TAD/TAFC changes for next year helmet shrouds, pads, belly pans, etc.

CARBON FIBER ! Spitzer may need to see how many people want to get a 2nd mortage to be able to afford one. How the hell much money do you guys have that he would even consider building one?

 

i would have to guess the carbon ones should be cheaper than the Ti ones
easier to mold/heat goo than form titanium
but i cant imagine the carbon being as strong as ti for puncture resistance
my 2¢

 

Hansen and myself are going to form some shrouds out of 4130.

It's heavier but you can tell your driver to only eat one double double a week, not four...

Bob Meyer, I had a corvette NFC in the shop that had the system you describe as a body release. did you do that one? it looked simple and functional.

unlike the one (Mckinney) I had to deal with on Tolivers car.

 

FC head shields

I will have sample carbon fiber head shields [not yet approved by NHRA]at the PRI show at Taylors booth if your interested come by. Jeff Burnett

 

yep
their deal will sit you back $1975.00
and be available soon

 

OUCH! Hope Mike Baker from IHRA isn't reading this!

 

Don't quote me on this but the new NHRA Rule books are usualy released at the PRI show.

 

Mine was not FEA designed !

 

me gusta tapatio

can you be more specific? please

 

Helmet Shields

I just spoke to Haskel at Diversatech. He will have the funny car shield at the PRI show this week. If you are there stop by his booth #919. He tells me they are nicer than the ones he makes for Top Fuel.
http://www.diversatech.com/

 

can someone give me the companies who make the seat pad and helmet shroud? Is Garvin the only one that makes the pad? That will make it hard to get one. Diversitech and spitzer are working on the shroud , but neither are approved. I'm assuming you can't make your own shroud? The first race (d4) is in Feb, is it even possible for everyone to get these things before then?

 

ISP makes the molded seats and helmet pads. The helmet shrouds should not be a problem if NHRA will make a decision on a spec and approve suppliers that have submitted them.

 

Helmet shields

As near as I can find there are 4 companies potentially making them, not all are approved yet. Jeff Burnett, Spitzer, Diversatech, and McKinney. It sounds like you have a choice between Chromemoly, Carbon Fiber and Titanium. Another question is can a person build one themselves? I am sure there are craftsmen out here who can do as good a job as the commercially available versions. I don't understand why the Titanium specs are for a thinner material than the Chromemoly version? Most of the specs usually call for steel parts to be of a lighter material than the Tit. versions. I have called tech at Glendora 3 times now and haven't really gotten any significantly definitive answers. I get the impression they are flying by the seat of their pants and are making rules wthout really thinking them through? I have no problems with safety rules but how about we apply some common sense to them and then communicate them to the folks that have to adhere to them?
Dave Germain

 

Build your own if you can, you'd be crazy to spend that kind of money on a kit!

Dave and the rest,

We just finished a couple weeks ago building a chromoly shroud for our TAD from scratch. It took about $250 worth of chromoly and a weekend of bending, welding, and grinding but it turned out pretty nice. We will be doing the same for my TAFC in the next little while here.

There is no rules against building it yourself, as long as you use the correct thickness of materials - excluding of course the carbon versions. I have seen people build their own titanium ones as well, some looked pretty, some didn't, but they all passed tech.

 

Does anybody have any idea of weights of these things? Nathan, what does the TAD shield weigh? What I am trying to figure out is the cost per pound of each option. If Tit. only saves 4 or 5 pounds then why do it in tit. ? Same thing for Chromemoly compared to Carbon Fiber? I did the same thing years ago when I bought my first Ti. can. Dave Germain

 

Dave,

I don't know the weight off hand, but I will weigh it tonight and post it here for your info. I'll try to get a picture of it on here as well. It isn't incredibly light, although it did turn out lighter than I thought it was going to be.

The one we made for the dragster is a 1 piece deal. The funny car sheild will be made in 3 pieces, so I imagine it will be a touch lighter.

 

New 2008 Rev

From the NHRA Div 5 web site.
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Helmet Shroud/Deflector Plate

All vehicles in Top Alcohol Funny Car must have a rear-roll cage shroud. A one- or three-piece shroud is permitted. The shroud must be constructed of minimum .075-inch Grade 2 ASTM-B-265 titanium or .090-inch 4130 steel or be of NHRA accepted composite construction and must be shaped to conform to the roll cage. The shroud must be attached to each of the side bars with a minimum of three 1/4-inch minimum diameter Grade 8 bolts and bosses per side, to the top with one 1/4-inch minimum diameter Grade 8 bolt and boss, and to the rear bars with a minimum of two 1/4-inch minimum diameter Grade 8 bolts and bosses per side. Tabs with] bolt and nut, where the nut is welded to the tab, may be used in place of the bosses. Three piece shields must be made with two side shields and a center section.

The shroud must be installed flush with or be filled/sealed to the upper roll cage bars and shoulder hoop to the extent that protective equipment cannot inadvertently catch between the shroud and the roll-cage components. Absolutely no components may be mounted to the helmet shroud above the top of the shoulder hoop. Unless the shroud is mounted with fasteners that have ½-inch hex style heads (as required in TF and TAD) a clearance slot minimum 1-¾- inch high by 2-inch wide is required on each side of each roll cage tube where it meets the shoulder hoop.
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Link;

http://www.nhradiv5.com/apcm/templates/divnews.asp?articleid=25677&zoneid=15

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John Gates
Santee, Ca

 

Well, for all those curious here's some photos of the 1-piece shroud we made for our TAD. Made from .090-inch 4130 steel as per the spec (versus the expensive titanium route), it weighs in at 20 lbs. It is not 100% complete yet, as we still have to drill the rest of the mounting holes and pretty it up.

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