History The "Antique Doll" Flathead Dragster

Ummmm... We do get a video when you test fire the new mill, don't we?

 

Here is a video of the new engine. Sounds great, and you can really feel the difference from the last engine. A lot more torque.

Excited to see how it goes tomorrow! Hope we get in the 11's!

 

Sounds good D. See you there.

 

go gettum D

 

Man, I like your car! The right length, right colour, right vintage!
don

 

Well D how did it go at the nats.................

 

well........

 

We didn't break anything so I can say it was a pretty good day.

Didn't get into the 11's because we need to do some fine tuning and work on human error!

We think we need to fatten it up. We originally were running a 105 pill and then put in a 100. We also advanced the mag 2 degrees but didn't get the best reading because I shifted way to early on the run.

We are going to a test and tune Sunday at Fontana so we hope to really dial it in that day.

We feel very confident we can get it into the 11's.

The best run we did was a 12:13 at 108mph, but that was before we advanced the mag. So we shall see...


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kool D................

 

Didn't break anything is always a good day!
I wish we lived closer. With the cars Wheelbase , colour and vintage The crowd would go wild if we could run side by side.
I deal with driver error a lot now. IE forgot to stage up on the converter, didn't reset the shift point from the return road setting, Forgot to put both hands on the steering wheel but was riding the brakes all the way down etc etc. HOWEVER, I am just happy to be running and having fun. Hope you feel the same. Probably you will go from your '08 run deep into the 11s. Then you will wonder why you worried. All the best.
don

 

Ya have to excuse him Don, he just got married and has other things on his mind, ah the joys of youth!

 

Here's a link for the Primer Podcast video of first round quals, the Doll & Elmer are at 5:22.

 

Went to the test and tune today! Great day... but it was hot :/

We changed to a 95 pill and ran a 12:17.... not what were hoping for so we decided to fatten it up.

Next was the 90 pill. That brought it to a 12:13. Not much better, but an improvement.

So we decided to try something different. We were thinking of advancing the Mag but we talked to a few flathead gurus and one of them suggested to retard the mag 2 degrees. So we went from 24 advanced to 22 advanced.

Boom- 12:001.... SO CLOSE! Almost to the 11's!
We fattened it up even more, by putting an 85 pill in. Now here is where it gets weird. We have been using the trans brake with our powerglide- well the cable that hooks to the battery that powers the trans brake got unplugged while I was getting ready to run which I found out when I lost reverse.

So I went forward with the run but with no trans brake and if you would believe it...

11:592! WOAH! Couldn't believe it! We are extremely proud to have the Doll be in the 11's. The fastest the Doll has been has been 12 flat back in the late 1960's with owner/driver Larry Lee.

So we decided to do one last run to see what happens with the trans brake and we ended up with an 11:91. So we are losing our bottom end with the trans brake, so we have some stuff to think about, but I am going to leave you with the video of the Doll doing an 11:59!

 

Oh, YEAAAAAH !

 

Great run D. Sometime "high tech" doesn't necessarily help. I'd say get rid of the trans brake and run fast and quick. Load the converter and launch hard off the regular brakes. Less shock to the drive line too.

 

Way too cool D..............love it!!!!

 

Congrates on the runs D ,, Keep up the good work,,,, Tim Jones

 

Wanted to give a little update. We took the car out for a test and tune.

The first run we did it caught us off guard and we did a huge wheel stand.

We didn't have the wheelie bars on because we were not using the trans brake, thinking we wouldn't have the traction. Sure enough we did.




Well I came down hard and ended up bending the chassis at the motor mount and breaking the moon tank off.

We've always had a little bend in the chassis from years of torque but this bend was substantial.

We made the decision that after straightening the frame we were going to add the original upper bar back on the Doll.

The upper bar was taken off during the crash of 59'.

Here is the new upper bar.





Here it's all painted. We will be running the car at the Antique Nationals so we will see how this affects the runs.

