With the Valiant relocated next to my trailer, I looked at the rear tires in relation to the wheel well opening and began to think something wasn't quite right.
Boone was working on his little Tow-Me trailer, and had all the tires, wheels, drums, and hubs removed. We've beat on that poor trailer for more than twenty years, so I supposed it could use the maintenance.
I called him over for a second set of eyes. "It looks like the passenger's side is shoved forward and is further out now, and I'm not sure why", I explained.
"Did you re-adjust the diagonal link after you moved the ladder bar?" He asked after a cursory look underneath.
"Uhh...Nope!"
We checked it with a tape measure, X pattern, and it was way off.
"You really didn't expect to just bolt the diagonal back in place..."
"You were rushing me! Besides, I haven't slept all night! I tried to defend myself.
"Well, get it back on stands, so we can adjust it".
"What are you doing to the trailer?" I changed the subject.
"The bearings were all loose, the brakes are shot, the tires are shot. Figured since this is the longest drive we've made to start Drag Week, I'd rather fix it here than on the side of the road".
James came out of the shop, clearly disinterested in helping Dale work on an engine, and joined Boone and I beside the trailer.
"At our shop in Phoenix, we've had to replace many spindles on semi-trailers that were ran for a long time with loose bearings", I explained to them, "the inner race will spin on the spindle and eat it up. I'd hate for you to put new brakes, bearings, and tires on the thing if the axles are screwed up."
Boone ran his fingers over the spindles a few times, then laid on his back to look at the bottom of the spindles. "The bottom is darn near flat! you're right these axles are shot. I wonder if Dale knows someone in town that has new axles in stock."
"Boone, do we really have time to be rebuilding a trailer? We really need to concentrate on the cars", I explained.
"I'll bring my trailer over in the morning", James volunteered.
"This trailer is the only one that will pull the Drag Week trailer", Boone complained.
"I did notice that the Duster now has a receiver hitch", I teased.
"More of my handy work", James confirmed.
"With those 3400lb springs, I think the Duster would pull it fine, but now I'm not sure how we will get it to Ohio", Boone shook his head.
"We'll be fine without a trailer on Drag Week Boone, just as long as we have at least one B-Body, we can bring everything we need!"

The Drag Week trailer has become as diverse and customized as the cars themselves. In the early years you had rented U-Hauls, Harbor Freight bolt togethers and pretty much nothing in between. Now they are limited only by a cubic feet rule, and the builder's imagination. Equally as diverse and imaginative, is how many of these small trailers arrive onsite for registration day. Some are standing on end in a pick-up bed, some are in pieces and have to be assembled on arrival. Watching all this equipment arrive is a spectacle unto itself.

James and I put the Valiant on four jack stands, and we removed the front tires as well. I was switching back to a new pair of 165/80s on the front to replace the 185/60s that had been pressed into duty last year. We adjusted the diagonal link, and amazingly the 9" looked like it was straight in the car again.
Boone gathered up all my rubber, along with a few of his and Dale's, and headed out for Robertson Tire in Owasso. This trip to our favorite tire store seems to be a rite of passage for every Drag Week.

I spent the time waiting for Boone to return by unloading all the stuff out of the Valiant, Belvedere, and 1 Ton that I had hastily tossed in before the trip to Oklahoma. I sorted through it with importance placed on the tools and supplies needed to do repairs to the cars this week, then I would have to sort through all of it again to pack it away for the trip to Ohio. It's an arduous task which could be much easier if I possessed even rudimentary planning and organization skills.

Will and Michelle bolted the tires and wheels back on the Valiant as the last remaining light from the sky was fading away.
"We really can't do much for Dale in the shop, he's down to small stuff on the engine, and all we were doing is trying to keep him awake!" Will explained.
It was obvious that James, Will and Michelle were ready to call it a day, so Boone hastily hooked up to a trailer and coerced them into assisting us with loading the Duster before they left.

