Simply killer! I've watched that video nearly 100 times. I think he is running a real Winfield SU-1A cam. I say "real" because this cam has been copied so many times and most of the copied specs are not correct to the original. I think some of few who are grinding it correctly are Elgin, cam grinder Pete (member) and Jim Bierly (sp??). Anyone remember what cam is in this engine?
I never thought the fuel a carbureted engine used would change its sound, that flattie sounds like nothing I have ever heard.
I'm there. Not the 'rona, the NITRO. My nitro story is related to a Harley Sportster with drag pipes (gettin good already, huh?). There was talk that gas and nitro don't mix without a catalyst. I had to try so I grabbed a glass Pepsi bottle, yeah dating myself I know, and had about a gallon of the witches brew from dear friend. I poured a bit of both in bottle and fuckin eh gas and nitro separate. Quickly too. Well alky mixes with both so will that "catalayze" it? Added some to the mix, shook the shit out of it, hot damn. Mixed! Ever cautious (yeah right) I let it sit for while as I went in and did a few things, came back out and checked the bottle to find it was still mixed although I could see a swirl in it, an oily look, but hey it was mixed. So I made a pint of 2 parts gas, 2 parts nitro and 1 part alky and shook the shit out of it. I added it to the tank of the Sporty and fired it up, which had about a 1/2 tank of premium fuel already. I knew it would take a minute to fill the carb so patiently waited and fired up a smoke. As far as "Nothing sounds better than..." we could say my list includes a perfectly tuned stock Model A on full spark retard, and a Harley Sportster with drag pipes. All of a sudden that wonderful blat got some bass. "B'doom-B'doom-B'doom" went to "B'DOOM-B'DOOM-B'DOOM" like the flick of a switch. I could exaggerate and say the I could feel it in the garage floor and in fact maybe I did. I cracked the throttle and was rewarded with pretty awesome response. I rapped it pretty good and the sound made some empty boxes fall off a shelf onto my 500KR (!) so glad they were empty. Enuff, out on the street. Could I feel it? Absolutely. And it was louder at full tilt loaded. So kool. Found a clean safe spot and rapped thru a 1-2 shift and a brief look at the pipes. Blue flame! I'm at a stop sign and was gifted with a passing whiff and burn of the unmistakable aroma. Called a pal and asked him to rip up n down so I could see it better. 2 perfectly shaped blue/white/orange 59 Caddy taillights at the end of my drag pipes! In his youth my son asked me what nitro smells like. "You know what a Jolly Rodger is kid?" "Like pirate flag?" he said. "Yeah son, that's right. Well it's his breath, the breath of the Jolly Rodger. Smells like something bad might happen, and sometimes it does." I added a wee bit more a time or 3 to that old Sportster and never hurt it, but damn it was fun. And my young son was enthralled with the smell and sound of nitro cars at Norwalk all those years ago. Fuck, I need a fixx...
I still have a half of gallon left over from the top fuel car in 1979. Occasionally, an unknowing will be in my shop. To mess with them, I stop working and say I need a boost. I get the antifreeze jug down from the shelf and breathe from it. I let out an ah and pass it to them. Most have no idea what they have smelled. After telling them, seldom do I get a reaction. Maybe is doesn't affect everybody like it does a former fuel racer. LOL.
