The trip down was wet! It rained all day Friday. Saturday morning was great, sunny, low humidity, about 62 degrees. Get in the track, start the unload process. Put on a pair of new tires so I think about the clutch set up. Decide to leave it be and just run the air pressure a little high in the tires. First pass, spun hard, paddle it and the car moved from one side of the lane to the other. Let up a tad to settle the car and back in it because I just had to beat the car next to me. He seem want to line up and even waited for me to strap in. Its always a north vs south thing going on... next test pass, time for the show, lower the air pressure to 9 psi, leave the clutch be, feels perfect, check fuel, get at it. Pop the clutch in the water box 3rd, 4th, 5th, let off the line lock and come on out. Tires grab hard, roll into the staging beams, lock the line lock at 300 psi brake pressure. Ease up on the clutch to roll into the second light, lights on, to the floor, engine @ 6500rpm, BAM, its up high in first, grab second and boy did this thing go straight up. 11-12 o'clock, 130 ft out, off the gas!!! It came down HARD, pulled to the side and shut the engine off. Get out of the car and check for leaks. No leaks, gave the the starting line guy the thumbs up and drove off the track. The pan and the headers are trash!!! I sit and think for an hour or so, should I take the pan off or not?? Well after steak and potato's I decided to work on the car. Remove the oil pan and get as straight as possible, my buddy Barry shows up and helps out. The headers are to far gone to do anything. Car is ready to race on Sunday, start a fire, have a beer or two and enjoy some night racing!!!
Sunday morning, the air is amazing, 54 ft above sea level!! 69 degrees, sunny, low humidity. WOW, its go fast day! Lower the launch rpm to 6000, tires @ 10 psi, get the the lanes! First pass it spins hard but goes straight, run through the gears, lift at the 800ft mark and coast, 9.88 @ 104mph. (This thing get'en it!)
elimination time, lower the tire pressure to 9 psi, I dial in at 9.33 and the next lane is 10.1o. get in the water, perfect burn out, stage, wait on it, GONE! .024 light, 3-4 ft in the air, grab second and carry the wheels out to just about 3rd gear, hit 4th, got him, ride with him, he lets off and I do the same. coast to a 9.64 for the win. 1.27 60ft on the back wheel. 3.75- 330 and 5.87 to the 1/8. Fastest numbers ever for this car. Next round, set up, I'm ready. 9.33 dial for me, 10.40 in the next lane. here it comes, BIG RED LIGHT for me, -.018, man I thought I left perfect, oh well run it hard, clutch slips a bit in high gear and runs a 9.33 witha 5. I had a great time, talk with a a lot of people. Barrys car ran well,(he red lit in the second round also)
Edgewater is a nice track, really enjoy the staff, very nice people. The racers are the best! The food is a 5 out of 10 rating. but the bees are a pain!! they were everywhere!!! The track works well, most of the racers say this is a fast track! It sure is!!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
National Trails Raceway, UMTR
The week leading up to this race was just amazing to say the least. A couple of weeks prior to this the car was running fast! Decided to go out and make a few runs the weekend before the event just to make sure the car was right. Well, it did not go well at all! The clutch had worn so much all the clearances were way off. Figured I'll check it at the shop early in the week, had a ton of work come in so that did not work out.
Thursday came around and finally got some free time to check it. Get it apart and everything look to be worn but not to bad, clutch is glazed, flywheel and pressure has a few hot spots, and notice the pilot bearing is worn. Clean the entire unit up, reassemble and install. Removed (boy was that a task!) and replaced the pilot bearing, get the bell housing on and notice there is no clearance between the T/O bearing and the fingers on the pressure plate??? Do some adjusting to the pivot ball and check the finger height and all is well. Installed the trans, go get the trailer to get loaded. Start the car pull off the hoist and I am told to shut it off, there is oil everywhere!!! Seems when I was catching hell removing the old pilot bearing I hit the center of the crankshaft and put a very small hole in it and it pump oil all over the clutch assembly. (I never knew a crank is so thin in that area) Everything is soaked in oil, now I have to remove all of it again, weld the crank, and clean every part. Remember its 6 P.M. Thursday and I am leaving Friday afternoon. Okay, we can do this,no big deal. Around 9 the car is back together, get loaded and we are ready to race!
Now during this week, my buddy Tom is putting his engine and car together to go racing also and it was going to the last minute. He was up until 4 A.M. Friday morning and just finished about an hour before we left.
Traveling is always a good time especially with friends and family. Arrive at the track in time to catch some Head UP racing. Time for some sleep! The next morning things are going as normal as can be, car seems to be fine, I'm trying to get focused and talk with the rest of the UMTR class. First round of TT, the clutch slips hard, uh oh. Get back to the pit look in the bell housing and notice a lot of clutch material and it is very gummy with oil. Put a few turns in it to try and save it but that did not help. The disc absorb the oil and when it got hot it started to come out. The race was over for me, but I had a good time regardless. What a week!
