[TRADERMIKE 2012]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

Attachments are the beginning of the HO stuff, starting with the HO Performance Guide and Catalogue. It is 49 Pages, so I will Start with (3) posts of the first 15 pages.
Best viewed on a computer.

Enjoy!

Looking really good so far, take your time there is no rush, better to have legible information than eye killing out of focus ones. Mike out.

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

I WENT THROUGH SOME FILES PERTAINING TO "H-O" BUT "NOT" THE HTML PART OF IT. THEY ARE LINKED, BECAUSE I ALWAYS GET BOTH WHEN I DOWN LOAD A FILE. GOOD THING IF YOU LOST THE HTML PART NOW YOU CAN STILL OPEN THE FILE UP AND THAT IS WHY I SAVE THE FILES ALSO. HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS I MANAGED TO RETREIVE WITHIN THOSE EXISTING FILES. ALOT OF WHAT IS IN THESE FILES THAT ARE NOT PHOTOS, I JUST DISCARD SOMETIMES. BUT I ALWAYS KEEP THE PHOTOS AS A PROTOCALL.

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

some more photos:

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

Originally Posted by TRADERMIKE 2012

some more photos:

some more photos:

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

Adding more photos to be inserted back into each file they are supposed to be in. For those of you who know where to insert them into the files we provide here may do so by copying them to your computer then quick link them in the area will be good enough, thank you Mike out.

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

More photos:

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

Some more photos:

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

These Text files and the photos in this forum on this site is enough information to put the H-O documents back in order, those of you who participated will be best at that. Mike's out. I am inserting the information here the best I can and there is some repetition, can't be helped.

[Hesster1977]

Round 2 - the rest of the Performance Guide and Catalog
pgs 16 - 20
I use the HC-03 cam, Rhoads Lifters, and Poly-locks

[Hesster1977]

Pgs 21 - 25

[Hesster1977]

Pgs 26 - 30

[Hesster1977]

Pgs 31-35

[Hesster1977]

Pgs 36 - 40

[johnta1]

Here is Craig's Rocket Box pages he had on his web site, put in as one page now. It closely follows his PY post, so the pics can be used in that thread.
(just have to figure out where they go)


===========================




H-O Racing's 'Rocket Box'



What was the 'Rocket Box'?

The H-O Racing Specialties 'Rocket Box' was a spacer designed and created by Craig Hendrickson in 1977. It was installed between the Quadrajet carburetor and an Edelbrock Torker intake manifold on H-O Racing's 1974 Pontiac Trans Am 455 Super Duty
NHRA SS/KA race car. It's purpose was to increase the air/fuel flow resulting in more horsepower. It was one of the significant components which allowed H-O's race car to set the NHRA National ET and speed record in March 1977.

NHRA Super Stock rules required the use of the original (or equivalent) carburetor, stock hood and stock (NHRA legal) cylinder heads. Any intake manifold could be used and it could be modified as desired.

The Edelbrock Torker (<i><b>WARNING:</i></b> 11MB PDF file) was new to the market at that time. It was a single-plane, open plenum, single 4-bbl design with a unique volu-step in the plenum floor. 'Volu-step' was Edelbrock's marketing term for a lowered plenum floor in the front to compensate for the higher velocity discharge from the smaller
primaries of the "spread-bore" Quadrajet carburetor. Because of the lowered plenum floor, the front runners were a different shape and size than the rear runners.

The 'Rocket Box' was designed to work with these specific rules and components.

[Hesster1977]

Pgs 41 - 45

[Hesster1977]

And this is the last page.

In scanning all of this stuff it reminded me of how I used to drool over all of these great parts. And as I said, I purchased many of them.
Wonder what he did with his inventory when he closed up shop?

[johnta1]

continued:



H-O Racing's 'Rocket Box'




The idea

The 'Rocket Box' borrowed technology from
rocket engine exhaust nozzle design to improve the flow of air/fuel between the Quadrajet carburetor and the Edelbrock Torker. Hence the nickname 'Rocket Box'.
There was also some positive effect due to the increased total plenum volume.

