My first Modified... have questions

[mudeater18]

Getting the Bert out now, motor will be next. The Carb and Distributor have Gene Nichols sticker ID on them. A google search comes up with a few personal racer home pages who use either one or both item on the car but no web site specifically for Gene. Anyone have any information on these pieces?

As far as the Bert goes, they have a video on their site that covers a re-build, are there any other videos out there? Seems that a rebuild is in order for each season so I figure its worth learning how to do it myself.

Steve

The Berts are a little tricky to rebuild and require a few specialty tools. You can usually have them gone through for $100 plus parts. There should be no need to rebuild them each year. Unless they're mis-used, you should get at least 2-3 seasons out of your rebuild.

[moose52]

100.00 plus the kit? Sounds like a good deal. Got an email or web site? Speaking of parts where do most get replacement parts and supplies for your modifieds?

Steve

[mudeater18]

100.00 plus the kit? Sounds like a good deal. Got an email or web site? Speaking of parts where do most get replacement parts and supplies for your modifieds?

Steve

No specific builders but here is a thread on the subject. I seen that priced mentioned on here several times before.
http://www.4m.net/showthread.php?274...t=bert+rebuild

[JustAddDirt]

Pm sent to Moose 52

[Wayne 0'NO]

Agree a re-build is the best way to go from here. There are some things I am finding that I would like to change. Things as simple as the fuel line from cell to pump is rubber. I always ran 1/2 hard line on the drag cars. As I mentioned the shifter is mounted to a thin sheetmetal shelf and has a lot of play. So I want to change that. I also like the idea of standardization of the hardware and tools. Color code is awesome idea. Very lean manufacturing.... I like that! And I am sure I will find a lot of other things that will surprise me. Also like the slogan "Never under estimate the power of vibrating nuts". Might put that on a shirt.

Steve

I would stick with the rubber hose too i have never ran the hhard line but would think it may ctack with all the vibration and flexing these chassis see and if you have a problem at the track with the push lock stuff you are more likely to find someone that has spare parts you can barrow or replace it u dont have them?

Have to thank you all for the quick responses, I know its much easier to glance over a newbie post and his questions and that it takes time to compose a post. So thank you all! I've belonged to several forums from Drag Racing to Film/Indy film stuff and this group beats them all by a mile. Cavemod and Wildcard22, thank you for the block number information! It will help when ordering parts to have some idea of the block info. Dirttrackrocker has it right in that I wanted to buy as near a turn key car to simply get the seat time before getting to far into it. JS11 has it right in that my plan is seat time with the current car, sell the drag car and support gear and then move forward with a ford powered car. I would certainly say I bleed ford blue, but my favorite car was a 1956 belair. Just like to be different with the Ford drag cars. Will be the same with the next modified.

The shifter as mounted in the car is on very thin sheetmetal, so you don't get the most accurate feel for what neutral is in any gear. I did a google search for Bert Shift pattern and got a decent image what levers go where and more important where the forks out of the trans should be. Currently low and high work fine. Reverse is 'stuck' in neutral as seen from under the car. have not really cranked on it. But I will take your advice and pull it for a re-build. Also noticed while under the car there is not a cross member trans mount. A search of 4m brings up several posts on this. Most suggest a support for OEM bell's and that its not needed for Bert/Brinn style aftermarket bells. So I think that should be on the list as well, along with a more solid mount for the shifters.

You guys say pull the motor, out comes the motor. The list of internals the previous owners gave me sounds good, but never hurts to check things out and as Dirtrackrocker mentioned, its about the seat time. Better to not be chasing leaking rear main seals and weak springs when there are more important things to worry about, like learning to drive.

One last question, on the side of the dash board where you might mount the bias gages there is a thin aluminum plate with 4 LED lights in it, to the side is a female jack plug. Looks like the kind you would plug a headphone jack into. Wire tied to the bias crank is a 9V battery. Any idea on what this is? Communication? Its pretty much self contained and not wires to anything else on the car.

Thanks again for all the help, can't tell you how nice it is to have a resource for questions on the car and set-up.

Thanks,

Steve

Were you thinking about adding a brace to the back of the transmission? With the flexs these cars get it could break more than you save i havent seen a mod with a trans brace in years.

when going through the car make sure every heim joint moves free but dosent have to much play. Also pull the bird cages if they have the nylon liners and clean them really good get all of the old greas and dirt out of them and probably replace the nylon liners just to be safe make sure when it goes back togather the cages will spin freely all the way around and pull them apart every 2heim or 3replace races and clean them. if it has the bering cages rotate them feel for rough sopts in the berings that could cause a bind under a load.

