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Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2589489
12/09/18 06:22 PM
12/09/18 06:22 PM
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In February, Dale texted us another ad he found for a 65 Dodge Dart GT in Texas and Darren decided he had to have it. This coming on the heels of buying a 604 Indy big block out of Chicago that was supposed to go in his Pro Street Dakota. It seemed that 2018 was the year the Gebhart Boys were throwing fiscal responsibility completely out the window.

March 3rd was the day we were waiting for, as that would be the day that preregistration would go live on HotRod.com for Drag Week 2018. There was a nice Mopar car show and swap meet five miles from my house, so I drove down there to hang out and bench race with old buddies, knowing if I didn't, I'd be sitting in front of the PC nervously counting down the minutes.

Dale was tasked with getting himself and James both registered, as well as possibly Dad. He had brought some of his IT and Controls guys over from work and they had a war room set up with five high powered laptops ready to go. Boone was camped out at a friends house who is a big time on line gamer and has one of those rigs with two big screen TVs as monitors. I was on my own, but only registering one car, as Rachael had already announced baby #2 was on the way, and her due date was extremely close to Drag Week! She was adamant that she could still go, but Grandpa wasn't going to have any of that. Darren was going to use his girlfriend's old laptop with his phone as the hot spot for internet, my confidence for him getting in wasn't very high, especially after he hadn't got in on time for 2017 either.

I found the link as quickly as it went live, and began to input my data into the spaces provided. First page completed, so I clicked next, consulted my notes and quickly filled in the second page. This time when I clicked next it took me back to page two with a red warning about an empty box. I hadn't noticed a small box marked gender, "When the heck did they add that!"
I clicked M and moved on to page three, methodically entering each box as I worked down my sheet. Page four was my credit card info, then it was time to click "place order". Success! I was order number 416 at just over five minutes in.

My attention quickly shifted to our group text on my phone, and the Drag Weekers Facebook page where everyone had been posting their order numbers. Not thirty seconds after I started monitoring Facebook, I saw guys posting that they were locked out as it was already full!
According to Dale's texts his group had registered Him and James in the first two minutes, but held off on Dad until the rest of us were in. Boone and Michelle were in, but before Darren and I reported, it was closed, so they quickly entered Dad on the wait list.
Upon reading that, I decided to put Rachael on the wait list, just in case. Finally Darren reported that he had gotten in with order number 436, just short of six minutes after the link went live. As we watched social media and the various websites where people were discussing barely getting in or being left out we never saw a higher order number posted, so Darren may have been the last taken.

As the dust settled, and HOTROD reported on wait list numbers, over 400 went on the list. Dad was number 12, Rachael was listed as in the "61-90" group. The fallout from such a record turnout was immediate, two Drag Week veterans who live in Phoenix had failed to get registered, and immediately switched their plans to attend Rocky Mountain Race Week instead. Several regulars missed due to the fact that American Express was not accepted even though it was listed as an option, by the time they entered an alternate card, it was too late!

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2590241
12/11/18 03:56 AM
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"My Son in Law Jered stumbled on a small Mopar stash...he finally knocked on enough doors and snooped in enough back yards", Dale began a phone conversation with me a week later. "Anyway, the Widow wants all the junk gone, and her prices are really cheap, but as usual Jered has nothing saved up!"
"He is married to your daughter, and Daddy always had deep pockets", I laughed. "What are we talking about?" My curiosity was peaked, and I knew if it was stuff Dale was interested in he wouldn't be calling me.
"Well Jered just wants the Warlock, 360 auto, nearly complete, ran when parked...but she also has a 62 Dodge Lancer GT, two door hardtop..."
"I'll take it!"
"I haven't even sent you pictures! Body is nice, no motor or trans..."
"I'll take it!" I repeated, I had missed on one in 1998, and the others I've seen since were too much money and too fixed up for what I wanted.
"Okay, Okay", he laughed, "I didn't tell you the price, though..."
"You said Jered was interested, and I've never seen him look at anything that wasn't free or twenty-five cents on the dollar!"

