Hey Ken Dont be intimidated by the other cars - we are all there to have fun - thats all. Its not about speed - have fun - kick up some dust and get the cool pics of your car with similar vibe cars. I am very happy for you - one very cool car you built. Greg
Thanks for the encouragement Greg, it is much appreciated. Have been working on it all week ironing out a few small problems as well as trying to get my transport trailer roadworthy. Has been good to work to a deadline.
Yip just have fun and enjoy the experience of running on a real dirt track, that's what i will be doing in my T. With a different driver my car would be very capable of kicking arse but not with me behind the wheel as i have not done this sort of thing before. Lets have FUN!! JW
Some last minute fettling before the Jalopy Dust Up on Saturday. My fuel system works on a pressurized benzine tank but was losing pressure on a test run yesterday. Tank is pressurized by a dash mounted hand pump. Have been using a small gravity feed auxiliary tank mounted on the fire wall up until now but wont last the distance on the track. Anyway - didn't have the right size leather cup for the pump so swapped it over with another pump I had in the parts bin and now all good. I have a tank pressure gauge mounted adjacent the hand pump. I should have fitted an electric SU pump!!! Still to go - check all split pins, grease and oil steering suspension, gather spares that may fail, points condenser, charge battery, tyre pressures etc!
Also lowered the windscreen by 2 inches, this will no doubt improve aerodynamics and increase speed dramatically. Before and after photos below. Should I go lower? Cut and weld posts to match screen height tomorrow.
Looking good, don't go any lower, i had mine lower than that and it was a real pain. Also if too low it looses its visual balance. Mine is on the trailer and ready to go at 3.30am Friday. See you soon. JW
You have us all excited about this event and your participation. Both of you! Be careful, have fun and show us the excitement.
Ken, you now have a whole year to practice driving for the next one. Great to catch up with JW, Greg Stokes, and sharpmark. This was the major mishap of the day; the driver was fine. Courtesy of Kyle Carter Photographer. I'm looking forward to footage from @SoCal from Hot Rod Revue.
...ouch...broken axle, bent or broken tierod...glad they're alright...hope the body is not to torqued...
Thanks for those great pics, that crash was horrible and it made me go a tad slower when i went a few minutes after. Took Mrs W out for the final round and she was terrified!! Great to meet you guys too, Great fun. JW
Kume and Mrs Kume were trailer loaded and ready to go on friday afternoon but circumstances conspired against us. Shit happens. I was deeply disappointing having worked day and night over the xmas break to get it ready. Very sad that I didnt get to meet fellow kiwi hambers. Onwards and upwards. Looked like a fabulous day. Hopefully next year.
I hope you and Mrs. Kume are OK. The rest is just hot rod plans. They rarely pan out anyway. The car will be better tested next year. Best wishes!
I was sad that you didn't make it and as we were lined up for our first round i kept looking around hoping you were just late to the party. Everyone was so friendly and helpful....just a damn good bunch. Got any pics of the car on the trailer? Mine in a thunder storm not long after we got back to the motor camp. JW
We had five HAMBers there looking forward to meeting you and car. Next year. I hope you have had a look through the photos and videos of the day on their page? Hope all is good now. Cheers JW
Thanks JW Yes hopefully January next year if not at an event before then. The photos and vids have been hard to watch but looked like a fabulous event. I now have a chance to change a few things on my roadster that I have never been entirely happy with - e.g. redesigning the front radius rod arrangement after examining pics of Greg's roadster. And improving shocks all around after seeing a lot of axle tramp on some cars going around that track. Cheers Ken
Those changes sound very relevant to better handle being on a dirt track. I found mine to be fairly smooth out there which shocked me a bit. JW
I think you would have to commit to the 3 days if you were taking a car. Not something I can do at the moment. The show is huge but not that many traditional hot rods.