The 'Rocket Box' idea came from Craig Hendrickson's educational background and professional activities before H-O Racing. Craig has a B.S. in Astronautical Engineering from the USAF Academy and an M.S. in Astronautics from Purdue Univ.
Craig worked for NASA on the Apollo missions as an Astronautical Engineer and then for the USAF on the Defense Support Program as the Orbital Operations Officer. It seemed logical to Craig to try to adapt some rocket science to automotive high performance.

Rocketdyne's Apollo Saturn V F-1 rocket engine firing on test stand:







H-O Racing's 'Rocket Box'

Some theory

All carburetors use Bernoulli's principle which states that as the air velocity increases, pressure falls.
This lower presssure pulls fuel into the airstream, mixing the air and fuel together and then discharging that mix into the engine's intake manifold. The increase in air speed comes mainly from constricting the cross-sectional area, a section called the venturii.
Rocket exhaust nozzles work on the same principle.


Quadrajet carburetor








Quadrajet carburetors have a pair of fixed booster-style venturiis in the front (primary side) and a pair of variable size simple venturiis in the rear (secondary side). Rocket exhaust venturiis are much simpler than carburetors since there are no booster rings, throttle plates
and such. BUT, there is another difference that is significant. The expansion section (downstream from the venturii) of a carburetor is much shorter and a different shape than the expansion section of a rocket nozzle. It was Craig's opinion that these differences caused the carburetor discharge to be less efficient than a rocket nozzle discharge.
Craig was also of the opinion that it was possible to partly compensate for this difference with what turned out to be called the 'Rocket Box'.


Expansion Area Ratio

In theory, the only important parameter in rocket nozzle design is the expansion area ratio (the ratio of exit area to throat area).
Fixing all other variables (primarily the chamber pressure, i.e., atmospheric pressure for a carburetor), there exists only one such ratio that optimizes overall performance for a given ambient pressure. The problem is simpler for a carburetor that runs a drag race at only one altitude and sees a small range of pressure changes during the day. Conversely, a rocket typically travels over a wide range of altitude pressures, i.e., sea level to outer space. Below is an illustration of under-, optimum- and over-expanded Expansion Area ratios in rocket exhaust nozzles.





Bell nozzle

To gain higher performance and shorter length, the bell-shaped nozzle was developed.
It employs a fast-expansion (radial-flow) section in the initial divergent region, which leads to a uniform, axially directed flow at the nozzle exit. The wall contour is changed gradually enough to prevent oblique shocks.


A 15-degree half-angle conical nozzle is commonly used as a standard to specify bell nozzles. If the length of an bell nozzle is 80% of that of an equivalent 15-degree half-angle conical nozzle, the performance is the same.
Bell nozzle lengths beyond approximately 80% are not significantly better.


One convenient way of designing a near optimum thrust bell nozzle contour uses this parabolic approximation:




H-O Racing's 'Rocket Box'

The layout

The 'Rocket Box' had to provide a smooth, efficient transition
between the throttle bore outlets on the bottom of the 455 Super Duty 800CFM Quadrajet carburetor and the inlet to the manifold mounting plane and plenum. The former cannot be modified in any way per NHRA Super Stock rules, but the latter can be modified in almost any way desired.


As described previously, a rocket exhaust nozzle style transition inside an aluminum spacer block seemed the right idea. The starting point (no spacer) pictured below is the OEM configuration of the Edelbrock Torker-1 mount flange and plenum with the circular outlets of the QJet carb throttle bores superimposed.




A 3in tall block was the tallest that would fit and still have the Trans Am hood scoop fit and even this required modifying the air cleaner. For an 80% bell nozzle with the QJet throttle bore diameters (2x1.219' and 2x2.250' for the SD-455 800CFM QJet) as the venturii diameters (nozzle entrances), the nozzle exit diameters superimposed on the above graphic results in this layout:





A cross section view of the QJet and nozzle outline above looks like this:






Obviously, this will not physically work because much of the nozzle exits are significantly outside the mount flange real estate. However, in real rockets the outlet nozzle can be gimballed in any direction in order to control the flight path of the rocket itself. By gimballing the nozzle shape towards the center of the intake plenum (11.5 degree on the secondaries and 9.5 degree on the primaries), the nozzle exits can be moved inside the mount flange real estate WITHOUT shortening the height of the box.






