Yes, we are out. Here is the story: I was so confident that I would have the Coupe ready, I never tested the old F.A.S.T. GTX since I finished the changes to it last fall. Everything I did on the coupe took longer than I planned. This was a complete build from a frame and body shell, so there was a ton of small things to fabricate, and the last 2 months was a major thrash. My trunk monkey Jeff helped a lot, and I’m very thankful for that. The last few days I did almost nothing but wiring, 15+ hours a day. Finally saturday evening, 18 hours before we had to be in the tech line at Cordova, I drove the car for the 1st time. The fuel pressure gauge (with an isolator) was not working right, and upon an attempted restart it hydro-locked. Fuel had blew past the 8 needles and seats and filled the engine with gas. Then we pulled the plugs, cleared it, and one of the plugs wouldn't go back in the head right. I had to run a tap into the head, then got the plug back in. Got it started, and then it started spraying gas out of one of the fittings that connects to a carb. When I tried to tighten it, I could feel the threads pulling out. It has those stupid hard nylon washers under the fittings, and they just don’t seal well without a lot of torque. But you can only put so much torque onto threads in an old pot metal carb body. How could I safely race this car? There are so many unknowns to sort out. The test drive made it clear that this car still needed a lot of work. And there was no time to do it. I sat down and contemplated everything I had sacrificed to get to this point, and I didn't want to give up. I didn't mow my lawn, go to church, hang with friends or family for 2 months, or go to our car club events all summer, or back to the 50's, and I missed the eclipse. I was numb from fatigue and every fiber of my body hurt from the wiring thrash, especially my chest from laying across the door bar of the cage while working inside the car. The realization that this wasn't going to work out for 2017 slowly started sinking in, and it was hard to accept. With 100% of the car unproven and untested, and no time to find parts or fix it, and not knowing what the next issue would be, it would be best to just stay home. I felt a small bit of relief that it was over, and I could rest. (haha) Then I wandered over to the corner of the shop, where the GTX sat. I hadn't really even looked at it in a year. It hadn't been on the track since 2010 when I blew up the motor at a FAST race. The new combination with the slicks, caltacks, quicktime bell, fuel system, etc was untested. But I should take a closer look, I figured. So I started moving junk out of the way, and Jeff joined me. 15 minutes later it was out in the middle of the shop and an hour later it was running! OK, we are going to Drag Week 2017 after all! Packing tools and supplies, my brain was in a fog from lack of sleep in the last few days. I couldn't even think of what I should bring. But we were on the road for Cordova about 12:30 am. After 2 hours of driving I had to stop and sleep for a few hours, then we continued on. A 20 mph headwind slowed the progress of the old 1st gen Cummins hauling the big camper and the trailer, and put it in fuel guzzle mode. We finally got to the track at about 12:25 on Sunday, unloaded the car, and made it into the tech line at 12:45, 15 minutes before the cut-off. By the time I got thru tech about 6 hours later, the staging lanes were closed for the day, so no test passes for me. I spend most of the time in line fixing blinkers, figuring out the fuel pump switch, and sitting in the car resting. Jeff installed the seat belts that we had robbed from the coupe before we left. I didn't get out into the lanes and meet and greet and ogle the cars like I usually do. But I did talk to a bunch of Drag Week friends who came by the car. It was great to see them all, and helped wake me out of my stupor. After tech, we found a water hose behind the mens room and used it to wash the GTX. It was filthy from a year of storage without its cover. (my bad). Then out for dinner in town, (chauffeured in a Lincoln by my friend Kevin) and then back to the camper for the night. I slept like a log. Monday morning, Jeffs alarm didn't go off because his battery was dead. He had plugged the charger into an inactive outlet. So we got up late. I was thinking the drivers meeting was at 9, but it was at 8. So a last minute rush happened to pack the car and get out of the camper and trailer. My first pass, the car laid down right after launch, then picked up, then died, then restarted. I aborted