The Road to Drag Week, 2016

My good buddy Jay Brown always does a blog of his Drag Week builds at FEpower.net, and it seems to help him keep motivated, as well as build enthusiasm for the event, so I decided I'll take a shot at it here on Moparts. I'll get this kicked off today, then update it once a week or so as progress is made.
If anyone else want to put their Drag Week stuff here as well, feel free to do so.

It just kills me to concede that my early Hemi powered 31 Plymouth coupe will not be ready for Drag Week 2016, but that is the reality I need to face. As usual, I took on too many other projects and activities not related to this project, plus I had some setbacks with a cracked head on the 392 Hemi. There is just too much work left to be done for the time I have available.
So on to plan B! I really need to reprogram my enthusiasm for the new plan, because it is not really there yet. I am still emotionally clinging to my dreams of running the Hemi-Coupe. Hopefully writing a blog here about it will get me energized! ;D

31 coupe:



So Plan B is to bring my 67 GTX that I ran in Factory Appearing Stock Tire (F.A.S.T.) years ago back out for Drag Week 2016. THis car needs far less work than the coupe to make it race and street ready, so I have a good shot at getting it done.

F.A.S.T. 67 GTX:



Last time I ran the car was 2010, and I blew up the Hemi by accidentally setting my two-step launch control to 9300 rpm instead of 3900. The plan now is to keep the budget somewhat low by putting together a 484 inch Hemi from spare parts that I have laying around, make some changes to the car for streetability and durability, but keep with the stock appearing theme. For Drag Week of course, I do not need to comply with the strict F.A.S.T. rules, so I will take some liberties as needed.

I will probably run in Street Race Big Block NA, or the Daily driver Bracket race. I expect the car to get solidly into the 10's, which would get it into the quick 32 program at Drag week, but would not be too competitive in SRBBNA. It has a roll bar and will tech to 10.00 e.t.
But the non bracket classes at Drag week have a few perks that might be worth it.

I'd love to see the X competing!!

Have they announced the tracks/locations this year?

We have an awesome line-up of tracks for 2016:


September 11 – Registration, Test and Tune
National Trail Raceway Hebron, OH

September 12 – Day One Racing
National Trail Raceway


September 13 – Day Two Racing
Summit Motorsports Park
Norwalk, OH

September 14 – Day Three Racing
US 131 Motorsports Park
Martin, MI

September 15 – Day Four Racing
Lucas Oil Raceway
Indianapolis, IN

September 16 – Final Day Racing
National Trail Raceway
Hebron, OH

Beginnings of a to Do list:

Clean up the mess in my shop so I can work on it

dig the GTX out of the back corner and push the coupe back into the corner.

Find all the parts for the car and for the Hemi and get them into 1 location

order any parts I need for the Motor

Put the motor together, maybe dyno it?

Put the moter and 4 speed back in the car.

complete the wiring on the car, for F.A.S.T. I didn't wire anything that wasn't nescessary to get down the track, like headlights and blinkers

re-do the fuel system, with the stock tank for street fuel and a 4 gallon cell for race gas. I street pump and 1 race pump, plus a valve to switch between them.

Figure out what tire will fit under the back of the car. It is all stock wheelwells, so maybe an 8.50 - 26"? Drag Week does not allow street tires, so I am going to buy a pair of slicks. Maybe my thinking is wrong here, but since I have 4.10 gears, I need a short tire to keep the rpm in the power range when it is in 4th gear. With a 26" tire 130 mph = 7000 rpm, a 28" tire = 6500 rpm at 130.

Maybe add caltrack bars and mono leafs? Are they needed, or will my stock Hemi leafs be good enuff?

Maybe add frame ties? I didn't need them with the G-70 14 bias ply's, but with slicks they would help.

Oh yeah they have stated the tracks.. National Trails
will be the home track(thats where you begin and end)
Norwalk is in there also.... 131 is in there... I forget the
other one of hand.... I'm way down on the waiting list
but if my car is together I will show up.. either I get
in or I'll drive along... I'm changing the cam and heads
next week... the roads here in Mich are a BITCHH on my
front struts.. the chuck holes in Mich are like hitting
the grand canyon .. I might change out struts if I can
get some long travel one for road racing

I don't have to tell you how cool a stock-appearing 10-second GTX is, great idea. Go for it!
There have been a few threads on slick size & rim size on '66-'67 cars. Taller tire will help leave harder, but powerband of course will dictate where you want to be RPM-wise.
If you do a pump-gas motor, you won't have to do a 2nd fuel system. 11:1 was fine on 93 with my fairly big cam, iron-head, 438" Hemi RR.
Looks like it leaves hard on street tires, but if you don't mind the alteration, ties would help the unibody. You can bolt 'em in if need be, easier to un-do later.

PM me for any G1 or G2 Hemi parts you might need. We have some stuff down at the shop after rebuilding a few recently. We have one spare G2 head and 7 pistons for +.030" and a number of other parts....

For your suspension question, we have found the old SS springs and pinion snubber totally inadequate on a number of cars. I highly recomend the Caltracs & Mono's and a leaf spring relocation so you can use the whole wheel well. We generally fit a 13" wide x 28" slick in there with a totally stock wheel well. Trim the inside of the wheel well to the frame rail, and you can go bigger.

I envy the guys that can go to Drag Week. The time and dedication required is enormous, not to mention, its not cheap. Wish I could go.

I built my 605 Cuda into basically a street legal Drag Week car...All it needs is the roll bar turned into a full cage so it could be 9 sec legal as it has already gone 6.32 in the 1/8th this year on pump gas in street trim thru the mufflers, a good working instrument cluster, and lastly, an air filter that fits with the new hood.

And since DR315's no longer come with tread, I would need a way to hook a small trailer to the car so I can switch street tires to slicks...Tubbed cars suck in any rain, so I would have to really put a rain tire on it for driving.

Car has probably 300-400 miles on it this year already without too many issues other than a lean condition during cruising I am working on.

If I remember right, I have a .060 over 1966 block, 1/2 filled, with a fresh hone; a Mopar Performance 1053 steel crank, 4.15 stroke, Manley Sportsman I beam rods, and matching pistons that should yield 12.5 - 13.5 to 1, a reground Bullet roller cam with about .720 lift and 280 @ .050 =/- duration, and a fresh set of iron heads. I'll need to check the heads and pistons and calculate the exact compression ratio, but whatever it is I'm going with it because I have the stuff.

It's only 60 days till drag week, I only have a very limited time to make changes. How big of a deal is it to move the leaf springs in, I've never done it. Do the Calvert mono leafs require a panhard bar? Panhard bars are not allowed in Street race classes.
Dragula, I envy your 605! THat would be a great Drag Week car!

What's more important, using a taller tire for more traction, or using a shorter tire to get the rpm up? I have a 4.56 gears I could use, but they would be awful on the 1200 mile drive.

Mono's and Calverts are a bolt in...No panhard needed. Plus they are lighter than SS springs and pinion snubber. And Mancini has the relocation kit. Comes with front boxes that need welding in, and new rear hangers. Buy it, if you have time, move them in, if not just leave the monos and Caltrac's where they land.

And at your cubic inches, and a 28" slick, 4.30 is the optimal ratio. The Hemi will really like 4.56's but that would be hell on the street. So I would go 4.10 and a 28"-29" street tire..Owned many Hemi's at that cubic inch size, and they love lots of gear, but +3200rpm cruising it down the thruway gets old pretty quick.

