Yikes! Pardon my ignorance, but why is Nitro hard to come by? I understand it’s highly regulated, but have they quit making it? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
After the Oklahoma bombing Angus in chicago quit making it. Everything now comes from China. The higher tariffs are increasing the price we pay. After a explosion at a plant in China their government started to crack down on safety. This eliminated several facilities. The chemicals needed to make nitro have gone up. There are uses for nitro beyond racing. It's used in the dry cleaning; floor stripping; and fruit growing industries.
Sounds like the same thing they did back in the day. A barrel of Nitro was about 50 bucks for the farmer that was used in agriculture. It wasn’t a fuel for the farmer,,it was used in the processes. That same barrel was about 1000 bucks for the racer from the fuel distributor ! And then the racers found out it was easy to get from other suppliers. At least that was back then. I don’t trust anyone I don’t know,,when it comes to money,,,especially business men . And 3 grand a barrel smells awfully fishy. Maybe create an artificial shortage,,,which in turn causes a real shortage,,,by guys buying all they can find. It’s happened before,,,over a lot less than this. Tommy
So sad...when I was selling the stuff back in the '60s, a 55 gal. drum cost $210.60 FOB. All the Chrysler guys ran at least 90% but the iron SB Chevys stayed around 25% with 6-71 blowers and about 7:1 compression. They were still pretty quick cause they were light. Easy to get same or better performance today on straight alcohol and much less expensive.
Or you could mix your own. Chemistry for Dummies on the bench some nitric acid and methanol some beakers and burners. Kind of like bathtub meth and only slightly more addicting. Hell just the cost of the safety gear is way out of the average hot rodders budget. Oh back to pistons. Forged pistons would be my advice. Cheap in the beginning until you figure it out then the better once after you have melted your first dozen sets.
Well just restoring a front engine dragster that’s been stored away for over 40 years cacklefest static starts and push starts only
Running nitro is part science, part art. Few can do it, and the learning curve is expensive. Learning on HAMB-friendly kit (let alone HAMB-friendly kit with heritage) is even more expensive... a lot of our gear is not off the shelf anymore. As the guys have pointed out, an apprenticeship in nitro is not as simple as a board post, and likely involves finding someone with the knowledge, the time to impart it to you, and the patience to do it. Having said that, everyone has to start somewhere, and coming in cold is not easy. There are few opportunities to attend a local track and learn from people who are doing it. This may help as a starting point. Its not the be-all or a complete DIY solution, but may be a useful introduction: https://racecarbook.com/new-shop/blown-nitro-racing-on-a-budget/ Cheers, Harv
You can say that about every racecar out there and with all types of engines when you "add everything" . But if you are considering just the engine expense? as long as you are not stupid about the tune-up and not trying to rotate the earth---less than half if you are smart. The issue with running a SBC on fuel, the between round maintenance is too time consuming--- 40 bolts/studs per side to remove each head
It's a shame no good author has sat down with a good Nitro tuner and wrote a book. The knowledge is dying. I spent few hours with Les and Brandon Leggitt in their shop and I could see where a middle class guy could do Nitro if they knew all the do's and don'ts. But ya can't just go to the boneyard and buy more 354 or 426 blocks now. I sure have thought about it a lot, but I've come to realize, if you get a piece of trash where it doesn't belong, and don't get out of it when you should, BOOM! Then you sit there looking at your high dollar investment that now loosely fits into a trash barrel and wonder, do I build another, or walk away? I admire the guys like Brian Kohlman and Nitro Niel that squeak by on a budget. It's alluring, like that hottie you ought to not talk to! A nitro junkie will sacrifice every last dollar to rebuild every time, and I'm just too cheap at the end of the day. I sure do like the smell though!
In @racer-x thread “rebuilding after the crash” Brian details a lot about using Nitro. Someone could probably go through that thread, copy and paste all the very informative information he has provided and publish a heck of a primer book or at the least one hell of an article. One of the coolest and most informative threads on the HAMB that a majority of us never realized what it took before.
Leggitts, Beck and a few others on the Lakes are some of the folks I would talk to. Keeping a nitro motor together for 3 to 5 miles is a test. Their knowledge would help the OP with a cackle car (which IMHO I always thought was a waste of time, these things were meant to be run)
Nitro fuel is still popular in some classes of land speed racing bikes.The bike engine are almost all non supercharged...
The problem with that is every combo-engine design takes a different approach to the tune up that in a sense, you would have a library of tune-up manuals. Tune-up are based on previous runs and what the engine tells you after the last run-- "its all good-- give it a little more-- never do that again"
Nitro Cackle Fest is a way for some people to participate in the drag racing scene without the hassle and expense of racing a car. If you dont like it-- fine, Last weekend we had 70 Cacklers lined up side by side (1/8 mile) running at the same time, none made a pass down the racetrack and the place was packed-- so apparently there are many that dont share your opinion
Oh, I GET that. That many cars firing off IS impressive. I think it is just a shame to not be able to see them run.
I like vintage "War Birds" but would never ask them to Load up and shoot each other down, because that is what they were designed for. These cars were never designed for the tracks we have today and would be dangerous to do so https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361501637259580/permalink/4461285477281165/
I suspect that's what Bob Szabo has done here: https://racecarbook.com/new-shop/blown-nitro-racing-on-a-budget/ Cheers, Harv
I ran TAFC for a couple seasons . I could have won every race and the championship . I would not have made enough to pay the diesel bill.
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