Tater's "OH Deere 116 dragster" [2017 Build-Off Entry]

CraftsmanQuad19 wrote:

That. Is. Awesome.
I have no further statement at this time

I would have to "Ditto" that remark. That's going to be super cool!

That looks friggin' sweet man!!

Welded up the last header and started laying out the steering. Not happy with the crappy yard kart bow tie I picked up. Gonna have to fab up a custom wood handled pistol grip one out of some 3/16. Need to figure out a way to make the drag link work with the firewall on the tub. I had not planned on removing a bunch of stuff to do the body swap, but a big notch in the firewall will look like crap.

The resistor for the EZGO blew up today, so that will tie up some of my weekend fixing it. Almost a year ago to the day, I finished the lift on it while watching the Daytona parade.

Random side note that kinda ties in... Anyone watch the Australian Drag Racing stuff on MAVTV? It isnt the multi-million dollar teams racing  half million dollar cars, its more of a run what you brung missmash handicap racing of what we were running here for the last 40-50 years.

got a little time to burn some stuff on this today. New fuel tank mount and steering column fabbed up. thinking of doing a tilt wheel. Not sure I need it but being able to tweak the little stuff helps to get the feel right.

Normally thursday night is shop clean up night so I can come in first thing friday night and open a big ol can of whoopass on what ever projects I have going. I missed the last 2 or 3 and the shop was getting pretty crapped up. Tonight I cleaned up the shop, rebuilt my 4 foot slip roll and brake table and did a test run on some scrap for the "drive line tunnel" to get an idea of how the floor pan will lay out. I forgot to mention that I did replace the crappy bearings in the front wheels with high speed , sealed ball bearings and fab up the tie rod last week end.

Looks pretty good. Your going to have a full floor? Can't comment much on the austalian drag racing, not a huge drag race fan myself. I do think all the expensive high tech stuff takes away from the trying and experimenting though.

The floor will go from the firewall to the seat and follow the angle of the frame. Have not decided on having it flat or angled where the frame starts to narrow for the rear axle mount. I have not made the lower bar on the frame yet for that reason. I guess the next step it to start hacking up the rear fenders to see where and how they need to be mounted, then come up with something that will work with both bodies and go from there.

Looking great man! So when you drive this thing, are you planning on putting the trans in the gear you want and then using the MTD vari-drive to launch? I suppose those Roper transaxles are sliding-gear so they wouldn't shift on the go very good.

yeah the limiting factor on a speed build is the gear ratio that it has the power launch at. I have not seen a TX yet that would shift gears worth a crap without loosing alot of speed. I hate the CVTs because engine RPM determines speed and has a mind of its own some times. This will be adjusted manually according to the tach and how the engine sounds to keep the acceleration in the sweet spot.

So are you just gonna have a hand lever or something for the CVT?

With this having the hi/lo tx and the weight placement, it would make a good puller. The only problem is it doesnt fit in any class due to the long wheelbase. I had seen a (semi)local pulling group that had a stock twin/ belt drive class that was pretty much open to about anything. I dont think it went over too good because I cant find anything on it now.
Looks like I will have to build 3 of these and start my own class. 2 runs, one a speed run and one pull. Divide the distance by the ET and the biggest number wins.

With this having the hi/lo tx and the weight placement, it would make a good puller. The only problem is it doesnt fit in any class due to the long wheelbase. I had seen a (semi)local pulling group that had a stock twin/ belt drive class that was pretty much open to about anything. I dont think it went over too good because I cant find anything on it now.
Looks like I will have to build 3 of these and start my own class. 2 runs, one a speed run and one pull. Divide the distance by the ET and the biggest number wins.

The "shifter" for this will be next to my right leg, like a car shifter. It will also have an "OH SHlT" hand brake right next to it. The middle will be mostly taken up by the TX shifter and the electrical control switches since the dash is so far away when strapped into the seat. I have a tach/ speedo that may be hard to read from that distance and may get moved to the top of the steering column

Yeah that's what I thought. Sounds like it'll be pretty cool!

Got a chance to hack up the fenders and make them to size. I still need to modify the footboards to level them up. I thought about simulating some sort of step through, but it would be so small it wouldnt be worth the effort. I will skin from the back of the fenders to the firewall. The top hump on the cowl will be part of the hood.

This is a front shot with the seat in. The fenders will be about arm pit high for me ( I'm 6'6). It will look CAF.

Man that thing looks awesome. When you first pitched this idea, I thought you were nuts. But I have changed my mind. You sir, are a fabrication genius

No I'm still nuts

I feel obligated to throw a few pointers out there. I bent the radius on the splices with a 5/8 rod in a vice with an angle iron backer to cover the spread. When doing the welds, clamp them as tight and as straight as you can get them and back it up with a piece of aluminum. If you do burn through on the thin sheet metal, you wont weld it to the table.

For the spot welds... even with a walmart welder... your first instinct is to go with the lowest setting, try 3rd gear and fast feed (25/35,tune accordingly) You will learn what works best, but a good wide 1 second circle works good for 16/18 ga. It is all about training the brain and muscle memory

tater195 wrote:

No I'm still nuts

Aren't we all? Life would be boring otherwise!

Build looks incredible. Can't wait to see it finished!

Thanks. Me too

Got the footboard angle where I want it. Now I need to figure out if I want to weld or bolt this to the side panel

Honestly, I would use pop rivets. I think they look cool

Looking pretty sweet! To think you were worried about the 50% mark. You may have been at the 5% mark with all the work you are doing on your build!