If its not going to run 9.90's or quicker, I would put the mildest gear you have in it, and sacrifice a tenth or two for drivability.

A friend who races Fords offered to bring over a bunch of different tire/wheel combinations that he has to help figure out what will fit. I decided not to move the springs, but I ordered a set of weld in frame ties from US Car Tool. They are contoured to fit the bottom of the floor. So some paint repair will be needed. I hate to weld on the bottom of the car, because it looks like this, but I have to so it doesen't warp the car:




I'll order the caltracs and mono leafs today. I think I'll stick with my single adjustable QA1 rear shocks.

I pulled the heads off the shelf last night, and found that they are all disassembled. I forgot about that, I thought they were ready to bolt on. Now I need to find all the parts. I know I have them, I just need to find them.

I doubt that this motor will have enuff snort to put this heavy car into the 9's, but if it does I'll be very happy to upgrade the roll bar to a cage. I hate sandbagging!


BTW, if anyone else wants to add their own DW stuff to this thread, you are invited.

I wouldn't relocate the springs and tub that car...too beautiful to cut up. If you were able to make it hook on G70's, you should be able to make a small slick work. It might not hurt to find a 28-29" tall street tire to keep the revs down, then swap to a 26" slick at the track.

I would move the tub over to the rail in a second........but that's just me. Those cars look SO much better with a little more tire in the wheel well

Could not agree with you more Monte, but we only have 60 days until Drag Week... Joel has enough on his plate to deal with.

Jeff, You have to stop working on your car and help

I haven't touched the Road Runner in a month. I've been working 11-12 hour days, add in 2 hours of commuting per day, and I just do not have much spare time. I have my GTX running again, but by the end of the day I'm wiped out. I'll get some rest during Drag Week lol.

I've been running crazy... working on the EFI
and my shop... I'm finishing up the upper dry
wall then adding the air conditioner.. plus adding
a door opener... not the normal one that runs up
the middle.. I have one that mounts right on the
shaft itself so I have to add some metal for the
mount... then change the cam and heads on the car
and that will take new PRs also... so yeah I'm staying
busy.. then the normal every day stuff... I was thinking
of putting in my 395ci engine.. that way I could build it
on the stand.. but I think I'll just change the 416 over
to the W-5 from the W-2s that are on it now.. I could use
the weight loss... at least now my wife can drive again
so that freed up some time(she was in a neck brace)
EDIT
I forgot.. I'm changing the struts in front to longer
ones for the rough roads here in Mich... I'll sell off
my race ones before I hurt them... I just talked with
Strange today so I will place my order tomorrow

I am planning on dropping the new for drag week 416 in this weekend. I really want to get to the track this Month. Since the EFI is still new to me I want to try and get a handle on what this motor wants prior to drag week.

Good luck to all of you.....

Cool post Joel!! keep on the updates and we LOVE pictures!!

My question about the mono-leafs has to do with the double whammy of the car being a pack-mule, combined with rough roads. It's not unusual for a car on Drag Week to have 400 to 800 more lbs. in it over "race weight" while driving down the back roads.

I would love to start preparing for Drag Week 2016...but I haven't finished the 2015 story yet...

Any details on the new combo Clark?

60 days, Billy...
That's a good question on the mono leafs Billy. I'm going to call Jay tommorrow and ask, I think he ran mono leafs on his Galaxy.

Good luck on the efi, Clark. You're braver than me.

I just wrecked mine driving to the track on wet roads. Broke and twisted up my k frame.

Its a W2 headed 416 my Dad and I built last summer from a sum of parts we both had, mostly his. We were going to run it last year but thought we had a thrust issue so we pulled it the weekend before drag week and put the 360 back in. Turns out the thrust is in spec although on the loose side and the thrust bearing and surface look great.

Joel the EFI has been running on the 360 and I have been to the track with it. I Still have a little learning to do but it starts idles and runs the ET it should in the air conditions. I ran this EFI Controller(Megasquirt) to control my ignition last year so I have some time on it, although I still have lots to learn about what all it can do.

My car has Mono springs on it. DW12 was my first and I packed more than I needed and really beat the springs up. After 2012 I started swapping to an air shock for the road sections. Its not a big deal to swap them since I am already swapping tires. 30psi in the air shocks and it rides good and sits good.

After 4 DWs my mono springs were beat, I just replaced the rear halves with the stock ride hieght version and the difference between them and the old ones just laying on the ground is big. I haven't set the car down on the ground yet to see how much higher it made it but it needed to raise up. I am sure the beating I gave them on DW12 did them no favors at all, I have rub marks in my fenders from some of the "roads" and I just can't picture how a tire was able to make it up that far LOL.

No good man. Hope you're OK.

I've been working on my 66 Plymouth that has seen street/strip duty for the last 15 years. Going to run DD or SRBBNA.

Things already done:
-Built a new, larger fuel cell w/ in tank pumps
-added elec fan
-wired horn
-Converted to TBI
-built hitch
-minor weight reduction

To Do:
-inspect rockers/valvetrain
-finish N2O install (although I won't be using it...or will I)
-Rollbar?
-balljoints/alignment
-build hitch/tire carrier
-make some passes, I haven't had it to the track this year, just street miles tuning the EFI
-determine if I am going to run 1 set of tires, or swap at the track


And yeah, they do look a bit better with bigger tires out back

Are you OK? Can you fix it in time for DW?

OUTLAWD, cool. We will probably end up in the same class.

I talked to Jay about mono leafs. He ran them on the Galaxie for 2 years without a problem, but he pulls a trailer so he only had a couple hundred pounds in the trunk.

I'll load it up and see how it looks. I don't know if my trunk monkey is up for switching air shocks/race shocks at every track.

Fwiw, my car worked just fine with mp xhd springs and cal tracs.

You could always leave your umbrella at home? Less weight then.

You have a good trunk Monkey, but changing shocks every day? Only if you buy Texas Roadhouse every night...

Strategy for Drag Week attire: Save clothes all year that would have got thrown away. Put them in a suitcase, bring them on Drag Week. When they get dirty, throw them in the trash at the motel. No packing out dirty laundry! I learned this from former DW competitor Mike Moore. So what if you look like a hobo?

For the amount they want for a T-shirt now...
your right... I use to buy the year old ones
for a cheaper price(4 for X amount).. what do
they want now.. $25 each

At least you don't have to buy a seat to ride in this one!

Cool project

Good Luck!

Ohhh man, say it ain't so!!! How bad is it?

I gripe about it a lot but the shock swap is pretty easy. While I swap the shocks my dad caps or uncaps the exhaust and whoever is done first starts on the tires.

