oh man So much good info here! everything i hoped for an more from all you guys. Really appreciate it.
So just to spell it out - im looking to get into this to build something really really cool, even if that means buying a bare chassis thanks to the Advice on here, i'm not concerned about time or money. m'm well aware of the cost and effort. if i was affraid to spend money, i wouldnt be passionate about Pontiac engines lol.
i dont want to compete, i just want to run this thing at my local track, tune it, run some more, and crunch numbers on what i did and what helped, and what didn't. Just really get down to the nitty gritty stuff.
Its gotta look cool, and oldschool, as mentioned before i plan to just run an N/A Poncho mill to start and get a feel.
Heres my next big question - Thank you to all above who chimed in on the Clutch vs Trans subject. I definitely want to run a Clutch. I get really really excited thinking about running a shorter (180 inch or so) wheelbase with a clutch and some old pie crust slicks and pedaling the thing. Thats what excites me about the stuff you guys do, really fighting to handle a car is by far the most exciting thing to me. Also appreciate the comment about having SAW in the steering. Great example thanks!
So - a couple of things, again thank you all for being so understanding, its really exciting and humbling to come in here and have all you guys freely commenting and helping out, i just cant get over how great of a feeling is, so heres where i'm at.
Running a clutch - obviously the limitations come in pretty quick with Engine RPM and power.
Say i build a 500hp Poncho engine, that falls over after 6k rpm. A 4.10 rear @6k rpm puts me at 140mph - something like that would be more than acceptable for me to have fun and get a feel for everything.
But would 500hp/550 ftlbs (probably making around 400 ft lbs @ 3300) be enough to even get this thing out of the hole when not running a trans. Or was it only the big Nitro engines that could pull that hard off the line to make it worth while using a clutch.
I'd love to Pedal it - not too excited on a fancy slipper clutch but maybe i would enjoy trying to set that up.
You guys mention reversers - is that using the lenco reverse module like on the ST1200 and throwing it off the end of the bell housing, then calling it a day?
plenty more questions to come but i'm already learning a real lot.
Again not trying to compete or run against anyone else, just want to have a dragster that i can enjoy tinkering on, have a blast fighting it down the track, and learning a bunch of things along the way.
Thank you all Again LOVE The pictures!!
Cheers
Sam