Captain Nitrous And Mr Terrific

Good to be Back

IT'southward BEEN RETIRED AND REVIVED TWICE BUT OLD FJS NEVER DIE, DO THEY?

Source: Street Machine Hotrod Ledgends January 2008
Website: http://www.streetmachine.com.au/
Author: David Cook
Photos: Peter Bateman

In the early 1980s drag racing enthusiast Bob Hamilton used to effort to work each morn by a blueish together with silver FJ called Mr Terrific, He knew the auto from the drag scene too had a soft place for classic Hoidens. One twenty-four hours he decided he wanted it, and so he approached the possessor, Rob Sloan, who'd launched its racing career inwards 1969. Rob had been drafted into the ground forces soon later that as well as when he finished his national service he married. In 1977 the FJ was retired.

Despite that, Rob refused to sell only Bob persisted, promising to retain the spirit of its creation, in addition to eventually got his style.

Bob bought Mr Terrific minus its motor too gearbox, planning to drib inwards the nitrous motor from his street FJ, merely Rob presently offered the missing parts as well as Bob was happy to have them.

"His sideplate reflected the engineering inwards the belatedly 60s only nosotros gave it a go. I swapped the Torana gearbox for an Opel iv-speed, together with fitted a 100hp nitrous kit to the triple Strombergs."

The auto ran inward depression 14s merely the depression-ratio Opel 'box caused the front wheels to bounce inwards beginning together with instant and he was in height by half rails.

Bob as well changed Mr Terrific to Captain Nitrous — so subtly that nobody noticed for three events. Otherwise the torso remained every bit it came, inward lace-painted Monza Blue, merely it'sec the minute crush on the auto. The get-go was lost inward the early 70s when it blew an crude job, coated the tyres together with went sideways into a pole patch testing on a tranquillity street.

"The damage wasn't too bad just inward those days there were heaps of FJ bodies about and so it was tossed away for a novel beat out;' Bob says. The interior yet has its red carpeting, dark deer-hide buckets too buttoned panels on the door trims; Bob was more than concerned with mechanical improvements.

The double-diaphragm Holden clutch had enough of lock-upwardly merely it made his leg milk shake from the pedal try on the start-line of work, then he replaced it alongside a paddle-clutch, using four sintered copper pads. The fifteen-inch Globes and small slicks were replaced past steel rims amongst 29x1 0x15 Firestone slicks. The Strombergs were swapped for a prepare of triple i i/two in SUs.

"It had lumpy-summit pistons and they were limiting the flaming travel," Bob says. "I told Ron Richards I wanted to work 12s because everyone said a sideplate couldn't do it. He said we'd never make it amongst our cylinder head, that we'd necessitate 300hp, too spell nosotros could punch it inward with nitrous, nosotros couldn't become it out.

"In 1983 I bought several grey heads for Ron to cutting upwardly then nosotros could try inwardness shifts together with come across where we could go alongside it. Ron Harrop too Ron Richards had this thought to purpose smaller valves closer together as well as at a more than perpendicular angle to mimic a Hemi menstruation pattern.

"We did almost $3500 of function on that caput. We blanked the valve guides as well as re-drilled them all at the angle we wanted. A sideplatehead is total of water jackets and has a dumbbell-shaped combustion bedroom; we had to set inward copper wire 0-rings as well as they ended upwards looking like a map of Tasmania as they swerved about obstacles. They had to live cut by paw on a pantograph — it took iv weekends. We switched from head bolts to studs, and went to vii/16in cycle nuts combined alongside a copper caput gasket to go the sealing needed:'

Bob retained Rob'sec dwelling-made roller rockers in addition to the Mallory ringlet, merely the distributor was rebuilt to standard specifications (alongside vacuum advance removed) and locked at nearly fifteen degrees because he didn't take much advance when using the nitrous.

They sorted through a lot of blocks before they found 1 they could bore to iii i/4in. Most would only go to iii 3/16in earlier breaking through a cylinder wall due to nitty-gritty shifts. They weighed blocks, knowing extra weight meant extra material. The donk finished upwardly at 155 cubes.

