Our first official race of the season. It was hot. Temperature was supposed to go to 24c and it peaked at around 29c. Density altitude all day ranged from 5500-6000'. The car is running fantastic but I have slow 60' times for the ET. It might require a 4-link adjustment but with the car's consistency, I doubt I'm going to touch it.

3 time trial rounds
RT/ET/MPH
.013/9.771/139.18
-.019/9.823/139.08 <- red
-.005/9.827/138.79 <- red

Went 3 rounds of eliminations. The DA was climbing as the air got hotter. I was able to calculate what the car should run and dialed in the best number.

Dial/RT/ET/MPH
9.82/.228/9.853/138.71 <- asleep at the tree but won against a red light
9.84/.011/9.856/138.80 <- .027 package and I was thinking of dialing 9.85
9.84/.218/9.860/139.06 <- asleep again and this time I lost by .1944. Competition had a great light but was way off on his dial. If I had a good light, it would have been another win.

Packed up stuff I needed and went home leaving the car at the track. I need to do it all over again tomorrow.

Nothing broken. MPH was from 138.71 - 139.18. Can't get more constant than that. I just wish I knew why my 60' times were so slow. Last year with 4.56 gears, ladder bars and 29.5 x 10.5 tires, I was getting 1.40x times. Best 60' time I could manage today was 1.473 and a high of 1.510. Car now has a 4-link, 32" tall tires and 4.86 gears.

The 4.86 gears are noticeable. I still launch at 4500. I shift at 7200 about 4 seconds off the line and go through the traps at 7400.

 

Asleep? All you have to do is let go of a button!!!

It is nice when you can trust the car. 7000' DA? My first pass this weekend was at 9980' DA. The best was at 8000'.

Friday night we ran the "Club Clash" series. Let's just say they don't waste a lot of money on VHT for that race series. Consistency was a matter of dialing soft enough to cover wheel spin if it occurred, and fender racing if no spin. In the Camaro, I was definitely asleep, .198, but I also lost .07 sec in 60' due to wheel spin - felt like I had the line-lock on.

Things went a little better in the '57, no stellar lights, treed in almost half of the runs, but had enough in the bank each run to leave the track at the end of the night without having lost a round - been 363 days since I've experienced that.

I went back out with just the '57 today for a Saturday series in which I haven't been regular. Made first TT at 10:15 a.m., first round of eliminations at 3:45 p.m., 2nd round started at 5:50 p.m. when it started to rain after 3 pairs went down the track. After it quit raining and they dried and prepped the track, I had my best light of the weekend and got beat - car didn't like the new humidity and slowed a tenth on me. I probably would have gotten beat, anyway, the other guy had an .010 light and fendered me from 1000' on. 10 hours at the track for 4 runs and leaving with tail between legs. Again.

 

The track got started late as usual and only gave us 2 time trial runs.

RT/ET/MPH
.006/9.783/139.81
-.006/9.791/139.70 <- red and best altitude corrected pass

My best altitude/dyno corrected time is 9.358/146.62 mph putting 746.18 HP to the wheels. At altitude, it's only putting 651.55 HP to the wheels.

At the far end of the track after the second pass, my oil light came on. I use a 15 PSI pressure switch to activate the light. The engine was still running and pressure wasn't at zero. I could see the accumulator kicking in and pressure came back up. I easily drove it back to the pits with the pressure fluctuating from 20-40 psi.

Earlier I had heard a whirring noise but couldn't pinpoint what was causing it. Best guess right now is that I broke the oil pump. A common problem with the new Melling casting. If you need to buy a new pump, request a Melling Select HP pump. It still uses the old castings. The accumulator did it's job and protected the engine. I packed everything up and went home before the first round of eliminations. Taking the car off the trailer and putting it in the garage, I have 40 psi oil pressure at an idle and the engine idles nicely at 800-900 rpm. Now I have to see if I can get the pan off without pulling the entire engine.

 

Still not sure what the whirring noise is. I think it's just the valve train. I can only hear it near the back of the engine on the passenger side. Valve adjustment is still good. Must just be vibration through the fabricated valve covers.

OK. I'm an idiot. The problem is fixed. When I put the engine together, I simply pressed the oil pump pickup tube in then tacked it to the pump. Well my tack weld didn't hold and the pickup tube fell out. Good thing I have a deep sump and an oil accumulator. No metal in the pan and the oil is still clean. It's not even contaminated with condensation or methanol. getting the coolant up to 210* coming back up the return road helps. Not sure why it was running so hot. I was launching at about 150* and crossed the finish line at 180*. I guess my tiny rad doesn't cool enough during part throttle operation. It was also close to 30c for the last 2 days which didn't help.

So anyway

Bolted the pickup tube on like it's supposed to be and reinstalled everything. I can drop the pan without lifting the engine but I need to drop the steering center link then it's just a tight fit to get the pan in and out. Poured the oil back into the engine and fired it up. 40 psi at idle. 67 at 3000 rpm with Pennzoil 25w50 racing oil.

