Event Coverage The Official 2014 Meltdown Drags #5 thread, vintage drag meet, July 18,19&20 Byron IL

I can always count my HAMB/MDA buddies to help me out...

 

Nice injection on White Noise. Are you going to run her hoodless or are you going to cut a hole in the max wedge scoop? You cant go wrong either way.

 

You know, I like it with and without. We took off the wedge scoop and the hole in the hood is pretty big. I'm not sure if we can modify the hood to narrow up the hole. I ought to just buy a new fiberglass hood but I'm about tapped out. I've seen pics of the racers in the past and some did run without hoods. Mopar guys cover your eyes...if we don't cut up the scoop to use somehow...now you can open them...I would be glad to pay it forward to someone that needs a scoop. I'll check the prices of a new hood.

 

I would cut it just to piss them off.

 

My brothers 72 Challenger had a 69 440 with a little bit of work done to it (very little) and the car ran hard. We were having trouble with it at the track and threw the timing light on it. The timing was jumping all over the place. Turned out the bushing had worn out inside the distributor and was throwing the time all over the place. I have to say i would agree on the distributor. Just my 2 cents

 

I was there last year for the whole show and only made 4 passes. I enjoyed walking around and looking at all the cool cars and watching everybody run so much that I didn't care about running mine. It's the greatest show on earth.

 

Get some more cobalt blue plexi, like your windows, and make a perimeter piece to make the hole in hood smaller, maybe you can even use the scoop holes to fasten it.., I'm gay for cobalt blue plexi, I admit it!

 

I so echo this comment !!

First year we were there I made 4 passes on Saturday and at 2pm I realized... I was missing the show!!
I had spent the entire day in the pits and staging lanes. Not a bad place to be on a Saturday, but not when the Meltdown is happening all around you. Once we hit the stands we were completely blown away by the event and the show that presented in front of us.

Last year we cruised Sam's with the Scout Friday night and then made 4 passes on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. I think this about the right amount as it still let us socialize and see the show.

This year we will have 2 cars, but also a few more in the crew. I think we'll test the waters on Friday and see how it plays out. This might be the year to be more of a spectator, what with the North vs South event, the gasser shoot out, the potential for an awesome cacklefest like event, AWB guys getting ornery with each other, Jr stockers, drag bikes and Nitro altereds...

Hell, like Quain said... with so much happening I'm not that concerned about running the cars... we might just park our junk in the car show and sit in the stands all weekend. (Ok... maybe a pass or 2) Of course in the evenings we have to make sure a few of you hillbilly's are well lubricated. All it would cost y'all is some good company and some good war stories

 

I agree with you guys on watching versus racing. We get so excited of all the cars we see in the pits and on the track, we forget that we have cars there to race. Last year the inlays were their and kept wondering when we were going to get a pass in. Had another guy wonder why he didn't see many pics of our cars on the track. It's nice to catch up with friends that you only get to see once a year.

 

This is the first time I'm actually thrilled that my car won't be ready for a "car show". I have a feeling that when I get home, I will be slightly motivated.

Here's a progress photo of some junky, old, Chevy powered Ford that I'm throwing together for the 2015 Meltdown.

 

That looks SUPER clean!I bet there are restoration guys in your town who hate your guts.

Seriously though,it looks great,and I bet you're gonna have a blast with it.
How crazy are you getting with the motor?

Scott


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Funny thing, the more lubricated I get, the more war stories fall outta my mouth.

 

speed wise all the awb cars i have driven were done with the hood off. when the wheels come off the ground and they will you can see through the grille. if you pull a big wheelie or start to pogo stick down the track you can at least see if you are going some what straight. with the hood on this cant be done. also depending on the speed this car goes there can be a huge handling issue. some cars like mine trapped air under the hood and lifted the front wheels off the ground near the traps. i have pictures of my car going through the lights with air under the front wheels. thats the time i ditched the hood. the magazines of the day started to pay alot of attention to this problem after some bad accidents. to help the problem front and rear spoilers started finding there way onto awb cars in late 65 these two suggestions are for safety not looks. your car looks like it is capable of entering these two areas of concern. back to the mopar distributors for a second. watch out for the distributors with the plastic collar and roll pin on the bottom. i had a plastic collar break in half a piece found its way into the oil pump locking it up. the dist drive then snapped off with the expected disastrous results. if you use the mopar at least use the steel collar.

 

I have the steel coller on mine.
Glad to hear some of you guys talking about not making a bunch of passes down the strip so maybe there will more time for me. I hope to get at least 100 miles on mine that weekend. I dont have the chance to go racing very offten. Dont get me wrong I like to watch but I love to race.

 

That's not a bad idea. I like the blue plexi too...

 

You convinced me, no hood. Air under the any tire in the traps sounds evil. I've thought about a small spoiler in front.

 

Make the spoiler out of blue plexi, I'M GAY FOR BLUE PLEXI GLASS!..,did I ever tell you that?

