Well dragweek was cut short for us.We headed for Atlanta with 1 and a half 1/8th mile passes about 60miles on the car. First 1/8th mile pass ran the car about 400ft through 1st and 2nd. The car carried the wheels about 12in 40ft out leaving at 2500rpm. The timing system was messed up and did not get a ticket. 2nd pass car hooked then spun bad and ran 6.75 at 102. Had some issues with the valve cover vents blowing oil b/c no baffle so we loaded it up. Made some baffles and put some miles on it tuning the carb for cruise. Everything was good to go so we loaded up. We made the first test pass on Sunday after the rain came through. The car hooked good and ran through the 1/4 with no issues but the front half didn't feel as strong as the test pass I had made. Get to the ticket shack and no ticket during to water in the beams! So we pull the air cleaner bump the timing to 34degrees from 32 and make it back to the lanes just before last call. The car was lazy and did not pull hard through the lights. Went a 10.76 at 122mph. Back to the pits pull the valve covers to check lash and everything is spot on. Start the car let it run for about 2 mins and it locks up as tight as can be. Car had 25lbs of oil pressure idling at 1300rpm. Let the motor cool down and it is all you can do to turn the engine over with breaker bar. Pull the plugs and valve covers, no damaged plugs or push rods.
We now know it's in the bottom end. Looks like the main and rod clearances we all too tight spun #3rod bearing and 1,2,4 were soon to follow.