1962 F100 unibody drag truck

[KMcCullah]

I think that would be a cool look on your gal, Heo. That 60's Nascar look. I'm not sure how it would be in the rain though. 

[KMcCullah]

When we put the engine and trans together the first time, we thought we double checked everything. We were surprised that all of this aftermarket junk actually fit together. Well....what we found when we dropped the tranny was some pretty good interference. Between the heads of the flexplate bolts and the anti-balloon plate of our torque converter. We just used factory Ford flexplate bolts with the 3/4 hex. They've since been replaced with some short 12 point ARP flexplate bolts.

The pic below shows six rusty looking smudges from the bolt heads.

[Rory428]

Thats not too bad, another option would have been to install a flat washer between the flexplate and torque convertor to add a little space, as long as there was still enough room to do so, (usually is). I have seen some SB Fords where the flexplate bolt heads left a complete image on the torque convertor, right down the slots of the bolt heads.

[Stangman]

Who makes the converter just curious who people are using.

[KMcCullah]

Stangman- The torque converter was built by a local outfit, Accelerated Torque Converters. I gave the guy the only chassis dyno sheet I had, which showed the torque curve peaking at about 5500 RPM. This torque converter flashes at about 5600 RPM. He said he would give me one RPM adjustment for free if I didn't like the flash point. I'd say he nailed it the first time.

https://acceleratedtorque.com/

What got us wondering was the strange wear pattern on the ring gear. The starter gear was engaging the full width of the ring gear in spots and other spots only showed about half the width of the tooth engaged. Once we found the rub spots from the flexplate bolts, we figured the flexplate was probably ruined, having been pulled on "against it's will". A quick check of the face run out showed it still ran within .010. We straightened it to within .004 and called it good. Got lucky.

[KMcCullah]

After finding the interference between the flex plate bolts and anti-balloon plate, we decided to take a look at our hotrod C6. Aside from the burnt clutches in the direct drum, everything looked pretty good. I had machined a new snap ring groove in the direct drum to fit 5 clutches, but that was it. Some builders like to swiss cheese the shit out of it with 1/8 holes to lighten it and let the hot oil out. But without a way to spin balance it after drilling, it didn't seem like a good idea. It's the biggest, heaviest piece in the C6. Almost 10lbs. So we didn't go down the path of drilling our direct drum. Maybe it would have prevented the slipping clutches, who knows. Slamming it back into 1st gear at the top of 2nd gear could be some of the problem.  



I picked up some light weight goodies while we were inside the C6. The aluminum direct drum weighs just over 3lbs, quite a bit lighter than the FoMoCo piece. I also got an ultra light sun shell driver.



I was able to fit 8 clutches in the aluminum direct drum. I used the Red Alto E4OD kit. This should help with the slipping. We were bummed when we realized we couldn't use the ultra light sun shell driver. It's made to fit the Stock C6 1st gear inner planet. Our hotrod C6 uses the lower 1st gear out of the E4OD. I forgot about this detail. So I set up the factory E4OD sun shell driver on the Bridgeport and punched some holes in it. It had been modified already to clear the wide Kevlar band. Forgot to get a pic of my handy work. Anyhow, I hope it doesn't vibrate or cause some other issue.

[turbohunter]

Admire you guys that can jump into a trans and rebuild/modify them.
Kudos.

[HarleyJack17]

I am curious to see the improvement from the lightened parts. May not be noticeable at your levels, or with other changes, but it has to help. Anytime you can lighten rotating weight is a plus, as long as it holds up.

Definitely cool parts/mods.

[KMcCullah]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Will pass em on to dad.

Honestly, we've both enjoyed this C6 more than anything else on the truck. Neither one of us had ever been inside a C6. Or any other slushbox for that matter. So it's been a fun learning thing for dad and I. Dad's went on to build several other C6's for a couple of his buddies. Got a few Bumpside Camper Specials back on the road. And a couple of old farts back to camping again.

[KMcCullah]

Our local track finally got the ok from the county to put on a race. It was a full on Covid PPE mandated deal. With no spectators or food concessions. Not too enjoyable on a hot day.

The first practice session was limited to 1/8 mi. passes only because of the wind. It blew a steady 20 mph with 35 mph gusts, across the track, all day long. The whole event ended up being cancelled due to high winds. But we did get to make one 1/8 mi. pass before the race was cancelled. I would post a time slip but it blew away. No, for real.   The track was pretty slick from the blowing dirt. The pass was about .25 slower than my best 1/8 mi pass. But was nearly 3 mph faster than my fastest 1/8 mi pass. 11.34 is the trucks best 1/4 mi pass so far. So maybe 10's are within reach. Maybe...

Link to Lo-Res video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du0yKYpsjIo


   

[KMcCullah]

We've had several good outings with the truck lately. Our local track put together a race plan with Covid measures in place that the county approved. We've made it to a couple of races so far. A few weeks ago the truck ran a new best of 11.14@114. We were pleased and bummed at the same time. The truck picked up 2 tenths over our fastest pass from last season. But damn, those 2 tenths were a lot of work! And we're still a long way from the 10's. With as many changes as we made in the off season, I was sure the truck was gonna drop into the 10's. This drag racing business is tough! We have a couple of projects slated that I'll post about when they happen.

Last night was another good night for the truck. The weather cooled off and the DA improved to 8000'. The truck ran a new best of 11.11@115. One of our intoxicated groupies just happened to get it on video.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEWhkQNpaEk

[KMcCullah]

We had an exceptional outing with the truck last weekend. The races are happening with a little more frequency at our local track. The air was awesome early in the morning. 7100DA or so. 75 degrees. The truck liked it enough to run a new best of 11.08@115. I lost my first round, which is typical. Haven't won one yet. Heck, I just pay the buy-back with my entry fee these days.  Anyhow, after I got that first loss out of the way, we went on to win five in a row. We got our first win!

 

.
Dad and I are still pretty stoked about it all. The truck ran great all day. No issues to report. It's been hot as hell lately. 102 degrees by the time the final race happened. Dad kept the cool can full of ice. It's a pain I know but it helps on a triple digit day. I caught several young guys taking pics of dad adding ice.  

[jayb]

Congrats Kevin, great showing!  Need some videos of the truck at the track...

[turbohunter]

Way to go.
Love that the pups are taking notes of how the big dog does it.

[cjshaker]

That's awesome, Kevin!! And I get a chuckle out of how a 7100'DA is "awesome"...lol You mountain guys sure have a disadvantage.

Your truck looks EXACTLY like a '62 unibody I had many years ago....like almost 30 years ago. Only difference being it had a transplanted 300 I6 in it. I loved that truck and miss it dearly. Yours is just a bit cooler though