FlatCad Racing's Quest for 200 MPH-a Cadillac Flathead Story!

The "old gal" looks impressive
Made me think a litle bit. Your goal, 800Hp, on an old engine design.
But with all the great modifications and finish on it, it should perform!
Yes the design is not perfect, but with a better breathing (blower) and pops... why not?
A new TF V8 makes several thousend HP, and they tear those things appart, then throw inn some new ones eg. pistons, bearings, rods, and then run them again. They don't have time to really check and double check all the stuff that they do!?

Pondering is a good way of doing stuff right!

Cross our fingers for ya

Kjell

................................
Taildragger&fenderless

 

Fingers crossed for you.

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thanks for all of the kind words! Randy, John, and Max really did a nice job with the suspension, body, and paint mods, and Kris did a neat job of lettering![/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dale, nice job with the engine![/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Soooo, I really hate to bring drama to the thread, but maybe my tranny issues with LIBERTY'S HIGH PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS, INC., will save someone else some heartaches![/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I had went back and forth between a Gear Vendors 3 speed with overdrive, that Rich Fox was kind enough to loan me, and a ultra close ratio gear set for my Liberty toploader. I sent the toploader off for a new gear set in March, for what was supposed to be a 3 week job. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Well, as of last Monday, nothing has been done! On top of that, the price tripled! When I pointed out to Paul, the shop manager, that the new price didn't match the quote he gave me, his response was " Prove it- you don't have that quote on letterhead." WTF?[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Paul called back, and said he could still do the job for the original quote, but it would be at least 3 weeks before the tranny was done. Paul, I wouldn't walk across the street to urinate up your backside if your guts were on fire![/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ken Coe had a Rankin 4 speed for sale, with exactly the gears I wanted. Ken packaged and shipped the tranny the same night, without even waiting to recieve payment! Thank Ken![/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Now, to sort out the dyno issues! More on that later.[/FONT]

 

Sorry to hear about the tranny issues.
Ya all really don't deserve any more problems.
Best of luck from me

K

....................................
Taildragger&fenderless

 

Anybody want to buy a gear vendors top loader 3 speed with OD? Supposed to hold 1000 FT. LBS. torque.

 

Buddy that is a real crock man if it wern't for bad luck ect........ humm that ain't luck at all it has to do with company customer service. That company has none.......... You don't need problems at this stage just solutions...........

 

The Rankin 4 speed showed up last night, and Randy drove to Dale's to help get the car together. Dale, Randy, Mark, and Chris are thrashing away the weekend, while I work, and Don golfs! Lol!

Hopefully, you'll see some assembly updates from the crew soon!

 

Look at it all as a blessing! May be a better trans in the end and you've weeded out one asshole you wont have to deal with anymore. Hope to see you in a few weeks. Trying to get my new motor together too, waiting on parts. Sound familiar?

 

Hi Buddy , Sorry to hear about the trans deal, F**K Liberty trans, You know the old saying in business, A happy customer will tell a few friends about a place BUT an unhappy customer will tell 20 friends how shitty service was or how bad a part was,, Being your thread has 36,000 plus hits I'd say you told at least 30,000 people how shitty Liberty trans is to work with, Good job,,,, Tim Jones

 

Friday Update:

Randy drove up, Mark came down and we were going like mad all day. The good news is that we all know the car and the systems, so we can get crap done without bothering each other too much.

I'm not going to write a lot today - have too much to do.

The tranny showed up in a big ole' box on my doorstep - looked like a big 'round' box due to the weight and shipping. The tranny looks really nice, turns over very smooth and we managed to find a shifter we believe will work. I hope if will get past the fat-ass seat we have . . . may have to rework some stuff on the shifter handle. All in all - I believe a GREAT last minute decision and execution Buddy.

The engine is together - took a long time to make the custom crank trigger setup - had to make the mount, figure out how to get the trigger 25 or so degrees behind TDC, etc.. This is the first crank trigger I've setup, so was a bit to work out. I had it on the WRONG wide of TDC the first go, until Randy corrected my evil ways. Can't correct 50 degrees OFF of where you need to be with the MSD box!

Today we plan to get the engine in the car - hopefully a few much needed parts show up. Had to pay $85 for a missing transmission centering ring - when yah need it, yah need it!

 

Looking good, guys!

Watch out for that anomaly known as "Dale Time"! LMFAO!

 

Neat looking trans, but where does the throw out bearing ride?

 

The throw out bearing would ride on the candle stick inside the scatter shield. JC

 

We have already figured that out and are on top of it thank god dale has a lathe and a pile of extra Trans parts


Chrome don't get ya home

 

I'm confused! What is there to figure out? That should be the same as the last setup, as nothing has changed.

 

Yes but we had to change the bearing retainer so we could have a collar for the throw out bearing to ride


Chrome don't get ya home

 

Aw, that's right-the Liberty had that shoulder built on the input shaft, where this splined area is longer!

Great work, guys!

 

Have you ever noticed, the driver types are always confused when it comes to the mechanical end of the machine. JC

P.S. just fucking with you.

 

Haha! How are you JC? Are we going to see you on the salt, or in Ohio?

We could still use a tuner.......

