After Drag Week 2018, HEMI Joel, and I left Atlanta Dragway tired, wore out, happy we finished the event, yet bummed out we finished in 4th place. Yet somehow on the way home we talked about things that could be improved for the next year. Things to make the car go faster, pick up ET when it had 5 mph over everyone else in the class, make the crossover from Street to Race and vice versa easier, and less time consuming. By the time we got home, we had it figured out, and we would come back to Drag Week in 2019 ready to go... At least that was the plan... Little did we know, life would happen, and the world would come to a stand still after that.

Lots of people wonder why the big thrash to get to Drag Week? Well it goes something like this for most. After returning from what is the most grueling week of torture, as far as working on a car, driving it 1000 miles in the heat, rain, blazing sun, and by the time you get home, you don't even want to LOOK at the car again for a couple of months. As for Joel, he runs his own business, and while he does take care of a few things while on the road, when he returns, it's time to buckle down again, and take care of things that might have been missed in his absence.

Fast forward to midyear 2019, and while working on my Road Runner, I get a phone call from Joel, saying he wanted to stop by and talk to me. Joel, and I live about 7 miles apart, as the crow flies, and we talk on the phone at least once a week. It must have been very important if he wanted to talk at my place, in person. I told him to stop over anytime. Joel came over that night, and walked into the garage, and gave me the news. "We are going to skip Drag Week". OK, what's up? Joel had gone in for a check up, on suspicion, and the doctor had found something. Wanting to get it taken care of right away, meant missing Drag Week. I'm not gonna lie, I got a little choked up. Not because of missing Drag Week, but Joel is a very good friend of mine, not just a Drag Week buddy. We've done a lot of thing together over the years, and seen a lot of cool things. Things I'd never have done without him. I told Joel, don't worry about it, take care of yourself, and we'll go to Drag Week in 2020.

We all know what happened for Drag Week 2020. Really bummed it didn't happen, but it is what it is.

2021 rolls on in, and HOPE that Drag Week might happen in September. Only time will tell, but registration did open up, and those that were signed up for 2020 would get first shot at 2021. Since Joel was lightning quick on the keyboard, we were in for 2020. Race #1 complete.

Joel had plans for not only entering Drag Week, but also the Midwest Drags, which started in Norwalk, Ohio.

Over the last couple years, Joel had been making changes to the Coupe. One of which was taking the T56 Magnum apart, and having 1-4 gears "face plated". The T56 magnum is not known for it's powershifting ability, and having it face plated would change that. keeping 5-6 with stock synchro's and sliders, would keep the trans easy to drive on the street. they are not needed going down the track anyways. Joel also switch clutches in the car. In 2018 he ran a McLeod Soft Lok. While this is a good setup for a race only car, it is not a good choice for a street car. Each day we would arrive at the track, take 3-4 turns of base pressure out of the clutch, make a pass, then put 3-4 turns of base back in. It was very time consuming, and minutes at the track, can result in hours down the road on Drag Week. Something different was needed that could be used for both. I think a McLeod Twin disc RTX is what he installed in the car? The last major item that was switched, was valve springs. Out came the basic type of spring, and in went the Beehive style spring. Joel can give better details on that swap, but lets just say, it turned into a pain to get everything correct, and add in parts being out of stock, and unknown backorder status. The HEMI project came to a halt because of it.

And with downtime, it gave Joel time to hone his arts and crafts skills:

With Joel's health improved, and back to normal, it was time to get back to work on the Coupe, and make a push for Midwest Drags in Norwalk. The event is similar to Drag Week, but smaller, and there is a ET cutoff for cars, as the Promoter wants to keep the event RACE only. No Plan B's, unless it's another race car. The classes are the same as Drag Week more or less. That allowed Joel to enter the Hot Rod class. Rocky Mountain Race Week has a Hot Rod class, but the rules are more open, and stuff like turbos and Blowers are legal. It's not the place for a 8 carb 392 HEMI. That event also has "travel" days, stretching the event out a full 7 days. Summit Midwest Drags sounded like the best option to go for a win.

As time went on, I'd call Joe and see how progress was going on the Coupe. He was working on it steady, but having a issue getting valvetrain parts. Somehow, someway the planets aligned, and Joel, and the manufacturer were able to piece together the right combo, and get him what was needed to finish the HEMI. Once that was done, he could get the engine in place, and on to the rest of the drivetrain. The old Soft Lok was out, and in went a twin disc setup, that was going to be 2 sintered iron discs with a floater ring, and then to adjust the clutch at the hit, Joel bought a "Hillbilly Soft Lok" Basically this is a spring/dampner that slows the release of the clutch pedal, the slip the clutch at launch. It took a little doing but he got it in there. With the Coupe finally running again, it was time for a test drive. Problem one on the test drive, was the clutch didn't work properly, and it was determined the new sintered iron discs were too big for the pressure plate. Joel removed the trans, and clutch, the proceeded to try and turn down the discs on his lathe. No such luck. The discs have a Rockwell hardness off the charts it seems. Rotate the discs in the lathe, and use a grinder? That is what he did. Got the turned down to the diameter that was thought to have worked, and reinstalled everything. No luck. Back out the trans has to come. With time running out, Joel thought it was best to install the sprung hub organic discs that came with the clutch assembly. BINGO. That worked. But on to the next issue. The motor was not happy. Would barely run, and Joel just could not figure out why? Midwest Drags was fast approaching, Joel was burning the candle at both ends, and doing what he could. Here is the part I'll come off and look like an A hole. I wanted to go racing my own car on Memorial Day Weekend, and I did not much time to help him. The older I get, the less I want to not miss time at the tack with my friends. Joel was OK with it, as the car issues were mostly a one person job. A friend of ours named Steve, came over and helped with what he could. I had told Joel the weekend before we were to leave for Midwest Drags, I needed to know if we were going or not by Wednesday. If we were not going, I was dragging my Road Runner to Thunder Valley in South Dakota, and racing with my friends. If we were going, I'd be ready to go. Joel didn't want to give me an answer until it wasn't possible to make the event. Friday rolled around, and I called Joel right away in the morning. to ask if the car was running. No... So I loaded up my stuff, and made the 5 hour drive to South Dakota. I told Joel if something changes, call me and I'll head back home. I ran my car on Saturday, and lost first round. About that time my phone rings, and see Joel is calling. He has thrown in the towel on Midwest Drags, but had an idea. If I drove home, we would then drive to the first day of MWD, watch some racing, and from there head to North Carolina to pick up his enclosed trailer, and new to him Land Speed racer that had work done on it in NC. Sounded like a good idea to me, so I loaded up, and headed home Sunday morning. After a 5 hour drive home, I packed a new suitcase, and headed to Joel's place, where he had the camper ready, and we headed out. We made it to Norwalk the night before the event started on Monday.

The plan for Monday was to watch one round of cars, then pack up, and head south. Mark Fisher who is a veteran Drag Weeker, and in the Hot Rod class, was also at MWD. He was running his familiar 32 Ford truck with a 496 Big Block Chevy. We really wanted to see what he would run. It didn't take long to see Mark make a pass, and after he did both Joel and I just sat with a dazed look on our faces. Mark ran a 8.98 @ 150 mph. He is a great guy, and it was difficult to be upset about it, but Damn... I asked Joel, now what? "I'm not sure I want to chase that...

And awaaaaay we go!!

Great start to the story, Jeff. One thing you forgot is that after DW2018, when I finally got around to checking out the Hemi, I found it had lost a piston pin circlip, and the pin had carved a fascimile of the Grand Canyon into the cylinder wall. So I had to have the block sleeved. That took a while too. Every motor I build in the future will have pin buttons!

The new valve springs I used are the Comp conicals. They use a tiny retainer, too small for 10 degree locks. So I had to find some 7 degree locks for my .312 beadlock valves. Comp doesn't make them, but pac does, but they were out of stock indefinetly. Eventually, I located what was apparently the only existing set on the planet.

While it was apart, I also switched to a Milodon gear drive.

On the t56 Magnum transmission, I installed a pump on the front cover that sucks lube from the rear of the trans, and sprays it out in the front. This is because there have been some great failures reported drag racing these transmissions when all the lube sloshes to the rear, and the front gears starve. It's all about reliability. This plays into the DW21 story on Monday of the event.

With the shock of Mark Fisher running 8's in the Hot Rod class in the back of our minds, it was still a great day to watch some racing and see friends that only events like this bring us together. Scott Abbott was running his old reliable 1970 Road Runner, that has done many Drag Week's, Rocky Mountain Raceweek, and now Summit Midwest Drags. Scott is one of the friendliest guys you can meet. Always smiling, and eager to talk. We also ran into Mopar Billy's brother Dale. Dale was running his Gremlin, along with his son Little Billy. They were both making passes in the car. Dale put on a show for everyone as he stood the Gremlin up on the bumper, and when it came crashing down, it took a good chunk of Norwalk pavement with it. Typical Gebhart, he kept his foot in it, and ran the thing out.

As the day went on, it was time for Joel, and I, to head to North Carolina, and pick up his Land Speed car. "The Garage Shop" was our destination in the hills near Charlotte, NC as they were the shop that had reworked the rollcage, and fixed some other issues in Joel's car. These guys do amazing work, and while there we got a shop tour. One of the cars they were working on was a replica of Buddy Bakers famous K&K Insurance Daytona's. They were going to take the car to Bonneville, and see if they couldn't break the class record with it. Power came from a NASCAR small Block. Would have rather seen a HEMI in the car, but it's not my money paying for it.

With everything loaded up we started to head back to Norwalk, to catch the tail end of Midwest Drags. We made stops at the Biltmore Estate in Ashland NC, and the Wheels through Time museum. Both very cool places to see. While back at Norwalk, we got a chance to talk with those that finished the event, said we would see them at Drag Week, and made our way to the Henry Ford Museum. Another great place to see, and I was surprised to see not just Fords there, but everything you can think of. One of my favorites was the Goldenrod streamliner. Powered by 4 Chrysler HEMI's. Very cool to finally see this thing in person.

We need s "LIKE" button.

I'm pretty sure all this background story is supporting material for what is to come.

Good stuff...manual tranmissions and all!

I know most that are following along are wondering what in the world THIS stuff has to do with Drag Week? I can say this, IF you want to enter Drag Week, and need help, you will have to bring along a Trunk Monkey. The first requirement of choosing a proper Trunk Monkey, is make sure you get along. The two of you are going to be together for over a week, when you add in travel time to the event, the event itself, and then back home. You spend a lot of time right next to each other in a hot, noisy race car, for hours on end. You will get into situations that you rely on each other, and the other person is going to be there right in the thick of it when it happens, and it WILL happen. Unless you each spring for your own room every night, you have to share that space as well. Some people are a little messy at times... Joel and I have traveled so much together, that it has become very easy. Yes he can drive me nuts at times, but I'm no saint, and I know I drive him nuts even more. At the end of the day though we work well as a team. I push Joel to keep things moving, yet he's made me slow down and enjoy the simpler things in life. We've driven from Minnesota, to Florida, and back, and never once listened to a radio. Conversations about cars, family, and life have filled the time, along with many one liners from movies like Tommy Boy, and Dumb and Dumber. There are not many dull moments. As I said, choose your Trunk Monkey accordingly, so you don't kill one another during the week. Our time together is a lot like the movie Planes Trains and Automobiles.

The other question people have, is why is there always a Drag Week thrash before the event? I can say for Joel, not having Drag Week 2020 took the wind out of his sails for working on the car. Lets face it, none of us are getting any younger, and when DW2020 was canceled, Joel spent time doing other things he enjoys. He's a busy guy, between owning a successful business, to his activity in his Church, and most importantly his time with his family. There are more important things than thinking about Drag Week the other 51 weeks of the year. Now add in parts shortages, and finding even a few minutes to dedicate time to the car, and the next thing you know Drag Week is right around the corner. The thrash is on!

As Drag week got closer, I checked in with Joel, and it was discovered that the Holley 94's had a bunch of crud in them. Was it from bad pump gas? He had dumped in a older can of VP race gas, and possibly it was from that. We mix in Klotz octane booster for the street drives, and maybe that was the mystery gunk. Now it takes time to clean out 8 carbs, and get them all back together, along with the Rube Goldberg carb linkage. With it all together the car was tested again on the street, and it was much better, but still not 100%. The plan was to test the car somewhere over Labor Day Weekend, but it wasn't meant to be. Joel wasn't comfortable with how it was running to drive somewhere, so he continued on trying to get the car in better shape for the event.

I had taken Thursday off work to help Joel out some, as we were going to possibly use it as a travel day, and head to Great Lakes Dragway, so we could test on Friday. We got everything sorted out for tools, and extra parts and supplies needed for the trip. It was actually a very relaxed day as far as DW prep went. With the Coupe loaded in the trailer, our bags packed, tools and everything else we needed for the week ready, Joel asked if we could leave that night? Sure. I just had to go home, pick up my dog, and bring him to my parents house. That would end up taking me about 45 minutes, and I'd be back at his house around 9:30pm. With Joel's 93 Dodge running, we saddled up, and aimed the truck East, with the goal of driving a couple hours to get outside of the Minneapolis/St. Paul rush hour traffic. At 10:00pm the tires on the mighty Dodge left the gravel of Joel's driveway, and hit the pavement. Off we went, with the familiar sound of Joel saying "I can't believe were really doing it!" (every time).

