@That Dude There thank you and Tony for the tips as my new 2-G hemi build ( first time trying out "big boy parts/mods" and fuel most of my experience is lightly modified or R&R ) is a 7in rod and 4.5 stroker ish by 4.25 in ish = 14:1 CR ish = 526CI~ running turbo boosted with modern GM LSX EFI ( maybe even up to 20psi ish aka double the MAD depending on how greedily i get ) so i have one more question about running nitromethane (NM for short) mixes as i fully plan on setting up the fuel ⛽️ pump sizing for running E85 to M100 ( its still technically a 85 to 91~ RON USA 🇺🇸 street engine but obviously i plan on drag/road/auto-X racing it once in a while and this won't be possible at all without modern control strategy's ) so my understanding is on NM mix of up to 50% ish i don't need a bigger fuel system is that true? like it is for E100 from gasoline ( win im running 91 ish street gas pump the plan is to bypass most of the extra fuel supply / and kill MAD and or retard the camshaft / ignition timing ect. ) and with the videos advice does this mean i need to be really careful of detonation ( like paranoid 😂 ) and or Adams fuel NM tuning strategy doesn't work for my engine? when im feeling extra spicy ( 🌶 🍖 ⚽️ ) for buring my hard earned cash 💵 ( because i don't know how willing you guys are to burn 30$~ a gallon so most of the time im trying to keep my bar tab under 2 to 4$~ a usa gallon ) by the way thank you tony from saving me from your friends expensive mistakes because knowing me i might have done something similar to your story and i can't piss money 💰 that fast ( cough i mean i don't take home that much money 💰 pre-year ) because if i was your friend that day after the first engine ( id be upset 😡 that it Granded and my face would be white as snow. ps. just not at you ) rebuild and repeat i said pack up were done and don't ask me for extra IOU beer money for the next year or 2 im flat broke
o i should add its cylinder engine air density and the right lamda + lightly off the fuel that ultimately helps make power and positive inside cylinders pressure vs ambient environment and mechanically channeling the 50+psi into shaft RPM
This video made me realize why I like to channel so much. I'm 41 years old, I've worked at a dealership for 20 years, and I've worked at multiple shops at night which I still do building cars and Hot Rods. I got a couple of random videos from the shop cars but not much. That's besides the point. Anyways, like any normal little Gearhead kid I spent the 80s reading Hot Rod Magazine. Once the 90s came around I was old enough to ride my bike to a couple local garages and even guys houses where they were building cars. My parents weren't around that much, so I needed some type of adult male guidance. I would hang out with these older guys and watch them work, watch them build their hot rods and take apart a perfectly good working order vehicles and motors. I would sit there and watch them rebuild these very vehicles and at first I was afraid to ask questions, I don't want to get in their way. Once I started asking questions these men would virtually stop what they're doing and explain every single part on these cars. It would explain what did what, what happened when they did X-y and why they were doing Z. As I got a little older I realized I was not getting in their way, but there were ecstatic to pass their knowledge down to the younger generation. It is because these men I do what I do and I love what I do. As I watch your videos, most notably this one, I can see the excitement in your eyes, hear it in your voice as you pass this knowledge down to the younger Generations, even the middle Generations like myself. Watching this channel truly brings me back to some good times in my youth. Some of the people that if it was not for them I probably would have been dead by now. Just know that for every 10 people that just watch a video and then go on to the next, there may be one kid that comes into our world and possibly avoiding doing some stupid shitt in the future. Thank you for all that you do, cars saved my life, I'm sure I am not an exceptional case, I'm sure there is more to come after us. Sorry to get so deep, but this video made me do a lot of reflecting
Ya,,,cars "did the same for me",@ that 'time'{¡ (*Demos actually ! ...now I "fix 'em",& cringe at the thought of how much they would probably be worth now! "Thank you for sharing"!
I guess that explains why drag engines like to shoot flames out the exhaust, if they're opening the exhaust early and simultaneously washing the cylinders with fuel. Great story, mate. :-)
I have never listened to anyone explain the technical workings of nitro in a cylinder before. Everyone always talks about a tune but that's as far as it gets. Great stuff, for us with busy minds. Thanks UT
The big companies probably destroyed one cylinder at a time in a test environment to let them know exactly what to tune their fuel to. You had to destroy 8 at once.....multiple times apparently. With no test equipment.
Colburn, as the piston slows in the bottom half of the stroke (because the crank journal is moving back toward the centerline of the direction of piston travel) pressure from nitro fuel becomes incredibly high. As pressure increases, temperature increases. If the temperature becomes high enough, unburnt fuel begins lighting near the bottom of the piston stroke. Running richer (more fuel) helps cool the piston. A cooler piston gives the “heat of compression” a heat sink. The cooler an engine runs, the less likely unwanted detonation problems become. Hope this helps.
I been telling you folks - dude has legit credentials. Very few walking the planet has the knowledge Tony has. That he's chosen to share some of it with the rest of us is truly awesome.
Your nitro stories are some of the best stuff on u-tube, Ive said it before you could do a whole series on this stuff and guaranteed there would be hundreds of thousands of people that would love to hear it and create a huge following, I hope you do a lot more of these videos. Thanks
AA Fuel/Altereds! man I always loved reading about them as a kid, of course by the time I was old enough to drive they were mostly gone. Hey you remember the bad accident Bob Glidden had totally tore up his car he was standing outside shaking his head when he saw the camera crews coming he stripped off his jacket and through it over his intake so they couldn't get pictures of it? Rock crawling has gone the same way it used to be something you could do from your garage then the big money sponsors go involved and now the rigs cost 100s of thousands to engineer and build. I
Who knew detonation was an issue on close to Bottom dead center? No more "premium" than Nitromethane to cool off that flame front eh. Very interesting, great stuff man
I learn something new every time I listen to this video, man. Stuff about nitro to ask uncle Tony: •Static Compression Ratio - what's the goldilocks zone, is there even one? What's too high? N/A vs Boosted •Mechanical fuel injection - is it gonna blow up in the pump? •Cam - what kinda valve timings does one need in order to not found their own space-flight program at the starting line? •How much [fuel] does this thing want? •Uncle Tony's "universal tuneup". I'll be back when I think of more questions :)
i was at the FIRST NHRA nationals Greatbend KS 1955. then in 65-68 my dad and i went to the worlds points finals Tulsa. what i liked about those cars was they used stock block, heads. there was NO race only blocks ect.
That's exactly why NASCAR is going out. Each race car is exactly the same since around 1988 . That's when I quit watching. Might as well give then drivers go carts. It would still be a race( fair ) that's the way of things to day. Don't win championships on races won't but on points. Ridiculous! Big , big , money took the joy of watching them auto manufactures and drivers duke it out on Sunday afternoon back in the 60s and 70s. Who can come up with a new trick and keep it a secret? And for how long, or slip something past a inspector? Ha,ha! Good old days. How about Richard Petty! Chrysler! Oh, Ya!
Wow, way cool. The guys in the fuel pits at national events at e-town were my heroes. Always wanted to do what you did, but never had the connections. Simply great to hear someone that lived it. Mad respect for your videos and your experiences! Ride On Tony!
Hell, I didn't have any connections either! I dove in as a helper, and learned everything as fast as I could! It was an unfathomable amount of work and some pretty unreal dues paying
@@UncleTonysGarageI figured you did it the hard way-working hard to achieve your goals. I applaud your success! I was a gopher for a bunch of guys running stock and super stock. Could never make the leap to a fuel team, even though I wanted to. The Wednesday fuel shows at Atco, Island and the raceway were something special. I love that period of my life. It was a real brotherhood, too Big Money ruins everything, like most things, as you alluded to.
