Projects '61 Falcon Street/Strip Gasser Build

So sorry for your loss. "" In his memory, I'm going to have someone letter the car using the patterns he made. He would get a kick out of that."" Excellent!

 

Very sorry about your loss

 

Brian,

I am so sorry for your loss. It's cool that your dad was part of your build and that his memory will always be with you when you're "messin' around with that old hot rod". Treasure the time you had with him and your memories of him - they are more precious than gold.

I will pray for you and your family tonight Hang in there brother.

Steve

 

Brian, sad to hear of Dad's passing. Judging by his patterns he was a talented Man, I'm Sure he will Smiling when he sees the finished product. Prayers for You and your Family, Carp.

 

Sick Smokie is three weeks out and I needed a trailer. I bobbed a small boat trailer, moved the axle forward and added a job box for tools and parts. It's fairly light and should handle well.

My car hauler is only 20' long so I'll have to ger creative with packing the small trailer behind the car.

 

Have a Blast, Brian!! Good looking rig.

 

Thanks!

 

Dad did the hood scoop and off/on switch and then made the patterns for trunk and quarter lettering. I gave the patterns to my lettering guy and asked him to make it look like Dad was able to finish the job.

I think he nailed it and I bet Dad would approve.

 

Looks great! Your Dad would be proud!

 

Good luck this week!

 

@brianf31 , congratulations; you made the Hot Rod Hoarder's video. Time 12:01:
https://bangshift.com/bangshift1320...zy-gassers-at-sick-smokies-drag-n-drive-2025/

 

Screen shots from Tom Bailey's YouTube channel...

 

On the day 3 results it shows Brian didn't make a pass.

Hope everything is ok

 

Sadly, I'm out. A roller lifter lost it's needle bearings Tuesday night after the Nashville race. There was lots of copper glitter in the oil filter.

 

Well Sick Smokies was a heck of a lot of fun although ended early for me. Test n Tune on Sunday Day 0 at Huntsville went OK but it has been 7 months since I raced. Day 1 at Huntsville ended with a 7.80 at 95.68 mph. The track was super sticky and I bogged on a conservative 3500 rpm launch.


You can see my run at 25:53: SICK SMOKIES! Crazy Gassers & Other Street Legal Drag Cars
The drive after Huntsville was something else. We drove the beautiful Natchez Trace and then went to the Parthenon in Nashville.


The route took us right down Broadway in Nashville, past all the bars. The bar hoppers were perplexed to see the drag cars rolling right through town. I couldn't resist taching it up at the traffic lights After that, we drove about a total of 20 milers on I-40 after nightfall.


Day 2 had us at Music City Raceway. It's a sketchy track with a very short burnout box and a short downhill shutdown with a hairpin turn at the end. A couple guys went off the end of the track. The track wasn't that sticky so it helped with my single stage heavy clutch. I ran 25 lbs of air in the slicks, did a very short burnout and launched at 3500 to improve my 1/8 mile time to 7.65 at 96.96 mph. You can see my run at 12:38: Christmas Tree Gets WIPED OUT at Sick Smokies!

Right before we hit the first checkpoint after Nashville, I noticed valve train noise. We stopped and found #6 intake had a lot of lash. I should have known something was up when I found the polylock was tight but it still had excessive clearance. We lashed it and took off to catch up. A couple miles later, it started making horrendous racket. I killed the ignition and coasted to a stop. I knew it was bad and my race was over.

There I was, broke down on the side of the road 140 miles away from my truck and car hauler.

I was bummed that my race ended so soon. However, my faith in people was renewed. I lost count of the old car guys that stopped to ask if I needed help, though I was a little surprised that not a single late-model driver even looked for a thumbs up or down. A local guy stopped and asked if we needed a lift to the parts store and offered to take us to his shop if we needed it. He didn't know us from Adam.

We had been hanging with HAMBer and SEGA racer colbyw and his dad (HAMBer rawcjwl9) during the race and I've followed them for years at SEGA races. A little after I shut it down, they drove by and showed me a kindness I can never repay. After spending 45 minutes on the side of the road to evaluate my valvetrain problems (putting them behind to hit the next checkpoint), they called their in-laws (also SEGA racers) to tow my car and trailer to their house 45 minutes away. Colbyw had his mother pick us up there and then took us back to spend the night at her house before taking me to my truck and trailer back in Huntsville Wednesday morning. From there, we drove back to the other SEGA racers house to retrieve the car and small trailer. They dropped what they were doing in the shop to help me load up.

I can't imagine what the Uber rides, tow and last-minute hotel would have cost in terms of funds and logistics. Of course these good folks wouldn't take a dime. I had to slip money on their kitchen counters and told them later that it was a donation to their racing programs

While I had hoped to have a bucket list kind of race experience, I got something much, much more rewarding instead. I'll rebuild the engine and run another race but it won't match what I had on this one.

 

That*****s about the breakage but I'm glad that you had some amazing people help you in a time of need!

 

I have not run a drag and drive yet, but your experience is similar to so many others I have heard. No where else have I heard of others going so far out of their way to help others, and not expect anything in return

 

It's really amazing. They are our people. Heck, all I did was donate a needle and seat to those guys. I hope I can help someone to that level next time out.

 

I really wish SEGA would expand to the West, it would be so cool to have that same racing action out here. Western American Gasser****ociation “WAGA” would really make Drag Racing Great Again out here!

 

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. Still an awesome car. I know you will build the engine back better.

 

@brianf31 she's a beauty !!

 

Well it could have been a lot worse. The cam lobe is wrecked and the main bearings show copper. However, the rods are perfect and the rod and cam bearings look practically new. The crank is fine and will only need polishing.



I'm gonna spend some real money to make sure that doesn't happen again. I'll have the lifter bores bushed and switch to Bam DLC bushed solid roller lifters. No needle bearings!