Not even 5 miles into our trip, I'm noticing the transmission temp gauge is already at 190*. I thought it was awfully quick to climb that high, but after all we were pulling a 28' enclosed trailer, and there is a 6500lb camper in the bed of the truck. We drive a little further, and I mentioned it to Joel. Thinking the trans might be low on fluid, we pulled into the parking lot of our local high school. Joel puts in 2 quarts of some slippery slimy fluid the rest of the world calls ATF. I have no idea what the stuff is? With the trans topped off, we continue East. The temp had cooled some, but after a couple miles it was once again climbing. It's now climbing to 210, and still going. Joel says to me "I have my foot to the floor, and we can't go over 62mph on flat land". Oh oh... We aren't going to make it going through the hills of Wisconsin this way... We decided it was best to turn around, and scrap our plans to test at Union Grove the next day. So we limped the once mighty Dodge home, and called it a night. Our plan was to wake up in the morning, switch over to Joel's work truck, and we'd have to find hotels along the way since we now didn't have a camper.

Friday morning rolls around, and now our plan is to drive to Stanton Michigan, and test the car there. They were having a Test night on Saturday, from 5-11pm. Joel doesn't want to drive through Chicago to get to Michigan, and asks if I mind if we go through the U.P.? "Sure, I've never been through there!". Changing to Joel's work truck doesn't take too long. We just had to switch the hitch height on his weight distribution hitch. Off we go. Once again "I can't believe were really doing it". (Yes, every time) Right away after we leave, Joel gets on the phone, and starts finding us a hotel room, as we now didn't have or travel days booked. He was lucky to find one just North of the Mackinac Bridge. We made it there with no issues, and I'm glad Joel called when he did, as the place was booked full, and nothing was available within a hour range. We asked why it was so busy, and were told that every September 11th, for the last 8 years or so, there is a antique tractor parade, and hundreds of old tractors cross the bridge. We got up the next morning, and wanted to be moving before the tractor parade, and not have to wait to cross the bridge. As we get closer, we see old tractors everywhere, and people are lined up on both sides of the street. as we crossed the bridge, the tractors were already heading North, and it was quite a sight to see. They just kept coming. If you've never been on the Mackinac bridge, I will say this, it's windy, and you are WAY above the water at it's peak. No way I'd want to be on a tractor crossing it.

We rolled into Mid Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, at 3:00pm. I'm pretty excited to be at this track, as it's one I haven't been to, and one I could add to my list. Gates were to open at 4:00, and testing started at 5:00, so we had some time to kill. Since we were the first ones there, and the gate was locked, Joel wanted to take the Coupe out of the trailer, and do some testing on the entry road. Nothing hard core, just driving it around, and getting used to the car again. I spent my time talking with a few racers that arrived after us.

At 3:55pm, Joel comes up to me, and says "we have a problem"...

The writeup is already excellent. Can't wait for more installments!!!

I've crossed the bridge on my Harley before. Looking down through the grates and seeing the water almost 200' below is nuts.

Don't let Jeff fool you! That is not our hotel room. He's messy, but I would never let him get away with that!

Here we go! Great beginning fellas!

Great start to your adventure, Billy is reading this, smiling!

This is what cost me Midwest Drags. NEVER assume you know what's in a can!

Good stuff absolutely what friendships are about and hopefully they richen each others lives. Most the hardcore car guys, I rarely talk cars with LOL. We all pretty much have our minds made up with what to do.

What is that sludge Joel??
Looks like blackwater from septic

The car has two fuel tanks. A 15 gallon for street, and a 3 gallon for race gas. The car had been running great, but right before Midwest drags when I took it for a test drive, it ran horribly. Somehow, all this crud got into the street tank. I'm not sure when or how.

"What is the problem Joel?" Thinking something is wrong with the car, and we'll have to dig into it, once the gate opens. Joel tells me he can't find his helmet. Now I know I saw it somewhere... so after a couple minutes looking everywhere we could, it hit me, that the helmet was behind the drivers seat of the truck. The truck that was still in Minnesota... It was the one thing that didn't get swapped over when we had to ditch Joel's old Cummins, for his work truck. "well you better get on the phone, and see if someone has one." We both got out our phones, and looked for a motorcycle shop that carried helmets. Almost every single placed closed at 4:00 on Saturday, except one place. Fox Powersports in Grand Rapids Michigan. They were and hour drive away, but Joel told me lets load the car, and head that way. Once the Coupe was in the trailer, I got everything strapped down, and Joel started calling. We pointed the truck and trailer out the gate, and headed to Grand Rapids as fast as we could. It was now 4:15. Not sure how we were going to make the hour drive in 45 minutes pulling a trailer, but it was our only chance. Yet we still were not able to get ahold of Fox Powersports. As Joel put the hammer down, he continued to call. He kept getting sent to voice mail. he left a message, but as the minutes drew closer, and closer to 5:00, we really started to get worried. FINALLY at 4:55pm someone in the apparel department called back. Joel explained to him that he needed a SNELL 2020 helmet, and did they have one? They had a couple to choose from, but Joel knew nothing of the brands. HJC was one of the choices, and I told Joel that is what I have, and like it, but at this time, he just needs a helmet... Then Joel asks what color they have... Thinking in my head, you'll take a MFing PINK one if that's all they have... Black or Blue are the options. Joel says he'll take the Blue one, and could he pay for the helmet on a credit card, and have them leave the helmet outside, and we will pick it up 20 minutes after they close? "Sure" says the guy on the phone. So we give him the CC info, and he tells us everything is good to go. It's now 4:59pm. Whew... We arrive at Fox Powersports, and drive to the right side of the building like instructed. Low and behold there is a guy sitting on his trucks tailgate, holding a helmet bag. He didn't feel comfortable just leaving the helmet outside, so he waited for us. My guess is he wanted to just see the fools that drove all the way from Minnesota to Michigan, for an event that required a helmet, and forgot it at home. Who knows, but the guy was a Saint, and we can't thank him enough for the kind gesture.

So now the question is, do we head back to Stanton, and make it for the rest of the test day, or do we head to Martin, and wait for Tech day for Drag Week? Joel says we have to test the car before Drag Week, so Stanton it is. We pull back to the gate at Stanton around 7:15pm. The lady at the front gate greets us, and says "That'll be $45 dollars for the test night, and one crew. Here's your tech card. Fill it out, and put it in the drop box over by that shed. We don't have a tech inspector because of Covid." Joel pry's the cash out of his wallet, and I think I saw a tear in his eye, as he handed the money to the lady. That money had probably been in there since the late 80's when his wife gave him the wallet for Christmas. We pull in past the gate, and Joel asks where we should park? I tell him as close to the staging lanes as possible as I don't want to be walking 1/2 a mile to get to the starting line to video the car. There are maybe 40 cars at the test session, and Joel pulls near the staging lanes, and then quickly turns away. "Where are you going?" I ask. He said there is a generator there, and I don't want to listen to it all night. so he drives away, and pulls into the nicely mowed grassy area, next to a Turbo powered Saturn. As soon as I get out of the truck to start unloading everything, the Saturn fires up. Now I have a question for the turbo racers on the board. Do Turbo cars need the oil, and water temp to be 210* before they make a run? because the guy next to us was so trying his best to achieve that. Not much more annoying than a 4 cylinder car with a massive turbo, and the straight pipe exiting the driver side front fender, aimed right at our pit spot. I looked at Joel, and said "This is much better than a running generator."

With the Coupe unloaded, Joel fired the car up, and drove it around the pits some, seeing if he could get a starting point on his Doohickey Soft Lok clutch setup. This gave me time to walk around, and get away from the Turbo Saturn noise, and see what was there for Mopars. Not too far from us was a really nice 1969 Dart, so I headed that way. The car was powered by a INDY block low deck 540ci, with EZ heads. Very nice combo, and the car was put together very clean. Great guy to talk to as well.

Joel got busy installing a new battery he had picked up in Grand Rapids on our way to Stanton. Knowing his old battery was going bad, he tried to have one shipped overnight to Stanton. No such luck. Can not ship a Lithium battery by air, ground freight only. luckily a Batteries Plus in Grand Rapids had exactly what he needed. Unlike the Eight 2Bbl carb linkage on the Coupe, the rest of the stuff on the car is simple to work on. It didn't take Joel long to get the battery switched out. He eventually made his way to the staging lanes, and pulled into the burnout box. When he sidestepped the clutch the 392 HEMI sounded OK, but not great. The Coupe got a little sideways, but nothing too bad. Joel staged the car, and when it went up on the 2 step, you could still tell there was a slight miss fire. The car bogged some, but then took off. After 2nd gear, and into 4th, you could hear the motor laying over big time. One advantage of only about 20 cars left on the property, is that it was dead quiet now. I made my way back to the pit area, and waited for Joel to arrive. And waited, and waited... Wondering if something happened? Not sure. Joel had his phone with him, and if the car was broke, he could call me from the top end, but nothing. Finally after about 10 minutes, Joel pulled up and I asked what happened? He assured me that the engine had laid over on the top end, but when he got his time slip, the car wouldn't restart. The battery was going bad. Joel put the battery charger on right away, and then it was decided we should run all the carbs out of fuel, and refill the bowls with new fresh stuff. We also changed out the spark plugs, and then Joel headed to the lanes once again. By this time it was getting late. Around 10:30, and would most likely be the last test pass of the night. The Early HEMI sounded a little better now, and the burnout was straight as Joel 's first attempt was in 2nd gear, and this time was in 3rd gear. The wheel speed helped. Joel staged the car, and as the light went Green Joel dumped the clutch, and the rear of the car bounced quite a bit. Shock adjustment off? Not sure, but it once again laid over on the top end.

It didn't take nearly as long for Joel to get back to our pit spot as before. but once he got out of the car, I could tell he was drained, frustrated, and not sure what to do. "Now what?" I asked. "I don't know.. Lets load up, head to martin, get some sleep, and think it over in the morning." Sounds like a good plan to me. "By the way Joel, we MUST be at the track in Martin Michigan on Monday morning no matter what." I told him...

Jeff, on the wallet thing it was early '80s, not late '80s...

I heard you were tight with a buck Joel!! J/K! Carry on...

Love it! and keep it coming please! Fan from MN

I had been down and out with a virus for the last 2 weeks, which hindered my preparation efforts, so everything was a last minute throw together. I had been in for a covid test a week prior, knowing that if it came in positive, I would have to scratch Drag Week. Thankfully it was negative. By the time we left home, I was at the point where I figured I was out of the woods and not contagious. But I had not yet regained my strength and was exhausted. The tool and supply packing was haphazard at best. With the car unable to make a clean pass at Stanton, and very limited resources as far as tools and parts on hand, the thought of throwing in the towel entered my fatigue fogged mind.

"Why do YOU have to be at the track Monday morning?" was Joel's response. Well leading up to Drag Week, I've been in the process of refinancing my house. It took longer than I thought, but on the Wednesday before we left I got a phone call from the Mortgage company, and they said "Congratulations, your mortgage is ready for closing next week!" Umm next week? I told them I'll be on vacation next week. "No problem, we can meet you at your hotel." Ahhh, I'm not staying in a hotel, as we will have Joel's camper in the truck. I'm also not sure which hotel I'll be at, or what city, during the week. After all, anything can happen on Drag Week. Plans must be fluid. Thinking to my self, where will we be for sure during Drag Week? I know we will be at Martin US 131 Dragway on Monday morning. Can you meet me there? "Sure" was the response. Shaking my head in disbelief, I think well OK, lets do it. What time? Earlier the better. "How does 7:00am sound?" Perfect. That gives me time to take care of the paperwork, then make it to the drivers/crew meeting. So the entire time we are headed to Michigan, at Stanton, and headed to the start of Drag Week, and not even sure we are going to make it, let alone we are now not staying at the track, I'm very worried I won't make this appointment. Joel assures me that we will at least be there, but I still have my doubts at this time.

Joel managed to get us a hotel room for Saturday night near US 131 Dragway, but by the time we arrived it was after midnight. In 2018 at Drag Week we were right at the track on Sunday's Tech day, and it was no problem getting the car to the front of the line, and wiz through tech. This time would be different, as I knew once we arrived at our hotel, Joel wasn't about to get up early in the morning, and make the trip to the track before sunrise. See Joel can't hardly function without 8 hours of sleep. Even if it's 7 hours, and 59 minutes, he's in a foggy daze for hours, possibly the entire day. Mind you he isn't a crabby person in the morning, that's my part... At least Joel thinks that. (I don't like dilly dallying in the morning, or anytime for that matter).

With a decent nights sleep we get up Sunday morning, and get ready for our trip to the track. I ask Joel what his plans are now that he's had time to think about it. "Well, we (we meaning you) are going to the track, and change out the fuel pump, as I have a spare. We will start the event, and just see where it goes. I never know if this could be my last Drag Week, and I'd be upset with myself if we didn't try." My first thought was we are in for a LONG week, but lets roll with it. The potential for a last Drag Week really hit me. I've enjoyed these events over the years that most can't imagine. Spending them with Joel has been even better. It's rarely crossed my mind that we WOULDN"T be going. But as time has taught us, too many people that we have known from these events, have been taken way too early in life, and never take that for granted. I couldn't help think of Mopar Billy, when I last saw him in 2018, and he was talking about how 2017 might be his last. When I asked him why the change of heart, he told my, he didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make memories with his family, and friends. Little would we know, Billy would be gone shortly after. He is deeply missed, and the reason Joel and I will try and continue his passion, and honor him by writing these stories.