I followed your tips on carburetors and vacuum secondaries and holy hell.. my 71 ford pickup has some serious get up and go now.. makes me wanna race a camaro..
It still is, from a spectator standpoint. From a racers standpoint, the great days are gone. It used to be that all of racing was a one or two man operation. One guy built a car, with some help from his friends. He raced that car with an handful of spares and his own engineering. In 1976 my Auto Shop Class built a 10.90 class bracket car and raced it at the winter nationals. Everything in the car and the car itself was borrowed from other racers. The only engine we could get for that 66 Chevy II was a 283, punched out to 292 cubes. It had a roller cam and a 1050 dominator and we went all the way to the finals, loosing on a breakout 10.89 to a 10.92. We had run right on the 10.90 index all weekend. During that race we were able to watch all the other classes run, and I went into the pits on Friday to watch Don Garlits at work. He was making tune up passes getting ready for qualifying the next day. All the stood between us and the car was a velvet rope, which I could reach over to touch the car. He and a guy a little older than us were the only ones working on the car. At one point Garlits assistant dropped a wrenched, so I picked it up and went to hand it to him. But when I stood up and went to hand it to him Don Garlits was standing right in front of me, taking the wrench with a “Thank you son!” You can’t get that close today. Every car has a crew thrashing around it between rounds. Every car hides its setup. If your lucky you can get fairly close, but you’ll never have a chance to be as close as I was. I’ve gotten to the track super early and talked to a few drivers, but that an extreme acception to the rule. And the chance for the little guy to run with the Pro’s? That died with Dick Lahaei. He was the last independent to run in the nitro class and he won his last season. That all gone today.
I’ve been building engines for years as a hobby and a few jobs here in there but mostly for personal vehicles. Although I wont be burning any Nitromethane in them anytime soon lol I wanna Thank you for sharing your knowledge I’ve never heard of or even considered detonation occurring at BDC just before exhaust valve opening wow learn something new everyday !!
I've rebuilt one motor in my life. Just so happens it was a Slant Six, 225 cubic inches. Can't wait till your "two guys that are about as average as you're going to get", start wrenchin on that 170 Slant Six so I can relive the glory days and find out what mistakes I may have made. That was 1983 and the motor was out of a '75 Dodge Step-Side, formerly a Cal-Trans vehicle. It's possible it's still running today. And thanks for your answer to my question on the other vid. I appreciate your speed and cogency.
Cincy Spin The first engine I ever rebuilt was also a 225 slant six.I rebuilt it,put it in a 66Dodge truck,and it's still going strong today.That was 26years ago,It's probably in need of another rebuild,as The cylinders have to be about worn out.It still runs great,though.
I could listen to you drop knowledge for hours. My dad was a TRW sales rep back in the 80's and 90's. We went to the Gatornationals every year. The smell of nitro burning brings back great memories.
New subscriber. I started hot rodding in 1980 snd it took me forever to find out about rod to stroke ratios and how they effect piston dwell time and tod angles. You just sat my world on its ear about this on a nitro motor! Superb insights and lessons learned. I love it. More please, more!
Cool to run across someone else who worked with Jerry and his wife on the Blue Thunder. Looking back Jerry did a great job of trying to survive what was happening to the sport when the money ruined the sport for guys like Jerry who Had to live with a modest budget. Thanks to him I got a great second intro to fuel racing after spending over 8 non stop years on the WOO tour. 65+ races a season, i was looking to slow down a bit. Thanks for bringing back the memories, and great explanation to the crazy word of adapting to the changes as they came about in the nitro world. Thanks again for your time in making these videos.
Tony DeFeo! I STILL have that article (both parts) you wrote for SS & Drag Illustrated! I put it in Word format a LONG time ago. I get it out to read it every few month. "Part Two" was called "A Few Moments In Hell." GREAT stuff!!! Thank You! And SUBBED!
got to tell ya, I always enjoyed reading all of your stuff in all the magazines back in the day especially the mopar ones. But watching you and listening on this channel is really better because you can see the passion you have for it. If you were at NED from around 80-89 or at Commerce ATL dragway from 94-98 I most likely have watched / raced at some of the same events
Geez Tony, I'm an engine person and I'm well above average on tuning. I know _NOTHING_ about Nitro. _YOU_ do, and I believe you're a genius mechanic. This explanation of Nitro tuning was clear as a bell man. Thank you 😊! PS, what 'Rich discoveries' said from me too Tony, he said it better than me!
Roll up the window Uncle Tony. Fixing to pull my slant. The oil pick up came loose and bangs on my oil pan when the motor is cold and idles a bit rough. Not happy. Tell the new guys with the 170 good luck.
I’m gonna lose my job because of you Tony!!! I can’t stop learning from you, so I don’t want to leave the bloody house!!! If I ever get to go to the moon, you’re coming with me!!! New or old, I’ve never been with you in a lesson where I didn’t learn more than I did in any given years in school!!! Hey kids, school is so important but you don’t have a chance to have a wonderful instructor like uncle Tony!!!
Reminds me of when I was a kid listening to the old timers around my grandpa's wrecking yard shop.My cousin who was 45 years older built a 49 Lincoln hot rod that was the first real hot rod around the southern Oregon coast.That car would do 120 when the cops only did 90 in their Chevy's.Love the videos.
Hey Tony. Remember when you were talking about putting the pistons in backwards so the engine thinks it has a longer stroke. Well that's at the beginning of the stroke. Maybe you can reduce the detonation of the Piston at the bottom of the stroke by making the engine think it has a shorter stroke. Maybe the mechanical advantage you gain at the top of a stroke creates a loss at the bottom of the stroke? If the engine had a little more stroke at the bottom. The piston would think it has a little more travel in the barrel, Less resistance at the bottom of the stroke would that reduce the detonation?
@@UncleTonysGarage My point was that maybe the angularity you get at one end of the stroke you lose at the other end of the stroke. But if you say it doesn't make a difference. I was just thinking about it. Wouldn't you get the greater resistance at the other end, where it might be more detrimental?
Uncle tony reminds me of the people who helped me get into hot rods in the first place. This was when I was in high school. I have tried to stay into the hobby ever since. (Graduated in the mid/late 80s) over the last few years however it seems that things have changed and some of the fun has gone away. I started to drift away from the essence of what its all about. After watching this guy over the last few days,I’m wanting to get my old car out again and try to have some fun.. I want to say thanks for actually being real. It’s so refreshing. Great in depth information also. This is my new favorite channel! I live in the Nashville area also and would love to see the bottle rocket make some passes at our local drag strip, union hill .. 👍
Just an absolute wealth of knowledge uncle Tony.. One of the few old school guys left.. My dad raised me in that era of drag racing and hot rods.. I too miss them fun days.. Sad its a bygone era.. Thanks uncle tony..
Thanks Tony! Guys like you helped guys like Bernstein become famous. I haven't watched drag racing since Warren Johnson left pro stock..but now I'm watching you buddy!
Tony, most folks here aren't aware of the shear volume of fuel used in nitro engines vs gas. Once you understand that, the second compression pulse due to unburnt fuel inertia rushing up to a stopped ( BDC ) piston is easier to visualize.
I so much love the fact that you can explain the ins and outs of how engines work. It is guys like yourself that helped get me into cars when I was a kid, and honestly my love of cars fuels my passion for physics as well!
