Projects rebuilding after the crash

lucky 13 they do comercial polishing. you have to ask for mike. he is the only one there that moonlights. hwy 31 between the driving range and car dealership. east side of the street.

 

Thanks, I know right where that is.

 

I liked it orange, you gotta keep that. With or without the flake, lace, or gold leaf, the orange is cool and different.

 

More pics from tim. Its almost done. The rims got sealed today and the tires were mounted. The numbers were crunched on what i need to do to drop the compression ratio. I can either run a gasket that is .040 thicker or take that amount off the piston. A call to aries pistons told me what i can do with them. I want to go from 8.3 down to 7.5 this will all take place next month.As long as i can get something done everyday i will be ready next year. Its a agressive pace but i like a challenge.

 

Those wheels are just outstanding.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

One more lenko detail. This is the sliding gear with a neutral. Compare this to the photo posted last week.

 

not just in nitro engines...

 

WOW; another old fart spent his time doing the same thing I did. And don't forget that "dum-dum" seam filler you had to scrap off. Every 100 lbs was worth a tenth of a second. And who noticed the stones rattling off the steel panels when the pipes were so loud?

 

the chrysler engineers said fifteen pounds of rotating weight was equal to 100 pounds of static weight.

 

They also said in bulletin #20 that a 2% change in weight distribution in a car with 55% nose weight was worth a tenth, and a 5% change in a 50/50 car was worth a tenth. In other words, any car with less than 55% of weight on the back wheels would go faster if the weight bias was improved, and the more nose heavy the car was, the greater the magnitude of change.

 

a radius was put on the inside edge. The adaptors are done. The wheels went into the freezer. The adaptors in the oven 250 degrees. set for 15 min.

 

They slipped right on with a .0025 interferance fit. They were checked axially and radially. only the rotor bolt holes need to be drilled and tapped for this job to be done. the tabs will be welded on after the brake pads are shimmed so the rotors are perfectly centered. its great these old wheels can roll again with the modern brake upgrade. old school cool and safe.

 

Sorry to see your wrecked coupe. Loved it at the meltdowns. Thanks for taking the time to post all this info and pics. Very interesting to see all the details you are doing. Will the rotor hats be pinned to the wheels or just pressed?

 

Thanks the meltdown was a great time. I want to have the rebuild donein time to go back next year. I will post more pics as i get them from tim. He is going to drill and tap holes at the parting line. He calls it a dutch joint. He plans on shipping them monday.

 

just the tabs that hold the caliper in place need to be welded on. then this project is done.

 

Its all done. I hope all these pics help out anyone that wants to adapt brakes to a wheel that was not designed to have them. I now have wheels that are safe and rule compliant. Tim harris did a outstanding job. He was also kind enough to stop his work to take all of the pics. As a bonus he included his drawings when he sent the wheels back. Now the wheels go back to the polisher to finish them

 

Just saw the post - sure glad you're okay and like the new direction of the car . . . awesome. Like you, I have a real liking for early Hemi engines (sickness is a better word). Was wondering whose heads you were running? What CR will the final combination be? What percentage of nitro versus alky are you thinking of running? Obviously there are some engine design compromises necessary in one form or another (in my mind) --> you'll compromise a gas setup so you can switch over to nitro/alky . . . or the opposite? My guess is that you'll determine a CR that works for both fuels - somewhere in the middle of where it would be for one or the other. Anyway, I'm just babbling . . . great stuff in general.

PS: I'm running Donovan 417 heads on my 392 setup . . . lots of fun getting all this old top-fuel shit to work on the street! I really appreciate what you're going through.

PS2: Anything stopping you from biting the oiling bullet and going to a full dry sump? With the bearing clearances you'll run for Nitro, sure is nice having multiple stage pumps and being able to separate the top-end from the bottom end and getting all the drag the heck off the rotating assembly.