I stretched out on my trailer and put my head in my arms as Boone tied down the Duster.
"You about done?" He asked.
"Yeah, now that it's quiet, dark, and everyone is gone, I'm really feeling it!"
"Are you going to sleep here or at my house?"
"I'll go to your place", I explained, "Dale appears to have a full house right now, so I don't want to put him out."
"You're gonna have to suck it up then", Boone chuckled, "because we have to get in that shop and keep Dale moving on the Gremlin!"
"I'll sit in a chair and talk, while you help him put it together. Will that work?"
"I would expect nothing less from you!" He laughed again.

When we entered the shop, Dale was putting the engine plate and water pump on the engine. He carefully placed the gaskets on both sides of the plate, with silicone on the multiple mating surfaces as well. We helped him hold everything in place while he started the bolts, then I eased back into a folding chair as promised.
He had the bolts nearly tight, then suddenly he stopped and let out a "what in the heck is going on"?
"The aluminum water pump housing is hitting the Milodon gear drive cover", Boone pointed out.
I had my head back and my eyes closed, but added my two cents anyway. "I thought you already had this engine in the car once?"
"I did, and it leaked water around the engine plate...that's why I was being so careful with the gaskets this time! Apparently I just cranked the bolts down that time, and since the engine had problems, never investigated it further."
I leaned forward and rubbed my face, "So...what are the options?"
"Space the water pump out", Boone suggested.
"I'd have to space the bottom pulley out too, and then change the alternator mount", Dale shook his head. "I'd like to avoid that altogether, I've got too much time into getting all that to work right the first time!"
"Pull the timing chain out of the 440...you know the stock cover will clear". I looked at the two of them, and began to worry this was a make or break moment, backwards was not a direction that interested them at all.
"I re-used the gear drive because I couldn't get the gear off the crank", Dale explained. "This engine was a nightmare to take apart. We had to chain the engine to the hoist legs, and use the hydraulic ram to remove the intake! Everything was glued together, and I was so aggravated by the time I got to the crank...I just left the gear on. I'm willing to go yank the stuff off the 440, but I'll be done if that gear doesn't come off!"

It took Boone and I nearly as long to find a puller in Dale's messy shop, as it did for him to return from the front garage with the cover and timing chain set off the wounded 440.
When he walked back in, I was trying to find a place to set his new fiberglass hood for the Duster.
"What do think of all my fiberglass?" He managed a weak smile, "You said there was no way I would get it all in two weeks!"
"Yeah...I'm amazed, I figured AAR/Stinger was just trying to get your dollars when they said it would make it on time. Looks like they were true to their word!"
"Hood, deck lid, and both bumpers", he pointed to stuff scattered throughout the shop, "and I'm thrilled with the quality!"
"Not a single piece installed yet, though", I retorted as I sat back down in my chair again.
"You get the gear off that crank yet?" He changed the subject.
"I'm just here to supervise..we need a bottle of nitrous to cool the crank, and a torch on the gear...it'll pop right off!"
"How about we just try the puller first?" Boone interjected.
I leaned back and closed my eyes again.

You know if you would show up at the Regular time this wouldnt happen.LOL

I was in and out for the next couple hours, sleeping in between small talk. Boone finally nudged me awake to get in the Coronet and head to his house.
"I wanted to help him get the engine in the car, and mated to the trans", Boone explained as we drove away, "he should be able to handle it the rest of the way".
"What time is it?" I finally questioned, only barely coherent.
"Three AM", he confirmed.

Thursday

I woke up around 8, took a quick shower and kicked Boone out of bed. We grabbed fuel in the car, a cup of coffee, and some breakfast at the QT near his house, then went to Drive Shafts Inc. to drop of a 1350 yoke for the Belvedere. We ordered a 3" steel shaft with a 1350 solid U-joint up front, and a 1350/7290 combo in the rear. That would be much better than the stocker 7260 shaft with the 7260/7290 combo that Rachael killed last year.