I could listen to your knowledge all day long Tony. Back in the late 80's - early 90's we used to have a lot of fun running Porsche Cup - then one day 'Mr. Millionaires' arrived with professionally built cars - major sponsorship deals. From then on - the cars built from 'backyard' sheds disappeared, as did the fun. I have nothing against 'Mr. Millionaire' or even 'Mr. Bliionaire' arriving at the race track - but it seems to have been the same event character changing scenario you mentioned with FUEL racing. It went from a 'hobby' to a business = the fun disappeared. I would never even go back to trying to compete again - it is a different character - but as you said - at least I had the experience and we had FUN spitting HUGE turbo flames out - HA. CHEERS all from AUSTRALIA.
Automotive theory is the best! It's good to know what is happening in extreme situations even if it doesn't seem applicable ,at the time, to your area of interest. I now have a better understanding of how energy is dispersed at BDC. Shit happens so fast it's hard to imagine how things act at that speed. I suspect the rings would be contracting and expanding. like a rung bell, after BDC.
The black art gets even more strange at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Freddie Dannenfelzer, John Beck, Les Leggitt, Al Teague, George Fields, and many others have perfected the art of making a fuel motor last 5 miles under power. George's 4 cylinder (running half a fuel Hemi...more black art) ....they estimate made around 3000hp....Yes that's 700+hp per cylinder and an incredibly tractable amount of torque which made the car run just as fast as the full V-8 configuration and stay together for backup record runs.
The stories and valuable information I've heard from this man is just unreal. Things that people don't ever want to talk about this man is like hell nah I'm spreading the knowledge
ya dale armstrong him coil just the best with the fuelers in the late 70 early 80s .ive got a picture i took at the gators of time board wen big daddy went 272 i think shirley was driving the pioneer car anyway back to 2019 great vid keepem comin
It was REALLY fun in the 70's! I'll tell you what though. I have no idea how we ever raced without a Racepak. Even with the old paper tapes it made all the difference in the world. It took so much of the guess work out of tuning. The other thing that help a lot were the added clocks. 60 ft. 330, etc... Don't know how you could get anything to leave without 60 foot clocks and a data recorder. But we did...Love your channel. Loved the good ol' daze. The other thing that's gone is the camaraderie. Seems like everybody helped everybody, even the guy you had to run next round.
We love our Motorsports, I have told both of my sons they need to experience a top fuel event at least 1 time in their lives. I had my youngest son in the pits during qualifying for the Keystone Nationals @ Maple Grove, he loved it. Oldest son has yet to experience it. We live near the old US 30 Dragway in York( I’m sure YOU know the place Uncle Tony!!)
tony.....your video titles rule....and loved the "rocket man" opening sound effects in the background, dead on it...overlapped by a kittys meow and a few growls...priceless!...couldnt top that in a million-dollar sound-studio...tony, i was a huge john force/austin coil fan during those days, followed him fervently...the bernstein/armstrong combo seemed unbeatable or at least the budweiser-quaker state-buick fundage was...still remember the anguish. when kenny moved to T/F...force then moved up and owned the funny-world. i didnt want it to go that way...wanted john to beat him outright fair and square and on the up and up...i liked kenny just fine, i didnt like buds fundage attitudes in those days...even tho i understood it well...loved the coined terminology..."viscious bitch of a fuel"...when i was a kid, i always wondered/pondered how much more nitro can they "cram in"...not too long ago, i watched the transparent-cylinder head guy burn alcohol, made me even more unsure..unburned unatomized alky sloshin around...go figure..looks like its close to hydra-lock...no wonder they look so clean at freshen-up time....seems very clear, the planetary gearsets in your nugget never sleep tone, you yelling for uncle cathy from the shower proves that....i always heard, before you step up to the witches-brew, you must forget everything you,ve ever learned about other fuels... first...yow!!!...really enjoyed this open-discussion version....of all your gifts uncle, and they are many, imo, your biggest-best gift is that johnny-big-rig-ranking... that will still sit down and have a candid conversation with his fans, casually, across a garden table in the summertime....drops my head and humbles me right out for real...nitromethane?...i say you have to have a pair of brass kahunas to go near the stuff, if you carry a steering wheel in your hand..how they sat with nitro in their lap, back in tne sling-shot days, ill never know....... even tho Ill never understand the V. B. F completely....lol......i still love it.....kutgw T!!!
I've seen every one of your videos... I think this is the best one. I've been turning wrenches for a living since I was in high school and I learned a lot from this video. I didn't know detonation at the bottom of the stroke was even a thing until you mentioned it in one of your earlier videos.
Great video... i have no experience with Nitro... i had no idea that the combustion lasts so long into the stroke that there would be a detonation effect at bottom dead center with a larger crank. BOOM goes the motor. Crazy!
Understood. I used to round track race. late 70's early 80's. Trying to get to the Superspeedways. Right when BIG money discovered NASCAR. Computers were just starting. got out. Don't even go now. Just does not interest me anymore. Never thought about the valve timing effecting detonation on the exhaust side. Makes sense. This stuff is WAY over most of these folks heads but enjoyed it and made me think. thanks.
big money sponsoring requires top results or bye bye $$$. gone are the fun days of mass participation, budget racers that can compete and have fun. even our small track has many high buck motor homes and lavish car trailers. but also mid and low budget cars far exceed them. hope the fun stays there as nhra seeks ever more $$$. love your vast knowledge about the car world!!
Hello Uncle Tony. I just want to say that you are a very kick ass person. I really love hearing your stories. I'm only forty-two years old I grew up in Pennsylvania. Which is about the worst state anymore for hot rods and any kind of a modified older cars. At least the ones In the 80s when I grew up... Besides California. Lol I personally have a 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix with a built 350 700R4 built and a 18-2300 b&m stall converter with headers and duels. It was my best friend Chris's baby... He passed away 5 yrs ago from a lifetime of diabetes. He had heart failure and did not make it through the surgery. His car sat for 5 years and now I own that sweet black beauty. But back to the point. I love hearing your stories it reminds me of the things my dad said many years ago about drag racing. Thats whenever it was real drag racing Way back in the day. That was when it was man-for-man car for car... That aint no bulshit. Pardon my French. But I'm saying yeah whenever you got people pulling in and brand new trailers with brand new cars with brand-new motors upon motors and trannys upon trannies and rear ends upon rear ends. Really how does a little guy compete anymore??? You got to work three jobs plus take care of a family and have a couple partners just to enjoy the weekend of racing. It's just not what it used to be. It's starting to get back there but nowadays you got own a $60,000 race car just to get down and not get embarrassed it seems. But anyhow back to the basics keep rocking them carburetors and letting them headers flow. From our house to yours in Pennsylvania we love you Uncle Tony and Uncle Kathy. PS I just had 7 puppies last Saturday. They are a week and 6 days. Everything went great and they are little sweethearts. Pnl
Holy Crap Professor Tony, good lord, you have been there and then some, we are humbled by your steel trap mechanical knowledge , and coolness. Folks , share , sub, spread the word...
U just explained to me alot of info that blew my mine. I hear story's of what people used to race and what they had done to there cars to make them fast or faster. I have an associates degree and ur old school terminology is the same as today's 1/2 inch 5/8 3/4 for stroke to increase the displacement along with bore size is the same for camshaft selection and here I am trying to figure out what a 3/4 race cam was lol now I know
Thart was a very cool, very informative video - one very minor correction, at 8:40 the long rod spends less time at BDC than a short rod. With the shorter rods, as you said, there can be weird geometry affects when the ratio drops far enough
The detonation story was really good. Seriously I know TH-cam is great and all but you should write a book. The knowledge and experiences would make a great "Auto"biography (pun intended). :) You got at least one fan that will buy the book.
