Eric47Dodge

I think I attached a picture correctly. And, yes, I am already running studs, and did follow factory torquing pattern.

Blew the head gasket on my 47 D24 (230) at Bonneville last month. Head is mildly milled, and running nitrous oxide. It let go when I gave it a heavy dose of nitrous while running flat out at about 3500 in high gear. Car won't pull to redline (4200) in high gear w/o the nitrous due to higher than stock rear end gearing. Middle two cylinders filled up with water. Pulled head, and can't find any obvious breaches in gasket, head, or block. Was using a Fel Pro copper gasket. I see that Victor makes a gasket with a steel core. Anyone know whether that is more reliable? Also, I torqued the head to shop specs, than ran, and re-torqued. Was thinking of torquing about 10# more than factory specs this time, due to higher compression, and use of nitrous. Any thoughts/suggestions before I put the beast back together?

I have made a number of 3-mile runs with my current motor at 4000 to 4200. Tach is bouncing a little, so it is hard to be exact. Motor has been solid. If I could get another 500 rpm in high gear, I'm sure it would push me past my personal goal of 100 mph. Car is a little squirrelly at top speed on the salt, so I am not too worried about getting to 6000 rpm. A 4700 red line would be fine. Need to have the power to pull that in high gear though.

I think Greg's combustion chamber ideas make sense and will be exploring those with my machinist pal. Has anyone had any success in enlarging the displacement of the 230? Can't use Don's block-relief scheme if it would require a blower, as supercharging isn't allowed in our class. Also, I talked with Charlie Price, the guy who runs Vintage Speed a couple of years ago at Bonneville. He said that he was going to be offering aluminum high-compression heads for the Dodge flatheads, but I don't see anything on his web site about them. Has anyone heard something about that? Thanks, Eric

I bought a '48 230 from a guy for $100. Am planning a rebuild and hop-up to eventually put it into my '47 D24 that we run at Bonneville. Current motor is running fine, but is putting out every bit of power it is capable of without internal mods. I have access to a pal with a machine shop. I'm thinking of 1) more CI; 2) more compression; 3) better breathing -- density altitude at Bonneville is usually about 6500 feet. I have an Offy intake with 2 Holly 94 carbs now, and headers that I got from Tom Langdon, along with one of his high-energy ignition conversions. This motor doesn't have to be street-reliable, as it will only start, run for 3 miles, and be shut down. Right now, I run without a fan and generator. The car is powered by a 1700 amp 12-volt battery in the trunk. Question for all of you hot-stove car guys -- what can/should I do to my spare motor to generate more horsepower using the accessories I already have? Only restriction on the motor in my class is that it can't be supercharged, and it can't run on nitrous (or fuel -- has to use gasoline as fuel). All suggestions welcome. This may be a two-winter project, as SCTA made some safety rule changes effective Jan 1 which will take some re-working of our roll cage and other items. I need to get those accomplished first in order to be able to run next summer. Thanks, Eric

Car is running right at 4000 in high gear now -- I think so anyway, as my tach is bouncing around a little when running flat out, and you really need to focus on the track to keep it from getting sideways. I usually run it to about 4200 in 1st and 2nd. In high gear, it won't pull tires quite as tall as your calculations for 100 mph. With more power maybe. I tried a couple sets this year. Had better results with a shorter set that came on my Z28 Camaro. Of course they are way too wide for best results on salt, but just really trying to get diameters worked out, as this is the 3d gear ratio we have tried. Seem to be pretty close for this car now. A while back you posted a photo of combustion chambers on a high-compression head for this motor. Do you still have that? I can't locate it. I have a friend with a machine shop, and want him to take a look at photo. Thanks, Eric

Interior is gutted, with a full roll cage and simple halon fire system. Electrical system runs through two circuits: ignition and everything else. Engine is pretty fresh, so its only mods are two Holley 94 carbs, headers, and a high energy ignition system I bought from Tom Langdon. Car runs on 12 volts, with no generator and a 1700 dry cell battery in trunk. Battery holds lots of juice to run at Bonneville for a week without a re-charge. Car has a little aluminum radiator from Summit, and no fan. Will only idle for 7 minutes without overheating. We're about at top speed for power available, so thinking of internal mods. Easiest one that comes to mind is increase of compression; then increasing breathing efficiency. Due to rule changes by SCTA for 2008, I need to change driver's seat and do a little mod to roll cage this winter; so getting internal engine mods done will depend upon time available. Would like to take this car to 100, though, so considering options.