A cross section view of the gimballed nozzles outline above looks like this:






In the actual 'Rocket Box', the Edelbrock Torker 1 flange and upper plenum was modified by grinding (no welding) to make the box-to-manifold transition even smoother.
Sorry, there are no pictures of the modified manifold nor of the inside of the box because of 'security' concerns at the time.


After designing 'Rocket Box' on paper with simple drafting equipment, Craig fabricated the 'Rocket Box' over a weekend at Kern's shop (when it was closed for business) on a non-computer milling machine. Craig then hand ground the internal shape to smooth the mill bit marks. The intake plenum was then hand ground to match the 'Rocket Box' outlet shapes.


Until this was disclosed by Craig and Kern at the 2011 Pontiac Heaven guest speaker event, no one but Craig, Kern and Ken Crocie knew what the inside looked like.

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

John, you have all the time in the world, just take your time but hurry up, just kidding. I have to break out the old Auto -Cad 2000 book to figure out how to break down those 43 and 44 pages "H-O" documents. I tried to open them up in Cad yesterday but I could not figure it out. To the book I suppose very soon. I am having to rebuild my Trans. I have a problem with my TH 400 so I bought a Hughes Torque converter, but I only have reverse but no forward gears. I started my diagnostic at the Valve body by cleaning and dismantling all the valves.

Then I checked the Governor and installed a new Vacuum Modulator. Symptoms prior to me destroying the T.C was a 3-2 down shift and back to third. Over a course of a month, it happened more and it would be at a dead stop that it would occur, why? Got any ideas? I also inspected the Servo/Accumulators both front and back and all the parts past my limited inspection. I figure all the cleaning I did should have fixed the 3-2 downshift event? I also pulled and cleaned out the Pump valve/regulator and found debris just like in the Valve body. I was told by Hughes that if I have reverse and no forward gears it is not the fault of their T.C.

I sent out for a rebuild kit and I am going to bring it to shop. Before I do that perhaps you or someone you know can shed some light on the problem, I am experiencing. I would like to rebuild this Trans. myself, if it was not for the lack of the Vacuum tool to test the Valve body areas, Clutch Packs and those one-way check balls in the Piston areas.

I have watched many videos and read all about Transmissions for the past six months, but I hate to miss something. I do have plenty of tools and know how to improvise in there use in completing this job and it was said that the TH 400 is easy to work on.

I figure if I bring it to a Pro at a shop and hand it to him and just let him build it (Labor only) and clean it out, I should spend no more than $300-$400 Tops?

I checked out the linkage and Manual Valve and all is well there. The only thing I can add is that after I went over a root, under an Asphalt drive way, to damage the T.C. , I went another 300 miles on it (3) times at 100 miles each, trying to test and diagnose the problem. Question: is that it leaked but I kept the fluid level up, " could I have caused irreputable damage to the unit"?

I took the Broken T.C to a local shop and he showed me that the front bushing had a bite size chunk missing and that was the leak. When I sent It to Hughes for the core charge, they said the rear bushing was damaged too. I had run it and tested it over the 300 miles and I would go out about 50 miles" OK" and then, coming home, it would be in second gear, so it seemed. Why? At least if someone could narrow down the problem, maybe I will build it myself.

I flushed out the 2 coolers one in the Radiator and the other is remote and found "no" visual metal or signs of a catastrophic Debrees there, some say to discard your coolers when this kind of thing happens, that wasn't happening. Anyway, you no people, could you send someone with trans. knowledge here to help me if you don't have the answers, please. Mike out.

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

A cool project for a science fair would be to take a modern-day similar to "H-O" Intake, they copied one anyway and use a Turtle in that. Then build a Box on top (like they did) and install today's rendition Phenolic, they sell a (4" vee- inside adaptor) for a four bbl Quad. I forget what they call them, got the idea? Put it all together as they did. Then, put all that on one of our muscle cars, making sure it fits under a raised cowl type hood and see how close we can get to the record "H-O" time they hold today. Keep the Vehicle to one like they ran to be period correct for comparison, compare Apples to Pontiacs...

[TRADERMIKE 2012]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

And this is the last page.

In scanning all of this stuff it reminded me of how I used to drool over all of these great parts. And as I said, I purchased many of them.
Wonder what he did with his inventory when he closed up shop?

I just want to post that I read all your articles page by page and since I never got to see this stuff it is better late than never. Mike said to keep it up.