Tom Dicktakes
And His Amazing Twin
Overhead Cam Donovan
This Article was written by Dean Seavers and originally appeared in "Rust" magazine.
Tom Dicktakes (pronounced Dick-Tack-Ess) is a busy man. He’s a man with a mission and has been for nearly 40 years. When I first approached Tom about doing this interview, he was reluctant because he mostly didn’t want his work to go above the radar screen and have folks drop by his shop to see how things were going. Not that he minds folks being interested in his project, it’s just that he’s afraid of being distracted from working on it. What is the project you say? Brace yourself fellow gearheads, Tom has done what most of us only invent in those late night bench-racing sessions when we discuss the sure-fire way to build a better mousetrap. Of course, with most- nee- nearly all of us, those grand schemes evaporate by morning into a vague memory and an entry in our “wishful thinking” or “BS” accounts. Tom has designed and built his own top fuel dragster motor. Yeah- read that again. Savor it. Let it sink in… get this- he’s done it in a single car garage with no CNC machinery or AutoCAD programs and most importantly, no budget. He’s a regular working stiff who at times has to save for months to purchase the elusive part that will further develop his combo. It’s all been moved forward on sheer determination, a lathe and a mill, and a lot of sweat equity. The capper? He’s been plugging away on it for 40 years to perfect the design. You get guys like Jocko Johnson who design an alternative and then shop around for sponsorship to give them an R&D budget before even thinking of switching on a mill or lathe or buying a block of aluminum. Not Tom. He went for it simply because he had to- the idea wouldn’t stay dormant and the challenge wouldn’t go away. Budgets be damned.
Cam Drive System shows just one of the
many obstacles Tom had to overcome
Tom’s motor is based on a 392 Chrysler Hemi, but where the difference is, instead of one camshaft in the block, he’s designed and build heads that have dual overhead camshafts in each head. Multiply that by two, and you have a 4-cam Hemi at the end of the day. Only one other group that I know of has come up with the same configuration, made for the same application (a nitromethane burning top fuel dragster) and that was a group of Australians by the name of McGee. Before the advent of their “quad” they had years and years of camshaft manufacturing experience and much more fiscal horsepower and technology at their disposal. But it worked. It worked so well that NHRA banned them under the auspices that the McGee quad wasn’t a motor that is found in a regular automotive application, and NHRA wanted to preserve their factory ties. Never mind that since the early 1970’s, other than a small handful of stalwarts, no one in the nitro ranks has run anything other than a Hemi. A funny car could have a Chevrolet Corvette or Ford Mustang body on it, but pop the lid and those tell-tale valve covers with the centrally located spark plugs give the game away. Also interesting is the fact that from the early 70’s-on, the motors have been completely custom built, only based on the venerable 392 or 426 Chrysler with nary a factory part number to be found anywhere on the things. Regular automotive application? Hmmm…
Although not a thing of beauty, YET.
This is truly innovation at its best
I first came across Tom in 1979 or 80 at a Governor’s Cup
Funny Car meet at Sacramento Raceway. I was around 13 years old and what is
affectionately known in the drag racing world as a “pit rat.” I’d be the
first in the gate at the crack of dawn so I could nose around the pits and look
at all the cool stuff- and I made it a point to look at everything -from the most lowly bracket car to the touring pros that
passed through on the match race circuit. Being a kid and not having much
worldly experience to know any better, I’d pester drivers and crews with all
the inane questions that they could possibly stand while they desperately tried
to work on the car and get ready to make a run that would count.
Tom showed up at the Governor’s Cup. He was driving a
beat to hell mid-60's Dodge power wagon and had an amazingly skinny and equally
beat to hell enclosed trailer. Being a bona-fide pit rat, it naturally piqued my
interest. So I wandered over, wondering "what in the world could be in such
a skinny trailer?" He dropped the rear gate to the trailer and here was
this mid-to-late 70's John Shoemaker dragster with passenger car tires put on
the back so he could get the car in the thing. The slicks were in the bed of the
truck. No money for a new paint job, so Duct tape blocked out John Shoemaker’s
name and the sponsors. He was alone, so I offered to help and he took it. It
ended up being an amazingly cool day. For the first time, I felt what it was
like to be a part of something bigger than myself, and to get a little piece of
what it was like to actually live out your dream rather than to just simply talk
about it.
