Roadsters

[thetanman101]

Who here has dealt in roadsters? I've always wanted to try one or an altered out. I'm now in discussions with a man interested in trading for my Studie, and was wondering if there are any areas that need special attention, or things to watch for that are particular to roadsters. Am planning to get together and look at each other's cars next weekend.


-Tanner

[thetanman101]

No one has any advice on checking out a roadster, huh? :cry: :( :?

[chevguy65]

Never had one....
I do know a guy with a altered bantam roadster and he says it is a real hand full getting it down the track....sorry that's all I have.

[mcracecars]

not too up on roadsters, but I do know it should not be a handful to drive.
Who built this one, is it a well known shop, how does it run, is it squirrly or does it run straight.
Like any other type of car, look it over with a critical eye, your life could count on it. Do not make a desiccion right there, go back and look again in a few days or week. you will see things you missed the first time.
Does it need any updates, what is the chassis cert for, is it moly, mild.
Try to look at it with the body off the frame...
Does it need new suspension pieces.... all things to consider.

[woodsman]

thetanman101 the next time they have there big race at Pine Valley Raceway you need to go talk to them boys. I did talk to two of them and they love them. One of them would run 4.88 in the 1/8 thats quick.

[adgersmith]

I'm an expert with roadsters. Even have a new one for sale. There are some issues & NHRA/SFI have some new specs for Certification. You need to be careful if you buy one. Esp. one out of certification or near the end of the time limit of the tag.
Give me a call at the shop
903 794 7223
Adger Smith
Adger Smith Performance Engines
2820 W 7th St
Texarkana Tx

[thetanman101]

What are required now that didn't used to be required. This roadster was tagged, but from before the time when helmet bars were required. I know it'll need those added. What else has changed? Are gussets now required at pipe connections? Any other things?

Thanks,
-Tanner

[thetanman101]

I'm an expert with roadsters. Even have a new one for sale. There are some issues & NHRA/SFI have some new specs for Certification. You need to be careful if you buy one. Esp. one out of certification or near the end of the time limit of the tag.
Give me a call at the shop
903 794 7223
Adger Smith
Adger Smith Performance Engines
2820 W 7th St
Texarkana Tx

Thanks Adger, I'll give you a shout tomorrow (Wed.) afternoon.

-Tanner

[shawnp]

I'm an expert with roadsters. Even have a new one for sale. There are some issues & NHRA/SFI have some new specs for Certification. You need to be careful if you buy one. Esp. one out of certification or near the end of the time limit of the tag.
Give me a call at the shop
903 794 7223
Adger Smith
Adger Smith Performance Engines
2820 W 7th St
Texarkana Tx

I believe that there are required gusets that need to be in place on the drivers cage for any car re-certified for 2007 and forward.

[27keith]

You must also be aware of the front roll cage bar angle. If the bar is less then 20* from vertical from the ground you will need to add support gussets. These are in addition to the roll cage gussets that are now required. My car currently has both. I checked out the SFI book on these chassis before getting miine NHRA certified. Brand new tag and a compliment from the inspector. He told me about 3 out of 4 side steer roadster had been failing for one reason or another. Check out my adds and make this car a nice new home!!!!

Adds #'s 940580 , 940578

[thetanman101]

Check out my adds and make this car a nice new home!!!!

Adds #'s 940580 , 940578

Thanks for the info. I'll make you the same offer I made him... a trade on my tube chassis 1952 Studebaker.

[malibuvette]

I just traded my 2001 Vette for a Brogie 27 roadster. The new SFI 10.4 will be required for all left steer roadsters in 2008. Thi sincludes 8 new gussets on the drivers cage. The other things to be sre you fit the car. These cars are not very roomy and if you do not fit, the only thing you can do is ake a taller cage, and that is not a great option if it is a tall cage. They are pretty easy to drive, bt remember if you have the car set up for Super Gas to hit the tire hard to get good lights, if you try to run the car off of stop, it will likely stand up pretty hard. A goo long wheelie bar is a good idea. Good luck and have fun.