A couple days later he called me again, "We went over to load those two cars, and I ended up helping the old lady clean up the yard and her barn...I was there all day!"
"You dirty dog!"
He started laughing immediately. "Look...I think it was very therapeutic for her, she got to talk about her late husband and all his dreams with his Mopars, and how he never seemed to finish one project before starting another, and I removed many of the items that would only remind her of his failures...it was a win/win really!"
"How do you sleep at night?"
"It was rough last night, I'll admit", he laughed again, "I had the truck and trailer absolutely loaded down and I was so sore from loading all those 8 3/4s and four speed stuff that I could barely get up this morning!"
"Son of a..."
"Careful there, those are your parents too!" He laughed.

I changed the subject on him, hoping to catch him with his guard down. "I got a cryptic private message from Matt Blasco(Efidart/Moparts) yesterday, asking if I thought someone might be interested in buying his Drag Week twin turbo Predator motor complete with everything including the management system. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"
"Well...um...he knew that would get back to me...dang it!"
Nailed him, he was squirming like a worm on a hook.
"Look", he stammered, "You can't write about any of this, Matt has me sworn to secrecy!"
"What's he up to!"
"A Goodwin Hemi, bigger turbos...you gotta keep this quiet!"
"Good grief, so you guys have been talking about this for a while!"
"Yeah...at first I just priced the engine, but I don't know anything about turbos or EFI, and Matt is a smart guy, so it makes more sense just to do it all, but I've been dragging my feet!"
"I know you're still working with the boys about buying Michael's nitrous B-1 572 and the Duster, so why would you need a twin turbo Predator deal?"
"I want the Predator deal for the AMX!"
"You've lost your mind! If you buy the Duster, and the Predator that's, that's..."
"Half my yearly income...I know it's stupid, but I'll sell the Goodwin Mega block 572-13 engine to recoup some of it..."
"I'll take it!" I said it just as firmly as I did about the Lancer.
"You've got the Barn Yard, the Valiant, the Belvedere, and the Barracuda...You've got that 512, and the 517 that haven't been ran in ten years! You just bought another Indy top end, a Lancer, and if you buy the 572 you've just spent..."
"Half my yearly income...we've lost our minds!"

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2591168
12/13/18 02:25 AM
12/13/18 02:25 AM
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The final straw for Dale and the nine inch converter in the Gremlin was when he attended the Street Outlaws Live event at Tulsa in March. He thought he may be able to get away with it on the eighth mile, but ended up getting "Posterized" by Travis Cannon's Unicorn Nova in the first round. Go Pro video of the run showed that with the nitrous on, the engine was over 7K for the entire run. He called his friends at JW Performance for something that could handle the torque that was now available.

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2591421
12/13/18 05:45 PM
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Aw, come on... He coulda' squeezed a few more season outa that converter hammer smile


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Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2601825
01/05/19 05:03 AM
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When Dale finished Drag Week 2017 by running the Gremlin NA, bringing home an intact and running car, he vowed to spend more time racing it in 2018, and so far he had lived up to that promise to himself. The first time out for the new 10" billet JW Performance converter was supposed to be the Coffeyville Street Drags, but the installation went a little slower than he liked, and he missed the race by a few hours. The Mopars Invade Mokan race had been postponed for a couple of weeks, and served as Dale's first test of the new converter. Much to Boone's chagrin however, Dale had ripped the majority of the wiring out of the Ruster Duster so he wouldn't have a ride for the annual event at Mokan Dragway, one of his favorite to race at. Little Billy, Dale's son would make his debut passes at a dragstrip in a real car at the event, only days away from getting his learner's permit. Dale had traded time spent working on James Gilliland's Challenger for a late 70's long bed D-100 he had purchased for his daughter (she hated it), and gifted it to Billy. The truck features a b-body 8 3/4, widened stock tubs, weld wheels and warmed over 360, good enough for 15.60's with a raw kid behind the wheel. Uncle Darren slapped the kid with his first bracket race loss in his silver Ram R/T.

Dale managed to bring home the class win in Super Pro, but the new, really tight converter wrecked havoc on the Gremlin's sixty foot time, and slowed the car a half a second NA. Despite the smile in the victory photo, Dale wasn't happy!

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Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2601838
01/05/19 09:27 AM
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In June, Dale drove the Gremlin to Tulsa Raceway Park for the NHRA Division Four race. It would mark the first time in nearly ten years that he would compete in NHRA Super Street 10.90 competition. He wasted no time knocking down .00 lights on the .500 pro tree, but dialing in a linkage style throttle stop with twin Dominators and a tight converter proved beyond his abilities in such a short time. His issues were compounded when he tore a ladder bar mount loose from the frame again, a fate that first plagued the little AMC back on Drag Week 2016.

