What goes into rebuilding an 11,000-hp Top Fuel dragster engine? | Redline Rebuilds Explained
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Fair warning: This is a long one. But there’s so much to talk about when you get to go hands-on with an 11,000-hp supercharged Hemi V-8 from Tony Schumacher’s U.S. Army Racing Top Fuel dragster! We suggest you grab a beverage and get comfortable while Hagerty’s Davin Reckow and Ben Woodworth sit down to discuss the finer points of this nitro-fueled monster, which was featured in our latest Redline Rebuild time-lapse video. We did our best to answer all those burning questions you had, but let us know in the comments if we missed anything.
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My wheelchair has a titanium frame, and it cost over $6,000, I really love watching video like this with Big Horse Power!!! I am so happy I found this video, I learned a lot here. Very cool
This has to be one of the coolest, most informative videos ever seen on UA-cam. I love it. Just amazing. Many thanks for sharing!
I love this so much! I've been waiting so long for someone to do a complete in depth walk through of these nitro cars! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Steve Morris just started making a line of billet cylinder heads. One of the few people that can make a 4000 horsepower engine, and then talk about it, like it's your average Honda Civic motor. No big deal 🤪💯💯💯
Thanks for the amazingly well presented and most detailed review. Greatly appreciate the education and entertainment!
Drag racers: "If only we could get more boost out of these blowers"
Teflon seal company: "Hold my beer"
Super super super.... i like the way you setup all this very complex item in a simple and nice understandable explanation.
Thank you so much for providing such an insiders look on what it takes to build one of these engines. I knew some of the tricks and info you provided already but for the most part I didn't know any of it and it was an incredible learning experience. One thing that I wish you would have talked about is the expansion of the rear tires and how it effects the gear ratios while going down the track. Other than that, this was an extremely well done video. Thank y'all for whom put this together 👍
1 cylinder makes around 1400 HP, that puts it in context for ya
Landon Roy ya for each cylinder they loose going down the track is like loosing a whole nascar engine
@@mikebonnett7730 try 2 Nascar engines, they are about 750HP
And sorry not trying to be rude at all I really do need help on this so thanks if you have any suggestions on this I just know that dad has always wanted one so I'm trying
tiny 1 what?
Uh, and just like my current TL and Toyota engines, they do it for 300K + miles, without being opened once, right? There are other aspects that need to be put in context, as well. And compared to a turbine of the same size and weight, it produces relatively little HP, actually, and they do it for about 18,000 times as long. Pound for pound, compared to a rocket engine, it produces basically nothing. Just sayin'. ;-)
At John Force Racing (and these are basically the same) the funny cars have an external oil tank where the dragsters keep it in the pan below (they have different oil volumes as well which is cool since it's the same engine) even though it still has an external pump. A lot of people say one is dry-sump one is wet-sump... but like he says here, you have an external gear pump so not exactly, lol -- so very cool that he got to experience this and properly go through everything :-)
Also rad it has as many views as it does, I wish I had more though! This is great stuff, love it!
Very good and in-depth video! My favorite automotive sport has always been F1, but at the same time I've always been more fascinated with top fuel drag racing. It's incredible to see the technology, money, ingenuity and blood, sweat and tears that go into this sport! It's crazy in every aspect!
I used to work at Woodward Governor in Love Park, IL running Mazak Vertical Machines and I would get a chunk of block aluminum and make Fuel Control systems for Rolls Royce, GE, Pratt & Whitney jet engines. It's amazing what CNC's can do.....I mean right down. To the .0001 of an inch with sharp cutting tools
The Fuel Controller's are basically carburetor's for jet engines for say even though they are not carburetor's if you know what I mean.
no, not one ten, that is silly. aluminum fucks around more than that at room temp (the part continuously expands and contracts)
@@stephenmwyatt2 there you go, you listen to Scotty Kilmer!! Now I know why you think you know all there is about machining aluminum! That guy is a wack job
if you are a machinist, or worse, please remember you are really stupid compared to most people @@av8tore71
@Av8tore71
I am more than familiar with Woodward asynchronous governors for marine application (generators, feed pump). It’s kind of a household name for a marine engineer.
@@stephenmwyatt2 That's a really funny comment, I'm laughing my fat, greasy ass off!! Ha ha!
Love that rag around the crank hack. Definitely gonna steal that one. I'm sure I will get a ton of responses from people who are smart enough to have already known that but I have never seen it. I grew up doing homework at dad's tool box in the Mitsubishi service dept. Followed in his footsteps and spent 17 years in the biz myself and I guess the fact we probably did seven 4 cylinders and two V6 motors to each V8 and very few big blocks so our cranks were much lighter.
