Projects Front Engine Dragster update

A few more shots

 

Some new pictures.

I will be travelling to Indiana on Monday. I should have a full update on Wednesday.

I am currently in the process of buying a 400 Pontiac block for this winter's build of a blown Pontiac engine for the dragster. That deal should be completed this Wednesday.

 

Beautiful FED, love the Poncho power. Anxious to see some burnin rubber off this baby. Classic excellent worksmanship. Congrats to all. ~Sololobo~

 

Thanks for sharing the build pic's you have a beautiful car!!!

 

Beautiful !!!

 

With the Pontiac power, I might have gone with a round '50 Pontiac tail light, but that's just me.
Pinocchio has a '37 Topolino tail light I found in Italy.

 

Just got back from the 2010 SUNDAY NIAGARA. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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There were many fine cars there. Here is a link to some pictures
http://rochesterstreetrods.org/forum/album_cat.php?cat_id=138<o></o>
<o> </o>

 

Oh man I want one sooo bad. Just to fire it up and piss the neighbors off.

 

Man nice job Roo.

 

I could not find any pictures of Pinocchio on the web. I had not thought of the 50 Pontiac tail light.

 

A must see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99ACmBmIrfI&feature=related

 

Love it!

 

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 100%; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in" class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR style="HEIGHT: 0.15in; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; HEIGHT: 0.15in; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0in">Dragster Update.


I will be heading out to Indiana the end of this coming week. There should be very little of the dragster in the shop. The frame has been stripped for powder coat and the body should be in the finishing stages.

I would call this update a pictorial of the death (finish) of this phase of the project by a thousand needles (lots of small tasks being completed).

The pictures used for this update are from both myself and Roo Man, that is why there are two aspect ratios in the pictures displayed on this page.
<O</O

</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 0.15in; mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes"><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; HEIGHT: 0.15in; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-TOP: 0in">Battery placement is complete. This is easier said than done as there is a bunch of stuff that wants to occupy the same space, mainly the oil filter and radiator. The battery installation includes a volts gauge to monitor the condition of the battery as there is no alternator in the car.

The reasoning behind that is weight and patristic HP loss of the alternator. Current plan is to have two batteries, one on charge and one in the car and swap them between rounds.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

The master cylinder has been installed with a remote reservoir. This makes checking the level easier and eliminates the need for residual valves in the bake lines

The chute mount is coming along. The frame work that will hold the chute in place is removable by pulling pins.

The coolant system is coming along; yes this dragster will have a radiator. I will be either ET racing or Index racing. The key to either of those classes is reaction time and consistency of elapsed time. If, in the future I decide that speed is the most important thing, weight can be removed, and HP can be added. In fact a blower engine is already in the planning stages.

The over flow tube is routed to the puke tank, the filler neck is in place, but the out flow tube has not yet been welded in place.

The radiator is custom built by Spike Products, 464 Johnson Lane, Brownsburg, In.
http://www.spikeradiators.com/

It is a double core and should be able to keep the engine cool on the return road. The shroud was built by Roo Man. This should eliminate the need for a tow vehicle, and simplify racing.

No hoses for this coolant system there will be hard tube coolant lines. The one to the filler neck has been remade since this update to give more clearance near the battery and is more upright in the vertical plane to the filler neck.

The fire bottles are in, and the first fire nozzle is pumped.

The fuel system is in.

To start with I will be running the engine that came out of the Firebird. It will be gas, carbureted. The plan is to build a second engine that is blown. It is still up in the air as to whether it will start its life as gas or alcohol injection. I would like to start with gas, but there is considerable pressure to go right to alcohol injection (on the new engine).

The jack pad on the bottom of the chassis is in place and the tabs for the jack stands are welded on.

A great deal of time and effort has gone into making the nose of the dragster just right.

The remote oil filter has been installed. You can see another angle of the filter in the shots of the coolant system.

This dragster is being built to look as nostalgic as possible. It will there for have a push bar at the rear, not that it will ever be used, but it will have the use of serving as an anchor spot for the chute. As with any dragster, space is at a premium, the puke tank will be mounted inside of the frame work for the push bar.

The first version of the anti-rotation device was fabricated from the rear of the chassis to the differential. It was found that this made removal of the differential difficult so it was redone from the tube under the driver’s feet. A drain plug has been installed in the differential case. The third member has been ordered in aluminum and the axles will be Gun drilled for strength and weight.

The shield for the coupler has been started

The electrical shut down switch is in place. There will be a stupid switch in the cockpit. What is a stupid switch? It is used when you have climbed into the car, strapped in, and tried to start the car only to find that you did not turn the master switch on on the rear of the car. The stupid switch can be used to turn the master on.

The steering "wheel" has had two buttons installed, one for the transmission brake and the second one for the shift function. Also a center console has been added to contain switches for main power on, start, fan, fuel and fuel pump.

The engine has been pulled and the chassis flipped to complete welding on the chassis.
<O</O
The full update can be found at this link.<O</O
http://www.leverfamilysite.com/2010_Front_Engine_Dragster_Week_2010_08_15.htm<O</O<O</O
<O</O

 

Paint is coming!