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Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2606004
01/13/19 05:42 PM
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I try to take a week around July 4th to return to Oklahoma every year, usually with my Wife and Grandson. He's really looked forward to it the past couple of years because it gives him far greater freedom to shoot off fireworks and other general mischief that a ten year old boy simply can't do in the big suburbs. My wife bailed on us this year, so it was a guys trip. We picked up a complete used small block 727 and Gear Vendors overdrive in Phoenix and brought it back with us, so Bruce, who has preferred to make these trips in the back since he was four, was a little crowded!

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Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2606210
01/13/19 11:41 PM
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I also use my July 4th trip to take stock of where all the brothers and friends are in their Drag Week preparations, since by that time, we were less than sixty days from hell week. A quick look around Darren's gave me little confidence that he would have anything ready. Stopping in at Dale's, the first thing I noticed was that the Ruster Duster still had very little in the way of new wiring, and both doors were off as they were in the middle of rebuilding the hinges. Inside Dale's garage, my old Challenger was front and center, and getting the bulk of the attention. I had just received a message from Facebook that the photo I posted of James taking possession of the E-body was five years old, and this was his first opportunity to go on Drag Week in three years, so 2018 HAD to be the year it all came together, and Dale was feeling that too.

Of course, anytime Dale has a running car, it's not like he's going to put it away, and concentrate just on the projects, so he was still playing with the Gremlin.

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Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2610304
01/22/19 08:06 AM
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The Koleno block, Indy 325 EZ headed, solid flat tappet cammed, 572 had been in place with the gear vendors equipped shorty glide for quite some time in the Challenger. James had elected to stay with the 4.30 geared, 35 spline spooled, back braced 8 3/4 that I had ran for years. The fuel system featured an aluminum cell with two compartments, a five gallon race cell, and 15 gallon street cell with separate pumps and returns. The bulk of the work left was all wiring. James had purchased an RPM dash and data management system, as well as adding a grid ignition and keeping the Mega-450 Digital delay box and two stage Nitrous system. Then you throw in all the required street lighting, along with interior and underhood LED lighting and it made for an extensive project which just seem to eat up hours every time someone walked in the shop.

Knowing James and the Challenger needed testing and seat time, Dale's plan was to finish that car as early as possible before putting significant time into his projects.

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2610312
01/22/19 09:04 AM
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In one of Dale's many bench racing sessions with Matt Blasco, the subject of torque converters had come up, and Matt had laughingly teased Dale with the line, "when you get one in that Gremlin that will handle the torque, you'll start breaking transmission parts!"
The words proved prophetic as the Gremlin came to a halt during a July test and tune session while Dale was trying to get the car to hook and work properly with the tighter converter. Broken front pump gears proved to be the problem.

As the Challenger was in the finishing stages of ready to run, Dale shoved it out front and brought the Gremlin in for a quick trans re-build with the plan of running both cars at Tulsa Raceway Park on Saturday Aug. 4th.

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2610319
01/22/19 10:08 AM
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Even though I sent Boone out to check on them, the pictures and information I got back that evening was spotty at best. In true Gebhart fashion, they thrashed right up until the last minute, showed up at the track late and unprepared, and struggled to get any meaningful passes. The big fuel pump wouldn't work on the Challenger, so they had to run the street pump and it was starving for fuel, and James was struggling to remember where all the switches were, and drive a new to him car.

Dale ended up with a best of 9.15, and James only went 11.65. He took the Challenger home to do some body work and install the headlights, so Dale unloaded the Purple Duster from the trailer and pushed it into the shop, posting a few pictures on our group text.

As soon as I saw them, I called him to see what was going on.

"Remember when I broke the oil pump shaft in the 572 to start Drag Week 2016?"
"Yeah, and Darren said you should have parked it!"
"Well, the rest of that week it had an odd little sound in it, and when I took it apart to go through it we found one cam bearing was spinning in the block", he explained.
"I do recall that", I paused. "But what does that have to do with you dragging the Duster out of the trailer?"
"The other day, I was giving someone a ride in the Gremlin, and it broke a pushrod and tossed out a lifter which caused it to lose oil pressure for a second, and now that odd little sound is back. So, I either have enough time to pull the engine out of the Gremlin and go through it, or I have enough time to get Michael's Purple Duster finished and take it, but certainly not both!"
"Well, judging from those pictures, you've apparently made your choice!"
"Yeah", Dale paused, "I guess I have!"

