a question

Not saying it cant be done but if you are putting bearings in it every run then you a leaning on it pretty hard thats just obvoious. We used to drop the pan in that amout of time too but when the tune up was safe and we were going rounds we didnt have to. When you started to get after it and get on the edge then it was a must and if you have to take the time to drop the pan and put 8 bearings in it then there is something wrong with your tune up.

 

Gaspareli sold off his Brad Bae hemi stuff last year and bought fontana. Even with Bob Minor in there pit tuning it they have blown up alot and havent done very well since they switched.

 

They are struggling for sure (Gasparelli that is). I find it strange that team did not run as well as they did in the past. Wonder if it is chassis related?

Dean

 

Tommy- Could the reason that the Gasparelli's are struggling this year have something to do with the fact that a key crew member left them with very little help? Hmmm...I don't know...maybe. Blown up a lot? Other than a bearing problem earlier in the year I was not aware of any major engine problems (other than routine maintanance) untill this past race. Correct me if I am wrong...

ch3no2- Your ignorance of the Fontana is showing. It's not a hemi? I take it you either have never looked at the heads of the Fontana, or you don't know what a hemi is. The heads of the Fontana have a hemispherical cumbustion chamber thus making it a "hemi". Also I think you are confusing regular maintenance and prevention with parts breakage. If you honestly think that the top teams don't pull the motor down on a regular basis then, again, your ignorance is showing. Lastly, if you think that all the Fontana guys have "spare everything" in the trailer then you obviously haven't looked at such low budget and highly competitive teams such as the Woz, Clint Thompson, as well as many others. So,if your going to spout out statements putting down other teams and engine programs, at least make sure you know what it is you are talking about.

 

You gotta love this internet thing, don't ya? What happened to the good ol days when you could talk smack and the only people who heard it were the ones you were speaking to? It seems this Fontana thing has come up before. You may not see my name in the top half of the qualifying order (at least not yet) but I have both and have run both - the Hemi's and the Fontana's. Alkyfan pretty much said it all. I can tell you that when I built my first funny car I was looking at buying a used Hemi with early Brad heads. Having run Rat motors for my whole life, I knew nothing about the Hemi's other than I knew I wanted one. I mean, come on, supercharged Hemi's ARE drag racing. I made a call to Brad to ask some beginner questions, like, "what is the difference between these early heads and the current heads?" (which at the time were either the 4's or early 5's.) I am expecting an answer like, "well, the combustion chambers are smaller now, flow better, smaller pistons, less weight, rev higher = more power". But what I got was, "If you followed drag racing at all you would know that back then we were running 6.50's and now we're running 5.80's!" (remember this was a few years ago). I just said "oh, thank you mister wizard" and ran away like the scarecrow!. I bought the hemi's anyway and ran them for a few years. Always hated the oiling system. When it came time to evolve to NHRA, the choice was update the Hemi stuff or look at different stuff. I did my homework and decided the Fontana was the direction I wanted to go. I gotta tell you, though we are still getting our feet wet, every time we take the car out I like the Fontana more and more. The oiling system is far superior, I like having the crank thrust on the rear and not the center, it is easier to work on and working with Bob Minor is WAY better. He treats new customers like...well.... customers. Being a sometimes hard-headed Italian (ok, most times)I didn't spend a big chunk of money on the Fontana's just because of Brad's rudeness. Truth is, if I believed the Hemi's were easier on parts than the Fontana's I would have updated, but the opposite is true. I'm sure that after I would have spent enough money with Brad he would have talked to me (though Don and Lea are quite good to work with). But, in hind sight, I would buy the Fontanas again. Can't wait for Vegas - at least we can get three more runs under our belts!

 

I have to agree with Joe, the things people say on the internet just amazes me.

As a customer of MRE I think I have a little knowledge about the engine. The Miner Racing Engine is a very good piece. I don't carry a warehouse full of parts because I don't need to. All I have to do is make a phone call and because Bob understands racing he bends over backwards to help me out. I have NEVER had a problem with ordering parts from the Miners. When the Miners first aquired the Fontana deal there was a shortage of inventory, due mainly to the previous owner. Again that problem has been resolved.

It's obvious that a couple of the posters know absolutly nothing about the MRE. Next time your at a race why don't you stop by one of the trailers that run one and ask them how much they like their power plant. Guarantee you will find a happy customer.

BTW I sold both of the Fontanas I had listed on this website and I sure as hell didn't give um away.

Joe did you get your stuff cheap? I know better.

[ October 15, 2004, 10:27 AM: Message edited by: Lawren Jones ]

 

That cannot be true about brad?

 

