Fenderless, I just got off the phone with Don Groff and yes, he did make that assembly. It is typical of the innovative, highly crafted work he does. I gave Don your HAMB name and he will probably send you a PM. He lost your contact information. Don suggested you get in touch with Rick Schnell who is currently working on regaining the flathead dragster MPH recond. He is an absolute expert on flatheads on fuel. I can get his phone # for you if you want it.
Thank's Bob i sould have asked Don, but i didn't imagine it was handmade! Yes, Don really knows his stuff ! I'm really happy that he has done so much work on it It would be very interesting to get in contact with Rick Schnell! Allthough I am not heading for that cind of ET or speed!? Kjell ................................. Taildragger&fenderless
Very nice car Kjell. Thanx for the link to your thread. Now I have another I can watch being built. Tom S. in Tn.
Thanks Tom And Thanks to the HAMB, i will get my seat-time .............................. Taildragger&fenderless
Anyone here recall a safety specification from back in the day related to shielding rear axel housings on open differential fed's ? Thickness & dimension minimum specs, etc... for covering the back of the rear end housing on slingshot cars. It might not have been in NHRA or equiv rule books, but somewhere regarding standards applicable to dragsters prior to rear engine/front driven cars coming on the scene. Tom S. in Tn.
Just had to bump this up as my ultimate goal is still to build one. Did the get married, buy a house, have a baby thing and things are settling down and my garage and truck are finally coming together so I have started looking at parts and digging deeper doing my diligence. Anyone have info on using Akront (Japanese) wheels, as in what hubs do you lace to and what spindles do you use, also what machining is required. I think Kerry had a thread up about them but it wasn't detailed enough.
Actually Akront rims come from Spain now and are a little on the spendy side. Back in the 60's we used to use Honda 50 rims (steel) which we simply got from the Honda dealer. Probably can't do that now<G> although you could try a motorcycle wrecking yard. Search SwampDonkey's threads for wheel sources (Hayden and Racing Supply) or wait for me to get my Don Long hubs from the machine shop. You can also use motorcycle based hubs like Kerry and Dolmetsch (search their threads). Roo
Thanks Roo, I did see last night that Akronts are made in Spain, they are sure nice, although pricey. The main thing I've been wondering about is which hubs and spindles to use. I'll do some more searching.
Hello Guys My chassis is an older FED with chrome moly tubing. I need to do some changes, i order to meet the SFI spec's. I have heard that it's recomended to mount a new pipe/tube inside existing "C" tubeing/hoop!? Any advice on this? Have happy new year Br Kjell .............................. Taildragger&fenderless
Since yours is an older frame you are allowed to do this. sorry about the pic, just turn your moniter 90deg.
Thanks dreracecar. I must consider that pipe, but have also heard of a possible new pipe inside exsisting "C" tube as shown here. (Blue) My SFI specs dates back to 2000, so there might be some new guidelines? Br Kjell .............................. Taildragger&fenderless
First-- "PIPE" is used for plumbing a house and not to build a chassie with. A piece of tubing inside the upper frame rail was only considered if there was a splice in the area of the front rollcage hoop and the foward seat upright and was unessary if the hoop was all one piece.When the inside support tube became a requirment they allowed the cage support upright instead of cutting the back of the car off and having to insert a peice of tubing. And this methode is still in effect today
Just a little update on my gear box/steering issues.The P.S box is easily reversible after a few beer and some thought I took it apart and all that is needed to reverse it was to take the drive arm off of the pitman arm shaft and switch it 90 degrees.Mount the box and their it is a reversed P.S. box.I can post a few pics if anyone needs to ever do the same.
Subscribed, saw this awhile ago hadn't seen it for awhile, always can use new thoughts , ideas and old memories on how to do things Thanks Tim Jones
Just something that might be interesting to follow. Read an article about SFI specs, and they are talking about doing an approval of a new type of tubes. If it goes through, we look at a new type that's as strong as CM and almost as the same weight. Made by SSAB. The price is the best part, alot less expensive than CM! I'll keep you posted if I hear more about it! .............................. Taildragger&fenderless
What spline hub is usually used for the P-S steering box input shaft stub? I have a 5/8"-36 spline hub originally from a mopar car, but it fits a bit loose on the input shaft splines.
