f/c trans question

[stimpy]

also with nitromethane being a monopropellant , the more torque you put on it the more power it wants to make . weird stuff when I looked into it . almost the same principals as modern gun powder ..

[jim sanders]

Zap... i was just early in a reply so.... after the real tuners get here my name can bee dropped down a few notches on the answer pole.. Stimpy makes the point... the work is all in the fuel, be it 90% or 99.9%.. if you can shove it in a hole and light it, it will move the car hard on just that one powerstroke..... now play with the math... launch at 8000. get to 1000ft in 4 seconds... how many times did #1 cyl fire?....

[NitroHelper]

... as when/why/how the under drive trans was eliminated...

First came the lock-up clutch ,during the late '80s because of the data loggers, we learned that a six lever four disc clutch wouldn't go one to one with a 3.40 gear... Coil & Armstrong were both working on how to control the throwout bearing to add three lock-up levers. After that was perfected with a management system the gear ratios dropped to 3.30 & then 3.20s with a 1.19 or 1.15 transmission , I ran a 1.25...
Bob Brooks was the guy that was pushing the hi-gear concept based on "Nitro loves load"... Jim Head was trying it in a FC ,I was helping Bill Mullins test it in a dragster, Gene Snow was testing it in his TF and Dave Settles was trying it in Billy Meyers FC... We all ran trans cases with straight shafts inside so no one knew what was happening. We had to stop doing dry hops because of pack clearance...

The cost per run went up because of big clutch wear , the rods & cranks were getting fewer runs with the increased load, and even with more fuel volume the pistons were getting scuffed or burnt with head damage because we didn't have the fuel management worked out... I kept very accurate cost records for the Telstar during that change over period ,we went from $1200/run to $1900 because of high gear...
I ran the car both ways with a 3.40 gear & then a 3.30,& then a 3.20... Snow & Head had custom gears made for 3.00 & 2.90 when NHRA made a 3.20 the rule...
By 1991 the trans was history...

[Zappy]

Nitrohelper, very interesting. Just what they said on the show, very hard on cranks. I did'nt know that the Hi-gear is what cost us the dry-hops. (still miss them). $1200 to $1900 per pass, WOW quite a jump.
Whats yer opinion on the rear being mandated by nhra. Do you agree (3.20) or should the teams be able to chose for themselvs??

[jim sanders]

zap. the 3.20 deal was to keep the speeds down... how did that work out?

[Zappy]

Speeds down, HA!!!. I never underestimate our crew chiefs. No mater what the rules, they continue to gain in preformance, both ET and MPH. They (CC's) never get the credit they deserve, in my opinion.

I'm still interested: should all have to run the same gear??? or leave it up to the teams??

[draglist]

Fascinating, nitrohelper. Thanks. bp

[Rapid Randy Baker]

Zappy, nice thread. I forgot to mention that earlier.

[Zappy]

Thanks RB. It did get interesting huh, I know I picked up new stuff.

[jim sanders]

i agree . great topic for a guy like me that don't get many chances these days to talk/read about fuel cars.... i for one am glad Jerry(nitrohelper) takes the time to drop in .... it sure beats watching stupid tv whilst' the inside of my windows are showing frost like an alch. injecter butterfly ..... all in fun guys