rollers

[noslin]

seen a few nostalgia pictures where the fed's rear wheels were on a roller(s).  appears to be as pulling into or where the water box would be.

what was the purpose for these. 



ty
dean

[ricardo1967]

Crank the engine.

Bad ass picture by the way!

[Paul New]

Yes start the car!
In the 80's there was a car that would come to Woodburn with a set of portable rollers it was pretty cool!

[GlennLever]

Look at the size of the electric motor running this one.

[crider]

That is one big motor on there. I remember seeing picks of the roller starters at I think Englishtown, that had a small block chevy running the rollers

[dreracecar]

Back then there were no burnouts, fired up on the rollers and pull to the line

[GlennLever]

Back then there were no burnouts, fired up on the rollers and pull to the line

The burn out was the length of the track.

[noslin]

cant take credit for the pic, seen it on the FED fb feed and yellowbullet.  i think same person posted it in both.  lots of neat pictures.

so they went from push starting to using the rollers.  what type of trans were they using back then? did they have provisions on the trans/motor for starter ?  if they did, id imagine they would not use to save weight?

ty
dean

[Paul New]

so they went from push starting to using the rollers.  what type of trans were they using back then? did they have provisions on the trans/motor for starter ?  if they did, id imagine they would not use to save weight?

No transmission no reversers clutch to coupler to rear end. No on starters mounted on these cars

[Roger]

Roller starter at Englishtown, powered by a small block Chevy.

[coupemerc]

Epping used to have rollers in the pits just past half track. I believe they could fire the cars, drive out onto the track, head backwards towards the starting line and do a three + point turn behind the line to get the car heading in the right direction.

[wideopen231]

Just think about the whinning about the time it took to run a round if you did this today.Nostalgia crowd may love it,but if at event with regular cars running you would need tractor trailer load of tissue.LOL

[JrFuel Hayden]

Yup, used rollers in Kaukana, Wisconsin, now called the Wisconsin International Raceway, with my nitro JrFueler and my BB/GD. I think they went to rollers because tracks like Lyons did and it made the rounds quicker, and insurance companies happy. Kaukana used a Chevy engine with a trans, so they could back-up the nitro motors to clear them out.
Auto trans didn't work or the B&M torque converters had problems too. Then of course the blower starters became the thing, but tricky because most of the TF car had the front driver cars way back with limited room for the blower starters they use now.
It's all too bad, because  I miss the show of the 1/4 mile push start days with a turn-around behind the start line. The slow look at the cars, the cackle of the motors the length of the stands. 

Jon

[ricardo1967]

I love this push start scene, from Drag Racer (1971) movie:

[Roger]

Wow, some great shots! Thanks ricardo