 

It has been awhile since I produced a web page update on my site, so here goes.

There has been progress on a couple of fronts.

I am sitting here waiting from a call from the painter to see If I will be running out to Indiana tomorrow.

If I do not leave tomorrow, I will not be able to leave for Indiana until next Thursday. It will be very tight but on that trip I might be picking up the dragster to bring home. I hope to have it at the Big Dawg Shoot out between the car clubs here in Rochester 09 22 2010.

First up are the mechanical updates.

Shims have been made to space out the nipples of the water pump, why, the engine plate bolts between the water pump and the timing cover. This moves the water pump out so shims had to be made so that the nipples of the water pump engage the timing cover.

On the last trip out to Indiana the engine was brought back to Rochester for detailing. The valve covers need to be stripped and redone, and breathers installed.

Arm rests have been installed on the cage of the cockpit to assist this old man getting in and out of the dragster, also Fire nozzles have been installed in the cockpit area.

The chrome work is back from the chromer.

Tires have been mounted on the rims. As the tires were purchase in Indiana they are of course Hoosiers.

The Body and chassis has been shipped off to Bewley's Garage, 220 Park Drive, Plainfield, Indiana, Carey Bewley is doing the paint work and his e-mail is [email protected] and phone number is (317) 372-2244.

The entire body was sanded, then smoothed, guide coat applied and then block sanded. <O></O>
Now it is time for the House of Kolor Epoxy Primer/Surfacer.

There have been several attempts at laying out graphics and we are getting close.

I hope to see the finial layout this weekend.

That is the current status of the paint. I will update this page again when there is more to report. That should be very soon.

The link to the page is below

http://www.leverfamilysite.com/2010_Front_Engine_Dragster_Week_2010_09_09.htm

 

It has been awhile since I posted an update on the progress of the dragster build.

Paint has taken longer then I expected.

First one shows base coats before candy green.

Second one shows three coats of candy

Last one is five with some of the tape pulled off showing some of the white strips.

Gold leaf and pin stripping yet to go.

The dragster should be coming home early November.

Interesting note is the check written as a deposit to start the build was dated 10/30/2009.

It is just possible I might pick it up 10/30/2010

Thanks

Here is a link to my web site with the last update I have placed there (new to this board). I have not kept it current as the only photos I have are from a cell phone camera. I did supply te painter with a camera and once I have those pictures I will add them to the webd site.

<!-- m -->http://www.leverfamilysite.com/2010_Fro ... _09_09.htm<!-- m -->

Oh yes, one more thing, current weight estimate is 1,900 pounds. that means 1/4 mile ET is 9.13, way to slow. The build for the blower engine has been put on the fast track. If it is done by spring it may go right into the dragster right away, but as an injected engine, not blown, and then progress to the blown engine.

 

Just in

"Glenn,
The frame is at the blaster and he is trying to get it done by Wednesday so that I can take it to the powder coater before I fly out to California.
KB"

 

Rochester N.Y. will never be the same. Very Nice.....

 

just a thought Do to the type of tracks you may run in your area. like short shutdown, bumpy you may want to run it gas non injected for seat time . Ask me my car is a hardtail.

 

Empire has a long shut down lane and is fairly smooth. That is generally where I am at. Lester is very short and bumpy

 

Looking good, real good!

 

Not sure how I missed this thread, but you have a killer project on your hands and I love seeing the Poncho mill...

 

what`s the ideal combination for a 200"fed-engine / transmision/ tires (i prefere mopar engines but chevy is also a option)

 

The set up is what makes any combo ideal or not. Not the sum of the parts.
Personally, I wouldn't run anything but a Mopar.
I'm sure there are other guys here who could tell you stories about people buying good equipment (chassis, engine, etc) from good regional sources and having them not run as well as they should. Then some people put in their head that "Oh, if you'd just bought you chassis from "big name chassis company" and "big name engine builder", that'd solve all your problems. So the guy does that, and runs worse than before. It's not just the parts, it's how you make them work together. Mopars to not respond to the same inputs that Chevys do. So if you've got a chevy guy setting up a Mopar powered car, chances are it's not going to perform optimally. I've seen it time and again.
Anyone care to confirm or to call B.S. on this feel free...

 

Thanks, currently building a blower Pontiac to replace the stroker.

Boy that is a wide open question, Chevy will be cheapest because of parts, all depends on how many dollars you are going to spend and how fast you want to go.

 

super nice build, Rooman does awesome work!
I hope you have fun with it , but I have to ask this question...this is obviously no "budget build" as we normally see on the Hamb, whats your expected project budget it's got to be $25K + with the blown engine?

 

I'm hoping to drive out to Indiana this weekend and pick the car up.

Finial clear coats. Still needs finial wet sand and buff out.

 

Man that looks GREAT!!!!!!

 

sure looks good any more up-dates

 

bitchin car, Rooman is hands don the man when it comes to NTF dragsters they should all be so nice.