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2611434
01/24/19 03:59 AM
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Meanwhile, the Ruster Duster project took a complete and fundamental shift in both focus and momentum. I was casually talking to Boone about his plans when he mentioned that Dale had decided he would rather buy the 512 that was already in the car from Boone, than build little Billy a new engine after Drag Week.
"Did you guys come to an agreement already?" I quizzed him.
"Yeah, pretty much", he explained, "he's trying to beat me up on price because the engine will have three Drag Weeks on it by the time we get back!"
"No way, hold firm on your number!" I encouraged Boone, "think of all the time and effort that will save him if he doesn't have to pull that out and build another one...he's going to come up to you just to avoid the extra work with all the irons he has in the fire!"

Boone didn't see it as the defining moment I did. He had pretty much called all the shots on the Duster the last two years, because he had an ownership stake, and Billy was just a punk kid along for the ride. But now, the car was one hundred percent Dale and Billy's, they were doing the majority of the prep work on it for Drag Week 2018, and Billy had just got his learner's permit! Boone was going from calling the shots to basically being a hired driver. I know both him and Dale better than they know themselves, and little Billy learned everything about how he handles situations like this based on watching his father, so I knew there was going to be friction and upheaval that wasn't there on the '16 and '17 trips.

Pic 1. Another Gebhart loose on public streets
Pic 2. Billy shows off the recently installed, new to the Ruster taillights and bezels.
Pic 3. New classic dash insert with ultra light guages
Pic 4. More wiring for Dale, pretty much his entire summer of 2018!

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2611449
01/24/19 06:16 AM
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To compliment the new dash insert, Dale replaced the stock Duster steering wheel with a 'Cuda style wheel, and moved the nitrous button from the shifter to the wheel, something Boone had been begging for the last two years.

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2612802
01/26/19 10:44 PM
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"I feel bad for Michael's sake, but it's a good thing this purple Duster didn't go on Drag Week last year", Dale exclaimed over the phone as we were talking a week after he started working on the car.
"He had you convinced they were only an hour or two away!"
"Not even close, they converted it from a 1.5 gallon cell in front of the radiator to a fifteen gallon cell in the trunk. So I'm checking under the car for something else and realize they routed the steel braided fuel line down the top four link bar!"
"Uh...you're joking!"
"No, for real, zip tied to the top bar. Now I've got to touch very single bolt and wire on the thing, I can't leave anything to chance."
"Dale, you've been wiring on the Challenger for three months, what makes you think you can re-wire that machine in three weeks, and still finish the Ruster?"
"I don't have a choice", he paused, "this is the path I've chosen for DW 2018, so it just has to happen!"

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2614927
01/31/19 09:24 AM
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James brought the Challenger back to Dale's house on 8/25, basically one week prior to the beginning of hell week, for another test and tune session at Tulsa Raceway Park. In addition to having the headlights installed in the fiberglass front end, he had a set of steel doors fitted as well, so that he could switch back and forth for the drives. After making two Drag Week trips with Dale in the Gremlin with lexan windows, he really didn't want to deal with that again. Once the car arrived at Dale's, it still took Boone and James four hours of tweaking to get both sets of doors to fit properly and interchange without rubbing somewhere.

The test session didn't go well for James and the Challenger, between James learning to drive the car, Dale's buddy Kelton trying to learn how to tune and download the data acquisition, and Dale preoccupied with his own ride, they only got one decent pass on engine only.

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2615471
02/01/19 06:56 AM
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For Dale's part of the 8/25 test session at TRP, he made it out there with the purple 70 Duster, and got a pair of good shakedown runs in, but that was about it. Then it was back to the garage for more wiring as they hadn't even begun on the turn signals, headlights, or any of the street stuff. Time slip below is Challenger and Duster side by side, the Duster also added a 9.35-148. I expressed my concerns with the sixty foot times of both cars, but Dale chalked it up to tight nitrous converters and engines that needed dialed in for decent NA runs. He was out of time, regardless, so figuring out the combinations would probably not happen until Atlanta...

