tboomers 64 Dodge

As many here know, Ted aka tboomer, has a 1964 Dodge 330, that he has raced for quite a few years. He's won a footbrake Championship with it, during that time. Unfortunately Ted has not been able to drive the car himself because of medical reasons. Like most hot rodders, it's not easy to just walk away from the sport/hobby that you love, so Ted has kept the car, while hoping to one day get the OK from the doctor to drive it once again. Ted has also become a big promoter of the local Mopar Race at Cedarfalls Raceway, and would like to see the Race/Show grow. Knowing Ted wanted to see his car go down the track again, He and I contacted one another, and made a plan to run his car at CFR, since my Road Runner is down and out for the year. My good buddy Mike and his Daughter were planning on going to the event to race, so I loaded up my extra race gas, jacket, and helmet. I told him, I'd cover the entry fees, just get the car to the track. He had already sent in his seat belts to be updated, and they were on the way back. Ted then said he thought the fuel pump was going out. Asked a few questions, and was pretty sure what it needed, so I brought along my electrical supplies as well.

Ted arrived at the track on Friday maybe 45 minutes before Mike and I did. I could tell through the text messages he was excited to be at the track with his car. We all parked next to each other, that way If the car needed anything, we have plenty of tools and people to help. After getting the car unloaded, I adjusted the new seat belts and made sure they were ready. Upon firing the car up, the fuel pump quit working. Earlier in the week I had asked Ted if the pump had a relay on it, and he said no it didn't. Knowing that, I brought with a somewhat prewired 40amp relay, and quickly got it wired into the car. The pump worked perfectly from that point on. Ted gave me the layout of buttons, and switches in the car. One of the hardest parts of driving someone else's car is the orientation of switches. I'm so used to my own stuff, it's just muscle memory. the 64 is somewhat similar to my car, so not much of a problem. Fire the car up, and the 512ci Super Victor headed Big Block fires right up, and sounds pretty good. I wheel the car around the pits a couple times, then head to tech. They know the car, so tech isn't really much. Thanks for showing up...

Drove the car up to the staging lanes, and told Ted, I'm just going to make a foot brake 330' hit to see what the car does, and make sure everything is working properly. Pull into the water box, and do about a 3 second burnout, and the car dies. Remember that part of muscle memory and switches? I forgot to turn on the fuel pump... Flip the switch, and fuel pressure goes right to 6lbs. Car fires right back up, so I pull it into the beams. Now I'm not RainMan, and I don't have the time slips in front of me, so I'm going off memory here. The car leaves decent from foot brake, and does a mid 1.40 60' time. At the top of second gear, it has a miss, and it's time to get out of it anyways. Did I get into the Rev limiter? My limited experience in running a car with a automatic is pretty clear at this point. Just not used to the shifter, and maybe pulled it late?

Good to see Ted and the car out again!

Thanks for doing some driving duties for Ted. I knew he was excited just having the car at the track making passes. Your car looks great Ted.

Awesome! It's great that Ted was able to go back to the track w/ his own car and have someone as capable as you drive it! Even if you don't know how to drive one of these faster transmission cars.
Good job Jeff & Ted.

I have always wondered why someone in the area didn't jump in Ted's car and run it for him, I believe he had extended that offer on here before. Now for the rest of the story...........

Working on it! Trying to pay my respect to the legendary story teller MoparBilly, by writing it his way.

Dont let it drag on like one of Joels builds.

Look up his last Drag Week story, and it’s much like his projects in his shop.

You didn't tell me you were going to Iowa. I was at Eddyville saturday for the Fuel Altered Nationals. I coulda stopped by CFR on Sunday

Anxiously awaiting part II!

Thought I told you I was going when we were at Jay's?

It's a cliffhanger!

I want to see that giant sized check and trophy they gave you at the end, and your picture with the trophy babe!

