Can you still build a FED at home that the NHRA will let you run?

I am not gonna begin to act like I know the NHRA specs but can it still be done. I wonder is you have to have it certed by a chassis builder or by the officials. The components must all be in the rule book and I get that but as far is fabing up the chassis and such, can a regular joe still get out on the track anymore in a competition class with out shelling out 15 or 20K for a roller?

I'm sorry if I jacked your picture, its only because its cool.

Anybody tackled anything like that?
Thanks,
Gabe

 

Yeah ya can,, It aint easy mind you, but it can be done. pay very close attention to the rules,, (which are avaliable thru NHRA). Get in touch with the your local chassis cert. guy, he can answeer any questions you have and go for it.

 

Yep, doesn't matter who builds it, as long as it passes tech and can cert. That said, if the "regular joe" builds it himself, he would need to be a good welder.

Hank

 

on that same note is there anyone makeing the dragmaster frames anymore?

 

Absolutely you can.
But mild steel center seat center steer anything is on the outs now,Ie no faster than 9.99 .
As of this year if you build a Digger or a center seat Altered and want go faster than 9.99 that means find someone with a mandrel bender and get a tig welder and know how to use it.No grinding on welds anywhere in the certified area .
Yada,Yada,Yada....add infinitum .
I have a set of SFI AA/FD FED specs on hand and SFI AA/FC specs on hand.
How's the Hambster coming along ?

 

Yes to all of the above. Mark Williams sells a print with specs, tubing sizes, wheelbase, etc. It's around $50. It's a working and legal FED. The hard part is the cage. The Chassis Shop in Mears,MI has pre-fabbed legal roll cage sections. You can get the flat current versions or the very cool round ones that more "look" the part. Very reasonble. I priced out the whole deal for a bare frame in tubing and pre-fabbed rollcage section in '01 and it was around $1100.00. That was all the tubing specified in the print. When you get to the rear axle you better be sittin down...but then again since yer balls are right on that sucker it's worth it's weight in gold.

If you can tig and understand stress relief, build it. Your welds and tubing need to be annealed either as you go or when done. I think they don't allow paint or powder any longer for easy inspection as time goes on. So now you want a full body too. There's a site that used to be called "we did it for love" (do a search) and had a Tom Hanna section showing lots of detail how the master built his aluminum body sections. If you really want to get technical you can use the Metalax process as you go for "relieved" welds during construction. Walt Austin builds F/C chassis that way. Good luck and go for it.

 

Well I am not gonna have the chance to build one this year, I have my powerplant and rearend and the begennings of a frontend but college is killing my time, and the boys have soccor just around the corner, damn life keeps getting in the way of my dreams

 

A guy named Norm Anderson in Canfield,Ohio was building a dragmaster copy,But I think lawsuits,ended that.I have an original roller,the short one like the mooneyes car.

 

The only part that really needs stress relieving is the roll cage. You heat them slightly with a torch. You need a temperature melting chalk to check the temp. to see if you heated it enough. It's been too long since I did this and I think you heat to around 400 degrees. If you aren't really exp. at fabricating, I'd recommend you have someone who has built many cars build the chassis for you. There are sooo many things that you need to know so that you don't waste your money and time. Please remember that your life will be in that chassis. You will need to pay SFI a ridiculous price for the spec for whatever chassis you decide to build. The MW print is fine but it won't tell you everything you need to know. Building a chassis from scratch is not for a beginning racer. Lots of people have tried and then not been able to sell the result when they're finished with it. Good luck with your research.

 

Thanks man thats good advice, I know when I went to Bolton Chassis in S. Ok (can't remember the town) Old man Bolton built them on a jig. I guess you would have to account for expansion and fishmouth all the tubing and then gap all of it. I cant buy a used one because most of them are made for normal sized people Sucks.

 

Thanks rstysht i thought i saw someone was makeing them. i would love to have gotten one.

 

Ask some of these questions on Nitroland. Lots of chassis builders and NHRA legal techs hang out there. It's www.dragsters.net/nitroland

Lots of good people and quite a few HAMBers. Go back a few weeks, there's been a lot of discussion about heat treating, annealing and current NHRA and VRA rules.