When we arrived at Dale's to take the Duster to the muffler shop, the Gremlin appeared mostly complete, but Dale wasn't around. His stepson Cody informed us that he had only went to bed about an hour before we showed up, so we decided not to bother him.
We mated the trailer up to the muffler shop rack, and just pushed the Duster straight back off the trailer.
"What does he want on here?" The muffler guy questioned us.
I just shrugged and pointed at Boone.
"I thought Dale called you", Boone looked startled, "I thought it was all hashed out".
"Well, he scheduled an appointment, and told me to just run it down the sides and turn it out in front of the rear tire, but I don't recall what size he wanted."
"Three inch, I guess", Boone decided.
"I'm out of three inch stuff", the muffler guy explained, "So you'll have to run down to Grand Prix and grab some mufflers and reducers if you want to go that route".
Boone threw his hands up, "Alright! We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Dang it Boone! I'd have brought my empty nitrous bottles if I knew we were making a trip to the speed shop today", I complained.
"Never fails to happen during Hell Week!" He shook his head as we drove away.

We dropped off the parts at the muffler shop, and ran by Wal-Mart for some more "Cherry red" paint cans, so we could make sure the Duster was all one color (sort of).
We went back to Dale's, and scuffed up the fiberglass parts for a quickie paint job. We nearly had them all sprayed when Dale walked out in the back yard to finish up the Gremlin.

"When are you guys bringing the Duster back?" Dale asked us straightaway. "I've got the glass guy showing up here in an hour and a half to install the new windshield and all the chrome trim!"
Boone explained the situation with the three inch exhaust and Dale went completely ballistic.
"I told him and I told you, I wanted three and a half! How hard is that to comprehend!" He paraded us around to the back of his shop, "I've got three complete three inch systems right there I could've modified or used parts from if that's what I wanted!"
Boone's mouth was ajar and he shrugged his shoulders with his hands uplifted, but he waited a moment before he spoke. "I didn't remember that, and you didn't write it down..."
"Well, I'm not paying for those parts!" Dale shook his head, "You can put them on a car of yours when we get back from Drag Week!"

When Boone and I returned from picking up the Duster at the muffler shop, the glass guy was already waiting in Dale's back yard. We rolled it off the trailer, and he started working on it immediately.

Dale had the Gremlin pushed back out of the shop, and we fired it up to break in the cam. I was looking at my phone to time how long the engine had been running when I got a text from Rachael that she was ready to be picked up at the airport in Tulsa. I stole Boone's Coronet to go retrieve her, and made Cody take over the duties as official time keeper on the 572's break-in procedure.

When Rachael and I pulled in Dale's back yard, the sun was fading from view fairly fast. They had already moved the Duster back in the shop, and the front end was back on the Gremlin. Just seeing the Gremlin in one piece, and the Duster with a windshield and all the front and rear window trim reinstalled, made me feel like we just might make it! Michelle had been installing the fan and shroud on the Duster radiator, but she passed those duties off to Boone, and turned to Dale.
"You promised me a ride in the Gremlin!"
"I did", he nodded his head, "and I do need to take it for a test drive and buy some gas, so we may as well cruise down to the station."
"You and Rachael need to grab some tools and help me", Boone suggested, never looking up from the radiator.
"Uh..actually I think we are going to load the Valiant on the truck and trailer that you just rolled the Duster off of, so it will be ready to go to Jim Sam's first thing in the morning for an alignment!"
"Good idea, but help me set this radiator in the car first, then I'll help you line the Valiant up on the ramps", Boone insisted.
Rachael tossed her hands in the air, and gave a disgusted grunt,"I'm standing right here, Boone!"
"Ok, you can help me put the radiator in...but girls don't guide cars onto trailers, that's a recipe for disaster!" Boone started laughing as Rachael gave him an elbow to the ribs.