The XO/Production record is 139+. Our car's fastest speed is 92.97. Still working out gear ratios and tires. No real good place to test it in my neighborhood, as it has no mufflers, no back brakes, and takes 2 miles to get up to speed. Lots of XO motors are much larger than the 230 flathead, so we will never set a record with this car, but we shoot for our own record each year. It makes lots of noise, and believe me, when you are driving this car 90 mph on the salt, it seems like 200. We have lots of fun with it and the cost is much less than a lot of race teams spend.

I ran my D24 at Bonneville quite a lot at World of Speed, which was last month -- a smaller, less crowded version of Speed Week. This was the 4th time we have had it down there. Always gets a lot of attention. This link will get you to a page in the USFRA web site which has some pictures, including one of our car. Car # is 5548 in case you can't pick it out. http://www.saltflats.com/WOS_07_Photos_2.htm

I've had my 47 D-24 to the salt four times. Have the stock 230 with fluid drive. Only engine mods are dual Holley 94's, headers and HEI ignition. Car runs on 12 volts. No generator or fan, and a little aluminum radiator. I run the car in the XO/PRO class, and the record is under 150, so safety equipment is a little less complicated. Biggest expense or headache will be installing a full roll cage. Constructing a scatter shield out of 1/4" steel plate was chore for me also. Fire system is only required to be 5 lbs for this class and you can get one from Summit for about $300. Lots of other safety requirements, which are spelled out in the SCTA rule book. Two organizations sanction runs at Bonneville, the SCTA and the USFRA. They use the same rules and records, and each have inspectors at the other's meets to insure regularity. I recommend the USFRA meet in September, as it is not nearly as crowded as Speed Week in August which is run by SCTA. Up to now, I have run a 2.21 rear end, and it turned out to be too high. Car ran 80 mph in 2nd gear, but would not pull to red line in 3d. Over the winter, I switched to 3.21 -- it's a Chrysler 8.25 rear end I got at a junk yard. You don't have to use racing tires. I actually use some V-rated tires I took off my wife's Camry. Lots of guys do use skinny Goodyear front-runners, or the like, but I am still figuring gearing, so don't want to invest in those right now. Hope this is helpful. It's a lot of fun out on the salt -- more in watching than anything else, but I get a kick out of participating on a (sort of) low budget.

Motor in my D24 is the one that came from the factory. Only modifications have been 2 Holley 94 carbs; headers; and an ignition system from Tom at Stovebolt. This required a conversion to 12-volts, which is accomplished through a 1700 amp battery in the trunk, and no alternator/generator. Car will run long enough between charges, as it overheats after about 7 minutes because of its little radiator. It's run 80+ mph in second gear (stock 3-speed), but wouldn't pull to red-line with old gears, so I went a little taller to see what would happen.

I think I figured out how to reduce the density of my pictures. Here are a couple from last fall's USFRA meet at Bonneville, including the big flood that ended the meet. You can see the water covering the track -- it covered miles and miles. A most amazing sight.

Don, I have some updated pictures of the car, but haven't been successful in posting them. Get a message that they are too big (data-wise). Just snap shots from my inexpensive digital camera really. Can you help? And thanks for your advice on the rear-end.

Pulled the rear-end from my D24 and had new gears installed at a top-flight rear-end shop in Seattle area. This is a Chrysler 8.25 rear-end that I got at a junk yard a few years ago. Old ratio was 2.24; new is 3.21. I only run the car at the salt flats, and it is not street-legal. It will only run for about 7 minutes without overheating because it doesn't have a fan, and just a little aluminum radiator. When I picked up my rebuilt unit, the shop gave me a long list of "break-in" instructions, including running it under moderate loads for 500 miles. My dilemma is that this car won't run 500 miles for the rest of its life. It will only run 3 miles at a time under heavy load for a few times per year. My questions: is there anything I can do to "break in" the new gears that doesn't involve driving around (e.g., jack up one wheel and run the car in place for a few minutes)? and second, I usually use 90-weight in the rear-end. I know that you can get lubricant of at least 140-weight for use in high-demand situations. Under my circumstances, would it be better to use the lighter or heavier lubricant? Don Coatney, if you are reading this, I would be especially interested in your opinion. Thanks to all.

My D-24 is very cold-blooded. It will barely run until it is up to 160 or more. It has headers, so no heat riser. Have the fan off as well and a small single-core radiator from Summit, as I use it for special purposes. Have manual choke hooked to both carbs, and it won't start unless they are full choke mode. Runs rich all of the time, which is ok with me, as it has HEI and I am a little worried about burning a piston. But I have owned this car for 25 years and it has always been as cold blooded, even when bone stock.