As we roll into the gate of US131, the end of the tech line is already at the front gate. It stretches all the way to the base of the tower 3/4 of a mile away. We park the truck and trailer, and roll the Coupe out. I start removing the Race fuel pump from the car, and Joel locates the replacement. As I pull the pump off, and start switching out the fittings onto the new pump, it becomes obvious there is a problem. The fitting going into the pump had ben screwed in too tight, and was pushing on the inlet screen, which then tore up the pump some. We ran out of pipe thread tape, and I was able to get some from a fellow Mopar racer. He was racing his 1969 Charger R/T that was painted up like the General Lee. Those guys had everything to completely rebuild the car it looked like. Got the new fittings installed in the pump, and the pump back in the car in no time. Just had a couple wires to reconnect, and we were about ready. Joel was wandering around in the trailer trying to sort through things we would need Monday morning. You only get a half hour AFTER the Driver/crew meeting, and then all the stuff you need for the week must be by the race car, and the truck and trailer, in the impound area. It was important that this stuff be ready to go first thing in the morning.

Joel fires the car up, and we drive to the end of the tech line, still out by the front gate, about 1/3 of a mile from the truck and trailer. We do a small meet and greet, as there are a few familiar faces next to us.Two cars up is Jay Grabiak, and his '55 Chevy Gasser, and his two kids. Earlier in the year at Midwest Drags, Jay won the give away car, a beautiful 1966 Nova built by Havlik's HotRods. It was nice talking to him, and seeing what he was doing with the Nova, to make it his. About that time, we noticed a fuel leak in one of the carbs on the Coupe. With all the tools back at the trailer, Jay let us use some of his. We also adjusted fuel pressure as the new pump was higher than the one it replaced. A good sign. As the day went on, we slowly crept forward. I'm pretty sure I walked at least 5 miles before we got to the half way point. I had wandered off a little, when I get a phone call from Joel. "My brake light switch isn't working... Can you go to the trailer, get my electrical bag, and ohm meter?" Sure. More walking... It was determined that the switch had failed, but if Joel monkeyed with the power, and lights, he could fudge his way through tech, and we could find a parts stor on Monday, and fix it. It was closing in on 2:00, and I thought we better get some thing to eat. I asked Joel what he wanted, and he requested a menu. Sorry, not going to happen. They have track food. "Could you bring me back a basket of shrimp, and a Seltzer water?" I just shook my head, did a 180* turn, and made my way to the concession line, which was on the other side of the track, at least 1/4 mile away. The line was quite long , maybe 30 people? By the looks of things, they were running out of food. Once I got to the counter, I just simply asked for 2 hamburgers, and 2 bottles of water, a Gatorade, and a diet 7up for Joel. Close enough to his foo foo water he wanted. I made my way back to Joel, and he had not moved much since I last saw him. I handed him the burger, and said here, just like your Moms option for food while growing up. 'Take it, or leave it'. Joel just laughed, and asked if I put ketchup on it?

As we got closer to the front of the line, I was able to talk with the Gebhart family some. Amazing, they had made it through tech about an hour before us. Dale was there with Little Billy, in the Ruster, and Boon was there with Mopar Billy's daughter Rachel, in Billy's old Valiant. As always it was great talking with them, and catching up. Dale is always smiling, and joking around. Boon, has a memory just like Billy's. He can remember stuff about Drag Weeks past, that it blows me away, he can remember that stuff. Rachel was doing well, and you could tell she was just happy to be there after missing the event since 2017.

As we closed in on our turn at tech, Joel was greeted with a familiar face, Keith Turk. Keith was checking tires for class, with a Go/ No Go gauge. Joel tells him, "those are the same tires I ran at Atlanta, and they were OK." Keith gives him grief by saying "Yeah they were almost illegal then too". (They weren't). We kept inching closer to the front, and it came time for the Drag Week inspection of the car. They check to make sure your insurance card matches the VIN, and stuff like lights, horn blinkers, brake lights... The closer you get to the front of tech, the more people you have standing around, Whether it be participants that have completed tech, or spectators that have just come to the track to see what type of whack jobs are going to drive their race cars 1000+ miles, for one week. This is where Joel really shines, and loves, as it's entertaining to watch people walk by the Coupe, do a double take, and just have a dumbfounded look on their face when they see the 8 Holley 94's on top of the Big old 392 HEMI. Joel loves telling the history of the intake manifold, sign autographs, and just bond with his fans. (OK so that last part is made up). "Sir is this your car?" a guy asks me. "No it's the guy holding court over there." The guy gets Joel's attention, and asks him to get into the Coupe and go through the motions of lights, blinkers, horn, and then brake lights. I'm standing behind the car, and next thing I know, Joel is closing both doors on the Coupe. "Brakes". Tail lights come on. "OK, your good..." Not sure exactly what Joel did, but thankfully we didn't have to go through tech again. LOL.

Up next was the NHRA tech inspection. Joel hands over his credentials, shows the guy his Snowmobile suit, shoes, gloves, Nice new helmet, and a neck collar that I had to track down, since Joel has a NeckGen (HANS) device, and it could not be used because the anchor points were on his old helmet back home. "sir, we have some concerns over your roll cage." WHAT??? Now the roll cage in the Coupe is a piece of art work. Gizmo Race cars in Minnesota did an amazing job on it. Joel did not want any bars from the cage going outside the body of the car. To do so Gizmo talked with NHRA about how to do it, and with NHRA's OK, some bars were added, and Joel had the paperwork with him from NHRA, saying it was legal. That was good enough for the inspector, and with a sigh of relief we were on to the next step, of getting our numbers.

At this time David Frieburger walks up and says hello to Joel, and starts drooling over the Coupe. David and Joel have known each other since the early years of Drag Week, when the event was really small. Back then there was time for Racers and their Trunk Monkey's to hang out with the HOT ROD crew. The two talked a little about Land Speed Racing, and Joel's new adventure.

We then moved out of line, and applied the DRAG WEEK logo on the car. As it was now getting to be late, and only a hour until the sun set, we decided to pack up, and head to the hotel for a good nights sleep. After all I HAD to be back at the track at 7:00am to sign paperwork... I didn't sleep one single minute that night.

Way diggin this Jeff!!!

The brake light switch was from a 93 dodge pickup. It had 3 pairs of wires. I found that the pair I was using had ceased to function. So I wired up to another pair. It turns out that they worked, but in reverse. So releasing the brake lit the lights, stepping on it shut them off. Good enuff! I entered tech with the main switch off. The main switch is on the drivers side floor so I can reach it from the drivers seat, with a remote control out the back. When they wanted to start the light and horn check, I put my foot on the brake and turned on the main power switch, and ran thru all the functions. When he asked for the brake lights, I just let my foot off the brake.

Reminds me of when Larson switched to twins in his Nova and his horn didnt work. Front clip was off of the car and when they guy said "Horn" someone touched the hot wire to the horn.LOL

Jeff/Joel,

Thanks for sharing! ! I always looked forward to reading Billy’s Drag Week story. He would be proud and I’m certain he’s reading this and smiling down on all of us. Great job, and again….THANK YOU for sharing the experience for those who could not attend.

The first NHRA inspector looked at the NHRA sticker on the cage and questioned its authenticity. It was clear he didn't like the car and he didn't like the cage.

I'm thinking "how can this be?" it has flown through everywhere it has been? That is when I pulled out the paperwork from the NHRA inspector who applied the sticker and urged the guy to phone him. He wouldn't call. After he gave me the 3rd degree on the cage, he walked away and I thought I was done. But then he came back with another inspector and showed it to him, fully expecting the second guy to denounce it. Now thoughts of being booted from the event before I even started where rolling around in my head, and what next? What's with this bonehead trying to trip up my dragweek? But the 2nd guy took a quick look in the cab, then in the trunk, and said. "it's fine." Then the 1st guy tried to convince him. But he stood his ground and eventually the first guy gave up. I think the fact that the car looks like a rat rod set off an alarm in his head that he couldn't overcome. The car looks like an old school jalopy from a distance, but it really is well built under the ugly duckling skin. That's the way I planned it, to create somewhat of a sleeper effect.

My first halfway fast street rod was a 1933 Ford 4.0 inch chop and 3.0 channeled pick up with a stock 1955 Chrysler New Yorker 331 C.I. Firepower Hemi motor in it with a 1939 ford drive train. I ended up finding a stock cast iron dual four intake and put a mismatch set of early AFB carbs on it in 1965 I had my father in law make me a set 1 7/8 primary tube with 3.0 inch collectors headers, that car might have ran mid to low 13 on a set of Casler 8.20x15 recap slicks mounted on a set of 7x15 inch Mag Halibrand mag wheels, it was a real tire spinner that I had to learn to drive in a real nose heavy stick shift car, it weigh right at 3000 Lbs. with me in it. I would rev it up to around 2500 RPM and let the clutch out and wait until it grabbed and the get after it
I had a lot of fun with that old heap, lots of fun whupping up on fuelies Corvettes and some half fast street bikes
I took it apart when I got drafted and never put it back together, I should have put a 392 in it like yours but I didn't
I ended up buying a 1963 Plymouth Belvedere 2 door sedan original 415 HP Max Wedge car in 1971 and never went back to the street rods

When we got back to our hotel on Sunday night, Joel instantly fell asleep when his head hit the pillow. Not sure how that happened, as he didn't walk 22 1/2 miles that day. I was absolutely exhausted, but yet could not get to sleep. The thought of missing my appointment was all I could think of. As the minutes slowly went by, you keep thinking to yourself, if I could just fall asleep now, I can get 5 hours of sleep... 4 hours of sleep... 3 hours of sleep.... At that point, I would have been happy to get a half hour. So I got up about 20 minutes before the alarm was set to go off, and took my shower, and got ready for the day. The instant the alarm went off, I woke Joel up. "Lets go, I'm not missing my appointment". Joel, with only 7 hours of sleep was not moving with Cat like reflexes, or speed, but he was at least moving. While he was getting ready, I walked down to the lobby area of the hotel, and got Joel a morning coffee, to speed him up some. By the time I got back he was almost ready to roll, but again at least moving. We left the hotel a little after 6:00am. It was a short 15 minute drive to the track.

As we pull up to the gate, I tell Joel, just let me out here, as this was my meeting point. Joel kept on driving through the gate... We made it all the way to the tower 3/4 of a mile away, and then go over to the pit side, towards the back of the staging lanes, and Joel parks the truck. He then tells me "We have work to do". my response back was "No YOU have work to do, I have to now walk all the way back to the front gate, and hope I make it there in time. So I grabbed my needed paperwork, and started walking. I must add that at 6:30am in Martin Michigan, it is absolutely PITCH BLACK out. The track lights were not on, and there was a cloud cover that morning, as there was a chance for rain early on. I kept on walking, and as I made my way to the gate, cars were coming in fairly steady. I kept checking my phone 6:45... kept walking 6:50. By 6:53 I could actually see the front gate. Cars were still coming though at a steady pace, as no one was at the gate to check cars in. Just as I walked through the front gate at 6:55, a lady had closed things off at the gate, and started to check people coming through. I stood next to the building for 2 minutes, when I see a Tan minivan pull up, and knew that was the lady I was to sign paperwork with. I had here pull over to the side parking lot. She got out, and asked where we could sign everything? "I have no clue, the building is locked" "We can sign them in my van then. As we are going through the paperwork, the lady asks me what we are doing at race track on a Monday morning? I briefly explain Drag Week to her, and her reply was "You guys are crazy". By this time it starts raining out, and I'm thinking great I have to now walk back in this...More paperwork... Cars keep rolling in, and then the lady says "Some of those cars are really loud, can't they quiet them down for the street?" "Those are quieted down for the street" LOL. I'm thinking this lady wouldn't be very happy if she was staying at a hotel with a bunch of Drag Weekers, and the early morning rumble of race cars out her window. But overall she was very nice, and we finished everything. The lady say, well I'd give you a ride back to where you need to go, but I can't get in the gate without paying. "No problem, I guarantee I will know someone coming in that can give me a ride. So I grab my 2" thick stack of paperwork, and start walking back into the track. Completely relieved that everything went well, I was in a much better mood. Now to see what kind of mess I have to straighten out when I get back to Joel. As I walk by the ticket booth, the lady running it asks me for a favor. "Can you move those cones, and let in people with wrist bands?" "Sure, if you can find me a ride back to the pits." "Deal." So I moved the cones, and then started walking the line, telling people with wrist bands they could go through. A mad rush went into the track, and right past me. Thinking I gotta get moving, I start that way as well. I made it about 150 feet past the ticket booth, when the lady yells out "Still need a ride? Got one right here!" so I hurry back, and a newer Shelby Mustang pulls up. I open the door, and hear "Sure I'll give my buddy Jeff a ride!" I look in, and it's Brad Dryer, a past Modified NA class winner. I've gotten to know Brad some over the years, as he was Jay Brown's main competition in Modified NA for years. Brad had a killer Nova, that puts on quite a show with it's big wheel stands. "What are you doing up here Jeff?" "Refinancing my house." with a shocked look, Brad says "Well that has to be a Drag Week first". "where do you need to go?" Just get me close to the tower, and I'll be good. "No, where do you need to go?" Brad wasn't in much of a rush, as his Nova is in Chassis shop prison, and the Mustang was just a Plan B car. One minor set back, Officials would not let him run. He had forgotten about the Drag Tire only rule, so since everything was paid for, he was just going to enjoy himself, and drive along. He dropped me off right at the Coupe, where Joel had things from the trailer scattered all over the ground. They were now calling everybody to the stands, as the drivers meeting was starting in 10 minutes. "Joel. go get the Coupe into the staging lanes now, and then take the truck and trailer to the impound area." "Good idea!" So while Joel took care of those couple things, I sorted through our stuff, and got it ready to make the transition from race to Street as smooth as possible when the time came.