With the Valiant loaded up and cinched down, we retired to the shop to watch Boone and Dale continue to work on the Duster.
I took a chair and struck up a conversation while they removed both valve covers, "So, I've only saw Dad for about five minutes since I arrived...".
"He's knee deep in helping Darren get the engine back in the Charger. He parked the motor home over there, so we haven't seen much of him either" Boone explained.
"When did the engine get assembled?" I shrugged, up to this point I really knew little of Darren's effort to make it.
"Last weekend", Dale laughed, "He brought it over here in his Dodge R/T and we pretty much tossed it together on the tail gate!"
"You had the block on an engine stand for a week before that didn't you?" Boone questioned, as he opened a box with "Pushrod Factory, Reed Springs MO" stamped on it.
"No...that was the problem, he brought over the rotating assembly, with the new rings and bearings first, then asked me to grind and gap the rings for him so he could assemble it".
"No way", I exhaled.
"Yeah! So when I explained to him that I had to have the block in order to gap the rings, he decided to bring the whole thing over and let me help him do it here!"
"Must've been eight people with their hands on that thing", Boone chuckled.
"Yeah, for sure", Dale pulled his glasses off, rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as if trying to recall a deeply buried memory. "The two of us, Darren, Dad, Cody, Will and Michelle. It was definitely all hands on deck, but it went together fairly quick".
"I want to build an engine someday", Rachael shook her head. "I miss out on all the fun!"
"Well then get over here and help me get these rockers back on the head", Boone motioned her over.
"But don't dent that pristine fender with your baby bump", Dale added.

I was falling asleep again in my chair, and if we were going to beat the crowd to Sam's Alignment and Brakes in the morning, I needed a good night's sleep.
"Boone, I think Rach and I will take the truck and Valiant to your house tonight. So we can get to Sam's early."
Dale looked up in surprise, "You're going to park the Valiant over at Boone's? In the ghetto?"
"I'll back it up in the drive...it'll be fine."
"So you're going to bail, and I'll just drive the Coronet home?" Boone shrugged.
"Yeah, I mean, Rachael and I have like three stops to make in town, and that way you don't have to be stuck with us."

We left Dale's around 11pm and even so, it was just after midnight when my head hit the pillow.

Do the brothers follow along with your recaps that you do here?Just asking.LOL.And will they ever learn that DW happens the same time every year?When I sat with the clan on Friday I was expecting to get invited to a bonfire,roast marshmallows and sing songs you were all in such a great mood. LOL

ksj,
Darren has threatened to sue me for libel on more than one occasion! When I told him I was thinking about doing a book, he gave me his lawyer's name and number. I think he was just joking...maybe?

Friday
I awoke to the sound of tree limbs rustling outside, and the rumbling of an impending thunderstorm. Rachael and I left without waking Boone, and arrived at Jim Sam's shop thirty minutes before he opened. He takes in alignment work on a first come first served basis, and three years ago when I was in this exact same situation, it took half a day to get the Valiant on the rack. I figured the best way to avoid that was to get there first. We almost had the Valiant off the trailer when the clouds opened up and it started raining.
Jim waved us over and then explained that it would take a few minutes to get all the cars out of the shop before he could take us in.
"It's a mini mopar car show coming out of there!" Rachael exclaimed as Jim carefully backed out a Challenger, a Charger, and a convertible Dart GTS, among others.

"The back eccentrics on the uppers slipped", Jim pointed out as he had the Valiant on the rack. "That's why she's towed out so bad, but everything else is tight."
"Yeah, had some high wheel stands." I explained. What about the rear? We tried to correct the alignment on it."
"Looks like it's straight in the car, but it's toed in a little on the passenger's side, so I'd say the housing is bent a little!" Jim commented as he spun the wrenches to make the necessary adjustments on the front. He had me out in less than an hour and refused any payment.

We had the Valiant back on the trailer when I got a call from Drive Shafts Inc. that the Belvedere shaft was ready to pick up.
"I'm going to have to break drive shafts more often!" Rachael exclaimed when the young man brought out our new drive shaft. He smiled and blushed, then gave us our bill.

"What was that about", I asked Rachael when we got outside.
"Did you see his arms when he carried that thing out? He was smoking hot! Then when he bent over! What a butt!"
"Oh good grief!" You're engaged and pregnant", I admonished her.
"Well, I'm certainly not blind! I can still admire", she laughed and blushed as she climbed in the truck.

Love the workbench

I am starting to wonder how many alignments Jim charges for. I know I have paid for one on my car and the other checkups have been waved off, same with my Dad's car.