That day, Tom and his pit crew (which consisted of a couple
of ringers from other teams and a few warm bodies who like me, had offered to
help on the spot) spent until probably midnight trying to fire the motor so he
could make a check out pass. He didn't get the motor fired that time out, but to
this day it was one of my best memories of being at the drags ever.
It was the embodiment of everything I ever thought was cool about drag racing in
the old days. If you could think it up and build it, go for it. You’ve got a
place to try your ideas out. It hit me that this is what it must've been like in
the early days when regular guys were building all kinds of new combos in their
garages and going into uncharted territory. It was a spirit that was
intoxicating, and to me, is sorely missing nowadays.
Tom and I sat down for about an hour and a half and I had the chance to ask him some questions about his endeavor.
Tom 'Lights the Hides" on his
very unique dragster. Chassis is a former John
Shoemaker Car
Rust: Tom, I want to go back to the beginning- when and how did you get interested in drag racing?
“Well, it probably evolved from junior high school. I took shop and I kinda built an airplane motor- you know, with piston and rods and all that…and so I kinda had an interest since I was real young. Drag racing seemed like a thing to do next because I couldn’t build an airplane necessarily! (laughs) I got this car, a 1929 Ford from a guy in high school when I was 18 years old and I enjoyed going up in the mountains and everything with it. I was goin’ up north and the Model A had the original motor in it and it wouldn’t go very fast… I was holdin’ traffic up see, and the cops would look at me so I figured, well, it was time to do something about it because I was kind of getting embarrassed. So I put a ’49 Oldsmobile in it and from there on I started getting interested in drag racing. The knack was always there. I enjoyed working with machinery and building things- and I enjoyed being in sports, I played baseball- and drag racing was part of sports, so that’s really where it started.”
Rust: What year did you conceive the 4-cam motor?
“I think it was around 1963/64- right in there. In sports in general, but in drag racing you get an overall picture (of what it takes to compete). So I figured I’d build a 4-overhead cam motor so I could compete. The cost factor was too much to put together a car using all the factory stuff.”
Rust: What was
the inspiration for the motor?
“Well, the Offy was a basic overhead cam motor- it was a nice motor, then the Ford came out later on. Overhead cams kinda went in the order of things because you can get more power out of it, and of course, you always want something that will go a little bit quicker, so I just thought I’d start with 4 overhead cams. I couldn’t figure out how to take cast iron 392 heads- because the 392 was the hot thing- I couldn’t figure out how to put 4 cams in the cast iron head. I gave it a pretty good shot, but there wasn’t any way I could convert that over.”
Rust: I’d imagine that with the way the hemi is configured and the valve angle, you couldn’t go with single overhead cam, because you’d have cam lobes that were 5 inches long!
“Well, aircraft have four valves with the cam down the center and some bikes do too, but after looking into that, I thought that I’d have to go a different way. (Ed note: that’s where the idea for creating his own 4 cam heads from scratch came from) When you’re young there’s no limits- you don’t take time as a factor. Later on it becomes a big factor and it still is, but at the time I said, I guess I’ll put this on the drawing board. I was pretty good at drafting in school- at the time I didn’t particularly know this, but if you put something on the drawing board and if it works on the drawing board, it’ll work when you transpose it in the machine shop.
That’s really how it came about. It worked on the drawing board, and I took it from there.”
Rust: So while you working on this throughout the sixties, were you still drag racing, or did you stop to devote all your time on the motor?
“Yeah, I’d race the Model A once in awhile, not too often and then I stopped. It would’ve been a lot of work involved to upgrade it and it wasn’t really that hot. I was playing baseball and working on the motor, that was about all I was doing.”
Rust: Were you
still going out to the drags to see what was going on and how things were
evolving?
