Nailhead Dragster

[Mudbone]

My brother gave me these two photos of a dragster with a Nailhead engine. He said it was taken somewhere between 1959-1963,  as he raced his 58 Ford at that racetrack.

[NTX5467]

"TV" Tommy Ivo was a famous Nailhead dragster racer.  Some of his dragsters had more than one Nailhead, as I recall.  At a time when there were more shadetrees than now AND people that used to work under them, building or tuning on their cars, engines from the "higher carlines" were desired for their larger displacements and power PLUS their stronger rear axles.  Pretty nice dragster in that picture!

 

NTX5467

[RivNut]

Tommy had single, dual, and quad nailhead engine dragsters, as well as his infamous T Bucket.  

 

The nailhead was infamous for it's small exhaust valves.  Really made getting the engine hard to breathe.  Here's one guys attempt to overcome that.  Force the fuel through the small exhaust valves then exhaust them through the larger intakes.

 

 

 

Edited March 28, 2017 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Brad Conley]

8 hours ago, RivNut said:

Tommy had single, dual, and quad nailhead engine dragsters, as well as his infamous T Bucket.  

 

The nailhead was infamous for it's small exhaust valves.  Really made getting the engine hard to breathe.  Here's one guys attempt to overcome that.  Force the fuel through the small intake valves then exhaust them through the larger intakes.

 

 

 

 

Close Ed...Force through the  EXHAUST valves, exhaust through the INTAKE valves.  We knew what you meant...  :-)

 

Edited March 28, 2017 by Brad Conley
got it bass-awards myself! (see edit history)

[Brad Conley]

bass-akwards.  Darn auto-correct!

 

[RivNut]

1 hour ago, Brad Conley said:

 

Close Ed...Force through the  EXHAUST valves, exhaust through the INTAKE valves.  We knew what you meant...  :-)

 

Thanks, I only wish my wife knew what I meant.......?

[Beemon]

I always thought it was kind of interesting when people refer to engines breathing. I just finished a numerical methods class where I modeled the primary bores of a Rochester 4GC on a 1956 322, using internal venturi volumes, cubic inch displacement, bore and stroke. The ability for the engine to breath is based solely on the pumping action of the piston on the intake stroke. The only thing the intake valve influences is intake turbulence and intake velocity. The engine will only pump what it needs based off CID, and the smaller valves will actually increase the volumetric flow rate due to Bernoulli's Equation, where the change in cross sectional area increases flow velocity if density and pressure are kept constant. Nailheads in essence, flow very well due to higher intake velocities, they just don't flow like Chevies.

[MrEarl]

16 hours ago, Beemon said:

I always thought it was kind of interesting when people refer to engines breathing. I just finished a numerical methods class where I modeled the primary bores of a Rochester 4GC on a 1956 322, using internal venturi volumes, cubic inch displacement, bore and stroke. The ability for the engine to breath is based solely on the pumping action of the piston on the intake stroke. The only thing the intake valve influences is intake turbulence and intake velocity. The engine will only pump what it needs based off CID, and the smaller valves will actually increase the volumetric flow rate due to Bernoulli's Equation, where the change in cross sectional area increases flow velocity if density and pressure are kept constant. Nailheads in essence, flow very well due to higher intake velocities, they just don't flow like Chevies.

 

Now add a McCulloch Supercharger for extra credit. Great post btw,'til the last half sentence, then it went south. 

[Ttotired]

On ‎30‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 3:36 AM, Beemon said:

I always thought it was kind of interesting when people refer to engines breathing. I just finished a numerical methods class where I modeled the primary bores of a Rochester 4GC on a 1956 322, using internal venturi volumes, cubic inch displacement, bore and stroke. The ability for the engine to breath is based solely on the pumping action of the piston on the intake stroke. The only thing the intake valve influences is intake turbulence and intake velocity. The engine will only pump what it needs based off CID, and the smaller valves will actually increase the volumetric flow rate due to Bernoulli's Equation, where the change in cross sectional area increases flow velocity if density and pressure are kept constant. Nailheads in essence, flow very well due to higher intake velocities, they just don't flow like Chevies.

 

So much more than that

Consider valve timing, engine speed in relation to actual time the valve is open ect ect

Larger valves aid in getting the gasses in and out (flowing)

Smaller valves give higher gas speed, but less volume, kind of like a garden hose to a fire hose.

You can get your garden hose to squirt water as far as a fire hose, but it will never deliver as much water.

Of coarse actual engine displacement also determines how much gas it can actually pump, but if the valve is to small, at higher rpm, the valve will not allow

the actual rated amount of gas to enter the cylinder, purely because there is not enough time for the gasses to get in and out.

[Rooster]

[RivNut]

Hmmmmm.  Only 14 exhaust pipes coming out of that center row.

[smithbrother]

I count 16 from lower picture.

 

Dale in Indy 

[telriv]

There was no room for 16 going up. Two HAD to go down in the middle.

[MRJBUICK]

Thats alot of pipes pointed in the drivers direction

[ted1922]

Back in the early 60"s in So- Cal Jim Morris use to drag race his 1925 Buick .

[avgwarhawk]

On 3/27/2017 at 12:19 PM, RivNut said:

Tommy had single, dual, and quad nailhead engine dragsters, as well as his infamous T Bucket.  

 

The nailhead was infamous for it's small exhaust valves.  Really made getting the engine hard to breathe.  Here's one guys attempt to overcome that.  Force the fuel through the small exhaust valves then exhaust them through the larger intakes.

 

 

 

 

That is insane.  Ingenious but insane!