Our final stop was Grand Prix, to top off all the nitrous bottles. The owner of the speed shop and I were discussing the March Meet while his crew was changing out mother bottles. Mike Cox pulled his 53 Ford Gasser in front of the store and walked towards the door.
"Here's a Drag Weeker! Do you know Mike?"
"Yeah...I guess Mike sold his Henry J, and went back to his trusty Customline." I shrugged, as Mike entered with a smile and hand extended.
"When are you headed for Columbus?" He asked as he motioned towards the Valiant on the trailer.
"We aren't even close", I laughed. "We still have two cars that haven't even had the engines fired yet! What about you?"
"I'm loading the Ford as soon as I get home, and we are staying at a friends in St. Louis tonight. It's a long pull, you know!"

I eased the Cummins powered 3/4 ton off the rocks and into Dale's back yard. I made it about thirty feet when I felt the rear tires spinning, and we slowed to a stop. I shut the truck off and stepped out for a look. The front tires were about three inches into the soft mud left by the morning rain, and the rears were simply skimming off the top layer.
"What's wrong?" Rachael asked as I reached for the drive shaft in the back of the truck.
"We're stuck, and I'm not going to tear Dale's yard up trying to get it out. We'll just wait for the ground to dry up some, and get it back here in a couple of hours."
We threw a plastic tarp under the Belvedere, which was still on the two car trailer, and crawled under to install the drive shaft. Once we bolted it in, I dumped in a few quarts of trans fluid, then had Rachael attempt to start it so I could check the fluid level on the fresh 727. The 440 hadn't been fired in a year, so I had to dump fuel in the 750 to get it to finally pull enough from the tank to run on.

With the sound of the 440 running in the backyard, Dale stepped out of the house, and motioned us inside for breakfast.

He should post that pic in the"clean room" discussion.

Thanks for the story Billy!

Good stuff, keep it coming.

Dale sat at the table, and looked out the dining room window towards the scattered automotive debris that covered an acre and a half. He had recently dropped 40lbs., which was already paying huge dividends health wise but this morning it only added to the worn down, disheveled look on his face. The profound lack of sleep, combined with the weight loss left his eyes sunken, with pronounced wrinkles at the edges of the dark circles surrounding them. His entire face was nearly devoid of color, but a smile still toyed with the corner of his lips.
"Why do we continue to do this to ourselves?" He pointed toward the plates, then to the scrambled eggs, biscuits, and gravy on the stove.
"I've always made it a point to tell people that we are smarter than we look, but the evidence is overwhelming to suggest otherwise...", I caught myself laughing at my own joke.
"Very sad, and very true", he took a sip of his coffee, "How much do you have left to do on yours".
Rachael set a plate of food in front of me, and asked if I wanted coffee.
"He's capable of getting his own", Dale retorted.
"Naw, he's really not", Rachael laughed then offered Dale a refill, before sitting down with her own plate.
"Oil change on the Belvedere, if the trans works right when we test drive it. The Valiant is good. Where are you on the Gremlin?"
"It runs", he replied, "but those 4.10s in the Dana are howling like crazy! Not to mention they are going to be way too low for that 572. Last year, I was trapping 150 with the 440 at 7500! I really don't want to spin a 572 that tight, and I have a brand new set of 3.73's sitting on the shelf out there with no time left to install them".
"Speaking of time." I took a moment before broaching the subject, "We need to agree on a deadline for getting out of here tomorrow, I can't do the routine again that we did before the trip to Bowling Green. This is the longest trip yet to a starting track, and I don't want to hear any scenario that has us arriving in Columbus thirty minutes before the cut-off of the tech line!"
"What did you have in mind?" He cradled his cup in both hands and looked me in the eye.
"Well, I've got a 62 mph rig, and no co-driver, so I feel that I need to hit the road by noon tomorrow at the latest!"
"I can help you drive!" Rachael threw her hands up in disgust, my inability to trust her behind the wheel of the 1-ton was becoming an increasingly sore subject.
"That's fair", Dale agreed, "but I'm not going to bail on the Duster".
"I'm just saying I may have to leave you guys behind then...If you guys leave later than that, you can run 75-80 if you choose to, and I simply can't", I explained.

