I want to get my car track legal, but I dont have a battery hold down and plan moving it to the trunk but need to know if it can just be bolted to the floor or if it has to be in a box? If I have a rear firewall do I need the battery box? Also my exhaust does not exit the sides (purple hornies) will this pass and do my reverse lights have to work?
Dan. If you have the battery in the trunk, it does not have to be in a box if you have a firewall between the trunk and the passenger compartment. It does have to be secured though and you have to have a battery cut off. My exhaust exits straight from the headers and mufflers. And you only need one taillight.
thanks, and I have capped lugs I heard those dont pass but my friends car has them on his evo and they let him run, his car also has the battery in the trunk from the factory with no switch (as far as I know). If its factory do they just let it go?
Sometimes on street cars that are completely stock they let a lot go since it came from the factory that way. Where are you going to race at? A lot depends on the track.
Im going to be racing at VA motorsports park. Which I assume would be more picky considering they're a NHRA track.
I would be surprised if the capped lugs are an issue unless you are running slicks. That rule was written with the added traction that slicks have and fears of there not being enough thread through the lug nut. With street tires I don't think that they will say a thing. At least they didn't on my Taurus the last time I took it out. As a matter of fact, they didn't complain about the covers over the lugs either. The rules state that you cannot have hub caps (they could fly off at speed) but mine are only 5" in diameter and made of plastic.
As Don said, battery bolts need to be 3/8 or 1/2" cant remember off top of head. Cut-off switch is needed and good idea. Good Luck!
My headers is where it ends under car and I have not had anything said to me and rev lights do not need to work that I know of
Sounds like you are in for A Lot of Fun! Being a Licensed Tech Inspector for the SCCA I really wondered about the difference between their spec's and NHRA..........so I went through the 2010 reg's on both. As for running open headers there is no issue. If you are bolting mufflers to the headers, then the mufflers must be supported to the body and or frame...........but you can not just let them hang from the headers unsupported..............which you shouldn't do anyway. I know that NHRA is inforcing decible levels, but I think it is only for Super Street, Super Gas and Super Comp.............so far. I have race mufflers on the Maverick and they weigh a ton..............and not all that easy to take on and off. The next thing..................if you don't already have it, is a least a 1 pint catch can for the overflow of the radiator. In my Maverick (which takes this to the extreme) the person who built the car put it in the trunk and ran aluminum tubing from the radiator to the trunk catch can. I guess the reason for this drastic move.............if the overflow would leak or spill over (although I am not sure how it could as the catch can should be sealed) you would roll through it with your rear tires and if it was at the tree..............well it wouldn't be pretty. You need to have double return springs on the carb. Drive line hoop, 1/4" material at least 2" wide, 360 degrees and bolted/welded to the body within 6" of the front U joint. You can use tubing but it must be 7/8" X .065. I think if I interpet the rules, if you run 11.49 or slower and use street tires then you don't have to have one, but if you use slicks and are faster than 13.99 it is manditory. When it comes to lug nuts/studs; The thread engagement on all wheel studs to the lug nut, or lug bolts to the wheel hubs, must be equivalent to or greater than the diameter of the stud/bolt. Length of the stud/bolt does not determine permissibility, (example; a 7/16" stud must be thoroughly engaged through the threads in the hex portion of the lug at least 7/16"). Depending on what type of wheels you are going to run open lug nuts are pretty cheap if you get them through Summitt or Jegs, but again I think a lot depends on if you are going to run slicks instead of street tires. As for the firewall in the trunk (including the package tray), it must be .032 if aluminum and .024 if steel. There will be no holes in the firewall and it must extend from side to side and top to bottom with no noticeable gaps. If you are going to relocate the battery to the trunk, you can do so without a firewall if you enclose the battery and vent it outside the vehicle. If you put in a firewall and package tray then you don't need the box but you must secure the battery to the frame or frame structure with a minimum of 2 3/8" diameter bolts. You can use the factory battery tray and hold downs, but the J hooks are not permitted unless the hooks are welded shut. Master Cutoff switch. This is different from SCCA, because in the SCCA most cutoff switches are with arms length of the driver and located such that an emergency worker can reach inside the car and easily turn it off if the drive in not able to. In NHRA it must be placed at the rear most part of the vehicle on the outside.............only if the battery has been moved from it's original position (or class dependant) and easily accessable from the outside of the vehicle. The switch must be connected to the positive side of the battery and must kill all electrical components for the entire vehicle. Some NHRA tracks will test this switch by asking you to start the car......................then the inspector will turn the switch off and the engine must die immediately. This means you will need to drill a hole in the rear part of the car to install the switch...................also, it must be clearly marked On and Off. If you use a push button type of switch....................when you push in it must kill everything...................pulling out will energize the system. My suggestion is that if you are going to run on NHRA tracks you get a 2011 Tech book..........................you never know when they will change something and they do put out at least one addendum per year. Good luck and have fun.........................as some of the Pro Comp guys say, "Keep the shinny side up".
I totally forgot about the lights. NHRA says that one headlight must work and one tailight must work. On my Maverick there is a switch in the trunk that turns one tailight on...................as for the headlights...........no tech inspector has ever asked if they work and I don't know because I have never tried them..................IMHO
I've never had them check the headlights either. Usually they don't check the taillights either. You don't find out about that until you go down the track and get diqualified because it doesn't work. I could never understand only having one taillight. I figure if one burns out I still have another. I did have them check the neutral switch once, after I changed the shifter, and it tried to start. Red faced I went back to the pits to adjust it. Went through tech last night. I have an ETI (extended tech inspection) card but told the inspector that he was welcome to do a complete tech on the car. If you join the NHRA you can access the rule book online.
Usually during the first drag race at a particular strip they have a tech day and you can get your car tech'd with an "extended tech card", which means everytime you back to that strip you don't have to go through tech again..............unless you have changed something.............something to think about. I have been at a number of NHRA sanctioned strips.............and the tech varies from someone just looking at your without even opening the door or trunk, to someone who wants you to jack the car up so they can slide underneath and look at everything.....................just depends.
I used to have one of those little "jogging" lights that you can get at walmart. I had it velcro'd in the back window. It runs off a double A battery. Lots of the jr. dragsters run them. Ran it for years and that thing was excellent.
All of my lights work except my reverse lights so good to go on that. For the battery hold down I made a new bracket and used a mitstubishi factory hold down bolt. I dont know if its 3/8 but will check tomorrow, but it doesnt move can move the whole car trying to move it. For the double throttle spring does the spring on the cable count? Here's what I came up with, not pretty but stays in place
It looks good enough.....................just remember that J hooks are not really allow in holding the batter down..........if that is a J hook I would change it out for a a piece of all thread rod with nut on both top and bottom. As for the double spring................it needs to be a double "return" spring on the throttle shaft of the carb...................so I your cable would break it would return the engine to idle and not stick at partical or wide open throttle.