I have no clue if Joel made it back for the drivers meeting or not. Didn't really matter, as he's been through many of them, and not much changes. If it had, I'd let him know. Almost as soon as the meeting started, the PA system went out, and they wanted us to heard together like sheep on one end of the bleachers, so Keith Turk could yell out to us. No thanks, I'll stay to myself over here. Joel wouldn't have heard it any ways, as he couldn't hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant. End of the drivers meeting. luckily we were pitted just behind the bleachers from the meeting, and I met up with Joel. Told him to get ready as the track would go hot soon. He was maybe 30 cars back? Up ahead we could see Clark Lamb, and his familiar Blue 68 Barracuda. Up front like always.

Cars started going down track quickly, and I believe Clark ran 10.50 something in his Barracuda like always. Car always leaves nice, with the wheels in the air. My guess was they would take it, and hit the road. While Joel was getting ready in the Coupe he starts to tell me how the adjustment works in the Whatchamacallit Soft Lok. I plug my ear and start saying "Lalalalalalalalala Don't want to hear it. That's your baby". The anticipation is killing me as we get closer to the burnout box. Will the new fuel pump work? Will the car bog? Will it lay over on the top end? If it's bad it can make for a long day. I'm hoping it's a good pass, and we can hit the road, as you never know what the street drive will throw at you.

Joel pulls the Coupe into the burnout box. It sounds good. Kinda normal. He revs the motor up, dumps the clutch, and the car does a nice burnout. Good so far. Joel stages the car, and the lights start coming down. Reaction time isn't a concern on Drag Week, so Joel is still bringing the old HEMI up on the 2 step when the light turns green. He dumps the clutch, and the front tires lift off the track, and the nicest wheels up launch I've ever seen out of the car happens. Joel rips through the gears like Ronnie Sox, and it's obvious the face plating of the T56 Magnum has paid off. As always a healthy HEMI always sounds good uncorked, and at wide open throttle. Joel crosses the finish line, and the scoreboard lights up with a 10:15 @ 133mph! Joel's fastest pass ever, in competition at Drag Week! I can't wipe the smile off my face, and hoping Joel will be OK with that. I get back to the pit area before Joel, and shortly after he arrives. Joel has a big sh!t eating grin on his face, and with a sigh of relief, he gets out and gives me a high 5. "Are we good?" I asked. "Yup, I'm going to turn in the time slip, and we are out of here!" Perfect. Joel makes his way to the Tower, and I start changing the car over from Race to Street.

The change over for me consists of the following: Add air in the rear tires, Remove the header collectors, Cap the Headers, remove the V band clamps and plugs on the side of the header collectors, Slide the exhaust under the car, Hook up the rear tailpipes up to the rubber hangers under the car. Start the 2 attachment bolts under the car for the exhaust pipes, V band clamp the front of the exhaust to the header collectors, Tighten up the two attachment bolts. Install the passenger seat with one rear pin, and 2 Dzus fasteners in the bottom. install the 8 individual air cleaners. Start packing everything in the trunk. When Joel gets back from turning in his slip, his job is to install rubber pucks in the rear springs. First time for the change over? About 30 minutes.

With everything taken care of Joel looks at me "Well.. Saddle up partner!"

Pulling out of the gate is always the biggest "What's next" feeling. We make our way out the gate, and the drive down to our predetermined route.

"I can't believe we're really doing it!"... Yes. Every single time...

Great pass by Joel!

That is so awesome.....All the things you guys had to overcome, just to show up, and then all the car stuff, and still make a best ever hit and and go on down the road....That is so totally awesome.

I thought you were done when you showed us the crap in the fuel system....That is a lot of work to over come right there.

As Clark and I were coming in the gate at US 131 it is very dark and we see this guy walking towards the front gate.

I say to Clark, "Is that Jeff".

I knew there would be a story to follow!

Thanks for doing this story, Jeff!

an amazing story so far ! keep up the good work !

After tech on Sunday I had brought the coop up to the staging lanes to make a test pass, but when I got there they told me it was too late. The staging lanes had just closed. Missed it by a few minutes, but it might as well have been hours, either way I was destined to make the first official day of drag week competition nothing more than a test of a car that had not yet made a clean pass down the drag strip.


My buddy Jeff has several different modes that he operates in. One of them is happy, fun loving, outgoing Jeff. Another one is let's go, get it done, hurry up Jeff. And then there is introverted, completive Jeff. Last but not least is cranky Jeff.
So when he told me Monday morning he had not slepped one minute all night, I was thinking "this is going to be hell day". But when he actually brought me a cup of coffee while I was getting ready, I knew it was going to be a good day!


As we were driving in to the track Monday morning and Jeff wanted me to drop him off at the gate I said that he should just call the courier and have them come into the pit area. That way he wouldn't have to walk, he wouldn't have to get wet if it rained, and he could help get things ready while we were waiting for the courier. Jeff would have none of that. He was walking down to the gate to meet the courier because that's the way it had been set up. I continued to urge him to call and change the arrangements slightly. It's a courier I said, they get paid to go where they're told. They don't care if they have to drive an extra 3/4 of a mile. They do this stuff all the time. Jeff said "That's the difference between you and me. You expect people to do stuff just because you ask him to. I don't operate that way. I told them we're meeting at the gate, I'm not going to ask them to drive into the track.". Okay, so maybe he was a little cranky from the stress and with having been awake for 24 hours straight. I'll get busy on the unpacking myself and Jeff can walk to the gate to get his papers signed.

The trailer was total chaos. I didn't even know where to start gathering stuff to carry in the trunk of the coop and I was only guesstimating how much crap we could carry. So I just started going through the cabinets and everything and grabbing what I thought we'd need. Half the stuff I was thinking was there wasn't.

In case I had to make several hits to get the car to run properly, I wanted to get an early start, and as soon as I saw anybody getting into the staging lanes I rolled the coop in as well. The playing around I have done with the clutch tamer at Stanton really paid off. The launch on that first pass was nearly perfect. Also I had looked up my notes and figured out where my shock settings were supposed to be. Upon checking them on Sunday, they were about 15 clicks to stiff. Correcting that is what solved the rear wheel hop at launch. Words cannot express how jubilant I was after that pass on Monday morning, after all that we had been through and as many times as I considered dropping out, this beautiful run down the drag strip happened! Jeff was as happy as I was! I knew it was going to be a great day and a good week, and I was certain that before the week was over I would have the coop running in the nines.

Love the daily updates. You sure you toe arent married? Which one of you is telling the truth. Im going with Jeff. He knows how to spell COUPE, Call your car the "Henhouse" if its a COOP.LOL

Ksj, coop is voice to text in action. My fingers are to big and the screen is too small to fix everything. . Am I contradicting Jeff? Hope not, I think he's doing a great job. I was just trying to fill in some detail.

Your coupe was the very first drag week car shown in the MAK tv youtube video from day 1 as well. Such an awesome hot rod!

Nick, from the time I started the build, you've been the hot rods #1 fan. That motivates me to keep moving forward!

You have an awesome car Joel...and one helluva trunk monkey! Love the story!

One of the first real hot rods I ever saw and loved from the internet was Jimmy White's '32 Coupe with a 392, open headers, and 6 Strombergs. Your car is on another level entirely, it's just perfect!

Nick, that's cool because I was influenced by Jimmy White's hot rod as well. I loved the noisy Hemi, the multiple carburetors, and the raw, no frills, rough around the edges look that says it's all business. But I knew I could improve upon it in many ways.

I saw his car in person back in 2019 at the street drags in Santa Barbara. Your coupe is so much more nicely built! What's your eventual ET goal with it?

Waiting on more updates from Jeff but it looks like he is busy working on Mustangs in his shop.

I know he's working on another chapter. Not sure when it will be ready.

My immediate goal for the coup is to get it into the 970s. Long-term I'd like to see a 950 out of it.

– Mark Twain
"Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution."


i know this is WAY off topic, but i just noticed it Joel. [i'm blind in one eye, and can't see out of the other. ]

but this describes a guy around here we call "happy bob", perfectly !


"now back to our regularly scheduled program"................

Out of a "Street" car, any street car, that is a hell of a goal...Its been my goal as well...I hit 9.89 so far...There is more in mine, but is there that much more in yours? I have never seen an NA G1 Hemi run 9's in anything before. I am super impressed....How many cubes is it?

Drag, it is 060 over with a 5/8 stroker so it's 468 cubes. The car went 137 at Charlotte in 2018 in not the best air. If you look up 137 on the calculator, that would be 9.70s if the chassis is optimized. And that's without any serious dyno tuning, no experimenting with cams, and I have a couple of other intake manifolds I can test as well, one of them is a short runner eight carb and the other is a dual quad tunnel ram. I think it's got 950s in it. The big question mark is the nut behind the wheel. Can he, will he devote enough time and energy to optimize the car?

I have to admit, and I totally blame drag week, I am jaded. After hanging around a bunch of hardcore racers who run eights, sevens, and even sixes in their streetcars, my 10-second streetcar seems ashamedly slow.

The Hemi Coupe got its picture in the PRI newsletter! I was hoping the picture like this would surface.

Pretty cool Joel! Where's Jeff been hiding?

now THAT is a picture Joel !
out of curiosity, what rate springs do you run on the front coil overs, and what are shock settings set at ?
TIA !

Awesome picture!

YES!

GREAT picture !
Love the coupe.

Mark

That's a killer pic!!! You're definitely going to get into the 9's in short order too, like you said you've got the mph for it for sure.

Random question, what do leaf spring people do for extra load carrying capacity when on Drag Week with a trunk full of garbage? I saw you put spring rubbers in your coils, are there any other tricks?

Nice!

I swap on some good old air shocks for the drives. It only adds about five-ish minutes to the conversion time. My car actually rides OK without the air shocks but it makes the pinion angle go to a bad place and it has some vibration on decel.

Its not a big deal on the first day, its a bigger deal on the last day when you have done it for the 9th time lol.

I leave my air shocks on all the time on Plan II. But then, you don't need to fart around with adjustable shock settings on an AWB car, they just hook and go

I hope Jeff is soon ready to continue the story.

thanks Clark. I am amazed at how much work is considered routine on Drag Week!

On my previous drag week in 2018, I readjusted the coil springs on the rear coilovers twice per day to support the load in the trunk, and then again to go back to race setting. That and the clutch adjustment were the two most time consuming, pain in the hind end chores in the switch over and I decided I was definitely going to get rid of both processes. Originally, I bought an airbag that I was going to mount right on top of the center of the differential and fill it up for the street drive. But then I heard about these spring rubbers that you can just slip in between the coils of the spring and it supports more weight. So I bought those and it was very quick and easy to do and involved no installation.

Not far out of the Gate of US 131 Dragway is a small gas station, and we always fill the street tank with fresh 91-93 octane, depending on what the station has. Some Klotz Octane boosted is added before filling up. In 2018 we used the stuff to keep the 13+:1 HEMI happy on the street. On our first attempt to measure the Klotz out, it didn't go so well. Joel had brought with a plastic measuring cup, and when I went to clean it out, the cup was melting from the Klotz. It's some nasty stuff, and you do not want any to get on you. We quickly learned that a stainless steel cup was needed, and Joel had purchased one in 2018. Problem was, we didn't have it with this time. Add it to the list of things needed at our first stop. We were also in need of a transmission type funnel for filling up the street tank in the Coupe. Those work best as the tank is in the front part of the trunk area of the Coupe, and while on the road, the trunk is PACKED with our needed stuff for the week. Without a funnel, we needed to improvise on Drag Week right away. I happened to have a almost empty Root Beer bottle, and that soon served as a funnel, and measuring cup once we found a knife. Add a pocket knife to the list.

Once we were gassed up, and fresh snacks for the trip, we got on to US 131 South, and headed to the first exit, so we could find a parts store, and get a new brake switch installed in the Coupe. Not far off the route we found a O'Reilly's Auto. Joel parks the Coupe out of the way of normal traffic to the store, so he has room to fix the switch. As we walk in, there is a customer installing new headlights into his clapped out truck. If we hung around long enough, we might have picked up a few new swear words. He didn't look like he was having a good time. Joel walks in ahead of me, and the lady behind the counter gives Joel a quick glance. Not sure if she is seeing things, or if she just witnessed Blake Sheltons stunt double walk in after a bad accident? Joel asks for a brake switch, and I start wandering around finding things we need for the week. A pocket knife, a funnel, AF sensor, Pipe thread tape, electrical tape, bottle of Old Harper, a crescent wrench for the AN fittings, and a plastic comb for Joel.

