February 18, 2012

You will hear the roar of our engines!

Appropriate that Chrysler uses this for a tag line in their new commercial - because for the last 60 years, the standard for ground-shaking horsepower is a single word - HEMI. Chrysler produced 2 lines of "Hemi" engines in the 50's - the small (270 ci)"Red Ram" or DeSoto, and the mighty "FirePower" - 331-392 cu. in. in stock form. Aluminium 417 c. version by Donovan Engineering
In the early 60's, Chrysler comissioned Weslake Engines to design a HEMI cylinder head for the then-current big-block "wedge" engine, resulting in the "426 Hemi". Several aftermarket mfrs. - KB, BAE, TFX, JP, AJ
The hemispherical combustion chamber design is particularly good for exotic, alcahol based fuels, including nitromethane, and lends itself well to supercharging.

A 426 Hemi, in a Charger Daytona at the Bonneville speed trials

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The Burkland's 450mph streamliner twin Donovan 417's blown on alcahol


Al Teague - handbuilt on a paycheck, 408 mph - "Stage 5" Hemi, blown on 60% nitro
2nd car in vid

Vintage dragsters fire up en masse for a "cacklefest" at the California Hot Rod Reunion 2011


New England Dragway pro finals

February 4, 2012

The Vermont Rule of 'Foot

"If you see a creature of an appearance similar to the legendary Bigfoot or Sasquatch, do not approach without offering a cold beer, or perhaps a fried egg sandwich. More than likely, it is a native who wanderd away from a gravel pit or boat ramp party. They may be attempting to return to a familiar "civilization" after becoming disorented, or thrown out of the back of a moving pickup."

February 1, 2012

You can make your own beleifs

But you can't make your own facts.

Hey, I'm a machinist - we routinely measure to .001/inch - that's half a hair! You can beleive all you want - but a pin that measures .752 isn't going to slip-fit into a 3/4" hole. .752 - .750 = .002 interference. Steel to steel, that'll take a small sledgehammer or a big-ass press to put together, beleif or not. Heat or cold can be used, as well - but when the temperatures equalise, it ain't movin'. Or, you can turn/file/polish the pin down a bit - but that is changing the facts!

The trouble is, the folks who watch Fucks News take beleifs (or conjecture, or outright friggin' lies) as fact - and it just don't work!

Or, as a friend of mine put it - the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle aren't "trim - to - fit"!

My Dad was a precision inspector by trade - he saw his job as establishing the facts (to .00005, in a temperature - controlled room, with measurements traceable to NIST). He was fond of quoting Sen. Sam Ervin "Once you have the facts, the law will take care of itself."