I think a little more gear is what you need because in those videos you are winding it out in 4th. My brother has a 56 he had had since the late 60's and he installed some High rearend out of a mustang, it has to be the highest I have ever seen because I have seen him do 100mph in second with the stock 3 speed. and he has told me stories of outrunning staties with the needle just bouncing on the bottom, he estimates he was probably doing like 135-140.

This is all with low compression motors from 200,000 mile junkers, early 60's motors that were detuned, small valve etc.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

I do have an idea on the cam and it has more to do with the oil pump, too much pressure and a worn thrust plate.  As for the gearing, it is not winding out, it kinda hits a wall at 5600 rpm and when Charlie made his record run it was turning 7000.  That was with 4.33 and now the truck has 4.11.  If Charlie will chime in I'm sure he would be the first to tell you that the gearing is at the optimum for this engine, there have been many changes and it just wont pull a higher ratio.

There is also altitude to be considered.  At El Mirage we are 2000' lower than Bonneville and the engine in the same configuration was still pulling hard at 6200 rpm but I just run out of track.  The DA was very close though, I'm right now looking at all my timing slips and when I ran 118 at Elmo the DA was 5819' and the best run at Bonneville the DA was 6238' only about 400' difference.  But the engine had 4 runs and 5 dyno pulls between the two so I don't know what the cam was like for the Elmo run.

   God Bless.   Tim                           http://yblockguy.com/

350ci Y-Block FED "Elwood", 301ci Y-Block Unibody LSR "Jake", 312ci Y-Block '58 F-100, 338ci Y-Block powered Model A Tudor

tim@yblockguy.com  Visalia, California    Just west of the Sequoias

First, I would like to establish that Tim is in charge of all engine building.  We may discuss any changes, but Tim has the last word.  My job is to build the car, select the drive train to best get the horsepower to the ground, provide a little engine grunt labor and pass tech.

I have total faith in Tim's ability and flat cams or whatever else has been a gremlin will be over come.  I also like the way he is driving, but, I will be back in the driver's seat before long.

My experience with final drive ratios is growing.  I thought high gears would be the requirement to go fast.  Wrong!!!  In the first Y-Block configuration, it was making about 310 hp at the flywheel and not bad at 1.2 hp/cu. in.  With that power, I started and stayed with 29" tires.  The first ratio used was 3.70 and I did a best of 101, and that was in 3rd gear because it slowed down in 4th.  I tried lower gears until I reached 4.33 and that was the optimum.  That set up ran 118.9 at El Mirage, 124.6 at Bonneville, and 120.3 at Maxton, all records.

With the next couple of engine setups, additional hp was expected.  I changed to 4.11s with 27.75" tires and that raised the final drive slightly.  If we would have realized the additional 20 to 30 hp, the truck should have ran about 130.  At 6700 RPM the tire speed would be about 135 and educated and experienced minds (not mine) think we would lose about 5 mph do to traction loss.  This thinking was based on our speed, high co-efficiency of drag, and hp numbers.

I'm hearing 1 3/4" primary headers, higher compression pistons, valve size changes, all exciting stuff.  Remember, this is not a stroked 312 with 500 hp which would require much higher gears. 

We will be back................

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Something is not making sense here, I was a young teenager then but I have seen him take a motor out of a junk yard from a 61, with more than likekly the C1AE heads and he always had a 2bbl on it, 170 - 190 hp max, install it in his 56 (town sedan)and be able to bury the needle. He did go through a few junk motors but every one would do it. My stock 55 customline all original running gear (2bbl loadomatic) I brought over 100 in a heartbeat and it had a lot more, I just didn't have any more road left.

excerps from the 50's, there are salesman who said they drove over a 1000 miles straight averaging over 100mph.

What RPM is your most torque at? may you want to gear so you are pulling at max torque RPM? just a thought.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

Billy, There are at least two factors I can think of. First, the difference between 100 and 130 is significant. Aerodynamics come more into play the faster you go. Second, there is a huge difference between a paved road and the sandy salt; the vehicle doesn't roll quite as well on the salt and the traction is not as good. A car that will do 100 on a road may not come close on the salt.



Charlie, Will they be smaller valves?


Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie, Tim believes there is some shrouding going on with the 2.02s.  He probably hasn't made up his mind on the new size, and I should let him address that.

Billy,  I feel your confusion.  Primarily it's the barn door effect with this pickup that makes higher gears ineffective.  Like Charlie Mc said, the first 100 mph comes easy, it is the last 30 mph that is the problem.  I feel that if I put the best engine we have come up with in the BonnevilleComet it would probably run 140.

Another problem is the 3rd to 4th split.  The closer you get to 1:1 in 3rd, the easier it is to pull high gear.  I am on the second T-10.  The first one had a 71% 3rd and this one is 74%.  The T-5 will be 78%.  One of the 200 mph trucks there runs a Jerico with many gear choices and he runs 91% just before high gear. 

By the way, the competition this week just set another record at 128+ and he is running a 4:10 with 28" tires.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Would an overdrive be allowed and split between 3rd and 4th? gearvendors if budget allows.

Since Karol has just posted in the Y block mag, maybe somebody like "Hoosier" who writes him could pop some questions and get some secrets out of him. You never know, he may want to get the bug again before he leaves the planet without passing his secrets along. Like an old retired boxer coming back for the title. Wouldn't that be History!

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

An overdrive to split 3rd and 4th is a great idea.  I looked into Gearvendors some time ago and they wanted about $3000 (just out of the budget).  A good friend Cliff Williamson advertises in Y-Block magazine as Der Meece Machine (Kreative Hash Jobs and Real Fierce Engineering Notions).  He has drag raced supercharged Y-Blocks in a 56 Ford pickup and has run the 56 at El Mirage.  Cliff also has Bonneville experience with former records in a roadster (sorry, I won't tell you the brand of engine).  He comes to El Mirage to watch us race and has offered to machine one of his specialties for me.  He takes an over drive unit from a AMC pacer and machines it to bolt to the back of a T-10 toploader.  He still gets around, but his health is not the greatest.  If my back is against the wall in the future I will take him up on it.

Some time back I thought I had an original idea of placing a short tail shaft, pickup 3-speed backwards and behind the T-10.  Third would be direct and 2nd would be an overdrive.  I have since learned the idea may have been good, but not original.  Thoughts of fabricating, shifting levers, and parasitic drag has pretty much eliminated that possibility. 

Karol lives about 200 miles north of me and I have always wanted to visit with him.  I have his address from one of his friends.  I don't know what I am waiting for, but now might be a good time.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

If the gearing is optimum, then wouldn't splitting 3rd and 4th with an overdrive just slow you down?



From the YouTube videos, my inexperienced opinion is that you need to get it more ergonomic to shift faster. It seems like there is a lot of time between shifts... but maybe it has to be slower to prevent loosing traction.


Lawrenceville, GA

Billy,there is one thing to remember.Every car that I drove from back in the 50s had an extremely optomistic speedometer.I had a 56 312 that would peg the speedo with ease,but I was clocked by radar with it pegged one night and the radar showed 112.That was on a cool fall night on a perfectly straight level 14 mile stretch of highway.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO