Nitro Dude
Hauler Driver and Cylinder Head Maintenance
That is a nice looking blower and injector hat.
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- Thread starter Magnethead
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More and more T/F/Nostalgia Nitro and TAD/TAFC hand-me-downs are appearing in Top Dragster
We are staying roots Chevy, but several friends have gone to AJPE solid blocks or 481X with screw or big roots.
Nitro Dude
Hauler Driver and Cylinder Head Maintenance
We use AJPE 14-71 blower cases and stage VII cylinder heads, but we use BAE engine blocks.
http://www.alanjohnsonperformance.com/
http://bradanderson.com/
http://www.alanjohnsonperformance.com/
http://bradanderson.com/
Yea several people are using the stage 5 parts as a "cheaper" (LOL) alternative to the AJPE stuff.
shark77
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I have a new found respect for drag racing. Drove my first pass below a 10 today in a friend’s 2008 Corvette today. I ran an 8.62 @ 164 mph. Albeit, the car does 8.1s with my friend driving... I get it now... That thing was a handful.
What have you run with your car?
What have you run with your car?
Must have been an outlaw track? Anything under 9.99 you should have an NHRA physical and competition license...anything over 150 MPH should have 1 chute, 200 is 2 chutes (at 175 you are required to pull one regardless, period end of story)
Ah. That's cool. Ballsy, but cool. haha
Little bit of an update...
Beautiful, Mag.
More progress.
Dragster engine is coming along. Made the fuel lines over the weekend, water lines tonight. Pushrods come in tomorrow, hopefully get all the valvetrain complete tomorrow and we can move on to getting the engine set into the car.
@Nitro Dude We have seen it done on other cars, but what is your thought on having the water line going right across the burst panel?
@Nitro Dude We have seen it done on other cars, but what is your thought on having the water line going right across the burst panel?
It is easier to say what has gone well than what hasn't, since last update: The distributor hold-down went on fine, and the blower/hat assembly didn't fall off our improvised sling hanging from the engine hoist..........and that's it.
First issue we found was that the heads were clearanced on the CNC for 3/8 pushrods, but not the 7/16 and 1/2" pushrods we are using. So each cylinder head took about a day of grinding and clearancing. Biggest way to tell, other than using Dicom transferring dye, is that the rockers were off-center on pressure...
With the valvetrain taken care of, next came setting the intake manifold....which had multiple issues.
One, The manifold sat lower then designed, so we had to oblong the bolt holes upward.
Two, the front rail of the block and the front rail of the manifold did not match up. Two 1/2" wide surfaces, with only 3/16" of interface.
Three, The distributor hole is in the wrong spot, and we didn't realize this until after the manifold was glued on. So we had to grind on the distributor instead of the manifold...
One, The manifold sat lower then designed, so we had to oblong the bolt holes upward.
Two, the front rail of the block and the front rail of the manifold did not match up. Two 1/2" wide surfaces, with only 3/16" of interface.
Three, The distributor hole is in the wrong spot, and we didn't realize this until after the manifold was glued on. So we had to grind on the distributor instead of the manifold...
With all the conflicts (hopefully) sorted out, we put the long block in the car, bolted everything down, then made a sling out of 2 ratchet straps, and set the blower and injector hat assembly on. From there, headers went on, EGT probes went on, the rest of the fuel lines were made, puke tank vents mounted onto the valve covers, puke tank hoses made, fuel shutoff and throttle cables attached.
All that remains is the cooling system hoses, secondary fuel system hoses, a little more electrical, and filling with water and fuel.
All that remains is the cooling system hoses, secondary fuel system hoses, a little more electrical, and filling with water and fuel.
More work to do, but it runs...
Struggling with this fuel system. Have 4 remote crew chiefs plus dad and I trying to sort it all out.
Break-in oil is drained and exchanged for race oil, 30 micron oil filter is out and 45 in, wheelie bars are installed, measured, modified, and set. Body is back on, decals applied. All thats left is clean up the mess of tools and pack the chutes.
Break-in oil is drained and exchanged for race oil, 30 micron oil filter is out and 45 in, wheelie bars are installed, measured, modified, and set. Body is back on, decals applied. All thats left is clean up the mess of tools and pack the chutes.
Beautiful, Mag --- just beautiful.
Houston, we have problems. Between 1 and 3 problems. And they are chicken-and-the-egg style.
Went to the track today. Didn't make it off the jackstands. Had a little smoke session. Transmission is now on the bench taken apart. And the shop smells like said smoke...