 

good choice. the awb cars have enjoyed a resurgence over the last ten years. they were almost completely eliminated from race tracks for a few generations. with the large gap in time from the glory days to todays awb drivers lessons learned the hard way have not been handed down to this new enthusiastic group. awb cars can be some of the most entertaining cars to watch and a thrill to drive. they can also be very difficult to control. they come with risks that are far different from other kinds of cars. if not driven properly they will hurt you. they can not be driven with the mentality of i will show this car how to do it. rather a respectful and delicate approach will give the best results. i have personally been witness to a few disasters were the drivers were in over there head. to help stabilize the cars at speed it is important to disturb the air going over it. a simple piece of 3inch angled alum across the rear of the trunk lid helps. there is no need for a ugly pro mod wing back there. we just need to disturb the air. on the front a air dam can help i have read. ford worked on the original batch of flip tops in a wind tunnel and came up with a air dam/bumper with success. one driver i forgot which one removed it and promptly crashed the car. i never used a front dam or ever drove a car with one. i did block off my grille with a piece of sturdy alum bent to match the conture of the grille. i painted it black on the front side so it went undetected. this helped out a lot. if you decide to go hard core with this thing i would do additional research on this subject. there aren't too many drivers of these cars with experience today but there are a few. learn from them and be safe. i can't wait to see you run.

 

Salt Flats, the first time I ever took a car down the quarter mile myself, was 1979, @ The Brother Hood Raceway, on Terminal Island, in the San Pedro Harbor. I was 15 1/2 years old, had no drivers liscense, no insurance, and drove 90 miles round trip to the track & back. This was my first car that actually ran. It was a 1965 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 4 door that I bought for a $130.00 from the neighbor. It had a 2bbl (the big bore Rochester version)425/Turbo 400 with factory variable pitch converter, & a 2.92 geared peg leg big car 10 bolt. I had already removed all the non-working A/C items including under the dash, the power steering, and the front wheel wells, which put it at a dainty 4205 lbs with me in the seat. I had also cut the big, quite, restrictive stock muffler and tail pipe off, and welded a single turbo muffler with a turn down on the end of the head pipe (Hi Po single exhaust baby). This car had the big 5 on 5 bolt pattern for wheels, and my dad had a fleet of Chevy work vans for his solar hot water systems business with the same wheels/pattern. He put mags, and off road tires on all the vans, so I had stacks of stock wheels with L78 x 15 bias ply tires. I put 4 good ones on the Olds, and headed to the track with some buddies. I did big John Force burnouts, and when the right rear drive tire got near treadless, I'd rotate a good one one in its place. I made 52 passes that day! The first one was a 16.16 @ 85 mph, the worst pass was 16.47 @ 83 (trying different driving techniques), and the best pass was a 15.67 @ 86 mph. On that one I left it in second, and crossed the finish line @ 5200 rpm with the engine begging for mercy. During one of my burnouts, I heard Big Willie himself say, "DAMN! I wish I owned the tire store that this dude buys his from"! I was so green I dialed a 15.50, figuring there's no way I can run that, so I won't have to worry about breaking out. I lasted two rounds, but I sure felt like a big shot driving home with my car #, and dial in on the windows, and 4 near bald tires. I drove to school the whole week like that before I finally washed it off. That was 13 miles of 1/4 mile passes in one day! I had a blast, and I won't forget that day as long as I live.

 

Cool early day racing story from you.....there ought to be some good times/stories during the evenings bs sessions.....looking forward to meeting a bunch of y'all.....seems like I already know some of you.....funny, for some reason, when I looked in the mailbox tonite I thought of "rattlesnakes".....haha

 

At nine years old I tried like hell to get my dad to but a GTX in 1967.

 

That makes me feel old , in 1967 I was in Viet Nam

 

Naw,my Dad's got a few years on ya Danny,and he's driving the wheels off a '41 Willy he built and feelin' like he's 18 again!
It's all perspective man.You survived by FAR the worst event to happen to your generation,and now you've been able to build a bunch of cool old cars.

My hat is off to you Sir.

Scott


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Saltflats,
That story made me think of my Dad coming home in a triple black Coronet R/T convertible with a 440 in it.He says it was a six pack,but for years he also thought it was a charger convert,which didnt exist.

ANYWAY,he takes this thing for a test drive,and gives it a little stab at the throttle,and it gets a little tail happy....so he chuckles.....then,in a bit,he does it again.....and again....and starts laughing...then he REALLY jams on it, and it cranks his head right back when the transmission kicks down and that big Ol 440 really starts workin'.....so here he is,laughing like a maniac,head cranked back so he can hardly see the road,fishtail ing back and forth across two lanes,trying to keep it outta the ditch while still nearly pissing his pants laughing......!

So he gets it home,and apparently my Mom could hear a big block
Mopar from a block away back in those days,cause he said as soon as he pulled in the driveway with it,she flew out the door onto the front porch and screamed one word: "NO!!!!!!" As she pointed in the direction of the Dodge dealer....Lmao!

So,tail between the legs,Pop returned the aforementioned evil Mopar to the used car section of McGregor Chrysler,never to be spoken of again in the presence of my Mother....Hahaaa!

Scott



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Ric:
That story was pretty awesome.Driving across town with no license would have been ballsy,but an hour away to a dragstrip:Now that is just plain cool.
There is obviously no other industry you should be employed in,speed equipment is definitely where you belong!

Scott


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Thankyou for your service Danny G. I was 3 years old, in 1967, and our house was swimming in Tri-5's, and other cool cars.

 

HOLY MOLY, it's 42 degrees this morning, there's some kind of white stuff on the mountains, and I had to wear a jacket! Thank God for the seat warmers in our Suburban, and a heater that goes all the way to 73 degrees. Have I done enough to survive this blizzard?

 

AHHH HAAAA All that crazy dancen at mid-nite around a snowman southern cali voo-doo worked !!!! Now I can sleep better at nite...

 

Can you belive this is the 1800 reply to this thread