435 horsepower in 1955.....

[Cool Hand Lurker]

I remember an article at the time about the Chrisman flathead V8 making over 400 hp and under 8 seconds at the dragstrip. I think the speed was 144 but not sure. So, yes it did really run..... how long it ran I don't recall.

[Flathead]

"Flatheads battle Rocker Arms for all out supremacy". Quite a story.

[Bruce Lancaster]

At the time of the Chrisman article in R&C there was a widely discussed theory, discussed by and perhaps originated by magazine guru Roger Huntington, that 1-G was an acceleration limit for drag cars. I think the idea was that a car's traction was based entirely on its weight on the tires, so that if more power was introduced at 1-G the tires would simply spin, limiting possible acceleration to 1-G no matter what.
I think the limit worked out to something like 9 seconds and 140 MPH...the Chrisman car (was it with that engine??) ended the theoretical discussion by simply blowing right through the "limit".
Obviously, the racers have never since looked back or worried about the potential limit to their acceleration!

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lancaster

At the time of the Chrisman article in R&C there was a widely discussed theory, discussed by and perhaps originated by magazine guru Roger Huntington, that 1-G was an acceleration limit for drag cars. I think the idea was that a car's traction was based entirely on its weight on the tires, so that if more power was introduced at 1-G the tires would simply spin, limiting possible acceleration to 1-G no matter what.
I think the limit worked out to something like 9 seconds and 140 MPH...the Chrisman car (was it with that engine??) ended the theoretical discussion by simply blowing right through the "limit".
Obviously, the racers have never since looked back or worried about the potential limit to their acceleration!

It's called coefficient of friction.
Huntington's theory was based on the tires that were available at the time. Soaking the tires in hydrogen peroxide was one of the first ways to increase the CF.

[ken1939]

Originally Posted by sanborn

Just a couple of comments.

Supercharged flatheads suffer from "Cylinder Head Flex" at high boost. It causes severe gasket blowing and often block destroying----and the head literally melts. If you look at the few "state of the art" blown flatheads around today, you will see thick billet cylinder heads with closed end cooling fins machined into the heads.

And, the sudden torque requirements of today's drag racing creates severe twisting of the crank and flexing of the block. Earlier drag racing didn't have sticky tires or sticky tracks---thus the sudden torque requirements didn't occur---we just spun the tires---and the block and cranks lived, for at least a while.

If we could get the crank/block to live, we could generate a lot of horsepower if we used enough boost and enough nitro---since nitro brings its own oxygen along.

Watching Drag Racing as I have over the years, these comments really have weight with me. With todays coverage you can really get to see the"mess" that is left behind or when things go wrong in a hurry.

I like the super slow mo to show the exhaust and you can see what the engine is doing, and of course when it is not.

Now if we dont loose any more drivers.

[max sr]

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greta discussion, suprising numbers

[LSGUN]

Great thread guys, I have this little book too and was curious about it as well.