Went to the track today. Didn't make it off the jackstands. Had a little smoke session. Transmission is now on the bench taken apart. And the shop smells like said smoke...
Won't be making the divisional this weekend. Determined that the converter is not returning fluid back to the transmission, and the lack of flow is causing it to hydraulically lock up on top of limited lubrication causing heat in other places.
Time to slow down, get the bills paid from trying to rush into the last week before the divisional. Get the hydraulic circuit taken care of and a new converter. Maybe test in a couple weeks.
In other news, there is a reason they spray de-icer on the injector blades. The hat is under extreme vacuum, and as vacuum increases, the boiling point of water decreases. Accordingly, evaporative cooling takes affect and suddenly you get all kinds of bad juju.
Time to slow down, get the bills paid from trying to rush into the last week before the divisional. Get the hydraulic circuit taken care of and a new converter. Maybe test in a couple weeks.
In other news, there is a reason they spray de-icer on the injector blades. The hat is under extreme vacuum, and as vacuum increases, the boiling point of water decreases. Accordingly, evaporative cooling takes affect and suddenly you get all kinds of bad juju.
Went over to the new track (Xtreme Raceway Park) and got our 2 initial hits complete for a baseline last weekend.
Maximum G's were 2.84, burned 63 ounces of fuel (basically a half gallon) in 4.1 seconds, and the tire circumference grew 10 inches at the 1/8 mile from 110.5 to 120.5 inches or so.
Maximum G's were 2.84, burned 63 ounces of fuel (basically a half gallon) in 4.1 seconds, and the tire circumference grew 10 inches at the 1/8 mile from 110.5 to 120.5 inches or so.
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Dad got his license on Friday night, but it wasn't cheap.
Run #1 made it to 330 and made a hard left
Run #2 planned for a full pull, but had a water line come off after the burnout. Sat for about 5 minutes for cleanup, I check the fuel tank. Decided to do a second burnout and shut off no later than 1000'. Dad shuts off at 5.00 , runs 5.33 to the 1000 and 6.58 to the 1/4. Get back to pit and I made the right call - fuel tank had 1" left above the suction hose.
At this point, Dew was coming in heavy and we were racing time. 20 minute turnaround and we were back under the tower.
Fired the car, sounded fine on the burnout and backing up. Dad puts it on the 2 step to leave and it sounded off but not terrible. Runs 6.62 at 210... numbers don't seem right, figure the beams were messing up from the dew. Alot of other people were getting weird slips. Dad tried to pull the chute and it didn't blossom, he still was able to make the turn. He didn't push the lever far enough.
Another 20 minute turnaround and haul ass back under the tower. Car is soaking wet, dad's visor is fogged, windscreen is fogged. Right before staging I'm wiping down the windscrean and dad's wiping the visor. Goes on the 2 step and car tries to die, sounds like an A-fuel dragster. Car takes off and you can clearly hear something's not right. Runs 6.77 at 212 and dad pulls the chute for good measure.
It's easier to say what we did not break. At least the hat was still attached to the blower, and the blower was mostly still attached to the intake manifold.
This was all on Friday night.
By last night (saturday night), we had the hat in the trailer, blower on the bench, intake in the trailer, engine on the stand, cylinder head on the folding table, piston/rod assemblies 6 and 8 on the bench, head gasket and flexplate on one of our stools, and oil pan on the floor.
Welcome to Top Dragster. @Nitro Dude when's your next trip to Texas? LOL
Video of Run #3
Run #1 made it to 330 and made a hard left
Run #2 planned for a full pull, but had a water line come off after the burnout. Sat for about 5 minutes for cleanup, I check the fuel tank. Decided to do a second burnout and shut off no later than 1000'. Dad shuts off at 5.00 , runs 5.33 to the 1000 and 6.58 to the 1/4. Get back to pit and I made the right call - fuel tank had 1" left above the suction hose.
At this point, Dew was coming in heavy and we were racing time. 20 minute turnaround and we were back under the tower.
Fired the car, sounded fine on the burnout and backing up. Dad puts it on the 2 step to leave and it sounded off but not terrible. Runs 6.62 at 210... numbers don't seem right, figure the beams were messing up from the dew. Alot of other people were getting weird slips. Dad tried to pull the chute and it didn't blossom, he still was able to make the turn. He didn't push the lever far enough.