 

lookin great D

 

It looks killer! Best of luck at the Antique Nats!

 

That Willys Aero looks pretty cool too. You should stuff a flathead in it.

 

Nice repair work D , Looks good and ready to go

 

I think it looks a LOT better with the second, upper bar also. Helps to make it more "balanced"; JMO.
The "sound wall" at Fontana, was basically the result of one private land owner, and his "fussing an' fuming"; they finally paid him off with what he wanted, he moved away, and the wall did't really need to be installed then. BUT, it was already decided on by the city/county/state folks. Oh well, maybe it'll be quieter for the racers, not to having to listen to the trains going by (BIG TIME tongue-in-cheek). Riding along with the Go Pro makes me think about my 120" wheelbase FED I had in the late/early 80's; the most fun a guy can have, and still have his clothes on!!!
I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I heard the tech guys weren't letting "the Doll" run. Wondering what the problem is.

 

The story I heard was that after the wheelstand they banned them from running at Fontana. Don't know any details, maybe Dimitri will fill in the blanks.

 

Just found this blog &I catching up. Concerning surprise 11.5 without trans brake. Need a Dyno test then talk to convert company &a where trans brake rpm &a gearing. Get that combination right &I should see more 11.5s......

 

x2????

 

Maybe bending the frame after the wheelie had something to do with Fontana's decision? Get the wheelie bars back on, show them the update to the frame, and lose the trans-brake. When I made my license runs at Bremerton Raceway in the late 70's, I had a 5500 stall converter in it and NO wheelie bars. It was coming up 45 degrees easily; I'd back out of it and it would come down, but them go right back up with any power. Mild SBC, Glide, 4.10, 57 Pont rear-end in a 120 inch wheelbase FED; swapped to a 4500 stall converter, and added wheelie bars; it stayed down, but still rode the wheelie bar wheels until the wrinkles would come out of the slicks (after 2nd gear shift). I think you're going to have to prove to Fontana it's safe and you're in control. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

What happened was the wheel stand got them concerned since it bent the chassis (I came down really hard) The new rule is any dragster, no matter what the speed has to have an NHRA approved roll cage. We don't have an approved roll cage, but it is substantially better than no cage at all, and since we have always been slower than 10 seconds, NHRA has turned the other cheek and let us run. Now that the rule is in affect, and since they saw the chassis bend they put their foot down (even though honestly I think the specific tech has something personal against us.) When he was telling us we can't run, he started saying we lied to him about how fast our car goes (we never have, he said we told him we were in the 13's, when the rail was always been in the low 12's.) Then he went on to say how our car was probably found in a field, and rusted out inside the rails?? And how these old rails collapse on themselves.

I feel this would have been different if they were just enforcing a new rule. I knew the day was coming when we wouldn't be able to run our dragster at NHRA strips, but the back and forth and personal remarks that were made makes me upset. I am all about safety, and appreciate the efforts the NHRA does, but when they pick and choose what cars can and can't race and especially out of spite, that is where I draw the line.

After we straightened the chassis, added the upper bar, and sent pictures of the wheelie bars they were still not happy, and even said they wanted to make an example of our car for what can race and can't.

At the Antique Nationals they were letting FED run with less cage then we have, with bigger mills to boot. I lost a lot of respect for Fontana, and the specific tech that is giving us hassle. I watched him let other rails through tech that had less cage then us, and went right up to him and questioned it. He never gave me a straight answer, and then said they were relaxing tech during the Antique Nationals, but we have a "ban" at that strip so it wouldn't matter for us. After a lot of fighting with them, and getting the event coordinator and the track manager involved the let us do an "exhibition run" but it had to be slow...

It's a real shame since this was the closest 1/4 mile track to us, and we have been attending the Antique Nationals since the beginning. Luckily we have Barona, and they are happy to have us, and of course Eagle Field.

 

Don't ya just love the NHRA.........no hot rods allowed.......D