Dick Landy 'Flyin Wedge'

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69 Cuda 440

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Back in late-1968,

Dick Landy was working on his 'Flyin Wedge' project, a 'new' 1969 Charger R/T with a 440/375 HP.

The reason behind the 440/375 HP, was that Dick was performing many 'Car Clinics in 1968, and he
decided it was easier to show the 'young' performance minded attendee's at the Clinics the performance tricks
on the 440 and RB Engines that most of the Mopar Musclecar's guys had, instead of the 426 Hemi.

When the project got started, the 69' Charger R/T 440/375 HP was classed in 'NHRA Super/Stock Class
SS/F {9.50 - 9.99 Wt/Hp}, and the car was built to handle both a 4-Speed and/or an Automatic {SS/FA},
depending on the venue.

In early-1969, the NHRA re-configured the Super/Stock category, and for the new year in NHRA the
Charger R/T 440/375 HP would be classed in SS/I or SS/IA with the 4-Barrel.

Could Dick Landy make the 440/375 HP 'Flyin Wedge' run,,,,,,, and be competitive for 1969.....................

Below, Dick at the 1969 AHRA Springnationals, where they installed a Fiberglass Hood Scoop, and
a different Intake Manifold and Carburetor configuration on the 440.

null_landy-69charg.jpg
 
Don't you just wish you could step into that picture?
 
Okay,,,,,,,,,

The 1969 Charger R/T 440 weighed in {Shipping Weight} at a 'bulky #3649 lbs.
{give-or-take} a few Canoli's........

The NHRA Records in October 1968
SS/F.......... 11.93
SS/FA........ 12.16

It looked a little out of reach for the 'long-nosed' Charger with its heavy mass.

Dick put together a package in December 1968, that he was able to get the
Charger 440 R/T to run an incredible 11.98 @ 118.24 MPH with the 'Automatic' at
Irwindale Raceway in California during it's initial testing.

A} Engine Block

Interesting, that Dick did not deck the block to 'Zero'. Instead he ordered 'custom'
Forged-True Pistons with an extended height of .035" over the standard 440 Piston.

The 440 Block was decked to where the top of the Piston sat at .027" down in the cylinder.

The Forged-True Pistons were 'custom-sized' at +.022" over, and were fitted with a
.007" Piston-to-Wall clearance, as Dick wanted optimal clearance for less friction, and
quick RPM gains for the 440.

The Oil-Hole in the #1 Main, was opened up to 5/16" to increase oil-flow.

And the inlet passage for the to the Oil Pump Pick-Up Hole was opened up slightly
as well.

For Cylinder-Walls. the Block was bored to within .002" of Final Finish, and
twice honed with a Sunnen CK-10. the Final Finish was done with AN-200 Stones,
with a 45* to 60* Cross-Hatch Finish.

Other Block preparation, included honing out the Lifter Bores for an additional
.0005" to 0007" clearance........
 
More,,,,,,

Dick used a 'standard' 440 Crankshaft, that came from the factory 'Tuftrided'.

As per Dick, the Tuftriding is only .002", so he maintained the stock Crankshaft size,
and only lightly polished the Journals with #600 Sandpaper as to not effect the
tuftrided surface.

As normal inspection, the Crankshaft was checked for straightness, and a .004"
is the maximum variation.

The oil-openings in the Cranskaft Journals were all opened up to .120" and the
edges were radiused with a 45* angle.

Landy Enterprises are fixed on the Crankshaft end-play of .0045" to .012", and
likes to run the Rod Journals at .0015" to .003".

For Main Bolts, Hemi Bolts with Washers are always used on any RB Engine, for
additional strength.

To make the Hemi Main Bolts compatible with the 440, the threads require a
slightly longer depth, and Dick chases the threads down slightly with a Tap.

For Main Bearings, Clevite 77's are the choice, and the Upper-Shell for the #1 Main
has the chamfer-edge increased from .030" to .050", to provide for increased
oil-flow to the Timing Chain.......