"We went through plenty cranks to supply letterbox stands for the entire street:' Bob says. "They broke on the mag betwixt v in addition to half dozen when y'all backed off at the complete. We finished with a measure-weight steel flywheel bolted to a scissure-tested touchstone crank alongside six V8 bolts as well as enough of Loctite.

"We tried every grade of harmonic balancer, fifty-fifty a Massey-Ferguson tractor piece, earlier nosotros settled for a criterion unit of measurement amongst new safety in addition to a bolt into the finish of the crank to unload the keyway. I exclusively went through three blocks just did a lot of cranks."

International truck pushrods were used as they were lighter in addition to larger diameter; Chev greyness and white dual springs kept it together at 7000rpm. The Wade cam was driven past a Bosch fibre cam gear — replaced at every rebuild.

In 1984 Bob switched to methanol and tuner John Kean used a quarter-inch drill to bore out the SU main jets.

"It sounded totally different, in addition to afterwards recalibrating the nitrous for alcohol, times dropped to 13.2:' Bob says.

The sidey right away made 250hp too broke iv Opel 'boxes, and then Bob went to an Australian four-speed amongst a standard H-design shift.

By the tardily 80s he'd function 13.007 later lots of tuning just he couldn't cleft that 12. He tried an electronic sequencer for the nitrous, giving the automobile 50hp off the business, 100hp inwards third together with 150 ponies in pinnacle, easing in the ability. That dropped the wheelstanding car to a tantalising thirteen.001!

In January 1989, at Willowbank, Bob decided plenty was enough. He gave the former daughter the full 150hp from become to whoa.

"The motorcar exploded off the line. I had to fight it all the style. At the terminate of the function I idea that if it hadn't run it, it never would. When I got to the pits the guys were going wild. It'd work 12.98. Apart from a 24-hour interval at Lakeside'sec eighth-mile in 1994, I haven't raced it since. It toll me $12,000 to operate a 12 simply it was worth it!'

Parked at the dorsum of Bob'second work for the next 18 years, the FJ got the occasional nudge from the forklifts.

"I was going to repaint it in addition to pass it to 1 of my sons as a daily driver only this deputation of racers together with pit crew told me that while I power own the automobile, I was but its caretaker and had no correct to alter its graphic symbol. I decided they were right and then it sat at that place until nostalgia racing came along. I had such a ball I decided to drag the FJ out once again":

He parked the grey motor too went to a undercover novel 199ci Holden half dozen combo. It uses approximately of the erstwhile grayness bits in addition to just about others developed by Ron Richards in the mid-80s that were never used.

It's taken a fleck of endeavor by Karl Zerner together with John Koolbanis to put the new-erstwhile engine together in addition to arrive function merely they're looking for 400hp. If it runs a 12 this fourth dimension, Hamilton reckons it'll live by accident.

"These days it's all most having fun together with putting on a present. If that'sec what we do and so Captain Nitrous will live back inward the spotlight where it belongs"

NITROUS has played a large part in Bob Hamilton'sec interest amongst cars. As a chemist he'd begun mucking most amongst the gas inward 1968, when few people hither understood it for vehicular function, "Some people claim I just pulled an American unit apart in addition to copied it," Bob says, "merely I worked this all out myself long before the Yankee-kits were around' He started Precision Nitrous together with handled the giggle gas needs of a number of record-holding racers too equally the GM diesel-powered Bandag Bullet inwards the 1980s. He fifty-fifty developed a unique combo of carbon dioxide in addition to nitrous that produces more than ability with less nitrous! His chemic skills were too applied to the development of Launch Traction Compound, to relieve having to "rev the call up" out of the FJ earlier each go. These days Hamilton'sec business organization ventures have expanded " much further too fund vii nostalgia ieacersistreet cruisers, including a Hemi-powered '57 DeSoto Fireflyte 2-door, several early XY Fords alongside more than than 650hp each, and around quality German language iron. He all the same has his master copy twe-musical note blue FJ streeter. It runs impressive 12.8s at the nostalgia drags alongside the assistance of a stock 400hp BMW M3 manufactory.