Jim Walton's Wonderstory by Rodger Carruthers photos by Ecurie Phot
A RISING star among the early-model Holden brigade at Calder is 23-year-old Jim Walton, of Kenn Park, Victoria. He's taken his one-time road-going FJ and turned it into a class-winner and record-breaker to boot!
Although not invincible in Its class, E/Modiified Stock, it does have the distinction of being the fastest to date at the Calder strip. It also posed as a serious contender for the Junior Mr Holden title at SID and when we caught up with Jim he'd just finished nailing up a pair of 45mm DCOE Webers, with this particular contest in mind.
The owner's dragging experience dates back to the start of the Calder strip. At that time the present car was registered but the combination of road/race resulted in a broken crank-shaft, so Jim then opted to build the unit up into a straight drag car. In this he was initially aided by good mate and long time drag-racer, Mal Anderson, who owns the sleepiest-looking FJ that ever pulled a low-16 ET, which is just the ticket for staging traffic light surprises. Since re-building the mill, the car has proved exceptionally reliable, and 'about the only head-ache of note was a tendency to snap axles.
Rather, he felt it was a combination of things, different tyres, altered pressures and so on. The block is F1, out to 3 3/16 in. or about 140 cubes. Duggan Dramic Balancing waved their Wand over the internal reciprocating organs, then C.M.E. 12:1 dome top pistons, with Repro rings were titled.
The 'shalt was also fitted with bearing strengtheners. Cam is a Wade 140, lifting tubular pushrods and lightened rocker gear. Valves are 14 In. Inlet and 19 in. exhaust, while the head itself is the result of much labor on Jim's part. It must have been good, as he is now doing head work at home . . . witness the scribbling on the boot lid! It's had 100 thou lopped off, which is quite a clip, and a great deal of attention was paid to efficient porting. The Weber set-up is interchangeable with triple I ¾ in. SUs, which were the normal wear until the trip to SID In June. Extractors came from Drag-A-Way and are tuned length, sand-blasted and exit into Sin. dumpers. Motor Improvements worked over the distributor to improve the advance curve and AC 41Fs are the plugs fitted.
Diet is 115 Avgas supplied by an SU pump. In case of breakdown here, a duplicate fuel line has been fitted using a Toronto electric pump and the nick of a switch on the dash brings it into service. Lubricant is Wynn-spiked Valvoline, which figures as Wynns Friction Proofing is one of the three sponsors. Maximum on pressure is 45 lb se in.by the way the cooling set-up is quite unusual. The radiator is out of an MO. It has plenty of core area and a very large upper tank, and was fitted up when it was found that the normal business couldn't handle long idles in the staging lanes….. jacket along the length of the head, In each case, as near as possible to an exhaust valve. The outlet from the radiator is joined to a long I In. copper header tank, which is mounted directly above the boles. Nylon hoses connect the head and the tank together.
As Jim explained, with the normal system, circulation is pretty much restricted to the front half of the head and there's always the danger of steam pockets forming. The quintet of out-lets ensures that the coolant keeps moving at all times right down the length of the head and In doing so it forestalls the formation of steam pockets. Considerable help has been received from Norm Gown Engine Developments in bringing the milt to It’s peak, and on the same gent's dyno, with Webers fitted; 168bhp was registered as against 160 with the triple SUS. In both cases, nothing to sneeze at and quite a monumental figure for a small-bore sideplater.
Clutch is X2 and the flywheel is steel. The gearbox is stock FS with a home-built floor-change. Duggans also balanced the tailshait, which drives a 3.89 dill centre In an FS housing.
Springs up back have been re-set and run two extra leaves. Ford Mainline tellies and an En-deavour control rod comprise total traction aids. The control rod runs from the left side of the cliff housing to the front right spring shackle and another pert of the apparatus extends back from the same point (the shackle) to the axle mounting point on the spring.
Wheel centres at back are P3 cut down to 13in. Inside Sin, rims shod with 700 by 13 Bridgestone racing rubber or alternatively, similar-sized Firestone bags. Up front, small Anglia rims on FY centres keep afloat on 145 by 13 Olympic GT radials. Stoppers all have competition linings and are power boosted. Only the floor mats have been removed inside. FE hoodlinng is used and the bench seats have been re-upholstered in black trim, with special pleating for the pilot's perch. The speedo is also FE. The tacho is a Smiths unit and the cluster of vacuum oil, amp, and temp gauges are all from a GT Cortina. The steering column is shortened and accepts a Valiant wheel.
Best time for the 440 so far is a withering 15.47, which bettered the old record held by Don Toffolon's Zephyr by about a tenth of a second. Sponsorship comes the owner's way through Wynns, Norm Gown and }Inver Gaskets. The head gasket is a triple-layer number of that make. Jim has no high-falutin' ideas about the car's appearance, but from the outside it still looks quite the nice Jay, although certainly no show-stopper. Which isn't surprising, as this one's built strictly for go. Finish Is in white, with maroon striping from head to foot. And if you're one of those fans who reckon "all them I' Hoidens look the same", then just remember they don't all GO the same . . . Jim Walton's :/MS charger is proof of that! '
To follow on from this I recently caught up with Jim ( January 2015 ) and found that it actualyl ran faster!
"It actually ended up making 179hp and 174 ft lbs and 14.9 secs..grey wowie" says Jim.
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