What an awesome insider story, great explanation, Tony! I found your youtube channel by accident a couple weeks ago, the mopar stuff, figured you were just a sorta bright backyard hot rodder. But thankfully there's many more layers to the onion. Having crewed myself on a Top Alcohol Dragster, Injected Nitro Dragster on a small not very well funded team, back in the late 1990's and early 2000's, As my late buddy George Santos used to say, "Nitro is weird and dangerous stuff". I also learned something, didn't know about the short rod nitro 2nd pulse... the stuff we were running was kinda cookie cutter. You could say 'I get it'.
any tuning tips as my new 2-G hemi build ( first time trying out "big boy parts/mods" and fuel most of my experience is lightly modified or R&R ) is a 7in rod and 4.5 stroker ish by 4.25 in ish = 14:1 CR ish = 526CI~ running turbo boosted with modern GM LSX EFI ( maybe even up to 20psi ish aka double the MAD depending on how greedily i get ) so i have one more question about running nitromethane (NM for short) mixes as i fully plan on setting up the fuel ⛽️ pump sizing for running E85 to M100 ( its still technically a 85 to 91~ RON USA 🇺🇸 street engine but obviously i plan on drag/road/auto-X racing it once in a while and this won't be possible at all without modern control strategy's ) so my understanding is on NM mix of up to 50% ish i don't need a bigger fuel system is that true? like it is for E100 from gasoline ( win im running 91 ish street gas pump the plan is to bypass most of the extra fuel supply / and kill MAD and or retard the camshaft / ignition timing ect. ) and with the videos advice does this mean i need to be really careful of detonation ( like paranoid 😂 ) and or Adams fuel NM tuning strategy doesn't work for my engine? when im feeling extra spicy ( 🌶 🍖 ⚽️ ) for buring my hard earned cash 💵 ( because i don't know how willing you guys are to burn 30$~ a gallon so most of the time im trying to keep my bar tab under 2 to 4$~ a usa gallon ) i guess i was mistaken that my stroker crankshaft is from the 1970s Top-fuel engines and instead its the late-80s or 90s? ( same ish age as me surprise to me ) guess it's not a period correct for a 1970 harry bulid thanks UTG for the history lesson and i have heard of BDC detonation but i haven't heard that stroke and or rod combination can make a difference
Wish Tony was around Albany NY in late 70's. His knowledge and experience along with my brother's would have been a marriage made in heaven. My brother was building clutchflight 727's for his buds
Great great video, love the nitty gritty tech stuff, the whys and why Fors. When I gotta rewind and listen again to really get what is going on and why. Always pushing the knowledge level. Not knowing how to put together a engine but how to build one and why. Keep it up Tony, still waiting on that PM so we can have a personal chat someday!
I have a nice Monte SS from 03, lacks some pickup but it handles really nice. I'm slowly getting into doing some basic work on it and this channel kind of inspired me. Although plugging in my OBD to see what's good is probably way different from screwing with carbs and adjusting stuff
Great video Tony. I remember the fun days with nitro cars and all the grudge races with those cars. I remember when it was fun before the John Forces of the world showed up.
It’s pretty hard now a days to race anything at the track very costly I remember Kenny Bernstein wen the dragster crashed and the motor and every thing was all over the place bad crash I think anything under 10s high 10sis very expensive maybe the cheapest is a LT motor with a turbo is prob the cheapest way to go fast
Looking at that Paint Can in your hands just Blows my Mind ....i work in Small engine Repair.... Nothing like an Old Big Block with Pistons like Coffee cans...No Replacement for Displacement 😂😎 Good Info
Uncle Tony I saw a video of Dale Armstrong driving Kenny Bernsteins car at Orange County .....he almost took out the guardrail after that he understood Kenny Bernstein was talking about evidently he put a light on the back of the car to see when he was shifting it........
@@UncleTonysGarage ....... go on TH-cam ....... look up dale -armstrong Orange County Raceway..... it might be in the Kenny Bernstein because Dale was filling in....... I think in 82.......... he was filling in for Kenny Bernstein and when he hit the gas he almost went right into that guardrail........
@@UncleTonysGarage .......... yeah it's under Dale Armstrong AA/FC....ocir 4/9/83............ there is two videos one of the two videos he hits the gas and the thing almost takes out the guardrail..........in the budweiser king..........
Great video. Yes today the cost to run top fuel is about 4 million dollars to run all the races with the top equipment. The good old days of just average people running these cars are over.
Uncle Tony!!!! What you growin' back there in the background^___^ …………. Fuel pump and a starter to go!!! I thought it would have takin' longer But, previous owners took very good care! And, being 25yrs drinkin' I thought I'd be out of practice!!! 8YRS SOBER!!! THANKS A BIG ONE AGAIN FOR THE INSPIRATION!!! I meant to say meow too!^__^
When he temporarily messes up a spec before correcting himself.
The moment I realize he has literally forgotten more than I know about these beasts.
Gasoline is for cleaning parts..Alcohol is for drinking... Nitromethane is for engines.
@That Dude There thank you and Tony for the tips as my new 2-G hemi build ( first time trying out "big boy parts/mods" and fuel most of my experience is lightly modified or R&R ) is a 7in rod and 4.5 stroker ish by 4.25 in ish = 14:1 CR ish = 526CI~ running turbo boosted with modern GM LSX EFI ( maybe even up to 20psi ish aka double the MAD depending on how greedily i get ) so i have one more question about running nitromethane (NM for short) mixes as i fully plan on setting up the fuel ⛽️ pump sizing for running E85 to M100 ( its still technically a 85 to 91~ RON USA 🇺🇸 street engine but obviously i plan on drag/road/auto-X racing it once in a while and this won't be possible at all without modern control strategy's ) so my understanding is on NM mix of up to 50% ish i don't need a bigger fuel system is that true? like it is for E100 from gasoline ( win im running 91 ish street gas pump the plan is to bypass most of the extra fuel supply / and kill MAD and or retard the camshaft / ignition timing ect. ) and with the videos advice does this mean i need to be really careful of detonation ( like paranoid 😂 ) and or Adams fuel NM tuning strategy doesn't work for my engine? when im feeling extra spicy ( 🌶 🍖 ⚽️ ) for buring my hard earned cash 💵 ( because i don't know how willing you guys are to burn 30$~ a gallon so most of the time im trying to keep my bar tab under 2 to 4$~ a usa gallon )
by the way thank you tony from saving me from your friends expensive mistakes because knowing me i might have done something similar to your story and i can't piss money 💰 that fast ( cough i mean i don't take home that much money 💰 pre-year ) because if i was your friend that day after the first engine ( id be upset 😡 that it Granded and my face would be white as snow. ps. just not at you ) rebuild and repeat i said pack up were done and don't ask me for extra IOU beer money for the next year or 2 im flat broke
@@richardprice5978 Thank god, someone else understands its not boost.. its Manifold Air Density that makes power.
o i should add its cylinder engine air density and the right lamda + lightly off the fuel that ultimately helps make power and positive inside cylinders pressure vs ambient environment and mechanically channeling the 50+psi into shaft RPM
And diesel is for power 😂
@@zuestoots5176 ask banks about manifold air density
This video made me realize why I like to channel so much.
I'm 41 years old, I've worked at a dealership for 20 years, and I've worked at multiple shops at night which I still do building cars and Hot Rods. I got a couple of random videos from the shop cars but not much. That's besides the point. Anyways, like any normal little Gearhead kid I spent the 80s reading Hot Rod Magazine. Once the 90s came around I was old enough to ride my bike to a couple local garages and even guys houses where they were building cars. My parents weren't around that much, so I needed some type of adult male guidance. I would hang out with these older guys and watch them work, watch them build their hot rods and take apart a perfectly good working order vehicles and motors. I would sit there and watch them rebuild these very vehicles and at first I was afraid to ask questions, I don't want to get in their way. Once I started asking questions these men would virtually stop what they're doing and explain every single part on these cars. It would explain what did what, what happened when they did X-y and why they were doing Z.