I tried to build mine as a one man show.. now
I just have to swaps the cam and heads.. should
make close to the same power.. maybe 20hp less..
just a guess...I'll drag a small trailer.. no
changing tires and elec cut outs... I worry more
about the front suspension than anything.. one
big chuck hole could break a heim joint... I'm
thinking about bigger tubing and bigger heims

same as how I run my 68 Satellite plus Rancho rear shocks .
I drive to the track , and have driven a few times interstate . Race wheels , spare wheel , jack , spares , tools in the boot . Esky on the back seat if needed . No worries . All I do is empty trunk , swap rear wheels , adjust shocks (F&R) and fit carb air pan . Oh and hook up harness . About 30 minutes .
Done this for the last 5 or 6 years

Tex

Or just bring one set of clothes and wash them is the sink every night

The amount of clothes I took on previous years
wasnt enough to take up much space at all.. when
I was with Dale(quick52) I would just throw my bag
in the bed of the truck(just a small hand bag thing)
but if it rained it was a issue.. he had a tonneau
cover but the bed wasnt water tight... I made up my
trailer to be water tight... most of the stuff in the
bag were underwear and socks.. 2 pair of shorts and 1
pair of long pants and a couple T-shirts.. I use to buy
the rest of my T-shirts at DW.... and just stuff it in
the bag.. some days I would be all wrinkled... oh well..
Dale always took more clothes than me

maybe freiburger needs to add a "best dressed" category ?

Too bad your not closer Ray I have a set of 275 nitto's on 8" rims you could use to drive from track to track. They won't spin out in the rain but they will if you try and race on them. Worthless Lol

I hope not. Joel would pull out all the stops to try and win that... I need him to get dirty working on the car this year. Last year we pulled into the gate, and Joel went on the meet and greet tour, while his Trunk Monkey worked his tail off.

OK, I'm ready:

I got it dug out of the corner where it has been sleeping under its cover for 6 years. I test fit my 9.50 -15 Quicktime pros, and had about 1-1/4" clearance to the inner wheel tub and spring. I'm picking up a pair of 10x28 15's from Jay tommorrow to test fit.

Blahjahahahh
That made me laugh out loud. Nice threads Joel.

Looks like he is going to a funeral ... LOL

A wedding... Same thing.

a dashing young lad is he, say what ? he most certainly must have some grey poupon stashed some where close by........

Lets be honest here. If Joel is going to get dressed up for Drag week, it will look more like this.

This calls for a little bubbly... You just earned your seat at the head table pal! And we already got the tuxes.

Ya, I'm pretty sure I've yet to meet Joel even though we stopped by his car at Indy, Da Grove, and Cordova last year. But the monkey was hard at work each time!

Progress report:

My two former trunk monkeys, Kevin and Jeff came over, and having 3 trunk monkeys in one place ended up to be quite a party! Kevin brought some wheels and tires, and he picked up one from Jay as well for me to test fit. We decided on 9x28- 15 on a 7" rim as the biggest that will fit my stock wheelwell without getting custom offset wheels. So I ordered a pair of MT ET Drags.
I spent a bunch of time finding parts and digging them out of various storage hideaways, and got a couple of workbenches halfway cleared of clutter so I had a place to work. Got the block cleaned up and onto the bench. I found some slight rust in a few areas like the main bearing bores, so I polished them up with scotchbrite. The #1 and #5 main cap parting surfaces had some material transfer from cap walk, so I carefully honed the block surfaces with a stone, and the cap surfaces with 600 grit paper on a granite surface plate. I installed the 3/4 groove competition main bearings and caps and checked all the main bearing clearances. They are right at .0020. I wouldn't mind seeing .0025-.0030, but I think they will be OK.



I like to do the crank work on the table, so I can then test fit all the flywheel/clutch/bellhousing/transmission/starter stuff and dial in the bellhousing while the crank is easy to turn and Im not under the car. The bell is a new quicktime scattersheild, and it was concentric to the centerline of the crankshaft within .006". Close enuff. But the counterweight levers on the Advance clutch hit the inside of the bell. So I put some washers between the block and the block plate to push the bell rearward .125" as a test. That solved the clearance issue, so I ordered an extra block plate to put in there as a long term solution.



Jeff came over and got busy pulling the F.A.S.T. fuel tank, and installing the new caltracs and mono leafs.



I hope to get the new slicks mounted and test fitted this week, and the short block all assembled over the upcoming weekend.

I had a new set of front spring hangers made for Joel at my work. They are a little heavier then stock, and have 3 holes to adjust the front eye. The CalTracs are installed along with mono leafs. My next project is to work on the fuel system, and keep Joel on task. So far things are moving nicely.

Nice Progress Joel!

I got my mono leaf rear halves replaced. It actually raised the car up a good amount more than I would like but I imagine it will settle down some. Looks like the difference between old -1 springs and stock height is actually about 4".

I got some odds and ends finished up on the 416 and it is now resting in the engine bay and is pretty close to lighting off. I have a busy weekend but I hope to start it up on sunday. Then its off to the exhaust shop. I would LOVE to make some test passes on the 28th but that is a stretch and assumes everything goes well(LOL)

A pic before it was installed. W2 headed EFI 416.

I have no idea why these upload sideways sometimes

Short drive if you need a driver Clark.LOL

Joel,
Are you using stock clutch linkage with that quick time bell? If do get ready for headaches, the bracket from quick time well flex and bend, happened to me on 2014 drag week. Had off three different times gusseting and welding through out the week. Finally got the bracket to quit bending an the discovered the front flange of the whole bell would flex either the clutch pedal. Not s crazy flywheel pressure either just a McLeod long/Borg and beck combo. I went back to the Lakewood last year and problems solved.

mrphound, that is concerning, thanks for the heads up. I noticed that the clutch fork bracket is not properly positioned to center the throw-out bearing either. So, heeding your warning, I am going to machine a pivot from a chunk of solid steel. My clutch only has a maximum static pressure of #1200, so hopefully the bell won't flex. I did consider switching to a lakewood, but I don't have one on hand, I didn't see any used ones for sale, I don't feel like spending $700 on a new one, and Iv'e had the Quicktime too long to return it. So hopefully it works out.

The car has a nice stance with the caltrac parts installed:




We had to remove the gas tank because it was set up for F.A.S.T. with a 2 gallon cell, pump and regulator hidden inside. A new stock tank from Auto City Classics is going in.

Bad340,
I don't know if the rear will settle, I have zero experience with monoleafs.

If yours settles, it will be just right, if mine settles, it will be too low.

The Split Mono springs should not settle, maybe 1/4" or so if they do.

Thats good news, I will get used to mine sitting up taller in the rear, it will be better for performance but it has been sitting so low for so long it looks odd to me right now.

Thanks for the good service and good shipping time and price on these Mono spring halves Johnny!

You're welcome!

Whoah! On that FAST fuel tank, never considered the lengths that entails. Mind blown...

Joel's new M/T slicks are mounted. They are 28x9 stiff sidewalls with tubes.

Got the frontend sorted on my heap. Will roughed in the alignment and will see how it drives, if it needs work I'll go see Jake.

Dropped the headpipes and welded some dumps and relocated the O2 sensors for the EFI and Innovate.

Girlfriend is out of town for work this week so I have been taking advantage of my extra garage time.

I drilled a "trunk Monkey hole" in the scattersheild for adjusting the clutch. Got an extra block saver plate and it spaced the bell back far enuff that the clutch clears it now. I also beefed up the bracket on the bell so it can't flex. Jeff got some misc things done, so we are moving forward.



I'm also entertaining the idea of bringing a trailer. Not that it would be necessary, but it sure would make it easier at the track because there would be no loading/unloading of the car. Just unhook the trailer. Then if would save wear and tear on the monoleafs as well as the Trunk Monkey. And free up more of my time for schmoozing the press, female Drag Week groupies, and high level dignitaries.

Mr P Body:
I saw your question on the entry list thread about why there was no Barnyard Viper entry, or no Rachael entry.

