Towed the car to Brainerd on Friday to make the first test passes on the car. It hadn't moved under its own power in 40 years. I didn't arrive at the track until noon. Took my time getting there, as I was absolutely burned out, and it's no fun rushing things. Brainerd it the perfect track to shakedown a new car. The track is wide, extremely long shut down, and the pit area is massive, so you can drive the car around and get used to it. After paying for my tech card, it was time to drive the car around, get some heat into it, and make sure everything is functioning. As I backed away from the trailer, I hear a crunching sound. [censored]. Thought something in the front end was broke. Get out of the car, and notice my winch cable isn't pulled out like normal. "Who wound that up?" I thought... Looked under the car, and realized I forgot to unhook it from the K member. Pulled the cable out from under the car, and got lucky. No damage to the car, but now how was I going to load the car into the trailer? It sits too low to drive it in, and try to get out, as the doors will hit the inner fenders of the trailer. I'll worry about it later. Got back in the car, and drove it around the facility, and probably put 5 miles on the car, just in the pits. Never got over 140*. Back at the trailer, and everything looks good, so I head to the staging lanes. Figured I'd just make a nice easy pass, get the car to 60mph or so, and coast through. Just as I pull into the burnout box, the thought of making a 60' hit crosses my mind. Do a light burnout, stage the car, and as the tree is activated, I put the motor on the 2 step. It's still set from the old car at 5200. Lights go down, drop the clutch, and the launches straight as a arrow, shift light comes on at 6500, I grab second gear, still dead straight. Shift light comes on again, and I pull third, and it hits me, this was supposed to be a easy pass, don't push your luck, so I lifted, clicked it into 4th gear, and coasted the rest of the way down the track. With the long shutdown, it gave my plenty of time listen to things. No gear whine, nothing... pulled onto the return road, and pulled off to the side. Undid all my safety gear, and was going to make my way back the the trailer. When I hit the starter button, the starter would not engage. Battery voltage had gotten too low, as the alternator isn't completely hooked up. After some luck, I did manage to get the engine to wheel over, and fire up. I was almost to the ET shack when the engine started to stumble, and die. I had forgotten to turn the fuel pump back on... I thought to myself "Is this the first time you've ever raced?" With some more luck, I was able to get the engine refired , and back moving. As I drove down the pit road the engine started to sound horrible. Now what? A quick inspection showed the header gaskets were leaking. My spare header gaskets were forgotten at home. Went to another Mopar racer and asked if he had a spare set. "Got a used set you can have." I take them. Got the gaskets replaced, and fire the engine back up. Still making a odd noise. Pull the passenger side valve cover, and everything looks great. Onto the driver side. Didn't take long to see the problem. The rocker shaft hold down bolt had backed out, causing the #7 cylinder rockers to open up the lash. Tightened that back down, checked the lash, and everything was good again. Just as I was buttoning everything up, the staging lanes closed. Guess I'll have to wait for the next day.

Very Cool !!!! great 60

Nice, glad you had no serious issues, my Cousin goes to Brainerd, he's asked me to come over and go to the track with him, I might do sooner or later. Good luck with the car.
Mick

Nice front half , for a easy short pass .
Congrats

Tex

Saturday morning brought on a new day. Feeling better with some sleep and knowing the car launched straight, some of the nerves had calmed down. Paid for another day of Test and Tune, and was told I'd be running after the first round of eliminations of Super Pro, which would be after lunch time. Since I'm in no rush, it doesn't bother me. Around 12:30, they call test and tune to the lanes. Pull the car up, and play the waiting game. About 20 minutes later our line starts moving. As I pull up to the line, my thoughts are racing in my head. Do I make a 660' pass? 1000'? Do the burnout, and stage the car. Lights come down, plant the throttle to the floor, and the 2 step does its job of holding at 5200. Drop the clutch, and the car launches straight as a arrow once again. I'm running this thing out to a 1000'... Well maybe 1100'... maybe 12000'... I lifted at about 1290'. On deceleration, I checked the gauges. Oil pressure=80lbs. Check, Water Temp=150*. Check. What is that odd noise? Click off the ignition, roll the car onto the return road, and call my buddy to come get me with the golf cart, and by the way, can you pick up my time slip at the ET shack?

