LET’S FRONT HALF A 330 MPH TOP FUEL DRAGSTER!

[@bigrockets]

Rob, thank you for this type of channel! I love this information, I'm 75 and have watched drag racing since I've been 12 years. I applaud you for showing us all this fabulous information. thank you!

[@jiveturkey9993]

I had absolutely no clue what a crew chief job was until I watch this channel. It's way way more involved than anything I had imagined. Definitely a newfound huge respect for NHRA crew chiefs after watching this channel.

[@Zen_Modeling]

Hey Rob, this was Exactly what I needed! I’m building a 1:25 Dragster All from scratch. I’m doing the frame in Brass (then plating it with Black Nickel) . The series you made for this was EXTREMELY HELPFUL!!! Excellent job!!! Lee

[@jaxnaturals]

As a fabricator, fixturing can be one of the hardest things.....to do right. I usually end up with 5 or 6 revisions to make it"user friendly" and to make it as modular as possible. I like the electrical uni-strut for modular fixture points and I use muffler clamps for our exhaust builds as well. They work great to keep material in its place and reduce warping. Soooo STOKED to see your process!

[@johndennis3181]

Nice down to earth videos. Thank you.

[@vehdynam]

very good.........really informative . Thank you for this channel.

[@duncandmcgrath6290]

That’s tricky stuff . I used to work in aircraft manufacturing and the large fixtures we used are laser surveyed every few builds to ensure accuracy.

[@bdubz5150]

I worked in a aerospace shop where we fabricated and manufactured aircraft as well. We refurbished insurance claim wrecked aircraft mostly jet varieties, Lear, Gulfstream, Citations, Falcons, etc. We also would laser check our jigs, not only prior to a build, but several times during. We discovered temperatures affected the jigs tremendously. Rain, cooler evenings, hot days, etc etc.

[@jimbristow900]

Really like your videos! Really impressed by how you work by yourself and get things done to me that’s the old-school way and the way I was brought up.Keep the videos coming!!

[@cdnaudioguy]

OK, this is cool! Can't wait to see more!

[@stretch8390]

Incredible, thanks so much for sharing.

[@davearthur8656]

Great video mate. Nice work.

[@marcbuffington8944]

I love crazy stuff, thank you for having channel from a guy that's lifes dream to to be involved with this stuff, thank you

[@nhra7110]

Thanks Rob! Love the videos!

[@bikebuilder8567]

You have the BEST job in the world!.

[@TheMrMused]

This was an absolutely GREAT video, Rob! Pretty sure that fixturing, tube alignment, geometry, etc can't be stressed just *how* critical it is to get right for a ride that's going to scoot to 330mph in under 4 seconds! Any slight error is *massively* magnified under that level of acceleration and speed! As always, thank you so much for taking us along and glad Dixon's got you updating a rocket for him!

[@teamdrama6251]

Great stuff your a magician. You can do it all .theres not too many people left that can do it all .great job keep them coming .love this stuff .

[@ballardperformancemachine]

Love watching your channel. The one man tips to getting stuff done help a lot. I have been training my 12 year old son in the machine shop.

[@TomChame]

Excellent, looking forward to more, thanks.

[@danielsmith-ze3wy]

Thanks for the video im sure I'll enjoy the build

[@davidaarons2488]

Nice Rob, I am looking forward to this. Thanks to you and Larry Dixon for allowing us to watch this. Jesus Saves

[@cooperbrosracing]

really enjoy your videos, I'm in the process of building an altered myself so really enjoy these kind of videos, we want more lol

[@jonasfors5004]

Thanks for your videos 🤘😎

[@NvTwist]

I tell ya this if I lived near by your shop I’d donate my set of hands to assist anyway I could, the possibility to absorb as much of your knowledge Possible. I got to sop out on the high roller teams jet limo decades ago and loved every sec.

[@hahaha12345678993]

this channel and the papadakis channel are probably the best behind the curtain views of what goes on in professional motorsports

[@gregschultz2029]

Thank You For Your Videos !!!

[@z06doc86]

Damn. I was all set for you to get chopping. Anxiously waiting next video. Load it with details please! Love your channel.

