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The CACKLE in a "Cackle Fest".

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ken Carvalho, Jan 25, 2007.

  1. Ken Carvalho
    Joined: Dec 22, 2004
    Posts: 1,611

    Ken Carvalho
    Member

    That sound, oh that beautiful sound! I have only been to a couple of them,and don't really know anyone who have the info about them, but the sweet music of a cackle fest, what makes them sound the way they do??? Most I see are Hemis' but you average Hot rod with a Hemi sounds NOTHING like them! Can any "built" motor sound like that? Is it the compression, exhaust style, cam design, fuel type, or a combo of all ??? There is NOTHING, I THINK, that gives you a feeling like that...Face it (and I LOVE SEX!!) BUT, even the BEST sex doesn't last that long and give you goose bumps like that. Is it possible to have a vehicle to sound like that with any motor??? Is it possible to have it street driveable??? As wild as it would be, is there just a CHANCE???? I am craving something like that BADLY!!!!! Please???...Ken
     
  2. rippintare
    Joined: Nov 1, 2005
    Posts: 64

    rippintare
    Member

    running on nitro
     
  3. rabidcustoms
    Joined: Jan 25, 2007
    Posts: 82

    rabidcustoms
    Member
    from Iowa

    yep,..just put a little "pop" in the tank.

    pop=nitro
     
  4. Liquid dynomite !!
     

  5. Dirty2
    Joined: Jun 13, 2004
    Posts: 8,903

    Dirty2
    Member

    Yep !!!!
     
  6. Ken Carvalho
    Joined: Dec 22, 2004
    Posts: 1,611

    Ken Carvalho
    Member

    SERIOUSLY, it is just the nitro doing that? Can it be purchased by anyone? By the way Nitro, AKA Nitro/Methane, is that nitro glycerine, mixed with methanol???? That methane aint the methane in farts is it? NO I am not being a smart ass, just trying to phrase it in an easy way?!?!?Ken
     
  7. Ken Carvalho
    Joined: Dec 22, 2004
    Posts: 1,611

    Ken Carvalho
    Member

    SORRY, I'll "google" it!!!! Ken
     
  8. rabidcustoms
    Joined: Jan 25, 2007
    Posts: 82

    rabidcustoms
    Member
    from Iowa

    no, not just anyone can purchase it....you need a special fuel license issued by NHRA or IHRA, or some other santioned race body. nitromethane is very expensive by the way. I think the currant pricing is around 50 a gallon?.... yes, cheaper by the barrel, but really, who gives a shit unless your running a race act? another thing to consider,.. nitro can do major damage to your engine and related parts if there is any left pooled ,...as in,...say you go to restart it,....a little puddeling in your pipes,....flame front hits,...bam,...

    but, if you decide to try some take pics:D
     
  9. Ken Carvalho
    Joined: Dec 22, 2004
    Posts: 1,611

    Ken Carvalho
    Member

    After googleing <--what a word! anyway, I have learned a lot just now about this fuel, but I also see that it is available in R/C stores to use in radio controlled race cars. Would that be a possibilty to use on a "smaller" yet still kinda exciting scale in a car ???? Man I don't know why I amso stuck on this but DAMN it is bad ass!!!
     
  10. The sound comes from a variey of sources, but mostly from the nitro and the supercharger effect. Spin the supercharger to get 25 lbs of boost or more, advance the cam a bunch, not too much ignition lead, put around 75% nitro in the tank and you got it. And, oh by-the-way, the hemi is nnot the only one that sounds that way. Almost any engine with some cubic inches will pop like a bitch on 25 lbs of boost and 75% nitro.
     
  11. recardo
    Joined: Aug 31, 2006
    Posts: 833

    recardo
    Member
    from Winslow

    I think the R/C nitro stuff is only 10%

    The sound is just from the nitro mix at levels of about 85%. At the california hot rod reunion, they have a mini-cackle at the In-n-Out on Panama Road. They run the diggers on alcohol for about 2 minutes to warm them up, and then switch to nitro. Sounds pretty tame until they switch, and then you have a good cackle.
     
  12. rooman
    Joined: Sep 20, 2006
    Posts: 4,045

    rooman
    Member

    The "cackle" cars on nitro run varying percentages but if you are at an event listen to the Kuhl and Olson digger. Mike usually runs it on 95% or more and it is one of the baddest sounding cars out there.
    For those who have only started going to the NHRA events in recent years the current maximum allowable percentage in the dragsters and funny cars is 85% and they are weak dogs compared with how they used to be. They are still loud but don't have the harsh bark that they did in the days of unlimited %.
    Currently the teams are paying around $650 a drum for fuel.

