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NHRA A/Nostalgia 
                      Dragster
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OK, what’s all this crap? I needed a leak-down tester to check the static idle flow of the Hilborn Fuel Injection Barrel valve. The old fashion way was to look into the top of the valve body and check the opening ramp. Now, it is easier to use the LDT to make sure you get if almost spot-on before you start the car.

So, I went looking for my trusty 159.95 MAC Tools Leak Down Tester and sure enough I could not find it anywhere. I used it 2 years ago to check the engine in the Super Comp Dragster and put it away. The more I looked for it, the more I realized it the more in became familiar to me I let someone borrow it, and I never got it back. Problem was, I can’t remember who I lent it to. 

So, plan B. At work, we have a Snap-On guy stop at the mechanics shop every Monday and I was going to buy one from him. I looked on the Internet and there’s goes for 259.99, Model EEVP509. Yea, right! I asked another Snap-On guy I know and he toll me they retail off the truck for 289.99.  

Now to Plan C. I looked into EBay. Yep got a cheapie from there for 39.95, plus they charged 19.50 for shipping and since they were a New Jersey Company, I had to pay sales tax. So, some $65.00 and two weeks later, it arrived at the house. Wow. Did I get hosed. It was a real piece of junk. I mistakenly dropped it on the floor of my trailer and the regular snapped right off at the piece of crap cast white metal gauge manifold. Tried to fix it by drilling out the broken bung, but it was not threaded, it was molded and force fitted into the regular. It also had the incorrect air fitting on the intake, and I broke the other side of the regulator trying to change it.

So, 65 bucks wasted and trashed everything except one of the gauges and the spark plug hose adapter.

So, I decided to build my own. I bought a new regulator, 1/8” NPT X ¼” NPT adapter, and a Three-Way ¼” NPT T-Fitting from McMaster-Carr for a grand total of $21.00.

I looked at 5 different illustrations on the Internet and they all stated that the most important item in a LDT is the internal restriction between the regular and the discharge port and discharge gauge.

So, I used my trusty Benzomatic handheld Bunsen torch and some rosin core solder and soldered close the hole in the brass fitting . After it cooled down, I drilled through the center of the solder with a .040 size drill. Cleaned the flux off the threads, applied thread sealer and screwed the adapter into the regular and 1/4” NPT T-Fitting. Installed the 0-200 gauge on the static pressure side of the regular before the restrictor fitting (this shows the line pressure of my compressor). Attached the ¼” NPT brass tee fitting on the other side of the restrictor fitting. Attached the discharge quick disconnect fitting on the other side of the brass tee fitting, Had a few items in the trailer and garage to finish everything off. An air fitting on the intake sit of the regulator and finally the 0-100 psi gauge on the cylinder or out-put port. The yellow arrows point to the stuff I had at home already.















Now in order for this to work, the LDT must hook into the Hilborn Barrel Valve and you need a #6 AN Female fitting. So, by turning or changing the “flats” on the barrel valve adjustment linkage you ether lengthen or shorten the distance between the two arms. Shortening allows more bypass (leak-down) and lengthening causes the barrel valve to close slightly and prevents bypass (leak-down) through the barrel valve. The tech guy at Hilborn advised me that I should see between 10% - 12% to be right on. So I adjusted it to 11%.

It’s easy, just snap on your air hose to the input or the regulator and adjust the air pressure on the right gauge to 100 lbs. (my static pressure on the left gauge was 145 lbs.

I already had my blue adapter hose installed to the #6 AN fitting at the Hilborn Barrel Valve , with the Milton quick-disconnect end ready.

I plugged the Milton fittings together and the right gauge dropped to 78 Lbs . I adjusted the Hilborn Barrel Valve linkage counter-clockwise until the right gauge was at 89 lbs (green arrow). 

11% loss, right in the ball park! The car started right up and idled. A little low but it idled. So, I adjusted the linkage one flat at a time and I moved it three flats and the black smoke cleared up and the idle came up. Finally got it running smooth. So, adjusted the timing at 38 degrees on the MSD Magneto and hit the throttle a few times. Nice crisp response. The car loaded up a bit, so I went up two sizes on the “pill”, in two separate changes and it got even better.  I ran another leak-down test after we were done and it showed 13%. So, I will use this as my reference from now on, as long as it is my home made unit that is used for the basic set-up. 

The total cost for my home made leak-down tester. About $35.00 overall (remember I had to make a special hose for the #6 AN interface). Not bad, but don’t forget the 160.00 for my lost MAC LDT and the pos Harbor Freight one that broke – 65.00 and finally my 35.00 bucks. I would have been ahead buying the EEVP509 from Snap-On for 259.00, because for that price, I would have never loaned it out.

So, finally ready to go and we will be heading to Island Raceway in Great Meadows on Sunday for some time runs.

Finally got my IMPACT Racing jacket on Friday, so the time has come.

YES…………….

Check out the new WISCO Pistons, MANLEY Rods and the DART Big M. They all look like fine jewelry. It almost seems crazy to put them in the engine to get beat around.
 Here are some random pictures of the new 565 DART M Engine pieces
.Here are some assorted pictures of the detailed lettering work by Rick @ AGIN SIGNS
Click here to add text.I couldn't face the fact that a new set of Zoomie Headers cost more then $1600.00. 

So, I got out the old Oxyacetylene gas torch set and fabricated my own. I bought the Hedman flanges with nubs from Ebay, the J-Pipes from JEGS and fabricated a jig from 1/2" plywood and 3/4" pine to make sure everything would turn out square and symmetrical.

After 5 hours of welding, 3 hours of blending and a trip to the ceramic coaters, they came out like a store bought set. 

All for under $500.00 buckaroos. 
More Stuff - shown below
What's all this crap?  This is what happens when you get old and forget who you lend your tools to.

You just make another one.