Messages

1

Roo Man's Room / Re: chassis top rail has bowed outwards/front motor mounts

« on: June 01, 2021, 04:39:13 AM »

Thank you all for your comments, very helpful. I had the chassis front halved but now I'm worried about the front engine mounts. The chassis is slightly taller and narrower and so the old mounts do not fit. New mounts mean the plates are at a downward angle which worries as if the engine drops slightly in a wheelie they wont be rigid enough to stop the engine pushing the top rails out - again! I think the mounts should take a vertical load only to prevent this, especially as the saddle mount is hose clipped to the top rail(Micalor clip in fact) but I'm not a chassis pro. I'm thinking of having plates which pick up the water pump bolts as well as the lower air conditioning bolts and having the plates sit over the top rail. What do you guys think, am I overthinking this?

2

Roo Man's Room / Re: chassis top rail has bowed outwards

« on: November 30, 2020, 05:41:57 AM »

Hi Magnus, the steering box is tied to both top chassis rails, the bowing out started in front of the motor and the chassis builder has concluded that a wheel stand did this when the engine came down with the chassis and the weight sprung the top rail out, its also made a a slight curve on the LOWER frame rail on the opposite side, aren't wheelies great . I'm having to front end the chassis now, with extra bracing.

3

Roo Man's Room / Re: chassis top rail has bowed outwards

« on: November 14, 2020, 03:43:56 AM »

Hi Roo Man, what do you think? Value your comments

4

Roo Man's Room / chassis top rail has bowed outwards

« on: November 13, 2020, 05:02:35 AM »

Got a bit of a conundrum with my FED, its a 150" mild steel chassis with an injected Chevy small block. The chassis is 5 years old, built to SFI 7.50. Only done 30 runs as I only do 3 meetings a year, its a hobby car, not ultra serious but I don't stint on what it needs. Its a regular low 9 second car but got it into the 8s in 2019. Taking the motor out, I noticed that the offside top chassis rail(that's the right-side from the drivers seat) is bowed out by about 3/4". At the front the motor mounts on saddle brackets held with Micalor hose type clips. I'm thinking that in a wheel stand the right side front motor mount slipped because of the weight of the motor and then pushed the chassis rail out? Also the torque reaction of the motor would tend to push the motor down and push against the right hand side chassis rail which might worsen the effect of a wheel stand. These are thoughts that I've had. Regarding saddle mounts, wouldn't these work better if dowelled? Of course I've got to get it fixed or may be front halved? I would be very interested in what you guys think, having a bit more experience than me, thanks.

5

Spud Miller's Cave / Acetone in methanol - good or bad idea

« on: October 02, 2018, 03:13:58 AM »

This year I tried 3% acetone in methanol, more as an aid to staring the engine from cold rather than extra power. It certainly helped with the first cold start, fired up quicker and felt stronger before getting up to race temperature. I've found now that my Enderle fuel pump has definitely gone off. I had to go from a 75 pill (when admittedly the engine was too rich, but running clean), down to a 50 to get within 3 tenths of my previous best time. Could the acetone have damaged the pump? ( I have been following all the recommended procedures to clean the system after each race) I'm in the UK, not sure if you guys in the US use acetone, our motor cycling sprinters use it over here, so its not unknown. Would welcome your comments

6

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: I know Why NITRO is $35 a Gallon

« on: April 29, 2018, 08:00:09 AM »

You guys are so lucky being able to get nitro so easily, here in the UK you have to have a Home Office (that's like Homeland Security) registration  to buy nitro. Its because nitro can be used for bomb making by terrorists, you also have to keep records of use and you cant sell of the back of your trailer. Basically you have to be a company and if your claiming sponsorship to have a decal on the car. I only want to try 20% or so and not buy a 55 gallon barrel which would take me forever to use and I couldn't sell on to another racer. I've seen small quantities of 20% for radio controlled model cars but because they have 2 stroke engines, castor oil is added for lube. Would smell nice but not do much for the plugs! Has anyone tried it?