Ring gear and pinion

[64ss409]

I ordered a R.G. ring and pinion set from Summit (4.11). The ring gear, which is suppose to be a snug/light press fit, fell with ease on to the posi. I could move it sideways and hear it click. The dial indicator said about .0025 loose. I took it off and mic'd it, and the old G.M. gear. The old G.M. gear measured 5.000. The new gear was 5.002+.

I called Summit and they said return it labeled defective, and a new one was shipped. The new one is better, .001 oversize, but not correct.

Has anyone else had a loose fitting ring gear? Or was it Murphy's Law, and I got the only 2 loose ones ever built? :bang

Ron

[64ss409]

The knurl idea worked good. Thanks Bob! And while I had it in the lathe, I found the surface the ring gear bolts to had .004 runout. So I took a .005 cut on it to tru it.

This ring gear went on a 3.08-3.70 posi with a spacer, so there is only about 3/16 inch of contact. (I only knurled the 3/16 contact area) I know spacers are not the best way to go, but this took a lot of abuse years ago when I raced the stock classes. The ring gear was a good snug fit. I had to pull it on with the bolts. I put red locktite on both sides of the spacer and torqued the new bolts.

With all the posts about the fun you guys had at Norwalk, and watching the convention video of the racing at the convention, I couldn't take it any longer. I have not raced since 1969, but wanted to try it again.

As Bob mentioned, this is my 409th post, so I wanted to share the fun day at the track, first time down the strip since '69.

I tried the new 4.11's and the slicks on the highway several times. These M/T 8.5 X 26 X 14 have way more grip that those 7 inch wide Caslers did.

This is a 2 year old track, Billings, MT, 3 hour drive from here. I have never been there before so I had to ask a lot of questions, where to get a number, where to get teched, what to write on the windows. (never raced ET before)

Tech went pretty smooth, catch can was my windshield washer resevoir, OK, driveline loop OK, borrowed helmet Snell 95, OK, no oil leaks, but he did not like my single throttle return spring-it has to be a double spring, he let it go this time. Then came the tail light inspection, they were not working. (required for night racing) I went back to the pits, checked the fuse, OK, wiggled the wire conections in the trunk, still no lights. Pulled the light switch on and off a bunch of times, no tail lights. Then I pushed and pulled wires on the backside of the light switch, They Work!

After 3 hours of rain delay, the time trials finally got underway. As I was getting closer to the burnout area, I was getting pretty nervous, had not seen staging lights for 36 years, and now there are 2 of them instead of 1. I wanted to go around the water box, thinking a little tire slippage would be a good thing. But it was full width of the track, so I had to go through it and do a burnout to dry the tires. Now they are good and sticky.

I staged, the lights came down, let the clutch out on the last yellow................... axel broke :bang

As I was pushing it back to the pits, I was thinking "shouldn't the posi be driving the right side enough to get to the pits"??? Anyway it didn't. :dunno Maybe I smoked the clutches too.

I have an axel from a 59 rear. Is it the same? If it is, I think I will get it ready for next weekend.

I had a lot of people want to look under the hood. They either had not seen a 409 for a long time, or they had never seen one. One guy asked "how come the spark plugs are at such a funny angle?"

Well, maybe next week I can get some time slips.

Ron

[fatride]

If you want to race you will have to lose the stock rear! Looking forward to seeing you on the track.

[Tom Kochtanek]

Ron, congratulations on getting "back to the track. I bet it brought back old memories, and now you have some new ones to add to that history. Even if your grip exceeded your mechanical capabilities :).

I'm sure you'll get back and try it again soon. Hey, at least the lights work now ;).

Best,
TomK

[SS425HP]

Ron, I'm right there with you. Made my first pass in 40 years at Norwalk the first of June. There is a lot to relearn. Comes back quick, though. What a thrill. The tree is the hard part. Everything else will come back like riding a bicycle. So far, I have run at Norwalk, 2 passes, Bowling Green, 2 passes. Both times one time trial, and one in eliminations. Got beat both times first run. Saturday, went down to Clay City, KY, and ran the car. One time trial, and 4 passes in eliminations. Won three, got beat the 4th by the guy that won the class. He was a local guy, and ran there all the time. I took off first, and couldn't hold him off. Ran .044 under my dial in, but had a bad light. He got me. But, third time out, went 4 rounds.
Get that rear end beefed up, and you will have some good fun. It's not like it used to be. My first win was the first time I ever let off before the finish line. Never did that before. Today, sometimes you have to. Get good on the tree, and you will win. It's a blast. Only bad part is the waiting between rounds. Used to go right back to staging if you won. Now you go back to the pits and WAIT till they get around to you again. Waiting is hard on the nerves.

Fred

[Tony Salins]

Ron, So good to hear that you are out racing again! :clap You will need a stronger rear end though. I have been racing since 1971 with my 1962 409 and for the last 3 years in our dragster and I still get nervous and excited ever time I come to the line, I hope you never lose that feeling. Best of luck :cheers .

[64ss409]

Our local track (only 50 miles from here) had a 2 day race this weekend, double bracket racing on Sat. and class racing on Sunday. I got there early on Sat to get as many time trials in as I could. I figured I needed LOTS of practice. The first run was the worst. I was as nervous as a cat poopin razor blades. I was wondering if an axle would break again, if I could still do full power shifts without missing a gear, lots of things to think about. My first reaction time was real bad, a .470. But it got better after that, and no missed shifts, pedal to the floor until the finish line. Fred, you are right, it does come back.

I got in 4 time trials runs which helped a lot before the eliminations started. Then I made it 4 rounds to the quarter finals and red lighted. On Sunday I got in 3 time trials, raced the Sportsman Class and got beat by .007 in the semi finals. But that was good enough to get $50 which amounted to getting my entry fee back.

Wow, that was really fun! I used to race a lot at this track between '64 and '69. Tom, it did bring back a lot of old memories. I wonder why I waited 36 years to get back into racing. But now I need to do like Ray and Tony said and beef up the rear end. I got lucky this time. :)

Ron

[jim_ss409]

Way to go Ron! :beerbang I think everybody really enjoys seeing the old 348s and 409s back on the dragstrips. I also broke an axle my first time out and have since upgraded to a 12 bolt. If I were doing it again I would probably go with Aubreys upgrade package for the stock rearend.

[SS425HP]

Jim, the 12 bolt is still the best way to go. You did it right. If someone is interested, I have a 4.56 rear end with the bearing cap reinforcement that Aubrey makes. Also have a stock 4.88 rear end. I didn't go into the posi stuff that is available. The stock posi seems tough to me. The axels are a weak spot. Jim did break one of those, and it too a LOT OF WORK to get it out. If you are not going to big tires, the stock rear end should be OK. We ran 7" slicks on them in the 60s, and had little problems. Better traction or wider tires might work on that stock rear. When you get down in the gear sizes, or higher numericaly, the pinion gets smaller. Not as strong. The 12 bolt will set you back some money, but I think will hold up a lot better. You are going to want to go faster. It just is like that. Start getting the 12 bolt stuff ready. When you want to bolt on the 9 or 10 inch slicks, you will be ready. I'm telling you, it happens. Just let one Mustang out run you, and you will be buying rims and slicks. And a stroker. And bigger cam. And pistons. And headers. And ignition system.
Face it, you went down the track, and you are hooked again. It's a disease. No cure. Let er rip.

Fred