Project LSXpress 272" Top Dragster
04-07-2015, 10:42 PM
#1
Project LSXpress 272" Top Dragster Have a thread in forced induction that I am going to clean up to just the engine build part of this build. I am building a brand new 272" slip joint top dragster powered by a 365" LS2 based engine with help from an 80mm Borg Warner turbo and straight methanol. I built the chassis jig from scratch and am building the chassis from scratch. Here are a few pics to get you started. These are just in random order. The block and turbo are mock ups. I am waiting on one more piece from the machine shop and I can slide a mock up powerglide and LS block on the crank bar and lock it all into place. Notice the front plate has no water pump holes. This is because the block and heads are filled.
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Volodymyr (02-20-2021)
04-10-2015, 11:39 PM
#5
I plan to drive it back. I will watch oil temp. I am new to methanol so it will be a learning curve. I will probably have to step up the engine to be competitive in division 3 but this combo should be good enough to go 6s and be fairly reliable. It even has hydraulic lifters still.
04-11-2015, 06:48 AM
#6
A friend of my family just got out of the class. He had a BBC on methanol with no power adders and was runnin 6.30's. I know he didn't run a cooling system and bracket raced it as well. He never had over heating issues....even on 90° summer days.
Keep the updates coming
Keep the updates coming
04-14-2015, 12:27 PM
#7
FedEx just dropped off my new wing from Racecraft. This thing is nice! Only 2 lbs heavier than a carbon wing. I can live with 2 lbs the cost difference will help with the new tires and axles I still need to purchase. The craftsmanship on this thing is top notch.
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04-14-2015, 12:37 PM
#8
I also got a new sponsor over the weekend. Buford Racing Transmissions. The owner is an awesome guy and has designed these patented tail housings for shorty powerglides. The seal is captured with the locking cap and it has a longer bearing for increased support. Also it has the lateral limiter tabs built in. He is also going to make me a ring that bolts to my Stange pinion support with the lateral tabs on it. Then the limiter bars will run along side of the drive coupler and will be nice an compact.
04-18-2015, 08:44 PM
#10
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Nice build, glad to see somebody's going to challenge the many BBC+nitrous rails in that class with some LS small block power. My uncle runs top sportsman and those two classes are the super fast and competitive. Always fun to watch. 
04-24-2015, 06:26 PM
#11
I got quite a bit more done since my last post. I made the slip joints on the top frame rail and got the shoulder hoop finished today I built the first two jigs for the upper rails. I need to buy about 10 more clamps. Here is what it looks like so far.
04-26-2015, 07:57 AM
#14
thanks. I have over 30 clamps on the chassis right now. You will always have minor distortion when welding but not enough to matter. As long as the rear end is square and the front end is aligned to the rear end, it will go straight. Think of it this way. There is not a racing surface on earth that is as flat as my chassis jig. So how much does a "perfect" car really matter?
04-26-2015, 08:37 AM
#15
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Looks very nice thus far, with the nice tight fit-up work that will make welding it that much easier.
Elky: I watch a lot of top dragster cars run at pro-am events and such in my area and my question to you is, Is how come some guys run the mono-strut wings and some don't? I know its a bracket based class but I've seen 32 car bump spots get all the way down to the 6.90's as most are spraying etc. which would mean around 200mph trap speeds...wouldn't they need the downforce to maintain better stability going that fast?
Elky: I watch a lot of top dragster cars run at pro-am events and such in my area and my question to you is, Is how come some guys run the mono-strut wings and some don't? I know its a bracket based class but I've seen 32 car bump spots get all the way down to the 6.90's as most are spraying etc. which would mean around 200mph trap speeds...wouldn't they need the downforce to maintain better stability going that fast?
04-26-2015, 10:56 AM
#16
Top dragster is limited to 6.0 or slower. 200 or even 220 mph is fast but look at the wings on some top alcohol/A fuel dragsters. They are running 270-285 mph and have not much larger wings. Maybe 10" wider and 10" taller. There is a fine line between enough downforce and too much drag. It takes a lot of power to push 17-1900 lbs cars to 200 mph. Imagine just the back tires how much dirty air there is from that alone.
04-26-2015, 11:07 AM
#17
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Just curious as it seems to be about half the top dragster class has um and the other half don't. I didn't know that those created so much drag but your right 200mph takes a ton of HP. That makes sense since I see 90% of the cars running super comp don't use them.
04-28-2015, 01:48 AM
#18
thanks. I have over 30 clamps on the chassis right now. You will always have minor distortion when welding but not enough to matter. As long as the rear end is square and the front end is aligned to the rear end, it will go straight. Think of it this way. There is not a racing surface on earth that is as flat as my chassis jig. So how much does a "perfect" car really matter?
04-28-2015, 08:12 AM
#19
Blown06, for the lower frame rails I welded the top side of all the tubes then un clamped it turned it over re clamped and finished welding ever tube. I do only weld a little on each tube then skip around until they are all welded. After that was finished, I then flipped it back re clamped it. As for the uprights and diagonals, I put them in in pairs and tack them good before going to the next pair. I will weld everything I can moving around (8 uprights in so far) until I just can't reach. Then I will un clamp and roll it on its side and re clamp everything and continue that process until it is 100% welded. Every pieces that is put in has at least 2 pieces corresponding to it clamped down. You can only get it so perfect. Lol
04-28-2015, 06:45 PM
#20
I had about an hour and a half this afternoon so I thought I would make some more uprights. I used an hour making just the 2 rear side uprights in the driver compartment. These should be the toughest ones to make on the entire car. They run at an angle and meet the bottom rail and top rail. Each end had to be notched at different angles and different circumferences. And the top notch is twisted in a few degrees as the upper rails run at a harder angle than the bottom to meet at the same place at the nose. These also need to be perfect because the rear upper frame rails attach to these bars. I got them tacked in and I am very happy with them.