I imagine most of you guys are familiar with Leroi "Tex" Smith, and his dollar a pound roadster projects of the mid sixties and mid nineties. I got to thinking last night, and decided to throw down a challenge to my own bad self. I figure my dragster will hit the track for about 75 cents a pound, based on 1300 pounds finished weight. That may sound like a tight budget, but I got a swinging deal on my drivetrain, and I've already done some creative swapping. I think it can be done, and have a decent car when finished. Any speculation?
Since I'm buildin' a '39 Ford 'truckster' and expecting to weigh in at 1200#'s I think it's very doable! You just have to keep an eye on what every component brings to the end product and what weight penalty it's worth. So, what is your dragster going to be built out of? Dan Stevens dba, Steelsmith
The main rails are 2X3 .120 wall mild steel. The cage will be 1&3/4 inch .120 wall mild steel. All ancillary braces and crossmembers, etc. will be 1&3/4 .095 wall mild steel. Power is a Chevy 194, with a three speed transmission, and the rear end is a Chevy half ton van unit, solid mounted. The front axle is a 36 Dodge car tubular unit, with no brakes, and quarter elliptic sprung. Body will be 20 guage aluminum. Front wheels are 15x4 Ford disc, and rears are 15x 6 Chevy van disc. Tires are yet to be determined. These are the parts gathered so far. Total dollars spent so far amounts to $301.55!!!
You guy's are going to be surprised what these cars will weigh. The second RamRod car we built a couple of years ago was built as light as we could,everything except main rails was moly. No suspension front or rear,no water,1qt in rearend 1 qt in trans,very little body.Weight 1288lbs. Good Luck!
Mr, Mac I rember just two weeks ago at The HRR in Bowling Green how you and i talked about how you got your's so so light. You saw mine and it is bear min and is 1548lbs. I am with you it will be hard to get one that light without using CM tubing and a few other tricks.
If I remember correctly, Toymaker's Ford powered car is 1235 pounds, and Old 6's Mopar slant six midi is around 1300. I think the choice of engine makes a huge difference....those old Stovebolts and Jimmys are heavy. I actually think my car will be around 1350 with the baby Chevy engine. Of course, I've been wrong before....lol!
We finally got our car onto some regular scales at Famoso and found we are 1432 lbs wet. Our target had been 1200. I think I can find around 150 or so to pare but I doubt I can get the whole 232 off. Still expect to eventually get under 1300. (insert praying icon here ) And all that in spite of the fact that a middie has less tubing in the cage than most to begin with. The slant is a rather heavy engine compared to more modern designs like the small Fords and Chevies. Admittedly our rails're a bit heavy as well but the whole frame's not as much as you might think. Mostly due to fewer total cross pieces needed than for a frontie.
