Welcome to another thrilling installment from the grey bearded, balding drag racer who won't grow up. Nah, not you lot. I'm talking about me. On the so called 'bucket' list, has been a trip to Casino for their eighth mile drags. The dates have usually clashed with other events that were closer or, as last year, I broke the engine the weekend before. This time I was determined to get there. Up at the crack of dawn the day before for the 6 or 7 hour trip north by myself (the crew chief begged off this one, something to do with another boring trip up the Pacific Highway) and I'm away. Did I mention that at dawn it was flogging down rain, again? I figured there was about 600 klms (370 miles) before I got there for it to clear up. What could possibly go wrong? It was raining that heavy for the first 2 hours that I was aquaplaning across the highway in some sections. When it did ease up and I made good time, a truck prang closed the highway for 2 hours. Despite all this, I got there early enough to help them set up for the next day's racing. As we were putting the last crowd barriers in place it started to rain. If I had any hair left, I would've pulled it out. The locals said, "Don't panic, it won't rain tomorrow." and they were right. As an aside, when that shower of rain was passing through Gunnedah, which is 6 hours to the South-west, copped 3 1/2 inches of rain in an hour, causing flooding. Back to the race day. The Summerland drag racers run a very good day. Once again all were volunteers with assistance from the local Men's Shed. They use a format I haven't come across before. It's all heads up racing with the quickest time at the end the winner. I'm used to index racing, being chased or chasing others. I was initially put in the Exhibition bracket with some serious bits of gear. I'll race anyone but up against a Topolino altered and a Gasser with big block was a big ask. It didn't matter, I was there to race. Luckily they changed it and put me in the 6 cylinder bracket. That was my first run. Most of the cars I ran against have the 3.8 litre Holden V6 but don't expect a 70 year old engine to shut them down, especially one driven by an old coot. Just a short clip to show what the weather was like regarding wind strength. Will that be smoking or non-smoking section in the audience Sir? After a few more victorious runs, a young bloke came over for a look at the HAMBster. His words to me were to the effect, "I came over to see who the f...ing arsehole is that is beating everyone". He was driving a Valiant with the Australian 265 Hemi 6 and he called me out. I readily agreed and it was on. Yes, he got the jump and beat me over the line but our times were identical. At the end of the day I turned up for the presentation mainly to thank the officials and was handed the trophy for winning the six cylinder class. He'd won all his races but my times were quicker than his on countback. He was a little bit cheesed off but that's racing. I on the other hand couldn't stop smiling. First time racing at Casino and I picked up the win. It did come at a cost. The oil feed I'd put to the timing cover was over pressurizing and pushing oil out past the gasket onto the headers when I backed off . This was a run against the Gasser just for giggles. You will notice the telltale spray of smoke. I disconnected it and did another run, no spray this time so back to the drawing board on that one. After a 6 hour drive I got home at 10.30pm and fell straight into bed, exhausted. A long winded story but a happy one. If I can drive the car onto the trailer at the end it's been a good day.
That gasser you ran against is what inspired me to build a car to go racing. I referenced it in my build. It was a lot slower and not as shiny back then. Bridger is a good guy and has a very nice collection of cars. Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
I did some diagnostic work today. I found the crank seal in the front cover had slipped forward and was letting a dribble of oil out. All fixed (I hope).
Great set of vids, and a great yarn. Still waiting on our season opener here, so thanks for the attitude upper.
Nice going, you old coot (your words lol). I watch your videos 3-4 times and you do well every time..
Man, you sure aren't afraid of turning some high revs with that thing. The needle seems to spend a lot of time on the above side of the red line on the tach.
One of these days I'll actually look at the tacho but as they say, "The redline fever got me in it's grips". How's your build coming along Tom?
Very slowly. Life has thrown me a few curves and other projects seem to keep getting in the way. I find the best way to avoid exceeding the red line is to remove the tach or just cut the wire.
The Jalopy Journal
