Event Coverage The Official 2014 Meltdown Drags #5 thread, vintage drag meet, July 18,19&20 Byron IL

Yeah and it's way cheaper lol


Chrome don't get ya home

 

Heres the one we have been working on.

 

You guys with your diggers are KILLING ME here....!!!

I've been trying to get my Dad to go in with me on a front motor,short wheelbase,traditional car with a SBC,or maybe an Olds or a Nailhead for years now.....hopefully seeing some of your cars at the Meltdown will help push him over the edge into what would probably be the most fun either one of us have ever had!

Scott

Seriously guys: Those cars look great.I can't believe the count is at 350 cars already!


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Wrenchbender,

It is sooo cool to see "another " competition Flathead car going together .....nice to know that there are other nutcases out here....looking forward to meeting ya

Charlie Overfelt, Dennis Kinnamon and I are coming as well.....we need to start our own little group of "Obsolete Engines R Us"

Who else is out there?

 

Thanks skotz I was hoping I wouldn't have to run against those top fuelers lol but you do realize the flathead in my car is a Cadillac


Chrome don't get ya home

 

Ok guys I am getting ready to relocate my battery to the trunk. Whats your thoughts on locations would you put it closer too the rear axle or further back on the right rear of course. I have lots of room.

 

I would go as far back as you can go.
I was thinking of doing the same thing,but I have a list of 10,000 things to do already,and I only have a few weeks home to work on the car.

Scott


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Thanks Scott I have been trying to figure out if there was some science to it or does it just make it easier to change the battery.

 

Basically,the farther back you can get it,the more the weight is multiplied.
That's why the old Willys Gassers had those crazy long bumper brackets and a piece of 3" pipe for the rear bumper:They filled it with ballast,and put it out super far to multiply the effect.

Looking forward to seeing that Mopar run!Any more news on the heads?

Scott


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Not yet I was going to try and get some pictures of the ports on my options of heads that I have. I have working on the important things like brakes.
You know I have run my finger up and down the ports on these heads so damn much my wife is getting jealous.

 

Hahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!


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The left side is better!, I'll explain why when I get home, gotta drive home from the beach.

 

I bet my right rear spring would love to hear it. That poor thing has had a beating.

 

People have been mounting the battery in th right right rear for ever, even Mother Mopar and other factory race cars. If you stand behind any car on the starting line that is not properly prepared, the car wants to drop the right rear, and pick up the left front, and everyone call this torque steer, and that is true, but only in a certain sense. When standing at the back of the car, the engine, drive shaft, and pinion gear are all turning counter clockwise. When the pinion gear is turning in this direction (forward acceleration), the re-action is the right rear tire trying to come off the ground, and the left rear tire trying to plant towards the ground. The entire rearend is trying to become a big propeller, this is why cars twist the way they do, sure engine torque, and chassis flex contribute, but they are only part of the issue. When you mount the battery, or any additional weight in the right rear, you are only aggregating the situation. If you place more weight above, or behind the axle on the left, there is more resistance to chassis twist ( the car leaves flatter), because as the left tire drives into the ground it causes body lift away from the tire. With more weight on the left, it reduces body lift on the left/body drop on the right. I discovers this accidentally in the late 80's when my roommate Rick Roberts and I built a '72 Chevelle Wagon street race/bracket car ("That Wagon Car Craft Feb. '89). Those wagons have the fuel tank in the left quarter panel, and the car left the line flat because all that fuel weight was over the left tire reducing body separation on the left, and tire "lift/climb" on the right. An added benefit of this on Mopars, the starter is on the left so, shorter/lighter battery cable. You can also fine tune this with shocks/springs, stiffer compression shock settings and springs on the right, stiffer extention shock settings on the left.

Just my opinion it has worked for me.

 

Make since to me.
Dang I thought I had it on the shorter cable.

 

WOW....a lot of early FED's might have to line them all up for a period photo shot!!! To cool....and AMAZING lot of coupe's the neat part is these guys really studied pics they look awesome.
As we have said 100 times before NOT about hot fast your car is about coming out and having a kick ass time and looking at all the obsolete AMAZING iron coming.....

 

Here is my buddy's FED he threw together

 

Here is a closer shot

 

You Port Huron boys don't screw around!
That fed is killer,and the tow rig is just as badass!

Scott


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Well I'm in Cincinnati, OH now and there's all kinds of stuff down here haha

 

That's right on the border with Kentucky,right?I bet there's LOTS of really cool old iron down there.

Scott


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HMMMMM , i wish i had read this last year when i was still putting the car together. My car has the hard core gangstar lean. I don't relish the thought of having to redo my entire trunk floor and wiring to move my battery tho . Dammit Ric!

 

I try to run everything even and build the ladder bars and chassis to handle the pinion torque. Ric is right about what is happening with pinion torque but moving weight around is not the right fix, unless it a stock set up then springs and shocks will help.

 

i set mine even to with no preload. i put someone in the car that is the same weight as me and make adjustments so the right front bolt just slides in. of course pinion angle has already been set. you would be surprised how much things move around when the driver gets in the car. i also have oil and water and fuel in the car. i have the person sitting in the car hold the fire suit and helmet in their lap. the idea is to simulate as close as possible the way the car would be on the line. its all the little things that separate winners and losers. the devil is in the details.

 

Sure it's a caddy....but it still has the valves mounted the "right way".

Actually I'm kicking around the idea of taking a Ford Flathead and cutting into the intake/valley area and creating a place for the exhaust to go upwards like a caddy, and yes have the intakes up there as well....would take a lot of bends away from that danged exhaust going around the cylinders.....sorta like making a caddy out of one!....never said us Flathead nut cases had any sense

This Flathead Fever is a sickness that has taken hold of me....help me, help me....hahaha

I have no desire to run those "pesky ohv thingies", as well....they are just a passing fad....they'll never catch on

 

Having a good time is number one on our agenda....shoot fire if we put all this time and money in an overhead valve engine....then we'd be having to act serious about going fast...this is much more fun...hahaha

Love the idea of a photo shoot....Antique Engine Association Nutcases R Us

 

What a great combo, love it.

 

May need a little help here trying to stay focused. I have got to get Shamu ready for the track. But now I have this possible dragster trade thing that's got me all nervous like a kid getting ready to do his first burn out.
So hear is the only good picture that I have now and what you see is just about as much as I know.

 

Watch out Saltflats,
FED Fever is hard to treat, once ya get it
And with all the radiator type stuff, you might be able to run it with out a pit crew....
Watch out, your fever is rising

 

I hope to get the chance to get together with this guy this weekend.
I think trading a RED for a FED is a win win deal.