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Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2619427
02/10/19 04:17 PM
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With Dale so heavily involved in the Purple Duster, and James' Challenger. It was clear there would be no Calvary charging down the hill to help Darren out at the last minute. The Charger, Dakota, and 65 Dart were all far enough away from completion that the towel had been thrown in by mid August. On our family group text, the three of us attempted to convince him to just buy a set of drag tires for his Ram R/T and enter it, since basically he has driven it and followed us around the last three years in a row anyway. It seemed like a simple solution to us, but with Darren, nothing is ever simple.

First, he ordered a set of Center Lines (who've been out of business for a year) from some wheel retailing website that none of us had ever heard of, and it took two weeks after the promised delivery date for him to realize they didn't have them and couldn't get them, so then he had to scramble just to find anything that would fit and arrive on time.

Second, he decided if he was officially entering the truck, it needed to be faster, so he ordered a DiabloSport Trinity Tuner with it's fancy 5 inch dash screen, custom tunes and all the bells and whistles. Of course, getting the tuner installed and the new tunes downloaded, with a 10 year old laptop, spotty internet service, and a non savvy, impatient computer operator, proved to be a study in frustration, failure, and hilarity!

Meanwhile in Phoenix, the Valiant had sat untouched, and unmoved just outside my front door for the better part of 8 months. I decided that since the charging system had acted strange a few times on Drag Week 2017, I should rotate in a new set of Optima Red Tops, but other than that, I just packed all my stuff in the car, fired it up, and loaded it straight on the trailer for the trip to Oklahoma.

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2619433
02/10/19 04:33 PM
02/10/19 04:33 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,471
Minnesota
Hemi_Joel Offline
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Hemi_Joel  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,471
Minnesota
Originally Posted By MoparBilly


...First, he ordered a set of Center Lines (who've been out of business for a year) from some wheel retailing website that none of us had ever heard of, and it took two weeks after the promised delivery date for him to realize they didn't have them and couldn't get them...


HAHA, I find this hilarious because it is one of the foibles that we eternal optimists suffer. If its too good to be true, it must be true! laugh2 thumbs


[img]http://i.imgur.com/boeexFms.jpg[/img]
31 Plymouth Coupe, 392 Hemi, T56 magnum
RS23J71
RS27J77
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I don't regret the things I've done. I only regret the things I didn't do.
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. ~ Plato"
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2628353
03/03/19 06:16 PM
03/03/19 06:16 PM
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Phoenix, AZ
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MoparBilly Offline OP
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Phoenix, AZ
Rachael came over for a little while on Saturday to help me get the 1 ton loaded up for the trip. With her due date landing right in the middle of Drag Week 2018, she had finally gave up on going a couple of weeks earlier, but I could tell it didn't make her happy. She had announced to the Drag Weekers on their Facebook page that she couldn't make it, with a picture of her bare, eight months along belly. A few would comment to me later that she was very bold to do so, but good or bad, fat or skinny, Rachael has always been comfortable in her own skin. To see your child be that confident and at ease is a blessing as a parent, despite the occasional embarrassment!
"Are you going to stick around and join Skip's family for the NFL Fantasy Draft tomorrow?" She asked me as she sorted through my boxes of spare parts, tools, and support equipment.
"No...I think I'm going to leave out tonight", I explained, "I'd like to get a jump on some of the holiday traffic".
"There will be plenty of food and drinks", she continued, "You can come over early and we'll get your laptop all setup so you're ready for the draft!"
Last year had been my first foray into fantasy football, in a league that my son-in-law's family have been doing for years, on that occasion I begged out of doing it on location with them because I felt more comfortable sitting in front of my home PC, than trying to use the laptop I rarely play with. This year, I really just wanted to get started on my trip.
"To be honest", I grabbed my gut with both hands and gave it a shake, "more food and drinks before this trip are probably the last thing I need!"
"You are pushing some extra around for sure old man", she laughed. "You think you're really going to be able to handle all Drag Week is going to throw at you without me there to help this year?"
"No problem", I smiled, "I've been racing these old Mopars longer than you've been breathing!"
"You've reached the point where you're as prone to break down as these old Mopars too", she pointed out as her face got serious, and her tone changed, "so promise me you aren't going to push yourself too hard and too long when I'm not there to rescue you from your own stubbornness!"
I was immediately reminded of the trepidation I feel when my parents run off on some grand adventure with zero regards for the physical limitations their age places on them.
"I promise...I have a plan...I'm not going to push myself!"
"OK", she smiled at me again, "I trust you about as far as Flagstaff...but I tried!"