 

I have a tuning job on a streamliner bike this year. I would imagine it will keep me pretty busy. I will stop by. JC

 

Brief Update:

Tranny: We tore a bearing retainer and throw-out bearing support out of one of my Muncie trans - attempted to machine the inside to fit the tranny - no go, not enough material for the seal and it has to have one.

So- we put the Rankin one back in just to get the car back to Randy's. Buddy will have to find a new front retainer/support - we cannot use what we have.

Tranny Xmember: Will need major surgery - Randy will do that once he gets the car back.

Shifter: Big fun here - the one that Randy brought will not fit without a bunch of monkey business (hits the seat, etc). We have no choice but for him to finish this stuff back at his place - can't do it here.



Engine: It is done, inner exhaust system on it, blower manifold, front of the motor, etc.. We mounted the flywheel, new clutch, etc.. -- put the trans on it and mounted it in the chassis about 11:00 or so last night. Started running the oil lines, etc..

Inside the Car: All the dry sump and cooling stuff has been put back in and most of the hookup done.

Electrical: Just heading out to the shop - will rip out the old data collection wiring and mount a new two-stack panel for the data collector and MSD system. I'm going to make the panel/board out of wood - I didn't have time to scrounge up aluminum plate. (Going to try one last place this morning).

Mark, Chris, Randy and I have been cranking - thank gosh we know the car and all the systems, so we can keep moving.

Will post some pictures later . . . we've been a bit busy!

Back at it . . .

 

Well, did we get lucky, and have the driveline too long, or unlucky, and it's too short?

 

So are you doing a chassis dyno this time around, or pulling the engine out for dyno time?

 

Weekend Update - Was Out of Gas Last Night:

We loaded up the FlatCad on Randy's trailer and he headed out about 7:30 or so last night . . . he had a long trip home over the night and he wanted to be able to be at work today. He is one hard working SOB!

Not every last thing is done, so we took time to think about how to handle the remaining work in order to have the car ready.

With the above said, I want us all to realize how much we did in the last 3 days - an enormous undertaking by the crew . . . impressive to say the least.

Here is where we are at:

a. Engine is complete and in the car
b. All water and oil systems are fully plumbed
c. Intercooler, blower, injector and upper exhaust systems are mounted. All new port nozzles mounted and lines ran.
d. Injector pump is mounted
e. Dry sump pump and overall system is mounted and plumbed - we're not using the additional scavenge stage as we have no place to plumb it. We wanted a second pressure stage - but there was a mix-up at Barnes of some sort.
f. Transmission is in the car -but it needs to be removed to solve the throw-out bearing collar issue (as it doesn't have one!).
g. Main electrical system boards are mode and all components mounted.
h. Both batteries are mounted and we now have dual cut-off switches in the rear - one for 12 volts on for the 16 volt battery for the MSD.
i. All six EGTs sensors are mounted in the car, oil pressure sensor, water temperature sensor and manifold pressure sensor.

Here is what is left to do - high level, will detail more later:

a. Transmission needs to be pulled and a new front bearing retainer and collar put on. This is a part that probably comes from Rankin. We could not modify a Muncie collar to work.

b. Shifter - hits the seat and is generally not in a usable position. This is the same problem we had with the Liberty (Don made a custom setup). Randy is going to try to put a system together using both shifters, maybe some of Don's stuff, etc.. I anticipate this to be a somewhat detailed/complex issue that takes time to work out. One big PITA if you ask me.

c. Slave Cylinder: Need a new bracket - the old bracket cannot be found.

d. Driveshaft: My guess is that we'll need a new one - probably longer.

e. Fuel Tank: This is being made - will have to figure out how to install and plumb it.

f. Electrical System: Dale is going to finish the few wiring details of two main boards and test them on the distributor machine - the entire system. Randy will get some of the sensor wires setup and have a 'mount' ready. Will take about 2 - 4 hours to complete the wiring (best guess). The crank trigger is mounted, so it should be fairly simple to install the mag and complete the wiring. We did not have time to get to this - too much other stuff going on in/around the car and engine area.

g. Injector Priming System: Needs to be installed and we need a small electrical fuel pump to run it.

h. Water injector: Needs to be installed - Randy will have the injector hat ready to just plug it in. Dale will have the wiring setup to basically plug-n-play with it. I will test it and send it to Randy - should be easy to setup.

Can't say enough about the crew and the level of focus, hard work and concentration that went into it.

Will post some pictures late - need to collect them from Chris and Randy.

B&S

 

Sounds great Dale ....... keep on keepin on!!!

 

Fuel Tank progress -- Buddy and Randy made a cardboard fuel tank to accommodate the added fuel we will be needing. I took the tank and made a solid model drawing then transferred it to my laser and cut the parts..

 

We'll be doing a chassis dyno, Aug.3-4. There just isn't time for the engine dyno.

Don, first class work, as usual! Thank you!

 

Good looking piece! Maybe I should get you to do my air box.

 

No Prob at all,,would love to give you a hand !! let me know what you need Tim

 

A little update on the car side of the flatcad thrash for bonneville last weekend I drove to Ohio to help get the engine and Trans installed and we succeeded though still a few things to do but nothing we can't handle anyways here is a few pics of the install stay tuned more to come














Chrome don't get ya home