Joe, you guys are kickn ass with this. I'm so excited to come see it run. get'n me motivated to finish mine up and run you guys. Congrats! To any others interested, the bare chassis is in expensive. I built Joe's as a roller and they took it from there to the track. Not trying to piggy back Joe's post but, we are always looking for more competition. PM me if interested.
Joe, what was the rear gear that you ended up using? Looks like those Hurst Slicks are hook'n up nice.
thanks guys, this thing is alot of fun. Brad I used 5.29s and yes those tires will bite, I was getting a better feel for them this time out but if you launch it differently you can smoke em which I did a couple times also. I'm going to add some weight up front for new england this weekend and see if I can get a little more control.
Oh yeah, thats right. Were you using 1st at all or just 2nd and 3rd? I know you don't have a tach in it but, what RPM do you think you're launching at? How about when you smoke 'em? can you keep them smokin the full 1/8?
No 1st, just launching in 2nd gear. I have no idea what im launching at, its really low I bet no more then 3k rpm and kinda slipping the clutch out I havent side stepped it yet. If you dont do a burn out they light right up but I think you would need a blower to smoke em for a long distance. I tried a couple times to keep em smoking but had to pedal it cause the front end is too light and you start to kinda loose control. Maybe someone with more experience would stay in it but it wasnt feeling right to me.
HAHAHA, Just curious, thats all. Definately get used to the car and comfortable. Its funny how light the front end is, you would assume with the short wheelbase and the motor location, it wouldn't be too bad. Are those the 8" wide Hurst slicks?
Meant to ask, how did the motor do with the heat? Were you draining and refilling or just letting it cool between rounds? Hey Slick, the only problem with that is his body is on the back side of the axle. He may just have to put a seat up front for Scott. HAHAHAHA!
It did ok with the heat, Once the block has heat in it though it didn't want to get under 140 or so even with a fan on it and dumping the water. But it was hot as hell out and there wasn't many people there so I was only sitting long enough to get it down to that to make another run.
Love that car, I would say that it had a great deal to do with getting me excited about building a FED although mine turned out nothing like it. Can't wait to see some footage of it burning up the strip.
Ya Jared, winterport is really cool. I met one of the owners and he was telling me the place opened in 1966 or so and hasnt really changed since. The Gassah Guys are great people and they really put on a cool event. Any New england guys that are interested there is a 3 day camp out weekend august 6th at winterport put on by the Gassah Guys. Theres going to be alot of vintage race cars and anyone who shows up will be able to run their hot rod, It is really laid back and they are happy to have people supporting the events.
Joe, the older guy running the flat black 65 GTO lives really close to me. The story I'd heard was that the GTO was the first car to run down the strip after Winterport opened way back when. I think he is part of the group of owners. The best thing about Winterport is how low key it is, at least in my limited experience. I mean they run riding lawn mowers many weekends. On that note, someone needs to build a stretched mower to look like an early FED. Hrm... I wonder if you could get a set of turf tires recapped to look like pie crusts?
Are you going to New England Sunday? I meant to ask you if Helger was at Maine the first weekend? you were there?
Ya we just got back from NED, was a slow ass day only made 4 runs. Ran the best yet with a 6.94 at 101mph and fastest at 103.57mph. We put a tach in it and it was only reving to 5,800 and was floating, so I need to get some stiffer valve springs and put some type of caster on the back so i can launch it harder with out standing it up. Helger was at winterport with the whole crew they had a altered and a newer type FED they were running.
Great to hear it guys, I was stuck at the shop finishing the red Willys coupe for its trip home to San Diego in about8 hours. Yes, I am awake and at the shop at 4 am. Can't wait til it leaves. I'll catch you guys at the next event. I heard you guys were making some great passes and from what I heard, everyone loved seeing the car run.
when we ran gas in JMP's fed we always had trouble keeping the temp down and when he was racing against door slammers stage late knowing that he would run hot. he always stages first and I can't get him to change so last year we changed to methanol and no more heating problems and a lot more work
That's awesome, 51box...nice passes, congrats!!!! I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it up there yesterday. I sure hope you'll be running it at NED next month!
Ya we have been working on the car, biggest thing was how little advance she had total. We got it figured out and put 38 degrees in it and she went 104.90mph and fastest was a 7.0 again. These tires suck I was all over the place even with a nice long burnout, so I just ordered a set of M&H slicks to get this thing planted. The guys in the 7.10 class were running 95mph and im running almost 105 and it was like going fishing at the top end once she hooked up. Also I'm looking to modify the carbs to try and get some more mph out of her. Should run 110 Id think with that engine.
I thought that your class rules allow you to run no quicker than 7.0 in the 1/8 mile. Is that true? Sounds like you are already there. Now... if you can figure out how to run 7.0 in the 1/8 while smoking the hides all the way, that would be real cool. Nice ride.
Better tires and you're going to spend more time looking at the clouds. Are you planning on running at Winterport on Sept 11?
CoupeMerc the GassahGuys originally had near stock engines and 7.50 ETs in mind for these rails to keep it low budget. But it's so easy to make power with a SB and Helgers car already runs 6.30s with an iron headed Sbc on gas. There are classes for everyone from 5.0- 18.0 second stuff. I would definitely need a blower to do a full 1/8th mile smoker, but those hurst slicks are so hard it could be done for sure. 5foot2 unfortunetly I have a wedding to go to so I won't be able to make the next race.
AWESOME!! I am so glad i found this thread again. I saw it at the beginning and fell in love with it. I just refell in love with it!!!!!! Do you guys ever come to ohio, I read someone say something about thompson. please tell me you will!!! OH MY! I just got the video loaded and had to just say one more time- AWESOME!!!! Was that a 3rd gear wheelie about 100 ft out?!?!?!!!
You guys going to make it to Epping this coming weekend? ...last Nostalgia Drags for this year and I better make it this time!!!
The Jalopy Journal