FWIW, don't start building anything until right before you're ready to go racing. Rules change often.

Jr Fuel and the Nostalgia Eliminator classes are where the FEDs are.

Good luck, hope to see you on the track someday.

chili phil

 

I hear ya'!
It seems like the only people who sell good F/C or FED chassis' are narrow-ass short people! Don't fat guys ever sell their rides?

 

Email Nitro Bob , he's been there done that, builds legal 6 second nostalgia FED Chassis to whatever stage you require.
His phone is 1 210 691 0277

 

Yes, you can......but, it's not real easy.

 

Wow! I've never seen a chute pac on a current style FED. Can you post more pics showing that feature, PLEASE? Who's plans did you base your car on? The seating position looks like a Sterling. Nice car, where are you gonna run it?

Sorry for the bunch of questions, but I DIG the rear of your car.

chili phil

 

Thanks Chili Phil,

I didn't mean to take over this post - so I'll just throw in a couple In Process shots of the tail. BTW I now know why you dont see chutepacks on cars today - ESPECIALLY aluminum ones - they are a TON of work!!! Moreso for a newbie like me - this was my FIRST real metal forming project. As you can see I started with wire and bondo to nail down the shape before I attempted the aluminum parts.

I started with Mark Williams plans - I don't reccomend them.

I plan on running it locally at Thompson - maybe venture out to a Nostalgia meet or two. - I'm actually WAY OUTTA MY LEAGUE here, but that's ok. This has taken a LONG time and the FUNDS are enormous - moreso when you have kids - so this has made me have to fabricate every part possible. So far it's taken WAY too long and had I known every detail upfront I would have probably talked myself right out of it. Good thing I don't listen to myself.

 

That is so boss HemiR, You built the whole thing?

 

Yes, It can be done . at the present I am build a short car 134'' similiar to one i ran in the 50s'. I bought my olds r/e at a swap meet, was given a 283 and glide. some parts were sold to me cheaply, to get me going. I have a old f/c axle and torsion bar. The important thing to do is get a set of sfi cert . this tell you all the tubing sizes and dim. that being said there are still growing pains. my car is cert. to 7.50 and made from chrome molly. I think the body will be the hardest part.

 

yes you can.
here in idaho they have 3 front engine can that run in the low 9's with big block chevys on gas with single carb's. they are all nhra certified.
two of the cars were built by my friend dan tuttle. he builds bare frames all the way to complete cars.
he can be reached at 208-549-1500.

 

HemiRambler, what enormous costs are you referring to? Tubing prices? Explain please. Just curious.

 

Hey Tim are you saying that you can't use mild steel anymore for anything faster than 9.99? Even if it is tig welded?

 

I'm saying that you cannot use mild steel for anything that is CENTER SEAT and get a cert.
In other words they are limited to 10.00 ET's or slower.
Mild steel is still okay for right or left hand seat and steer as long as you don't go faster than 7.50.

 

S&W also supplies FED plans. I believe they are $100 and meet all current NHRA specs.

 

Wonder what their reasoning is behind that?

 

How much, just eyeball, is a bare frame. Do you have to cert them every year?

 

That's strange... we have a center steer altered with mild steel chassis, and it was given the VRA tech award at a Goodguys Drag meet... and the tech guru for the NHRA's division 7 keeps asking us when we're going to step up and get the chassis certified.

Who is telling you that a center steer mild steel car will not pass NHRA tech? I'd like a name to run by our guy out here in California.

I do not have a 2006 NHRA rule book... but if under the specs and regulations for FED you see a tubing specs for mild steel... you can still build one.

Sam.

 

The c/m for my frame was 1200.00 .

 

The tech is Charlie Cathcart.I was gonna center seat and steer my Gasser and ran into Charlie over here teching 5 race cars and got him to go Cert. my freind Eddie's Altered(left hand mild steel car) while he was here,and was gonna make a date to get mine done and he said no more new Certs. on mild steel center seat and steer.He's our man over here,although I thought it was weird because it will obsolete a lot of fast roadsters right now.We discussed it and looked in his big spec. book and blah blah blah,so now I'm planning it out side saddle on that account.Let me know what you find out.I don't have 2006 book either.