Fender Oil in a Racing Superbird?

[nitrometal]

Maybe this is like blinker fluid or something?

So, I'm flipping through an old issue of Stock Car Racing, October 1970 and I see something odd in the photo with Butch Hartman's Daytona in the background on page 24.  To me it looks like a crewman is pouring a can of oil into the top rear section of the front fender.  I have never noticed an opening in that area before.  Can anyone explain what he's doing?

I've scanned and blown up the area. Hopefully you can see what I'm talking about because I had to reduce them down to 200kb.  If not PM me and I'll send you the full size scan.

Puzzled Phil

[Ghoste]

A dry sump tank filler?

[nitrometal]

That's what I thought, but if you look close it looks like he's going directly into a hole in the top of the fender and like I said,  I've never noticed an opening or cap there before.

[hotrod98]

Isn't that a pic of the right rear quarter with the engine cowling up?

[Aero426]

There can be a dry sump or remote oil tank located there.   There is a photo of a Cotton Owens Daytona being built that has a tank mounted in the left inner fender.

[A383Wing]

Isn't that a pic of the right rear quarter with the engine cowling up?

I see a front fender scoop...and oil going in behind it

[nitrometal]

There can be a dry sump or remote oil tank located there.   There is a photo of a Cotton Owens Daytona being built that has a tank mounted in the left inner fender.

There is?  So there would be a cap there with a filler neck below going to a remote tank?
I have never seen it before.  If someone has a photo, I'd love to see it!

Were some of the teams starting to use dry sump oiling systems in 1970? Was it even legal?  The rule book is so vague it doesn't mention if you can or not.

[hotrod98]

Now I see what you're talking about. Never seen that before.

[Aero426]

There can be a dry sump or remote oil tank located there.   There is a photo of a Cotton Owens Daytona being built that has a tank mounted in the left inner fender.

There is?  So there would be a cap there with a filler neck below going to a remote tank?
I have never seen it before.  If someone has a photo, I'd love to see it!

Were some of the teams starting to use dry sump oiling systems in 1970? Was it even legal?  The rule book is so vague it doesn't mention if you can or not.

Dry sump was legal in 1970.    Not everybody ran it, but some did.  The #7 Superbird has an auxiliary oil tank in the trunk, but I am told it never ran a dry sump.   It had a pump that could be turned on and put some additional oil into the engine if desired.  

[Aero426]

Here is a photo of the auxiliary oil tank.   It is the black box behind the fuel cell.   It is not currently functional,  but the lines follow into the interior of the car to a small pump and then terminate under the dashboard.    Photo courtesy of www.legendarycollectorcars.com

[Highbanked Hauler]

It looks like the No.6 Daytona has the oil tank right behind the drivers seat.

[Aero426]

It looks like the No.6 Daytona has the oil tank right behind the drivers seat.

There is a dry sump tank behind the driver seat.  The braided lines run to the bottom side of the engine.   You can also see a separate line coming from the left inner fender area into the left valve cover.  So there has to be something else in the fender well.

[Aero426]

The real #88 has a dry sump tank in the left fender.   There is a small round cover on top of the fender with three Dzus fasteners to gain access.  The original front clip will be going back onto the car when finished.  

[learical1]

I vaguely remember something about Cotton Owens having the oil cooler in the left fender.  When #6 cut a tire, it took out the cooler and Buddy was done for the day.  I believe it was mentioned in an old Winged Warrior newsletter from the late 70's/early 80's.

[nitrometal]

The real #88 has a dry sump tank in the left fender.   There is a small round cover on top of the fender with three Dzus fasteners to gain access.  The original front clip will be going back onto the car when finished.  

They had Dzus fasteners then?  Or was that a modification that the original front clip doesn't have?

[Aero426]

The original fenders have the round lid secured with dzus fasteners.   

[Aero426]

Here is a shot of the #5 Nichels Road Runner / Superbird from 1972.   The car has the standard Road Runner front clip on it, and above the "ich" of the Nichels fender decal, there is a removable panel to get to the oil tank.    This car also had a wiper peg and squirter that can be seen on the driver side.   It ran once or twice on dirt and spent the rest of the year on pavement as a Superbird.   Ray ran the car with leftover Mopar components out of his own pocket that season with Bobby Unser as the driver.   These were years of transition for Nichels as witnessed by the GM cars under construction in the background.

[rustafarian]

Was Nichels running a 429 in a RoadRunner/SuperBird?

