STAGE WRITE

RECENTLY I went on a Vietnam vets poker run, which was combined with the Mackay Rod & Custom Club run. In one event, there was enough inspirational material to write 15 columns, on topics like police, anti-hooning laws, tax, politicians, hot rods, cruisers, muscle cars, race cars, engine builders, Drag Week, Drag Challenge, technical advances and future street performance.

On the run I caught up with so many people. Many were drag racers, and I spoke to them about what they were up to. One of the guys has an altered with a naturally aspirated small-block that went 7.50s and over 180mph at Willowbank on its maiden outing. It wasn’t long ago it took a blown big-block to run these sort of numbers. While both the engine builder and power output of the ex-pro Stock truck motor is confidential, these 358-cube motors were making over 950hp in their day.

And there was Mark Clifford, who is preparing for the 2016 Street Machine Drag Challenge. His new Jon Kaase-built Boss motor should put his red Mustang into the eights naturally aspirated. Talking to a guy who stays with Jon in the States, the motor has had quite a bit of R&D go into it in terms of the heads and manifold. I thought it was ironic that other JK customers will benefit from Mark’s Down Under Drag Challenge quest. You’ll get to read about Mark’s Mustang soon.

By now most of you will know that Jeff Lutz won Hot Rod Drag Week in the US this year with an average of 6.19 and 240mph. That’s impressive to me, and highlights how much things have progressed over the years. I can remember when a 12-second street car was super-quick. These days, with a bit of tweaking, production-line cars can run 11s. To drive thousands of miles from track to track and average 6.19 in a street car is amazing.

Another pioneering Drag Week entrant was Brian Kohlmann in his blown Hemi hot rod. The green coupe runs a traditional blown engine but switches over to a nitro blend at the track. What an intriguing idea! I’m speculating that with modern EFI, or older EFI and dyno tuning, a twinturbo LS small-block running an E85/nitro blend could be a quick combination!

Nitromethane and nitrous oxide are two different things. Nitromethane is a fuel that burns, and makes approximately twice the power of petrol. Nitrous oxide doesn’t burn; it vaporises, releasing oxygen, which then combines with extra fuel to make more horsepower. Nitrous oxide systems are illegal on the street here. But the only law I can see regarding nitromethane on the street is transporting dangerous goods. And I can hardly see an E85/nitro blend being considered dangerous goods.

When I was a kid I had a two-stroke model aeroplane glowplug engine, and I remember the fuel was a 15 per cent nitro/70 per cent methanol blend and castor oil. I’m thinking if it is safe enough for kids to play with, it should be safe enough on the street as a fuel in moderate blends.

I asked US Pro Mod pioneer Bill Kuhlmann if it would be possible to run nitro on the street in, say, a 10 per cent blend in a late-model EFI car. My reasoning was that today’s EFI adjusts the fuel/ air mix to the right ratio and changes the ignition timing to suit fuel like E85. I also asked about whether he thought fire suits or respirators would be needed. Here is his edited reply:

“Nitro creates oxygen upon compression. This is after it has passed through the complete fuel section. If the ECU adjusts the AF ratio and timing after the exhaust cycle based on the oxygen coming out of the pipes, I think it would run fine on a nitro blend. But if the ECU adjusts the engine variables based on what is being fed into the engine, it would have to be programmed for nitro.

“In an enclosed-body car, you wouldn’t need to use anything to breathe. In an open-body car

it would not be needed either, as long as the car was moving forward. I once had a 10 per cent load in my dragster. Everything was fine until I was backing up from the burnout. I just about bailed out! Once I put the car in forward with the engine behind me, I was fine. My nitro coupe was raced with as much as 44 per cent nitro. Being inside a fairly sealed-up cockpit, I never smelled nitro.”

I’ve had a browse around the ’net and there’s not a real lot of information on running nitro, certainly nothing about running nitro in small doses for a performance street engine. I’ve also rung up dyno operators, and they’ve never tried nitro in a street engine either.

If I had an XR6 turbo, this is how I’d approach experimenting with nitro on the street. I’d take the car to an experienced dyno tuner, like Dave Sheehy at CPV Tuning, add 500ml of nitro to 40L of E85, and run the car up on a dyno to see what happens. If the plugs looked good, with no sign of detonation or damage, and there was a noticeable increase in power, I’d try adding a bit more. An experienced dyno tuner will know if the engine needs fattening up, the timing retarded or advanced, and how much the engine can take.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that some racers are already using nitro in their street cars s successfully, but don’t want it made public.

ONE PIONEERING ENTRANT AT HOT ROD DRAG WEEK WAS BRIAN KOHLMANN IN HIS BLOWN HEMI HOT ROD. THE GREEN COUPE RUNS A TRADITIONAL BLOWN ENGINE BUT SWITCHES OVER TO A NITRO BLEND AT THE TRACK. WHAT AN INTRIGUING IDEA!