You too can enjoy the fun that is Nitro! Nitromethane: Quarts, Gallons & Drums Shipped Nationwide - HYPERFUELS
I looked up a little bit about methanol and nitromethane. "Nitromethane has a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio of 1.7, which is 8.5 times lower than gasoline. For the same amount of air being drawn by the engine, more amount of nitromethane blends and hence more energy can be added. Methanol was used as a medium to mix nitromethane and gasoline, which are normally immiscible. Engine performance tests were carried out to study the effect of nitromethane addition to the methanol-gasoline blend. A large rise in engine torque and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) was obtained during the investigation." A little more about power and a bit about emissions: "High heat release rate and shorter combustion duration with nitromethane addition was observed. Emission measurements showed decrease in HC and CO emissions with nitromethane addition. However, a drastic rise in NO emissions was observed." https://www.researchgate.net/public...f_Two-Stroke_Spark_Ignition_UAV_Piston_Engine Then there's this, which happened to have a pretty HAMB-compliant car and picture. Look at the horsepower claims (if that's your thing). https://www.motortrend.com/news/power-in-methanol-racing-alternative-fuel I've been lucky enough to have previously been involved in (the legitimate use of) hydrogen as a fuel in an internal combustion engine and fuel cells. I fooled around a little bit with propane as a fuel. I still have the two main components I bought from Ak and Marilyn Miller, and I might use them again, if I can't do better than burning propane. Maybe I'll end up using methanol for transportation fuel. Here's a webpage about methanol as a scalable zero emission fuel: https://www.globalmaritimeforum.org/news/methanol-as-a-scalable-zero-emission-fuel
I remember back in 1956 our race team mixed gasoline with Nitromethane, but the 'medium' was Benzol. Anyone remember that formula? I assisted with the mixing, but wasn't really 'versed' in the properties, was a 14 yr. old 'honorary member', my job was carb jets. (296" 59-L flathead/4-97s, Potvin Eliminator cam, square ports, 10 lb. button flywheel, Auburn clutch, Halibrand quickie; Austin bantom body, tube frame) 140 MPH, San Jose Drag Strip. Can't recall E.T.
1: hope you feel better 2: this video is the only thing that would calm my daughter when she was a baby 3: is this the real roadster or a clone? I remember when trog was on the beach in California there was a big to do over a car claiming to be this car - I believe- and it was argued that it was actually a clone 4: I believe Belond is back making headers, I believe it to be a grandson maybe? I see them post on Instagram and possibly advertised in the last hopup special? good post, any excuse for some nitro noise is a good one. 5: @racer-x because nitro
Really great info on Sandy here: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/sandy-belond-equa-flow-exhaust-trivia.359942/
Not flathead related, but I have a neat book about the Auto Union race cars during WW2. They listed the fuel they used. It was an unbelievable cocktail that included nitro. I'll find it tonight and post it later. If I recall correctly, it had something like 7-6 ingredients.
Fun experiments! I have played around a TON with E85, pretty cool fuel. Got a buddy with an OT ride that runs it and puts out something like 1800 HP on the street.
As a teenager in the 70’s I sure remember that smell down at Edgewater drag strip! Sad you have the virus! Hope you are back to normal soon!
Back in the mid 70's I went to a motorcycle hill climb. Was a guy there with a flathead old Harly, 45 cube. Fired it up and it really smoked alot, burning oil but it smelt toxic. The guy climbs on the bike, all 300 or so pounds of him. I thought that poor bike ain't gonna do much. Well he revved it up and dumped the clutch and took off like a shot, smoke and all. Went airborne at the first step and crashed landed, he walked away but the bike was in several pieces. I was later told that it smoked so much because he used 2-stroke oil that had nitro in it.
If you get a chance to hear RacerX’s engine cut over from gas to nitro, don’t miss it. The recordings don’t do it justice. On gas, it’s an impressive, serious sound. Then the nitro kicks in and it shifts from “serious” to “mean”.
I was wrong about the Auto Union cars. They didn't use as much nitro as I thought. Here are the mixtures they used: V-16 cars 60% alcohol 20% benzol 8% gasoline 1.5% nitrobenzol 0.5% ricinus oil 3 Liter cars: 86% alcohol 4.4% nitrobenzol 8.8% acetone 0.8% sulphuric ether
That sounds onbeskof! I'm wondering, though, if that alcohol content isn't wasted on even a high-for-a-Flathead-compression Flathead? It seems to want forced induction. Side-valve and inlet-over-exhaust (F-head) engines have a facility for combining serious quench characteristics with a low static CR, which should allow very high levels of boost.
Looks like either a bomb or the mix I tried when I was 13 to keep a worn out lawnmower running, the results were the same in the end!
Took a non-car guy to see the top fuelers a few years ago, grand stand seats right on the track. As the first pair fired up he pulled his phone out to take photos. Told him "you better put that phone away and cover your ears". "Naw, I'm OK". Took him awhile to find his phone under the grand stands.
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