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| These are the Meziere components we got to make sure "keeping our cool" at the track will not be a problem. Top quality components and hardware throughout. The 35 gph pump and recovery tank can be ordered in five colors (of course we chose black). Weathertight connectors are included and very thorough instructions. |
here will be a lot to cover this month in Back-2-Basics III. We are about finished assembling the chassis and installing all the components that we hope will result in a great performing dragster.
As you can see from the photos the color for the entire project is “Basically Black”. Everything will be either semi-glass urethane painted or powder-coated. At first I thought my son might have “lost it”. But as it has been going together I think he came up with an idea that will make this Project unique and easy to touch-up if we scratch it. With two dragsters and a four-wheeler in one trailer it is inevitable the body panels get scratched. I am glad we do not have a $3000.00 paint job on either dragster as I would probably spend way too much time worrying about them. We try to keep everything as stress-free as we can, paint is just one of the examples of that.
I am going to cover a lot of different things this month and my Editor will probably split this tech article up into a couple different sections so be sure to look in both Drag Racing Online and Mopar Max for the latest news on “Back-2-Basics III” progress.
First thing I want to go over is the assembly progress we have made on the S&W Swingarm chassis. The wiring is complete and by using the K&R Wiring Kit it could not have been easier to end up with a great looking finished product. Every wire we used was color-coded and came with the circuit name printed on the wire! Top quality components and an easy to read diagram made it easy. How to get the wires to their destination and getting them wire tied in place is what takes time. We probably cut off one wire tie for every one that we used getting things the way we wanted them.
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This is the Meziere water pump installed on the 540. We used #12 AN fittings and Gates push-lock hoses. The hoses and fittings are from Jegs and Aeroquip and are a lot cheaper than braided stainless... plus they are black.
The cooling system we chose came from Meziere Enterprises. After calling Meziere and getting their recommendation we ordered one of their billet water pumps for our 540” Mopar. The part number was WP106, it is their standard 35 gallons per minute pump. With alcohol as our fuel they didn’t feel we needed the high volume (40 g.p.m.) pump. They also offer a reverse flow pump that is designed for high horsepower engines that use race gas. It sends water to the heads first to keep the combustion chambers as cool as possible and prevent detonation. The part number for the new reverse flow pump is WP307. The AFCO radiator features a double-pass design and has ¾ NPT fittings, Meziere provide us 12AN fittings for the pump and radiator to maximize coolant flow. Getting the right size hose and correct fittings is as important as the pump so listen to their suggestions. The craftsmanship is exceptional and the performance of their pump on Project 4-Link’s 572” Mopar has been outstanding. I have a suggestion for those of you who are thinking about upgrading your cooling system. Before you choose a water pump, radiator and what size of cooling lines you are going to use, call Meziere Enterpises at 800-208-1755 and let them help you get your cooling system “just right”.
Our next project was adapting the Big-block Mopar to a Powerglide transmission. Sounds pretty simple right? We could have used an Ultra-Bell to adapt the powerglide to the Mopar bolt pattern and a standard Mopar mid-plate on the S&W chassis but we decided to have S&W make us an adapter plate so we can use a standard Powerglide Case or in this case we are using a Chevy bolt pattern Ultra-Bell. We are using the same Powerglide we used in the hard-tail car we ran last year. We felt making the car work with a standard GM bolt pattern Powerglide was important in case we ever broke one and needed to find a spare in a hurry. It is your basic Top Dragster transmission. Built by Midwest Performance Transmission (that is my company), (319) 404-7001, it features a 1.80 straight cut TCI planetary, Kevlar band, 8-clutch high, BTE front pump and Vasco input shaft along with our standard race preparation and details.