the plugs, but at that point things would be so hot in there that it would keep dieseling.

 

I'm don't recall if I read this here, or heard it from the announcer at the track;

the driver actually cuts fuel supply at a point before the traps in order to have
enough track to slow down.

This may have been during qualifying only...I don't know if this is standard practice
during a head's up race?

One would think, whomever had the ***** to keep to the fuel pump spinning
longer, or until the finish line would win every time. This leads me to believe
it was only done during the qualifying round.

 

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsy roll lollipop?

Even after we get all this Top Fuel stuff figured out, I fear this one will still go unanswered!




-Mindgame

 

Yesterday at NHRA qualifying on TV one of the announcers mentioned something about some teams enabling the 2nd magneto after the burnout.

It was an interesting session with the new tire rules for TF and FC. Funny Car was whooping *** running 31X mph whereas I don't know that one Top Fuel car ran in the teens. One car crossed the 1 and 3 plug wires, one into the sand trap, two had chutes come out at midtrack.

 

Well, anything could be the first to fail, even things you wouldn't think of. One thing is for sure, it would run out of fuel shortly after the finish!

 

Well, they do throw the chutes before the finish line for that reason-so they blossom right after the car crosses the line, but they normally shut the fuel off after they step off the throttle. Usually when the fuel gets shut off before the throttle blades close, expecially down track like that, you will have engine parts everywhere but where they are supposed to be! This happened to Del Worsham (I think at Columbus), where one of the fuel shutoffs on the pump malfunctioned (broke) and it partially closed. He had a big backfire through the intake and blew a hole in the body.

 

You're right-usually the plugs are gone by the 1000 ft. mark. After that it is dieseling.

 

I agree!

 

I must know all...

I think I have officially run out of questions for this topic?

Naaaaaaa., one more - maybe!

Are there any teams that DO NOT use a hemi-head design for their TF motor?

I've seen either in Pro-mod Alcohol (charged / sprayed), but nothing jumps
out for top fuel.

 

No, pretty much everyone runs the hemi head. There might be some guys that only run match races that run a different head, but most of them run either a Brad Anderson or a Alan Johnson billet head.

 

God I love the TF engines....

About the piston rings stuff I have a piston from a TF dragster (Dixon's car) and it had piston rings (at least what was left of them) on it when i got it, which was fresh out of the car...

Also, did anyone notice on the dragsters this weekend they all have a protective shield around the cage just behind the driver? The anouncers mentioned it so many times because it was causing the driver's heads to buffet in the trapped air, but never mentioned why it was there, i bet it has to do with what happend to Russell, anyone else notice it?

 

Yeah, it's a new rule NHRA came out with in the aftermath of Darrell's crash. It's a titanium plate to protect the driver. They also had new tires and a minimum air pressure.

 

Billet heads! I had to think about that for a while, then I realized there's no
water passage.

I saw what I believe to be a billet head on Cutler-Hammer's Pro-Mod engine.
The intake runners where cut out to the chamber.

Have a look at this photo:

EDIT - Will post file later

 

Thought so, I had haerd about the tires and air pressure but that was the first I had heard of the plate.

 

I'm thinking a minimum tire pressure would regulate tire expanision for "effective gearing".

Is that what helps to limit the speed?

From a launch point of view, it would be about getting the most contact surface
between tire and ground. With more air pressure in the tire, will that prevent
the tire from achieving a greater tire diameter at the top end?