[@hankschrader149]

Far out Rob! Saw, I mean listened to LD on Competition plus the other night he's such a stellar dude! I used to live near Hadmans shop

[@dmeemd7787]

So I would think, you making me videos, would have to help you understand and grasp what you already know, in a different and or more thorough away since you're teaching it in a different way. I'm just glad how many followers you're getting on KZbin! There's not more people doing what you're doing, but there are still a lot more than there used to be, amazing stuff!

[@soulcontractor1641]

Much " Insight" much to learn still!!.( Soul)

[@robwendland]

Thank you!

[@tylerhensley2312]

Can't wait to see the rest of this!!

[@robwendland]

Right on!

[@williamhanna2613]

much respect you have mad skills

[@jcerullo5015]

do you vibrate the chassis as you weld them or something along those lines

[@michaelshortridge6379]

How many years of welding do you need? Any certification needed?

[@billmiller7138]

I'm real interested in this! I built an econodragster chassis in the mid 70s on not near that nice a jig. Looking forward to it!

[@erichuff3572]

Love it brother

[@craigbowers4047]

I wish Terry and Larry had full time rides as a 2 car team.

[@rcook2396]

When will pt. 3 be available? Love the videos.

[@mksaeg]

I was shocked to see a Habor Freight picker and welding helmet. Also a amazon plasma cutter.

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

Why? top fuel chassis builders put their trousers on one leg at a time like the rest of us. If a Habor Freight crane can pick up the weight why spend more? If a Amazon plasma cutter cuts, why pay more? There isn't anything out of the ordinary goes into these cars beyond sound engineering and decent welding. The knowledge is in the math and the dimensions, not the tools.

[@waynep343]

I am either tingling with anticipation or i have grabbed both welder cables at the same time.. a question.. do you install a fitting in the chassis to allow a gauge to be mounted to monitor the dry nitrogen the chassis could be pressurized with to be able identify tiny cracks because the pressure drops.. and to find cracks by pressuring the chassis again and using soap and water to look for bubbles.

[@robwendland]

No. Are chassis are open and we are actually run cables in lines inside them.

[@keithlewis9106]

So the Regenerally of the frame or torque on starting line you lose with a thicker wall tube, will you balance this with a move of the fuel tank forward ?

[@BIBSTERSrepairshop]

Excited to see how this turns out

[@jeffwolcott1475]

I recently graduated with a welding degree in nh and was curious where a good place is to start in order to get a job fabricating chassis and race cars?

Muffler shop.

[@ronblack7870]

i made a jig once to cut a 25 ton forklift in half and make it longer . added 3 feet between the firewall and the seat.

[@rodneyseiblesjr2176]

How do you found center of gravity with the top fuel car ?

[@timothydillon6421]

The short answer is you dont. The long answer is its dynamic.

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

Sometimes Hazard Fraught has a nice surprise find!👍

[@SC457A]

I have seen the process on some Super comp cars (front half/ and or back half's), and it is interesting for sure.

[@markwilliams9718]

Oh I haven't had time to work on this one but I got time to work on that one

[@jussbad]

Rob, Cool stuff. Care to let us know what the red door car in the background is?

[@CreamyCornCob]

Another video segment that doesn't show in notifications, Subbed and Bell clicked. All other subs show up fine in notifications. 🤨

[@TheBurtle005]

What does one of the funny cars cost to build? Minus the motor.

[@johnshaft5613]

Amazing to me...considering what a top fuel dragster is capable of....that they are still built basically the same way (welded steel tube structure) as racing cars were built in the 1930s....

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

Wheels that moved Roman chariots are still basically the same as the wheels on your car. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Tube is still tube, and girder designs are still girder designs. Some of these fundamental ideas probably span back hundreds of years in old bridges. Where I think you will find the biggest difference is in the math and the measurements. Calculating the amount of flex and fatigue is probably way more sophisticated than it was in the 1930's.