I'm ready to go but there's a few minor changes I need to do before the next race. Nothing that can't keep me from racing. At least the oil accumulator payed for itself today.

Next points race Aug 17/18/19. IHRA Ironman race.

 

Glad it wasn't too serious or hard to fix. I replaced the oil pump three weeks ago while fixing a pan leak, tack welded the pick-up on. I think it let go, because the oil light is coming on when I brake after the burn-out.

At least your day didn't end as badly as Ashley Force's did.

 

I just finished reading about that. Good thing she's OK. Walking in her father's footsteps. How many cars did he destroy in his career?

Going over my logs for the weekend, I can see just how deadly consistent my car is now. I always tell people to break down a run to see where you pick up or slow down. Here's my 2 time trial runs from this morning.

Difference / Run 1 / Run 2
60' : 1.462 - 1.471
60 - 1/8 : 4.835 - 4.833
1/8 - 1000 : 1.887 - 1.888
1000 - 1/4 : 1.599 - 1.599

Total : 9.783 - 9.791

I slowed on the second pass all because of 60' time. The rest of the run was identical to the first. Now that's a bracket car! Now I just need to get my 60' times into the 1.38-1.39 range.

 

what size tires were you running before you back halfed the car? That alcohol was the key for my car running consistant during weather change. Is 4 seconds your normal shift point time? That seems like an aweful long time, maybe im just use to 1/8th mile cars. That 60ft time should be down there with that combo.

 

Old setup was 29.5 x 10.5 tires with 4.56 gears and ladder bars
New setup is 32 x 15 tires with 4.86 gears and 4-link

I'm guessing 4 seconds by watching my replay tach. As soon as I launch, I start counting. When the rpm's drop indicating a shift, it's about 4 seconds. 4 seconds out, I'm at the 330 foot mark . Half way to the 1/8 mile or a 1/4 of the way down the track. I'm then in high gear.

I use a powerglide so I only have one shift point and I have a 6000 stall converter.

 

I wouldnt think that the roll out on the tires would kill the 60ft that much. But im not sure on the ratio of the more tire dia. to the gear change. Buy you one of those 1.92 ratio straight cut planitary sets. They are only around $1,200 That'll bring your 60ft down!

 

I'd love a set of 1.80 straight cut gears.

I was talking to another racer today. He says the 9 psi I have in my tires is too much. Dropping the pressure down even lower may help the 60' times. The big tires need to bite. More in the 6-7 range and as low as 5 psi.

Like always, I need more T&T track time.

He also said I should turn off the 2 step and let it go to see what happens with a 6000 rpm launch.

 

so i'm curious...why are you running a big tire

 

When I use to run a Dragster, I had 33x16's on it and ran 4 3/4 psi going 4.70's in the 1/8th. But your right, more T&T and you'll find that perfect tire pressure, definatly not 9 though lol.

 

My car was never this consistent in all these years with a small tire. Even when I ran a SBC. Remember, this is bracket racing not heads up racing. Consistency wins, not speed. Well, as long as the driver is also consistent.
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Dragster is a little different. There's not a lot of weight transfer and there isn't a lot of weight sitting on the rear tires like in a door car.

 

ehh

 

i went to pinks allout this weekend at bristol dragway. i normally run 16psi in mine. and go 1.52-1.54 60ft. i went a 1.82 at bristol. not spinning a bit. went up to 25psi and nothing changed. ran a little faster but not much. the track must have been alot better than what i'm used to and just drug my converter down. killed my stall. but i went 9psi up in air. thats crazy. i'm still scratching my head. i run a 26x10 hoosier by the way.

 

The racer I pitted beside said their 60' times were slow compared to racing at the same DA at another track the week before. To me it sounds like a track issue and not my car. I also asked a local Stocker racer if they felt the 60' times were slow and they said they were normal.

They did do some track changes in the spring. Maybe the new surface just needs more rubber on it. This was mid July and our first points race. The father's day race was rained out and the only other drag racing is the Friday night street legal crowd with a few drag cars showing up. Even a lot of the Promods were having traction problems on the weekend. I'm not sure what the track temperature was but the air peaked at around 30c. And there I am sitting in a black car wearing a 2 layer fire suit. I drank a few gallons of water and only had to take a leak once.

 

Just got a new picture sent to me from another photographer who was at the track. The pic in my sig was supposed to be sent to me but hasn't. The pic is a scan of a printed picture. I had to touch it up a little bit to remove the printer lines but for a web pic, it turned out ok.

Here's the one sent to me today from last weekend. I've cropped it down. I was lined up against a second gen but then I lined up with him about 3 times over the weekend for some reason. We were just both eager to get to the head of staging I guess. Black cars are so hard to photograph and yes, the front of the car is very dirty including bug guts.