Messages

1

Roo Man's Room / Re: Steering arms

« on: July 27, 2018, 06:50:47 AM »

I have a bellcrank for that very reason, I don't like long links coming off the idler.   Mine is laser cut from 3/8" stainless, is bronze bushed on the pivot and rides on a machined boss welded in to the chassis, with nylon shims above and below clamped up with an ally top cap.  The machined boss and ally top cap have recessed grooves to accept the nylon shim. The whole piece is machined such that the preload is bang on.   We did try a roller thrust bearing but it felt notchy.  If I were doing it again, I'd bore the bellcrank to accept a sealed ball bearing.  Overkill but cheap and easy to do.

I spent a lot of time drawing because 6" looked goofy.  I came to the conclusion that it's not really worth worrying about.  I have 6" arms and I locate the drag links directly too the bellcrank dogbone.  You want separate holes in the forward facing end to separate the rod ends.  The gap between those holes has an affect on Ackerman as each wheel is articulating around a different arc and therefore is in a different angular position relative to the other.  Draw it out if you're unsure. 

2

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Chute lever installation in FED

« on: July 27, 2018, 06:16:55 AM »

I like mine on the cage upright on the left (as my left thumb is slower on the transbrake).  I use a solid stainless 1.5mm wire jacketed cable, works great for me.  I make my levers from 6mm plate and ergonomically shape them, not a fan of 3mm flat plate controls.

3

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: calming the car down on the starting line

« on: July 19, 2018, 03:29:33 AM »

I think theres 3 aspects.  Weight, tire pressure and the bar height.  Get the nose weight and tyre pressures balanced so it doesn't dead hook and you get some wheel speed so it reduces the shock load on the bar / tires, then set the bar to just above the tire squat height, about 2" assuming the weight/tire pressure ratio is right.

4

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Basic 355 combo

« on: May 02, 2018, 03:46:29 AM »

I have an opposing view to most...

I've run a big block altered on pump gas down into the low 8's.  My current slingshot is a low 9 injected alky small block

Alky is simple IF, the casting, throttles etc is good, the pump and nozzles are flowed/matched and you have tow vehicle at the track.  If you need it self starting, driving to the line etc and have bought untested secondhand gear, it's not for you.  There is learning curve and if you have issues you could be chasing your tail.

The pump gas route can be an awesome set up, without the cost and maintenance required with other induction set ups.  keep the CR sub 10.5-1, get an electric water pump and fan set up, and the very the best thing you can do with this set up is lock out the dizzy.  If you run it with a curve, the retarded timing at idle will put heat into the heads and build overall engine temp too high.  Lock out the dizzy, the cleaner, longer and more efficient burn, keeps the temps down for burnout and staging, just watch for alky cars doing half track burnouts to build heat...  Keep the pump and fan running on the run for even cylinder temps, and cool it in the pits between rounds with the pump and fan plugged into a slave battery.  If you're going into competition, consider a small alternator from a Kubota digger etc, the benefit of a fully charged battery for hot starting and MSD boxes see 14v outweighs the parasitic loss in my view. 

5

Spud Miller's Cave / Dripper for warm up

« on: March 17, 2018, 03:43:23 AM »

Anybody running a dripper to warm up a stack set up on gas ? We don’t want a permanent tank / pump arrangement on the car, so was thinking of a gravity fed tank into the main line to bv. Will this idle or does it need to be atomised ?

6

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Re: Christmas is coming.

« on: November 05, 2017, 03:01:29 PM »

How do you keep the air cleaners from flopping around on the U-joint?

Easy, never grease them and run them out of phase 

7

Dan Dishon's Transmission Den / Anybody know about T5 manual trans ?

« on: November 05, 2017, 03:00:12 PM »

I want to swap a v8 into a mid 80 Mk3 Ford Capri. Here in the UK, this car was produced with pinto and v6 options but they go great with a V8.

Due to new legislation, cutting into the shell is a problem, so engine and trans must fit the existing tunnel. A 5.0 / T5 would slot in great, but over here decent donors are rare and expensive.  To that end I’ve decided to go Chevy as I can source a motor easier, but still want a T5 as I know it fits the tunnel and has the 5th gear overdriven.