We were all putting our dishes in the sink when my phone rang, it was Boone calling. We had a short conversation, then I briefed Dale and Rachael.
"He's showered and ready to leave his house, but he can't find his wallet. He went out to make sure he didn't leave it in the Coronet, but the door was open, and it appears someone rifled through all his stuff on the console and passenger's seat."
"I told you he lived in the ghetto!" Dale shook his head.
"Well, he can't imagine that he left it in the car, so he wants us to check around here...look in the truck, the shop, the Duster, otherwise he's going to stop at his bank on the way over here."

I walked out to his truck, and checked the cab out thoroughly, then I fired it up and tried to ease forward out of the mud. The yard had dried just enough to allow me to get the thing moving, and I pulled it around back so I could unload the Valiant.
I joined Dale in the shop, where he was searching for Boone's wallet on the shelves and in the Duster.
"The last time I saw it", Dale pointed to the roof of the Duster, where the AAR hood was now resting. "He left it up here on the hood."
I was leaning on the back of the car checking out the trunk area. They had a giant plastic fuel cell mounted as far forward in the trunk as possible, the outlets were plumbed with steel braided hose to a huge MagnaFuel ProStar 500 pump and filter, but nothing beyond that.
"The fuel system isn't plumbed yet?" I looked up at Dale.
"No...not wired either, fuel log/regulator up here in the front isn't fully plumbed yet...it's going to be a long day", he shook his head.
Rachael walked in with a big smile on her face, "I've got good news, and I've got bad news!"
"Out with it", I implored.
"I found Boone's wallet, but he left it out on the back of our trailer, so with this morning's rain, it's soaked through and through!"
"I'm sure he won't mind", I smiled at her as I pulled out my phone to call him.

Boone rolled into Dale's backyard well after noon, and made his way into the shop to check on the Duster.
"Darren called me a while ago and said he wasn't going to make it", Boone commented.
"He says that every year, probably just wants some of us to go over there and help him", I concluded.
"He's just frustrated, I think he stripped out one of the bolt holes that thread into the trans case".
Sounds about right, his 'magic elbow torque wrench' never has been calibrated for aluminum threads!"
Dale guffawed then added, "I resemble that remark!"

Boone started discussing a wish list of things he wanted Rachael to pick up for him, so I decided to excuse myself from the shop so I could finish up on the Belvedere. I'd been under it for about fifteen minutes when Rachael came out and asked for my bank card so she could pick up a few things for us as well. Boone came out a few minutes later, added something to her list right before she left, then made his way over to where I was working.

"What are you doing now?" He asked somewhat tersely.
"Figured I'd change the oil, and take it for test drive". I explained
"You know, if you would have showed up here Sunday night, with your stuff ready to go, we'd have had a much better chance of getting all our cars done!" He spun around and headed back to the shop.
"Wow! I'd have expected that response from just about anybody else in Oklahoma before I would have seen it coming from him", I thought to myself.

I spent most of the afternoon concentrating on my cars out in the yard and avoiding the shop entirely, mainly because I was still miffed at Boone's attitude. When the sun went down though, it didn't make any sense not to get in the shop and see if I could find something to do. Dale's son Billy was out of school, and fired up to help on "his" car, but I could tell he was driving Boone and Dale crazy as they worked on the front of the car.
"Billy, what do you say we figure out how to get this new fiberglass trunk lid mounted on the car", I motioned him towards the back. He was receptive to the plan so we broke out the new hood pin kits, and I turned the kid loose with a drill to make holes in virgin fiberglass! Since I live twelve hundred miles from my nephew, and his Dad only has him part time, I came to realize that this was probably the most involved I had ever been with him, and I really enjoyed it, despite the buzz of activity that was going on around us.

Made me chuckle. "If you would have showed up here Sunday night,wi th your stuff"

Made me chuckle. "If you would have showed up here Sunday night,wi th your stuff"