Since it poured for most of Saturday , that would have been a good plan.
If you had the road runner , I would have known it was you.
I came over to Ted's pit looking for him and wound up talking to you..............since it's been quite a few years since I last saw you , I didn't know that you were you.............or words to that effect.
I had a swap space and there was very little walk up trade.
I don't know how much rain they got , but it had to be closing on a couple inches after round four.
One of my friends got one lap in Friday night and his 471 "B" motor ate itself up , so in retrospect , I got off cheap.
But there were some really nice cars there.
I hope they got a full show in on Sunday.

Thanks Jeff,Mike,and Mikes daughter Becky! What a good group of people you are! And Jeff...I got a phone call this morning...

Ted , is a great Guy, wish I would have seen him when we were there last month, that's a real hemi scoop on that car !!!!

very cool.....

So I get the time slip, and know it's really just a throw away, as I lifted after the 330'. Only ran 14.14 @ 57mph. Brakes worked well, and zero leaks. One thing is for sure, and it is HOT and HUMID out. DA was over 4000'. Twenty minutes later, I pull the car back into the staging lanes. Things are moving fairly fast for a test night. Decide that I'll try one of these fancy Trans Brakes out, and see what all the over glorified hype is, and see if the "It leaves as hard as a clutch car" is true or not... Bump the car into the beams, push this ridiculous 4" long button, and as the tree comes down, I try and put the engine up on the 2 step, and it starts leaping forward... I just let it go, and the car has a poor 1.47 60" time. I drive it out to almost the 1/8th mile, and ease out of the throttle. The car goes through the traps at a easy 11.98 at only 109mph. It feels good. Steering is tight and brakes work well, although not really needed at Cedar Falls, as the shut down area is over a 1/4 mile long. But the car still felt like it had a miss in it... maybe I'm over thinking it after my great first impression of a trans brake?

Another half hour rolls by, and It's time to pull the car into the water box. I try and do a slightly bigger burnout, and the 512 sounds crisp. I'm getting more acclimated with the car at this point, and more comfortable driving someone else's car. The M/t slicks bight hard out of the box, and I bump the car into the lights again. This time I decide to just foot brake the car to make an A to B pass. the car responds well, and does a 1.43 60' time, and 4.33 to the 330', but after that the car is clearly missing at this point, and will hardly go over 4800rpm's. Not the best for a car with a 5200 convertor. I lifted around the 1000' mark, and coast to a 11.28 @ only 98mph. Better, but no where near where the has or should run.

Back at the pits, I decide to open the hood, and check a few things. The Firecore plug wires are all in the proper place, and holding tight. The I pulled the distributer cap, and found a problem. Inside the cap was full of corrosion. Ted has a billet distibuter in the car, but it's not a MSD, so the caps are slightly different. It uses a HEI style cap, but the ones for a MSD are shorter. We carry a spare, but it wouldn't work. A little bit of emery cloth, and the contact points were now cleaned up the best they could. Fire the engine back up, and it sounds a little better, so off to the staging lanes we go. By this time is 9:00 at night. The sun has gone over the horizon, and it is DARK out. Not even a trace of moonlight around. The track has lights, but I'm not sure any of the burned out bulbs have been replaced since the early 80's? I stage the car and water temp is at a decent 160*, and oil pressure has been holding steady all night at 70lbs. Decide to try the trans brake once more, and see if I can be let down again, but this time it works, and the car goes 1.42 60'. It's running cleaner, but now still breaking up around 5200rpm's. I run it out the best I can, and take the right hand turn, off the last exit on the return road... I can't see squat... There are zero lights on the return road, and remember, it's a 1/4 mile until you get to the ticket booth... Oh boy... As I'm coming down the return road, another pair of cars are coming down the track, but are slow street cars. They can make the first exit no problem. As the car in the nearest lane makes the exit, he almost doesn't see me coming down the lane. I dynamite the brakes, and at the last second so does he. Thankfully I don't have to tell Ted his hot rod has been hit, and I pick up the time slip.11.06 at 117mph. Still not where it needs to be, but better. Not liking the lack of lights, I call it a night, and grab a beer out of the cooler...