Another 20 minute turnaround and haul ass back under the tower. Car is soaking wet, dad's visor is fogged, windscreen is fogged. Right before staging I'm wiping down the windscrean and dad's wiping the visor. Goes on the 2 step and car tries to die, sounds like an A-fuel dragster. Car takes off and you can clearly hear something's not right. Runs 6.77 at 212 and dad pulls the chute for good measure.
It's easier to say what we did not break. At least the hat was still attached to the blower, and the blower was mostly still attached to the intake manifold.
This was all on Friday night.
By last night (saturday night), we had the hat in the trailer, blower on the bench, intake in the trailer, engine on the stand, cylinder head on the folding table, piston/rod assemblies 6 and 8 on the bench, head gasket and flexplate on one of our stools, and oil pan on the floor.
Welcome to Top Dragster. @Nitro Dude when's your next trip to Texas? LOL
Video of Run #3
Nitro Dude
Hauler Driver and Cylinder Head Maintenance
That is an awesome car. You and your dad are going to have a lot of fun with it. We just raced in Houston a couple of weeks ago. I'm staying on the road for a four race swing. We ran Houston, Charlotte, and Atlanta all in a row and now there is a week off before Topeka, so I'm going up to Sioux City Iowa to get some lights installed on the hauler that I ordered last year. Be very careful around that belt on the blower when it is running, I have seen a few crew guys lose their fingers. A few years ago they fired Robert Hights car up on the starting line and it had a small fuel leak and Shafty reached in to tighten a line and the wrench slipped and the blower pulley cut his finger off.....so he picked it up wrapped it in a paper towel stuck it in his pocket and then after the run they took him to the hospital. Now that is giving a piece of yourself for the team.
Yep, especially with not having a belt guard, I don't reach in any further than to close the valve on the primer tank.That is an awesome car. You and your dad are going to have a lot of fun with it. We just raced in Houston a couple of weeks ago. I'm staying on the road for a four race swing. We ran Houston, Charlotte, and Atlanta all in a row and now there is a week off before Topeka, so I'm going up to Sioux City Iowa to get some lights installed on the hauler that I ordered last year. Be very careful around that belt on the blower when it is running, I have seen a few crew guys lose their fingers. A few years ago they fired Robert Hights car up on the starting line and it had a small fuel leak and Shafty reached in to tighten a line and the wrench slipped and the blower pulley cut his finger off.....so he picked it up wrapped it in a paper towel stuck it in his pocket and then after the run they took him to the hospital. Now that is giving a piece of yourself for the team.
Ordered all the replacement parts UPS second day, should have it all Thursday and have the engine back in the car with a test fire on Sunday. Mostly waiting to hear from Reher-Morrison on if the rod is good or not. Going to re-hone 6 and 8, put new rings on them, and send it.
212 MPH = 341 KMh330 That must be terrifying!
or was that 230....sti ll terrifying!
That is an awesome car. You and your dad are going to have a lot of fun with it. We just raced in Houston a couple of weeks ago. I'm staying on the road for a four race swing. We ran Houston, Charlotte, and Atlanta all in a row and now there is a week off before Topeka, so I'm going up to Sioux City Iowa to get some lights installed on the hauler that I ordered last year. Be very careful around that belt on the blower when it is running, I have seen a few crew guys lose their fingers. A few years ago they fired Robert Hights car up on the starting line and it had a small fuel leak and Shafty reached in to tighten a line and the wrench slipped and the blower pulley cut his finger off.....so he picked it up wrapped it in a paper towel stuck it in his pocket and then after the run they took him to the hospital. Now that is giving a piece of yourself for the team.
It's flowing 7.30 to 7.50 GPM tip to tail at 16 PSI of boost (23 psi when the intake slammed shut). Still a bit rich. 50/46 set. Debating going to the 44 top while we are checking everything out.
The flexplate bolts back out, seized the converter and pilot into the crank, trashed the flexplate, front 4 of the 8 blower nuts backed off, figure the bent rocker bolt backed out and stressed the other bolt to break, exhaust pinned shut, hydraulic'd the pushrod through the intake rocker, rod is ????, both 6 and 8 pistons have bad scuffing on the thrust side, little bit of trash in the #6 rod bearing, bent #6 exhaust rod, tore up both #6 lifters, both #6 pushrods are questionable at best (rotate out with the spare of each). Oil pan was full of chunked out threads from the rocker, oil pump definitely had trash through it but it's not terrible, oil filter was 75%+ aluminum shavings.