[mcracecars]

I have already done this upgrade for a customer... try this link for details
http://www.nhra.com/content/news.asp?articleid=15965&zoneid=8

[mikeaton]

well make sure its straight and thw wheel base is true on both sides unless its a comp car with a little "fudging on one side" try to stay away from the torsion bar front end and go with the funny car style control arms also sit in the car make sure your comfy and car see a little on both sides also check the cert dates if it has one as well there so much to check out ask around the track the car has run on and see if it goes straight or if its a hand full they might look cool crossed up but as a driver of one its not fun as it happens but boy are they fun when evry thing is fine!! o yea watch out for adger hes a show off especially those"white" legs :lol: HEY ADGER LONG TIME NO TALK!!! mike in artesia new mexico

[27keith]

With one of these cars there is no need for "9.90 set-up" kill the tires and make for bad ride down track. With a very soft bracket set-up I run 1.080 in the box. 3600 leave, tight 5400 converter, standard (slow) t-brake. This is with a small block. 60' are in the 1.18-1.20 range depending on track temp.I have never needed wheelie bars. Anybody barely breathing should be able to go .3xx on a pro tree. If someone can post pictures on here I have the paperwork on the 20* deal on the front hoop bar. Made about 2000 passes over the last 8 yrs in mine, best car I ever owned. It'll be a somber day if it ever goes down the road.

[thetanman101]

I have already done this upgrade for a customer... try this link for details
http://www.nhra.com/content/news.asp?articleid=15965&zoneid=8

This link was very helpfull in picturing what is going to be required along with new helmet bars. Thanks alot for putting it up. Any guesstimates what a typical chassis shop might charge to install these gussets and a set of helmet bars? I know this will hugely vary from shop to shop, but I just need to know a round about figure. How many man hours do you think a job like this would take to accomplish? Also, on a mild steel chassis, does it have to be tigged?

Thanks,
-Tanner

[bjuice]

Tanner back a few years i owned a 23 T ALTERED. warren brogie chrome moly chassis hard tail with a 9 inch floater rear..it had a 19 inch cage and was very tight with me in it..almost uncomfortable..
i have a super glide tranny with push button air shiffter..( i strongly recommend this) its not fun trying to bump into high gear between your legs...and trust me if you have one of these bad boys that will really turn it on you will want both hands on the wheel at all times...

i had a 572 alcohol blown injected motor ..14-71 mert littlefield blower,pro-mag 12 magneto. bb2 brodix heads. dart big m block,sonny bryant crank, GRP aluminum RODS....the motor made right at 1600 hp at the mid level tune up and would bump upper 1800hp at 25 lbs of boost..

17x33 beadlocks...the car was down right SCARY...you did not drive it you pointed it..it would drift and you better know when to lift.....

this type of car you had to drive 200 ft ahead..what i mean by this is you must stare down the track approx 200 ft and use your perefferll vision for the rest ..cause by the time you air shifted into high gear you have done traveled down the track that 200 ft.....if you did not drive ahread of yourself you were in trouble..

the car was capable of some high 3.80 low 3.90 1/8 mile passes..the best ET it ran was a low 4.30 at 165 mph and this was hazing the tires.. 'I DID NOT RUN THESE ET'S IN THIS CAR..SEAN MCDONALD OUT OF ATLANTA GA RAN THESE ET'S...


i personally DO NOT recomment this car for any un-experieneced driver ( not saying you are)..and i personally will not ever own another one...

you can put a crate motor in this light (sob's) and they will run..cause they are so light...


good luck to you....my advise to you is stick with a door car...( my opinion only)..ohh by the way i sold this car to a man out of witchita kansas..he has never driven a drag car in his life ( only drag boats)..i gave him the launch and shut down prodcedure in my drive way..i ask him did he have his life insurance policy up to date..he thought i was kidding but when i did not smile he and his wife knew i was serious..i looked both of them in the eye and told them this was no toy and it WOULD KILL YOU and did they understand what they were buying......
they loaded it up and off they went..its been 2 years ago and i have never heard from him...

i will try to find some pics of this car and post them..i had them on here a few years back..

Brian

[mcracecars]

Tanner,
no mild steel does not have to be tigged.
the ones I installed were the tube versions, I think it looks less of an add on. they were 4130, tigged, and 8 of them. Figure a good 1 1/2 to 2 hours apeice to fit and install, depending on what the chassis shop charges, could be 500 to 800 bucks. I think I charged the guy 600 or so, but there was stuff to dismantle, then reinstall, chassis was powdercoated so you gotta clean that off where you weld to.
mild steel would go quicker and a little cheaper.
The plates would be easier and quicker to do, and if you got a mig welder, and can use it, you can do it yourself, or fit the plates and take it somewere to get welded.
I have some pics here somewere I can email to you, I havnet figured out how to add pics yet here...