Dick maintains, that the 440 requires a few tricks in Oil Volume, and these little
improvements make a big difference in less friction......
 
Pee Wee Herman

"I don't have to watch the movie Dottie,,,,,,,,I lived it."

Dick Landy 'Flyin Wedge'

The Connecting Rods are 'stock' 440 Rods, with the edges ground down to remove the
high-spots or heat-flash points.

Tolerances are measured for Out-of-Roundness at .001" to .002".

The Piston-Pin and Piston-to-Rod requires a .0007" clearance.

Piston Rings are from Forged-True, and the Top Ring 1/16" Step-Seal
is set with a .015" end-gap.

Dick says, a proper Ring Combination is worth 10 Horsepower, so it is required to have everything perfect.

The 'Second-Ring' is also a 1/16" Ring, and is set with an end-gap of .020".

The Oil-Ring is installed with a 6 lb. Tension Expander, as opposed to the
'standard' 18 lb. Expander.

The Skirt-Wall clearance for a Forged-True 'forged' Piston is set at .007", while
Dick will run .004" with a 'stock' Cast Piston.

As for Piston-to-Valve clearance, Dick has notched the Flat-Top Pistons up to
.125" for 'High-Lift' Camshafts

140.jpg
 
Dick Landy 'Flyin Wedge'

440 Engine Build

The 'stock' 440 Connecting Rods were 'shot-peened' for stress relief, and the
beefy units were Magna-Fluxed to detect any imperfections.

All internal engine components were sent out for Balancing, to insure a vibration-free
rotation, and prevent any power loss from out-of-balance parts.

The Camshaft of choice is an Iskenderian #1012 B.
* .520" Lift
* 318* Duration
* 108* Lobe Centers

The Camshaft is installed 'straight-up', with a slight overlap.

The Timing Chain is a Factory 1965 Race Hemi Unit which utilizes a Double-Roller Chain.

The 'stock' Cylinder Head is used, and the Valve Seat is ground to a 45* Angle, and the
pocket bowl is 'Reamed' with a 70* Angle 'cutter' to provide for optimal flow....

Again following the NHRA Spec-Sheet Guidelines.

No Top Cut is 'allowed' for the Seat as per NHRA Guidlenines.

A 'seat-width' between .060" to .080" is the desired range. And, the Valves are lapped in,
to provide for a complete seat-seal around the circumference of the Valve-Seat.

Valve Springs are from the Iskenderian Company, and #4105 Outer-Springs are utilized
with #906H Inner-Springs, and they are set with a 1.86" Spring Height.

The 1968 and 1969 - 440 Engines utilize the 'newer' Open-Chamber style Cylinder Heads,
which provides a better dispersion for Cylinder-Combustion than the 1967 Closed-Chamber units.

The Cylinder Head surface is milled, to bring the Combustion Chamber to
79.7 CC's. Dick likes to keep a small window of .2 CC's over the minimum 79.5 CC's, as
room for the NHRA Techs, just in case things get too close during Tech Inspection.

All Combustion Chambers are CC'd with a 'Burette' and filled with Alcohol for volume
measurement.

The Cylinder Head Gaskets are stock factory units, and overall compression reaches
approximately 10.79 - 1.
 
May 1969

Great Lakes Dragaway {Wisconsin}

Dick Landy running the 'Flyin Wedge' against Balzekas 'SS/B' 1968 426 Hemi Dart
in Super/Stock Eliminator.

The Charger R/T 440 still has the 1969 NHRA Winternationals Class Winner
and Eliminator 'decals' on the front windshield.

 
RaniDart70 said:
did you know Mr. Ronnie Sox?
Click to expand...

We dealt with Sox & Martin for Performance Parts and knew
Ronnie Sox on a business relationship level.

First time we saw him was up at Dover Drag Strip in August 1965,
when he was match racing with Butch Leal in the 65' Hemi Cars.

First hung out with them at the 1967 Super Stock Magazine Nationals
at Cecil County Dragaway in Maryland.