That is an awesome car. You and your dad are going to have a lot of fun with it. We just raced in Houston a couple of weeks ago. I'm staying on the road for a four race swing. We ran Houston, Charlotte, and Atlanta all in a row and now there is a week off before Topeka, so I'm going up to Sioux City Iowa to get some lights installed on the hauler that I ordered last year. Be very careful around that belt on the blower when it is running, I have seen a few crew guys lose their fingers. A few years ago they fired Robert Hights car up on the starting line and it had a small fuel leak and Shafty reached in to tighten a line and the wrench slipped and the blower pulley cut his finger off.....so he picked it up wrapped it in a paper towel stuck it in his pocket and then after the run they took him to the hospital. Now that is giving a piece of yourself for the team.
I was wrong, we are on 54/50. Other options are 48 and 47 on top. Figure we're around 16 on 50, 48 should put us in the 23-24 range and 47 will be 27-28 or so.
Slugs are back in the engine...put oil pan on and put the head on tomorrow...try to get it back in the car at some point.
Long day. 13 hours for me, 15 hours for dad. Engine assembled, in car, transmission out and back in, top end applied, hoses and electrical reconnected, water back in.
Basically ready to disrupt somebody's mother's day lunch tomorrow.
Changed pulleys from 54/50 to 54/48.
Basically ready to disrupt somebody's mother's day lunch tomorrow.
Changed pulleys from 54/50 to 54/48.
In less than 12 hours, we've gone from engine assembled and running to intake manifold and blower sitting on the bench again.
Would have gone with a solid block if we did this again...water just makes everything difficult. We probably *should* pull the head again.... but not sure if we will.
Would have gone with a solid block if we did this again...water just makes everything difficult. We probably *should* pull the head again.... but not sure if we will.
Whizzer
Gig'em
Damn Mag!! But that video is awesome!!! The reaction time waiting for free and leaving is immeasurable!
Sorry to hear of the problems but hope everything works out well and you get all the bugs worked out for a successful season.
Sorry to hear of the problems but hope everything works out well and you get all the bugs worked out for a successful season.
Long story short:
Put the head on after getting the valve fixed. Used a different head gasket with an "anti-leak coating". Idea was to be reusable and not have to silicone the copper head gaskets around the water ports.
Put water in the system, let sit overnight.
Come out next morning to water on the floor, leaking from #2 exhaust header. Pull header, find water dripping from the head stud where it protrudes through the exhaust port...which is normal on these heads.
As best as we can figure, the water is leaking around the head gasket to the stud, then going up between the stud and cylinder head, coming out at the crack.
So we drained the water, pulled the head stud, blew out the head opening, coated the stud in silicone, and shoved it back in...Idea was to not have to pull the blower and manifold. Let it cure, put water back in. No leaks...
Run engine for 3 or 4 minutes...get oil coming out the front of the block.
Remember when I posted about the china/front rail of the intake manifold and block not lining up? Yea, that became an issue again.
So we pulled the blower and intake off, like we didn't want to do, and dad took the manifold to Reher-Morrison to epoxy the whole front of the manifold. Will never have a sealing issue now hopefully.
We probably should have pulled the head while we were there, but we're hoping the silicone plus re-torquing the head after a heat cycle, will keep it sealed up.
Put the head on after getting the valve fixed. Used a different head gasket with an "anti-leak coating". Idea was to be reusable and not have to silicone the copper head gaskets around the water ports.
Put water in the system, let sit overnight.
Come out next morning to water on the floor, leaking from #2 exhaust header. Pull header, find water dripping from the head stud where it protrudes through the exhaust port...which is normal on these heads.
As best as we can figure, the water is leaking around the head gasket to the stud, then going up between the stud and cylinder head, coming out at the crack.
So we drained the water, pulled the head stud, blew out the head opening, coated the stud in silicone, and shoved it back in...Idea was to not have to pull the blower and manifold. Let it cure, put water back in. No leaks...
Run engine for 3 or 4 minutes...get oil coming out the front of the block.
Remember when I posted about the china/front rail of the intake manifold and block not lining up? Yea, that became an issue again.
So we pulled the blower and intake off, like we didn't want to do, and dad took the manifold to Reher-Morrison to epoxy the whole front of the manifold. Will never have a sealing issue now hopefully.
We probably should have pulled the head while we were there, but we're hoping the silicone plus re-torquing the head after a heat cycle, will keep it sealed up.
Can't complain here. Put a 3.99 on the car with no notes and no idea what it would run. Went 4.01 and 4.03.