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.