MAYBE YOU WHO DOUBT THE VIABILITY OF THE FONTANA (MINER BROS RHINO AS IT IS NOW KNOWN) SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE WHO HAS ONE. I HAVE RACED WITH THIS ENGINE FOR YEARS AND WITH THE REFINEMENTS MADE BY BOB MINER THE COMBINATION IS EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE, VERY EASY ON PARTS AND EASY TO WORK ON. I THINK THE REASON YOU SEE THE HEADS OFF (AT LEAST IN MINE AND GASPARELLI'S CASE) IS FOR NORMAL MAINTENANCE. IT IS SO EASY TO PULL THEM SO YOU CAN CHECK THE SPRINGS WITH A RIMAC THAT I FEEL GUILTY NOT TO TAKE A LOOK. THE MANIFOLD AND BLOWER STAY PUT, AND YOU CAN EASILY HAVE A HEAD ON THE BENCH IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES. IF I HAD A CHRYSLER I WOULD PROBABLY USE AN ON THE HEAD SPRING TESTER AND BE MORE LIKELY TO ADOPT THE "IT'S PROBABLY OK" MENTALITY BUT WITH THE RHINO IT IS JUST TOO EASY TO CHECK. THE OILING SYSTEM IS VERY GOOD, I HAVE BEEN RUNNING THE SAME PUSHRODS FOR TWO YEARS! TRY THAT WITH A BRAD MOTOR?!? THE BOTTOM END IS VERY STRONG AND STABLE, THE PAN RAIL EXTENTIONS SAVE THE BLOCK MOST OF THE TIME IF YOU DO KICK A ROD, AND THE THINGS PERFORM AT OVER 10,200 - 10,300 WITH NO PROBLEM RUN AFTER RUN. THE PARTS ARE NOW READILY AVAILABLE FROM THE NEW OWNERS (MINER BROTHERS) AND THE SERVICE IS GREAT. YEP THERE ISN'T A BUNCH OF WORN OUT USED STUFF AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET, SO IF YOU WANT TO RUN ONE YOU'VE GOTTA BUY IT NEW, BUT ANYONE WHO IS SERIOUSLY TRYING TO COMPETE IS PROBABLY NOT BUYING USED UP SH_ _ ANYWAY. I RUN A LOW BUDGET OPERATION AND DON'T HAVE A TON OF SPARE STUFF, BUT I REALLY DON'T HAVE TO HAVE ANYTHING THE REST THE TEAMS OUT THERE RUNNING THE COMMON MOTORS HAVE ANYWAY, BECAUSE IT ALMOST NEVER BREAKS.
STEVE WENT 5.59 AT CHICAGO AND THE MINERS RAN IN THE .50'S ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS WHEN THEY WERE STILL RACING, WHEN 50'S WERE VERY RARE.

 

As I spoke about the Fontana deal it was directed towards it's use as an A/fuel combination and nothing more. I was not referring to anything other than an A/fuel car.

 

ok... i'm confused. the topic started with atchison's combo right? is it a aj/rodeck 481x or is it a fontana/mre-rhino? how similar or different are they? and whatever the case... what are the possible block/head combos? if you run a fontana/mre-rhino what are your head options? hope these aren't stupid questions. another question... i heard a bbc cam is the 'same as' a 481x cam? true or false?

 

tried to Google both Miner Bros and Fontana with no results- How does one make contact? thks

 

bump

 

Hello Bob,

This is the phone number for Bob Miner.

Miner Brothers Racing Engines

209-946-0258

 

i hear that will... there's a lot of brad's stuff out there so i doubt anyone has too bad of an opinion of the guy and his toys. there are always two sides to all stories and the circumstances that surround an encounter.

btw... love the board and getting to pick the brains and hear input from guys that are way smarter and better educated than me. they say you learn the most from your mi$take$... but it's nice to learn this way too

 

certanly a lot of input on this thread. Like a couple of the other posters here, I'm sitting on the outside looking in. I'm wondering about getting in the class, and as a long running Chevy guy, my questions come from the perspective of WHY people use the engine combo's that they use.

I'm not a die hard this or a die hard that. Writing the cheque the first time should be for the right stuff, that's all. I think that folks tend to stick with what they started, or they wrap engines around existing components.

If you need a box of pushrods to run a Hemi , so what? If that is what works best than buy two. What I want to know is DOES it work BETTER than the other choices. Starting from scratch IS this the best route to go?

( a side note: we got into Jr. Dragsters this year. Bought and built a modified Briggs because that's what everyone else uses, and knows. 2 Guys run "Tecumsa " motors at our track, and they fly, and don't seem to hurt parts... like ours does. A diffrent and seemingly better way of doing things....)

Anyways the input on the Fontana is very good. Les Mellows? Any input on the 486x maintanance. How many runs on valve train? Rods holding up well? Bearings? What kind or RPM ? Spill the beans!
- jay

 

Will:

I have to agree with you. I've dropped stuff off to be repaired at BAE with (what I thought was) rediculous turn-around time requests and Jeremy usually calls me a day or two sooner than I asked for to let me know stuff is ready. I'm scrambling to get my butt over there to pick up stuff sooner than I thought.

On the flip side I let Jeremy know if I'm NOT in a hurry, too. I don't want to be the guy who's known for always dropping the bomb.

15+ years ago when I was deciding which way to go, I had lunch with Austin Coil and Kenny Mooers (RIP). Coil gave me some good advice and I took it.

What I like about Brads stuff is: It fits, It's number one quality, It's user friendly, parts are available anywhere in the country in nearly everyone's pit if you get in a bind, Great customer service, They bend over backwards to help, They don't stroke you, It hauls butt.

In picking parts, one good piece of advice I got was to look in the section of National Dragster that has the National Records. Right now it's BAE.

We put a brand new set of Brad heads on for first round at Chicago a couple weeks ago. New, as in brand new...never run. We also put our old tune-up back on (where we had it earlier in the year) instead of our typical experimenting that we like to do. It ran 5.56 at 258.34 and never moved a bearing. The air got over 1,000 feet worse when we ran Bucky so we made a little change and it ran another 5.56 at 258.

The first thing I thought was how lucky we are to have a guy like Brad who took the risk many years ago to build a better head, so all we have to do now is call Jeremy or Leigh Ann and just order a set and run like this. No brainer, for me.

 

Randy, paragraph four of your last reply says it all! Well done.

 

Certainly can't dispute what Randy is saying. Thruth is, he and guys like him could probably make Prospector's Briggs & Stratton qualify in the top half of the FC field! Sharp people can make just about any combination run real fast. It boils down to who you are comfortable with and if you believe their parts are better suited for you. No question BAE leads the way in the record books, but then this years world champ runs Newberry stuff if I'm not mistaken.

 

I am sue Cy runs BAE stuff.


Dean