In context to my previous post, how should I have said it? What should I have said if the op plated the whole chassis with 1/4" steel plate because we all know that it would be safer???
No truer words have ever been spoken. But, it's kind of like going to a medical doctor; you don't want them to be "walking on egg shells" on the real important issues. @dreracecar will explain this in much better terms than I can, but the "big show" cars have proven how important the placement of chassis members can be. Those blowovers where the chassis folds in half really opened the eyes of NHRA's tech. guys, so just because it "looks" right (safe), doesn't mean it is. The OP's car will more than likely be just fine, it sure looks good to these untrained eyes. It may lose a little to the numbers gods, but I bet he will be having a ball with it long after this discussion is over.
Nice looking build so far. I had the good fortune to help out with a restoration on the Roland Leong owned Danny Ongais driven 1964 A/D dragster. I think you might find some interesting stuff in the details and photos http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/one-more-for-frank-morawski-updated.616190/
Yes it will be a 4' bar, it will get done when it goes back for the bodywork, fuel tank and a few other little bits and pieces Err, might have but if you didn't it's 145"wb
Oops I have been remiss in posting updates. I've been working away slowly as and when monies allow, chassis has been primered, slicks and rims are temp fitted to work out spacing and then shaft lengths, powerglide has been stripped ready to have its insides worked on. I might have then got bored and dropped the glide and SBC into the frame to see how they look. Valve covers need a bit of work, have to blank the MT breathers but I am going then put an old school tank out the front of the motor and plumb the covers off the front. The other cover has had a naff modern breather cut into the script, so I need to get it removed, hole filled and made to look like it was never there.
This is how I want to set up the breathers, plumbed down into the tank. I would love it to be being plumbed from a motor like this.
You can run breathers off the front of the covers , but you will have to run oil restrictors in the back of the block and roller valvetrain. To much rpm and oil in the covers when you get off the throttle will cause the oil to exit at that point. Should only become a problem if you dont empty the tank between rounds. The fuel engine pictured has horrible drain back and relied on hard-chromed shafts and bushed rockers besides oiling everything before the run because the top oil galleys were plugged
If increased safety was your concern, you would be looking at the placement of the diagonals above the uprite intersection and not thru it for maximum design strength.[/QUOTE] So I have question about this and in no way am I being critical of the OP's build. Just learning here. I see in the photo's where the diagonal tubes intersect the uprights and are not welded to the horizontal rails at all. So you are saying that the entire diagonal tube weld joint should be welded to the and only to both top and bottom horizontal rails? How would splitting the diagonal tube joints between the uprights and the horizontals (Top &Bottom) rank design wise or would this create too large of a heat affected zone around the joint.
I have a nice Blown cam, with rollers to go in, and good reminder with the restrictors. I was also looking at the idea of putting a deflector inside the cover where the breather pipes will locate so as to try and stop direct oiling down the pipes.
Cool build, looking forward to seeing this progress? Hopefully brexit won't make you go broke buying new parts! subscribed
Thanks, I am scouring Ebay and here etc for vintage parts, apart from bit's required for safety or not visable I am trying not to have anything post late '60's on the car. It's the trying to find vintage blowers and fuel injection systems that is the hardest.
The explanation is (its hard to get some ideas across just with typing and not verbal) that if you drew a line on the horizontal tube and the vertical tube and marked the intersection of the 2 , the line on the diag, would also intersect that point and create a "cluster weldment" and all 3-4 tubes would support each other and thats why one can step down in size and maintain the same strength. By placing the diag below this intersection reduces the fabrication time because it can be fitted and installed after the uprites are in place and not stacked (Uprite-diag-uprite-diag-uprite). Sprint car chassis builders use the quicker method to keep time and cost down, they use thicker tubing and the frames for the most part are throw-aways. Dealing with thin wall tubing .049/.058/.065 the stucture needs more support in the weld area if one want the frame to last. All this engineering come from 80+ of design from the aircraft industry to create the strongest and lightest stucture. In no engineering book on the subject, does it show the quick way as the proper way to build the frame. How does this affect the OP chassis, not very much and would not worry about it, just wanted to point out that there is a proper/better way to fabricate these chassis for both strength, weight, longevity in order to maximize racing potential. Using larger dia tubing without reducing the wall thickness is just added weight, and since there are specs that must be used and given the minimums allowed, pretty much tells you the oversize in dia and or wall is not needed. Now On my builds the only thing I oversize is the wall thickness on the motorplate uprite as it calls for 1 1/4 x .049 and I use .058 because I dont use any .049 in the build but have a lot of .058 on hand
You are lucky that most of these parts are still available new, be careful on the ebay for some of the stuff from private sellers. Just helped out another guy from over there with issues on an injector bought used.
Yes it's sometimes difficult to type your point across. You confirmed what I originally thought to be the standard which is a design having the tube centerlines intersect. Splitting the diagonal tube joints between the uprights and the horizontals is essentially the same thing said in a different way. When It comes to the art of engineering a race car I have a hard time understanding why anyone would sacrifice quality (ie strength, weight and longevity) to save a little time or cost It's just not worth it in a long run. Thanks again.
Careful with oil restrictors in SBC---it is very hard on the roller lifters--some less expensive brands will not live with those things screwed in the back of the galley--I don't run a blower but at our engine shop we do not use restrictors these days easy to plumb up a breather system that works --hard to keep roller wheels and axles where they belong with todays spring pressures--- Great Looking Car!! It will run fine and be safe as long as driver makes good decisions way to go! You will never forget your first pass!
I have run restricted since '95 thru today with the same Isky roller lifters on my blown Alc SBC running 7.0pro , dont know why you are having problems with them
Actually guys can any of you help. I'm looking for a pair of period correct brake calipers, I know some were finned which I like. Sent from my GT-I9300 using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Original 4 puck Airheart calipers in good condition are either very hard to find or very expensive to buy.A customer brought me a box full and was only able to rebuild 2 because of corrorsion and spend a shop day of labor to do them so even the rebuild was expensive. to sleeve the housings is $95 a hole (x4 for 1 caliper). If you find some on e-bay-- be aware that they could be junk. The best way to purchase a set that works is to go to the races and look at what other people have. if its not quite a period correct and the owner is only interested in racing , offer to trade a modern wilwood brake kit for what he has. Wilwood kits run under $700 but when one considers the many airhearts that you must sort and rebuild to make good ones or the cost of buying NOS, the monies the same and by buying them off a running car--- you know they work and not junk
Airheart's would have been nice, as I know they are "the" calipers to have had. Just like to find a set of calipers that are either late 50's or early 60's that might have been "robbed" for the race car.
Before the Airhearts , there were drum brakes. Oh Im sure there were racers that created their own system with what they had available to them, but to qualify them as common place for a nostalgia build is hard to do. Around that time also one also had Halibrand brake calipers normaly used for sprints and midgets, but you will have to make all the other pieces to adapt to the rearend and axles
This might be a thought, since you are in GB, how about using Girling 3 pot calibers? That came on a lot of cars, lotus, Aston's, jag and Volvo. They might not be Era Perfect dragster material, but they are from the right period in time. And far easier to set up then the 4 pots.
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