As far as I know, nitromethane has 1/4 the energy as gasoline. But because it has a built in oxidizer for the combustion, one can burn 8 times as much as gas. Thus it can make about twice the power.
Timing can be radically advanced. Longer Burn Time. Our Baseline Timing was set at 65° of Advice. Yes Sixtyfive!
Wow, that was really informative, thx a million for taking your time and being descriptive!
The clean video without all the foul language is a breath of fresh air too---Thx again!
He says that nitro actually has more energy than race fuel. That's not correct at all. Nitromethane has LESS energy density than even regular old pump gasoline. The reason nitro is used is because it has a lower stoich allowing MORE fuel to be burned for the SAME amount of air pumped in. More fuel = more power output. Nitro simply burns better with less air because it has an oxygen component in the fuel itself. It absolutely doesn't have MORE energy density than gasoline however.
Great point! Nitromethane is definetly the #1 misunderstood fuels to anyone who never actually tuned or ran a Fuel engine. To this day it's still Voodoo to many people. Guy's don't realize it makes it's own atmosphere, and can NOT be lit with a match. It needs the compression, AF ratio, and ignition timing to light that flame!! Nothing on this planet like it!!
Joe Soliwoda IV
Voodoo?...its just chemistry
I'm not sure how knowledgeable these two are about nitro engines, but that opening description of the teardown procedure was cringeworthy. They had no clue how to describe the injector or the blower assembly, no clue about what the crewman was doing measuring the rod (he's checking for stretch) etc. If companies like Pennzoil sponsor these things, at least use experts.
I caught myself yelling at my phone when he said that, but I watched the whole thing because there isn't much videos out there getting in depth with top fuel, very cool but I would love to hear proper terminology.
Yeah something like 4 times less energy, but 8 times as much can be burned.
Man that much power is simply phenomenal!
What's even crazier is that the Proline 481x that you see on street outlaws and now the Hemi are $100 grand engine's that produce 3500 to 4500 horsepower.
Man I’d love to get my hands on one of those blocks to build myself
with no water jackets??? No Thanks - that's just a toy.
Go sift through insidetopalcohol or a Facebook group...used parts are pennies on the dollar of new. They'll last forever if you're only making 1,500-2,000HP
Get a repaired one. Teams only repair them x amount of times. Windowed blocks from Rods Kicking out
. Deck and Heads get Torched from Head Gaskets pushing out.
After several runs Blocks get " Out of Tolerance" and can't be CNC'd back into "Critical Tolerance" anymore.
When you are used to looking at standard cars, even REALLY fast ones, that first rear shot looks like CG, rather than reality. THAT is just NUTS!!!!
imagine doing this but on a F1 engine....full blurred video and "well this is a [beep] [beep] [beep] piston with a [beep][beep][beep] diameter and then the [beep][beep] rod with the [beep][beep]"....damn you cheating F1 Teams!
I'm surprised this was allowed
WTH?! So an F1 team has spent millions designing critical hundredths of a second advantages and you call that cheating? Guess you don't understand racing of any kind.
@@laneeric f1 teams bend rules aka cheat to gain advantages
relax friend, I was joking about it...but I'm pretty sure all team have a couple of dirty little secrets....
And? that's auto racing. If your team doesn't push the rules to the limit, another team will. Leaving you in last place.
At track !if u have all parts why dont u just change prep engine block in & give more time to re prep old engine ?? Just throw blower on & few other items on & go ??🤷🤠 very good show learned a lot thanks ! 👍👍🙋
Very interesting. Why I like Pro Stock and door slammer cars with turbos and Prochargers is it is more accessable to te average guy. I build a 67 El Camino dragster on a machinist salery. That is something the NHRA was all about in the beginning. Capturing the imignation of the working stiff. I am looking forward to mor of you videos!
Truly Amazing!! 11000 HP. . Can remember back in late 70`s early 80`s 2000+ Ish HP??? Top 5second runs were special . .
Love watching Dom Lagana (on ere) 4.48 secs at 338+ MPH!!! and QUARTER MILE!!! Mind Blowing stuff. .
Great in-depth conversation. Thanks!
