Vintage FED, 1:25, 1966. FINISHED

[arcticwolf]

Mar 19, 2020 5:15:16 GMT -8 mickgee said:

Thanks JC, exactly correct.  I'm in rush to finish this one.  Everyday a little bit in the afternoon and evening while listening to music or TV documentaries.

Yesterday the chassis got some paint, it's finished.  Push bar, chute rack and a tab on the chassis for steering rod soldered on.  Next up is to start building the motor.

I'm always kind of saddened when a project ends though.

Mike..

I kind of feel the same way. It's almost anti-climactic, like 'now what?"

How do you steer a monster like that thing anyway?

[mickgee]

Yes, that's the way I feel, just kind of sad.  But of course there is kind of a rush at the very end to get there. 

I never have more than one project at a time, it would never work otherwise.  As soon as something difficult comes up, then it would probably never get done....years of job training kicks in though, just do it!

The biggest hurdle with this project was the new wire wheels.  Luckily I gathered some experience with the aluminum cowl during the last dragster build.

So, the mechanical fuel injection setup is started and going well.  Unfortunately, I can't use any new parts in metal for this motor.  Planned was at least the valve covers cast in nickel, but the corona virus dilemma has closed my source.  I've decided to just tack them on lightly, and redo them in metal the next time I have a batch of parts put together.  Meantime, brushing up on my Humbrol Metal Cote skills, or lack of....it will be OK.

As far as the steering goes, maneuvering around the pits and staging area was tricky with such a wide turning radius.  Amazingly though, most of the cars ran extremely well in a straight line while under power, the steering being smooth and responsive. Just, I would not climb into one of these!

Mike..

[mickgee]

Update: Fuel injection setup.

All along a few things have bothered me.  Couldn't make up my mind or decide which way to go because of lack of knowledge of actually knowing which lines went where, and how to go about it.

Here the setup that's the issue, directly from the Hilborn website.  This is a mechanical, not an electronic fuel injection.  There's a difference.  We're not interested in gas mileage with this car, we want as much fuel as possible being dumped directly into each cylinder.

So, which one is the front, and which one is the back of the manifold?

Here the answer from a famous real car restoration expert.  "On the 426 Hemi, it doesn't matter".  "At first the barrel valve was mounted in the manifold middle, but was too difficult to tune and fine adjust.  Guys started moving the BV to the rear, or the front of the manifold, whichever way the builder wanted".

Great.  I've tried to make an 8 port BV, this is the black block shown in the photo....just there is not enough room.

Period.  In 1:25, forget it.  So I'm going old school, this is by the way a vintage 426, which just came out a year or so ago for this FED.  The BV will be located manifold middle, with 4 ports showing to the front, and 4 ports showing back.  The fuel line incoming will be on the right motor side, fuel return line on the left motor side.  Each cylinder gets one nozzle, just like in the photos.

Also in the manifold middle, the throttle linkage will be adjoined both sides by a rod, and a rod to the BV as well.  The throttle linkage will be hooked up out back.  Easy huh?

Here the beginnings, heads have a gasket so the covers have a solid base, holes prepped for the spark plug hole tubes;

Here the lower segment of the injector tubes, with butterfly linkage all set to go;

These tubes are just a tad higher than the valve covers, the short flared tubes on top are done too.  They're sitting on a small strip so they can be attached as a whole, one bank at a time. 

Next up is a new aluminum manifold with a central barrel valve and the 8 ports with two main fuel line fittings and an adjustment setup.  Things are moving again with this project.

Mike..

[tatocorvette]

Beautiful work as usual!
As for the first pictures, without any other knowledge, and of course making sure the ports align, I'd think this would be the rear simply because these engines were exposed. I guess the lines in the manifold distribution block would need some protection from the incoming air or possible debris. Just a wild thought.


Thanks,
Ismael

[afx]

Do you have room to put the fuel block in the center of the manifold?

[mickgee]

Mar 28, 2020 9:40:56 GMT -8 tatocorvette said:

Beautiful work as usual!
As for the first pictures, without any other knowledge, and of course making sure the ports align, I'd think this would be the rear simply because these engines were exposed. I guess the lines in the manifold distribution block would need some protection from the incoming air or possible debris. Just a wild thought.


