Projects DRAG SNAKE "Vintage Terror!"

Does seem rather odd.

 

Hope that Cobra did not strike out at you.

Missing your stories and pics, concerned with your absence as well.

 

He is alive and well, I was down his way the end of last month.
He's been busy on another project.

 

Sorry boys. Been buried at work and working on the Thames. Just got the block back from the machine shop. Cobra sleeping nicely waiting for warmer weather...lol

 

Best to leave sleeping snakes lie!

 

Oh, hibernating ay! Snakes don’t like to move when it’s cold out!

 

Well the Cobra awoke with a very nasty disposition, LOL. Pretty much the same one it had when we put it to bed. We are a bit behind on our schedule for the season. We missed the Daryl Starbird Show this year because of some craziness at work and then the Hot Rod Reunion at MoKan totally snuck up on us. It seems like it was early this year? Maybe not. Either way we missed it.

Our first outing was a couple of weeks ago at the Stray Kats 500 in Dewey, OK. It was our first time at the show. I have heard about it for years. When we got there it seemed like half the folks we saw were friends from Missouri. I was thinking hell we should have just all went down to the Wal-Mart parking lot and had our own show versus driving 3 hours in to OK. But it was a lot of fun and hosted by some great folks. We actually won an award, "Built For Speed"...although I think that was simply inlu of a disturbing the peace ticket. LOL


Here we are across the from Tom Mix Museum. Pretty cool place. Fun Show.

We are getting ready for Jackson's little soiree in Ark City just a handful of weeks away. I pulled the center console cover yesterday, took it all apart and made the shifter hole larger. I could feel the first and second gear shifter throw rubbing a bit. We are going to get it up on the rack this weekend and nut bolt check all the suspension and driveline etc. then head to NSRA Nats in Springfield, MO the following weekend. If you are in the neighborhood drop in and say hello.

 

Well not a lot to report from the great Battle at Midway Vintage Race, sorry for the delay, it has been nuts around here. We did not get to race the great red Mopar heap but it was just as well. It would not have been much to write home about as I don't think either car ran quicker than about 90 in the quarter...lol. Hell, I didn't even get the Cobra out of 3 gear in our two attempts. Jackson struggled as well with both his rides.


We blew out of there after a couple of runs, hung around for the Prayer and National Anthem and then got out heck out of Dodge...I mean Ark City. A friend called to check on us later in the afternoon, we were just leaving my favorite steak place in Joplin. He asked how things went and this is what I typed:
"Well we burned $300 in gas to get there and back, the car ran like crap, made two runs and done, 102 in the shade, no shade, decided to get a steak in Joplin and put the weekend behind us, Red Hot and Blue no longer serves steaks, heading for Pineapple Milkshake if they are out of Pineapple going to burn the place to the ground, get bail money ready!" LMAO

But we had a good time and got to connect with lots of old friends we have not seen in a while. It was a fun event, better if the car had ran! It is a really nice track Mid America Dragway with some really cool history. It was prepped very well, reminded me of Byron and the House of Hook. Just wished we had something to with us to hook.

The car is having several issues this season as we finally get the chance to work out all the bugs. And as of right now I feel like an overworked exterminator. We have two major issues, fuel and clutch. The very unHAMB like device in the car that does the fuel is a total POS. We have basically known this from the beginning but thought for our application it would work. We are about to give up on it and try something different. Right now the car idles around pounding the ground and making everyone's mouth water. It launches like a Banshee but then falls on its face quicker than a Fat guy in flip flops. (I think I actually speak from experience on both sides of that snide remark).

Then after we do get it rolling again it does not want to shift. The Ram clutch guys have been scratching their heads trying to diagnose the issue but today I may have figured it out. I was talking to Tilton (the guys who make the pedal set in the car) to see if they had anything that would bolt onto the clutch pedal that would allow for some pushrod pick up options. They did not but their tech guy was really pretty sharp and asked what master cylinder we have on it. When the set came new all of them were 5/8" However when we upgraded to the RAM clutch I bumped it to 3/4" but he said that was not enough. He said I needed 7/8" to move the thing so I have one coming in a day or two, maybe that will get us shifting!