Not able to find a steel measuring cup, I told Joel I'd walk over to the WalMart next door, and see if I could find something there. "OK, but just get the essentials." "What do I look like, an idiot?" More walking... It took me a couple minutes to find the Household good area, and see what was available. last time Joel was able to just buy a single cup, but this time, all I could find was a stack of cups. It's all they had, and I didn't want to waste any more time in the place than I needed. I walk back to O'Reilly's, and Joel was just coming out of the store. I show him the measuring cups, and Joel asks "Are you baking me a cake?" "It's all they had. I can keep one, and toss the rest, but never know if we'll need them."

Joel got busy working on the brake light switch, and we finally hear the familiar rumble of a Drag Week car off in the distance. First one we've seen since we left, and here it's Clark Lamb, and his Dad, Bill. "What do you guy's need?" we asked. "Set of air shocks" Clark replied. Good luck with that one... Off Clark went into the store. They must have had a revolving door we missed, because as fast as Clark walked in, he walked out. They wished us good luck, fired off the worlds heaviest small block, and headed down the road.

"I think I got it." Joel said still leaning in the Coupe to repair the brake switch. Power on, left blinker, right blinker, brake lights, tail lights. Everything is good. Lets hit the road! We pile ourselves in the Coupe, and head East to US 131, then head South. Joel quickly merges with traffic, and as I'm glancing down at the route sheet, smoke starts entering the car. Oil on the headers? Intake leaking? Valve cover gasket? "Joel, we better get off on the next exit, and see where that's coming from" With a concerned look on his face, he agreed, and we took the first right, then saw a Loves gas station on the left. Joel finds what he thinks is a good place to park... Right next to dog pen area, where the sprinklers are running. Hop out of the car, and take a quick glance at the HEMI. Nothing there.. Bend down to see if anything under the car is dripping, "Awe SH!T!" I tell Joel. "What?" The entire bottom of the car is covered in gear lube. It doesn't take long to find out where the fluid is coming from. The rear seal has been pushed out of the tail housing. This isn't good. We discuss things a bit, and Joel thinks that maybe when he installed the oil pump in the transmission, that it might be building pressure, and pushing the seal out? Maybe the vent was plugged? "What now Joel?" "Well, we will have to pull the transmission, and fix it. Maybe take the pump out?" "No way..." I told him. It took Joel months to reassemble that transmission at home, with a fully equipped shop. No way we could do that here in a Loves gas station. We could be done with Drag Week right here...

I would love to find a solution to the shock change but its really not that bad. A dana 60, stock gas tank, and a full exhaust system make options back there very limited.

On Labor Day weekend, prior to Drag Week, I was at Thunder Valley Dragway in Marion South Dakota. While there, I met up with Moparts members J Body (Jay), Big Dad (Daryl), and Dakotahotrodder (Wade). Wade had stopped by the track to hang out, and brought with some home smoked ribs, BBQ, and plenty of Hamm's beer. Perfect track food, and it was delicious. One of Wade's buddies, Matt was there, and we began to talk some, and the discussion of Drag Week came up. His face lit up, and he said that he was going. I asked if he was spectating, or entered in the event? "Oh I got in!" "First time?" "Yeah, what can I expect?" I just chuckled, and asked what car he was bringing? He told me his Mustang blew up earlier in the year, and he was bringing a "Plan B" car. Plan B cars are not unusual for Drag Week, but when he told me it was a newer Chevy Impala SS, with a LS engine, I asked him "Aren't those front wheel drive?" Yeah, why? "Do you have slicks or Drag Radials for the car?" No... was his response. "Well you're going to need them, or you can't run the event." I know in the back of my mind, Matt was thinking, what was he going to do? I was also thinking great, if we needed help, we could maybe have Matt give us a hand, as he was entered in the event. Little did we know that we would need Matt almost immediately on Day one...

While Joel was looking up some info on the pump he installed in the T56 magnum, I placed a phone call to Matt. "Hello." "Hey Matt, where are you?" "Still at the track, just watching some cars." "Have you made your run, and turned in your time slip?" "Yeah, why?" "We need your help." So I gave Matt our location, and he and his Trunk Monkey Lance headed our way. Since they were already switched over to Street trim, and packed up, it only took them 20-25 minutes to arrive at the gas station. While they were on the way, I told Joel to move the Coupe, so we were not getting sprayed by the sprinkler system, while we were working on it. "Good thinking."

When Matt, and Lance arrived, we told them the situation, and with some digging on the internet, Joel was able to find out that if he removed one of the plugs on the transmission, installed some fittings, and a oil cooler, dumping it back into the fill plug, it just might solve the problem. Joel then got on the phone, and called the near by NAPA store, and told him that they did have the oil cooler, and rear seal he was looking for. So with a list of parts he thought were needed, Joel and Matt hopped into the Impala, and off they went. I got started on cleaning the bottom of the Coupe, and removing the rear drive shaft loop, and driveshaft. Lance was helping by handing me new clean paper towels.

Disclosure: I was not there to witness the following that happened, but was told the story by Matt.

Joel and Matt arrived at the NAPA not too far away, and when Joel walked in, the lady behind the counter wondered if she too was seeing Blake Shelton's Stunt Double after a horrible accident? Joel assured her he wasn't, and had absolutely no clue who that was. Matt nudged him, and said "Lets get what we need, and get going." (I'm glad it's not just me pushing Joel.) The lady was super helpful, and most likely a Saint to put up with Joel, and his 10,000 questions. Fittings, Check. Cooler, Check. Trans Fluid, Check. Rear seal, Check. Matt asks Joel, what about hose? "Oh yeah, gonna need that." lady asks Joel how much hose he needs? "Hmmm... Not sure where we are going to mount a cooler, so give me 12 feet of hose. If we are short, Matt can drive me back up here." Matt replies, "Get 14 feet!" Joel pays for everything, and they hop back in Matt's Impala, and head back to the gas station.

Once back at the gas station, We looked over everything, and Joel got busy installing the fittings in the transmission, and then it was determined that the cooler could be mounted right under the trans, and held in place with zip ties. With only needing about 3 feet of the 14 foot section of hose, Joel looks at Matt, and asks if he can drive him back to NAPA, and return the remaining 11 feet, since he still had the receipt? "NO." was all Matt replied. LOL! OK, on to the next problem. The rear seal. We removed the new one from the box, and compared it to the current seal. Nope not even close to fitting the transmission. Now what? We could attempt to clean the old one, and reinstall it. If the cooler idea works, we should be good? Now how do we get it on the tail housing? "Joel, I have an idea. What if we use one of the measuring cups as a seal driver?" "Lets try it." So we cleaned the seal, and tail housing up with brake cleaner, and then found the correct size cup to fit the seal, and drove it home with a hammer. While I finished that, and started to reinstall the driveshaft, Joel, was putting fluid into the trans. Rear driveshaft loop installed, Floor pan reinstalled, pack all the junk we had scattered in the parking lot back up, a quick trip to the bathroom, and get washed up, and we were ready to hit the road again. Matt, and Lance said they would follow us, and make sure everything was OK. We piled back into the Coupe, Joel fired the HEMI up, and pointed it South bound on US 131 for the 3rd time. As we merged in with traffic, I saw a sign for a rest area a couple miles ahead. I told Joel we should just do a quick stop, and make sure everything was where it needed to be, before we got too far away. "Good thinking." So we roll into the rest area, and I quickly unbuckle my safety harness, open the door, look under the car, and give the Joel the now too familiar "AH SH!T!" The seal had pushed itself out again. Luckily for us Matt, and Lance pulled into the rest area behind us. Looking back, I'm sure they wished they hadn't.

"Now what Joel?" "Not sure. We might have to drop out, but I don't want to after that pass this morning. It's Drag Week, and we have to do what we have to do." Crap, it's going to be one long night... "Joel gets on his phone, and tries to call someone that knows T56 Magnums, but isn't having any luck. I do a Google search for "T56 magnum pushing out seal". One of the search results led me to a web forum, that had discussed this problem, and what a POS the rear seal was for these transmissions. One member had suggested using a Ford C6 transmission tail housing seal, as it was the same dimensions, but a old school type that was encased in steel, and not just a rubber POS. That member was even good enough to give the part number. I took a screen shot of it, looked it up on NAPA's website, and it said it was in stock at the location Joel, and Matt were just at. They both hop in Matt's car, and head South on US 131 about 10 miles before they can then head North back to NAPA. I'm sure when Joel (Not Blake Shelton's stunt double after an accident) walked in, the lady thought great, not another 10,000 questions... Joel just gave her the much needed part number, said he would sign an autograph, but she just wanted him to pay for the part.

While Joel, and Matt were gone, I started to get things ready for the new seal. Hoping it would work when it arrived. One thing I forgot to do before we left the track was fill up the rear slicks with air. In 2018 when we left the track, we would have to search for a gas station that had air, and then pay to fill the rear tires for the drive. This year I brought with my Dewalt cordless air compressor. With no clue if it would work or not at this point, I hooked it up to the right rear tire, set the air pressure to 25lbs, and turned it loose. I had heard stories of these type of compressors not working, so I didn't have high expectations. After about 2 minutes, the pump shut off. Great, battery must be dead already. Nope. Tire had 25lbs of air in it. Impressive. So I unhooked it from the right tire, and hooked it up to the left side. 2 minutes later, and that tire was at 25lbs. I was sold on the small compressor, and it proved to be a great tool all week.

Lance, and I, had some time to chat for a while again while we waited. A few people stopped by to look the Coupe over, one guy stopped by in his Trans Am, and asked if we needed help. "Thanks, but we got it covered" He had to tear out of there to impress us I guess? My visual ET guestimater said it ran 17's in the 1/4 mile. Next thing I know, this small pickup pulls up next to the Coupe, and a guy gets out laughing. He looks at Lance and I, says I don't know you guys but I got to show you guys this. He holds his phone out, and shows us a meme that his boss sent him. He then got back into his truck, and drove away. Lance looks at me and says "What the #$*@ was that?!!!" I just looked at him, and said "Welcome to Drag Week!" Not 5 minutes later Joel, and Matt arrive. With the seal in hand, I crawled back under the Coupe, and sure enough it was going to fit. We got out the proper sized measuring cup, and drove it into place. The cups were well worth the $7 price now. Reinstall the driveshaft, the rear driveshaft loop, stuff our gear, and tools back into the trunk, go use the bathroom, and clean up, and pile ourselves back into the Hot Rod. Joel points the Coupe South now for the 4th time. "I can't believe we're really doing it!" I'm glad Joel still has enthusiasm at this point. We merge back into traffic, and once again, we decide it's best to pull off on the next exit, and check for leaks. By this time, if I were Matt, and Lance, I would have kept heading South, and tell us we were on our own, but they didn't and followed us. Must like punishment? We quickly find a small parking lot, and I told Joel, just keep it running, I'll hop out, and check. If it's good, I'm hopping right back in. With the Coupe stopped, I quickly get out, look under the car, and THANKFULLY the new seal is holding in place. No leak. Joel gets us turned around, and heads back to US 131 South for the 5th time. With a sigh of relief, we just might get to our Hotel 250 miles away before midnight.

I must say, the rest of our trip went fairly smooth. We had a couple check points. The first one was across from a gas station, and we filled up there, and got a slice of pizza to go. By the time we arrived at the second check point, it was very late. I dug out my LED light from the trunk, and we did a once over of everything to make sure fluids were where they belonged. No leaks. Whew... Last leg of Day one... Joel informed me that he wanted to go over the Coupe when we arrived at the hotel. That would include changing the oil, setting valve lash, and he wanted to retorque the cylinder heads. Changing oil, would mean a stop at WalMart to pick up a new drain pan. When we arrived at the WalMart, I jokingly asked Joel if we were going to change oil in the Garden Department again, like in 2018. "No we'll do it at the hotel." We made it to WalMart about 15 minutes before they closed, and I would just stay outside with the Coupe. "Just get the essentials Joel!" "Duh, whadda ya think, I'm an idiot?"

Joel walks out of Walmart, and hands me the giant oil drain pan. Guess I'm going to be holding this in my lap until the hotel? "It's only a couple miles." Joel says. I'm glad Google Maps is a better estimator of mileage, than Joel is with the time it takes to finish a project. Only a few minutes later we arrive at our Hotel, and we see a bunch of Drag Week cars. We were one of the first to leave the track, but definitely not the first to arrive at a hotel. "Hold on Joel, I see Squirrel's Nova here. What kind of a place did you book for us?" We know Jim is known for liking dive places, so I was getting a little nervous. 'I'll check us in, and you get started on the oil change." 10-4...

"............a bottle of Old Harper................and one of those plastic combs......."

Great Story telling Jeff.

And FYI I was able to get air shocks from O'Rielly's.....in Norwalk.