5/8 -36 is the spline P&S boxes came with their own splined hub and was made to fit the input shaft snug when new. A new splined hub/collar can be purchased from Strange ENG.
Greetings all, I have a FED under construction and I have some questions that perhaps someone here could answer for me. My questions relate to the drag link, by that I mean the tubing that runs along the outside of the body to steer the front wheels. There are countless photos showing how the drag link obscures the lettering on the paint job. Here are several examples: There were a handful of cars built with the drag link shifted to inside the body to avoid interfering with the paint job. Perhaps the best known of these rare cars is the Smirnoff dragster built in 1967. Note how the drag link shifts to inside the body just past the engine leaving lots of room for the name of the car. The next two photos are of Don Garlits 1967 Indy winning car. Big Daddy never put a body on this so I don't know why it had the inboard drag link. The oldest example I have found is the B&M Torquemaster car that Don Prudhomme toured with in 1966. I'm in the final stage of having my car painted and it appears that the inboard drag link is the way to go to avoid interfering with the lettering on the car. So. . . what am I missing? It seems like such a good idea but out of the hundreds of FED's built, only a very few used it. Help me please!
It only works with bell crank style steering so that is one reason. Don Long's car all had the drag link running to the spindle. Another reason is that if the link is inside the body it means that the fuel tank can't be the full width of the frame or needs a notch somewhere to provide clearance for the link. Most owners were more worried about simplicity and performance rather than having a 1" tube (max) partially obscuring the lettering. Roo
Question... I need to remake the roll cage on the flat fed so grandson can drive it, he's 6-2 going on 64 so won't fit, its a 10 sec + car so not worried about fast cert just want to know if I can cut it off and reweld the new one on in its place, or what should I worry about........hummm
Should not be a problem doing that, For grins I would put a splice tube in the secondary hoop since that is the foward seat upright and a couple rosetts. Personal note- I would like to see the seat sides fill more of the frame area or weld some tubing around the edge to keep the edges from acting like a razor in case of an upset And take the belts off the car while working on it unless you plan on replacing them before it goes out, draping them over the edge of the sheetmetal seat is not a good idea.
Well, sometimes you (I) just screw up. I have the rules, so there's no excuse... The rules say that the distance from the rear axle mount upright to the next upright tube forward must be 28" or less. Ours is 35". I've looked at literally dozens of photos of FED chassis in the process of designing this thing, but most of them are clutch cars, or use a shorty 'Glide; so it never occurred to me that the tubes at the motor plate were going to be further out than the rules allow. We've already started on the "K" braces from the rear axle tube, and I really don't want to cut all that out if I don't have to. Yes, the finish welding was premature, but the guys got "go fever" and I was busy with other projects... So, here's my question. Would it be ok to add an upright in 2 pieces as shown by the red line in the picture? That upright would be intersected by the lower portion of the "K" brace shown in orange. I really don't think there is a strength issue the way it is now. The "K" braces are much larger than the rules call for (1 1/4 vs. 3/4"). Again, I know it's "different", I'm just wondering if it will get through tech with the mods (as an injected small block bracket car).
And take the belts off the car while working on it unless you plan on replacing them before it goes out, draping them over the edge of the sheetmetal seat is not a good idea. that was when I built the car. The belts go through slots cut in sides rubber covered to keep from chafing <!-- / message --> <!-- / message -->
personaly---That horz bar does nothing except add weight. Cut out that horizontal bar and put an uprite and diag corner to corner in each bay. But if the car does not have to be certed and tagged thats somthing that the tech at the track never looks at/for anyway. Carl---- They call them "LAP BELTS" not "BELLY BELTS" your belt anchors are too far back as the belts are supposed to go across the hips and hold the driver down into the seat. Its the shoulder belts that keep the driver from going foward.
Although it is backing up a bit I think that it would be best to cut the bar out. If you add an upright as you suggest what should be the diagonals will not land within 3 tube diameters of the upright/main rail intersection as required by the rules (II.8 on page 2 of the 2.4 spec--basic construction practices). " Side bay and floor diagonals, X-members, and K-members must intersect within three tube diameters of the intersection of the upright or crossmember and the frame rail (measured edge-to-edge, using tube diameter of the diagonal, X, or K". Have the students do it--it will be good practice for when they get out in the working world and screw something up themselves. Roo
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