In February, I purchased Darryl's 69 Dart, a two time Drag Week finisher, rolling.

When Boone came out for The Bakersfield "March Meet", I traded the Dart, along with a low deck 512 stroker, Indy SR headed engine to him for the Barnyard Viper, so now it takes up permanent residence in Phoenix.

I've driven it two several local car shows, given friends rides in it, and basically enjoyed it on the street, while I plan upgrades. It was parked in my driveway when the palm tree trimmer showed up in June, and he asked that I move it while he dropped palm fronds all over my yard. I parked it on the curb, a couple of houses down, which I do regularly on my cul-de-sac.

A week later Rachael came over at the request of my wife to take our springer spaniel and husky for a hair cut, as the Phoenix summers don't agree with their normal coats.

She loaded the dogs in the front of her extended cab Ranger, and pulled out of my driveway. Upon acceleration, the husky jumped from the back seat to her lap, and she plowed into the passenger side of the Barnyard Viper. Truthfully, the body damage doesn't bother me as much as the fact that her truck grabbed onto the fender exit header cap, and trashed the header!

That's why the Barnyard won't be attending in 2016, and why Rachael has been banished from the family, never to be mentioned again!

Meanwhile, I jumped on Summit and ordered a new
"1962 Valiant Fiberglass Hood with Reverse Tear Drop Scoop", from their extensive inventory, and it arrived four days later with free shipping!

I'm not so sure I believe all this, Billy. No one would give up a Viper for a Dart. I figure you trim your own trees. Gepharts don't drive fords. No one lets a husky ride inside the cab, they ride in the bed. And you can't just call summit and get a glass hood for a '62 Valiant like it was a 69 Camaro or sumpthin'.

See, I wasn't born yesterday.

BUMMER Billy

Isnt your daughter a Ginger like me? Just saying Bwah.

Blame the dog not your daughter.

Joel,
Trust me, If you didn't believe those first two posts, the rest of the story called "The road to drag week 2016" is really going to cast doubts on my credibility...

This '75 Scamp 318 car was purchased by Darren in 2014. He put welds on it and drove it daily for a year, then ended up giving it to Boone for some outstanding debt that he owed him.

Boone drove it sparingly for a year, then started trying to sell it for Drag Week Project Car Funds, since he had Darryl's old Dart home, and it wasn't going to convert itself from small block to big block for free.

While at a swap meet in OKC, he was approached by a guy who claimed to have a '24 dodge street rod project he had abandoned, and would be interested in trading for the Scamp.

Boone's overwhelming desire to be more like Brian Kuhlmann and Joel Nystrom drove him to load up the Scamp a week later, and drive down to look at said '24 Dodge, even though his brain warned him about 90 year old basket cases.

He came home with this:

Now that Boone had rid himself of the Barnyard Viper, and the Scamp, managed to pick up a nice 69 Dart with full interior that could be ready for DW 16, and a long term project in the '24 that checked off his yearning for "an old Mopar coupe", you'd think his road would be pretty sorted out. But this is a Gebhart, and this is Drag Week. So he quickly sold the Dart, in rolling form, to Michael Beeler who completed DW14 in his small block 70 Dart.

The Road to drag week is a little closer. The 416 runs.

I was a little surprised how well it started and idled using the fuel table from the 360. I made the displacement changes in Tunerstudio and made the wiring corrections(injectors and coils) for the 4-7 swap firing order and it lit right off and went into closed loop idle. This was the second start but the first one went off just the same.

https://youtu.be/L-QaIGNCghw

Sounds great Clark

Good job
EDIT
I'll finish up my lifter bores tomorrow then
flush the engine and start putting it back together

How do ya manage that!? you must have identified some advanced search that I have not come across...

Wish I could go....The Hemi is coming around. Just ran my first 9s run with it Friday.

How is everyone coming? Exhaust shop tomorrow and then time to get some drive time on it.

Tried heading to the track Saturday, got caught in a ridiculous rain storm, figured out the defroster blower wasn't working. Luckily the switch was just unplugged, must have bumped it doing my wiring work a few months back...one more thing added to, and subsequently checked off of, the to-do list.

Billy, Sorry to see the news of the B-Viper. In Boone's hands for years with no trouble, couple of months out west and suddenly the Mopar world loses one of our treasured hero's.... Nice work, Rachel. haha, JK.

Hope you get it straightened out soon. Dart looks good with the teardrop hood!

Best Wishes-

Great to see the 67 back out, Joel! Can't wait to see one of my favorite cars tackle drag week! Good luck.

Just got my cam and lifters all in and cam timed
so I'll put the heads on maybe tomorrow.. still
have to order push rods

Joel...wish I found this thread a bit earlier, oh well!

Anyways...little slicks....keep in mind I've been in the nines with my little MH "vintage" slicks, they're 9x15s but the tread is only 7" wide. With monoleafs and home made cal tracs. I cheated with the weight transfer thing, of course!

Looks like the GTX will be fun, get it done!

My Dad got mine to the exhaust shop this week, sounds good and now I can run it with the 02 sensor and do some work on the fuel table.

I was able to squeeze in about a 12 mile drive in mine tonight. First drive with this motor and the EFI, it started off super rich but the automatic electronic jet changer(auto tune) cleaned that up quick and cruise and idle was pretty nice after about a mile or two. I will need to go in and lean the whole table out some before I beat on it any. The auto tune can do that kind of work but its hard to stay in the throttle long enough to let it do very much work.

The only concerning thing is this all Iron 416 runs about 15-20* warmer than the aluminum headed 360 did, the temp never ran away it was just warmer than the 360.

How is everyone else coming? Mr P did you get yours running yet or are you changing the crankshaft or something now?

Hopefully putting the motor and Trans in this weekend, nothing like the Gebhart plan "wait till the last possible minute" lol

Plenty of time. Joel and I are planning on Bonneville Speed Week now and still have a bunch to do to the GTX. Lol.

I'll put the intake on today.. the rest is done.. waiting on
PRs now.. should have them mid week... the intake is all set
just need to bolt it on

Daryl's Dart should still be in Phoenix and would have been a great home to a W8 small block.... I'm sickened by the turn of events concerning that car.

The tale of the "Dust Bomb"

The years of our youth always seem to revolve around cars, and with four brothers fueled by the stories of our Dad and our love of drag racing, our first forays into the world of performance mopars were colorful and hilarious.

As the oldest brother, I felt a need to help my younger siblings in any way I could, so, in 1984, when one of my Chevy friends intimated that he was ready to get rid of his wife's old slant six Duster, my ears perked right up. Not for me, as I never was much of a Duster guy, but my 14 year old brother Dale was the only one of us without a Mopar project of his own.

The buddy price was only 700$ for a near mint 8 year old car, Dale had rounded up $500 (summer hay hauling), and I traded some tires to cover the rest. We went to pick it up (My buddy had a 70 SS396 Chevelle, and an 11 second 427 powered 69 Nova), and the shop was full of all the local Chevy gear heads.
"What do you plan to do with the old dust bomb", my buddy questioned the snot nosed 14 year old.
"I plan to put it in the Tens, and make it the most feared Mopar on the street!"
Once the laughing and knee slapping from the peanut gallery stopped, my Buddy looked at Dale, smiled and said, "Son, you bring me a ten second time slip from that thing and I'll give you back one of these dollars!"