NTR concession stands are only open if there are selling a lot of food, they were closed by 3 P.M. this made no sense at all. They ran Jr. dragsters all night long and this slowed the program down a ton. When the jrs were done, everyone thought the pace would pick up in the staging lanes, instead NTR decided to run a JR quick 330, so all the jrs came back up to give it a go. I have no problem with the jr cars but they have to fit in just as we do. I don't show up at a jr dragster event and expect to race, and the same should go for them.
Thursday came around and finally got some free time to check it. Get it apart and everything look to be worn but not to bad, clutch is glazed, flywheel and pressure has a few hot spots, and notice the pilot bearing is worn. Clean the entire unit up, reassemble and install. Removed (boy was that a task!) and replaced the pilot bearing, get the bell housing on and notice there is no clearance between the T/O bearing and the fingers on the pressure plate??? Do some adjusting to the pivot ball and check the finger height and all is well. Installed the trans, go get the trailer to get loaded. Start the car pull off the hoist and I am told to shut it off, there is oil everywhere!!! Seems when I was catching hell removing the old pilot bearing I hit the center of the crankshaft and put a very small hole in it and it pump oil all over the clutch assembly. (I never knew a crank is so thin in that area) Everything is soaked in oil, now I have to remove all of it again, weld the crank, and clean every part. Remember its 6 P.M. Thursday and I am leaving Friday afternoon. Okay, we can do this,no big deal. Around 9 the car is back together, get loaded and we are ready to race!
Now during this week, my buddy Tom is putting his engine and car together to go racing also and it was going to the last minute. He was up until 4 A.M. Friday morning and just finished about an hour before we left.
Traveling is always a good time especially with friends and family. Arrive at the track in time to catch some Head UP racing. Time for some sleep! The next morning things are going as normal as can be, car seems to be fine, I'm trying to get focused and talk with the rest of the UMTR class. First round of TT, the clutch slips hard, uh oh. Get back to the pit look in the bell housing and notice a lot of clutch material and it is very gummy with oil. Put a few turns in it to try and save it but that did not help. The disc absorb the oil and when it got hot it started to come out. The race was over for me, but I had a good time regardless. What a week!
NTR concession stands are only open if there are selling a lot of food, they were closed by 3 P.M. this made no sense at all. They ran Jr. dragsters all night long and this slowed the program down a ton. When the jrs were done, everyone thought the pace would pick up in the staging lanes, instead NTR decided to run a JR quick 330, so all the jrs came back up to give it a go. I have no problem with the jr cars but they have to fit in just as we do. I don't show up at a jr dragster event and expect to race, and the same should go for them.
Milan dragway NO ET. What a joke!
Racing at the NO ET Milan race is a complete waste of time and money! The track is not prep correctly and the staging lanes are a mess. To tell me to pay more to be VIP is not the answer. The spectator parking on the pit side is just nuts, while waiting hours to make a pass in the staging lanes these spectators will block your trailer where you can't get to it. I had to wait 2 hours to leave the place because I was block in?? WTF! Milan dragway is all about the money, don't kid yourself....
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
June 12-13 NMRA Milan, MI
Great day for drag racing!. Suns out, clam breeze, and 78 degrees. Big crowd of people and a lot more cars this year then last. Off to tech, lines are long! Should I scale the car? why not, 2960! heavy pig. First pass was a nice shake down, Clutch is a little soft but the track is very sticky. Add a little weight to the clutch and back to the lanes. Cars leaves good nice and straight, go through the gears, Clutch still a little soft. Not a big deal no real racing today, good time for tuning. Jump from 4 grams to 8 grams just to make the clutch respone to change. Car leaves hard, hit the tires hard on every shift. But still a good pass. Now sit, relax, talk with friends, think about the tune up for the morning.
6.37 a.m. is that rain? yes its raining. Good I can sleep inn! 8.30 a.m no rain but ground is wet, people starting to stir. COFFEE!!!! Racing suppose to start at 10 a.m. but with the rain we may be a little late. Decide to go with 5.5 grams on the clutch. Change the carb jetting and get ready for the only time trail today. Try to get all the water off the car before going to the staging lanes. Heat the tires and stage. 6500 2 step, pop the clutch, and just shake the tires hard!!!! It has to be from water in body somewhere?? First round of elims, come out of the water box ready for action. Stage the first bulb, then the second, the guy gets 3 bulbs. First yellow, on the two step, last yellow let the clutch go, .018 light, front end is very high in the air, second gear, still in the air, =car settles and starts to run hard. Caught him just before the finish. What a run, 1.28 60ft on the back wheel. Car ran very well, nothing to change. Second round, two second spot. Stage, off he goes, Let the clutch out and in the air it goes, .030 light. Charging hard trying to catch this guy, he hits the brakes hard at the line and I blow by. He breaks out, .43 on a 50. Next round!!. Third round. SAtaging guy lets me I should get the BY, if there is one. If not, I get lane choice... No BY, I get the right lane. Come out of the water, never got a change to focus on what I needed too. Watch the guy leave and I went RED early!!!! I was just pissed! Had to sit down and collect myself... Oh well thats racing . My buddy Jason took him out the next round : ). Jason went on and made to the finals and got the runner up position. Turned out to be a great day of racing... Next time!!!
