Ney guy here.

[PalliP]

Hi there guys.
I have been waching here for a while and reading through your knowledge and it has helped with ideas.  I have tried dragracing With only the rallycross cars I have been competing through the years.  I have also been in formulaoffroad and I have built my rigs self, and had them working my self.  Now I am going to build me a slingshot and try the fun what you guys subscribe on my one 
I have built me a jig, 330 cm long to build the Cage and front of the motor.
I am going to use sbc 350 and th350 auto and a 9" ford.
1.I ordered some blueprints from Mark Williams to see how the proffs build it, are they ok to follow?
2.The drawings show a rail With no suspension front, whats Your appenion on that?
3.I want it shorter, thinkin about 160" is the suspension critical for a shorter car?
4.With that setup, would you have the motor more front and put in a driveshaft?  I am nearly 2 meters long so my legs are allways in the way.
IŽll put in a photo of the jigg, as you can see it is on wheels, Iam planning to work on it home and at my work, so it is easier to move it.
Hoping to learn more from you guys, thanks alot for a good page
With regards
Palli P
Norway.
 

[rooman]

Pallip,
           At 160" wheelbase I would consider using a torsion bar on the front--the shortest rigid car that I have built was 175". The Mark Williams blueprint should be a good guide but check with whatever sanctioning group that you will be running with to see what they require. I usually put the motor about 42" out (centerline of rear axle to back of block) on 200" plus cars although a little further out may help reduce wheelstands with the shorter wheelbase.
If you leave the start line in low gear with the th350 the torque multiplication will also have a tendency to make the car want to wheelstand. Apart from some Competition eliminator cars just about everyone uses a powerglide as a dragster is light enough that it will launch OK with the taller low gear.

Roo

[PalliP]

Thank you for a good answer 
The drawing shows the width were you sit about 20", is it the "normal" Width or do you mesure Your behind for a custom mesure, then it has to bee wither on the sholder for Space for the shoulders.

Is it ok to shorten the car on the drawing and have the axle on the same place and all the tubes in Place as the drawings show!

I will bee useing twin turbo setup and stall about 3500rpm and was thinkin about launching in second, dont you think the Th350 will hold up?
I have allready built the turbo system and tryed it in a Jeep cj.
Thanks again.
Palli P

[rooman]

PalliP,
         20" is pretty much a standard inside width for a shoulder hoop unless you are wide across the shoulders (like Glenn). A lot of car have some taper built in with the lower rail closer together than the top as most people are narrower at the hips (although I have seen some WalMart customers that refute that reasoning). Depending on how much you shorten the car from the blueprint you need the space the uprights and cross members to match.
  If you have not already seen the Hot Rod magazine story on the building of Ed Pink's Old Master it is worth a read as it explains a lot of the reasoning and techniques that went into building what was an outstanding car.
 Hopefully this link will take you to the article.              http://wediditforlove.com/techtalk18.html

Roo

[janjon]

Way interesting article.

[GlennLever]

         20" is pretty much a standard inside width for a shoulder hoop unless you are wide across the shoulders (like Glenn).

Roo

What are you tring to say, that I'm to big

[PalliP]

PalliP,
         20" is pretty much a standard inside width for a shoulder hoop unless you are wide across the shoulders (like Glenn). A lot of car have some taper built in with the lower rail closer together than the top as most people are narrower at the hips (although I have seen some WalMart customers that refute that reasoning). Depending on how much you shorten the car from the blueprint you need the space the uprights and cross members to match.
  If you have not already seen the Hot Rod magazine story on the building of Ed Pink's Old Master it is worth a read as it explains a lot of the reasoning and techniques that went into building what was an outstanding car.
 Hopefully this link will take you to the article.              http://wediditforlove.com/techtalk18.html

Roo

Thanks, I will read it, saw it some time ago but didnt read it then
Glenn you are looking good,  it takes a long time to build up a good traction weight  I know every thing about that, now I have to build a rig that I can be in the middle because no lockers holds up when I sit on the left side

[PalliP]

Hi there.