That was followed by more laughter as I grabbed Dale's arm and beat a hasty retreat out of there, thoroughly embarrassed.
"Awfully big boasts, when we haven't even ran thirteens yet!" I chastised him.


When I put the 440 in my 73 Cuda, Dale got the hand-me-down low compression 340 with a flattened cam. We bought a PAW rebuild kit, a 284/484 MP shaft, and by the time he had a driver's license, he had a mid 14 second car.

Fast forward ten years, and the same Duster sat on the starting line at Mokan, with my hand-me-down 440 from the Cuda, and a plate system, Dale went 10.94-121. Luckily, my chevy buddy was in the pits, so Dale didn't have to go far to get his dollar.

A few years later, I called Dale about an opportunity to buy a BBM powered 70 AMX, which he jumped at, because he was always a closet AMC guy. The problem was, he had to part with the Duster to come up with the funds for the AMX.

That should have been the end of Dale's "first car" story. But a few years ago the guy who bought the Duster asked Dale if he wanted it back, and could he pull it out of his Dad's field where he abandoned it.

Dale picked it up, but it was in sad shape. Oklahoma dirt is kinder to plants than it is to lower quarter panels.

Dale gave it to his snot nosed 10 year old son...now he's 14 and just as cocky as his Dad was at that age, so Boone is putting his 512 in it, and they are taking it on Drag Week 2016, with the Quarter Panels flapping in the breeze. The "Dust Bomb" nickname has been replaced by "the Ruster Duster".

Here we go again...

Well at least they make lower quarters for that car..
it doesnt look to bad at all
EDIT
I'm waiting on PRs right now... the rest of its together

Is that Richard Simmons?

Great story Billy. Now get back over to your page and give us more of last years drag week. No pressure though. You still have a few weeks.

Ross will you be legal under 8.50 this year?

I think you mean under 11.50, Clark. Can't see Ross putting a funny car cage in the old 'Runner!

Dale got his old Duster certified to 8.50 yesterday, and a 6.0 cert on the Chassis for the 70 AMX.

LOL Good Catch yes, under 11.50. Although he seems to like that little bit of nitrous, maybe he got carried away and ordered a few more kits?

No Clark I am still at 11.5. I bought the hoop and ordered in the tubing I needed to put it in . I even stripped out the car . I just couldn't bring myself to actually start cutting and welding on that car. I guess my personal goal will be to see how close I can come to an 11.5 average again this year.

Cutting? don't take no cutting to put in a roll bar...This is cutting!

I wasnt even done cutting at this point..
the part where some tools are at is gone also

That's not cutting. That's just a superficial wound...........LOL!!!

Last Sunday I got about 50 miles on mine over about 3 hours while running errands and driving in as many conditions as I could. The motor runs a little warmer than I want but it was 95* outside and it never got over *205 but I did not make a real long highway run. I had also forgot to stuff the foam piece under my radiator that helps keep air from going around it so that is going in now.

The biggest problem I have is one I knew was possible. Getting the fuel hot, circulating 600hp of fuel all the time gets the whole load of fuel hot after a fairly short time when most of it is returning to the tank from the 200* fuel rails. I couldn't find my IR temp gun to see how hot the tank was but it was hot, the fuel pump was screaming and failed to keep the pressure up the only time I leaned on it when everything was warm. I got some thermal sleeve to insulate the fuel lines and I am going to try to isolate the rails from the intake heat soak via some nylon washers. If that doesn't do much to help it I will plumb in a small transmission cooler with a fan on the return line, that seems to be the fix for a lot of people but the last thing I need to do is add more weight.

What size pump? Even with my 255, I noticed my tank was hot as well, especially when fuel level got lower. Can you drive the pump with a PWN via the ECU? I can only dial the 255 back to ~70% before I start to drop pressure at idle. I have dual parallel pumps in tank, I was almost contemplating running a smaller 190 on the street.

I've been fighting the fuel heating problem for awhile and I think I finally have it beat.

Originally I had an A1000 pump mounted externally on the rear tank with the Aeromotive PWM fuel pump controller connected. This worked well until I went on a longer trip (2 hours) on a very hot day and then I had problems. I talked with Aermotive support and he explained that once the fuel gets to around 140 degrees it can vaporize right at the pump inlet due to the vacuum created by the pump to draw up the fuel. This will cause the pump to cavitate and get very noisy which is exactly what I experienced.

I rerouted my feed and return lines farther away from the headers at the firewall and built a small surge tank with an A1000 internal pump in the surge tank. This tank is mounted up front just behind the grill. The rear pump feeds this tank while the front pump is regulated and supplies the injectors. The return from the fuel rails goes through a fuel cooler (from Summit Racing) back to the surge tank and the surge tank uses the original return line back to the tank.

Ya it's overkill on the pumps but I already had the A1000 on a fabricated mount on the rear tank and I didn't want to change that. A smaller pump at the rear would have worked fine as well. So far it's worked well on longer rides on hot days and after a ride I can touch my fuel tank and it is only lukewarm.

I have dual external Walboro 255s mounted right behind the tank. My ECU does have the ability to PWM the pumps I just need to change to a solid state relay and figure out how to program it. I overbuilt the fuel system to give me room to grow from a power standpoint and to build in a spare for the road. I can either type in a change to fire the other pump or just move a wire on the relays in the back.

I have been working on it some this morning. I changed my mind on how I want to isolate the fuel rails with nylon washers and now I don't have enough and I have to go to the store haha welcome to hot rodding.

PC-Charger, the fuel vaporizing at the pump inlet makes sense. My bump sounded horrible. Like I said at the time I couldn't find my temp gun but I have it now and will see what kind of temps I get. I know the tank was still warmer than anything else on the car 5 hours after I got home and shut it off.

I put the sleeve on my fuel lines under the hood, its black just like the lines and it looks better than I thought it would. I hope it helps some.

The fuel cooler is your biggest help.. dont let
the hot fuel into the tank.. cool it before it
gets there... if you allow the hot fuel into the
tank its just a matter of time before the whole
tank gets heat saturated ... do you have a sealed
hood... if you can let the heat out of the engine
bay it helps... I have seen 320* at the injector
tips in Death Valley area after the long climb coming
out then doing a heat soak at the top... that climb is
18 miles long(one of our normal test runs in the fuel lab)

I do have a stock hood, that doesn't help anything I know. Ran it some more today, it's not as hot outside but the pump did get a little loud. Shooting fittings with an temp gun nothing near the pumps was over 120* the fuel rails are running 150-170ish when the motor is 190. I am going to move some plumbing around back by the pumps.

Good news is I have put close to 100 miles on the engine and everything looks good to go to the track this weekend.

Got the Valiant back home tonight.

Had to return to the old scoop, much to my chagrin.

The plan was ram air and a reverse tear drop, or an old style scoop like a pontiac super duty. The problem was the carb air horn is level with the front of the hood as it plunges down towards the grille. The hood also rolls quickly down towards the fenders, so to make a 16" ram air box or even a 14" air cleaner fit would require a Galaxy sized RTD, about 6 inches tall! That certainly wouldn't have looked proportionally right on a small Valiant hood.

So we salvaged the old scoop, but he moved it back about an inch, and then lowered the back of it 3/4 of an inch with a wedge cut to make the scoop more level on the hood.