As I got a little older I realized I was not getting in their way, but there were ecstatic to pass their knowledge down to the younger generation. It is because these men I do what I do and I love what I do.
As I watch your videos, most notably this one, I can see the excitement in your eyes, hear it in your voice as you pass this knowledge down to the younger Generations, even the middle Generations like myself.
Watching this channel truly brings me back to some good times in my youth. Some of the people that if it was not for them I probably would have been dead by now.
Just know that for every 10 people that just watch a video and then go on to the next, there may be one kid that comes into our world and possibly avoiding doing some stupid shitt in the future.
Thank you for all that you do, cars saved my life, I'm sure I am not an exceptional case, I'm sure there is more to come after us.
Sorry to get so deep, but this video made me do a lot of reflecting
That was a great comment man...very much appreciate your message
Tony summed it up very well
Ya,,,cars "did the same for me",@ that 'time'{¡
(*Demos actually !
...now I "fix 'em",& cringe at the thought of how much they would probably be worth now!
"Thank you for sharing"!
I could listen to Uncle Tony talk old school racing for hours.
Hell yeah
BBQ sauce is where my $$$ is
I guess that explains why drag engines like to shoot flames out the exhaust, if they're opening the exhaust early and simultaneously washing the cylinders with fuel. Great story, mate. :-)
Yes on the question of fuels
Good question for Uncle Tony...
What are those 8 white flames ?
I have never listened to anyone explain the technical workings of nitro in a cylinder before. Everyone always talks about a tune but that's as far as it gets. Great stuff, for us with busy minds. Thanks UT
The fun ended when you couldn't run what ya brung anymore. Too many rules for big bucks.
The big companies probably destroyed one cylinder at a time in a test environment to let them know exactly what to tune their fuel to.
You had to destroy 8 at once.....multiple times apparently.
With no test equipment.
Tony you are the definition of a motor head .
Bottom cycle detonation. Would have saved me a couple Grand if I had heard that a few years ago.....
Jonathan Trauner I agree. Uncle Tony is aces
@@johngetman1816
M mmhm that's it !
What is “bottom cycle detonation” never heard of it
@@fergie5470
Mmmm , watch the video ?
Colburn, as the piston slows in the bottom half of the stroke (because the crank journal is moving back toward the centerline of the direction of piston travel) pressure from nitro fuel becomes incredibly high. As pressure increases, temperature increases. If the temperature becomes high enough, unburnt fuel begins lighting near the bottom of the piston stroke. Running richer (more fuel) helps cool the piston. A cooler piston gives the “heat of compression” a heat sink. The cooler an engine runs, the less likely unwanted detonation problems become. Hope this helps.
I been telling you folks - dude has legit credentials. Very few walking the planet has the knowledge Tony has.
That he's chosen to share some of it with the rest of us is truly awesome.
I love these old school story times from the veterans. Not just mechanics, but from all walks of life.
Your nitro stories are some of the best stuff on u-tube, Ive said it before you could do a whole series on this stuff and guaranteed there would be hundreds of thousands of people that would love to hear it and create a huge following, I hope you do a lot more of these videos. Thanks
AA Fuel/Altereds! man I always loved reading about them as a kid, of course by the time I was old enough to drive they were mostly gone.
Hey you remember the bad accident Bob Glidden had totally tore up his car he was standing outside shaking his head when he saw the camera crews coming he stripped off his jacket and through it over his intake so they couldn't get pictures of it?
Rock crawling has gone the same way it used to be something you could do from your garage then the big money sponsors go involved and now the rigs cost 100s of thousands to engineer and build.
I
AA fuel / altereds, heading to Australia this September USA vs Australia, can not wait!
My god man you have a gift of teaching , you really do Tony!!!!
Agreed. He is someone that really can grab your attention and keep it
Teach me, master.
Who knew detonation was an issue on close to Bottom dead center? No more "premium" than Nitromethane to cool off that flame front eh. Very interesting, great stuff man
I learn something new every time I listen to this video, man.
Stuff about nitro to ask uncle Tony:
•Static Compression Ratio - what's the goldilocks zone, is there even one? What's too high? N/A vs Boosted
•Mechanical fuel injection - is it gonna blow up in the pump?
•Cam - what kinda valve timings does one need in order to not found their own space-flight program at the starting line?
•How much [fuel] does this thing want?
•Uncle Tony's "universal tuneup".
I'll be back when I think of more questions :)
i was at the FIRST NHRA nationals Greatbend KS 1955. then in 65-68 my dad and i went to the worlds points finals Tulsa. what i liked about those cars was they used stock block, heads. there was NO race only blocks ect.
That's exactly why NASCAR is going out. Each race car is exactly the same since around 1988 . That's when I quit watching. Might as well give then drivers go carts. It would still be a race( fair ) that's the way of things to day. Don't win championships on races won't but on points. Ridiculous! Big , big , money took the joy of watching them auto manufactures and drivers duke it out on Sunday afternoon back in the 60s and 70s. Who can come up with a new trick and keep it a secret? And for how long, or slip something past a inspector? Ha,ha! Good old days. How about Richard Petty! Chrysler! Oh, Ya!
Wow, way cool. The guys in the fuel pits at national events at e-town were my heroes. Always wanted to do what you did, but never had the connections. Simply great to hear someone that lived it. Mad respect for your videos and your experiences! Ride On Tony!
Hell, I didn't have any connections either! I dove in as a helper, and learned everything as fast as I could! It was an unfathomable amount of work and some pretty unreal dues paying
@@UncleTonysGarageI figured you did it the hard way-working hard to achieve your goals. I applaud your success! I was a gopher for a bunch of guys running stock and super stock. Could never make the leap to a fuel team, even though I wanted to. The Wednesday fuel shows at Atco, Island and the raceway were something special. I love that period of my life. It was a real brotherhood, too
Big Money ruins everything, like most things, as you alluded to.
I followed your tips on carburetors and vacuum secondaries and holy hell.. my 71 ford pickup has some serious get up and go now.. makes me wanna race a camaro..
It still is, from a spectator standpoint. From a racers standpoint, the great days are gone. It used to be that all of racing was a one or two man operation. One guy built a car, with some help from his friends. He raced that car with an handful of spares and his own engineering. In 1976 my Auto Shop Class built a 10.90 class bracket car and raced it at the winter nationals. Everything in the car and the car itself was borrowed from other racers. The only engine we could get for that 66 Chevy II was a 283, punched out to 292 cubes. It had a roller cam and a 1050 dominator and we went all the way to the finals, loosing on a breakout 10.89 to a 10.92. We had run right on the 10.90 index all weekend. During that race we were able to watch all the other classes run, and I went into the pits on Friday to watch Don Garlits at work. He was making tune up passes getting ready for qualifying the next day. All the stood between us and the car was a velvet rope, which I could reach over to touch the car. He and a guy a little older than us were the only ones working on the car. At one point Garlits assistant dropped a wrenched, so I picked it up and went to hand it to him. But when I stood up and went to hand it to him Don Garlits was standing right in front of me, taking the wrench with a “Thank you son!” You can’t get that close today. Every car has a crew thrashing around it between rounds. Every car hides its setup. If your lucky you can get fairly close, but you’ll never have a chance to be as close as I was. I’ve gotten to the track super early and talked to a few drivers, but that an extreme acception to the rule. And the chance for the little guy to run with the Pro’s? That died with Dick Lahaei. He was the last independent to run in the nitro class and he won his last season. That all gone today.
