Thread: 383 Stroker Build

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Probably just the lighting in the photo-one of the other pics looks they look same


with your comment about racing it next year-is your dampner and flywheel SFI approved with a dated sticker??????

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Probably just the lighting in the photo-one of the other pics looks they look same


with your comment about racing it next year-is your dampner and flywheel SFI approved with a dated sticker??????

Jerry I dont think they are as this was something I'd thought about once before. I don't see any sticker certifications on the flywheel or balancer. I don't mind spending the money to get what I need so I can be in compliance. My biggest worry is making sure that what i get still gives me the balance i need. The rotating assembly (which I'm going to change out after next season) is external balanced. Is it much of an issue to tell Summit what rotating assembly i have and to get me a part number for what i need while not jacking up any balance issues? If i need to get a new balancer, then i'd like to spend the money to have the 360 degrees stamped on there.

Here is the SFI list of parts that you will have to use to satisfy the speed or E.T. that the car will turn...

http://www.nhra.com/userfiles/file/T...eCard_2016.pdf

Begin on the right side of the page at the slowest E.T. and move to the left of the columns as you comply with the regulations....
For instance, the first offering is aftermarket rear axles and refers you to the NHRA Rulebook, General Regulations, Section 2.11.... Here is the verbage for that section....

2:11 REAR END
Welded spider gear rear ends prohibited in all classes. Four-wheel
drive permitted per class requirements. Aftermarket axles and axle retention
device mandatory on Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Top
Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Comp, Super Comp,
Super Gas, Super Street, and 10.99 or quicker E.T. cars; also
mandatory on any car (regardless of class or E.T.) with a spool.

(example: one of the racers who ran every week at Firebird made a u-turn in front of me one evening and was scuffing the tires as the car made the turn. I asked him if he had a spool in the differential and he said yes, so I told him that I had missed that each and every time he had come to tech inspection, but now that I knew he had a spool, he would have to pop for aftermarket axles. Be careful what you do in front of the tech inspectors.

Here is the list of rules from the 2016 Rulebook....
http://www.nhra.com/userfiles/file/T...%20Section.pdf

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Dad and I got some more work done this morning by reverifying our lash and putting the intake on. We noticed that as we re-verified lash, we was just a hair off from yesterday. We first noticed that when you tighten the lock nut down to where lash is, then tightened the set screw, for some reason when you tightened set screw, it made lash looser. So we noticed that when you get lock nut where you want it, before you tighten set screw, turn the lock nut just a hair more and then lock down the set screw and the lash stayed where you wanted it. Guess that's how its supposed to be? Also had a question, and thanks to forum members Jerry and Richard for letting me know about the SFI certified flexplate and balancer as I'm going to have replace what i have with SFI certified ones. Question my Dad wanted me to ask: He has a near brand new 454 flexplate made by CSI Performance Products that is externally balanced. It was once SFI certified and the sticker showed it expired in June 2002. The number stamped on there is A356904. Would this flexplate work on our 383 and how does one go about getting something re-SFI certified? Thanks!

Did you have dist in the hole to alighn manifold?

Yes the way you did it the set screw will pull the outter adjuster nut up relieving some clearance. As a matter of fact for a drag race engine you could do away with the set screw because the girdle should hold your adjustment.

I don't believe you'd be able to recert something that old but a phone call to them to see might explain.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

Here is the SFI list of parts that you will have to use to satisfy the speed or E.T. that the car will turn...

http://www.nhra.com/userfiles/file/T...eCard_2016.pdf

Begin on the right side of the page at the slowest E.T. and move to the left of the columns as you comply with the regulations....
For instance, the first offering is aftermarket rear axles and refers you to the NHRA Rulebook, General Regulations, Section 2.11.... Here is the verbage for that section....

2:11 REAR END
Welded spider gear rear ends prohibited in all classes. Four-wheel
drive permitted per class requirements. Aftermarket axles and axle retention
device mandatory on Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Top
Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Comp, Super Comp,
Super Gas, Super Street, and 10.99 or quicker E.T. cars; also
mandatory on any car (regardless of class or E.T.) with a spool.