The hood sags a little in relation to the fenders. An easy fix if I had went with standard hood pins, but with the recessed quick latch set-up being a little more finicky, it will take a little more time to get it perfect.

Went from the 6" diameter 4" tall breather to an 11x5" K&N, so hopefully that will cure my top end breathing problem.

Don't know if this angle will show the changes between the fiberglass hood and the steel one or not, it's pretty subtle.

PS. Told him to pop me a second hood from this mold, if you like what you see Aaron (Turbo Toad) it's yours...if not I'll keep it as a spare.

Holley has a new "brushless" Dominator fuel pump that is PWM. Works great, but the pump and controller combo is pretty pricy

I have the ability to use pwm control if I change over to a solid state relay.

Spy photos from Dale's shop. Neither engine has ever been fired, both are supposed to go on Drag Week. SNAFU is the appropriate acronym, I believe.

Could be worse Billy. We are currently 1300 miles away from home, and Joel's GTX isn't near ready.

Hey, I can't miss speed week! There will be plenty of time to work on the GTX when I get back.

Drove the Valiant yesterday morning to the barber shop for my Drag Week haircut, then tried to get a couple of tire store alignment rack guys to do an alignment on it. They wouldn't touch it, and told me I needed to find a specialty shop.
Despite the fact that the front end it pretty far out, I decided to make the 33 mile trek across town to Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park yesterday afternoon. Four stops along the way to cool it down, so I've got some work to do there. Pulling the fiberglass hood off that many times make me miss the factory hinges already!

Even before I finished unloading all the stuff out of the car, the wind kicked up significantly and a pretty good lightning storm started up. It was pretty ugly by the time I cleared tech, so I didn't bother dropping the exhaust. It finally cleared up, and I went to the lanes as is.

There were kids in imports and trucks everywhere, and a 3/4 ton diesel Ford shook all the dirt and rocks out of his wheel wells when he launched in front of me, just as I finished my burnout. I shut the engine off, opened my door, and waited for them to sweep the junk off the starting line. I didn't want to be the second guy to tag the wall on the night and I wasn't going to do another burnout, so I decided to foot brake at 2000 rpm, and be ready to lift if it did anything funny. Then I remembered that I had dropped the tires from 20 to 15 in the pits, with the anticipation of dropping them further in the lanes, but had skipped that process. Fifteen passes a year is not enough to keep you sharp and in your routine! Predictably, it spun, and basket balled the tires a little off the line, and by the time I hit second it had a noticeable vibration somewhere. Just as I hit the stripe, the back passengers side quick latch let go, and the hood raised up noticeably on that side, so I jammed the brakes pretty hard to scrub speed. It went 10.98-122, and I decided that was good for the night.

I pulled over in the tech area, and grabbed NHRA tech guru Ed Brady, so we could get down to the real reason I made the drive, getting the cage certified so I can run in the nines legally when the bottle is turned on. It passed and was stickered, so I was happy when I drove out of the track. Not so happy when that same quick latch came loose twice on the drive home though. I'm not losing another hood, so this thing might have four quick latches and fourteen Dzuz fasteners very soon!

Billy I am glad to see you are already driving it around before drag week.

My dad and I got mine out today for a good 50ish mile jaunt in and around town today. It feels good, sounds good, and I am starting to get the hang of the EFI stuff so its manners are getting better and better.

I am still having a problem with the fuel getting hot. I am quite certain I heard the fuel boiling in the tank when I shut the car off today. I can't make any other sense of what the sound would be that lasted 30-45 seconds after I shut the car off. It looks like I will be working on a fuel cooler before drag week.

progress, great!

(did you see the funky hinges I put on mine? with normal hood pins up front?)

Efi correct could the noise your hearing just be the fuel return line draining back into the fuel tank....just a thought
Good luck

Working on getting Joel's dual fuel system plumbed. The car will go down the road using pump gas in the stock tank, and a Holley Red pump, and can easily be switched over to race gas in the 3 gallon fuel cell.

Thought about that, but the tank should be 2/3 or more full and my return is lower than that.

I went back and checked my mileage, we were out just under 3 hours and covered 75 miles which is the longest trip with the EFI so far. This is the first time I have heard that noise.

Jericho, that setup looks good!

Got mine out to the track for the first time with the EFI. Ran decent considering the weather. Also tried the 30" tall tires with the 3.55's to see how it would fair. I really don't want to swap tires during the week, but the tall tires cost me 0.08 in the 60' alone.

Looks like I might try the MT ET Street SS tires, they appear to have a bit more tread than my current Hoosiers. Anyone try them yet?

Also logged quite a bit of street miles, rolled up to Woodward, and got caught in a few nasty rain storms.

Don't have much more to do. Long wheel studs just arrived on my porch, so I will take care of that tonight just in case any tech guys want to hassle me.

Against my better judgement, I put my shortblock together before i had the heads ready. These heads have never been on this shortblock, and wouldn't you know, it has valve to piston issues. So I have to tear it apart and cut the pistons. Arg. I worked on that for a while, but got kind of frustrated and tired of it. so I opted for a change of pace and worked on the wiring. That should be easy to finish, then I'll get back on the motor.







At least my trunk monkey woke up long enuff to get something done while I was going backwards....

I'm going to run PAC endurance valve springs with #255/635 pressure. It takes lots of oil to cool them on the long street drives, so I plumbed the block for full time oiling to the rocker gear. I am taking out my old Landy roller rockers, because they do not oil the tips well. New Stage V rockers from FHO that are drilled to oil the intake rollers are going in.

Looks like Jeff may be taking that trunk monkey moniker a little too serious!!

Why does the wiring always take so long? Even when I pare it down to the bare essentials, it is a challenge. The steering column had to come out just to make room to get at stuff. I'm too old to be working under the dash like this...

HAHAHA no way is all that from under that dash!

lol did you have a telephone switch installed behind the cluster? Is that 25 pair I spy?

Does not look like fun

God I hope we don't have wiring issues on Drag Week...

Hey that looks like my EFI install lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zysOEUd1YwQ

I have a feeling this is how my Drag Week is going to go...

Just for info... the MSD tech support trailer
will NOT be going on DW this year... you can call
the tech line for help

Mike are you sneaking around on Facebook? haha that is where I saw that announcement.

I am hoping to hit the track tomorrow(friday) night if all goes well.

No.. the wife told me about it.. I dont do FB

Install the fuse panel in an easily accessible spot, like the glove box, and you won't have to stick your head under the dash.

Stealing those pictures. That is HILARIOUS.

While the MSD trailer won't be there, a Holley trailer WILL be and I expect an MSD tech will be on that trailer

i forwarded those pics to my brother in california, because whenever i see something like this, it reminds me of the neighbor kid up the street that was a "tweeker" long before that term became known. anytime i run into a mess like that i have to fix, i call it ""the paul kepple school of wiring". [joel, please don't take offense as your car is FAR from coming from that "school" !] the kid's name was paul kepple [or a couple of other aliases, depending on which one he thought the officers might not know him by.], and, believe it or not, he took a wiring coarse at the local trade school in order to have a productive education and job.[er, well, that didn't work out so well after all......] my brother responded after recieving joel's pics was : "only thing missing is the scotch tape[a favorite "substitute" of paul's] and a hatchet [paul's method of cutting wires because he lacked a good pair of wire cutters]. my brother really enjoyed those pics ! thanks joel !

