This picture shows the rear rotor retaining
bolts and the safety wire between the bolts to prevent them
from coming out. I also use Loctite on every bolt during reassembly.
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This is the battery hold down Andy
whipped up one Saturday. It can hold two Optima batteries
if we need it to. He used 3/8” steel rod and some
1/8” flat steel as well as the required 3/8”
threaded rod to hold it all in place. |
Next up was securing the battery. The previous hold down
weighed about as much as a battery and the threaded rod extended
through the mounting tab and had caught on the trailer a few
times. Andy came up with the idea for this retainer and built
it in our tricked out shop (OK, actually it is a cluttered,
crowded shop that was pretty small for one dragster and now
there are two in there. Just proves a little ingenuity and
basic materials can get you a good result.) Looks good, battery
can’t move and all I had to do was paint it. It is designed
so we can add another battery in case we are delayed in getting
the alternator mounted.
The front spindles were taken apart, the steering rack mounting
bolts checked and all that was needed was some grease put
on the bushings and the rod ends were tight so we reinstalled
them with new bolts and stainless Ny-loc nuts. Alignment will
come when we get the wheels back on it. We have used about
1/16” toe-in on both cars with great results.
Mounting the inside master disconnect is
pretty straight forward. I found a local shop that could make
a 4' cable with a bulkhead end (for the dash) and a 10-24
threaded end for the switch end. The bracket is mounted to
the knee tray and it took about an hour to get it installed.
We will use the dash Andy carved out last summer. The only
changes will be the installation of a dash-mounted master
shut-off. You can see it on the right side of the dash. To
get both cables to operate the single master disconnect switch
we had to find a new arm for the switch that would work for
two cables. As you can see it is simply a piece of aluminum
held in place with two set screws and then we needed to rods
ends with 10-32 threads for the cables to fasten to. The Chassis
Shop had everything we needed for under $25.00 but you could
easily make something yourself if you had the time. The shut-off
in the cockpit is a great safety feature and I wish it was
required on every race car. It can also make life easier if
you crawl into the car and left the master switch off. Rather
than have to get out in a hurry you can simply turn it on
from the driver’s seat.
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