One more fun thing since JFR built their own blower rotors, they would restrip them after each run oh, I think they still do but don't quote me on that I'm going back about 7 years. The ID and OD strips have different life spans 🤐😂😋
That was a great show, the only other things I wish you had shown is how they start the car on gasoline or alcohol (I believe is what they are doing) then switch it over to Nitro. It's so cool to hear the contrast when they flip the switch, it sounds like a regular engine until they switch it then it sounds like it gets really pissed off. The other is how they mount the engine in the frame with a few hose clamps, a friend that built the frames for those cars told me about that and how they don't really worry about clearances and tolerances in the engine too much, like you would a normal race or street engine, because it only has to run less than a minute or so. They basically throw it all together is what he said.
AWESOME video!! :) I’ve wanted to see a Top Fuel engine tear down and rebuild for the longest time! Thank you very much for this highly educational video!! :)
I would love one of those blower veins on my desk! This is a must watch video for petrol heads! Lots of great info on building a winning engine. Well done!,
Love this video, one thing I notice is that they wire tie all the plug wires together, I am surprised they have no worries about cross firing
No electrical leakage
Huge gauge wires
I've always wondered the same thing.
The design of the supercharger or "compressor" wasnt made for engines, it was originally designed to provide air into mine shafts, just 100 times bigger
That dosnt make sense that would be charged air which is hot
@@Paul2.4T Haha and im sure it would be, maybe they had heat exchangers under them, or maybe they were so far up a mine shaft that the air was cool when it reached the bottom. Or maybe they just didnt care back in the old days. Haha
@@Paul2.4T im not sure on specific details of dates they were used, but i know it was a long time ago.
@@Paul2.4T no, it wouldn't, because it doesn't compress air, it just moves air. The original use is debated, but it's for sure that it wasn't on internal combustion piston engines. All the debated "firsts" all happened before someone put a small blower on an engine.
Now they're talking about building up to 15000 horsepower Top Fuel engines
That was way cool. I was just out buying the wheels & tires for my next build. I’m doing a 2006 ‘clone’ Bullitt Mustang. I was getting the real American Racing Mags “Torque Thrust II”s.
I was at the Grand Nationals in Indy one year and watch them rebuild one of these in between passes. It was Don Garlits in 1986 I believe. Maybe 1985? Anyways, it’s just insane how good those mechanics are. Each one a specialist in one particular job. An hour later they were firing it up for the checks. I loved every minute
All the tubes at 33:50 are your down nozzles for fuel. They run nitro directly to the cylinder intake ports through a series of jets and poppets.
The exact humour I would expect from these guys. Gearheads are universal :-)
OK! This had more "Holy fucks" In the first fifteen seconds then most ten minute UA-cam videos.
That cross bolt main is in a ford 4.6l 2v V8, 2 in the cap and 2 through the side of the block. LS only has a 4 bolt main that is weaker than cross bolt. That is why an LS loves to explode after just a few passes at 1000hp on a stock bottom end, where a 4.6 will live at that level.
You didn't mention the burnout stop and is that lube the car chief has in a little bottle that he squirts in the blower at the same time he puts the stop on the throttle?
The blower is literally a pressure bomb. That's why they kevlar is on it..
Lengthy but well done. Really appreciate the breakdown explanation.
Will you guys ever do an explanation video on the hemi you rebuilt a while ago? What about a mazda rotary?
Great video guys!!
Great video! Detailed and very informative
great video davin, but technically speaking its an engine with an expected lifespan of only about 4-seconds, thats all they need to live...and many times they wont even do that....but whaddaya expect, 11,000 HP on a design that was originally 425?....kutgw.
There's also the fuel that, if explodes, has enough power to crack the engine block.
Just epic video, that detail...Thanks for sharing with us
Get a laser pointer, market it easier to see what you pointing at. Can't tell if finger or shadow.
Shadow. Dumdum
Great video. watched the entire video. can you do a top alcohol one now.
You could gain around 200kw if you add a vtec sticker on there
All hail the mighty King...KING HEMI
Love the HEMI!!
Better engine topographys are banned in top fuel, as are turbos.
Nor Dic Interesting, please explain.
@@231mac When making this much horsepower, safety is pretty damn important to keep violent explosions near living people low. The HEMI design is inherently the strongest combustion chamber design due to it being dome-like. The NHRA knows this and knows that this amount of power can safely be pushed. Drastic experimentation at these levels can get deadly quickly.
Dylan Headrick I would argue that there isn't a better engine topography. A pent roof (4 valve), semi-hemi, or wedge style design wouldn't allow as much fuel to be introduced before hydrolock, because of the loss of combustion chamber volume. Remember: Top Fuel Hemis are run to the brink of hydrolock already.
And a geometrical shape of an engine come out
This is a great video. Thanks for putting it together.