    Roo
     
  13. Jmountainjr
    Joined: Dec 29, 2006
    Posts: 1,672

    Jmountainjr
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Go out and enjoy the sound, take a deep breath, let the nitro bring tears to your eyes, then drive back into reality. Nitro needs a bunch of compression and is very hard on parts. They don't rebuild them after every run for nothing. Methanol is easier on parts, but still need a bunch of compression. And both are corrosive. When I was running a methanol sprint car, after every race we would run a menthanol and Marvel Mystery Oil mix through the fuel pump so it wouldn't seize up during the week.
     
  14. Paul
    Joined: Aug 29, 2002
    Posts: 16,380

    Paul
    Editor

    why would you want to drive one of these on the street?

    notice in the clip where the rooky in the seat lets the clutch out a bit and it lurches forward

     
  15. crowerglide
    Joined: Aug 31, 2006
    Posts: 201

    crowerglide
    Member
    from Tyler, TX

    Nitro percentage, spark lead, cam grind, and the blower all contribute to the sound, but it's mostly the 90 to 96% nitro and lots of spark advance. The "late model" (426 style) hemis usually run at least 60 degrees advance, maybe more. We used to run 68-75 degrees (racing) when we ran only one mag. The early model hemis run 30 to 55 degrees. There's no advance built in to the mag. It's locked with a solid drive plate, so there's no curve. You have the same amount of advance at idle as you do at 8000 rpm. That, and a big load of nitro really makes it thump. There's very little blower boost at idle, and most of the cackle cars don't run a real tight, race-prepped blower anyway since they don't need to run down the track. They run very low static compression, in the 6:1 to 7:1 range. The older cams were usually 102 to 106 lobe centers with lots of duration, and that makes for a ragged idle, too. Most cams are put in straight up or maybe up to 4 degrees advanced or retarded. Most are ground to be run straight up, so there's no real need to move 'em around a lot. In the late 70s there was a period where we were paying $1250-$1500 per drum for nitro. I don't know that it ever got any higher than that, but like Rooman says, it's in the $600-$700 range at the moment.
     
  16. lolife
    Joined: May 23, 2006
    Posts: 1,125

    lolife
    Member

    I never got to ask Sam what he was running in his "Iron Horse", but that thing sounds great! Made the Flirtin sound like a dump truck in comparison, ha.

    By the way, I have a DVD of the run if you are interested, as you are in it walking around!

    Steve
     
  17. brandon
    Joined: Jul 19, 2002
    Posts: 6,368

    brandon
    Member

    the first year i went to bowling green , they fired the jade gernade at the holiday inn......something about being 3 feet away from it .....you gotta love it.....when foster brought the mongoose up the track the next night ....that thing was totally different sounding car than the rest...it was louder and sounded so different compared to the rest.....like it was running on 98%......this past summer , when they lit off berglers and other car at the holiday inn.....we were behind the cars......and oh my god.......you couldn't get out of the way of the fumes......lol.........brandon
     
  18. ANewBeat
    Joined: May 1, 2005
    Posts: 245

    ANewBeat
    Member
    from Floriduh

    The sound. It really is like nothing else. No other sound personifies power like a blown fuel motor. Just remember, it can be a bit finicky at times.

    [​IMG]
    Jeff Burk photo
     
  19. crowerglide
    Joined: Aug 31, 2006
    Posts: 201

    crowerglide
    Member
    from Tyler, TX

    Steve,
    I think Sam had 90% in the Iron Horse, and I think about 40 in the mag. Don't beat up on poor ol' Barrett (Flirtin') too much.

    Brandon,
    The Jade Grenade and the McEwen car are both late model hemis, so they run a lot more mag. There's a definite difference in the sound of the 426 and 392 based motors.
     
  20. The first couple of years that we were running the most recent Flying Dutchman funny car (2000-2002), we used to take it around to events - shows, displays, store openings, shoot one year we took it to a guy's Fourth of July party! - and start it up, basically doing our normal in-the-pits-warm-up routine. Usually we had it on 85-90%, but one year we had it at a car show in the River Market area of downtown Kansas City and Donnie decided to run it at 100%. We lit it off about 9:30 that night (I got to sit in the car and run the controls-nice header flames) and about 20 minutes later a bunch of police and fire vehicles arrived because we had made all the building alarms in the area go off! Talk about your cackle...:D

    I miss that...:(
     
  21. class 'A'
    Joined: Nov 6, 2004
    Posts: 346

    class 'A'
    Member
    from Casper,Wyo

    Chopper~
    I hope you're talking about the ol guys up at deer park. Most of those guys are still around town. Don Wilbur just got another digger put together this year, if you see him at the Speed Show ask him about it. That thing is a work of art.

