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Drag Racer (Junior Dragster)
Learning Resources
Tips On Choosing Junior Dragster Books
Junior dragsters are a niche race car that can be purchased as a pre-fab kit and assembled or built from scratch and components.
Building a car from the ground up can be a great family activity and driving and winning in your own handywork is perhaps the best feeling there is. If you wish to take this route, then books on chassis design, metal fabrication and drag racing would top our list of suggestions.
If you are interested in building from a kit, then we would suggest a book on drag racing itself along side the plans the manfacturer provides.
| Book Category | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chassis |  Chassis Engineering: Chassis Design, Building & Tuning for High Performance Handling  (4.5 / 5)Chassis Engineering is a great introduction to race car design. In a practical and down-to-earth way, it covers the fundamentals of how race cars handle and the requirements for designing and constructing a car. The book includes chapters on chassis design, suspension design, frame construction, aerodynamics and tuning. Overall it provides the reader with the foundation of how the key components of a race car work and interact together. Get "Chassis Engineering: Chassis Design, Building & Tuning for High Performance Handling":    | |||
| Chassis |  The Race Car Chassis : Design, Structures and Materials for Road, Drag and Circle Track Open- and Closed-Wheel Chassis  (4 / 5)Aspiring designers will find Forbes Aird's book on chassis design to be a good introduction to the fundamental purposes, structures and materials of race car (or road car) chassis. What the book might lack in formulas and design calculations, it makes up for in sheer breadth of chassis design and construction ideas. It provides sufficient information to the reader to leave them with a solid understanding of the various chassis types, materials and construction so they can make informed choices about designing their own chassis. Get "The Race Car Chassis : Design, Structures and Materials for Road, Drag and Circle Track Open- and Closed-Wheel Chassis": | |||
| Driving |  How to Drag Race  (5 / 5)Covers the drag racing experience, equipment setup, driving techniques and classes. This book also includes information about safety equipment, tires, line-locks, delay boxes and racing math. Get "How to Drag Race": | |||
| Fasteners/Joining |  Carroll Smith's Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook (5 / 5)Teaches how to use the correct fasteners and fastener materials. This book includes extensive information on fatigue properties, joints, mounts, and vehicle plumbing. Get "Carroll Smith's Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook": | |||
| Fasteners/Joining |  High Performance Hardware: Fastener Technology for Racers and Enthusiasts (4 / 5)High performance hardware provides both theory and extensive practical information on hardware and fasteners. It covers material properties that relate to fasteners as well as pretty much every type of fastener used on a race vehicle. Get "High Performance Hardware: Fastener Technology for Racers and Enthusiasts": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  Advanced Automotive Welding (5 / 5)Advanced Automotive welding teaches basic and advanced welding skills specifically geared toward race car construction. Joint types, metal types, and welding processes such as TIG, MIG, oxy-acetylene and stick welding are covered. Includes projects such as roll cage, seat supports, floor pan and others. Get "Advanced Automotive Welding": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  How To Weld (4.5 / 5)A complete guide for beginner welders on the history, safety, equipment and techniques for welding. The book covers metal fabrication tools, types and properties of metals, welding joint designs, gas welding, brazing, arc welding (MIG, TIG, stick) and cutting. It also includes sample exercises to help the reader practice what they have learned. Get "How To Weld": | |||
| Materials/Fabrication |  Metal Fabricator's Handbook (4 / 5)Teaches welding techniques, metal forming, hammerforming and practical metal fabrication projects. Project include forming custom body panels, tanks, roll cages/safety cells and exhaust headers. Get "Metal Fabricator's Handbook": | |||
| Vehicle Dynamics/Handling |  Fast Car Physics (4.5 / 5)A great introduction to the world of vehicle dynamics, in language and explanations that are easy to understand. Learn basic vehicle physics, handling/dynamics, suspension types and geometry, and the latest approaches to green technologies for racing--energy recovery and storage. Get "Fast Car Physics": | |||
| Whole Car (Design and Build) |  How to Build a Winning Drag Race Chassis and Suspension (4.5 / 5)This book explains how to modify a street car chassis and suspension for drag strip or high performance street use. It includes theory on handling, chassis fabrication, front/rear suspension, shocks and springs, brakes, rear axle selection, steering, and wheels/tires. Safety information is also included. Get "How to Build a Winning Drag Race Chassis and Suspension": | |||
| Whole Car (Design and Build) |  How to Hook & Launch: Traction Mods for Street & Strip (4.5 / 5)Concepts of drag racing vehicle dynamics. The author explains the incremental process of a drag racing car's launch, traction and performance. The book takes a practical approach to maximizing traction through a wide variety of potential chassis/suspension modifications as well as engine/powertrain optimization and tuning. Get "How to Hook & Launch: Traction Mods for Street & Strip": | |||
| Whole Car (Design) |  Race Car Engineering & Mechanics (5 / 5)Paul Van Valkenburgh's guide to understanding how the many components of the entire race car fit and work together. He provides design theory and practical information on tires, wheels, suspension geometry, springs, anti-roll bars, brakes, aerodynamics, handling, engine supports, chassis, safety and even racing operations such as testing and pit lane procedures. Get "Race Car Engineering & Mechanics": | |||
| Magazine |  CompetitionPlus Internet drag racing magazine | |||
| Website | DragTimes Database of Drag racing time slips |
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