Have all the springs rated at a local race shop the ones around me do it for free so i cant imangine it costing much if they charge in your area. It is a good way to find iif you have a spring going bad or if they are un marked what you have. Take apart your pullbar and coil elimnators and clean and grease/oil them and do that everu 2 to 3 races

Check all the shocks for bent shafts oil leaks make sure there are no rough spots when you move them in and out ect ... make sure that there is no way for them to contacct the upper A frame some times you have to run them with the shaft to the top th get the clearanc you need check all the ball joints and steering to be sure they are straight
hope this helped

[moose52]

Got the trans out of the car. My initial problem of the trans not going into reverse? Not a problem with the trans out. With the side plate removed everything looks good. Reverse gear which I've read takes a lot of damage looked new. Clutch compression also looks good. So here is my question, the trans seems very "touchy" as far as low, high and neutral and reverse neutral so much that's it's real easy to overshoot both neutrals. With the shifter mounted to the trans tunnel sheet metal there is a TON of play. So two questions;

1) is there a way to adjust the shifter rods beyond the spring loaded balls so you can't over shift it?

2) if I cant do the above would a trans mounted shifter allow better settings of the limits on the throws through the shifter?

I'm not looking to over engineer this but the current setup is like a stick in butter.

Steve

[moose52]

I would stick with the rubber hose too i have never ran the hhard line but would think it may ctack with all the vibration and flexing these chassis see and if you have a problem at the track with the push lock stuff you are more likely to find someone that has spare parts you can barrow or replace it u dont have them?


Were you thinking about adding a brace to the back of the transmission? With the flexs these cars get it could break more than you save i havent seen a mod with a trans brace in years.

when going through the car make sure every heim joint moves free but dosent have to much play. Also pull the bird cages if they have the nylon liners and clean them really good get all of the old greas and dirt out of them and probably replace the nylon liners just to be safe make sure when it goes back togather the cages will spin freely all the way around and pull them apart every 2heim or 3replace races and clean them. if it has the bering cages rotate them feel for rough sopts in the berings that could cause a bind under a load.

Have all the springs rated at a local race shop the ones around me do it for free so i cant imangine it costing much if they charge in your area. It is a good way to find iif you have a spring going bad or if they are un marked what you have. Take apart your pullbar and coil elimnators and clean and grease/oil them and do that everu 2 to 3 races

Check all the shocks for bent shafts oil leaks make sure there are no rough spots when you move them in and out ect ... make sure that there is no way for them to contacct the upper A frame some times you have to run them with the shaft to the top th get the clearanc you need check all the ball joints and steering to be sure they are straight
hope this helped

I was not thinking about a brace, just using the existing rear trans tabs and the frame tabs. The Bert is shorter so I was thinking of a custom mount. Something with urethane to provide some amount of flex. I'm using a stock bell. the little info Ive read says no mount with a Bert bell, but yes mount with a stock bell.

Good points on the shocks, both rears have nice dents in the body. Going to go through the suspension pieces once the trans goes back in.

Steve

[mudeater18]

With the shifter mounted to the trans tunnel sheet metal there is a TON of play. So two questions;

1) is there a way to adjust the shifter rods beyond the spring loaded balls so you can't over shift it?

One way to help is make sure the shifter/tunnel is very solid with no movement. I like using 1/8" or more alum for the tunnel instead of .040 body sheet metal (you'll be glad you did when you sling a driveshaft too!)

After its solidly mounted, try using different holes to mount your linkage rods at the bottom of the shifter (it should have 3 or 4 options), find a balance between the leverage and amount of throw that works best. Also make sure the rods aren't able to touch each other which maybe moving them both when you shift one.

[Wayne 0'NO]

I would agree with making a stiffer tunnel to mount the shifter i used the thin stuff on my car last year and had alot of slop too im going to use 3/16 dimond plate for my new one so it will be stiffer and look good too lol

[moose52]

I would agree with making a stiffer tunnel to mount the shifter i used the thin stuff on my car last year and had alot of slop too im going to use 3/16 dimond plate for my new one so it will be stiffer and look good too lol

Yup, I hear ya brother! After reading several posts on here about U joint/drive shaft failures and the idea of only .040 aluminum between my leg and a spinning piece of metal I plan to put some plate on the top and side of the trans tunnel. Should help with the shifter mount and provide a little extra protection.

Steve

[loneranger155]

The LEDs are for air fuel ratio monitoring. Should be a button on the wheel you can activate while running and will hold the reading until you can check it in the pits. Check the C&S Carb website . It will have all the info you need on it. Nice little device to monitor if you are right with carb jetting.

[CanMod3d]

I am new also.....my chassis builder told me to run a 4 easy up on the right rear. Would I notice a difference with a 3 -3 ? I'm new to these cars and not sure how much a difference it would make to someone who doesn't know what the car should feel like.