That statement brought a smile to my face as I pulled up to the pumps at the Little America Sinclair station in Flagstaff at 1:15 AM Sunday morning. I had replaced the troublesome FSS on the 12 valve and the old '93 had pulled the mountain with nary a whimper, so all I needed was a tall cup of coffee to pursue the New Mexico border across I-40 East.

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
Re: Hot Rod Drag Week 2018: The Buildup, Experience, & Beatdown! [Re: MoparBilly] #2632064
03/12/19 09:10 PM
03/12/19 09:10 PM
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Phoenix, AZ
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I made it as far as the Refinery at Jamestown NM, before I decided to pull into the Pilot Truck Stop and get some sleep. The high desert can get very cold by September, especially at four in the morning, but I had no trouble drifting off once I crawled in the back and got both sleeping bags situated. The morning sun cut through the fog in my head, and I found myself wide awake by 7:45. The strenuous activity of the day before, combined with the long drive, my age, weight, and bone chilling cold sleeping conditions, meant that, even though my head was ready to go, my body was stiff, sore, and reluctant to move. I used my hips and shoulders to shuffle towards the back of the bed until I had my knees drawn up and my feet touching the canopy door, I used my left foot to push the door out and up until it was open enough for the air assist arms to rotate it fully open and out of the way. I rolled onto my stomach and pushed my legs out of the bed until I could bend one in an attempt to find the truck bumper, this maneuver is a little painful because the tailgate sits a little higher than the carpeted plywood that forms the bed. I found the bumper first with my left leg, but as soon as I began to transfer weight onto it, I felt a twinge in my hamstring, so I pulled it back up and used the right to search for a spot. I found the bumper with my right foot, then extended my arms to lift myself off the bed, and I began walking my arms back, pushing myself out of the truck. I was hoping to get far enough back that I could see a place on the bumper or trailer tongue to land my left foot without ripping the 7 way plug out like I had done on a previous trip. Suddenly, my right foot slipped off the bumper, and the entirety of my weight crashed down across the exposed edge of the tailgate. I landed on my belly button area and it knocked all the breath out of me, I was flailing my arms and legs about, trying to gain a leverage point like an insect crushed to a windshield. Somehow I ended up curled up on my knees, on the ground, alongside the right side of the trailer tongue, sucking in air for all I was worth and clutching my stomach in both hands; I have no recollection of how I managed to get there. I shuffled off to the truck stop bathroom to clean myself up and inspect the damage. There were dark bruises already forming, but my real fear was a hernia, those types of injuries are no joke for a large man in his fifties, and I've seen quite a few friends suffer through the required pre-op weight loss, the surgery, and the lengthy recovery.
I looked in the mirror as I splashed water on my white, blood drained face. "You sir, are a clumsy idiot", I smiled at myself, but the obvious pain prevented any attempt at laughter.

I pulled into Rip Griffin's in Moriarty NM, three hours later, and pumped twenty-three gallons into the '93. I hadn't ate all day, but the aching pain in my gut more than quelled any feelings of hunger or appetite. Two hours later I arrived in Tucumcari NM. and even though it was only 1 in the afternoon, I felt like crap. It was one hour until our fantasy draft was to start, and I decided I would have better luck on the laptop than my phone, so I pulled into a nearly empty La Quinta Inn parking lot to see if they allowed an early check-in. I got a room, set up the laptop, and prepared for my draft as the clock clicked down. As I suspected, I struggled with the laptop, compared to my home PC, and I always seemed to be thirty seconds behind the draft board as the rounds clicked off. With that out of the way, I took a long, hot shower, then dressed in fresh clothes, and found a restaurant within walking distance. I was asleep by 4:30, but wide awake by 8:30 with no idea what to do next. While it seemed wasteful, I decided to check out and get back on I-40 East to continue my journey.

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"Livin' in a powder keg and givin' off sparks" 4 Street cars, 5 Race engines
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