Good People.........
 
Wow! This thread just keeps on giving 69 Cuda 440, Thank you for posting some historic times I have never knew about, I was about 12 years old and watched the the Sox and Martin racing teams run some where in Illinois some where, Shirley M. and Don G. was always racing each other it seemed .
 
Dick Landy 'Flyin Wedge'

Cylinder Heads

Dick 'does not' use Valve Seals for the stems. He 'omits' them, as he wants
no friction on the Valve Train.

We keep the clearance between the Valve Stem and Valve Guide at .0015" and .003"

Dick says, its worth a few more Horsepower, and he likes the added lubrication
down the Valve Guide as it prevents 'galling'.

With 'Valvoline' #40 Weight Racing Oil were fine, and there is very little oil
blow-by.

Rocker Arms are Chrysler Adjustable-type {#2402522 and #2402521}, and
Dick uses Chrysler Push Rods {#2402326}.

The Valve-Lash is set at .028" Intake and .032" Exhaust.

The Intake is an Edelbrock Aluminum Dual-Plane High-Rise, and the port-runners
have been chamfered 1/4", which is permitted by the NHRA.

We are allowed to match the Runners to the Intake Gasket, as this is critical,
because we can gain up to an additional 10 Horsepwer above 5000 RPM's.

We are also allowed to chamfer the Carburetor opening on the Manifold a 1/4"
as well, and we radius, smooth and polish the the edges for an improved
gas-blending transition and more power.

Carburetor

We have to use the stock Carter AVS {750 CFM}, but we can use 'richer' Jets,
and we are always making adjustments at the Track. But the Carter is damn
good Carburetor and is 'trouble-free'.

We run 'dual' Stewart-Warner electric-type Fuel Pumps, and deliver the fuel to
an insulated 'Kool Kan', which we call.......'The Gas-Chiller'.

More to come..........
 
69 Cuda 440 said:
We dealt with Sox & Martin for Performance Parts and knew
Ronnie Sox on a business relationship level.

First time we saw him was up at Dover Drag Strip in August 1965,
when he was match racing with Butch Leal in the 65' Hemi Cars.

First hung out with them at the 1967 Super Stock Magazine Nationals
at Cecil County Dragaway in Maryland.

Good People.........
Click to expand...

The California Flash. One of my favorite drivers.
 
I would like to know (meaning gain the knowledge)what those men forgot over the years.Just think what they took to the grave with them.
Herb McCandless is a great guy and a pleasure to talk with.He is still out there at numerous events around the Country.All Heros in my books to name a few.
 
Darter6 said:
I would like to know (meaning gain the knowledge)what those men forgot over the years.Just think what they took to the grave with them.
Herb McCandless is a great guy and a pleasure to talk with.He is still out there at numerous events around the Country.All Heros in my books to name a few.
Click to expand...


Those 'men' did a lot of Track-Testing, and whatever results they got,
passed them on for the rest of us....

:notworth:

Dick Landy, "We did our testing at the Track, not on notebooks in an
Air-Conditioned office. I was at the Track until 2:00 AM running my
Super/Stock cars, trying to figure out what worked and what didn't."
 
Great stories you're sharing 69 Cuda 440

Darter6 said:
Herb McCandless is a great guy and a pleasure to talk with.He is still out there at numerous events around the Country.All Heros in my books to name a few.
Click to expand...

I met Herb & his wife last year & spent some time talking with them. They were more than gracious.......After we finished our conversation, Herb left & came back with one of his Career Highlights cards for me which he signed!! I also got to take a little ride in his old Dart :)
 

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Dick Landy 'Flyin Wedge'

Dick emphasizes, a deepened Oil Pan with oil-baffles.

8-Quart Capacity, with a Milodon 'Swivel Pick-Up'.

Dick. "You want 'Free Horsepower', and our tests have proven that
we save 18 Horsepower."

How you calculate it, "Gain or Loss", it doesn't matter. The 440 requires
a lot of Oil, primarily in 'volume'.
 
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