    Nitro...mmmm......
    Mike
     
  22. class 'A'
    Joined: Nov 6, 2004
    Posts: 346

    class 'A'
    Member
    from Casper,Wyo




    Was that one of the cars at the SWISS this year???
     
  23. This is a good thread, ChopperImpala. Thanks for starting it.

    Rooman! Glad to see your input here. You guys read everything the Rooman posts, 'cause he REALLY knows his stuff. One of the best chassis fabricators around. Talented feller, he is…

    And if you ever got around the Viper's Pit when we were hosting the 15oz Coupe, you heard and felt a Mike Demarest tune up. 98% usually.

    Someone who can describe it better than me, please explain the 10-10-10 incremental tune. 10% more fuel, timing and mag… Shazzzzam!
     
  24. crowerglide
    Joined: Aug 31, 2006
    Posts: 201

    crowerglide
    Member
    from Tyler, TX

    Phil, I think it was 10% more nitro, 10 degrees more timing, and .010" leaner pill, in the old days when one used to run a jet instead of a blank in the BV.

    Dave
     
  25. Yup, that describes it. For anyone following along here, BV is barrell valve.
     
  26. afan
    Joined: Jan 1, 2006
    Posts: 283

    afan
    Member
    from michigan

    look at the people in the back ground NHRA's rick stwart hasn't even reacted to the explosion yet,not even doug herbert!!
     
  27. Ken Carvalho
    Joined: Dec 22, 2004
    Posts: 1,611

    Ken Carvalho
    Member

    I'll be honest, because, I had only seen these in action on the few movies iI have seen, TV shows, and short "nostalgia" clips here and there, I have ALWAYS liked the sound that I heard, I even make the sound to my self in my head when I am idleing in a no exhaust car, but when I experienced it in life for the first time 2 years ago at the Swiss, I was FLOORED and MEZMERIZED, undescribable even???? I don't even have close to the funds to even consider building something like that, I can build a NICE Small Block, but not that, so if I was able to replicate that sound "driving" around, MAN OH MAN!!!! I guess I'll keep "humming" it in my head until the next event, Thanks all for the responses, glad I asked, seems there are always so many knowledgable people around and You never know all the info you can get until you ask!!...Ken
     
  28. Ken Carvalho
    Joined: Dec 22, 2004
    Posts: 1,611

    Ken Carvalho
    Member


    Mike, hey I didn't know wilbur had something going, I don't know him personally, but I have a couple of friends that do, I'll have to ask them to "hook me up" Who are some of the locals around here? I know Chris Davis but haven't been up there in a while, He is restoring an old 'vette funny car last time I was there. If you know about this stuff, I would love to talk to you and pick your brain sometime, I am a 39 y/o that didn't get to experience -the good ole' days- and would love to here the stories!! <---crap That sounds like a "pick-up-line"


    LOLIFE, I would love to have a copy!!! for sale, for free, freight charges???? let me know, pm me, or email [email protected]... Thanks, Ken
     
  29. rixrex
    Joined: Jun 25, 2006
    Posts: 1,433

    rixrex
    Member

    Exploding nitromethane comin atcha thru straight zoomie headers..when they go by, that blast to all your senses, the rumble in your stomach, the smell, the smoke with little bits of tire innit..nothing like it
     
  30. old kid
    Joined: Mar 21, 2005
    Posts: 826

    old kid
    Member Emeritus
    from middle ga

    diggers did not have reversers in the 60s. the cars would do a burnout/warm up lap down to the far end of the track. we would follow them in a push vehicle. when the cars got to the end of the track they would turn into the other side of the track to go back up to the starting line. because of the long turning radius of the cars, and no reverse, we had to push the cars back until they could line up for the return lap to the starting line, where we would repeat the whole process and the cars would wind up in the lane that they started off in, for the race. the sound and the smell of those blown fuel hemis is unforgettable. i cherish those memories. i still can't hear very good in my left ear. WAP-WAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    dan
     

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