I’ve been building engines for years as a hobby and a few jobs here in there but mostly for personal vehicles. Although I wont be burning any Nitromethane in them anytime soon lol I wanna Thank you for sharing your knowledge I’ve never heard of or even considered detonation occurring at BDC just before exhaust valve opening wow learn something new everyday !!
It actually happens AFTER the exhaust valve has opened.
Spended about 10 years of visiting drag racing events here in Germany, and you teached me more I've ever learned in the pitwalks. Thank you.
I've rebuilt one motor in my life. Just so happens it was a Slant Six, 225 cubic inches. Can't wait till your "two guys that are about as average as you're going to get", start wrenchin on that 170 Slant Six so I can relive the glory days and find out what mistakes I may have made. That was 1983 and the motor was out of a '75 Dodge Step-Side, formerly a Cal-Trans vehicle. It's possible it's still running today. And thanks for your answer to my question on the other vid. I appreciate your speed and cogency.
Cincy Spin The first engine I ever rebuilt was also a 225 slant six.I rebuilt it,put it in a 66Dodge truck,and it's still going strong today.That was 26years ago,It's probably in need of another rebuild,as The cylinders have to be about worn out.It still runs great,though.
@@davidh1249 Sweet! Great minds think alike.
I could listen to you drop knowledge for hours. My dad was a TRW sales rep back in the 80's and 90's. We went to the Gatornationals every year. The smell of nitro burning brings back great memories.
I miss the days of the white bleach jugs and push starts....... Quaker city drag strip Salem Ohio 67-77.
Bleach jugs??
Pardon me, I'm young.
My dad Gabby Gebhart used to operate the Christmas tree at Norwalk Dragway in late 60's and early 70's ,Great memories!
I’m a Mopar guy from Qatar, I love your channel man. You’re awesome, thank you for sharing these
Dude im over here shaking my head up and down like ya im understanding ur a amazing teacher without even knowing it im learning
Dang you talk about events inside a cylinder that are micro micro seconds you discover by looking at the marks inside. Good stuff.
New subscriber. I started hot rodding in 1980 snd it took me forever to find out about rod to stroke ratios and how they effect piston dwell time and tod angles. You just sat my world on its ear about this on a nitro motor! Superb insights and lessons learned. I love it. More please, more!
Good stuff there Uncle Tony! Gonna "fuel-up" the Cub Cadet and mow real fast.
What if you'd titled this video, "How John Force ruined racing for me!"
Cool to run across someone else who worked with Jerry and his wife on the Blue Thunder. Looking back Jerry did a great job of trying to survive what was happening to the sport when the money ruined the sport for guys like Jerry who Had to live with a modest budget. Thanks to him I got a great second intro to fuel racing after spending over 8 non stop years on the WOO tour. 65+ races a season, i was looking to slow down a bit. Thanks for bringing back the memories, and great explanation to the crazy word of adapting to the changes as they came about in the nitro world. Thanks again for your time in making these videos.
Tony DeFeo! I STILL have that article (both parts) you wrote for SS & Drag Illustrated! I put it in Word format a LONG time ago. I get it out to read it every few month. "Part Two" was called "A Few Moments In Hell." GREAT stuff!!! Thank You! And SUBBED!
got to tell ya, I always enjoyed reading all of your stuff in all the magazines back in the day especially the mopar ones. But watching you and listening on this channel is really better because you can see the passion you have for it. If you were at NED from around 80-89 or at Commerce ATL dragway from 94-98 I most likely have watched / raced at some of the same events
Geez Tony, I'm an engine person and I'm well above average on tuning. I know _NOTHING_ about Nitro. _YOU_ do, and I believe you're a genius mechanic. This explanation of Nitro tuning was clear as a bell man. Thank you 😊!
PS, what 'Rich discoveries' said from me too Tony, he said it better than me!
Roll up the window Uncle Tony. Fixing to pull my slant. The oil pick up came loose and bangs on my oil pan when the motor is cold and idles a bit rough. Not happy. Tell the new guys with the 170 good luck.
I’m gonna lose my job because of you Tony!!! I can’t stop learning from you, so I don’t want to leave the bloody house!!! If I ever get to go to the moon, you’re coming with me!!! New or old, I’ve never been with you in a lesson where I didn’t learn more than I did in any given years in school!!! Hey kids, school is so important but you don’t have a chance to have a wonderful instructor like uncle Tony!!!
Never messed with nitro.... But your explanation of your learned lessons... We're worth this video...
Reminds me of when I was a kid listening to the old timers around my grandpa's wrecking yard shop.My cousin who was 45 years older built a 49 Lincoln hot rod that was the first real hot rod around the southern Oregon coast.That car would do 120 when the cops only did 90 in their Chevy's.Love the videos.
Hey Tony. Remember when you were talking about putting the pistons in backwards so the engine thinks it has a longer stroke. Well that's at the beginning of the stroke. Maybe you can reduce the detonation of the Piston at the bottom of the stroke by making the engine think it has a shorter stroke. Maybe the mechanical advantage you gain at the top of a stroke creates a loss at the bottom of the stroke?
If the engine had a little more stroke at the bottom. The piston would think it has a little more travel in the barrel, Less resistance at the bottom of the stroke would that reduce the detonation?
Reversing pistons is about achieving rod angularity. The actual acceleration and deceleration rates don't change
@@UncleTonysGarage My point was that maybe the angularity you get at one end of the stroke you lose at the other end of the stroke.
But if you say it doesn't make a difference. I was just thinking about it. Wouldn't you get the greater resistance at the other end, where it might be more detrimental?
Uncle tony reminds me of the people who helped me get into hot rods in the first place. This was when I was in high school. I have tried to stay into the hobby ever since. (Graduated in the mid/late 80s) over the last few years however it seems that things have changed and some of the fun has gone away. I started to drift away from the essence of what its all about. After watching this guy over the last few days,I’m wanting to get my old car out again and try to have some fun.. I want to say thanks for actually being real. It’s so refreshing. Great in depth information also. This is my new favorite channel! I live in the Nashville area also and would love to see the bottle rocket make some passes at our local drag strip, union hill .. 👍
Just an absolute wealth of knowledge uncle Tony.. One of the few old school guys left.. My dad raised me in that era of drag racing and hot rods.. I too miss them fun days.. Sad its a bygone era.. Thanks uncle tony..
Thanks Tony! Guys like you helped guys like Bernstein become famous. I haven't watched drag racing since Warren Johnson left pro stock..but now I'm watching you buddy!
I love hearing stuff like this, it's amazing to hear what they did before there was all the computers and stuff
Tony, most folks here aren't aware of the shear volume of fuel used in nitro engines vs gas. Once you understand that, the second compression pulse due to unburnt fuel inertia rushing up to a stopped ( BDC ) piston is easier to visualize.
I so much love the fact that you can explain the ins and outs of how engines work. It is guys like yourself that helped get me into cars when I was a kid, and honestly my love of cars fuels my passion for physics as well!
I could listen to your knowledge all day long Tony. Back in the late 80's - early 90's we used to have a lot of fun running Porsche Cup - then one day 'Mr. Millionaires' arrived with professionally built cars - major sponsorship deals. From then on - the cars built from 'backyard' sheds disappeared, as did the fun. I have nothing against 'Mr. Millionaire' or even 'Mr. Bliionaire' arriving at the race track - but it seems to have been the same event character changing scenario you mentioned with FUEL racing. It went from a 'hobby' to a business = the fun disappeared. I would never even go back to trying to compete again - it is a different character - but as you said - at least I had the experience and we had FUN spitting HUGE turbo flames out - HA. CHEERS all from AUSTRALIA.
