That is a Spalding Flamethrower. Really like two 4 cylinder ignitions. Dual coils. Ultra rare. Complicated. Fabulous when set up properly. A real bitch when not. Even so, I am still looking for one (that is not $750-$1000 ) for a SBC.
NSRA will not certify a chain driven steering for safety23. Though the new kits and that setup look pretty substantial. Friend ran one on his COE chevy a while back in order to keep everythign under the cab. No problems with it that I ever heard of.
You said a mouthful. This one was set up, as so many are, for the SBC and making it work with the 331 firing order was 7 parts Voodoo and 3 parts Santeria. vext
Yes , please get a guard on it . Other than that , i guess just obvious safety and hardware issues need to be adressed . This has been done many times and I know of one company here in ohio that used to produce them in the very early '80's . They foolishly used rolled pins to hold the gears in place and it ended badly . They don't make them anymore . I have also seen guys use chains in place of a blower belt !
We used to make 2:1 steering quickeners for our circle track cars that way with SBC timing sets. We ran them uncovered that way for years. D&M Manufacturing in Dumas,Tx. no doubt sold thousands of the chain drive steering quickeners before the planetary style quickener became popular.
One problem i can't stop thinking about is the hundreds of tiny little pins; each a potential failure . I'm probably thinking too hard but I'm a little gun shy after some of the shit I've seen and or fixed over the years . Obviously this type of chain is used in a lot of industrial applications and holds up well !
It's actually made from two threaded 3/4 inch key-way shafts and four tapered ford outer front wheel bearings. There are two 3/8" plates that sandwich the firewall with like ten bolts. There is a drilled stringer on the inside to keep it stiff. The double roller chain is size 530 and the tensioner has a double redundancy. It's strong. Stupid as all f&^k, but strong. Vext
the thing a lot of the people who are worried about the chain breaking are NOT taking into consideration on chain drive steer setups like this is, how SLOW the shits going the chain is designed to take a hell of a lot more abuse, heat and torque than anyone can dish out changin course in a hot rod
I just used a hunk of # 50 chain on a power door opener and was suprised how easily something that big could be bent. Cured me, as I was thinking of something similar (chain to ease the linkage)on the Galaxie.
Rube Goldberg rocks! ...and I'm with FiddyFour, if you have ever watched a chaindriven conveyor run ore then you would have no concerns about its strength or durability. With the use of a good idler, chain can be ran well over its intended lifespan with no consequences whatsoever. I should qualify that last sentence with this: good chain!
i agree with FiddyFour. im a forklift mechanic. i see chain steering all day long. ok so the speeds traveled are greater than a lift..but the force against the chain is the same if not more on stand up forklifts....and they arent doubled up like that. and it would be just as dangerous. those lifts goin in and out of the trailor at say costco where they run standup lift..heard of plenty crushed operators. wow i went the long way around that. chain steering done correctly is safe. rocks arent gonna break it.
not worried about rocks breaking it, more worried about rocks jamming it. with a cover though, it'll be great.
Circle track racers used old timing chain sets as low buck steering quickeners for years. Still, you can have mine...
vext that is a slick steering set-up.. i was gonna do cowl steering on my rig because of frame clearance issues but i'm rethinking it now thanks to this.. if you can put together a tech article with pics that would rock
Elininate your rock worries by simply putting the gears and chain behind the firewall, inside the cab where no rocks will interfer. Then put a cover over it to tidy it up a bit. DONE!!! I used to manufacture Oval track components and have seen hundreds of setups like this (some sanitary, some "Goldberg") but they all were behind the firewall out of harms way. Frank
They used to allow that set-up down here for a left-to right conversion- the chain was double-row and enclosed, mounted inside the car. (that means the chain was about a yard long)
Google it....."Rube Goldberg"..................Was a cartoon in the 40's-50's I think................He built some bitchin' machinery!!!!!!!
looks really cool, but ya it could use a cover. Maybe a sheet metal with big dimple die holes...then a stainless mesh in the holes. Then you could still see the Bitchin chain setup.
Hmmm. Well if you've ever played the old board game Mouse Trap, that should give you a pretty good idea who Rube Goldberg was. If you haven't, get a copy of the Mouse Trap game, invite over a few friends, crack open a few brews, and prepare to be amazed! Well at least you probably know who Smokey Stover is. You know, Smokey Stover? Notary Sojac? 1506 Nix Nix? Rube Goldberg may not have had a hot rod, but Smokey Stover drove the Foo Mobile!
Many years ago I made a hop in a WW2 C47 (DC3) and the pilot let me come up front for a look see. One of the things that surprised me was the single bicycle sized chain that ran up through the steering wheel (yoke) mast and over a sprocket attached directly to the steering wheel. The pilot said it was a common set up in airplanes with steering wheels. I'll bet that old Ford tri-motor that Megan took a ride in had a similar setup. If chain steering is good enough for the FAA it should be good enough for the NSRA.
The Jalopy Journal