Bill - Thank you for watching!
I loved this video thx for doing this and awesome follow up on this and Davin you rock brotha seen you in all the Hagerty videos.
These day they are actually measuring extra down force and forward thrust from the zoomies
That's awesome! I'm always surprised the run that massive wing so far back and high. Wouldn't that make the car want to really bring up the front when they're close to top speed?
It would, but the front wing is enough to counter it.
Was there anything they were not willing to share due to the competition? Or is the secret sauce in the car setup / track management?
Notice at 36:30, they blur how they set up their blower case inlet.
Seriously guys ?? Idk.. so I have to ask ! The aluminum block isn't a cast aluminum block? It's from a solid block of aluminum that was only milled ?? That's a lot of whittling to do!
Lucky guy I wish I had that opportunity
He said the block is machined from 356 aluminum. This alloy is used for castings. They probably used 6061, its used for making billet blocks (amongst many many other things) . This could have been much more professional if attention to accurate details was given.
Guy Shtienberg oh lord shut up - the point came across loud and true. If he made a mistake here and there what, he’s only human? I’m sure you’ve never misquoted anything and everything you do is spot on, right?
No need to get all offensive. Its a detailed technical video, the details matter...
True, Billet blocks like this are 6061T-651 material. There were alot of incorrect information in this video.
Not trying to tear you up. But the tubes in the cylinder head are fuel lines not oil.
Funny how, most nitro cars burn a cylinder every run. they take the good ones leftover and build a set of matching ones, very close matching...hints the seperate taper ring compressors
Hone oe replace the Sleeve. Ductile Iron. Scuffing is a common thing on the loaded side of rhe piston.
Diamond Piston Company figures 6,000 PSI on a 14 Square Inch Piston Surface. Crazy Number?
Will you do another car build down at Hershey? Don Schumacher racing has turned a 24 hour day into 20 hour day!!! lol
Been awhile since Car Craft magazine ran an article on top fuel race engines ( Decades ago ) called 55 easy pieces. L:OLLOL
Well as a old school UTI GRADUATE. all lifters should be adjusted at the heel of the cam. 90° valve adjustment.
i don't know but perhaps a new school UTI GRADUATE would do different.
A proper UTI graduate would refer to what the OEM called for, and only defer from that if A TON of experience and theory said to do otherwise.
they don't even flinch in the beginning
which characteristics do i need to be able to drive the Top Fuel Car?
Good video. But what's strange is I've always wanted to know how the duel spark system works and it wasn't covered at all. Just how they work and stuff like that.
One is driven off the camshaft and is connected via cog belt to the other mag
MSD Super Mag 44. 44 Amps of spark per Mag. Control box and 7,800 RPM Rev Limiter with chip. Activated about 3.0 seconds into the run. About tge time clutch loxks up 1:1 with the Input Shaft and engine is climbing the Torque Curve at 660' down track. Max Power
It works like any older gas engine with a magneto. There's just two. They use the same crank triggers and msd powergrid, then the grid controls each one exactly the same. Does that answer your question?
I've got a sorta silly question, the HEMI design has been in top fuel for 50 year's, in all other forms of motor sports,different body's have banned different engine's. What has kept the NHRAfrom getting rid of the HEMI?
Price I bet. And keeping speeds down.
You know what goes into it “pissing off your machinist”
Interesting video. Thanks!
"Ring glands"? Pretty funny. Odd, but funny.
Wish I could give it 2 thumbs up!
A race team in a different video stated that each individual header pipe produces 800 POUNDS of down force and that the rear wing produces TEN THOUSAND POUNDS of down force at speed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very cool.
I'd be scared to be in one of those..
1:00:30 you missed talking about the peanut butter.
Lol oops, nevermind.
Man this was the best hour and a half i ever spend on youtube. Thanks für making this pornographic piece of art
Better then pornhub , youjizz etc!!!!!!!!!!
8:43 nothing special or anything to click on this is just me marking where I left off
70K for 11.000 hp. Thats $6.36/hp. Suddenly my lawn mower motor is way more expensive.😁
Your lawnmower is good for more that 5 or 10 runs, though.
@@devilsoffspring5519 You haven't seen my lawn mower😁
😆👍🏻
@@devilsoffspring5519 You haven't seen my lawn
A top fuel dragster costs an estimated $1,000 per second to operate, roughly $4,000 per mile. So yea, the mower is a MUCH better value
The beginning says it all. Just looking at the size and knowing what that engine is capable of absolutely send chills down my spine.