firstly, I think that most of the Aussie cars would cost around the $2-$3 australian per pound, as we 'invested' heavily in new safety gear(belts, suits,helmets/restraints etc), new tyres (I know I had over 1k worth in new tyres alone, not cheap here in oz), and for most cars, molly cages, and 'pretty bits' as I think the cheaper couple of cars would have been still aroun the 2.5-3k mark, most others would have been a bit more. In regards to vehicle mass, my car had full suspension front end, heavy radiator & fan with water, plus the heavy slant, which came to about 1515 lb sitting on the track scales, I was dissapointed as I really thought it could/should have been less. I acknowledge that I could significantly reduce a bit if I adapted some lighter wire wheels & tyres (front), and trimmed up my front axle with a few holes, and tried to deal with my cooling issues using smaller alloy coolers or ran it dry, but having been there and tried it, like the option of being able to drive back to the line without assistance. I feel I could loose some weight, but would struggle to get under 1300lb, and as far as building one for under $1500 (honestly, without relying on dontations from friends) in oz money, and sourcing all the appropriate bits and having it safe.....very difficult, and to be honest, not sure if I'd want to be driving it at flight revs. Good luck to you if you can.....note oz$ = approx. 0.78 american Cheers, Drewfus
Dollar per pound HUMM I think my engine alone weights 700 or so. Not to mention the heavy ass tranny. My guess is mine will weigh at least 15 to 1600 pounds? Maybe more. No way I could do it that cheaply but good luck to ya 4 Banger!!! Dusty
The frame weight is a small, small, part of the car. Engine, trans, wheels, tires and rearend are the major mass you have to have for any car. There is not much material you can remove from these items. Gen 3 chevy inlines are about as light as you can get if you could get them to fit the rules. Yes, you can get lighter, but can they be made as big as these can be made. I feel that in the near future these will be an accepted motor for these cars as will other inlines of this era. Do I want for this to happen, not yet. We're doing OK with what we have now. When it does come about, I would like to see a 255" limit as this would include all manufactures yet keep us at a reasonable ET and Speed. The last four words are important in keeping the cost and regulations down, as well as staying under the radar of NHRA & IHRA & others (insurance). Just my .02$
The 194-three speed is the perfect combination. DO IT! You might be able to make #1300. I made #1350 with a flathead.
I haven't weighed mine yet but it won't be a lightweight. All .133 wall mild steel tubing. It can lose a few pounds but not a lot. There were lots of parts laying around the old homestead so I didn't spend much out of pocket, between $1,000-$1,500. The next go-round, more horsepower and better flywheel, clutch and transmission will likely triple the money I have in the rig. Plus the cost of really narrow slicks (for when I cheat, don't tell anybody).
At the moment we're still just below a buck-a-pound. That'll change of course but our scrounging skills are still our best asset. Doesn't hurt to be able to cobble up most things ourselves either. We started with a whole car we found for $60.00, a complete rust bucket, well dented, with a rebuilt engine of unknown mileage, that coughed up our drive train before we scrapped it. We had some of the stuff laying around and scrounged & bartered for most of the other things as well. About all we paid cash for was the frame, the drive train, the carb set-up, some gears for the rear, tires and the cage tubing. We don't count the cost of suit & bucket in it as that's not the car, it's personal, and can be "amortized" among other cars anyway. Belts & restraints; yes. We do our own work as much as possible. So far that's included everything except a bit of tig on the tailshaft housing (we don't have a tig) and re-splining the shortened output shaft (don't have a mill either but do have a hacksaw). Total so far; $1100.00 & change. Could've easily gotten by with one of a couple very used trailers we had lines on but I went nuts one day and ordered a new one built to our needs. That $1200.00 was my own money of course, not the team's. It's also my trailer. We'll likely have another few hundred in the "real" engine we're working on when it's ready. At least then it'll finally add up to more than the trailer did. As far as our scrounging, it continues. I just picked up another spare gearbox for $30.00 that'll join the other two we have on the shelf (actually they're under the house, I live on a hillside). We have a couple sets of spare spiders, etc, etc, stashed as well. You get the idea. It ain't easy but it can be done. Especially if you're as cheap as we are.
The word ain't "cheap", it's "frugal". As in "we is being as frugal as possible". That said, if the expect cash comes along, we may add some frivolous goodies at the end.
My '39 ford 'truckster's' donor is a '61 Olds F-85 Cutlass. It came with the 'Ultra-hi compression' engine, an aluminum 215 w/3-spd manual tranny. I've gone to an aluminum radiator, and the frame is 2"x3"x.120" tubing. The bed is 20" long. There's no windows and no top. Oh and I plan on mounting aluminum 'cycle' type fenders. I still think 1200#'s is within reach. Dan Stevens dba, Steelsmith
With THAT engine, I tend to agree with you....it's doable. Those little aluminum GMs were just over 300 pounds, and that makes them just about 150 pounds lighter than my Chevy six. That thing will have a killer power to weight ratio! Cool project you have going. there.... Alan
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