Messages

1

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Step 1 for a FED: Planning!

« on: June 22, 2015, 08:27:05 PM »

Sorry,

Life got in the way lately.  Central Texas near Austin.

-Jenrick

2

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Step 1 for a FED: Planning!

« on: June 16, 2015, 05:55:30 PM »

Building a car the way you're talking can be done and is done all the time. Whether or not you can do it for $15K depends on you and your group of friends abilities. I have several customers doing just what you're talking about, racing "fun" cars. They might not be terribly fast with mild small blocks, but they always have a smile on their faces. A 7.50 car is fine, it might even be what keeps you from going hog wild and pricing yourself out of racing. There's plenty of guys who want to race and never go quicker than mid 8's. There's also more different than just the shoulder hoop diameter, allowing for a lighter chassis which will help make your budget small block propel your car to better E.T's.

If you can afford a few thousand dollars to get started and are disciplined enough to put away a few hundred dollars a month to buy parts every three months, you can get there. Starting with a good plan and not changing course will save you money in the long run.

The keys here are discipline and follow through.

You hit the nail on the head sir, this is all about having a good time at the strip.  I'm not in this to lay down a strip record or anything like that.

To those who are recommending a kit or roller, I'm pretty sure I'm going that route.  Again I'm a competent welder, but the cost of a good welder alone really cuts into any savings doing it myself would provide. 

Before you buy, you need to know your dimensions. put on a fire suit, helmet proper shoes, gloves, and proper neck brace,  with aid of a friend and a dinner plate, sit against a wall with your knees drawn up about half way and holding the dinner plate in front of you with your elbows just cocked a little and your shoulders flat against the wall.  Get measurements for helmet to floor, plate to wall, width of shoulders and back to center of knees.  These are your starting points for fitting a car to you.  You have to fit the car to run it or you will never be comfortable.

Excellent point, I shall do so.

Buy a roller--drop in a CHEAP SBC and just try it--you mentioned you do not have time to crew etc so how will you have time to race? It takes HELP to run one of these--can't do it alone at the track--that is a big issue going forward

Due to my work schedule and location making it out to any of the local dates is dang near impossible without taking time off from work.  While I can probably do so if I take vacation, I can't do that often enough to work on someone's crew usefully.  Having raced/crewed before (SCCA) I know how much of a commitment it takes to be an effective part of the machine versus just a guy who hangs out every once in a while.  A couple of my buddies from work are more than willing to wrench since we all work the same schedule.

I would snag a roller--aim for 9.0 1/4 mile and you will be astonished how fast that is and how cheap it can be done  aiming for a 7.50 ride first time is fools errand IMO

That's pretty much what I'm going for, I ordered the specs for 7.50 so I could overbuild versus being chassis limited later down the line potentially, but I'm certainly not planning on a 8 car with what I'm trying to do.

Honestly a stage 3 chassis from David Beard or something similar seems the way to go.

-Jenrick

3

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Step 1 for a FED: Planning!

« on: June 15, 2015, 08:20:02 AM »

While I would love to be able to crew on someone else's car family and work schedule make that pretty much impossible.  Also I'm quiet aware that I'm not as knowledgeable about running an FED as I would like to be, but that's why I'm here.  Beyond getting the SFI specs and NHRA rulebook, where else can I learn about things besides places like this?

For those who have offered advice I appreciate it immensely, and I'll keep digging to hopefully achieve my goal of running a FED.

-Jenrick

4

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Step 1 for a FED: Planning!

« on: June 14, 2015, 10:19:10 AM »

Thanks for all the advice so far guys.  I'm inclined to go with either a tacked kit, or a fully welded chassis if I can't find a good roller. 

Obviously for a welded chassis I'm guessing I should make sure I get one that is already stickered, does anyone even make one that isn't?  For a roller, is that critical?  If it's stickered I know that it'll pass tech (well should at least), but would getting one that is just out of date normally be an issue?  How much stuff does SFI update/change regularly?

Obviously regardless of a chassis, kit, or roller, I'm guessing I should look for one that is already setup in general for what I'm looking at putting in it.  How big of a change is usually necessitated if it's setup for say a BBC vs a SBC?

Thanks,

-Jenrick

5

Front Engine Dragsters / Re: Step 1 for a FED: Planning!

« on: June 13, 2015, 07:10:03 PM »

I'd love to be able to go turn key, but the starting capital isn't going to happen.  The attached flyer at $40K, is WAY out of my lump sum price range.   $15K would be the most I'd have any chance of doing, and that'd be getting several buddies in on things (which I'm working on doing anyway at least). 

dreracecar: Thanks for the break down on frame construction time.  That does help put things in perspective.

What is the general opinion of some of the chassis kits, or chassis builders?  I know I'll be looking at a $2K-$5K outlay, but I can probably make that happen.

-Jenrick

6

Front Engine Dragsters / Step 1 for a FED: Planning!

« on: June 13, 2015, 05:15:31 PM »

Howdy, I'm just getting started with the concept of building or buying a FED and I'm looking at what advice I can about the whole process.  Combing through the forums here I see a constant thought, and that is plan what you want to do.  With that in mind here's what I'm looking at:

A non-blown gas powered (probably SBC or SBF) slingshot/rail/whatever-you-would-like-to-call-it FED that is raced just for fun

I am a trained welder (associate's degree in it from a tech college and some actual work in the field), but it has been about 15 years since I did any serious welding.  I changed careers and haven't really been back to it.  I can read blueprints, prep pipe, run a bead, etc.  I was quite good with a MIG gun, and tolerable with TIG.  At the moment I don't own a welder of any sort.

As far as car knowledge goes, I'm not the traditional hot rodder.  I've never built an engine from a bare block, and don't performance tune my cars.  I can work on my cars just fine, and basically so long as it's not a modern automatic transmission I fine doing my own work.  I enjoy working on my cars as well, I just liking driving them more than wrenching.  I've got a decent bit of track experience (road racing, not much oval) and I've professionally taught high performance driving for several years as part of my day job. 

The money tree grows very slowly, and produces little fruit currently.  I know that for a lot people getting a roller or even a turnkey turns out to be cheaper in the long run, but requires a lot more capital up front.  It does also get you to the strip a heck of a lot faster.

I'm going to order SFI specs for 7.5 and take a look through them.  Is it worth it to get the 6.0 specs instead?  I'm guessing I'd be in at least $1K to purchase the tubing, a manual bender, and a decent welder to build the frame.  Does that sound about right, for a mild steel frame?  If I can find a decent quality certified roller for not much more I'd go for that just for the time savings.

For an engine, would you guys recommend building off a bare block or would a donor engine be the way to go?  At this stage I'm just looking to get passes in and get comfortable with things before I worry too much about times, so as long as I'm able to get a little tire smoke I'm not worried about power or ET's.   

As far as powertrain goes I've seen a lot of recommendations for a powerglide.  Are there other options out there that will work for what I'm after?  I'm not against going with a powerglide, I'm just seeing what's out there.

Lastly can anyone recommend any books, videos, etc that I can peruse while I slowly get this going? 

Thanks!

-Jenrick