Good story!

Thanks everyone! It is a good feeling to see my car go down the track again. I think Jeff is gonna tell a good story...

Well I’m a bit miffed by all the secrecy surrounding this whole ordeal. Especially after enjoying all the pictures Jeff posted on FB over the weekend..... little did anyone know! I suppose it was the “embarrassment” of navigating an automatic equipped race car that kept things on the down-low. Cool you got the car out Ted....

When I woke up Saturday morning, the fog outside, was almost as thick as the fog in my head. One thing is for sure, when we are done racing, there is never a shortage of laughter, story telling, or cold beer. Over the years we have met tons of great people, and it's always good to see them at the track. Anyways... After the fog started to clear up some, we checked the radar, and it wasn't supposed to rain until 6:00pm. They were way off, as the skies opened up, and it poured off and on almost all day. In between rain showers I was able to check out the swap meet area. Not much I could use. Ted, wandered in and out some, and had located a new rotor for the distributer, so we installed that, and fired the car up to make sure it worked. And then it rained some more. Around 4:00 Ted stops by and said he found a different distributor, and wanted me to check it out. As soon as we walked over to the spot, it started to DOWNPOUR. Gee thanks Ted. LOL. About 4;30, they called the event, and out the door, our chances of running went. 10 minutes after they called it, the rain stopped for the night. Go figure. After we had dinner, my buddy Mike said I should change the plugs in the car. We've seen it before, if the car sits too long, the plugs need to be changed, no matter how many runs are on them. Mike digs out a batch of plugs that he recently took out of his car, and we quickly got them swapped. Took the car to a remote area, tried out the Trans Brake/2 step, and it seemed to be working, and holding now??? Put the car away, and grab a beer out of the cooler.

This was during thunderstorm round three on Saturday.
I used the " cow relieving itself on a flat rock " analogy.
It poured pretty good a couple times.

GREAT story !
and it's even better since ted's car is a 64 !

Happy to hear your brick made a few licks! Now where are the Vids???

As the sun came up on Sunday morning, one thing was very clear. It was going to be a HOT and HUMID day. You could see the humidity, it was so thick. Not 100% sure if the car was going to work under load, and not thrilled at the idea of entering into the Pro class at $125 entry fee, I talked it over with Ted, and asked if it would be OK just entering Test and Tune, and use the time to get the car working better than when it arrived. He was more than understanding, so I went and paid for my tech card, and handed it in. Testing didn't start until the second time trials were complete. At 12:01, I pulled the car into the water box. It definitely sounded better. Held the line lock button to the count of three, and the M/T slicks bit. Bump the tires into the staging beams, and hold down this goofy button, that I still don't understand. The tree is activated, and I mash the throttle, the trans brake is holding, and the 2 step is set at 3600? Release the button, and the car leaves fairly hard with a 1.44 60' time. It's very clear the new plugs helped a ton. The 512 is now pulling hard to 6300, and on comes the shift light. Pull the shifter, and I guess by magic, the fluid coupler changes a gear. Again the big block is making decent power, no miss, and again the shift light comes on, and I pull the Vintage Sidewinder shifter into 3rd, and again, by magic the 727 shifts. just before the 1/4 mile stripe the shift light flickers, so it must be geared where it needs to be. I take a right hand turn onto the return road, and am more than happy to remove my helmet, and open the door, as in the short time I'm in the car, I'm already wringing wet, from sweating. Get the time slip, and was rewarded with a 10.42 ET, and 125mph slip. That's more like it. The car has ran 10.0's in the past, so I knew it was off, but when I got back to the trailer, we checked the DA, and it was already at 4500'. Not ideal for making new personal bests.

I am glad you are enjoying the wonderful torque multiplication of the converter and the lightning quick shifts from the automatic transmission. Sounds like you may not be a fan of the trans brake button though lol.