I have been Reading the article about the Old Master again and again and I have a question (probably a stupid one)  why is the motor lower at front, is it because of the grafity point?  or is it deeper thoughts behind it?  In the Old Master the motor is 8 degres lower at front.

Another thing I cant decide, that is the tire size.  I have to make up my mind about that so I can build the brackets for the axle, and fasten the motor.  The motor and axle are now setup as I would use 32" tires and it is 5 degrees and With 32" tires I have 9 cm to the ground up to the lower tubes.  I am wondering about lowering the motor/axle to use 28" tires and then I have more room for my big as and legs as the axle goes down.
Then the damper on the engine will be about 2cm from the lower point of the tubes.
Am I thinkin this in the wrong way?

Thanks again for great answers.
Regards.
Palli

[PalliP]

More pics.

[rooman]

Palli,
       the big dump angle on the motor was how things were done back then, now most are level or half a degree down. Progress looks good on your car and I love the mobile jig. I would make one suggestion and that is to move the rear motor upright so that it is in line with the back of the block and thus will support the rear motor plate better. Doing it that way also helps seal the cockpit off from the engine bay a little better.

Roo

[PalliP]

Thanks for a quick reply.
The mobile jig comes in handy, because I am doing this at work 
It sounds like a good idea to set the motor in one or two degrees, I think it will simplify Things.
What about the tiresize,  am I far away with 28" or should I continue With 32".  It will probably be better degree of the driver With the axle little bit lower.
What is the common ground clearance under the car?  I thougth I had seen it in some regulations that 4 inch was the lowest?

The upprights is just temporary there, I was figuring the hight of the shoulder hoop.

Thanks again.
Palli

[rooman]

Palli,
       the minimum ground clearance in most rule books is 3" to a point 12" behind the front wheels and then 2" for the rest of the car. I usually set my lower rails at 3.25-3.5" from the front end to the motor plate and then they rake up from there. The 28" tire diameter will limit you somewhat in choices and width--I usually set my cars up to run a 31" tire if there are no specific choices by the owner. That way you can run anything from the nostalgia top fuel tire (12-13" wide) and up. With that diameter I set the axle centerline at 15" off the ground plane.

Roo

[dreracecar]

Hi there.

I have been Reading the article about the Old Master again and again and I have a question (probably a stupid one)  why is the motor lower at front, is it because of the grafity point?  or is it deeper thoughts behind it?  In the Old Master the motor is 8 degres lower at front.

Another thing I cant decide, that is the tire size.  I have to make up my mind about that so I can build the brackets for the axle, and fasten the motor.  The motor and axle are now setup as I would use 32" tires and it is 5 degrees and With 32" tires I have 9 cm to the ground up to the lower tubes.  I am wondering about lowering the motor/axle to use 28" tires and then I have more room for my big as and legs as the axle goes down.
Then the damper on the engine will be about 2cm from the lower point of the tubes.
Am I thinkin this in the wrong way?

Thanks again for great answers.
Regards.
Palli

Dont get worked up on motor angle,  Its a relationship of 4 things
1-Tire size and how high you mount the rear end
2- type of rear end, Fords pinion is .500" lower than Chrysler- so less angle
3- how far out the engine is from MP to rear axle CL
4-front of oil pan/ blower pulley to ground clearence
Once those are set the angle is what it is

[PalliP]

Hi there guys.
Thanks for all the good advises and merry Christmas!
I made some progress with my project.  I lowered the axle about 3 cm and the backend of the motor.  The line is now 2degrees.  There is now more room for my legs 
I also moved the upper frame rail up so there is just enough Space the take out the last sparkplugs.  I think I will have more strength in the rail that way.

[dreracecar]

My personal preference is to have the rear end uprite no more than 1" ahead of the rear end housing as it makes the RE tighter to the frame so the chassie reacts better, too far back and the RE can dance and that magnifys if you run a really wide tire. Also at this time before you go further I would cut the shoulder hoop (between the front rollbar and the foward seat uprite) and install the inner (sleave) tubing support, Now is the time even tho you might not need it now for the spec, it might happen later or you might go up in class or sell the chassie to sombody esle