stage dry sump pump belt driven from the crankshaft, but also has a scavenging pump driven off the cam for the sole purpose of returning oil from the heads back to the reservoir. The vacuum pump, distributor and injector pump are all driven from the front as well.

It was mentioned in an earlier post that this is a 354 block. Scott told me that since the cylinders were totally removed, it made no difference, so they used a less expensive 331 block. Both are low deck blocks, lower than the 392.

The car now has 5 passes on it, has already dipped deep into the 6's, and has a lot more potential. Listening to the engine in warm up is a treat. The 421 inch motor on alcohol is VERY loud, and on the track the noise is clearly different from the small blocks sharing the course. Scott said the motor is run up to 10,000 RPM. Very impressive for an engine designed in Harry Truman's presidency!

This is my 1st post to this forum, and I couldn't be prouder to share what I saw and learned at Bakersfield this week end. I have a 170" FED which I last raced  28 years ago. My plans are to get it freshened up and returned to racing it next year.
-Andy Carlson

wideopen231:
Cooilest part is if you want any of the trick stuff on the car Frank will sell you one.Pretty sure the engine it self may take a while to get though. Then he probably has a spare or two for the car already built.

By chance did you find out weight of new car with the hemi?  Yea those Parks boys are class act for sure.

Thanks for informative post and welcome to site.

Andy Carlson:
I had lots of questions I did not ask, as I felt I may become a nuisance. Scott told me that the heads were cast from patterns they developed in-house, and were shown to NHRA for approval. He said that the original valve angle was maintained, though I would have liked to know if the hemisphere chamber was enlarged since the bore is over 4.125". (I imagine with so much valve lift that the spring pockets were dropped lower into the head casting, as there are no water passages hindering such a move..) Were the lifter bores geometry changed along with the larger size?

I did not ask for the weight, but if I had a current NHRA rule book the B/ND class weight/cubic inch break would allow us to calculate the dragster's minimum weight for the 421 in engine. With N&P efforts always seeming to be lightening the car's weight, I imagine that they have not left much on the table, weight wise. The 421 inch size leads me to believe the car was too heavy with a hemi to meet the class's minimum weight, which is under 400 cu in. Build the engine big enough to fit the car's weight, I suppose. I suspect that there is no block filler in the engine for weight purposes.

Long way to say "I don't know".

George:
I saw the car several months ago in their shop. I think it's fair to say Frank & Scott are weight conscious fabricators.  ;D

wideopen231:
With Parks work on weight savings I would bet the CI is to make the size match the weight and therefore the reason for odd 421ci  number.So 1475 lbs.

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