The dive in Indy was even worse....no, I guess it wasn't, it had water

Does instantly recognizing that reference make us fossils?

Kevin

I can't wait till Jeff gets to the part about a blond chick in a T-Bird!

I just had to google old harper, lol.

Having to go buy a pocket knife? Not sure I've ever left home w/o one in my pocket!

don't know about fossils, but i've been called an "old [fill in this spot with your favorite cuss word combination] way more times than i can count over way more years than i can count........

On a normal vacation when you arrive at the hotel, you are usually done for the day. Not on Drag Week. Between working on the car to be ready for the next day, and chatting with fellow Drag Week participants, there is still plenty to do. As soon as we pulled into our Hotel parking lot, Joel went inside to check us in, and I removed the trunk lid, and started to get tools out, slide the drain pan under the HEMI, and started the oil change. Fist was to remove the oil filter, and make sure to check for the gasket. Sure enough the gasket had stuck to the oil cooler, just like it did in 2018. We didn't need to seal coat the parking lot, like before. (I still want to see the WalMart security video of that mess.) I filled the oil filter as much as I could with Valvoline VR1 20-50 race oil, applied a light film of oil on the gasket, and screwed it in place. Next was to drain the pan. I located the proper allen head wrench from the tool box, and started removing the oil plug. The hot oil rushed out of the pan, and quickly overfilled the top of the drain pan, and overflowed out onto the asphalt. So much for not making a mess... Guess it's a Drag Week ritual for me? About this time Joel arrives back to the Coupe, when I asked what took so long he told me he was swarmed by his adoring fans, signing autographs, and telling everyone how he did a huge wheelstand that day. He said he posed for a couple pictures after he used his new plastic comb... After he was able to break away from his cheering section, he told them he was going to get busy doing his work on the Coupe. In reality, he just was talking with the night clerk at the Hotel front desk. The only autograph he signed was to pay the bill. He started removing the spark plugs, valve covers, and starts checking valve lash. Meanwhile I'm pouring in fresh oil into the HEMI. We did talk with Squirrel a bit, but Jim retired to his room not long after we arrived. Always great talking with Jim. With a name like Squirrel, you would think he's a wired up, chatterbox, but not even close. Jim is super laid back, and after 10 minutes of talking with him, you'd think he was a Librarian. Full of knowledge, but very soft spoken.

We did a attract one drunk guy watching us. He even offered me a job, making way more money than I make currently. When I asked him what's the catch? He told me I'd be living on the road 330 days out of the year. I told him no thanks. I like where I live, and I'd most likely have to miss future Drag Weeks. Living out of a suitcase 10 days out of the year on Drag Week is long enough for me. With most of my work finished, I told Joel, I was going to the room, and retiring for the night. Since I hadn't slept the night before, he was more than OK with that. I grabbed my gear, and headed in. After rolling around in parking lots all day, a hot shower felt great. It was around 1:30am when my head hit the pillow. I barely remember the bull running through the China shop aka Joel coming into the room, so I must have been tired.

The 6:00am alarm went off way too early. As always, I got up before Joel, and headed to the bathroom. When I finished, I went to flush the toilet, and nothing... The image of harry in Dumb and Dumber immediately went through my mind. At least Joel didn't put exlax in my drink the night before, like in the movie. Even better that Joel didn't go use the bathroom ahead of me and drop a stink pickle in the can. I checked the sink. No water... With no water, that left the possibility Joel didn't take a shower the night before, and I'd have to put up with stench of him. No worries. He left a trail of hotel towels everywhere. That nightmare was diverted. I walked back out to the room, and told Joel the bad news that there was no water. No water also meant that Joel couldn't get his morning coffee. Great, he's gonna be in a fog more than normal today. To my surprise, Joel quickly got up, dressed, grabbed his 6 travel bags, pillow, and headed out the door. We loaded up the Coupe, removed the boot from the front tire, and headed to Summit Motorsports Park.

The track wasn't too far away. The air was cool, and it was the first time we kept the side windows up in the Coupe. Amazing how much quieter the ride is with them up. We arrived at the track about 6:40am. It was rumored that the gate would be opened for the racers at 7:00am. Joel said, "Lets get busy, and change the car over now." "We better wait, just in case the line starts moving, we don't want all our stuff all over." "I guess so, but I'm going to remove the rear spring rubbers now." No big deal, that was a simple job, just required lifting the car with a bottle jack, and that was easily accessible in the trunk. While in line we also shut off the ball valve for the street gas, and ran the Holley 94's dry. Then open up the race gas ball valve, and fill the carbs with 110 octane race gas. At 7:00am exactly, Bill Bader, the owner of Summit Motorsports Park, opened the gate himself, and cars immediately started to make their way to the pits. The track at Norwalk is nothing short of amazing. Not a speck of dirt anywhere. Joel asks where we should park, and I told him as close to the staging lanes as possible. He does the best he can, and we hop out, and start switching the car over to race trim right away. Empty the trunk, remove the passenger seat, remove the exhaust, Air cleaners. The car is quickly ready to run, and Joel heads to the staging lanes. The track was to go hot at 8:00am sharp, so we had a little bit of time to chat with others. As I walk up to the starting line, just to look the track over, and be amazed that such a nice track exists, I get a phone call from Joel. "The HEMI is a quart low on oil. Can you walk back to our pit, and get one, and bring it here?" Sure... I made my way back to our pit spot, and found a quart of oil, and made my way to the staging lanes. Joel sees me, and then says "Did you bring a funnel?" "No." We need a funnel." "Figure out a way to put it in, or walk back yourself." Joel got the oil in the HEMI.

8:00am, and as promised, the track went hot, and cars started making passes. Joel was only 15-20 cars from the front of the line, and it didn't take long for him to pull into the burnout box. After a decent burnout, Joel staged, and when the lights came down, he dumped the clutch. The car seamed to slip the clutch, and looked lazy compared to the day before. Never the less, Joel rowed through the gears like a pro, but around the 1000' mark got out of the throttle. The scoreboard lit up. 10:35 at 115mph. Wonder what that was all about, and will Joel take that run? We knew Mark Fisher was in first place with a comfortable one second lead, and third place was a full second and a half behind us, but was that good enough for Joel? Guess I'll find out, when we meet up.

As I'm walking back to the pit area, the concession stand is now open, and not much of a line, so I see what they have, and the breakfast sandwich looks like the breakfast I needed. It didn't disappoint, and was one of the best meals I'd had on this trip yet. When I got back to the pit area, Joel had just arrived. I asked him if we were going to hit the road, or make another pass? "Hitting the road!!" What a relief. Joel walked off to turn in the time slip, and I got busy returning the car to street trim. Now normally on Drag Week, you bring your time slip to the tower, and route sheets are given to you there. At Norwalk, they were having people turn in time slips at the hospitality center. We missed that memo, which was too bad, as it wasn't far from us. Joel got a slight run around from that, but was back fairly quick. All that was left for him to do was install the rear spring rubbers. With that done, we were ready to hit the road. Time it took to switch the car over? 21 minutes. We left the gates of Summit Motorsports Park at 8:48am. The earliest we had ever gotten out of a track on Drag Week. Time to find a gas station... The closest one was about 10 miles away. Once there, Joel saw another Kodak moment. A Moose to stand next to, and take a picture. It's not like me to do so, but why not. Joel can't be the only dork on Drag Week.

I consider coffee to be one of the six essential food groups. So when I woke up Tuesday morning with less than 5 hours of sleep and no water, I was highly motivated to get out of that place and get somewhere where I could buy coffee. It's a good thing reaction time doesn't matter at drag week, because I didn't end up taking a break and finding some coffee until after I had made my pass!

Since the pass on Monday had gone so well, and I felt there was opportunity to get the car into the nines, I did what any normal racer would do. I changed my launch RPM from 4600 to 5000 RPM. One thing I quickly learned the hard way though, is that one of the settings on the clutch tamer has a tendency to vibrate out of whack on the street drive. So the perfect setting on Monday, unbeknownst to me, no longer existed on Tuesday. Hence the clutch slippage at launch.

Also, like Jeff mentioned, on that pass at Norwalk Tuesday morning the car started to lay down on the big end again, so I got out of it. I wasn't sure why it did this when it ran so nice on Monday. But after the long, strenuous day on the road Monday, and with no chance of changing my second place to a first, I thought it was best to turn in the slip and get on the road now and figure out the problem later. The most important thing on drag week once you have your time slip turned in, is surviving the trip to the next track. And hopefully get to the hotel and get any maintenance done and get any changes done, and still allow time for some sleep. Any changes to the car for the sake of gaining performance on the track can wait until after we have made the trip. With this early start on the drive I was optimistic about getting into the hotel early, enjoying a nice dinner with the trunk monkey and some fellow drag weekers, (hopefully I would get chance to buy dinner for Matt and Lance to show my gratitude for all the help they gave us yesterday) and then getting a much needed eight hours of sleep! Plus the drive would give me time to contemplate why the car faltered again and what I was going to do about it.

At Norwalk, while I was wandering around trying to figure out where I turned in my time slip, I heard a familiar voice calling my name. I turned around and there was my old pal Dave Dudek, who I haven't seen in at least a couple of years. It was a pleasant surprise to see him there! We did some very brief catching up, but I knew if I didn't get back to the pits soon, I'd be subject to a severe tongue lashing by the impatient trunk monkey!

Here is Tuesdays pass:

https://youtu.be/_1NTYO_a5NY?t=3891

Circling back to Monday and the transmission rear seal being pushed out, the situation brings a couple of things to light:

First of all, I have a tendency to be overly fanatical on trying to build reliability into the car. This probably stems from the experience of my first to drag week adventures with Jay. Jay was a pioneer in this drag and drive stuff. They learned from hard experience all the stuff that can go wrong when you try and drive a racecar on the street. So in 07 and 08, we were working on repairing the car constantly.
So when I heard that these T 56 magnums can cook the gears in the front of the transmission on a dragstrip pass, and that there was a pump that could be installed in the front cover that would pump fluid back to the front, that modification fit perfectly into my obsession. But after installing the pump, I had only driven on local streets short distances. Never on the freeway.
So that leads to the second thing: when the car breaks down on the road, I have a tendency to act too quickly and not really think it through thoroughly. On Monday when we discovered the problem, I felt the transmission and it seemed abnormally hot for short drive we had taken. Could the pump have created excessive heat or pressure inside the transmission that pushed the seal out? I had no issues in 2018 with the transmission, and the seal had not been removed from the tail housing since. So in my hasty judgment, I decided the pump had to be causing the issue. My first thought was to take the transmission apart and remove the pump. I could see that the trunk monkey had no interest in that idea. My next school of thought was that usually when a pump is installed in these transmissions, it is to move fluid through an external cooler. I did it without the cooler, because I had not previously had a temperature issue. I just wanted the fluid back on the front gears. So installing a cooler seemed like the thing to do to solve the problem. And that’s what I did.
Besides a huge thank you to Matt and Lance for rescuing us, I definitely need to give a shout out to Becky at the Plainwell Michigan NAPA store! I walked in the door asking for a transmission cooler and a strange combination of fittings. Becky went right to work on the problem, immediately understood exactly what I was talking about and what I needed, and worked through several potential solutions until she came up with one that worked perfectly. Awesome service and extremely knowledgeable counter people!
In hindsight, the very first thing I should have done when the seal pushed out was to remove a floor panel to check the vent on top of the transmission. No matter how much heat or pressure the pump tried to produce, it should’ve gone out through the vent and not affected the rear seal. But I didn’t think of that at the time. The second time the seal pushed out I did think of that. I sucked on the vent tube and it was open, in proper working order. And my opinion of the transmissions temperature was pure folly. Without a measuring device what good is it to stick my hand on there and say it’s hot? I’m afraid that the whole escapade of installing the cooler was a waste of time. I think the seal was just a piece of crap and fitted too loosely into the housing. Oh, well. Live and learn!

some random pictures: my time slip from Monday, everybody's friend Jesse brought this crazy John Deere race tractor he named Junior, the guy with the white Monte Carlo helped me out in the tech line by lending me tools to work on the brake light switch dilemma, the yellow hot Rod is also in the same class as I.

Great story guys! Keep it going!

Walmart at 11 pm monday night and a worn out trunk monkey

Wally World in Tucson.....

Fun to read the Drag Week stories again, thanks for writing it out Jeff.

Looks like you guys got the fancy C6 seal too, the one with the dust boot.

No doubt you're enjoying the journey, hopefully Joel doesn't mind you playing a little Motley Crue? Wait!....i think you said no radio? I may have talked a buddy into finishing his car to run Dragweek 2022. The vid I saw from Norwalk looked like a fun variety of classes. Almost looks like an affordable car can be nearer #3 or so?

I guess that all depends on your definition of affordable lol.

Who needs a radio? Not Jeff and Joel! CLICK HERE

I took a portable radio in 2012 on my first drag week. The car had flowmasters then and at one point when we were running 4000RPM on I-40 trying not to get run over you couldn't even hear it. The exhaust is quieter now but we never carried the radio again. I'd always be turning it down thinking I heard something anyways lol.