Beautiful car Jeff! Great to see you and it on the track again!

Jeff what was the odd noise? Was it your heart beating from pulling gears down the track again
Very nice job on the the entire build and I hope to see it at Norwalk next year

Gus

Seems like Joel isn't the only MN. guy that can write a story to keep us on the edge of our seats.

Tis the season. lol
I did my first hit at the Osceola , Wisconsin " Wings and Wheels " car and air show yesterday.
They has a radar run on the main runway.
No prepped surface , but it told me a lot.
I know the feeling about being nervous.........I legged it to about 3/4 track and lifted and I wasn't even sure how to behave on the launch.
I haven't made a lap in anger in a long , long time.
I tested on the street by my house and found a technique that cut down the wheel spin on that surface.........which was about the same as what we ran on.
Leave off idle and roll into it , short shift second and by the time I was in third I just let it eat.
Somewhere around 100 m.p.h. , the car started to porpoise and it was getting more pronounced as the car continued to accelerate , so I lifted.
But I haven't felt that feeling in a good while and the grin is still pretty much a permanent fixture on my mug.
What was the last strange noise ?
I didn't have any of that , but I had about 100 miles of street play in the last couple weeks to try and find those.

Well done Jeff!Your 60' is about what mine does. You put a heckuva lot of hard work into that car. It looks great and it is something you should be proud of. I hope some of the other members here can be inspired by your dedication to your project! And...After all of that work I think you are pretty hungry...Joel! Take the kid out for a nice steak dinner! He really earned it!

Car looks awesome. Hope you get it figured out. What was the odd noise you heard?

Jeff, great to see you at the track! My apology for not taking time to visit. Chased a lot of gremlins that day! Found most of them,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Ok Jeff.... the car hasn’t made passes in 40 years. Don’t take that long to tell your tale!

I sure didn't take it personal Greg. Bummer you had to leave early, and hope the issues are minor.

Joel, and I kinda made the decision after Billy's passing, that we were going to take detailed notes about our 2019 Drag Week experience, and try and fill 1/1000th of Billy's shoes. But with the decision to not attend this year, I'm going to try to do my best, and polish up my story telling skills, giving the rundown of this weekend.

Glad to see things went fairly well!

As I am waiting for buddy to arrive with the golf cart, to be pulled back to our pit area, it gives me a chance to look over the car. Nothing dripping, no tire rub, just a nice peaceful day in the woods, on a chilly fall day. Then it runs through my head, "I wonder how it ran?" It felt decent, could it possibly have ran in the 9's? Now the suspense is killing me. A few minutes later, off in the distance, I can see a golf cart headed my way. My buddy driving, with his daughter next to him. But they are not alone. I spied the outline of a Paul Bunyan sized man, riding on the back. I think I know that guy... It's none other than HEMI Joel! Great, he's here to rub it in, that he doesn't have to buy me a steak dinner yet...

So Mike pulls up on the golf cart, his Daughter Becky is smiling, but doesn't say anything. Joel, climes off the back, as Mike is handing me the time slip. Joel says "Well I don't think that run should count, as you do not have a certified cage, and your car needs to be pulled back to the pit." I'm like [censored]... Look at the slip, and it says 9.88... I'm thinking, Hold on a minute, we never made these rules? Joel, starts laughing, sticks out his hand, and says CONGRATULATIONS!!! So on the very second pass the car has made it, and runs 9's.

We get the car pulled back to the trailer, and I pull off the driver side valve cover. There it is.. The intake rocker on #5 had backed off, and the pushrod was just laying there next to it. Pulled out the pushrod, cleaned it up, then rolled it on the countertop in the trailer, and it looked like it wasn't bent. Reinstalled the pushrod, adjusted the lash, put on the valve cover, and fired the car up. Sounded great, so I waited around to be called back up, and got to think about my future dinner choice...

Awesome Jeff! Love reading this!

Sweet
Stout pass. Running 9’s on an initial outing with s stick isnt an easy thing to do
Its a testament to your skill and planning
Super job!!!