How to shut off at end of run?

Is there a common way to shut down one of these blown alcohol engines after a run? Never done it yet, don't want to guess.

-Scouder

 

as you go thru the lights, i pull the chutes, then after it settles down (1-2 seconds), the fuel gets pulled off. when i remember to, i kill the mag. The last few seconds is errie quiet, as its just tire noise.

 

This was how I was taught how to shut the motor down. Seems to work fine with my motor, but it's not as highly strung as some of the TAD / TAFC cars who might shut their's down differently.

Pull the parachutes (obviously), then don't grab the brake until you feel the chutes bite. Once they have let the initial shock settle down then set about pacing yourself through the shutdown area with braking. The two tracks we have in England are a fair bit different in run off space; Santa Pod you gotta be relatively quick on the brake after the chutes hit, but at Avon Park you don't need to brake, just let the motor settle down and let it idle you to the turn off then shut it down (fuel lean out and hit the mag kill button)

You'll get loads of different drivers saying relatively the same thing. Think all the drivers will agree on a few things; that the blower whistle as the motor dies is one of the coolest noises in the world, and just hearing the driveshaft spinning after the bedlam of the run is also one of the coolest noises in the world.... So quiet and calm it's surreal.

 

So are you guys on a sprag? Is your motor going to idle when you lift, or is it being driven at high rpm by the tranny? The reason I ask is mine is a TD, running a powerglide, and I am trying to determine if I'm kicking it into neutral after the chutes or leaving it in gear.

Secondly, you guys that are leaving it running as you decel, does that affect your plug readings?

-Scouder

 

Absolutely cannot wait! I won't be able to make my first pass until late May. That's when the weather gets good enough to open our track. You guys telling me how fun it is are gonna have me needing therapy by then.

-Scouder

 

and clutch in

 

dont forget to open your eyes when you finished so you can see to make the turn

after you hit the chutes dont get on the brake real hard it will start to bounce if you get on it to hard at first gently pull the brake back and if you feel you need more one pump should be plenty and pull gently until you feel the car settle down

 

Run

And don't forget to breath again. Don

 

not a real good idea if you can avoid

 

if you're having a good day... then proceed as listed above. although consider it can take nearly a second for the chutes to deploy and hit the car and at 250mph you are covering nearly a football field a second. so hitting the chutes at the stripe is too late


if you're having a bad day (no personal experience talking here... haha)... lift throttle as quickly as possible after the flash and boom! wipe oil from your visor, try to keep it off the wall, chutes, fuel shut-off (helps slow the fire spread)... let'r slow down just a bit and straighten up... fire bottles. then bail out when the heap slows down enough!

btw... it's always good to thank the safety guys for putting the rest of it out

 

I run a powerglide, and right after I lift I slap it into neutral, I dont like to have the motor at rpm under no load any longer than I have to.


Altered boy is 100% correct about putting the chutes out early, they take some time, AND distance to pop open. I usually flip the leaver right after I see the 1000ft cone go by, now this was my first year I'm still new at this myself and I'm in a door car so I'm under 200mph.

I let my motor idle until I make the turn, I think its better on the exhaust valves and seats to let them cool off a little before shutting down, I'm not saying my way is right, its just the way I do it.

I found out that if you have the idle bypass set a little on the high side it will flood the motor with fuel when you shut the throttle blades after a pass, then it quits, not a real big deal.

 

disclaimer: this is just my opinion... everyone does it differently and has their reasoning behind it

when i run my powerglide car i'm not a fan of knocking it up into neutral. have just seen some oops's happen relating to shifter/valve body/reverse issues... not pretty. just my preference

however... i definitely think with a converter car it's a good idea to leave it running/idling for a bit (to the turn off or so) because it allows the converter to circulate some fluid in/out. mike stewart (of mike's transmissions-the bad ass glide builder) is a big advocate of letting the engine idle a bit at the end of the run to help get the really hot fluid out of the converter

and i'm ok with letting it run for that extra few seconds at the end of a run especially if the pump saver is plumbed into the hat

 

From personal experience in a TAFC:

You lift as soon as you see fire engulfing your legs...Then you enjoy that full orange flames as your visor is covered in oil ...you start to shut the fuel off and work the brake handle as you try to reach a couple times for the parachute ( but dont worry the parachutes left already with THE BODY) as you feel the car ever so slightly grace the wall , try to steer AWAY from it!

After it finally stop go get drunk, you only burn up a hundred grand in 5 seconds

 

Yes it would be a very bad deal to get into reverse at speed.

Now I dont know about your trans and valve body, but mine wont go into reverse without pushing the trans-brake button.

I think that was the idea for the pro tree brakes, to add some safety to the reverse circuit so a shifter malfunction cant put you into reverse at the wrong time.

I agree with the converter cooling thing, I think it might surprise some people if they knew how hot their converter is in the traps.

 

Can you pull the third box back into low and get on the sprag or push the clutch. Don't like the idea of motor over run

 

on a clutch car if you put in clutch right after chutes the floaters freewheel and will cause hell on rear main (hemi worse)especially if floaters arent quite right for clutch...engine builder will then take more of your $$

on a converter you want the fluid pumping or stuff will turn blue and fail to work and be leaky and stinky...converter guy will take more of your $$ and bruno guy will too

you can neutral by pushing lenco or button to release shift pod, if you attempt neutral the reverser will expolde internally and you will have some nice broken pieces for your shelf and lenco guy will take more of your $$

so in my opinion, whichever process results in you not having to give people $$ after run is good process

just my opinion

 

Its always a bad idea to neutral any conventional automatic for the reasons already mentioned.

Also on most transmissions when you do this the planetaries rotate at twice output shaft speed so if you were going 9 grand through the traps the planetaries see 18K when you shift into neutral, although on a glide you can usually get away with it due to the small radius of the gearset, on many three speeds this is a bomb that will often detonate with disasterous results

Just food for thought,

Richard G

 

I run a blown BBC with a powerglide, my tranny builder told me to leave the car in gear until i shut it off after i make the turn off at the end of the track. So that's what i do, my motor is running and in 2nd gear.

Tim Steed