 GM V8 T5’s are rare in the US, let alone here, so I’ve sourced an adapter plate to bolt a Ford T5 to a Chevy bellhousing. A Muncie 11”  bellhousing, I believe you can get these cheap and some have pivots and windows for the clutch arm on the right, which would be good for right hand drive conversion.

Anybody have any experience with converting like this ? . Is there an easier way ?

8

Matt Shaff's Engine Shop / Re: Zoomies vs collector headers

« on: October 02, 2017, 03:19:16 AM »

I've also tested zoomies and headers before.  There is no one single theory as there are so many contributing factors from car to car.  Headers came out marginally better for the engine I was running, but no amount of power increase would make me run them on a digger again, just looks plain wrong.

9

Spud Miller's Cave / Re: Hilborn stack idle problems

« on: September 29, 2017, 08:54:06 AM »

Just a thought When you leak down your barrel valve do you have the secondary blocked off ? Don't know if this will help you but my motor is 394 cubes barrel valve leaks at 24 percent no secondary 0 1/2 pump .037 nozzle .

my partner in the car tunes it and i'm pretty sure he does but will mention it.

10

Spud Miller's Cave / Re: Hilborn stack idle problems

« on: September 29, 2017, 08:53:14 AM »

Running that low of timing in a SBC, I bet your main is fat.  That motor would be happier in the 36* - 40* of timing and leaned out main.

I think there maybe something in that, maybe time to add a little more.

11

Spud Miller's Cave / Re: Hilborn stack idle problems

« on: September 29, 2017, 08:49:01 AM »

 For methanol, I always use 7% of the engine size for an initial leakdown number. That's assuming a 1-2 PSI main check valve.

 So, for you:  420 x .07 = 29

 29% should be really close...within a flat or three...tweak from there for idle EGT of 350-450F and good throttle response when you whack it from an idle.

 Do you have any idle temperature information? Hand-held temp gun shooting the pipes?

 Spud

hi there Spud. 29% wow ?, we're at 25% now and it's fat.  We've very little data on the car due to bad weather.  Warming in the pits we got a reading of 260F off the pipes, with cyl 2 one 60-70F higher.  We looked over this cylinder, it's got good compression, no stuck valves, manifold is torqued, no discernable plug reading or colouring on the pipes and just seems as fat as the rest.

Do you think more timing would help all round at idle, ie cleaner, leaner burn at idle ?  When we took shims from the idle bypass it droped the pressure from 40psi to 30psi but it made no difference to the milking

We have no quibble with how it's running, it's launching off idle great, hitting the bar nice, MPH is right up there as expected 147-148mph, it's just milking the oil and idling too high.  I'm less concerned with the idle now as the convertors loose enough to cope.  We knew it had more in it ie timing and nozzle but until se fix the idle don't feel the need to go after it

12

Roo Man's Room / Re: How much ballast needed on a 60's FED?

« on: September 27, 2017, 06:16:46 AM »

I've had the same problem recently but it was down to a cold and poorly prepped track.  I run about 60lb on the nose of my 138in car with the shorty glide combo.  It still hits the bar but a lot softer now.  Running 31 x 10.5 tires @ 6.5psi.

13

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Front engine digger wheelie bars

« on: September 27, 2017, 05:55:36 AM »

thanks Jon, that's the solution we're thinking of.

14

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: I'm outta here

« on: September 27, 2017, 05:53:36 AM »

that's a shame Bruce.  Facebook is OK but it's only ever a point in time.  It doesn't survive as forums do and you've certainly contributed a huge amount here.  I'll request you on FB (Phil Sweeney) if you don't mind as I dig what you do and how you go about it.

15

Spud Miller's Cave / Re: Hilborn stack idle problems

« on: September 27, 2017, 05:24:59 AM »

so we've put a few more runs on the cars, changing oil every run.  The idle is still high and we popped the idle bypass, Which had the poppet, spring and 3 shims.  We took 2 shims out and saw no difference in the idle or oil milking.  BV is still at 25% or so.  Is there a recommended ratio between BV and Idle leakdown % ?