While the route on Day one mainly kept us on 4 lane Highways, Day 2 sent us on some smaller 2 lane roads. While I was looking over the route sheet, Joel asks me where the first stop was, and what were we looking for? "Says it's a Loves gas station, about 90 miles away." Thinking to myself, that's probably the most boring check point they could have found. We have stopped at some interesting roadside attractions over the years, and this was going to the bottom of the "interesting" list for sure. While in route, we caught up to some other Drag Week cars, and they obviously were members of the 50-55mph club. The Coupe isn't happy running 50-55mph. That requires being in 4th gear, and with the T56 Magnum being faceplated first through forth gear, it leaves a lot of slack in the transmission. It works perfect under wide open throttle, but under part throttle, the slack makes the car jerk around quite a bit. With fifth, and sixth gear fully synchronized, they do not have that problem. "First chance I can get, I'm passing these guys" Joel tells me. "OK". As a safe spot open up, so do the Eight Holley 94 two barrels. We go around the first car about 70-75 mph, and Joel backs it down to around 63mph. The Coupe is running decent. Oil pressure looks good at 70lbs, water temp is around 150*, and oil temp is 170*. It's actually a very nice day out, and THIS was the nice part of Drag Week. I mean what could be cooler for a gearhead? Cruising in a old school Hot Rod, with a 392 HEMI stuff in it, and to make it even more wild, 8 carburetors sitting on top of it? We approach a couple more 55mph club members of Drag Week. Both pulling trailers. "You'll get around one if your lucky, but we have a turn coming up in a couple miles." I told Joel. A safe spot open up, With a loud CLANK, Joel shift the T56 into 4th gear, and opens the HEMI up once again. He wasn't having anything to do with just passing one car, he was going around both of them. As we were coming up to the second car, I glanced at the GPS speedometer on Joel's phone, and it said we were doing 94mph. We went around both cars like they were tied to a tree. They just gave us a thumbs up, as we waved when we blew by them. A few miles up ahead, we were stopped by a train, and the cars we had quickly passed, were right behind us. A few people used the time to get out of their cars and stretch out. Our first check point wasn't too far away at this point. I still can't believe they were having us go to a Loves gas station. "We'll get gas there." Joel said. When we got there we could see how much gas we had used, and calculate how much we would need for the remaining 200 miles. With the train finally passed, we were once again on the move. "Gas station is on your left Joel". "OK, I see it." We roll up to the gas pump, and get out. Right behind us another Drag Weeker pulled up to the pump next to us. I hear Joel, "TONY! How are you doing?" Tony McDonald was also running in the Hot Rod class in his very cool 38 Dodge pickup, powered by a 340 Mopar with a 5 speed trans. Joel and Tony, have known each other through the H.A.M.B. (Hokey A$$ Message Board). "Tony tells Joel that when he was behind us, he was getting something sprayed on his windshield?

Oh, oh... Wonder what that is?

Worried about the possibility that the transmission was leaking again, I crawled under the Coupe, and took a quick look. Everything looked good. No visible signs of anything leaking. No idea what it could have possibly been? While at the gas station, I watched the cars we passed just a few minutes earlier, take their picture to prove they followed the route, and instantly pull back out, and hit the road. Meanwhile, Joel was busy yacking it up, and mentions he needs to use the bathroom... Well at least we weren't trying to pound a new seal in the back of the transmission. Joel walks out of the gas station with a fresh gallon jug of water. "Are you a Camel?" I asked. "Saddle up!" he replies. Tony said he would just follow us on the route, since he was running solo. Roughly another 100 miles up was our second check point of the day. The Coupe was starting to run a little warmer, but we just figured that the air temp was rising as well, so it wasn't a concern. 165-170* was nothing to be concerned about, but it was higher than before. The second check point was much nicer than the first. It was a parking lot next to a lake. Plenty of room to have Drag Week cars fill the area while pulling trailers. We chatted quickly with others, did a gas check to see where we were at, and determined that we'd need to stop one more time. Tony, once again said he was getting a liquid spray on his windshield. Another check under the Coupe, and nothing was obvious? So we once again, hit the road, and found a nice small gas station. What looked like a small station turned out to be a very cool General Store. Once inside they had everything. While I was inside looking around, Joel was out taking pictures of his actual look alike, and this one wasn't to be confused with Blake Shelton. Joel also made friends with a cow. He wasn't about to try milking it like he did in 2015, when it turned out to be a bull, and gored him. Joel, and Tony found their way into the store, and Joel asks what I'm looking for? I told him I was looking for something to mess with Jeff Oppenheim, and I found the perfect thing to do so. A 4 foot long feather duster. Joel asked "What are you going to do with that?" "Zip tie it to Jeff's parachute mount while he's at the hotel." Joel advised me that once the joke starts, that there will be repercussions, and he didn't really want a part of that. I told him it would be fine. Jeff's a good sport. When we got outside, Tony gave me a weird look, and asked, "What's that for???" "I'll tell you later." LOL.

We once again wedged ourselves back in the Coupe, and got back on the route. Tony was closely following behind us. With less than 100 miles to go before we got to Indianapolis Raceway Park, we were feeling pretty good. The Coupe was running decent, maybe a little warm, but humming along. I was surfing Facebook on my phone, when all of a sudden felt the racing harness tighten way up, the tires on the Coupe started to howl, and Joel was steering the Coupe like Sammy Swindell in a Sprint car. I looked over my left shoulder to see where Tony was, and I see him going down the ditch past the turn. Dust is flying everywhere. I looked at Joel, and asked 'What the hell was that?" "Almost missed the turn!" ALMOST??? "Where is Tony?" I asked. "He's back there. Ship shape, no problem."

Not too much further up the road, and the temp on the HEMI is now climbing at a much faster rate. It's getting close to 190* on the water, and 200* on the oil. "We need to make a pit stop Joel." "I'll find us a place where no other Drag Week cars are going to stop." About a block off our route, Joel finds a small park/picnic area. Tony follows us. And we all park in the grass. Tony quickly hops out, and says, "For sure you guys are leaking something." We told him the HEMI was starting to run hot. Joel got a concerned look on his face, and said that he might have made a mistake retorqueing the heads the night before. Joel opened up the radiator cap, and it was almost empty of water...

Jeff. I am Sure Billy would be proud of you! You tell a great story! Keep it up!

"What is your concern of re torqueing the heads Joel?" His concern was that MAYBE, be redoing them, it messed up the Copper head gaskets, and it would be leaking water into the oil? I crawled under the car and took a look at the oil sight tube, and it looked like the oil was clear, and not milky. It doesn't take much for it to look like a milkshake, so nothing was going on there. We looked over the water lines, and one of the lines coming off the head, had some white residue, like it had been leaking, but not enough for the engine to be down over a gallon of water. We took all the water we had, and filled the radiator as much as we could, and then Tony brought us enough from his cooler to top it off. With less than 80 miles to go, we figured we could make it to Indianapolis Raceway Park. Once there, we could stop at a parts store, and get a bottle of sealer, and put it in the radiator, and hope it held for the remainder of the week. The break was actually nice for a change of pace, and it was a lot of fun talking with Tony. Wanting to get to our Hotel outweighed the break though. "Lets hit the road!" Joel told me, and we crammed ourselves back into the Coupe. Water temp went way down, and the oil pressure raised up 10lbs from being cool again. We quickly got back on the route, and headed towards IRP. It didn't take too long, and traffic around Indy got worse, and worse. We came to a stand still at one point, and I had the door wide open to get some air moving through the Coupe. I'm sure the lifeless souls in their Prius's were wondering just [censored] we were doing, and how dare they drive such a menace to the environment? We survived, but the temp gauge was climbing once again. Figuring it might just be from sitting in traffic, but we would need to find a parts store ASAP. The temp didn't go down much as traffic started to move once again. Something was going on with the engine, and being this far from the home track, and Truck/Trailer, wasn't the best feeling. A little ways down the road we were somehow separated from Tony. His GPS route planner took him a different way ours did. How that happened, we have no clue? Shortly after that the skies opened up, and it started to rain. Not wanting to drive in the rain on basically slicks, and having flashbacks to 2018, Joel wisely pulled off the Freeway. Not 2 minutes later a concerned motorist pulled up behind us, and asked if we needed help? "No, we are just trying to avoid the rain." Joel, then limped the Coupe to a empty parking lot, and we got out the Route sheet to make sure we're on the correct path. We were, and as fast as the rain came, it was gone. I wiped down the windshield of the Coupe, and we headed back to the Freeway. We located a ORielly's Auto on the phone, and headed to it. Tony had got ahold of Joel, and said he would meet us there.

As we got closer to the parts store, it was quite clear, that we were not in the nicest neighborhood of the Indianapolis area. Joel pulled the Coupe into the parking lot, and I told him I'd stay with the car and look things over. Tony pulled in right behind us. As I was looking the HEMI over, I could not see anything that looked out of place. Tony walks up behind me, and says, "Did you see that? A drip of something just hit the ground." A ha... A clue. I crawl under the Coupe, and see where the leak is coming from. Joel had installed pushlock hose fittings on the oil cooler lines, and it looked like it was coming apart. I told Joel to grab some hose clamps inside, and just make sure he only got the essentials. "You think I'm an idiot?"... As Joel walked into the store, Tony looks at me, and asks "Do you want a beer?" It's hot, a muggy... Of course I want a beer! Tony extracts a ice cold Old Milwaukee from his cooler, and hands it to me. I like Tony.

While BS'ing with Tony, waiting for Joel, we discussed where he was in his class. I told him he was in 5th place, but not far out of 3rd place. It's too bad he took a bad pass on Day 1, since he forgot to take off his air cleaner. Had he taken it off, and made a normal pass for his truck, he would have clearly been in 3rd place. There was an outside chance he could still pull it off. "Why did you tell me that? Now I have to try!" I wonder what is taking Joel so long? Never mind it's Joel. Nothing usually goes fast paced with him. I told Tony I'd be right back, as I wanted to see if Joel was telling the parts counter guy how he looked like Blake Shelton. (Which I can 100% guarantee, had no clue who that was). "Joel do you have the hose clamps?" "In the box. They are already rung up, so you can grab them." I scooped them up, and headed back out to Tony, and the Coupe. I grabbed the needed tool, opened up the hose clamp to wrap it around the hose, and laid down on under the HEMI, and installed the clamp. As I tightened it up, water started POURING out of the fitting, down the hose, and my arm. Luckily it wasn't boiling... OH OH... That's not good. I quickly removed the clamp, and as I was doing so, I noticed the end of the hose rotate. I reached up with my other hand, and sure enough the AN fitting was loose. I got on my phone, and called Joel in the store. Told him to hold off on buying the Ceramic sealer, and we found the water leak. I grabbed the All16th's wrench we had bought on day one, and tightened the hose fitting back up. I'll have to blame Joel for that one, as I've never put a wrench on those fittings. Maybe Joel forgot to eat his Wheaties that day?

The reason Joel took so long inside the store, was he was going to install a new fuel pressure gauge, and was trying to get all the parts needed to mount a gauge on the cowl, so he could see what it was reading going down track. Once outside, and a box of parts in hand, it was determined that it was going to be too big of a pain to attempt. "Lets get to our Hotel" were the words I was waiting for Joel to say. First we had to stop by IRP, and our daily route would be complete. The next morning the drive from the Hotel to the track, could be accomplished anyway we wanted. The route had us take some nice side roads, with plenty of trees, and shade. We made it to the front gate, and Day 2 was officially in the books. Sort of... Only a few minutes upon arriving at IRP, a familiar Drag Weeker pulled in behind us. "Matt! how are you guys?" "Doing good." "What time did you guys leave Norwalk?" Matt said around noon. We left 3 hours ahead of him, and Lance. With a shocked expression, "And you guys are just getting here?!" "Yup." I'm pretty sure both Matt, and Lance, were happy we didn't call them again on Day 2. Joel then decides we need to borrow a 5 gallon gas jug from Tony, and it was only a few miles to our Hotel. Great... I guess I know where that is going. The trip to the Hotel was pretty simple, other than not having any spare room with a 5 gallon fuel jug in my lap. I still can't remember why we even needed it, other than Joel wanted to torture me? It was nice arriving at the Hotel before the sun set. We had heard there was a storm coming through later on, so we needed to adjust the valves right away. Joel made a phone call, and got us a Pizza delivery on the way. Thinking the beer Tony gave me earlier on tasted way too good, even for Old Milwaukee, I better see if I could go buy some more. A gas station was within easy walking distance of the Hotel, so I made my way to it. Not a single cold beer in the place. I could buy it warm, and find out a way to cool it down, but that wasn't really an option. I was then told a liquor store was just a couple miles down the road, and they would have cold beer. I told the clerk, no thanks. I've already walked 58 miles in the last few days. As I made my way back to the Hotel, more people had arrived, and one of the cars had a crowd of people around it. Most of them had Drag Week shirts on from years past, and they were way to clean to be participants this year. "Want a beer?" One of them asked. "You are a saint" I told him. "That cooler is full of ice cold beer, and since you have a wrist band on, you can take as much as you want." The guys had mostly competed in Drag Week in the past, and since they were local, they figured they would hang out, and meet up with old friends, and make some new ones. They had a stack of Pizza boxes on a tailgate of a truck as well. I grabbed a couple beers for me and Joel, and went back to our room to eat our Pizza. The A/C was a nice welcome for a bit. Daylight quickly turned to night, and Joel got busy doing his thing to the Coupe. I probably spent more time than Joel wanted me to, talking with people, and just hanging out. Hey, we are on vacation after all.