the pass and motored easy down the track. Also, the GTX pushed to the right, I had to correct a lot. Back in the pits, we checked the fuel pressure and it was fine. Maybe a needle and seat is sticking from a year of dormancy? So I pulled the carb tops and all 4 bowls of the dual Carter AFB's were well stocked with 112 octane. If the fuel is OK, then it must be ignition. How shall I diagnose this? (At this point I was discovering how poorly I had selected my tools and supplies when packing) But after another hour of messing around with the ignition , And Jeff adding some preload to the right caltrack to try and make the car go straight, we were ready for another try. I got into the staging lanes 10 minutes before they closed for the day. I dumped the clutch at 4000 RPM, and it felt strong! With the force of the launch pushing my head back, the tach (with integral shift light, which is mounted too low) disappeared from my field of view. By the time I was able to glance down, the shift light was on, for I don’t know how long, so I grabbed second. The car lurched forward at the shift, and the 2-3 shift went well, too. At the 3-4 shift, the shift light never went off, but I was too busy correcting to the left to pay attention to it. The car was going right, towards the wall. It was definitely out of the groove as I passed the 1/8 mile, so I aborted the run. The time slip showed a 1.59 60’, and a 7.004 1/8th. I was happy with that for an initial test pass, it showed a lot of potential. The pit stop gas cap was open when I got back to the pit. Later I learned that it dumped fuel on the track like the Exon Valdez into Prince William sound. Reviewing the in-car video, we saw that the rpm never dropped on the 3-4 shift. The clutch was on an initial, break in setting with maximum spring pressure and no counter weight. The cure for the 4th gear slippage is counterweight on the levers. Due to the rush last year, I didn’t have time to order a bellhousing with a window, I had to use an off the shelf unit. Adding weight to the clutch meant pulling the trans, and I didn’t have nearly enuff tools. I was talking about quitting, but Scott Abbot came by and gave me a pep talk and offered to help with tools and stuff. That got me motivated to find a way. When I looked in thru the clutch fork hole of the Quicktime scattershield, I figured there was a slight possibility I could add a bolt and nut to each lever without pulling the trans by working thru the fork hole, but unfortunately I could also see the levers had been hitting the inside of the bellhousing. The ends were scuffed and bent. Adding weight would only make it worse. (lesson: Quicktime bellhousings do not have sufficient clearance for an adjustable clutch) The only solution I could think of would be swap in a Lakewood bellhousing. To find one and install it could be 5 or 10 hours. It just wasn’t going to happen on DW17, when we still had a 6+ hour drive to St. Louis. So reluctantly, I threw in the towel, and we loaded up and slunk home. Good luck to all my fellow drag weekers who are still in. I will definitely be back for 2018, much more prepared!
I spent the day fixing the fried lenco so i can drive it to the grove. Third gear clutches were toast. Just as i got done bolting it in place Squirrel and Dan showed up. We had a good time talking cars and finishing up the coupe. The shop looked cool with three drag week cars in it.
results from yesterday It was fun hanging out with Brian and Mark last nite, Brian has a real nice shop in a great area.
Awesome stuff going on, thanks everybody for the writeups entertaining us keyboard racers. They just said in live feed that Brians coupe is cruisin on the return road? They were also jappin something about cracked block but I must misheard that someway ( I wish)
thanks for the pics! We made it to the hotel last night with no problems on the drive. Except getting slightly lost a few times, which is part of the challenge. Racing starts a little later today, I think at noon. We plan to head to the car wash, then to the strip around 9-10 and see if the gate is open. found a picture of my old tool box on Hot Rod's web page. dad gave me this socket set in 1974. I've added to it over the years.
My pleasure Jim, I just got my Dad's toolbox when he passed last year. If only the toolbox and tools could talk.
Saw a bunch of you guys heading west into and thru the booming metropolis of Burlington IL. I was diggin the Fairmont wagon in the Mustang parade and hope your group all made it unscathed. Also good luck to the 60 Chevy 4 door, it sounded healthy.
