[vin63]

Originally Posted by twooldgoats

...That relieves stress on the crank. From what I've read, blown race engines don't need balancers. The blower belt serves the same purpose.

Yes, the blower drive belt absorbs the harmonics...

[twooldgoats]

I always used a small electric primer pump on my Ron's system to start up for the first pass of the day. I primed it with pump gas and let it warm up for a few seconds on gas before switching over to alcohol. That worked so well I decided to do it with the blown engine as well (not sure yet whether to prime with gas or alcohol). I got a small primer nozzle that fits into my hat distribution block and I'm using the same pump and check valve. I did move it over to the driver's side of the engine and mounted it right above the steering on the motor plate. I moved the one-quart gas tank I used for priming over to the driver's side of the radiator as well. I decided to keep all the fuel-related lines on the driver's side so the blower belt guard can provide some protection in the case of a broken blower belt.

Jim

[Elarson]

We prime with regular gas.

Eric

[Torment]

I prime with gas too - just stay away from the throttle until it picks up the alcohol or will want to lean pop at you. I've found once started and warmed up future starts that day (in lanes) don't require any additional priming. After I kill the ignition I pull the 3 way shut to keep the fuel in the hat lines - you can get a check valve for that too, but I've had good luck just shutting the 3 way after killing the ignition. Then open it, turn it over a few times and throw the ignition and it'll fire right back up.

For that reason... my distribution block priming valve is still sitting on the shelf. FWIW

[vin63]

The way I set up that manifold, Jim should be running most of the fuel into the intake runners, so I would recommend shutting the fuel off first at the end of the run.

[twooldgoats]

Originally Posted by vin63

The way I set up that manifold, Jim should be running most of the fuel into the intake runners, so I would recommend shutting the fuel off first at the end of the run.

Tell me more, Vince. I'm planning to use a low pressure (18#) check valve in front of the port distribution block to run hat-only on start-up. Many of the sources I've seen run about a 50-50 split between hat and port injectors at full throttle. My tentative plan is to run rich at launch and lean it out with a high-speed bypass early in the pass. Does that make sense? I'm sorry you won't be at the PBO race next weekend. I planned to pepper you with questions.

Jim

[Scott Roberts]

We always primed the funny car with alcohol... why the need for gas? Never once had a problem firing right up, even in 40deg weather.... seems like more crap to have to drag down the track with you...( gas tank)

[twooldgoats]

The blower, manifold and birdcatcher are all sitting on my NA engine so I can take measurements, check clearances and get as much done now as I can before Paul Carter needs the heads, etc. to finish up the engine. After measuring a couple of different ways and coming out within a few thousandths of an inch of the same answer, I ordered a 7" snout. After I got that, I assembled it as much as I could to make sure everything will work together. In these pictures, you can see the crank support designed by Brian Baker. It's actually just hanging from the blower belt to see how it would fit. Because it fits in a support bearing up in front, its position determines the positions of the idler pulley and the blower pulley.

I feel a lot better about the crank knowing there will be a support for it. I really appreciate Brian's work and the work Ken and Vince did in producing some of the parts needed to put together a blown Pontiac (They all look pretty cool, too, on the engine).

Jim

[marks73ta]

Jim that looks so great. When are you thinking about bringing it out for the first time? I hope you have it up and out on the strip by the next Pontiac Heaven. Would really like to see/hear it run. I'm kind of talking to Vince about a manifold and blower too. I'm probably wackin' a dead horse with a twig, but I gotta try right? Mark L

[Torment]

Originally Posted by vin63

The way I set up that manifold, Jim should be running most of the fuel into the intake runners, so I would recommend shutting the fuel off first at the end of the run.

I wasn't referring to shutting down at the end of a pass in my post - I don't do that, I drive mine to and from the lanes. So my comment on restart was only intended to indicate that you likely won't need to prime each time you start - just the first start.

Jim I think the concern would be killing the ignition with a belt/cam driven pump still pouring fuel - hence Vin's suggestion for killing fuel at the end of the run. The port poppet does help you idle on the hat, but it typically comes in pretty early or you'd have a lean issue... which isn't good.

Hope that makes more sense.

[Torment]

I do dig Brian's brace... but I'm driving an alternator belt out there

[vin63]

Originally Posted by twooldgoats

Tell me more, Vince. I'm planning to use a low pressure (18#) check valve in front of the port distribution block to run hat-only on start-up. Many of the sources I've seen run about a 50-50 split between hat and port injectors at full throttle. My tentative plan is to run rich at launch and lean it out with a high-speed bypass early in the pass. Does that make sense? I'm sorry you won't be at the PBO race next weekend. I planned to pepper you with questions.

Jim

I run almost all of the fuel into the intake runners, I spray just enough from the hat to cool the supercharger. Thanks...I'm bummed I can't make the trip. I was trying to sell my '63 Tempest to make the event, but it hasn't sold yet. You have my phone numbers and email, so no worries about contacting me anytime...when you get closer to wrapping things up, we can talk about tunes.

I wouldn't run a separate priming system. If it comes to that, Ellen can squirt a little gas in the hat before you start up.

