Our fifth season
and still going strong

5/5/05

s most of you know, we are doing two project cars for the magazine. It has been an adventure to say the least. I see these guys who race every points race, national events and big buck bracket races and wonder what they have for a job and where they find the energy to get everything prepared.

The 2005 race season will be the fifth year we have done tech features with “Project 4-Link”. We have enjoyed some great relationships with our marketing partners and that aspect is growing every year. For the 2005 season we have several feature articles scheduled. TCI transmissions and converters, Jesel Rocker Arm Systems and MSD will be the first three products we showcase.

This month we will deal with the selection of a transmission for our 950 H.P. 572” Mopar. I contacted TCI and talked to Stan Poff about the Top Dragster transmission I had seen in one of their ads. The thought of running a much stronger aftermarket case, the 1.80 straight cut gear set, the gerator front pump and the professional assembly convinced me that TCI had the transmission I was looking for. It took a couple calls and sending him my dyno sheet when we started discussing torque converters. He asked me what my “plans” were as far as the type of events I was going to and so forth. We decided one of their 9.5” units would be the best choice for consistency and durability. I am not running the pro-tree anymore and getting the 840 ft. lbs. of torque off the start line consistently was my main concern. I’ll fill you guys in on the results next month as we have not been to the track yet.

The TCI Top Dragster powerglide starts out as a new Dedenbear case with a rear shorty-kit for my four-link dragster. After inspecting the transmission case the assembly begins. The TCI technicians use a complete set of TCI seals, gaskets, clutches, steels, their own design Gerotor front pump, their own 10 clutch high gear drum, Top Dragster valve body, low-amp transbrake solenoid, dual ring servo with billet cover and finned aluminum trans oil pan. The technicians then dyno test the transmissions to check for line pressures and function. When you receive one of these transmissions they are ready to bolt in and start racing.

This is how we received the complete TCI transmission. Other than cooler lines it was ready to go. The Dedenbear case has the SFI trans-shield built right into the case so there is no external shield needed.

TCI’s Gerotor front pump will insure enough pressure to apply the transbrake fast and solid to prevent the car from “rocking” when the brake is applied. It is all new construction and will be more reliable than a rebuilt stock type pump.