(example: one of the racers who ran every week at Firebird made a u-turn in front of me one evening and was scuffing the tires as the car made the turn. I asked him if he had a spool in the differential and he said yes, so I told him that I had missed that each and every time he had come to tech inspection, but now that I knew he had a spool, he would have to pop for aftermarket axles. Be careful what you do in front of the tech inspectors.

Here is the list of rules from the 2016 Rulebook....
http://www.nhra.com/userfiles/file/T...%20Section.pdf

.

This car has passed several IHRA inspections in the past. Are there much
differences in IHRA & NHRA rules?

We've gotten some more work done on the motor and bolted it to the tranny among other things yesterday. Next week we plan to drop it in the car. Was disappointed the dipstick would not work with the oil pan as the baffle would not accomodate it for clearance. oh well. I've also got a clutch fan but don't know that we'll be able to use it due to the positioning of radiator. Will see. Honestly, this was my first time bolting an auto trans to a motor. I'm familiar with manuals so I'm glad I can add this to my list of things i've done. As far as 'splining/guiding' in the input shaft of tranny, it seemed pretty much the same as when you mate a manual to bell housing (use some bolt guides, push on the tranny, turn the shaft as needed until it mates flush).

Nice looking project and you've made some good progress.

Congrats and keep up the good work.

Here is SFI's contact info. Ask 'em what it would cost to re-certify the part. Figure in shipping both ways. Might be cheaper to just purchase new.
Contact | SFI Foundation

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Hey i appreciate the contact info Richard. I'll give them a call. Our scatter shield for flexplate and tranny shield are both past expiration. So its a good thing we did not drop assembly into car just yet. I've also re examined that 2 page sfi 'quick book' you provided (thanks again) and hopefully i'll have it covered for the tech inspector. I've got a brand new ati balancer, new flexplate with tech card, will have certification on scatter parts so hopefully that should cover all of the engine side of things...? Did notice the safety harness specs state two years and i don't see anything wrong with what i've got but can't prove it on paper so guess i'll have to look into that as well.

Best advice I can give you is to put your driver's license together with all your SFI tags into a holder so you can just flip out any tag for the TI to see. Savvy racers will keep some time slips in there too, just to show that the car has passed technical inspection before. Always be pleasant to the TI, nobody wants to deal with a smart-@@@ and you could be just pulled off to the side of the tech line and made to wait. Be nice. Fill out your tech card with black ink, print legibly and sign and date it before you get to inspection. Know your E.T. limit before you get to inspection. We used to put the limit on the rear window with shoe polish after we determined what it would be for that car, so that the starter could watch the car go through the lights and know whether or not the car went too quick for the equipment in the car.

NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH....
The car should be race-ready when you go to inspection. Put the trans selector in park or neutral and click the starter. This tells you that you have power to the starter. Move the selector to reverse and click the starter. It had better not start or you have some electrical work to do. Some fellows get a little ruffled when you fire up in reverse and massage the front end of their cherry '55 Chevy.

Give all the seat belts a DAMNED GOOD TUG. I used to try to yank 'em out of the car. Mount the end of your crotch strap right under your gonads, NO FURTHER FORWARD THAN THAT, although it could be mounted rearward of your gonads. The idea of a crotch strap is to prevent upward movement of the lap belts and to prevent your forward movement in the seat. If you are mounting the belt to the floor, go up under the floor and use a 3 inch diameter washer so the end of the crotch strap cannot be pulled up through the sheet metal. If the strap is anchored forward, like I have seen some of them mounted out at the front of the seat, then you can submarine out of the lap belts and could have the belts tear the aorta out of the bottom of your heart. IT HAS HAPPENED. EVERY RULE THAT IS IN THE RULEBOOK IS IN THERE BECAUSE AT SOME TIME AND SOME PLACE, THAT PARTICULAR THING HAS HAPPENED. Under no circumstances should the shoulder belts be anchored to the floor of the car. They should go straight back and mount to the crossbar after going over the shoulder. If mounted to the floor, in an incident, your body will go forward and the belts will compress down on your shoulders, compressing and fracturing your spinal vertebrae. Not pretty.

MASTER ON-OFF SWITCH AT THE REAR OF THE CAR....
This switch must shut off the motor and all electrical functions. Test it at home before you go to the strip.

