clarence gave up the ghost friday morning on the way to the drags. tranny's toast. i was less than 10 miles from home when metal started grinding on metal right under my feet. after a couple of phone calls we got him trailered home. thursday evening i ran him about 30 miles just to make sure that everything was "right" and he ran flawlessly. guess that leaves blakmerk as the only "every hamb drags participant". i really missed you guys saturday. i had withdrawal shakes all day. if i had thought that there was any way that clarence could have made it to joplin on saturday i'd have flogged on it 24 hours straight to get there. oh, yeah; i've been wantin' to put in the 413/727 that's in the corner of the shop. if that happens it'll double clarence's HP. and perhaps lower that 19 second ET. b-t-w; friday's the 1st time clarence has been on a trailer in about 15 years. that was the only other time he broke on me. not bad for a low buck (and i mean realllly low $) rod that's put together totally with junk yard parts. i always thought that the engine would go first. after all it had well over 100K miles on the clock when we pulled it to put in clarence. we put in bearings and rings, honed the cylinders, and called it good. i've put close to 200K miles on it since then. and it still runs great. the T350, on the other hand, ain't movin' again except in the back of a pickup. if i don't put in the 413/727 maybe i'll put in the 700R4 that's under a shelf out in the shop. hope you all enjoyed the drags as much as i would have if i had been there.
It looks like getting to and back home from the HAMB drags is harder on the vehicles than the drags themselves.
We missed you too, Mike. BobK and I had some frozen custard at Andy's Friday nite in your honor Hope your Dad is doing well also.
We spoke of you often and had a beer (or two) in your honor. Very sorry you couldn't make it and I'm sure Clarence did every thing he could... Yes, you are right, the only guy to do all 10 HAMB Drags in the same car is Blakmerc in his '51 Mercury. We were looking forward to you and him pounding side by side down the 1/4 mile. See you next year. -Abone. PS. I lost the motor in my Model A on the way home...she limped all the way to the driveway, then that was it..
Give me a call some weekend Mike. We will get him up and going again! a TH350 is about a $500 or less rebuild I know a couple guys that will treat you right. We have a few trips left this year!
Yep, you were missed by a LOT of us. Been praying for your dad too. Your Pontiac died Abone? Still she knew she needed to get you home and she did. Got plans for a wilder engine?
Missed you Mike. Sorry you couldn't get there. It was a good time as always and cool weather this year. Was trailer-ed (Rusty) helping you? I did see Rusty either. Sam
Atch, I would have enjoyed the drags more if you were there with a little flash light to show me everyone's car in th dark. Sorry to hear about Clarance, alwasy sad to hear about an old friend that is sick. I know that you will make sound decisions reguarding the extent of his medical treatment.
thanx for all the condolences for clarence. i really missed you folks. in no particular order: rusty - thanx for the offer; we'll see what happens. maybe it's time for that 700R4 that's back behind all the stuff in the shop. sam - don't know why rusty wasn't there. i'm sure that he should have been. i never made it anywhere near rusty's. he's 40 miles closer to joplin than me and i only made it about 10 miles. i knew i could count on mike and bob eating some ice cream for me. next time i go to town i'll eat some ice cream in their honor. pb - you remember some of the wierdest little stuff... jeff - i trust that you'll be back next year with even more horsepressure. ryno - i assume that you had your normal pow wow before the drags saturday; sure wish i could have been there. kerry - i hope that your digger ran well. you make every one of us jealous when we see you climb in that thing. 48 & olds - right on both counts. thanx to everyone who's thinking of and praying for Dad. he's making good progress on the road to recovery.
The Jalopy Journal