[@johnshaft5613]

@@DodgyBrothersEngineering I presume though, if allowed by the rules, a CF monocoque chassis for a top fuel dragster could be designed to be superior in every way (except cost) to the tubular steel structure. Racing cars, were allowed, moved from steel tube structure to aluminum monocoque in the 1970s, then to CF in the '90s. I'm just curious why the dragsters have not done the same...and I am assuming due to rules....but I really don't know.

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

@@johnshaft5613 CF is quite brittle, while it has good strength properties, I don't think it would be a good fit for this application. They make rims out of CF for racing bikes but hit a pot hole on the street and your rim worth several thousands of dollars is turned into a useless piece of junk. The TF car needs a certain amount of give to absorb the violent transmission of power, so you don't want a material that will splinter or fracture. Steel or something very close to steel would have to still be the best choice for the chassis. Look at a TF car in slow mo and it will blow your mind just how much it flexes.

[@johnshaft5613]

@@DodgyBrothersEngineering Could be, I'm no engineer. And I have seen slo-mo dragster video...it is indeed mind-blowing how everything twists and warps under the power.

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

@@johnshaft5613 the magic is in what you don't see. Think about how the car does a pass. You have ~10,000hp (unknown torque but it is a lot) trying to rotate the rear tyres. The engine is trying to flip the dragster over (both in a tyre rotation direction and in a crankshaft twist direction) if it can get enough traction. At speed you have a massive down force on the front end to try stop the wheelie, but you you have roughly 300" of chassis acting as a big lever. The car is trying to turn itself into a banana the whole way down the track, that is why you see videos of them snapping in half. Trying to allow enough flex to absorb the power, while being strong enough to not act like a piece of licorice is where the true magic happens. Chassis design may look simple, and to some degree it is, but there is a lot of thought and calculations go into making it look simple. Rob is graciously showing us some of that magic that he thinks about. Obviously he can't give away too much as he has competitors he doesn't want to give secret information to (things like how much preload). Some people will look at the Mona Lisa and see paint on a canvas, others will see art, it all depends on how closely you look, but there is a lot of engineering in this simple looking chassis.

[@paulcasarez404]

When will the funny car chassis be redesigned its been the same way since the 70s one thing I've noticed on dragsters is the rear end wants to push the car to the left and the front tires flex to the right making the chassis twist in 3 directions

[@DodgyBrothersEngineering]

Might look basically the same, but you can rest assured that there is a lot of engineering changes that have taken place in those 50 years.

[@paulcasarez404]

@@DodgyBrothersEngineering im not a chassis builder but when john had his big crash i designed a new funny car chassis i sent him a model of it in 1/8th scale not knowing what the chassis builders did i was almost to T on what they did except mine had an in closed driver's compartment protecting the driver and a secondary breaking system that could upright the chassis if it was on its side i could go on and on of what i sent in a letter of things that i talked about most of what i talked about got used on the track and other areas other stuff after browns tire incident at Firebird i did a scale mock up of something to hold the tire in place i was at that track and saw everything within feet but guess weight is a big issue

[@durango8882]

Larry Dixon? Where is he racing now? He was my favorite.

[@sterlingwilkey2124]

If I was closer to you I'd love to come and help and learn from you

[@SosopChabot]

Please leave all measurements in the d’inscription for us DYI guys…

[@andyb9767]

Could your next video be 2 hours long. Thanks for the video

[@jneman91]

Thumbs up for using the harbor freight engine hoist like the rest of us simpletons 🙃

[@ianeyolfson6525]

👍

[@chrischrismon]

I'd love to come work for you!

[@MichaelGuziak]

>> COOL.

[@Bradley_Clark]

Should have skipped mechanical engineering school and went into orthopedic surgery🚑 Thanks for the episode.

[@jamesdash1906]

If you need help I'd love too help

[@LTV_inc]

I was a manufacturing engineer for 35 years and watching this guy work is some of the most hillbilly bullshit I’ve ever seen. It’s not 1960 anymore….😆

[@RAMB0RGHINI]

Height* not heighth 🥴

[@timothydillon6421]

Tomato potato.

[@RAMB0RGHINI]

@@timothydillon6421 English vs. not English