About how much does...
 

a typical 225" to 235" hardtail dragster weigh when equipped for S/C? BBC/Powerglide combo. Also, how big of a radiator does it take to do the job? Does it come down to personal preference on upswept vs. downswept headers, or is there a performance factor?

One more question. Will a dragster of that length fit reasonably well in a 24' trailer that has cabinets across the front? Sorry about all the ?'s, but I'm thinking that I could slip into a digger easier than I can my door car. Not to mention how much easier it would be to work on!

Thanks for any advice. Ken

Re: About how much does...
 

Most weigh around 1900 to 2000 lbs, most of your digger builders have there own radiator's (sizes )
headers are a preference, most friends like the downswepts, A 235" will not fit in a 24' trailer with cabnets.

Re: About how much does...
 

I actually found a dragster harder to work on. Plus, depending on the floor height of your trailer, you might have to jack up the front of the trailer quite a bit in order to get it out of the trailer, or get a dolly for the front of the dragster. Fitting it in a 24' trailer will be tough. We used a 24' trailer for about 2 races, then went and bought a 32' Featherlite. It fit in the 24', but we didn't have cabinets up front. You could always open a cabinet door and drive the nose into it if you can. One nice thing about them, is that they are narrow enough that you don't even have to take the car out of the trailer to work on it. But finding enough room in the garage for winter storage can be difficult.

Re: About how much does...
 

Ken

My 239" hard tail dragster with and aluminum headed big block, glide,an aluminum sirocco (3" thick) radiator , an alternator, one optmia battery and a mark williams rear end housing with a 250# driver weighs 1840# after a pass. I haven't seen any performance difference in upswept or down swept headers the up swept headers can get rocks in them ocassionally as the tires pick up gravel and throw it at the header. but the down swept has a potential to put oil in front of the rear tire if you break a motor. The down swept also have a potential to fit some door car (strut suspension) applications which helps their re-sale potential.

A typical dragster (>240") will fit in a 24' trailer but you will need to lose the front center cabinet as the nose of the car will end up very close to the front wall of the trailer, in the past when I had to borrow a 24' trailer I built a ramp and removed the door of the center cabinet to allow my car to fit. the biggest problem with dragsters/trailers is ground clearance especially if the trailer has a "dove tail" this can require longer ramps on the door, jacking up the trailer to load the car and or a dragster dolly wich raises the front of the car for loading. Since my trailer has a "dove tail" I use a dolly and a winch which makes it possible for me to load and unload the car by myself. (My next trailer will not have a dove tail!) I have seen dozens of different approaches to this particular problem.

They are easier to "slip in to", but they may be a littler tougher to exit from.
They are easier to work on (get ya a couple of milk crates)
You can definately see better and judge the finish line better
However they are a pain in the *** to back up in or try to turn around.

You definately need a chassis stabilizer to prevent damaging or breaking the chassis while towing down the highway.

If you have any more questions you can e-mail me at Greatbaer@sbcglobal.net

Re: About how much does...
 

Bryan, JJ, Bill; thanks very much for the replies. Looks like I may be high-centered (pun intended) before I get started. A bigger trailer is probably not within my budget. These little tips are great because you don't want to find them out after it's too late. Maybe the most pertinent one is how a dragster may not fit in a garage. I guess I'll see what happens. Thanks again.

Re: About how much does...
 

Our 225" hardtail weighs 1805 with a 130lb driver. A radiator is included with most rollers, our has a 13" fan, to give you an idea of size. We run upswept because of looks alone. There are those who will tell you that you lose an mph or two because of the wind resistance of the upswepts, but that's debatable.

We put ours in a 28' trailer, with plenty of room behind for a quad (sideways), so you could get it into a 24' if you (as others noted) left out the center front cabinet -- like our trailer is outfitted.

Make sure you can get in/out of the car, lots of folks find dragsters harder to get in and out of. Very much a personal preference thing. I think working on a dragster is quite easy, I love the open access. But there certainly is far less place to "stash" things, both in the engine area and the driver's compartment. Want to have a place for your air gauge? Might be tricky to find a spot in a dragster vs. a door car. And so on...

HTH,
Chris

Re: About how much does...
 

I guess my experience working on a dragster, some might not have had the pleasure of doing. We had a lifter collapse, which took out the cam. Instead of just removing the radiator like you would on a door car, you have to pull the seat out, plus the panel that's behind the seat. We ran a vacuum pump and an accumulator, so that stuff all had to be removed because it was mounted behind the seat as well. Also, you have to be careful in the pits at some tracks. If the pits are hilly, you might get hung up. At Indy, the west side pits are also used as a road course, so there are a couple spots that dragsters, who's owners aren't familiar with the facility get hung up on. Eventually, I would like to get another dragster, I miss the speed. And they are much easier to drive.

Re: About how much does...
 

I'm running a Dan Page 235" hardtail..... BB with a Glide..... in S/C trim with me in it, it weighs 1750..... I'm usually somewhere between 185 and 195.... we have it in a 32ft gooseneck that has 26ft on the deck.... cabinets are located on the sidewall.... I really don't think I would even try it in a 24ft space.....

Re: About how much does...
 

I have a 225in dragster fits in a 24 NO problems no cabs in front all on the sides or above nose of dragster--Car weighs 965lb with a glide and 4 cyl add 200 for me with driving suit etc total of 1165--with an alum head SB chevy it goes about1365 w/driver---about 3-4 feet space behind rear tires and ramp door- not enuf for a golf cart--go for a 28 if you can afford it you will never be sorry--Comp 387