Let me clarify a bit. I have had a turn down on the end of the driver side header to keep the exhaust from blowing directly on the shifter cable. This turn down has caught several times when I was backing up, this was not the first time. We removed the turn down and realized the header on that side was down about 2 inches. We never hit it very hard, always while slowly backing up but this time it caught on the trailer. We were able to bend it back even with the right side.
So when you so check the engine, what exactly would you be looking for? A leaking header gasket? Broken header? A broken header bolt?
I don’t know what else to check. From what I can see there is no real damage but I dont know what I dont know.
As for slowing down I feel like I am taking this much more patiently and being a lot more careful than when I initially built the car 20 years ago. I am trying not to take any shortcuts with safety, and I want to continue to move forward. My short term goal is a consistent 7.0 car and we are not close by results than I was 11 years ago. Still I am not discouraged and continue to try to improve each week. Like everyone else at some point the budget will naturally slow me down!
I’m right there with you hitting my exhaust backing out. Even unhooking and jacking up the trailer it’s still iffy for me. I run alcohol so I have the mufflers, a short section of exhaust, and it’s turned to come out in front of the rear slicks. What even makes mine worse is I’m 65 and go in the driver’s side window and I don’t like to start it inside the trailer. You said earlier it started making a noise then Slowed down. Find out what that noise is before something gets hurt. Are the ones lugs close to the header? Could the header have hit and damaged a spark plug? Pull the valve cover and look and feel around. It may come down to it just liking the race fuel but there’s still the noise you heard. Summit and Jegs both offer ramps that slide under your ramp door to help with the exhaust issue. They are very nice but not cheap.