Going through the phone i found a few more pics. The crowd has the biggest at the grove. Im predicting drag week will start and finish at the grove very soon. It would be hard to ignore all that money.
I met him at mokan. Nice guy. He had just made a pass and stopped for a hamb group pic on the return road.
IMO, DW should also move to some other parts of our great country, as long as their is tracks , five that can support the event. New tracks , new challenges.
The problem now is the cars go so fast they need tracks that can handle them safely. They also need tracks with a surface capable of producing the speeds that the spectators are come out to see. Not to mention having track and concession staff available on a weekday.
They have moved it around quite a bit over the years I've been doing it. But it does have to be a relatively central location...not east coast, not west coast.
Then there is the problem of finding four tracks within 300 miles of each other that meet the criteria to handle the event. There really limits the available options. I would like to see a few drag weekend races added. One east coast and one west coast.
They did the two weekends out west, and the stands were empty.... It would probably work better on the east coast, but it's also a pain for the west coast staff to set it up that far from home. I don't seem to have too much trouble motivating myself to drive 1200-1800 miles to go to Drag Week. I guess there's something wrong with me.
I think there should be a true street class. A class for guys that drive their cars to the track and dont use a trailer. Or handicap the classes by a half second. It would really make it even more interesting and more competitive if the playing field was levelled out.
It's pretty hard to do things like that...they have enough trouble policing what they have to now, with so many cars.
I am going to reserve my comments regarding GLD and future Drag Week events. Here is my take on the "NEW" Drag Week...it has become more Time Trial Week. There are many cars that are not capable of actually drag racing. And the diesels as well. They need time to build boost and so they have no regard for reaction time. And it is not currently required. But it sure is in a drag race. I propose they add the ET AND the Reaction Time to get a true picture of performance, ala, a true drag race. The Pro Mods have figured out how to build boost, then bump in. I think this would add a another dimension of excitement. It would demand the driver's have additional skills. just my thoughts.
Interesting observation, and you're not the only one who noticed. how about you can only turn in your time slip if it has a WIN on your side?
due to comments about it not being a real race they have added another day a few years ago. that's what Saturday is for. they have a real race you can stick around for. anyone can enter. there are no classes. no break outs. first one at the finish line wins. its fun to watch a turbo four cylinder Omni beat a big block chevelle. I could really need to stick around for that next year.
I think they discontinued the Saturday shotout last year. I entered in 14, it was fun...but it kind of fizzled out after that. Dale Gephardt won that year in his Gremlin.
The Drag Week concept was never about RT or Win/loss with anyone else. Yes it confuses the spectators and you can see the misunderstanding in the comments during the live feed. I agree it deviates from the pure concept of Drag Racing and it is definitely a step away from the old Fastest Street car format. On the other hand these guys have enough to worry about for this event. This is still a competition about who is the fastest over 5 days. I do not believe we need a heads up / bracket competition during the week. The stick shift shootout and bracket format at the end is sufficient. Here's my beef... did we really need to see a 23 second Honda Civic or a plethora a stockers crushing the timers in the mid 16 & 17 second range ?? I FULLY respect someone's project being their project and being built to their tastes and wants and I fully respect someone just wanting to be part of the experience ...but this is Drag Week... not "Sunday drive down the track in your daily driver" week... Of course now that opens up the discussion regarding how you would set minimum requirements and how you include a highly modified 2 stroke Trabant on "Nozz" running 20's over an 18 second 74 El Camino ? I love Drag Week - Kudos to all who competed and Congratulations to all who finished
including Reaction Time will offer those on a limited budget a chance to utilize their skills against the cars built on a high budget. Let's face it, the big budget builds a very fast and very reliable car that has the best chance to win. Obviously misfortune can stymy that. But the driver is not required to have true drag racing skills. Yes, it takes skill to pilot a six second car, but that doesn't mean you are a drag racer.
The Jalopy Journal