“Yeah, yeah- I’d go out to the drags and I’d notice all the shiny stuff and all the work the guys were putting into them, but the fact was that I didn’t have that much money. I didn’t have any sponsorship and I didn’t think about going around asking for it, so I just continued working on the motor. In baseball you don’t need a lot of money, maybe 100 bucks and you’re set!”
Rust: Not the
case in drag racing!
“(Laughs) No…”
Rust: What has kept you going on the project? Were you ever discouraged and felt like throwing in the towel?
“Well, you know you can’t really say 100% that you’re going to do it because there’s so much that had to be done. There’s no guarantee of it working. So you can’t convince yourself that it’s gonna work 300%. As the years go on you kind of convince yourself of that though. But you have to give yourself a little leeway because it took about 40 years to get it to this stage. But if there was something mechanical, or something that should’ve been better and it had blown up at that time, it might’ve been pretty heavy.”
Rust: After the
design stage, has your approach been to tackle one thing at a time?
“Yeah, you might say that. You also have to try to try to keep up with how things have evolved too, because you’re really competing with the whole world. You try to analyze if you can think of some way to advance what’s out there, and combine the whole world’s concept of what’s out there. You have to have a knack for it- some things are that you’re just lucky that you’ve made the right decisions. That’s played a big factor- no doubt about it. In keeping up, you try to adapt. For example- about halfway through in the middle years of the concept (of the motor) they came out with dual magnetos. Now aircraft had dual mags, but they didn’t have them in racecars or drag racing. So, I didn’t particularly allow for that, but I could adapt to it-, which was lucky. So I kept up with the advancements. For example- you can drive your cams by chain, or by belt or straight cut gears or you can run helical gears. So you think, well if I can run helical gears maybe at some time I can do something more with it. It so happens that’s the way I went with it. It ended up that later on I found out that by using helical gears, I can pull a pin that will allow me to retard the cams and the magneto at the same time. It’s all because I used helical gears.”
Rust: You couldn’t have done that had you used a belt or a chain.
“Right, right…so that’s how you try to analyze and keep ahead of the competition.”
Rust: What was
your reaction when the McGee 4-cam motor came out in the mid 80’s and started
to be used in drag racing- were you bummed out or were you excited?
“No, I was kinda pleased because I knew how much work has gone into this.”
Rust: Because it
validated the idea that you’d had all those years ago?
“Yeah- you asked prior and I didn’t really answer… there were times, not when I was tempted to quit, but there were times when I went in the corner and did a lot of talking. I was glad there was no one else around! (laughs) So there’s stress at times when you can’t find solutions, and you know that you have to find a solution for it. There is some pressure. But that’s why I was pleased to see the McGee because it told me that I’m not the only guy putting out a lot of exertion on this.”
Rust: Through out the history of drag racing, any time anyone came out with anything innovative, there was always the majority who were happy doing things the way they’ve always been done saying “It’ll never work” I’m sure you’ve run into your share of that?
“Yeah, yeah- there’s
always that. But that kinda makes everything interesting you know, and sometimes
it leads to positive things. Like Garlits- he’s a big innovator…
Rust: I hope you’re okay with me bringing this up, but I know you have a very personal story involving “Big Daddy” Don Garlits- when he was booked in to match race Shirley Muldowney at Sacramento Raceway. I remember it, because I was there- what was your take on that?
“Well, I wasn’t
really…I wasn’t paid or asked to come out there. I mean, you know- this was
in the years back when I didn’t know what was happening. Actually when I built
this car and motor and everything, I didn’t even know how to start it!
Mario San Paolo (Ed note: of Spaghetti Benders fame) was pitted next to me and I
asked him if he could start it because the guy that was supposed to start it
didn’t show up! (smiles) So Mario
stayed around and we started it up around 9:00 that evening. He set it up and
everything and it fired right up.
Totally amazing. So that’s how much I knew at the time. So I’d go to events
like that at the time because I thought the motor would really perform. But
there were bugs and everything- nothing really major- but I’d have to figure
it out. I wasn’t really set to
run to their standards, but Garlits was there and I really enjoyed it. He was
really something to see. I forgot about that until you reminded me- you were
helping me that day. I don’t know the particulars, but I know that Garlits
helped me get to run that day.