Wanting to make sure we got up early for the next day, I headed in, and took my shower. When I got out, Joel was just getting to our room, and told me to look outside. The skies had opened up, and the Coupe was getting a good soaking.

Great story Jeff and some cool pics!!

Wednesday's 5:00am alarm went off much too early, and the weeks lack of sleep was taking its toll. I knew if I was struggling with it, Mr. 8 hours wasn't going to be doing well either. I figured I'd get up and get dressed right away, and make my way to the Hotel lobby area, and see if any breakfast was out. Told Joel to get up, and get moving. "No problem, we're on Drag Week, I can do this!" So I left, and walked down to the area where breakfast is normally served, but was told that wasn't served until 6:00am. We won't be waiting for that... I figured sleeping beauty was going to need his morning coffee, so I grabbed a cup, filled it, and made my way back to our room. When I entered the room, Joel was in the bathroom, and apparently he was taking Tuba lessons. Didn't know where he had that stashed in the car, but I didn't want to listen to more of that. I grabbed my bag, and told Joel coffee was on the table, and I'd meet him outside. I also grabbed a hotel towel, so I could wipe the Coupe down, from the rain the night before. I'd like to apologize to the cleaning crew at our Hotel. That towel wasn't coming clean, no matter how much bleach was used. I'm sure the damage Joel created in the bathroom was even worse...

With the Coupe wiped down, unlocked, and the tarp removed from the engine, we were ready to go. Out walks Joel with a smile on his face, 3 bags in one hand, and his must have pillow and coffee in the other. No Tuba? I told Joel I had to bring the towel back into the room, but I was afraid. It would have to be a quick open the door, and toss in the towel while holding my breath. luckily, I made it out unscathed.

It was a pretty easy drive to the track gate. Once we got into the gate, the train crossing guards started flashing. Could we have possibly made it? Maybe. Was Joel taking a chance that the Holley 94's wouldn't bog at the worst time? No. The train was moving slowly by, but once it passed, it wasn't a big deal, as the gates getting into the pits were not open yet, and a line had formed inside. Less than a minute passed, and the gates opened up. The train didn't hold us back at all. As we went through the gate, Joel was handed a tech card. "Fill this out, and bring it to the Tech shack." Great, just what we need, Joel wandering around trying to find the Tech shack... He can barely find the Tower at the tracks we go to some times. Joel wheeled the Coupe into the pit area, and tried to find a spot that wasn't flooded with water. We both got out, and did our thing. Empty the trunk, Air cleaners off, mufflers off, header extensions on, passenger seat out, spring rubbers out, and fuel check balls switched over. As I was dropping air pressure in the tires, Joel fired the HEMI up, and started revving it up? The header tube was aimed right at my head. i quickly backed off, and looked at Joel, and said "What are you doing?!" "Draining the carbs." "Could you warn me first?" I'm not deaf like him, and I'd like to keep it that way. "Sorry." Quickly changing the subject, he asks "Hey where did they say tech was?" "In the staging lanes." Joel grabbed his snowmobile suit, shoes, and helmet, and made his way to the staging lanes. I walked as usual. On my path to the lanes, Jim Forbes was switching tires on his Nova, and we said hello, a few words, and I kept moving. It was fun talking with Jeff Oppenheim, and Dan Nissen in the Lanes for a bit, when my phone rang. I looked to see who is calling "HEMI Joel". "What do you need now?" "Can you walk back to the pit, and get my GoPro?" "I told you, you were in charge of your GoPro's." "Can you just go get them?" i hung up the phone. More walking... It takes a little effort to find your pit spot after leaving it, as all you can see is stuff piled up all around, and small trailers filtered in every other pit spot. You have to find the pile of parts, tools, and other crap that looks familiar. The easiest thing to look for for me, is the exhaust from the Coupe. It has a distinct look. I find the GoPro, do a 180, and walk back to the staging lanes. "Here you go Joel." handing him the case. "You'll have to set it up, I don't know anything about them." I think I mumbled something about Joel's wife being a Saint... "Hmmm?" he says. "Nothing. I'll take care of it." About this time the track went hot, and cars started going down. I went as fast as I could to get the GoPro set up, and in the car. The first 2 lanes had moved fairly quickly, and the third lane the Coupe was in, started to move now. I wasn't about to leave with GoPro case, and bring it back to our pit spot, so I gave Joel a fist bump, told him good luck, and made my way to the starting line. The Coupe made the corner from the staging lanes, under the famous bridge at INDY. At the bridge, you are about 12-15 pairs of cars back from the starting line. Maybe 3 or 4 more pairs of cars go down track, when all of a sudden it goes silent. i look down track, and a newer Mustang is pulled over to the wall, and rumored to have broken a rear end. This might take a while. Joel stays in the Coupe, and waits it out. i walk over to the passenger door, and open it so he can get some air moving through the car. While we were talking, and joking around, someone from Hot Rod magazine walks up, and asks me if he can take Joel's picture? "He's not Blake Shelton's Stunt Double after a bad accident, you know." The guy starts laughing. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to get his picture taken, Joel smiles for the camera. The photographer walks away, and I start giving Joel grief about it. "I wish I had my comb right now. The Paparazzi always comes around when I look my worst." I reassured him he always looked that bad. The tracks flat bed was loading up the Mustang, and another familiar face arrived. This time it was Calvin Seith. he was also taking pictures. We met Calvin at Drag Week 2018. Great guy, and fun to talk with, and he absolutely loves the HEMI Coupe. With the Mustang removed from the track, cars were able to makes runs again. As Joel made his way to the burnout box, I found my place at the gaurdrail. I think I turned the GoPro on? Well to late now... Joel staged the Coupe, and brought the HEMI up on the 2 step, and when he dumped the clutch, the car bogged, but was moving forward. The scoreboards lit up with a 10.61 @ 129 mph. Slowed down again. Would that be good enough, or would we have to struggle to get another pass in? i started walking back to my pit area. As i walked by the concession area, i glanced to see what they had for breakfast. Not much. Everyone gets giddy about being at INDY, because of it's history, but not me. Wish we were at Norwalk yet. Love that place. I got back to the pit just before Joel, as the pits and return road combo at Indy are on opposite sides. It's a goofy mess if you ask me. Joel parks the Coupe next to our stuff, and climbs out. "Are you going to take that, or make another pass?" "We are in survival mode. No sense in trying to catch Mark, and we are safe over 3rd place by over a second. I'm going to turn in the slip, and hit the road." Just what I wanted to hear. Time to get to work, and do my thing.

By the time I almost had everything switched back to street trim, Joel had made his way back. I was proud of him that he didn't get lost this time. He got right to doing his job, and we were ready to hit the road. "Well, Saddle up Partner!" Joel fired up the HEMI, and we were one our way out the gates of Indy. With the transmission leak fixed on Day one, and the water leak fixed on Day 2, which turned out to be a minor fix, we were feeling hopeful, and excited to hit the road early once again. "There is a Casey's gas station just down the road from here" Joel said. We took a right out of the gate, and as I looked over the route sheet, I hear the normal CLANK of the trans going into 2nd gear, CLANK of 3rd gear, and the DEAD silence. The HEMI quit running...

The one liners you're putting into these are absolute gold!!

First of all, it wasn't a tuba. It was a trombone....

Prior to leaving for drag week, I had spent about 1/2 hour trying to figure out how to operate the GoPro, but I couldn't find the instructions, there is no switches or dials, and only 2 little push buttons. No way to intuitively figure it out. At least I figured out how to remove the battery and put it in the charger. (:


At Indy, after turning in that crappy time slip, I was kinda wishing we were in a horserace for position, so that I would HAVE to go back and try to improve. After all, I know the car has 9's in it, and my MPH was way better in 2018. But considering the standings, hitting the road now was the prudent thing to do.

I did eliminate the top end power loss. I figured it was running out of fuel on the big end. So I turned up the fuel pressure. The Norwalk pass where it laid down was at 5 to 6 psi. With the scoops and carb screens off, and the engine idling, I slowly turned it up while watching inside the carbs. At 8 psi, 2 carbs were leaking fuel into the carb throat. At 9 PSI, a 3rd one was starting to leak. So I locked it down there, with a plan that I would switch the Mallory 140 fuel pump on and off, regulating the fuel level that way until I staged the car. JOEL, JUST REMEMBER TO TURN IT BACK ON!, I kept telling myself. That worked, but still the mph was off. I wonder why, hmmm....

Here is a pic I found of me and Jeff working on the coupe:

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures with us. I truly enjoy following along and look forward to the day I can experience Drag Week myself. -Trent

Thanks again for taking the time to type this up. Great story!

Great story Jeff and Joel! Thanks for sharing the story and the pics!

Tuba........Trombone..........

the band went silent in mid song...

me thinks the band ran out of gas

"What just happened Joel?" "I'm not sure..." Thinking in the back of my mind, if it's electrical, such as a MSD, we might be screwed. "I think we are out of gas." Joel says. I quickly go through my routine of what I have to do with going from Race to Street trim, and I realize I didn't switch the ball valves on the fuel tanks. "Stay in the car Joel, I'll take care of it.!" I unbuckle my belts, and hop out of the Coupe. Remove the trunk lid, and reach into the packed trunk to get to the ball valves. I knew if Joel got out, he would start removing all the trunks bounty, and it would end up taking way longer than it should. Race valve closed, feel around for the street valve, and got it. Reinstall the trunk lid, and hop back it. "Try it now." Joel ran the fuel pump for a bit, then fired up the old HEMI. Whew... back on the road we went. It wasn't too far to the Casey's gas station, and Joel wheeled the Coupe next to a gas pump. Joel was in a hurry to use the bathroom, and get some coffee, so I took care of filling the tank, and adding the octane booster. As I'm finishing up, Tony pulls up in his 38 Dodge truck, and Mark Fisher pulls up in his class leading Ford. 3 Hot Rod class vehicles in one spot. Joel walks out of the gas station, and tells me, "The lady behind the counter really loves her job." I asked him what that meant, and he just said "You'll see." Umm OK. I grab a bottle of Mountain Dew, a Doughnut, and make my way to the counter. It's easy to see what Joel was talking about. This lady had the biggest perma scowl on her face, that she made Anne Ramsey look like a Super model. I pay for my stuff, and hurry out. I didn't want my hand stuffed into a blender...

When I got back to the gas pumps, Joel, Tony, and Mark were chatting, and discussing just why someone would try and run 8 carbs on a motor, and think it was a good idea? We took the opportunity to get a group shot of the 3. With picture time over, we squeeze back in the Coupe, and get ready to hit the road. Joel hands me his coffee. "What do you want me to do with this?" "Hold it. I can't drive, and hold my coffee." It's a 20oz cup of coffee, and Joel has it filled right to the brim. "If this spills on me, this cup is going out the window..." I'm not joking.

The route to our first check point has some decent 4 lane roads to take, and Joel and Tony take advantage of it, and put the hammer down. Mark, although he has a Gear Vendors in his truck, he hasn't been using it, and has traveled the routes around 55-60mph. We didn't see him much after the gas stop. Our firscheck point was a rest area. Not the coolest check point, but very convenient. This time Tricky Steve, and his wife Cheryl pulled up next to Tony, and Joel. Another Kodak moment. We chatted for a while, and answered questions from other travelers at the rest area, but quickly realized we needed to hit the road, and let other Drag Week cars use the space for their photos. i told Joel we will probably need gas again before the next check point. Tony said he was good to go, and would probably split off, as he informed up that his wife was waiting for him at the hotel near Byron. "Conjugal visit eh Tony?" he just laughed...

We got back on the road, and it was pretty cool having 3 Hot Rod Class cars running down the road, and we were eating up the miles quickly. 75mph was the norm. Not the most exciting thing to write about, but not having problems was a highlight after the last couple days. As we approached the time we would need more gas, I looked at my phone, and found a place just up the road. We cut off the highway, and Tricky Steve, and Cheryl followed us, and Tony split away for his bride. We pulled into the gas station. Tricky Steve on the right, and the Coupe on the left of the pump. "Hey Joel, there is an Arby's next door. We should eat. How about you get gas, and I'll run over and get us something?" "Sounds good, can you get me a Deluxe... " I didn't hear what he said, as I was already walking away. He's going to get what I get him... I run up the hill, cross over the parking lot, and reach the front door, and read the sign "Indoor dining area closed" F%#@, at least put a Moose out front to tell me it's closed... make my way back to the Coupe. "Closed Joel. Drive through only." "Well we will just go through the drive trough then." This should be interesting since Joel can't hear people talking clearly, let alone through a crappy speaker.

"Well we will just go through the drive trough then." This should be interesting since Joel can't hear people talking clearly, let alone through a crappy speaker.


reminds me of a movie where the guy goes through the drive in and is talking to a clown face on the speaker. the speaker is garbled up pretty good, and after a little bit of that he says : "STUPID CLOWN !"

Great pics of the cars!

Man, I like that 38 Dodge truck, makes me regret waiting too long to buy a '37 Plymouth truck a few months ago, still kinda looking.