Drag Racing Discussions > Front Engine Dragsters
engine location
dreracecar:
If there was a formula to figure this out all cars would be the same
I put my motor out 39" because I'm cheap and did not want to spend money on extra couplers and shafts which adds slop to the driveline. Coupler in the trans to the coupler on the R/E. 1.07 60' and hitting the 7.0 index--- LEARN how to make it work
The reality is that the front motor cars that we try to represent were only around for 6-7 years and were in constant evolution because they were raced every weekend. That gave the racer a lot of oppertunity to expirement and change. Now jump 30 years ahead when the modern front motor cars began to come back. The evolution at that point was hampered by only being able to race on a qualified track surface was limited to 3-4 times a year (still does). When a builder says that they tested and found that having motor out 47.634" is where it should be, That means that he built the car with that dimension and had no problems. Now another builder puts the engine out 49.331" out and wins the next race, Does that mean that the first car go back to the shop and have the motor out increased 1.697" --NO
Far too many variables to conclude proper placement of the engine as Jon mentioned, But for me personally as a builder, I prefer the engine back for any type of Index racing as it consentrates the weight on the rear tires. Moving the engine weight forward between the front and rear tires gives the motor and chassis more spring, now you bang the tranny brake into the stage beam and the engine starts to bounce and now the load changes when you release the brake depending on weather the motor is going up or down. Until somebody builds a car that can change motor location in 1" increments and be able to do 6 hot lap passes while testing at the same track and do the same at another track in order to compare notes, there is really no absolute answer -just opinion and you have mine
H.G. Wells:
Bruce, I do not always agree with everything you say but, that explanation was spot on.
Mine is 43 out, but somewhat by accident. Was intended to be 40 for the same reason as you, till we moved the rear end. Someone who is more sophisticated than I and can gather data and test changes may be able to show why a blown hemi needs a different placement than an injected SBC, but I am with you in that there are other things to change and make work with any combination.
My last chassis worked as an injected SBC, but would not hook with the blown BBC. Had nothing to do with the engine placement or even the chassis, and everything to do with converter, tire and wheelie bar.
When I built my first FED I joked that if I asked 12 different people a question on how to do something I would get 13 different answers. And most of them are right.
LZ:
Hello Dean:
Just my stupid opinion from what I have seen and heard with concerns to this along the way.
A big consideration in this equation is you say your running a Glide now (short?). But what down the road you may have to consider is if you decide to go to a clutch or different trans ( on your down the road combo) and all that wraps around that. Serviceability, Clutch pedal, getting trans out of car without moving engine. etc bla bla bla.
Important also to consider resale of your car. Someone else may have a combination needing the room and or pedal, lever brake mounts. Maybe little things but could mean a sale in these declining drag race times. If thats important to you.
Sounds like your building a car and that leaves you the chance to make the car for you and to consider its new owner when time comes.
make sense? Not the beast at putting thoughts to words. :o
Thanks and shout out to someone I am lucky enough to call friend for working- experiencing issues such as this
Thanks Matt (frontenginedragsters) 8)
Luke
masracingtd1167:
When Frank and Scott built my car it was back in 2002 and at that time they were building them at 36 inches out and that's where mine is . If I were to build a new car I guess it would be with the motor a little further out . As Bruce said there is no magic formula for this and you have to make it work for you and your combo !I have raced mine for over 10 years now and have made my car work quite well ! I have also made a lot of mistakes along the way . You have to keep working at it !
noslin:
thank you all for your replys. the immediate goal is NE1 and then 7.0 Pro. will prob run a 454.. 460.. or whatever the engine will work out to be in that area first and run NE1. it will be a MFI setup, non blown. we will be racing at sac and Bakersfield, tnt at redding (home). redding is not the best but its 2 miles from my house and we can at least run the car down the track, make some laps and learn. looking at schedules, there is three races at sac we could hit and MM and CHRR. i expect (guess) car with driver non-blown to be about 1600lbs. i dont know what these things are supposed to weigh so im guessing 1600 with driver. i weigh probably 210 suited up. (weigh 200 if i can lay off the cookies and cake)
my plan is for as LZ noted, looking at resale value. with that in mind, it will be built to 2.2c sfi spec. will have 2 chutes, 2 fire bottles, etc. rear isnt a floater right now but if we do go a/fuel then of course it will be along with whatever else is needed to run that class.
we have been doing heads up racing in the vw world and talked about maybe trying a/fuel down the road with a blown setup. then as mentioned, that would require a whole different engine, trans, rearend package. i doubt it will happen but you never know.
in talking with the builder, i think he is about 52".. ill have to ask again as i did not write that down on my notes. i thought i would just ask for opinions.
thank you all again for your input.
Dean
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