Check our number at Midway...101. I told Zoe it was pretty fitting Drag Racing 101. LOL And as far as B/Gas we really needed a slower class with the way it ran. Unfortunately they only went down to D/Gas and I think we probably need to be around the K or L area! LOL

 

It did look good launching!

 

Well we are about to make wholesale changes to the Cobra I have a NEW very unHAMBlike Device on the way along with a new distributor. I also snagged a 7/8" barrel clutch master cylinder so maybe if we ever get the crazy thing to run again (which is obviously a good question LOL) maybe it will shift.

I meant to take a photo at the track of the decal I designed. Since a real Dragon Snake ventured off to the US Nats in 1964 I thought it would be cool to have a participant decal from the event. I found a photo of one and also a few replicas online and totally rebuilt the graphic. Then I created a cracking pattern on it. I printed it and then cut it out including the crackle cuts made on top.

Now new vinyl will shrink a bit. Let's say you have a graphic or decal or wrap and you accidentally cut it with an exacto. That is an issue, or will become one. Because after it is installed and sits in the sun a bit the vinyl will shrink and expose that cut. Not very much but you will see it as the vinyl ages. I took advantage of that natural process on my Indy Decal. I am sure it already looks like this but below is what the cuts will look like after a while.


I also remade and aged one of the old I got HURST AID at the Nationals decals as well. I will go out and check when I get home and upload a photo.

 

Well we did it. The Cobra is gutted (sort of) and new intestinals are already about half in. LOL
I am very hopeful this is going to take care of our problems and finally get us down the track.

So start this whole tear down we had to do some moving around in the shop. Here is what we shoved out to get the Cobra back in and what has been taking up quite a bit of my time lately.




Dad has been working hard on the body and basically has it ready for a gloss top coat that we can wrap etc. The flip open hood is complete and looks killer. The problem has been the engine. It has been in a machine shop for quite a while but we have not been in hurry. That is not what you should ever tell a machine shop. LMAO.

We are dropping the original 6-71 that we had on the Austin before the big upgrade on a 327 backed by a 400 turbo. We knew very little about the '67 327 other than the fact it ran like a scalded dog. We snagged it from a partially burned Nova that a friend had. He ended up scrapping the car after the garage fire and we bought the engine. We dropped into Dad's RPU and ran the daylights out of for 10 or 12 years. After he wrecked the little hot rod (not his fault) the engine sat in a corner. When we got serious about the Thames we tore it down and sent it off to the machine shop for good measure.

We were told that it was a factory, original numbers matching motor to the Nova and it was a small journal unit with a steel crank (bonus). I bought a set of Carillo dished pistons from the Panneton Boys and just went .030 over to be on the safe side. The machine shop cleaned up the block but had to sleeve one of the cylinders. We didn't talk much about it, I just let them do it etc. They balanced the crank, rods and pistons and after about 2 plus years of waiting we picked it up.

We were just about to start assembling the engine, the crank was just standing there and for the hell of it, I just googled the number on it while we were sitting around. According to the number it was a 350. I was like no way, it is in a small journal block. I double checked it and sure enough it was a steel 350 crank that had been turned down for a small journal 327 block. I told Dad we are in trouble because we have a really nice set of 327 pistons here and if this is a 350 crank they are not going work. The longer stroke on the crank is going to kick them out of the top of the block. lol

Fortunately we never throw anything away and told Dad to go get one of the original pistons. Sure enough, 350. I could see the higher pin height as compared to the 327 before he even handed it to me. I didn't even look before, just pulled them out and tossed them on the shelf. So now we have a choice or two that has to be made. Either buy a new set of pistons and set these killer jewels from Carrillo on the shelf or find a steel 327 crank. We started looking and you couldn't even purchase a new one. I looked all over. Then we tried several used ones but none of them were straight enough or could be turned enough etc. I found a 283 crank so we could make a supercharged 302 but about that same time Dad found our next issue. He was goofing around and put a set of calipers one the cylinders and said he thought the block was .060 over.