Still not a fan, or impressed with an automatic transmission. Maybe for a Station Wagon...

I've got nothing but puddles and you have a pile of broken parts. Its hard to say which is better or worse lol.

I’m leaving in a week on my “race-cation”.... not sure whether I should just pack some 904 shafts, or my 727 and other drive shaft

I only have one cracked gear, in 20 years, and it's fixed. I'll take that over leaks, that never end.

Bring both, and extra convertors.

After the first pass, Ted, Mike and I were discussing the results, and Mike said the car seemed to bog off the line some. When we checked the 2 step, it was only at 3200. Not hardly high enough to leave with a Dominator carb. Ted was then on a mission to find some higher chips. He came back with a 4200 chip, and we installed that, and waited for the call to the lanes. First Round is called for Bracket 2 (Pro), and then Bracket 1 (Super Pro). My buddy Mike and his daughter swap driving duties, him in Pro, and her in Super Pro. My other buddy Steve was running in Pro with his 64 Dodge, running a HEMI. All 3 won first round, so that made killing time enjoyable. The track was getting very hot by the time my second time trial came around, so I decided to do a shorter burnout. The car left decent, but about 200 feet out, it started to wag it's tail like a dog, and it just wasn't something I'm comfortable, so I aborted the pass, and coasted. About another hour later, T&T was called to the lanes. This time I did my normal count to 3 in the burnout box, and staged the car. Hit the trans brake button, and as the lights came down, I tried to bring it up on the 2 step, and the car took off. Didn't work again. The bad part was I left before it activated the tree, and did not get a time slip...

Before the 4 pass, I told Ted, that this was going to be the last pass. Steve, and Becky had lost in the second round, and Mike had lost in the 3rd, so we would be getting ready to leave on our 4 hour drive home soon. Not wanting to lose another run, I decided to use the trans brake button on the steering wheel, and just load the thing up to around 4000 rpm's. On my way to the staging lanes, I spotted Ted walking through, and he had the biggest sh!t eating grin on his face, and was giving me the thumbs up. THAT right there, made my day, as I knew he was happy to see his car running again, even if it wasn't the best it possibly could have been. In the staging lanes Ted was able to grab a couple pictures of him, and his Grandson next to the car, and again, I'm reminded of why we do this. It's about having fun, and making memories.

I got paired up with a C/Stock Eliminator Camaro, stick car for my final attempt. Him and I talked clutches just before our run, and I got a chuckle out of the car was his Dad's, and ran as a C S/A car for many years, and he converted it to a stick car. My kind a racer. We both did our burnouts, and staged the cars. I started to load the car up, and as the lights came down, I could hear the 396 in the other lane go up on the 2 step. We both left close together, and were neck and neck the entire way down the track. The air just wasn't there though. I ran a 10.65 to the Camaro's 10.66. The 64 had it's best mph of the weekend of 126.95 on the run. Unfortunately the Camaro's .025 light was better than my .088. At the end of the weekend, we all had a great time. I'm happy Ted got to see his car run again, and it went back home in one piece.

Thanks Ted for the opportunity. It meant a lot to have you trust me with your car.

Such a neat story and cool to see the story being told in the tradition of Billy!

I might try doing a couple this way.

Fixed.

Thanks again for all that you,Mike and Becky did! Class act all the way around! The little guy didn't want to leave when my daughter did. He bawled his eyes out for a while on the way home. You are welcome to drive the old bomb any time! And you do tell a good story! I sure wish Billy was here to hear your tale!

Nice story, thanks for the post.

There is at least one video floating around. There has to be. Somebody had to have caught it.

Great story, and great storytelling! Thanks for sharing it with us. Auto – tragic transmission that's funny

Leaks? What are those? 😅
3 foot envy?

Cool story and glad to see Ted got to see his car once again traverse the 1320..Dont way so long for its next trip

Thanks Al! There's supposed to be a fall series of 6 races coming up...I hope somebody can drive it for me again. That was kind of fun!