Do they always go quicker right before they break? Long

How I spent my weekend. Got to Norwalk for the NMCA race. Go to back out of the trailer, no reverse. Last week rolling into the staging lanes I accidentally hit the reverse button trying to hit neutral.Everything was OK the rest of the weekend. So fellow racer Fred Rader has a 65 core trans in his truck. Go to jack the car up, jack is broken. Borrow one from Russ Konkowski. I get my pan off, rear band is broken. Disassemble Fred's core, band is good. Casey Fauss-Johnson, his father Jim and I start to get the trans out. Two tabs on the flex plate are cracked (it was fine a month ago but suspension issues plaguing it caused a lot of tire shake), Cause? Don't know. Also the converter is sticking in the crank. a pry bar gets it loose. Appears to have metal transfer from the crank pilot to snout. We start the disassembly. Of course the front planet splines on mine are starting to strip and it won't come off. I borrow a set of snap ring pliers, burred up and the wrong size. It takes a hand file to the tips to get them to fit. My trans is straight cut so none of the gear train is the same. The decision is made to install the core (grubby) gear train from the core. The build goes straight forward. Now the converter won't go into the trans. Casey offers up their converter. Dave Shultz has a new flex plate. Things are looking up. Trans goes back in but the crank hub is tight. Against my better judgement in the heat of battle I flex the plate towards the converter and bolt it up. Get the car running and drink some beer, it's now 9:30 pm, end day one. Day two; Slept terrible worrying. Get the car teched and go untested directly into qualifying. We have to declare our N/SS index prior to qualifying. Will it run 9.25 with the different converter and current air or should I dial back to 9.50? I decide to go for it 9.25. Last weekend it ran 9.170@146.6. Today correction on the weather is similar. First pass 9.132@148.55. It's never been 148, quickest ever run was 9.119@146.6 in cold air. Now how to slow it to 9.25. I have NO tune-up data. We wait until aprox 6:30 for our final qualifier. I get the oil and trans warmed, cool the water and head to the lanes. All suited up, tires checked strapped in and hit the starter, CLUNK. again ,CLUNK. I assume the batteries are dead. Russ tows me back dejected, at least it wasn't eliminations. The starter has never "CLUNKED". Jack it up and try and turn the crank, not happening. Starter is not stuck, converter bolt's aren't backed out. Engine sounded fine when I shut it off in the lanes, nothing out of the ordinary. My theory is the converter has the pump gears jammed back and welded them to the stator. Load up, drink some beer. End of day two. day three; drive home 2 1/2 hours. My lawn mower is in pieces in the garage so it gets reassembled so the lawn can be cut. Friends come over and we push the car out of the trailer into the garage for autopsy. As we sit and talk about it I get a tail bone spasm that about knocks me out, I can't stand, see, or talk clearly. Everyone is in shock. My wife dials 911 and I get checked out. My wife drives me to ER for a further check, 2 hours later I'm OKed to go home. End of day three. I'm still talin and walkin so with one more check-up tomorrow I'll come home after work and tear it apart. Only two weeks until Monster Mopar.
Doug

Sorry to hear about your bad luck Doug, not good at all. Hopefully you and the car are ok, especially you, cant borrow parts for a human.

Major bummer Doug.... I know about the odd ball health
BS... after my by-pass(split the chest again) I have
had dizzy spell... doc doesnt seem to concerned... but
I sure am... I fell over one time... good luck with the
car...... and yourself
EDIT
Doug if I were you I'd check crank end play due to the
trans

Damn Doug it was just not your weekend. First off I hope health wise you are A-OK. On the car I sure hope it's nothing major and it can be fixed quickly. Let us know what you find......



Russ

No doubt, Doug. I hope you are a-okay. Let us know how things go.

Jeff

Doug, Sorry to hear of the problems, both health and car. Hopefully the damage is minimal and you can be back up and running quickly.

Randy

Doug, that's one hell of a weekend. Hope everything is Ok with your back and hope it's nothing major with the car and you can get it up and running for MMW.

Gary

That was a tough weekend! The last time I heard that starter clunk sound, my starter housing had broken all the way around at the flange.

So, did you ever get the grass cut?

Something went wrong with car.... drank beer. ... see, you could have had a much more enjoyable relaxing weekend! Hopefully the autopsy isn't too ugly!

Wow Doug, you are a dedicated racer! The biggest repair I've ever done at the track was changing a universal joint. Hope it's nothing serious, both on the car and the body.

Doc checked me out. Some type of nerve inflammation they think. Yes the grass is cut. Going out to the garage to tear it apart.
Doug

Doug...Take it easy! I know what happens when you push it too hard...And it aint no fun!

[quote=tboomer]Doug...Take it easy! I know what happens when you push it too hard...And it aint no fun! [/quote
Absolutely correct. Don't push it too hard. Ibuprofen for inflammation. The wife and I use'm for sprinkles on our birthday cakes. Good luck

Doug, sorry to hear about your problems. I had to reply to your post after you mentioned a mower,,, May 2 was my first time out this year. Thought everything was fine until I unloaded the car the next day and found a puddle of water in the trailer. I figured I hadn't gotten one of the petcocks tight after I had taken the anti-freeze out and put water in the motor. After an investigation into the source of the water,,I found that the block was cracked!!!! I was pizzed/upset for a week!!! Then I decided the grass needed mowed,,,mower was making noise/leaking oil,,,BLOCK CRACKED on it too!!! I'm still getting a motor together,,but,,mowing regularly with a new mower.

Might I suggest an electric mower?

I can only solve one problem at a time...

Man Doug.. Sounds like the hits kept on coming! Hope you get it fixed quickly and back out there!!

Casey

Got it apart tonight, one hour at home. A far car cry from doing it on our backs at the track. No big deal. Hey Casey, that suspect converter bolt that we didn't like. Out it came, jammed between the flex plate and the block. I'm working on getting the bolt holes fixed in the converter. Got a spare planetary apart to get machined for a torington and I'll stuff the straight cuts back in it. It's amazing how much different the ATI and the Ultimate 9" converters look side by side. It'll be ready for Norwalk.
Doug

Remember Doug,,,,,a bad day at the track is better than a good day at work

I went backwards at my last outing

Good to have friends like Jim & Casey.Lucky Dave had what you needed

Bet Casey doesn't get his converter back

Good to hear your back on track with your health and car!

Sounds like quaker city took a toll on both of us. We broke a lifter last weekend. Hoping to get it back together for Norwalk. Good luck!

Doug
So what's the difference between ATI and the ultimate converter you noticed.
Tom

Ultimate is taller, has 2 rows or indents (fin attachment?) in the turbine cover, lightened ring gear attachment. The ATI has 3 rows of indents in the turbine cover, a thicker anti balloon cover, thicker seam between the turbine and pump, the stator is tapered. I will gather data from both on the tach/driveshaft replay. If one pass is any indication the ATI went 1 mph faster in 660, 2 mph in 1320. Lenny says to get the info and he can tailor the ultimate to match if necessary. His converter was pretty good fit considering we only guessed at the car weight and no dyno numbers. He built it before the car was ever run.
Doug

Told you it was a converter bolt😀 Very glad to hear you ar feeling better that is most important.
You must be well before Monster Mopar I am getting acustom to your cooking.
This guy fixed Casey and I a very nice taco dinner after all the thrashing, hard to find a good cook that can thrash😀
Get you and car well! See you at MM !
Poppaj