What can you tell me about hydrazine and drag racing?

[Mike]

I vaguely remember about drag racing history and an alternative fuel that I think is called hydrazine, but cannot remember more.

Does this fuel have the potential for more power than nitro? Is it more toxic or unstable?

Was it ever legal anywhere? Any history lesson appreciated.

 

[mick]

https://www.dragzine.com/news/flashback-friday-the-story-of-the-leathal-fuel-called-hydrazine/

just google it. lots of articles and blogs to read about it.

 

[Cliff]

It's also basically rocket fuel and is carcenogenic (sp?) & can cause cancer if someone is around it too much.

 

[drag racer]

nasty stuff!

 

[Muddy]

Don't use it....EVER

 

[Ramjet]

I have driven a car with Hydrazine in it. Unfortunately it was back in the Front Motor days when I was 10 feet tall and Bullet Proof (Stupid). The car was the Howard Cam Special. Don Madden (General Manager) who owned it's older brother was roommates in college with the guy who became the Chemist for Cox the Model people. We tried the following stuff. Nitromethane - Nitropropane - Nitrobenzene (Oil of Merbane) - Picric acid - 14 Moler Iodine & Hydrazine Crystals among others. This is in VERY small doses. The first run with 1 oz of Hz Crystals didn't do much but turn the exhaust Green and smell like Amonia. Someone (Jon Krannenberg) had the most experience with it when he was tunning the Greek and he told Madden not to be a Pu$$y and load it up. Back then we only had a 4/5 gallon fuel tank and when I came off the Rollers at LIONS I did a short burnout and He opened the fuel tank and pored something in the tank. By the time I staged that thing was thundering and the exhaust was bright Green. The Amonia smell was so bad I was crying. At a little past 3/4 track the car was shaking so bad I saw about 6 of everything and it was slowing down. I pulled over on the return road and Madden pulled up and took the hose off of the tank and the fuel was smoking as it turned the asphalt to mush. The mains were hammered out so bad we threw the block and crank away. That with other things we did is why at 80 I am still hacking and weezing AND no longer 10 feet tall (5'6") or bullet proof. I dont' recommend being the "Test Mule" for Magic Fuel solutions. If a little bit is good a lot definately is NOT. By the way Nitro may smell good but what doesn't burn is basically Nitric Acid and Water.

 

[chop]

I don't know if this is true or factual but the rumor was Dave Schultz the PSM racers death was attributed to the use of hydrazine.

 

[Ramjet]

I don't know if this is true or factual but the rumor was Dave Schultz the PSM racers death was attributed to the use with of hydrazine.

I don’t know about Dave Shultz but Everyone that was related to Howards Cams had experience with Hydrazine and the are all gone now. Jerry Johansen (Howard’s oldest son) died out of nowhere at 38 probably because of Hydrazine. He had a Brain aneurysm but he handled Hydrazine without enough precaution and stood right by the Motor when it was running and I know he ran Hydrazine in the Rattler and his Father in Laws Jr. Fueler. NHRA put Dye in the Nitro that changed the color of the flames if you had Hydrazine and John Mitchell found out that it could be strained out with Activated Charcoal. He had bags made out of parachute nylon by Chute Metal and filled them with activated Charcoal. He couldn’t make them fast enough for a while until NHRA started checking your fuel and if the dye was gone they threw you out. The rational was that the Dye was oily and contaminated the Nitro but NHRA didn’t buy it.

 

[Notch1320]

Remember this? Hydrazine was rumored to be the cause of Doug Herbert's explosion at Pomona. Larry Fraizer was the crew chief at the time.

 

[Cliff]

So is anyone running it today?

 

[Ramjet]

So is anyone running it today?

Not in NHRA. Your fuel is sold and transported for you because of the transport laws and you can't run more than 90%. Depending on the track conditions it might be lower. The fuel is basicaly checked by a Mass Spectrometer after each run and it all comes from the same supplier. Also: There is really no reason. Power isn't the problem 99.9% of the time - These cars could rotate the earth if they wanted to with the right traction. Getting it to the ground for 1000 feet with the right clutch application in 3.XXX seconds without an UH-OH is the problem.

 

[twostep]

It's widely considered to be the primary factor in Don Prudomme's US Nats 5.63 when everyone else was 2 tenths slower. I don't recall Snake definitively saying yes or no and from reading posts from racers back in the day, opinions are divided. Some say Snake ran nitrous/nitro; Snake himself said the nitrous bottle was a decoy along the lines of Bernstein's 'terrible towel'. Others say Snake hit on a tune and a clutch setup that just clicked, hence the .63.

But whatever. Some things are better off left alone and hydrazine, as everyone found out, is one of them.

 

[the guy]

If I were interested in the qualities of hydrazine, I'd ask Alan Johnson and Walt Austin...as far as Dougzilla and Frazier cheating...I think its more likely my Z-71 Tahoe can run 6.50 at 209, and I dont own a Tahoe...neither of those guys are cheaters

 

[twostep]

Not everybody pulled the pan after each pass to check bearings and such back in the day and more importantly, didn't always drain the oil. Anyone who attempted to run hydrazine quickly found out that was a really bad mistake. Those two fuels react with one another, quickly forming a violently explosive salt sensitive to impact along the order of nitroglycerine - we all know a substantial amount of fuel blows past the rings and into the oil pan on any top fuel car after a pass - and if the oil isn't drained and properly disposed of, the moment someone hits the starter to warm up or make a pass it's boom, oil-pan showtime with potential catastrophic results.

Nitro alone is dangerous enough, especially when starting an A/FD as anyone here who's campaigned one knows.

 

[Cliff]

Have heard stories about blowing the head off an A/FD in the pits. Also find it interesting that nitro & nitrous complement each other. One of the original 4 second club T/F cars ran nitrous & it wasn't illegal back then.

 

[flapjack]

I'm guessing that experimentation with hydrazine is another part of racing lore that stems from technology developed during WWII. Hydrazine is one of the hypergolics used in various aircraft/rockets (mostly German) during the war. Hydrazine and other hypergolics have been used by NASA and other space agencies for many years. As mentioned, it's nasty stuff and is handled with great care. The idea of two propellants combusting upon contact (no igniter needed) is some scary stuff.

 

[ironpony]

Remember this? Hydrazine was rumored to be the cause of Doug Herbert's explosion at Pomona. Larry Fraizer was the crew chief at the time.

looks a lot like Hghts in qualifying this weekend

 

[4onthefl4]

looks a lot like Hghts in qualifying this weekend

Did anyone notice the explosion lifted car completely off the ground?

 

[Gone Dead Train]

Here is a short video. Big talking about the Greek and the go-go juice.

 

[LoPony]

There is also propylene oxide…..