Here we go again. One of those long winded, self indulgent threads that I'm known for. I was sick of feeling sick so we went up to Gunnedah for the TDRA weekend. I haven't raced since the last round of the Sydney championships and didn't work on the car either while I was crook so it was a suck it and see situation. Woke up Saturday morning and the wind was howling. Of course it had to be a head wind which is a pain when you've only got 90 H.P. to play with. Saturday is test 'n' tune but the best I could get was 9.013 with 1.9 sixty foot times. One thing I've been chasing for the last couple of meetings has been rough running after the burnout and even stalling at the end of runs. It always felt like it was running out of fuel. It's fairly noticeable in this video. Please ignore the rough and ready ram tube filters. The wind was that bad there was a lot of grass seed floating about so I thought I'd better do something. Also observe what those filters do. I might have to lengthen the ram tubes to contain the pulse. After a couple of runs I screwed the jets down 2 flats and cured the roughness. It's obviously been running too lean. Don't know why I hadn't thought of it sooner.
Day 2 had us up early and itching to get into racing. Well, due to the strong dry winds I was really itchy. The lower part of my leg where the infection was worst is shedding skin and it's like being sunburnt and then peeling. Enough of the medical shit. Out to the track and the wind has dropped considerably and is blowing lightly from the other direction. I might have all the horsepower to play with this time. We got in 5 qualifying runs in the morning before lunch with most runs around 8.8- 8.9 with 1.8 sixty foots. Of course I chose to dial in 8.8 . Took the first elimination run with a backing off 8.946. Left the dial in at 8.8 and ran a 8.939 backing off because the other bloke red lit.
I suppose you would like to know the outcome of the final? Alright, I won't keep you in suspenders, sorry I meant suspense. I left my dial at 8.8 because I've learnt to not fiddle with it. The other bloke had dialed 8.33 so he had to chase which suited me. I got a 0.08 reaction time to his .235 and it was on. I could hear him alongside but he wasn't overhauling me by much. The finish line was in reach and the little HAMBster was giving its all. I looked across and he was right beside me. Over the line we went and into the braking area but we still didn't know who'd won. Back down to the pits to get the result and I'd lost by 0.002. Runner up I but couldn't get the smile off my face. A top weekend of racing and a pearler of a final to finish. Six runs on Saturday and a total of eight runs on Sunday. Once again a credit to the Tamworth Drag Racing Club volunteers for putting on these weekends.
As you will notice I was running against street based cars but I don't mind. Racing is racing to me and when the most serious racers come up afterwards and tell me they were surprised by the little HAMBster, it makes it even better. Next Saturday is round 4 of the Sydney track championships so we do it all over again. Hooroo
It is interesting what the make shift filters are doing in the video. I would suggest some type of positive forcement of air into the carbs. Like a turbo or supercharger.
Thanks everyone for the encouraging words. I was going to start a new thread on the Sydney dragway championship round 4 on this weekend but, "Houston , we have a problem". I did my second qualifying run today and didn't like the vibration coming from the motor. Put it on the trailer, drove back home and took the gearbox and clutch out and found the crankshaft moving fore and aft plus up and down. Good thing I got another short block freshened up ready. The poor little 138cu.in. Holden Grey Motor that's done over 500 passes both eighth mile and quarter mile, finally said enough is enough. Best guess is crank bearings or bearing cap let go. I'll put the freshened motor in and then pull the old one down for a post mortem.
After the post mortem (does that make it a post, post mortem?) I found the crank had snapped through the No. 6 big end journal. The only thing holding it together was the conrod.
A nice, clean break. You should thank that short block for many enjoyable runs. Good you have one ready to replace it, cuz we're dependent on your videos now.
I am not up on the grey motor specs.. I thought they were near 170 cid... not the 138 cid mentioned. That is an interesting break. And: still running.
Seeing that much shoulder makes me think the throws may've been turned down some. If so, that could be a contribution to the failure at that point.
The Holden Grey originally came out as a 132.5cu.in. in 1948. After a couple of models they gave it a slight increase up to 138cu.in.. You may be thinking of the Ford that came out around 1959. I think it was originally 144cu.in with an update to 170cu.in. In Australia we were given piddly little motors for some reason. That crank was using 10thou over bearings so it hadn't been ground much at all. It had been balanced. It's a fairly common break because of the 4 main bearing design. I've just been lucky to get away with it for so long. The oil gallery running through it wouldn't help either.
The poor old grey motor achillies heel. You did a good job on that one! Are you running any girdle or bearing bridges on your bottom end? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Let's not get too personal about how I dress. Oh, sorry, you were talking about engine parts. No girdle or bearing bridges. I hadn't thought of them being necessary as we don't spend long enough in that rev range like speedway did. Have you got your car ready to rock and roll?
Haha I’ll pay that one. Car is getting close. Tyres are the big expense left for me then Just a few finishing off of bits and pieces and blow it apart for paint. Hoping to have it done for 6 bangers. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The Jalopy Journal