[mcracecars]

Brian, the guys up here that have roadsters really seem to like them. It seems if it has a long wheelbase and well built it should not be too much of a handful. Very easy to go fast in one of those, but then you can get carried away with hp and then they get scary. Remember those fuel alterds? Those things would swing around and bite you in the butt with no warning at all....
If you want to run low9s or 8s for cheap, and have the car fit in your garage, they are the way to go... :lol:
But like you, im a doorslammer kind of guy..... :D

[thetanman101]

If the trade goes through, I'll be putting the mild 355 out of the Studie into it. I doubt very much this motor will give much of a wild ride, but it loves to wind out over 7400 rpms! I'll post the ad below, for ya'lls inspection. It needs paint, helmet bars, and gussets, and possible rewiring (this is per the owner, I haven't inspected it yet). To me, I won't feel the swap is worthwhile if he is not willing to take care of updating the chassis. And even then it's a toss up, with having to put more money into the paint and go through the trouble of swapping motors. But I can't get out from under the Studie, even at a hugely discounted price (and me taking a good sized loss), so it's time to try something different. I've wanted to try a roadster anyways, just maybe a little better quality of one. But this one happens to be in the value range of my car, if it's actually worth close to it's asking price. Hopefully it will be easier to sell once painted. Enough of my rambling.

http://racingjunk.com/post/910923/1927-T-Roadster.html

-Tanner

[thetanman101]

i personally DO NOT recomment this car for any un-experieneced driver ( not saying you are)..and i personally will not ever own another one...

good luck to you....my advise to you is stick with a door car...( my opinion only)..
i will try to find some pics of this car and post them..i had them on here a few years back..

Brian

I know what you mean, Brian. I had a rail before the Studebaker, and hated it. It was all the pain in the a$$ of loading and unloading it, moving it around at the shop, high centering on everything everywhere. Near impossible to run one of these as a one man crew, and that is a necessity with me. Makes you miss the good days of hopping in the car and driving on and off the trailer hassle free. Hopefully these issues won't arrise with a roadster. And I've learned, if I'm not comfortable and roomy, I'm not messing with it. Takes all the fun out of a hobby and turns everything into work.

-Tanner

[curtisreed]

I just started running my roadster. Got it for a steal, $3500.00 as a roller, just had to put new 4 link brackets on the rear. I did rewire it though and looking at the add you posted I would say that car would need it also but just my opinion and not the best look at it. Hope it works out for you I know that I really like the one I have. Getting it on and off of an open trailer has been an a little bit of a hassle though. I have to jack up the front of the trailer quite a bit but that's all. Here is my racing junk, not top of the line but I like it. This was a couple of weeks before I finished it. Runs 10.0's with a mild 383.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-9/1212408/Picture001-1.jpg


Here are before and after wiring shots, so you can see why I rewired.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-9/1212408/BEFORE.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-9/1212408/IM000562.JPG



Curtis

[topsportsman1]

Nice job there Curtis,great looking car also

[curtisreed]

Thanks!

[thetanman101]

Hey Curtis, what does it weight and what gear do you have in it? Just wanna see if I can estimate what this one will do with my 355.

-Tanner

[curtisreed]

We haven't weighed it yet but the guy I got it from said it weighed about 2000 with his driver in it. It has 4.88 geared 12 bolt. I really think it might have weighed less and that they were guessing. I am going to try and weigh it this weekend we are going to a race they are running in conjunction with a heads up race and the scales will be open. I'll let you know what I find out.

Curtis

[bjuice]

Brian, the guys up here that have roadsters really seem to like them. It seems if it has a long wheelbase and well built it should not be too much of a handful. Very easy to go fast in one of those, but then you can get carried away with hp and then they get scary. Remember those fuel alterds? Those things would swing around and bite you in the butt with no warning at all....
If you want to run low9s or 8s for cheap, and have the car fit in your garage, they are the way to go... :lol:
But like you, im a doorslammer kind of guy..... :D

You are exactly right with the overkill on the HP..That is what happened with my altered....NOT FUN to drive at all...

Sam our friend from the UK was itching to get into my altered..and i would have let him if he ever made it to the states..lol

Brian

[topfool]

I nearly bought a roadster before I got the altered, I still prefer altereds, not that I am that experienced with them, sure are fun tho..