Had a good outing at the track last night, have a few things to work on in the tune but after going over some data today I have a good idea of where to go. I struggled with the 60ft with the 360 and this motor as well and now I think I know why.

It went 11.12@120.4 in air that was not tragic but certainly not good. No complaints, drove it to work, got several passes in at the track, and drove it home. I need to get it on a scale and see what the old fish weighs with the R1 W2 combo, it's not going to be pretty, probably 3575 or more(with 240lb driver).

The weight loss thread really had me pumped to do some work in that area and I have done totally the opposite, both with myself and the car haha.

The Duster pushed the Challenger out of the shop, for now...

I don't know how you boys do it...more power to ya!

Ok, I give up. Does anyone know a good, reliable automatic transmission hard parts supplier for Mopar 904 and 727 parts? I try to use sponsors of this board and it continually bites me in the butt.

Called TCS and ordered the Steel front drum with big aluminum piston for the 904. The K123800S. He quoted 574.50, exactly what the website says. He asked if I wanted the big piston model, and asked if I wanted the spring Module which is separate, so I knew we were talking about the same part.

Today, after paying 36.22 shipping, and having B of A ding me 18.26 for foreign currency exchange (Canada), I have a nice, new K123900S 727 front drum!! It lists for 595.00, but they graciously discounted it to 574.50...Thanks, thanks alot!

After my fiasco with Cope last year, and now this. Every time I plan to upgrade my 904 with time constraints, I get hosed.

A days drive from Dave and Darren Smith and you're still fighting this.....

I'm half tempted to offer up my Lofgren unit I've got sitting here.

....so what on the car would make me go, "wt7 were you thinking". Good lines? Good cooler? Shifting down manually while moving? ....and check the fluid level buddy!

Why are you hosed? If THEY sent you the wrong drum, are they not making it right and refunding any extra costs incurred with the swap?

I will call them in the morning, but it took six days for this one to arrive, so even if they ship another one, I'll be in Oklahoma by then.

I'm going to take a chance that the trans will make it as is. I don't want to have it out and trying to get it back in 2 days before we head to Ohio.

Because the parts arrived late from Cope last July, it still has the big factory spring in the front drum, and alto smooth clutches. I'm probably just paranoid, but the MPH has been down a couple since the first two hits of DW last year.

Now you know how us Aussies feel
Had 30 odd years of this

Tex

Last night, I installed subframe connectors in Joel's GTX. The dual fuel system is now 90% complete, and we are gaining on the CAR being complete. Joel still has to finish the engine, but is taking the next couple days off of work, and we should be OK. Hopefully we can get a few street miles on, before we load up and head out next Friday night. Going to be tight, but we WILL be going...

Billy will probably be wrenching on 4 different cars in the tech line. Clark looks to be ready to go, same with OutlawD (I think I've seen his test marks on Napier rd...). Jeff/Joel, sounds like you'll make it. Is plan C to take the 'vert in case of any other last minute snafus with the FAST car?

Oops...was it that obvious? I don't usually do that kind of thing so close to civilization.

Heading to Milan tonight if the weather holds for some proper testing. McCormack couldn't tell me when my new tires would be in after over a week, Summit will have them here tomorrow.

I feel like I am ready and that scares me. I did order a Leash Electronics Dual 70 amp relay board for my fuel pumps and fuel cooler fan. What I have is working but this is an upgrade that will also clean up the install.

I didn't have a real good spot for the fuel cooler so it;s pretty visible behind the car. It is easily removed so I will likely take it off when not drag weeking. The sweet sounds of the engine are starting to be compromised by electric fan noise.

I put "Install battery charger on Convertible" on Joel's list of things to do for Drag Week...

We should be OK. I'm really burned out right now between my odd work hours (4am-2pm), and trying to help on the car. It's a good thing for Joel, I have no social life.

YUp, Jeff is hard at work while I goof off almost full time.

Here he is welding in the frame ties.


Since I'm a rookie at cutting pistons, it is taking me a while. I am kind of sneaking up on it, cut some, then assemble and test. So I don't take of any more than needed. I can't go backwards with the mill!


We should be ready for Drag Week in time, if nothing major goes wrong.

Billy I know it's getting late. But have you ordered from A and A Trans.? They are reliable and have a huge inventory.
You could have it shipped to OK.
Good luck! Don

Well Billy..........the obvious thing here is, you have had a year and KNOWING how things work in the hot rod game, as far as getting parts...........why are you waiting until the last minute to upgrade the trans?......again...........LOL!!!!

Sure, we all get mad when we get sent the wrong stuff or it comes late. But when that causes us to miss a deadline because we put off ordering them for nearly a year.........well, you get the point........LOL!!!!

In fairness to Billy, it took him a year after DW15 to save up the six bills for the part

Mr. Forbes, Ouch !

I know all about spending money on this game

It was just a guess, but they were clearly long marks from a M/T drag radial, and figured you were the most likely suspect!

Joel, it looks like you could eat off the underside of your GTX!

Ha! Guilty as charged, Monte!! Procrastination is one of our strongest family traits.

The guys at TCS were easy to deal with today. The boss agreed to eat the freight to immediately get me another part, and even offered to send it next day air, and then send a call tag to pick up the other one.

My brother wants the 727 drum, so I told him if he would ship the 904 drum ground to Oklahoma on his dime, I would pay for another drum and we would be good.

Thirty minutes later, the phone salesman called me back to apologize, explaining that he had the 904 part number on his handwritten notes, then recorded the 727 part number when he entered the invoice on the computer! I was impressed with their sincerity, and how quick they reacted to solve the problem.

cudadon,
I have ordered from A&A...I have their hardened input shaft and pump gears in the 904 already. They were a hundred bucks higher on this particular drum and piston.

The engine is in the Ruster Duster...kinda, nearly fifty years of BB/A-body swaps, and it seems none of them go together without some messaging! Fiberglass hood, bumpers, and decklid have arrived from AAR/Stinger. They were the only company that would guarantee to have them to Dale in the Two weeks he needed them, and they were true to their word. (Again with that procrastination thing!)

It's hard to think of A bodies in terms of a car that would be too valuable to hack up, fitting a big block in. But I guess some folks think that way, these days.

Good to see you're of the old school!

Ok Billy.... I guess it's just part of the "ordeal". I just thought that maybe there was a glimmer of hope in this operation. Kind of started when you hauled your bits and pieces over to Brian (IMM Engines) and had a nice solid build done.... I actually thought maybe you'd broke the mold! He77 you get a good trans program I'd guess that we would hear stories of how you were doing your nails while your brothers were the ones thrashing away. ...... back to our regular scheduled program.

Maybe you guys can work in a spare minute or two to do a WEE bit of a cleanup cut on those fenderwells where the headers go through............LOL!!!!!

Dull can opener mod. LOL!

What's wrong with that??? LOL. I thought Joel and I had a lot of work to do yet...

WOW $100 that is an amount that will cause you to shop around, no?

I love the lightness of my Barracuda, BUT the packaging does make for interesting language sometimes!

My first BBs in my Barracuda used fenderwell headers. I have always HATED them! Thats why I paid Bob Menedez twice to build headers.
I look forward to the new story ALREADY!!
Don

I spent all summer slipping and sliding on my MT radials i used last year i bought new for DW.