Originally Posted by Torment

...I wasn't referring to shutting down at the end of a pass in my post - I don't do that, I drive mine to and from the lanes. So my comment on restart was only intended to indicate that you likely won't need to prime each time you start - just the first start.

Gotcha...yeah, I just wanted to clarify that since it can be catastrophic with so much fuel volume at the top end.

[twooldgoats]

Originally Posted by Torment

I wasn't referring to shutting down at the end of a pass in my post - I don't do that, I drive mine to and from the lanes. So my comment on restart was only intended to indicate that you likely won't need to prime each time you start - just the first start.

.....

This was exactly my experience, too, with the Toilet. I only used the primer once, for the first start of the day. After that, it always fired right up. And I drove it in the lanes, too. Often, during a race I would start it two or three times in the course of getting to the starting line. I never like relying on someone to push me up by hand and I'm too cheap to buy an ATV to pull me. I would rather have more parts.

Jim

[twooldgoats]

Originally Posted by vin63

.... You have my phone numbers and email, so no worries about contacting me anytime...when you get closer to wrapping things up, we can talk about tunes.

I wouldn't run a separate priming system. If it comes to that, Ellen can squirt a little gas in the hat before you start up.


......

I figured I would run the primer system since I have all the parts: pump, shut-off valve, and one-quart tank. I only had to buy the little nozzle for the distribution block and a couple of rubber lines. Ellen's not a big fan of spraying gas into it while I'm starting it. She's probably seen one too many backfires. I really do want to set it up like it is now so I can do it all by myself if I have to. Is there a downside to using a primer system, other than expense, complication and weight (I can deal with those)?

I will definitely take you up on your offer of tuning help when the time comes. Thanks.

Jim

[twooldgoats]

Originally Posted by marks73ta

Jim that looks so great. When are you thinking about bringing it out for the first time? I hope you have it up and out on the strip by the next Pontiac Heaven. Would really like to see/hear it run. I'm kind of talking to Vince about a manifold and blower too. I'm probably wackin' a dead horse with a twig, but I gotta try right? Mark L

Go for it. I've really been having a good time with this since I made the decision to go ahead. For me, the planning and building is as much fun as the driving.

As far as when it will go down the track, I hope next year, but I don't know. Time is of the essence: I'll be 70 next year. On the other hand, we still have some bodywork and all the paint and interior work left to do on the '60 Cat. My plan is to have the Catalina running, painted and essentially done by Pontiac Heaven and my race car well on the way to a track rental session. We'll see.

Jim

[twooldgoats]

As I mentioned, I'll be dry-decking the engine. The IAII comes with no water holes in the block and we'll be sealing up the holes in the heads. I will then run water into the heads at the front through the crossover and out through right-angle fittings we'll weld to the backs of the heads. After looking at a bunch of remote water pumps, I settled on a Dedenbear pump that I mounted on the right frame rail. The intake on the top will accept either a 1 1/4" radiator hose or a 3/4" (?) NPT fitting. I mounted the pump and found a radiator hose at O'Reilly's that could be trimmed to fit. Then, I ordered some push-on 12-AN fittings from Summit and some black 12-AN hose. I had one fitting welded to the Moroso filler and cap assembly and one welded to the water crossover. The 8 AN return lines from the backs of the heads will come together under the intake manifold in the fitting shown (about $35 on eBay) that wyes the 2 8-AN lines to a 12-AN line. I think this makes a lot neater installation than my old patched-together flex radiator hoses did.

Jim

[twooldgoats]

Even though I built this car from the start as a dedicated race-only car, I've tried to keep it as "stock" looking as possible. However.........a few years back I talked to Mike Cooper, who has run '63 Tempests from probably 100 mph in the quarter mile to almost 200 mph. I asked Mike about a wing for my car and he said that he noticed a certain instability when his cars reached 170 mph or so. As a result, I decided my car needs a wing in the back and probably some kind of "ground effect" structure around the front of the body at the bottom of the fiberglass one-piece front-end. I have some ideas in mind for the front end, but I'll save that for later. Recently I bought a generic rear wing kit from Applied Racing Technology (A.R.T.) in Florida and installed it on my car. The installation was easy---just a matter of being patient, taking my time, measuring twice and cutting once, etc. It had to be trimmed to size and I had to bend the lower brace mounting supports to match the contour of the car in back, but otherwise it was a piece of cake. It's made to be adjustable, but the curve of the deck lid and the piano hinge style pivot point on the front of the wing limit the adjustibilty somewhat. I currently have it set level with the ground, but it looks like I can adjust to as much as 10 degrees up if I need to.

Jim

[vin63]

Very nice, Jim. I believe ART sells the Jerry Bickel rear wing kit. That's what I used on my Super Gas car a long time ago. It did make a difference even around the 150-160 mph range, smoothing out the turbulent air off the back of our brick-shaped cars to keep it more stable at speed.

[marks73ta]

Jim, I need a good full side shot of the overall car with that wing on it but, from what I see, it really brings it into the high speed high dollar look, and I like it.
Vinnie , the same with the Nova. It has to help and not hinder in any way. Mark L

[R 70 Judge]

Very cool project!

What are planning for a hood? You cutting yours or starting fresh with a flat one?