Take care,
B&S

 

I'm running some highly modified hot heads. the cr right now is 8.3 i will be dropping it to 7.5. this will be done with a piston modification. .040 needs to come off the top. i plan on running 50 percent. I'm basically running the parts needed to run nitro now. parts like alum rods; billet crank; head studs; severe duty manley valves. inconel exh. titanium int. roller rockers with thick wall push rods; copper gaskets and o-rings. i will retard the cam from 107 to 112. there will be some loss of cylinder pressure but i have run the car this way before and it was fine. i will control the power output with conservative timing and boost levels. i ran a combo like this with a late model for years. there are some items that will keep the power level in check. mainly the iron block and the cast heads. I'm capable of jacking the power level but this is a street engine. longevity and durability are a must. it will be a delicate balancing act. i like doing things that are not supposed to work. thats real hot rodding.

 

It will work just fine at 50% - as long as your conservative on the tune. The nitro will make up for your loss in cylinder pressure. There is only so much HP and timing these cast iron blocks and decks will take . . . and they're not just laying all over town to go pick up another for $100.

I would have put aluminum rods in mine, but it really isn't a race car, so I went the other route with narrowed 426 Oliver Steel Rods - they make good stuff. Your engine sounds very similar to mine - pretty much built mine as you would a top-fuel motor . . . other than the aluminum rods. I have the same ProGram main caps in the center three - but am only running a 392 crank. I've debated putting a 4 3/8" stroke billet crank in it - but as this is only a street car and it won't hook up anyway, at some point one has to say "enough for now". I'll probably get the itch to do more once I get the car on the road - as they're never really done now are they!

 

i thought about the stroker crank. i chose not to use one due to this being a street car. the water jackets go down far. with the extra rod clearance needed i might hit water.

 

I hear yah - especially given the big-end dimensions of aluminum rods - not fun to do too much "whittling" on the bottom of the block . . . makes a guy nervous! Thanks again for this thread - I'll be watching your progress.

 

great idea going with the late model rods in the 392. most of the current top fuel nostalgia cars run that combo. bearing selection is so much better and cheaper. the hot setup for the 354 is the hot heads h-beam rods with the bearing tang on the opposite side. then you can use readily available big block pontiac brearings. 354 bearings are very expensive and sometimes not available. the cost of reconditioning original rods plus bearings makes the hot heads rods a no brainer. in the end you will save money and have a better rod.

 

I'll run H-beams on a N/A car . . . not too keen on them for a higher output blown motor. I know, lots of guys run them (and successfully) - but I worry about where the forgings come from (which is usually China) - and I don't trust their metallurgy enough. I like the higher-end on-shore stuff from Oliver, Carillo, Manley, Crower, etc.. Of course - we're talking rods that are 2 - 3 times what H-beams cost - yah pay to play! I just don't like looking at my rods out the side of the block. Okay - enough of me hijacking your thread - this is about your car!

 

I stopped by the chassis shop today with my wheels and brakes. I needed the tabs tigged onto the spindles. it all needs to be mocked up and shimmed into place first. i didn't want to weld them on with my mig welder. the tig looks so much better. they did it while i waited. While the parts were cooling off jim and i discussed whats next on the chassis. on the way home i stopped to meet up with mike the polisher. now that the brakes are done the final polishing can be performed. sometimes i feel like I'm a general contractor organizing all these small projects.

 

With this pic the brake project is officially done. The caliper mounting tabs are on. Who ever said front brakes cant go on spindle mount americans.

 

A few more bars are in place. for those keeping track the 8a; 8b; 9; 15; 48; 7a; 7b bars are in. the two vertical bars can slide right now. their final placement is still being determined. The floor will be cut out of the car next week so the body can go over the chassis. This will be done to see how things are fitting so far and to take more measurements. Friday the halo and side bars go in. then it will start to look like something. soon the chassis will be moved to the larger frame table. bob at hot heads sent me a trans adaptor plate to use as a pattern. all the adaptors that i have found are cast aluminum. i broke one of those in the crash. so we are going with a blanchard ground on both sides piece of t-6. all the holes on the hh plate were documented and will be transferred over. this new adaptor plate will be much safer. thanks bob.