Bought hoosiers and wow, what a difference. Then on way to track I wrecked car driving in the rain. Big thanks to Brad Bowers and Tory Shellhammer<sp? Helped me get a front susp back under the car after mine got destroyed

Made my license passes last friday night. DA was around 2600 i think and got new bests 60 and 1/8th.

Going to stop at LSfest and get my sfi clothes I need and hopefully make a good showing this year

I just pulled the paypal credit for some M&H 325s for drag week. Hope they hook like the hoosiers

So here we are, 1 week before the start of Drag Week, and I am in a last minute thrash to get the GTX ready. Over the the last week or two, I have put the Hemi together. Since the last time this short block was together was 2005, it seems that I have spent more time looking for stuff and cleaning parts than I have actually wrenching.




I used the Summit windage tray with an integral gasket. I didn't think it had enuff holes in it to scrape the crank, so I make a few myself using a knife heated with a torch:



Hopefully, this FlowKooler water pump will help keep it cool on the street.



By the time I got it all screwed together today, and started cleaning it up to paint it was almost dark. I was so tired from the long hard days all week, I could barely stand up anymore. Then Jeff came over, and offered to do the honors with the $10 harbor freight HVLP gun. He was out there spraying by porch light, with bugs flying all around. THen it started raining, so we pushed it inside and blew the water off of it. When the rain quit, we pushed it back out and finished.



Seeing the Hemi in fresh paint lit a new fire of motivation in my heart, and I immediately got busy on it again.



I pulled the K frame out by dropping it onto a freight cart that I converted to a K frame cart. THe motor and trans will get assembled on and set on the cart, then the body lowered over it.

I still have a ton of work to do. The first passes on the new combo will be at Drag Week.

Looking good Joel, see you there.

I wont be making it.... got a call from the cops
yesterday... my other place up north was broke in
to.. so I'm headed up there... I am so PISSED OFF
..still havent got the ignition fixed yet...

Joel, what compression will that engine have? I like that windage try. Water pump looks awesome too

Mr. P, life sucks sometimes. Was looking foward to seeing you there

What a drag, hate not being able to see the Page make a splash.

Got the engine and trans in today. Not ready to start it yet.



Sixpac, 13.5 to 1 static

8.8 to 1 dynamic

Mr. P, that is too bad. I hate thieves, good luck with that.

If tonight goes well, we should be able to get all the suspension hooked up, exhaust hooked up to the headers, and get some of the interior back in the car. Some minor things we NEED, hopefully will be in Joel's hands Wednesday, and we can fire the car up.

I think I put in 40 hours of working on Joel's GTX and Jay Browns Shelby GT500 over the 3 day weekend, along with 8 hours at my normal job...

Should be able to get plenty of rest at Drag Week though right?

If you plan to go, follow through with it. Don't just talk about it.

There is plenty of time between now and drag week that you can get everything sorted out...

My trans is sitting in pieces and we are driving 30 hours to my trans guys shop then another hour and half north to get to drag week.

If you need help with your ignition, haul it down and we will fix it Saturday night for you.

Looking good guys!! Ill look out for it in the pits during the week.

Ill be down watching the races and to meet up with Moparbilly on monday, also going to us131 on wensday if help is needed with anything please ask. Im just south of Jackson close to 127 and 94. Im not sure what the travel route from norwalk to us131 is but if any of you guys running DW need a hand with something shoot me a pm.
Aaron

Have a safe trip Matt! See you in Columbus.

Jeff

Just heading out from Phoenix to Tulsa. Should have left two days ago, but the pictures my brothers sent me convinced me to stay out here and work on my own stuff longer.

I'll stop over at Tulsa, regroup, help them and then leave with barely enough time to roll into National Trail, and get in the back of the tech line by 1pm.

"Just carrying on an old Family Tradition"

Have an awesome trip Billy! Be safe and have fun.

I hope you guys all have safe and uneventful trips. See you in Columbus!

Have a safe trip MoparBilly, and good luck to all who's going!, I envy you...one day....

Ahhhh, and now is that odd time in the final hours before Drag Week check in when the posts go silent, as the long haulers cross the countryside in pursuit of their dreams of speed and glory. The procrastinators and unlucky broken ones flail about for what seem to be unending hours in desperation to complete and hopefully compete. And the rest of us ponder in silence before heading out: "Will this car hold together all week?".

Safe journeys to all traveling to Columbus. Hope to see you there!

Great post Scott! Mine is loaded and ready to go and right now I just have a bad case of the "what did I forget".

Im guessing you forgot your carburetor

Joel and I are in a mad thrash right now! NOTHING takes the amount of time you think. Joel had to have a drive shaft made this morning, and we have it now. We are prepared to work through the night and have the HEMI ready!

Made me laugh Tony.LOL.See you hooligans in a few days.

You betcha, I will have lots more adjustments to learn and make this year but they can be typed in going down the road.

Joel is making sure he takes care of the important details, while his trunk monkey is actually getting something done.

I should be good to go...heading down to Columbus tomorrow.

But my sense of being over-prepared has me nervous that I am overlooking something big...haha

Hitting the road, see you folks tomorrow

Driving it to the event....... That's the spirit!!

Well we finished everything on Joel's HEMI GTX last night around 1:00am, but the car would not fire. No spark. After about a hour of tracking down the culprit, we had spark! The HEMI lit right up, but then we had a much bigger problem. Low oil pressure. It only made 10lbs at idle and with some rpm, it could only get maybe 20lbs. Joel had ordered grooved lifters for the engine, but the block has stock non bushed lifter bores. With the cam lift, the groove is bleeding off pressure by coming out of the bore. No way we could fix it. So... It was decided at 3:00am to get Joel's HEMI GTX convertible that we took to Drag Week last year, out of storage and still make the trip.

When we picked the car up, it had a very noticeable exhaust leak. At 10:00am I made it back to Joel's and we got the car up on the hoist. I think this car still had the original gaskets in it.

With a new gasket, oil change and 4 hours of sleep we are on our way. Going to try and get through Wisconsin and Illinois tonight.

Not the Drag Week 2016 we wanted, but with Joel it will still be a fun adventure.

Good luck today to all those who made it down to Columbus for Drag week. I hope all the testing goes well today and everyone has there cars ready for the start of DW tomorrow.
Ill be making the trek down to Columbus in the morning and looking forward to seeing just what DW is all about.
As stated in a pervious post if any member forgot anything and needs something and I can help just ask.
Aaron

Thanks Aaron! We are 30 miles west of Columbus now and should be at the track in almost a hour or so.

Jeff

Good luck to all the DWers.
I am planning on going to Martin MI wed, if anyone needs parts or help let me know, pm or call 815-922-9883
Don

Good luck everyone and enjoy the ride..............

Ray

Love this thread, you guys have fun and be safe! A friend of mine is riding in a Geo Tracker all week, and they had to run the unlimited class because it's stretched 4 inches. 454" small block.

Wow this is nice!

Day 1 in the books. I have a newfound respect for the guys that do this. Was a relatively easy day and I am beat.

Back at the hotel, good day on the road.

The pic with Sixpackgut This was right after the ElCamino crashed.Lets just say their track prep practices are suspect.They sprayed and said for Ray to be ready to go.He asked if they were going to drag after that.They said no.Thi was right before we had a talk wit Ellana from RoadKill.Interesting conversation. LOL

Yes it was a little interesting conversation! Lol.

Billy, how is that 24 Dodge coupe coming along?