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- Thread starter stitcherbob
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stitcherbob
Nitro Member
Wings and wicker bills...spoilers and spill plates
stockergtp
Nitro Member
Saw this a couple of years ago https://www.enginelabs.com/engine-t...s-developing-ls-carbon-fiber-connecting-rods/ . They had a indiegogo page but did not get close to their goal. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ls-carbon-fiber-connecting-rods-naimo-composites#/
Luke Nieuwhof
Nitro Member
Carbon fiber rods do exist - https://dragnews.com.au/news-all/local-news/4821-tech-are-carbon-fibre-top-fuel-rods-coming.html
TD5023
Nitro Member
For starters, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Luke Nieuwhof
Nitro Member
I guess it comes down to one step at a time. Six months has passed since I did that interview so I don't know if they have moved on to testing them in a motor yet, but the guys behind it seemed pretty switched on.
stitcherbob
Nitro Member
after watching this, I can imagine it's far easier to machine billets of aluminum than to build a carbon fiber block or head....
I guess what I was wondering about was if a carbon fiber engine could actually run on nitro & take the stress that a billet block & head does. Interesting that someone would even think of carbon fiber rods, etc and that they would work. I know it would be $$$$$$$$$$$ But how much weight would be saved w/ carbon fiber engine?
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FABMAN
Nitro Member
Man to justify cost over glass would have to be weight issue, the Corvette in my avatar weigh 1750 w a small block Harry's Glass body. I was at 200 lbs and car had to weight 2150 so I had advantage of adding weight. I just dont see the advantage of using Carbon over Glass for bodies unless you have money to waste. Now Rods and Pistons I can see that. Now I will admit my thinking was because money hard to come by or maybe I was just tightwad.
Luke Nieuwhof
Nitro Member
One thing I didn't know before I talked with those guys at PRI was that they make the rods out of billet carbon fiber. It's a different version of the material from what we are used to, from my own extremely limited understanding.
Well, it will be interesting to see if they do use the rods in an engine. I think that engines now use carbon fiber injectors and valve covers, not to mention drive shafts, bodies, wheelie bars, etc etc etc. All this talk about weight made me think about Don Prudhomme's "yellow feather" T/F car from 1972. Was painted yellow & they had drilled holes in everything they could to get the car lighter. It was a quick car, but Snake ended up parking it because of safety concerns. Too many holes in too many places & I think they were afraid it would crack or come apart. I think racers have been weight consious ever since day one. Dick Kraft & The Bug dragster. He started off with a roadster & kept taking off parts until he had just the frame & the engine, went 110 in 1951.
stitcherbob
Nitro Member
When Dale Armstrong worked for Bernstein, he wanted to see how much fuel was actually coming thru the fuel line into the engine. So he added a piece of see thru pipe to the fuel line & they had a camera photograph it on a run. I saw footage of this once. Amazing amount of fuel came thru there & it was like watching a flood. I think it amazed Armstrong. I believe this was the dragster that they did this.
none
Nitro Member
Cliff,
Not arguing with what you are saying, but they knew exactly how much fuel was flowing to the engine. I know that Dale put the clear tubing and camera there (it was the 6" rubber coupling between the main fuel line and the pump at the front of the engine) looking for air in the line. He suspected that the tank was letting air get into the system and was looking to confirm that, which he did. That led to a redesign of the fuel outlet on the tank to solve the issue.
Alan
I would not be surprised if they have flow meters somewhere along the fuel lines, either pre or post pump to get a grip on what is coming in:going out.
none
Nitro Member
They have had those since the 80's. How else would they know how many GPM they are burning?
Alan
stitcherbob
Nitro Member
This is about 10 years old....would like to see an updated version on an upcoming show
Thanks Alan. I didn't remember exactly why Armstrong did that, just that it hadn't been done before (as far as I know). He had such a great mind. They once ran 3 magnetos on the engine, said it burned all the fuel with no problem. There used to be an injected alky F/C circuit that ran at Lions, 1970-72 I think. Armstrong ran that, along with Ken Veney & others. After Lions they migrated to blown alky F/C and later nitro F/C. Armstrong migrated to genius crew chief....