[curtisreed]

Hey tanman did you see this car? It's in Texas also.

http://www.racingjunk.com/post/944041/27-Brogie-Roadster-Must-Sell-Moving-.html

http://www.racingjunk.com/post/943945/27-Brogie-Roadster.html

Curtis

[thetanman101]

No, I hadn't seen it. Sent him a message. Looks like outside of the ladder bar vs. 4-link, it might be a better deal. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

-Tanner

[topfool]

hey brian, a couple of pics of your old altered

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/Mastsaf/brian+1.jpg

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/Mastsaf/brian2.jpg

enjoy

[bjuice]

Sam thank you for posting these pictures..since i had them taken my puter took a dump and i could not get them...thanku, thank u thank u..

that MACHINE WAS ONE BAD RIDE....

brian

[mikeaton]

wow thats a sweet ride!!! kinda makes me want one o yea i do have one ha ha ha but not that nice[im a poor boy] man o man what we do to "scare ourselfs" mike

[woodsman]

Sam thank you for posting these pictures..since i had them taken my puter took a dump and i could not get them...thanku, thank u thank u..

that MACHINE WAS ONE BAD RIDE....

brian

Brian that was a wild looking ride what would it run set up like that.

[bjuice]

maybe now since Sam posted a pic of my old altered..it will make a little more sense about all that ranting and raving i was going on earlier in the post..i assure you this thing would litterally pull your ACORNS thru your backside...lol 8) 8) ....


Brian

[woodsman]

Brian that is some kind of fast. I'll keep mine a little slower then that.

[bjuice]

Brian that is some kind of fast. I'll keep mine a little slower then that.




as it was stting there (approx 1600 hp) it would run low 4.30's at 165 mph hazing the tires and drifting really bad ( this was effortless as far as the HP was concerned) this was the 1/8.....if it could have laid down a clean pass it would have ran some 4.0's or teens....it was capable of some 3.80's leaning on it and of course a REALLY CLEAN PASS......The thing literally left like a rocket..it felt like it was pushing you out of the seat..the arm-restraints was a must........

this was the car i was going on about earlier in this post...you had to drive 200 ft ahead,,,cause you were there before you had time to think about it...


the thing to me WAS NOT fun to drive...i will be honest i was scared of it..so i guess i know my limits and DO NOT mind telling it..I WAS CLEARLY OVER MY HEAD..so i let it go...


thanks brian

[mcracecars]

Brian, that would have been a good car for your daughter to learn the ropes in when she is older..... :shock: :lol:
cool car ... but there is just something about them that makes you lose all sense of reason as you strap yourself in....

[bjuice]

yeaah for sur LOL..If we took out the motor and pulled it with the tow rope behind the 4 wheeler.....awww heck,..what not..John Force did it with his daughter....lol.... :D :shock: ..as a matter of FACT i had a picture of her in this car when she was 6 months old...but i lost that picture also when the puter crashed...

Sam if you would happen to have that pic i would appreciate you posting so i can save these pics...i thought i had lost them for good...

thanks brian

[topfool]

Brian,

I'll mail you the high res ones you sent me, I found them yesterday..

I don't think I have the one with the baby, I seem to remember it was posted in here or MSV, so if you could find that post you could possibly get a low res version back from where ever you hosted it from errrm, I'll check I may well have hosted that one for you..

laters

[topfool]

this is my altered.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/Mastsaf/final+approach.jpg


not often you see one flying so low. :lol: :wink:

[curtisreed]

Tanner,

Sorry man I didn't get to weigh my car this weekend. We had the car rolled out of the garage Thursday evening, when I started to get in the car to back it up I heard something that sounded like fluid squirting under pressure. We looked and couldn't find anything so I hopped in to move it, the brake pedal went to the floor. Master cylinder went bad sitting there. How lucky is that. The track we had decided to go to has a pretty short shutdown area.

Well I didn't get it fixed until Saturday afternoon. The previous owner had rounded the bleader screw on the drivers front caliper for me. I'll let you know as soon as I get a weight, if you don't already have a car by then.

Curtis

[thetanman101]

How common is it for roadsters to have no front brakes (spindles), dual funny car brakes on back, but only one set connected on each side?

[lively]

topfool----were you driving this when it happened!!!!---SCARY RIDE !!!!!!

[topfool]

lively,

take a look at the wild rides and wheelies post, its got a bit of video (2 mins 55 seconds in) thats the run.. No time to be scared.