6.37 a.m. is that rain? yes its raining. Good I can sleep inn! 8.30 a.m no rain but ground is wet, people starting to stir. COFFEE!!!! Racing suppose to start at 10 a.m. but with the rain we may be a little late. Decide to go with 5.5 grams on the clutch. Change the carb jetting and get ready for the only time trail today. Try to get all the water off the car before going to the staging lanes. Heat the tires and stage. 6500 2 step, pop the clutch, and just shake the tires hard!!!! It has to be from water in body somewhere?? First round of elims, come out of the water box ready for action. Stage the first bulb, then the second, the guy gets 3 bulbs. First yellow, on the two step, last yellow let the clutch go, .018 light, front end is very high in the air, second gear, still in the air, =car settles and starts to run hard. Caught him just before the finish. What a run, 1.28 60ft on the back wheel. Car ran very well, nothing to change. Second round, two second spot. Stage, off he goes, Let the clutch out and in the air it goes, .030 light. Charging hard trying to catch this guy, he hits the brakes hard at the line and I blow by. He breaks out, .43 on a 50. Next round!!. Third round. SAtaging guy lets me I should get the BY, if there is one. If not, I get lane choice... No BY, I get the right lane. Come out of the water, never got a change to focus on what I needed too. Watch the guy leave and I went RED early!!!! I was just pissed! Had to sit down and collect myself... Oh well thats racing . My buddy Jason took him out the next round : ). Jason went on and made to the finals and got the runner up position. Turned out to be a great day of racing... Next time!!!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
June 3rd. Test and tune Milan dragway.
Removed trans on Tuesday morning to determine issue with clutch fork. It turned out the the shims used to get the correct ring height on the pressure plate had changed all the geometry on the fork from the year before. I changed the pivot height, modified the fork a little and everything worked great. Off to the track Wednesday evening. First pass off the trailer was great, carried the wheels to the 60ft mark, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, this thing is truck'en!! One of my best passes to date with the car! Make a couple other passes, car is running well but need a small clutch adjustment. Last pass, make clutch adjustment and carb jet change. I let the clutch out at 6500 and it hikes the front end very high and carries the wheels out, pull 2nd in the air, settles down nice and smooth, and starts marching hard. Car is running very well, best 60 ft ever on last past. Time to go racing!
May 30th, Marion, OH UMTR race.
Pulled into NPD( National Parts Depot ) around 9 a.m. in MI while leaving for race to pick up a Mustang decal that blew off the car the night before (along with the window). Met my buddy Jason along I-75 and headed to the track. Got into Marion Raceway about 12.30, gates don't open till 1 p.m. Good to see race friends in UMTR. Into the gate and start unloading. Replaced the ignition coil due to a spudder in the engine and made a carb jet change for weather. Class call!!, up to the lanes. Wow! clutch is really soft as I drive up. I'll just make a pass and investigate in the pit. Leave at 6400 rpm, car pulls the wheels, go through the gears, that clutch is driving me crazy!!! Car runs well but not a 100%. Get under the car and start to make another adjustment, but notice the clutch fork is bound up and not releasing. For 45 minutes me and Jason try to make a pivot adjustment and just can't make it happen. The trans has to come out to correct the issue. I'm done for the day, but had a great time watching Jason and the other stick cars getting it on!!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
First day at track with car
While I've been to track numerous times to work with customers and their cars, Friday was my first day with my car.
Went to Milan Dragway for a quick test session before the big UMTR race on Saturday in Ohio. Weather was decent and got in 3 passes. First pass was a shake down pass and car moved around quite bit~ think that was the driver more than the car though. Clutch seem pretty soft also. Made a quick clutch adjustment and back to the staging lanes. Second pass went fine nice and straight, clutch still seem soft...but just happened to blow out the back window. Didn't even notice it until I got back to my trailer, got out the car and noticed the missing window. Apparently the track officials didn't notice the window blowing out either as my good friend Steve ran it over on his pass ensuring its complete destruction. No big deal. The clutch never really came around on the third pass but decided I would check it out in Ohio the next morning.
Went to Milan Dragway for a quick test session before the big UMTR race on Saturday in Ohio. Weather was decent and got in 3 passes. First pass was a shake down pass and car moved around quite bit~ think that was the driver more than the car though. Clutch seem pretty soft also. Made a quick clutch adjustment and back to the staging lanes. Second pass went fine nice and straight, clutch still seem soft...but just happened to blow out the back window. Didn't even notice it until I got back to my trailer, got out the car and noticed the missing window. Apparently the track officials didn't notice the window blowing out either as my good friend Steve ran it over on his pass ensuring its complete destruction. No big deal. The clutch never really came around on the third pass but decided I would check it out in Ohio the next morning.
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