I called the machine shop to double check and sure enough they said the block was in amazing condition except for the one cylinder. Which was a good thing because it was already .060 over! So they just did the sleeve and cleaned up the others. No wonder the little stock 327 ran so well, it was basically a .060 350. LOL And obviously the pistons I have won't work anyway. So we are now waiting on set of 350 pistons so we can finally assemble this stupid thing. But it has certainly given me a run for my money. Lesson, never assume anything. Just go ahead and measure for yourself. LOL

So I a few parts for sale this month, LOL. I have a very nice, nearly all but new Ford 302 MSD Distributor with a $120 composite gear and phaseable rotor with a black cap. And a Killer set of 327 Chevy Carrillo Deep Dish Pistons .030 over. Actually maybe I should hold on to them. LMAO!

 

That black cap will be a good sell point.

 

Better find a new "machine" shop. Obviously they never checked the pistons or fit them to the cylinders they bored. Never checked the crank or put anything together to check the installed height to see how the pistons, rods, and crank all fit together. Now their "balance" job is also worthless. All that and they had the engine for 2 years. That really sux.

 

I am pretty excited. We have a 3 day weekend coming up and I have been studying and preparing for the reinstall etc. I think I have all my ducks in a row. Hope to hear this thing run again by Monday.

 

Pleas post videos!

 

Well unfortunately our little upgrade here is very HAMB unfriendly. You will never know it or see it when you look at the car, even with the hood open. We have done a pretty good job of keeping this little car very vintage looking in person but it has some hidden demons. LOL.

I need to get this car's website up so I can speak freely. LOL But for now, sorry boys, no photos or further comments on this topic.

But something I do want to say is my gently used parts shelf is really getting full. I think that comes from me flying by the seat of my pants most of the time or making wholesale (project scope) changes in the middle of something. It has gotten so bad that in a text from Jackson, he told James to just call me for a part because I am better than O'Reilly. LMAO! He was right, I shipped it this morning.

I guess we all have them, right? A shelf or in my case a walk in closet (LMAO) of parts that we hold on to because you never know when you might need one. To be honest I am always surprised when I start digging around at what I find. I have more than once ordered something new only later to find there's one just like it sitting on the stupid shelf!

 

You boys and girls have safe weekend. Happy 4th!

 

Same to you and yours.
Thanks for the master cylinder, looks it will work fine.
Just to let you guys know, he sends he's parts with stickers.

 

I like stickers! Wish I could afford some parts.

 

Well the transplant seems to have been a success. The snake is alive and doing VERY well. Doesn't even sound like the same car. Certainly doesn't run like it. I will try and get some videos this weekend. But I was in 3rd gear on a tuning run yesterday just under 5000 rpm, instead of shifting I just dropped the hammer, bounced to 7500 and lit the Hoosiers hard. I am pretty excited and ready to do some serious snake handling now. lol

 

Like the song says, spring little cobra with all your might.

 

Well we got the Cobra all back together and it is a totally different car. It even sounds different. I am very happy with the final results of the wholesale change of its "inner thinkings" etc. Last week we also took the time to switch out our clutch mastercylinder. As you may or may not remember we were not happy with the new RAM Clutch as it just seemed we could not get it to release properly (fully). We were advised that the 3/4" barrel unit was not enough and we needed to upgrade to 7/8. We changed it out, bled it and for the first time had a really nice clutch pedal.

With the Bootheel Drags is Sikeston, MO luming we made a trip around the block, right into the trailer and headed for MOKAN for a test-n-tune session Friday night.


I wanted to make sure we were ready for Sikeston as some smart ass made a comment on their facebook page when they announced we would be there that this car is an "Urban Legend!" Now it is possible he is just a dumb ass that doesn't know the real meaning of the term and somehow meant it as a compliment. But I took it as a slam that we never show up and maybe the car doesn't really exist etc.