BATTERY SECURED....
No matter where it is mounted, it had better be secure in the car. I used to try to tear 'em out of the car. I would explain to the driver of the car that when he is doing somersaults at 90 mph, the 40 lb. battery is coming out of the car if it isn't properly retained with the proper hardware according to the Rulebook. Can you visualize the damage that a 40 lb. battery going 90 mph could do to a human body? How about a human body in a wheelchair? HOLY CRAP!!!!!!! Or how about it slamming into the side of that "just finished" $100,000 Deuce coupe?????????

The most frequent infraction to the rules is the short studs and blind nuts on a mag wheel. This included just about EVERY blind nut intallation that I ever saw. The fellows who took drag racing seriously threw those blind nuts over the fence and installed open nuts where the stud showed through at least one thread. I didn't have to do any nut removals to check thread engagement, I just walked past the wheel and eyeballed it. If it was an open nut with a thread showing past the end of the nut, I just kept walking. Those blind nuts generally don't have threads in them down in the hex portion of the nut. Want to be bulletproof at tech? Sling those blind nuts over the fence and install studs long enough to show at least one thread through your new open nuts. If the inspector is worth his salt, he'll comment on your wheel/tire retention system.

Measure from the flat part of your hood to the top of your scoop. Anything over 11" is not legal, although most tech inspectors will not catch this.

Double throttle return springs are not required by the rules, but they are A DAMNED GOOD IDEA. I like the GM springs from the 70's that are a spring within a spring. I witnessed a rear-engine dragster go ballistic following a stuck throttle. Because of safety equipment, the driver survived with nothing more than getting his bell rung pretty good, but the car went airborne, then turned on its topside and carved a large "U" in the dirt where the rollcage cut through the earth. The driver was all jammed up in the cage from all the dirt around him. The only thing left of the car was the cage and drivetrain. We picked sheet metal out of the trees at the end of the track for the rest of the night.

Be sure and have a minimum 16 oz overflow bottle mounted to contain radiator overflow.

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Today we got the flexplate and tranny shields installed and dropped the assembly into the car! Next week we plan to take a look at the headers, some wiring etc. Biggest parts I still have yet to get are a carburetor and distributor (i have the alternator but need to order a bracket which is why you don't see it in pic). The car is set up for a double pump carb and we were thinking of going with an 850 cfm double pump. Any recommendations for a carb? Also, any recommendations as to type of distributor? Thanks!

ps we noticed when this forum's servers went down, all of the pics were lost except for the ones i've posted since 'it came back up.' I'd wanted to use this forum site as a kind of 'diary' that would always be there. do you guys know who I need to contact to see about getting our pics since we started this build back up on here?

Since our last entry from to Saturdays ago, we've installed the headers, had to adjust the starter so it'd not make contact with headers (starter has 3 swivel settings), put radiator back in, mounted alternator bracket hardware and alternator on, put hood back on, radiator hoses on, belt on, drive shaft in, connected tranny linkage, and a few other things. This thing's coming together. Only thing i don't like right now is looking at the starter gear's clearance in relation to the flexplate. Man its tight. In some spare time this week, i've took an initial read through on the delay box and shifnoid the previous owner had in the car. These two devices are still in the car and wired up. Would appreciate any feedback any forum members have towards these two devices as it relates to a soon to be rookie racer like me. IE, we've never had a car with them , used them, or know much about them.

Well its been a while since I last made an entry to our build so thought I'd share where we're at. We've added an 850 Holley DP, bought an MSD distributor (not installed yet), and shored up a few things. We realized the oil filter was too close to the header and header would have to be taken off, any time we wanted to change it so we opted for a remote oil filter. Summit shipped us a ford remote filter and finally got it straightened out and installed the chevy assembly yesterday. Afterwards, we primed the motor to check for oil leaks and found a tiny one at the remote oil filter. Noticed some very tiny cracks on the remote filter so we put some JB weld on the area today and tmrow, i will give it a prime again and see what happens. I'm believing the jb weld will do the fix and save me from spending another 70 bucks on a replacement.

Last part i need to find is an air breather (hardware) and we've been having quite the problems finding withing the span of dimensions we'd like to have. We're also getting close to the first fire up and am going to check around where I can get some 110 octane.

Summit is great about fixing issues.

Talk to customer service, tell them the first part shipped was wrong, and this one is defective, and I'll bet they accommodate you.