Those 3 walls in the block was definitely a great idea when that block was made. It definitely increased the strength in the valley area where the lifters are. Very impressive... I pushed a 302 to it's max and that's where it failed. Love this motor!!!! Well designed
Ford 302 right? They're kinda famous for that. hehe
Great video! Got earraped though using headphones, between the coughing and sudden jumpcuts to racing cars :S
Heh ... Not to nitpick, but at 38 minutes in, you're describing how the blower works in reverse. The air doesn't flow straight down and get compressed, but rather around the outside of the lobes. It's kind of counter intuitive. Like I said, a nitpick, but thought I'd throw it out there (I'm sure someone else has pointed this out as well). Lots of great info as this is way too cool!
this was very amiably presented, well said.
Well depends if its a roots or a twin screw
OrfiCaldaRi True, but clearly Roots-type are being discussed here.
His comment at 1:07:53 is a little strange too. What is so baffling about blower speed being geared to be a bit faster or slower? It's just a pump.
DR - Blower speed dictates how much air will be pumped into the engine, relative to engine RPM. Obviously, the more air pumped in allows more fuel to be added, equalling more power... sometimes. If the air is 'bad', meaning high temps and humidity, you can actually make MORE power by slowing down the blower speed.
I really appreciate these long in depth videos just as much as I love the time lapse, I'm glad you separate them into different videos
It's not "what goes into" 11000 horsepower Top Fuel motor but what ""comes out of"".
Half the crankshaft, #3-4 piston, etc..
Those engines are scary, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near them when they run...
Not sure how I missed this. Without a doubt the BEST ever seminar on how these beasts work. 1Hr 22min if time well spent.
Hats off to all who made this possible. I've always liked DSR teams but even more so now.
Thank you!
Not trying to be that guy, but wings on "imports" do serve a huge purpose in time attack and road racing situations. There are time attack cars putting down 1000's of pounds of downforce with countless hours spend engineering diffusers, wings, canards, etc. Regardless, great video. Kinda crazy how much is similar to your normal engine, and how much of the process is run of the mill for such an insane engine.
My bedcover and 5000 lbs give me plenty downfoce.
Okay Taylor you keep tellin ur self that and one day even you might believe it !!!! LMFAO
thats IF they can go fast enough for it to apply downforce...if not then its just weight and drag ;-p
that is just only for stupid cosmetic. that's it.
@@HighAway not on time attack cars...
0 to 300 plus mph in under 4 seconds, plus or minus depending on track conditions. Great vid.
I use to work in NASCAR and the owner put his friends drag motor on the dyno. It destroyed it. Had to rebuild the dyno. At 1500 hp it quit.
Now I want to see a "$$Dyno fails$$" compilation of nitro motors destroying engine dynos. 😆
finally, there's video that answers my question about the top fuel engine. i'm enlightened!
Happy to help! Thanks for being a fan.
@@Hagerty 9
Quit whining you sissy sissy la la's!!
Just support your people!!
It would be cool if you could cover the rest of the drive line as well... Great video!!!!!!
"waaow, cool" u can rly make carbon fiber stuff in house???!!!! still ceramic coffe cups.
The only thing that could have been better is these guy drinking a beer while explaining it
Another cool thing from when I worked on these is you don't need a number one main bearing at least not at the other big-name team, due to the blower belt tension and the back of this not in the middle of the engine. Lot of very smart people that's for damn sure! Also the amount of distortion the crankshaft has during a run, they were talking about possibly putting the crank trigger on the rear at one point, I wish I remember how many degrees it would twist the crank but it was a pretty ridiculous number that you wouldn't think would be possible
Very cool video! I love going to the NHRA Top Fuel Drags at the Pacific Dragstrip in Kent. A guaranteed good time!
actually the mid plate is what holds the motor in the car and carries the bulk of the forces. It's bolted in. the front mounts saddle the frame rails with "hose clamps" but are mainly to hold the weight of the motor up in the front
I learned 100 new things thanks to this vid. I've fiddled with engines long enough that the tip of turning the block 90 degrees on the stand in order torque down the bolts hit me as the most epic "doh" moment ever! From this day forth, it shall be law in my garage to always rotate the block for torquing.
WOW what a Great Vid , That was very interesting to see the Behind the scenes of of 11,.000 HP engine WOW !! Thank s
I work with F-15s, 220, 229, 110, and 135 engines. This engine beats them all. I am in love.
How many pounds of thrust do those motors make?
One of the best UA-cam videos I have watched so far.
Absolutely agree.