To be honest, sometimes, even from the driver's seat it feels like an urban legend! I would take that kind of comment from one of you as a tongue and cheek acknowledgement of the craziness this build has put us through thus far. But not from some yahoo I have never met! LOL

So here you go, take a ride in the urban legend:



Honestly, I was just about as excited to get the stupid GoPro camera to work for the first time in about 8 tries than anything else. And just in case you have not done the math there, 8 tries in this car is about two years worth. LMAO!



Well you might have noticed in the first video we cut it off early. In the second you might have even heard me miss 4th gear there at the end. There is a reason for that. There was no 4th gear! Well I shouldn't say that, there was and is a 4th gear and a 5th and 6th but Friday night when I reached for 4th there was no clutch pedal.

As you saw the car launched really hard and that was supposed to be our first simple A to B pass. I had planned 3 runs. The first one we leave at 3500, then 4500 and then 5500. That wheels up start was the 3500 so I am very happy with the direction it is heading (which by the was was straight as an arrow)! It stumbled a bit but nothing more RPM won't fix etc. Even with the stumble it still pulled a 1.7 sixty foot time. She pulled hard and ripped the front wheels again in 2nd. In fact if you watch the video closely you will see that it nearly "bunny hopped" the whole car in that shift (Dragnasty Style). LOL

It obviously pulled hard in second and made a very nice powershift into third and we were rolling! Just before the 1/8, I went to grab 4th and there was no pedal. It went right to the floor. We coasted the rest of the way through the 1/8 mid 7s and 12 plus in the quarter at 96 mph. I managed to get it in to second, avoid everyone in the pits and made it back to the trailer.

We looked around for a broken line (of what we could actually see which was not much). The reservoir still had fluid in it but when you pumped the pedal you could hear air. Jackson was hanging out with us and we both agreed it probably blew out the master cylinder and was bleeding around the seal. We sat and visited a bit knowing the Cobra show was over for the night. We felt pretty good about everything until we winched the car in trailer and found a puddle of hydraulic fluid dead center of where it had been sitting. Neither of us like the proximity of the puddle if you know what I mean.

Yesterday we put it on the lift to have a look and the first thing I noticed was the braided line from the trans to the mastercylinder was as tight as a bow string. This is not how it started. In fact there was so much extra line there that I had to sort of zip tie it down to make sure it didn't get up and rub the steering rod etc. But now it was so tight that it had kinked coming off the mastercylinder. I managed to get it free and then had a look up inside the bellhousing (which had obvious signs of fluid leakage from with in (not what I was hoping for).

From the limited view I have, I can see all kinds of rubber and gasket looking material hanging out of the end of the throwout so we obliterated that stupid thing. However I can also see all the slack from the line-in plus the bleeder line-out all up in there. So we obviously sheared the placement/guidepin as well and the bearing spun in there pulling all the slack out of the lines and wrapping them around itself etc. What a mess!

Yesterday while it was on the lift we removed everything we could from the bottom end to assist the removal. All we have left today are the Webers and headers and she is ready to come out. AGAIN!

So I have been thinking, from the beginning I have called the thread: DRAGSNAKE "Vintage Terror"
.....maybe I should change it to: DRAGSNAKE "Urban Legend" LMAO! Stay tuned!

 

If it wasn't for bad luck, you would have no luck at all.

 

Boy that sucks.

 

I'm getting more and more convinced that an external slave cylinder is a better deal, especially in drag car where you are changing gears multiple times on every pass.
I know space is limited in your car but damn that clutch set-up has caused you a lot of pain.
I might even look at mechanical linkage.

 

I agree we are doing something different this time before we put it back together. I mean isn't that the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Lmao!

 

Sounds like your the only one getting snake bit.

 

Lol
Signed the dumbass yahoo

 

Something to be said for mechanical linkages. They very seldom leak fluid.