[Aero426]

Was Nichels running a 429 in a RoadRunner/SuperBird?

The rules limit at the time was 430 ci.   Ford ran a 429.  Nichels started putting 429 on their fenders since that was the limit and it then appeared the same as the Fords.

[moparstuart]

Was Nichels running a 429 in a RoadRunner/SuperBird?

The rules limit at the time was 430 ci.   Ford ran a 429.  Nichels started putting 429 on their fenders since that was the limit and it then appeared the same as the Fords.

Rays jedi mind trick LOL 

[Aero426]

Here is a photo of a Cotton Owens Daytona showing the left cowl area dry sump tank.   The fill cap is attached to the top reinforcement bar extending from the firewall.

[learical1]

Was Nichels running a 429 in a RoadRunner/SuperBird?

The rules limit at the time was 430 ci.   Ford ran a 429.  Nichels started putting 429 on their fenders since that was the limit and it then appeared the same as the Fords.

and by stating this on the hood, he could legally run a .020 over Hemi.

[Aero426]

Here's the oil fill hole on top of the #88 car's fender.   The smaller hole at the back of the fender top is an access hole for a mounting bolt.  It would have metal plug painted body color inserted there.

[b5blue]

7 liters.

[learical1]

the oil fill cap on the Cotton Owens' remote tank set up would wind up under the hood, would it not?  Apparently Hartman and the engineering Daytona's dry sump tank had a different set up for location of the cap.

[Aero426]

the oil fill cap on the Cotton Owens' remote tank set up would wind up under the hood, would it not?  Apparently Hartman and the engineering Daytona's dry sump tank had a different set up for location of the cap.

I believe you are correct.   The photo is only representative of the type of tank used. 

[nitrometal]

Thanks for digging up those photos Doug.  I've seen or even heard of this set-up in those cars.
Yet another mystery solved by the wealth of information on this website.  I thought I was seeing things!

[mauve66]

Here is a shot of the #5 Nichels Road Runner / Superbird from 1972.   The car has the standard Road Runner front clip on it, and above the "ich" of the Nichels fender decal, there is a removable panel to get to the oil tank.    This car also had a wiper peg and squirter that can be seen on the driver side.   It ran once or twice on dirt and spent the rest of the year on pavement as a Superbird.   Ray ran the car with leftover Mopar components out of his own pocket that season with Bobby Unser as the driver.   These were years of transition for Nichels as witnessed by the GM cars under construction in the background.

thats still not a superbird , no fender scoop and no pointed nose and the hood has a raised lump in the middle of it

[Ghoste]

He did say standard Road Runner front clip.

[mauve66]

He did say standard Road Runner front clip.

damn, i blame it on the turkey dressing dripping into my eye.....................................

[Aero426]

Below is the "rest of the story" on the Butch Hartman oil fill.     The tale is told by Don Moody who is a member of DSAC and Winged Warriors.    Don spent a year or so on the Butch Hartman crew and in fact is the man filling the dry sump system.   I will let Don take up the story below the photo...



"Yep,  That's me.  I was wearing my Scat Pack Tee shirt.  A funny story goes along with that picture.  I was told how many quarts of oil to put in that tank, and that's what I was doing.  I think it was the first race that we had the dry sump system in place, superspeedway and all.  Any way--when Butch started the engine to check everything out - this huge volume of fresh, clean oil started to bubble and burp out of the fill opening and proceeded to stream onto the floor of the garage!  So there I am watching something I know can't be right and all I could do was throw shop towels into the growing puddle of oil and act like we did that all the time. It was embarrassing to say the least !  I'm not sure what caused that to happen.  I don't think we changed the engine that day.  Maybe air in the lines ? Told me too much oil ?  Just not familiar with the system ?  I remember at some time that season Dick (Hartman) and Butch found out that Chrysler/Nichels had told them to plumb the oil cooler a certain way and later they found out that they were told to do it backwards so it was doing no cooling at all.  Dick and Butch always thought the "Factory" was trying to make them look bad in some way because they would run so well.  That's why Dick had "Independently Owned" painted on the fender.  Thanks for the scan.  I looked for my copy but I have too many boxes of magazines to go through and will have to do that later.  But that is the photo I was thinking of.  I remember how surprised I was when that issue came out.  I knew who it was, but again--no face time !

[nitrometal]

Thanks for posting up Don's story, Doug.  That was an amusing anecdote.  I've wondered if the factory teams kept the independents in the dark.

Phil