Rust: Remember Garlits came over to the pit and checked out your motor- he was really interested in what you were doing. What it was is that the track didn’t want to let you run and Garlits heard about it, marched up to the tower and told the track owner “no Tom, no Big Daddy.” Next thing we hear is that they told you to suit up and get into the staging lanes. It showed me that he never forgot his roots and to constantly try new things. He respected what you were trying to do with the motor.
Rust: So we talked about how you felt when the McGee came out, how did you feel when NHRA banned it?
“Well, I’m kinda
biased on this. I think that drag racing should be left- if you’re going into
the unlimited, it should be left open… but see, you have to have guidelines
too, otherwise they’d be going 700 miles an hour!”
Rust: and there’s no track with a long enough shutoff to deal with that.
“Precisely… you see,
if they didn’t have the cubes limited, I’d be obsolete. But I can’t really
put a definite answer on that. But I’m biased. I feel that if a guy meets the
cubes and the basic NHRA rules, he should be left to run. It should maybe be
left more open.”
Rust: If for some reason drag racing became too limiting, would you consider putting the motor in a different car and heading out to Bonneville?
“No…I have no
interest in going to Bonneville. If I can hold my motor to the limits imposed in
Top Fuel, and the motor produces 300 miles per hour, then maybe the motor will
show enough potential to go international. So it’s probably more of an
international motor than anything…although I didn’t see it that way at the
beginning.”
Rust: So you’re running a 3.90 gear in the rear axle too?
“Yeah- everything is
to NHRA top fuel spec.”
Rust: Did the way the newer specs on the gear ratio change the way it loaded the motor and give you a whole other set of curveballs to deal with?
“You see, this is the
thing- if my motor is the same basic spec as the rest of the top fuel and I can
go out and have a record run of 340 mph, then I’ve accomplished what I’ve
set out to do. But if I went with 700 cubes and go over 300, then the challenge
isn’t there. So that’s why mine is actually 360 cubes…”
Rust: So you de-stroked the 392?
“I’ve got a Donovan
block and I wanted stronger sleeves- but it should RPM so it should compensate
for the smaller cubes. I can wind it tighter, and it’ll have minimal valve
float- the valves are smaller and lighter.”
Rust: It’s amazing that the threshold on speed has continued to get higher as you’ve been working on it, so you’re continually having to upgrade the motor in order to chase the performance standard. I mean, in 1964 they really just started cracking the 200 MPH barrier, right?
“Yeah”
Rust: I’ve gotta ask you, I know you’ve pretty much made some pretty stout 1/8 mile passes in it- what does it feel like to drive a nitro burner? Is it kinda scary?
“Well…at times…you
know, if everything works, there’s nothing like it. It’s gotten to the point
now that I’ve gotten some half-track times and there are still a few things to
be ironed out. But I’ve gotten my enjoyment out of it. These things are
temperamental! I’m not going to go out there and say “Hey, today I’m going
to go do it.” It just doesn’t work out that way. But at half track it’s
worked beautifully- that’s all I can ask for, you know.”
Rust: Is it fun to drive, or is “fun” too simplistic of a word? Did you ever get out of the car and think “Wow, that was fun!”
“Oh Yeah! - I’m kind
of a simple guy in many ways… but drag racing is a different world. Once you
get in the car and you know it’s working then it’s beautiful.
But to get to that point, there is a lot of pressure...a tremendous amount
of pressure. That’s why I’m astonished at how a group of guys (the pro
racers) can go from one town to the next and produce the outstanding speeds that
they do.”
Rust: Is driving a payoff for all the hard work, or does it function more as a way to get seat of the pants data on how the motor is working? Since it’s your motor, it’s feedback you couldn’t get if you put someone else in the car?
“It’s exactly what
you just said- it’s hard to ask someone else to give you the feedback on
something like this motor. For instance- the last couple of runs- ah, I’ve got
a transmission, a 15% transmission- and it shook. So I lightened up on the
clutch a little bit
Rust: You just couldn’t get it to the point where the motor was happy?