Automotive theory is the best! It's good to know what is happening in extreme situations even if it doesn't seem applicable ,at the time, to your area of interest. I now have a better understanding of how energy is dispersed at BDC. Shit happens so fast it's hard to imagine how things act at that speed. I suspect the rings would be contracting and expanding. like a rung bell, after BDC.
The black art gets even more strange at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Freddie Dannenfelzer, John Beck, Les Leggitt, Al Teague, George Fields, and many others have perfected the art of making a fuel motor last 5 miles under power. George's 4 cylinder (running half a fuel Hemi...more black art) ....they estimate made around 3000hp....Yes that's 700+hp per cylinder and an incredibly tractable amount of torque which made the car run just as fast as the full V-8 configuration and stay together for backup record runs.
When you run Nitro fat, the initial pressure pulse is actually very soft. It's probably easier to work with for the Land Speed guys than alcohol is
😮🤔
The stories and valuable information I've heard from this man is just unreal. Things that people don't ever want to talk about this man is like hell nah I'm spreading the knowledge
ya dale armstrong him coil just the best with the fuelers in the late 70 early 80s .ive got a picture i took at the gators of time board wen big daddy went 272 i think shirley was driving the pioneer car anyway back to 2019 great vid keepem comin
It was REALLY fun in the 70's! I'll tell you what though. I have no idea how we ever raced without a Racepak. Even with the old paper tapes it made all the difference in the world. It took so much of the guess work out of tuning. The other thing that help a lot were the added clocks. 60 ft. 330, etc... Don't know how you could get anything to leave without 60 foot clocks and a data recorder. But we did...Love your channel. Loved the good ol' daze. The other thing that's gone is the camaraderie. Seems like everybody helped everybody, even the guy you had to run next round.
We love our Motorsports, I have told both of my sons they need to experience a top fuel event at least 1 time in their lives. I had my youngest son in the pits during qualifying for the Keystone Nationals @ Maple Grove, he loved it. Oldest son has yet to experience it. We live near the old US 30 Dragway in York( I’m sure YOU know the place Uncle Tony!!)
tony.....your video titles rule....and loved the "rocket man" opening sound effects in the background, dead on it...overlapped by a kittys meow and a few growls...priceless!...couldnt top that in a million-dollar sound-studio...tony, i was a huge john force/austin coil fan during those days, followed him fervently...the bernstein/armstrong combo seemed unbeatable or at least the budweiser-quaker state-buick fundage was...still remember the anguish. when kenny moved to T/F...force then moved up and owned the funny-world. i didnt want it to go that way...wanted john to beat him outright fair and square and on the up and up...i liked kenny just fine, i didnt like buds fundage attitudes in those days...even tho i understood it well...loved the coined terminology..."viscious bitch of a fuel"...when i was a kid, i always wondered/pondered how much more nitro can they "cram in"...not too long ago, i watched the transparent-cylinder head guy burn alcohol, made me even more unsure..unburned unatomized alky sloshin around...go figure..looks like its close to hydra-lock...no wonder they look so clean at freshen-up time....seems very clear, the planetary gearsets in your nugget never sleep tone, you yelling for uncle cathy from the shower proves that....i always heard, before you step up to the witches-brew, you must forget everything you,ve ever learned about other fuels... first...yow!!!...really enjoyed this open-discussion version....of all your gifts uncle, and they are many, imo, your biggest-best gift is that johnny-big-rig-ranking... that will still sit down and have a candid conversation with his fans, casually, across a garden table in the summertime....drops my head and humbles me right out for real...nitromethane?...i say you have to have a pair of brass kahunas to go near the stuff, if you carry a steering wheel in your hand..how they sat with nitro in their lap, back in tne sling-shot days, ill never know....... even tho Ill never understand the V. B. F completely....lol......i still love it.....kutgw T!!!
Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end.
I've seen every one of your videos... I think this is the best one. I've been turning wrenches for a living since I was in high school and I learned a lot from this video. I didn't know detonation at the bottom of the stroke was even a thing until you mentioned it in one of your earlier videos.
Great video... i have no experience with Nitro... i had no idea that the combustion lasts so long into the stroke that there would be a detonation effect at bottom dead center with a larger crank. BOOM goes the motor. Crazy!
This has been one of the BEST video's yet. Thanks
GOD BLESS
Rick
Hey uncle t, speaking of fuels I've read one of your old articles about hydrazine in drag racing, do you have any more information about it?
It's totally bitchin stuff, but what's in that story is about it
Also extremely cancerous. Forms explosive compounds... but when it works it works... very powerful oxidizer.
You dont need to be messing with hydrazine,
@@UncleTonysGarage thanks 👍👍
@@colinmunro7337 I'm just looking for quicker ways to remove crankshafts 😁
Never would have thought bottom hole detonation was a thing. Thank you for your teachings.
Understood. I used to round track race. late 70's early 80's. Trying to get to the Superspeedways. Right when BIG money discovered NASCAR. Computers were just starting. got out. Don't even go now. Just does not interest me anymore. Never thought about the valve timing effecting detonation on the exhaust side. Makes sense. This stuff is WAY over most of these folks heads but enjoyed it and made me think. thanks.
Love learning stuff like this on your channel. Your knowledge and stories are always so interesting.
Always good to hear real experiences and real life truth.
big money sponsoring requires top results or bye bye $$$. gone are the fun days of mass participation, budget racers that can compete and have fun. even our small track has many high buck motor homes and lavish car trailers. but also mid and low budget cars far exceed them. hope the fun stays there as nhra seeks ever more $$$. love your vast knowledge about the car world!!
Hello Uncle Tony. I just want to say that you are a very kick ass person. I really love hearing your stories. I'm only forty-two years old I grew up in Pennsylvania. Which is about the worst state anymore for hot rods and any kind of a modified older cars. At least the ones In the 80s when I grew up... Besides California. Lol I personally have a 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix with a built 350 700R4 built and a 18-2300 b&m stall converter with headers and duels. It was my best friend Chris's baby... He passed away 5 yrs ago from a lifetime of diabetes. He had heart failure and did not make it through the surgery. His car sat for 5 years and now I own that sweet black beauty. But back to the point. I love hearing your stories it reminds me of the things my dad said many years ago about drag racing. Thats whenever it was real drag racing
Way back in the day. That was when it was man-for-man car for car... That aint no bulshit. Pardon my French. But I'm saying yeah whenever you got people pulling in and brand new trailers with brand new cars with brand-new motors upon motors and trannys upon trannies and rear ends upon rear ends. Really how does a little guy compete anymore??? You got to work three jobs plus take care of a family and have a couple partners just to enjoy the weekend of racing. It's just not what it used to be. It's starting to get back there but nowadays you got own a $60,000 race car just to get down and not get embarrassed it seems. But anyhow back to the basics keep rocking them carburetors and letting them headers flow. From our house to yours in Pennsylvania we love you Uncle Tony and Uncle Kathy. PS I just had 7 puppies last Saturday. They are a week and 6 days. Everything went great and they are little sweethearts. Pnl
If you ever come to Grove City Pennsylvania. I would really appreciate to meet up with you. Have a great day!
Very Interesting video Tony I enjoyed it and learned a bunch on how things worked
I like the stories.. I cant get enough of the engine talk that has to do with all you mentioned. Do some more videos on the tech stuff!!
Holy Crap Professor Tony, good lord, you have been there and then some, we are humbled by your steel trap mechanical knowledge , and coolness. Folks , share , sub, spread the word...