Thanks,
Ismael

Hello Ismael, I don't think the linkage and fuel lines suffer at high speed wind conditions, this would only be for a few seconds anyway.  I've always wondered though about these stack injected cars, like the Indy cars for example, how they keep debris out of the injectors?  These tubes are sucking in air and fuel like crazy...never really understood how this works...?

Greetings,

Mike..

[mickgee]

afx...I just finished this barrel valve last night.  Yes, there is room, but this block is still too big.  These are 1mm tubes.  I have to use these, because they have an inside diameter of 0.5mm, which fits perfectly the wire I use for fuel lines.  Here a peek at the block and sitting on the manifold;

4 tubes in front for the front two head ports, and four in the back for the rear two head ports.  The side tubes would be for the fuel incoming and one for the return fuel line, both in front.  The rear side tubes would be for the BV linkage to the butterflies, and one for the fuel shutoff cable to the cockpit;

This is another reason why I like to take a snapshot of every single build step....this barrel valve is just too big!

Next I'll try just bundling up the 4 port tubes, with two tubes to the side....then make some kind of "housing" for the bare tubes.  I think it can be made smaller.  This little construction went quickly as the tubes are just connected with CA, and not soldered.

More coming soon with this...

Mike..

[mickgee]

I made a new barrel valve with just 4 tubes bundled together, then two extras and a thin brass sheet wrapped around the bundle.

Not much was won, but I'll take it.  Here a comparison;

New one on the left,

The new one is lower, so this helps out too;

...and up on top;

After viewing lots of injected manifolds, things get cluttered and crowded there anyways, when 10 fuel lines and linkages attached, not much will be seen anyway.  I'm going forward with the new one now, I don't have a clue to make it smaller.

Next up is more motor stuff, a new front cover and other small things.

Mike..

[arcticwolf]

I don't know if these will help or just confuse matters more, but these are of a 392 hemi, hilborn injected:

good luck mate

[mickgee]

Thanks for your interest.  Those look like "Hemi Haines" motors, that boy does some nice motors!

I'll have to write now, scratch everything about so called barrel valves and manifolds.  I asked on the HAMB what to do, and asked for guys to show sme photos.

Well, all questions answered, some really amazingly detailed photos popped up, also from former car owners with this setup.  So, again I'll toss the previous attempts, now I know how and what to do.

A new barrel valve is done....426 Hemi-style.  I'm with the cam driven fuel pump right now, and exactly how and where the fuel lines run is figured out.  Good stuff!

Maybe a day or two for this big breakthrough....I'm excited now, the last hurdle has been crossed.

Mike..

[tatocorvette]

It sounds it is going in the right direction! Looking forward to see more!

[mickgee]

Thanks fellows. 

I think to have figured out building a scale fuel injection, and to let it look presentable.  More than 10 days....doing this, trying that.  Nothing was working.

The 1:25 scale is a killer when you want to let the closeup photos look decent.  Regardless how the car looks to the naked eye, my choice is to let it look decent with closeup photos.  This is sometimes challenging, as is the case here.

When finished up, the top of this motor will have more than 100 metal parts.  I'm liking this sneak peek, lots more to do yet.  Just utterly happy about getting past a few issues, and being able to perhaps finish this up on the Easter weekend.

Yes, the rest is figured out and on the way.

Mike..

[mustang1989]

Geeez!!! That......looks really REALLY good.

[mickgee]

Thanks Joe, I appreciate that you drop in with such enthusiasm, man this is what feeds the momentum.  You know this as well.

UPDATE:  Fuel lines mounted, magneto started...which is not period correct.  A modern design, but I like it, fits the injection stack setup nicely...(?).

This has been a grueling procedure which still continues.  The car design is simple and clean, no electronics, just things that work.

The goal is to make a good motor, lots of details, and as true as I can possibly fabricate.  With the simple car plan, this motor....I'm grinning already.

Posted a few days ago, I'll start the new phase with the 1st photo already shown, the rest is brand new....,

Continuing with the magneto, also the throttle linkage.  Slowly but surely this manifold and fuel delivery will be sporting some 100 individual parts.  I like.  Simple car....pita motor.

Mike..

[arcticwolf]

I am speechless.