Jeff Kendall, our 2020 National Champion AND Rookie of the Year, just blew away his best time in his SDRA dragster.

He’s gonna put that AA/Gas record out of reach for us mere mortals.

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

No quarter mile time?
Can anyone post a picture of his 'car'?

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-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

We were not running the quarter mile at the Spring Hot Rod Reunion, only 1000ft in Slingshot/FED class. The SDRA class also ran the 1000ft with a 9.50 second index. I took runner up in FED. I totally botched my dial and broke out in the finals.

I'm looking forward to meeting some new faces and having fun at the Mopars Invade at Mokan. I'm sure there will be some good racers and close races. I am NOT planning any crazy trips out east. So you Slant Six guys need to come to Mokan to get a jump start on your points lead for 2021!

So what did I do to the car over the winter to make such a big improvement? Basics! Basics! Basics!
The bores were not round or the right size for the pistons, so I got that fixed. The rings were Total Seal brand, but designed for a vacuum motor (ultra low tension, so says Total Seal) that were provided by the piston manufacture. So new rings that actually seal (Thanks Keith @ Total Seal). The exhaust valves had touched the pistons, and therefore were slightly bent, but not enough to keep it from running. So that was fixed. The intake was never ported, so I spent some time with the die grinder and stuff to get that all matched up. The stock head gasket that matched the bores perfectly before assembly, "squeezed" into the bore after torqueing the head bolts, and the fire rings were almost burned through, so a new overbore head gasket was installed. A new 8" torque converter from a well known Slant Six guy replaced the almost stock converter I used in 2020. And a major diet for the #43 for some weight savings. I hope to get some additional "improvements" completed by the Mokan meet, but work and such keeps getting in the way.

Ultimately the plan is get the car into the 9s. The chassis is certified. Once I get it into the 9s, the goal is to get my competition license. It may take putting it on Methanol and add a trans brake to get there.

Warning! I know some of you have probably done this before, but just so all you know I'm a real human and make mistakes. Always check for the cam plug before bolting up the transmission. Those that have made this mistake know how you find out!

Thank Rob for posting pictures.

Hi Jeff,

Very exciting. Nice work on the basics and making a super nice combination of engine/drivetrain mods and car. Seems like you'll be well into the 9s with that 1000 ft ET!

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines

At 2000 lbs, the ET computes to 350HP, the MPH to 340HP
All I can say is WOW! Just awesome.
What would you say is the weight of the car?

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-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

Before a little weight reduction over this past winter, the car weighed 1359 race ready with fuel. Without me of course.

Could you post some more pics of your car? I would love to know more about it.

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-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

Great job Jeff!!

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

What specifically do you want to know? Engine? Chassis?
You can look up SDRA Tulsa on Facebook. SDRA is the class I built this car for. (NA inline engines)
There are pictures of the chassis build there. You have to scroll down a bit.

The engine is really nothing special. Just real high compression with flat top pistons. Milled the head way more than most would dare. Zero decked the block. Notched the pistons to match so the notch would be as small as possible. Now about 14.5:1 CR. Running 112 Racing gas. Carb is 650 brawler. No mods. Head is mild port (just clean up really) with 1.75 intake and 1.50 exhaust valves. These are the ford pinto 2.3 valves. Cam is from Racer Brown. Not the biggest cam I could go with, but pretty big.

904 trans with minimal mods. Low gear set from late model trans, TCI reverse manual VB, BTE 8" torque converter, medium depth steel pan (Mopar reproduction).

Of course I run Magnacore wires. The distributor is locked out. I use the Pertronix Digital HP ignition with matching coil.

Stock volume oil pump from Rock Auto. I did lap the drive gear and cam before final assembly.
Double roller timing chain (BB)
ATI harmonic balancer (BB)
I built the headers myself, collectors are from Burns Stainless
Water pump run by Moroso electric motor with custom bracket I made
Radiator is a cheap eebay special for Hondas
Water pump is AC delco from Rock Auto
Roller Rockers (unkown brand, but rebuilt by Rocker Arms Unlimited in CA)
Custom push rods (Smith Brothers)

What else?

Here is another pic

Thanks Jeff. That is good info. I am a big fan of the FED cars, especially when slant motivated.
I rechecked the HP calculator:
@ 1600lbs: 272 HP-(mph), 279 HP (ET)
Not to shabby my friend.
Do you have any plans for upgrades later? It looks like you are well on your way to the record books.
Congradulations, well done!

_________________
-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

MattMan:
I do have plans.
For this year, upgrading the rear diff. Its an 8.8 now, but I'm building another 8.8 with smaller axle tubes and 3" narrower, with bolt in axles. This will also let me use my lighter weight aluminum wheels with 5x5 bolt pattern. Currently, the rear wheels are Mopar Police Steel wheel at 30lbs each. The aluminum wheels are only 15lb each. I'll also be adding a lightweight full spool and ditching the heavy factory locker. SDRA rules require an 8" wide wheel max.

Next is Methanol. After that: Transbrake

Next year: A highly modified head that I'm in the process of experimenting. SDRA Rules say "Factory Iron Head, Porting Allowed". I'm going to be pushing the definition of "Porting". And a bigger cam. Maybe roller.

Rob Simmons might be able to link the post about the porting work.

It looks like the head on that engine is one of the later heads, without drool tubes. I have only weighed one of those heads and it was about 8 pounds heavier than an earlier Drool tube head I had.
Also, if you can find one, the factory aluminum oil pump is a little over 3 pounds lighter than the cast iron ones.
I have gotten my 65 Belvedere down to around 2800 pounds, less driver.
I have a similar engine built. The head isn't as worked over as yours, and my compression is lower-in the 11:1 range.
I really love the basic simplicity of the FED cars. I may build one if I ever sell the Belvedere.

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-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

Looking forward to meeting you and seeing the car run.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.