U just explained to me alot of info that blew my mine. I hear story's of what people used to race and what they had done to there cars to make them fast or faster. I have an associates degree and ur old school terminology is the same as today's 1/2 inch 5/8 3/4 for stroke to increase the displacement along with bore size is the same for camshaft selection and here I am trying to figure out what a 3/4 race cam was lol now I know
"Piston Armageddon"... Only Uncle Tony can string together those completely abstract words to make a mental picture for us...
Thart was a very cool, very informative video - one very minor correction, at 8:40 the long rod spends less time at BDC than a short rod.
With the shorter rods, as you said, there can be weird geometry affects when the ratio drops far enough
Awesome content. I never thought about the second pressure rise from the piston slowing down while the fuel is still burning!
The detonation story was really good. Seriously I know TH-cam is great and all but you should write a book. The knowledge and experiences would make a great "Auto"biography (pun intended). :) You got at least one fan that will buy the book.
I think i'd rather wait till I'm dead, and then let someone else do that. Still too busy making stories
Totally get it. We'll keep making them videos and we will keep hounding you for more 👍💪🇺🇸
What an awesome insider story, great explanation, Tony! I found your youtube channel by accident a couple weeks ago, the mopar stuff, figured you were just a sorta bright backyard hot rodder. But thankfully there's many more layers to the onion. Having crewed myself on a Top Alcohol Dragster, Injected Nitro Dragster on a small not very well funded team, back in the late 1990's and early 2000's, As my late buddy George Santos used to say, "Nitro is weird and dangerous stuff". I also learned something, didn't know about the short rod nitro 2nd pulse... the stuff we were running was kinda cookie cutter. You could say 'I get it'.
any tuning tips as my new 2-G hemi build ( first time trying out "big boy parts/mods" and fuel most of my experience is lightly modified or R&R ) is a 7in rod and 4.5 stroker ish by 4.25 in ish = 14:1 CR ish = 526CI~ running turbo boosted with modern GM LSX EFI ( maybe even up to 20psi ish aka double the MAD depending on how greedily i get ) so i have one more question about running nitromethane (NM for short) mixes as i fully plan on setting up the fuel ⛽️ pump sizing for running E85 to M100 ( its still technically a 85 to 91~ RON USA 🇺🇸 street engine but obviously i plan on drag/road/auto-X racing it once in a while and this won't be possible at all without modern control strategy's ) so my understanding is on NM mix of up to 50% ish i don't need a bigger fuel system is that true? like it is for E100 from gasoline ( win im running 91 ish street gas pump the plan is to bypass most of the extra fuel supply / and kill MAD and or retard the camshaft / ignition timing ect. ) and with the videos advice does this mean i need to be really careful of detonation ( like paranoid 😂 ) and or Adams fuel NM tuning strategy doesn't work for my engine? when im feeling extra spicy ( 🌶 🍖 ⚽️ ) for buring my hard earned cash 💵 ( because i don't know how willing you guys are to burn 30$~ a gallon so most of the time im trying to keep my bar tab under 2 to 4$~ a usa gallon )
i guess i was mistaken that my stroker crankshaft is from the 1970s Top-fuel engines and instead its the late-80s or 90s? ( same ish age as me surprise to me ) guess it's not a period correct for a 1970 harry bulid thanks UTG for the history lesson and i have heard of BDC detonation but i haven't heard that stroke and or rod combination can make a difference
Thanks Uncle Tony for sharing your knowledge and expertise. You bring joy to a lot of people. I love these old cars.
My uncle used to Race Top fuel Drag bikes..He was the last top fuel NHRA Champion at Bowling Green before they shut top down top fuel drag bikes...
Awesome stuff man! Always wanted to run a small Nitro ratio on the street... just the sound of it I love!
Its nice to have insight like that from hands on experience. Priceless.
I don’t know if you have shown and talked about the car behind you or not but I would love to see more of it !!! Thanks for the videos ...
Check out the Plan Z Dart video
Monday night nitro. Thanks UNCLE T
Wish Tony was around Albany NY in late 70's. His knowledge and experience along with my brother's would have been a marriage made in heaven. My brother was building clutchflight 727's for his buds
Great great video, love the nitty gritty tech stuff, the whys and why Fors. When I gotta rewind and listen again to really get what is going on and why. Always pushing the knowledge level. Not knowing how to put together a engine but how to build one and why. Keep it up Tony, still waiting on that PM so we can have a personal chat someday!
I have a nice Monte SS from 03, lacks some pickup but it handles really nice. I'm slowly getting into doing some basic work on it and this channel kind of inspired me. Although plugging in my OBD to see what's good is probably way different from screwing with carbs and adjusting stuff
Great video Tony. I remember the fun days with nitro cars and all the grudge races with those cars.
I remember when it was fun before the John Forces of the world showed up.
Your stories are the best. Keep them coming!
Lol...it weird when we talk about the mid 80s eh UT....we got old.
Man, I could listen to your stories all day long.
My dad had a dart like that one. Same front wheels big tire in the back. It was red and white with a 440 and a Dana rear. man I wish I could find it
It’s pretty hard now a days to race anything at the track very costly I remember Kenny Bernstein wen the dragster crashed and the motor and every thing was all over the place bad crash I think anything under 10s high 10sis very expensive maybe the cheapest is a LT motor with a turbo is prob the cheapest way to go fast
"Piston armageddon..." awesome.
Right on you have a new fan glad I found this thanks for sharing
Never been into racing specifically but I find this kind of information fascinating as a DIY car guy who sticks to the street for fun.
Looking at that Paint Can in your hands just Blows my Mind ....i work in Small engine Repair.... Nothing like an Old Big Block with Pistons like Coffee cans...No Replacement for Displacement 😂😎 Good Info
Uncle Tony I saw a video of Dale Armstrong driving Kenny Bernsteins car at Orange County .....he almost took out the guardrail after that he understood Kenny Bernstein was talking about evidently he put a light on the back of the car to see when he was shifting it........
Never saw or heard about that
@@UncleTonysGarage ....... go on TH-cam ....... look up dale -armstrong Orange County Raceway..... it might be in the Kenny Bernstein because Dale was filling in....... I think in 82.......... he was filling in for Kenny Bernstein and when he hit the gas he almost went right into that guardrail........
@@UncleTonysGarage .......... yeah it's under Dale Armstrong AA/FC....ocir 4/9/83............ there is two videos one of the two videos he hits the gas and the thing almost takes out the guardrail..........in the budweiser king..........
Uncle tony i usually don't learn a ton watching videos I'll pick thing here and there this video was mind blowing thanks keep it coming
Just when I thought I knew pretty much, I learned something! Good clip Tony. Thanks!
Great video. Yes today the cost to run top fuel is about 4 million dollars to run all the races with the top equipment. The good old days of just average people running these cars are over.
Great stories,love the car. Best car info on you tube. Keep it up Tony. Peace
I have watched a few of your videos and this is the one that got me to subscribe.
Tony..excellent video. Thanks !! I know how you feel. Stopped being fun for me too and now i just tinker on my own junk and enjoy it so much more.
Uncle Tony!!!! What you growin' back there in the background^___^ …………. Fuel pump and a starter to go!!! I thought it would have takin' longer But, previous owners took very good care! And, being 25yrs drinkin' I thought I'd be out of practice!!! 8YRS SOBER!!! THANKS A BIG ONE AGAIN FOR THE INSPIRATION!!! I meant to say meow too!^__^
😏🤔looks like blue dream growing there
Sicilian red...………… tomatoes(((((((