Q about starting an A/Fuel car (1 Viewer)

As we all know Nitro can be a bad thing!! It loves to explode when compressed!! Have you ever noticed even the pro teams always tighten the head studs with a speed wrench by hand? From what I have been told the nitro follows the threads with the oil. and if you use a impact to tighten the stud it can compress it enough to explode. A big rule of thumb with the A Fuel engines is to clean all the nitro out of the engine fuel lines and cylinders before you work on it. You do not even crank it over with a wrench with the plugs in if it has been ran on nitro.

YEP seen it first hand had a FNG grab his 3/8 air impact and run a stud down and BOOM knocked his ass on the ground stud shot out of block.broke the block, the impact gun and his hand.
He was lucky thats all that happend.
 
YEP seen it first hand had a FNG grab his 3/8 air impact and run a stud down and BOOM knocked his ass on the ground stud shot out of block.broke the block, the impact gun and his hand.
He was lucky thats all that happend.

This isn't A/Fuel, but I was at the Sonoma Natl. in 1996 when Gary Densham Boomed a Motor in the Pits! I was 2 trailers down, but I heard a BANG!!!! And I saw people running, turns out Gary was sitting in the car with his shorts on and a piece of Metal bled his calf pretty bad!!!
 
I was standing on the line at Dallas several years ago when Mike Dunn kaboomed one right there on the line. I heard a sharp ping and then couldn't hear at all for a couple of days. I thought at the time that I might not ever be able to hear again. I'm surprised that it didn't affect his hearing even with the ear protection that he was wearing. Two new rules came out of that incident for me. 1. Stay away from the starting line and 2. Wear ear protection whenever possible.
 
A/Fuel cars often don't fire the first time, if I am nearby I ALWAYS make sure a crew guy is backing it down before they try to refire the thing ... if not I head for the hills.......

I'm with you dude!

Back around 2000-2001 I was doing some media work at the Australian Nationals. I was taking some shots down by the start line when a TF car didn't fire up first time and they appeared to try again without backing it down, I got the "f" outta dodge and dragged my assistant with me. I though for sure there was going to be a big boomer!
 
as long as the car doesn't make the switch over to fuel it does not need to be backed down
 
I'd heard the stories but had never seen it...
When we blew up Densham's calf, that was a new motor that had never been fired, and we were simply spinning it over to build oil pressure prior to starting on alcohol. The mags were clipped.
BUT the car had sat overnight in the trailer - on the ramp - and nitro had leaked past the fuel pump / barrel valve into #7 & 8. When #7 came up to TDC it just blew up.
As I had my face a foot away from the block looking for a side oiler leak, I was glad the OTHER side of the motor blew apart. :eek:
Densham drove the following week in Seattle - with a full length boot cast.
 
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Robbie, did you have to change underwear after that? :D Glad you weren't hurt!
 
Let's put it this way... is "the sky above and the mud below" ?

that would be a BIG yes.

d'kid
2 points to whoever can tell me what the quote is from

Karl, don't know if this is what your asking for, but if my memory serves me correctly, it's a song from the album Wylie & The Wild West, Hooves of the Horses. I am country boy so there may be something else you are looking for, but this is what came to my simple mind.
 
Let's put it this way... is "the sky above and the mud below" ?

that would be a BIG yes.

d'kid
2 points to whoever can tell me what the quote is from

The Old Testament, it says somewhere eye for eye and hair for hair

... as Mr. Haymaker said above & Thomas Russell wrote it I believe.
 
I'd heard the stories but had never seen it...
When we blew up Densham's calf, that was a new motor that had never been fired, and we were simply spinning it over to build oil pressure prior to starting on alcohol. The mags were clipped.
BUT the car had sat overnight in the trailer - on the ramp - and nitro had leaked past the fuel pump / barrel valve into #7 & 8. When #7 came up to TDC it just blew up.
As I had my face a foot away from the block looking for a side oiler leak, I was glad the OTHER side of the motor blew apart. :eek:
Densham drove the following week in Seattle - with a full length boot cast.
When things go wrong it will defiantly get your attention. Earlier this year I was in Las Vegas helping a buddy of mine with his nostalgia funny car that he had just built. We were warming up, and I had just lit it off, and I could tell something was wrong, so I looked at the plug wires on the side I was on, and they were correct, at about that time he pulled on the brake and it put a tug on the motor and lifted the blower off the manifold. Number 5 and 7 were crossed on the other side of the motor. We did a leak down on the motor, and checked the blower - valve train - rods, and every thing looked ok, so I went over to Denshams to borrow some blower studs and we put it back together, and went out and made our first full pass. It ran a 6.27 at 223 with a soft tune up, and the motor came back clean, so we were pretty happy.
 
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What I don't get is this: suppose a cylinder has fuel pooled in it, and that cylinder was in the middle of the compression stroke. By backing down the engine, that cylinder is going to have suction as both valves are closed and the crank is pulling down on the piston. I know the suction is overcome, but how? Leakage past the valve seats?
 
as long as the car doesn't make the switch over to fuel it does not need to be backed down

But how do you know that no fuel got into the intake.YOU DON`T , so ALWAYS back a fuel motor down if it doesn`t start.It is better to do a little work than go to the hospital.
 
But how do you know that no fuel got into the intake.YOU DON`T , so ALWAYS back a fuel motor down if it doesn`t start.It is better to do a little work than go to the hospital.

just make sure the mags are clipped, fuel is off, and give it a nice healthy clear with the starter
 
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