“Exactly! So now
because of that one instance, I now know that if the car doesn’t get up and go,
I’m going to back off even sooner.”
Rust: So with each run you’re accumulating data- real world data- and you can go back and apply it to the motor?
“Yeah, and if I have
another guy in there he may not take that consideration. If I had been really
gung ho, I wouldn’t have rationalized in the tenth of a second that it was
soft and I wouldn’t have saved the motor. I would’ve thought “Hey wow,
jeez it’s never really gone like this before, I think I’ll stay with it!”
it’s such a personal decision.”
Rust: Is there anything you want to mention about the technical specs of the
project? If not, that’s okay too.
“Well… the chassis
is interesting. The chassis is a short wheelbase, but I’ve got the motor so it
pivots. I use split blocks at the front of the motor so the motor will pivot
away from the chassis. It’s short but strong. I only have a 225 inch
wheelbase. The motor well, I dunno…it’s supercharged, I run 90% nitro, I’m
rollerized, 3 injectors in the port, and one set in the supercharger. I’m
basically what everybody else has, but I’ve got four valves per cylinder, four
cams, and helical gears so I can pull the pin and retard the cams and mags. I
don’t know if it will work or not, but it seems to. My mags could be a little
hotter…if they were, maybe I could run a bigger (fuel) pump I could run more
volume through there…and you know the more volume you can burn, the more power
you got.”
Rust: So the idea is that if you stay state of the art with everything else, it’s the four cam configuration that will make the difference and you can attribute the performance advantage to the heads. It’s allowing you to isolate the heads from the rest of the set up?
“Exactly. But because
of the money factor, I can’t just order everything at once. I really have to
save up to get things. So I just save up and try to get the parts and …”
Rust: Hope they don’t come up with anything else new in the mean time.
“(laughs) yeah…I
think if you’re young you can still probably innovate and try to offset the
cost factor, but still- you’ve gotta have a lot of money. I mean, I’ve been
broke for forty years! (laughs)”
Rust: What is your hope for your project in the future? Do you ever really see an end to it or will you just keep going on?
“That’s a really
good question… I kinda laugh because I didn’t figure this was going to be a
40-year thing when I first started… if I had the money then and could send out
to have parts made, then maybe it would’ve been a different story. But I keep
trying to catch up. Ahh… now I’ve gotten to the point where it’s
potentially a 300 mile an hour car, but I think I’ve reached a plateau if I
can do 300 miles an hour.”
Rust: So is arriving the most important thing, or is it the journey?
“Another very good
question…if I can go out there and put on a show and if you go out there and
you please people, then your journey is worth it. I think that really is your
bottom denominator. If you can go out there and do your best and people can
reciprocate back, then there’s real enjoyment.”
Rust: I can see that. From my perspective, and I haven’t seen you run in probably 20 years, you’ve got to realize that when you were out there running, everyone was really into what you were doing because they realized that you were putting everything on the line. So you can’t help but pull and cheer for someone because you know that they are giving everything they’ve got to their cause. Say you get to the end of the track and you run, uhh..260 mph. That 260 will mean more to the folks that know what you’re doing than (professional Top Fuel driver) Larry Dixon’s 324 mph.
“That’s what you
hope for…that you can give the people a little entertainment and something to
cheer for. You still strive to progress and meet the challenge and strive for
excellence- to produce something a little bit better. You’ve gotta have the
challenge. If you don’t, what are you going to do? But if you can put on a
show, that’s your reward.”
Rust: Tom- I really appreciate your time and your project- thanks for sitting down and talking with me. Is there anything you’d like to add?
“All I can say is, if
you feel like you want to do something, and even if you feel like it’s
impossible- just do it! I mean, there are no limits. Even if you don’t
succeed, you’re bound to learn something from it. You might learn that you
shouldn’t have gone that way and you have to go another way, to start down
another avenue. But there are really no limits. If you look at it that way, your
hope is there- everything is working for you. It’s no easy trip, but that’s
part of the game. That’s it.”
Rust: Thanks Tom!
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