Event Coverage MeltDown Drags #10 July 2026

Definitely. If youre driving something old, you can either park in spectator parking, the car show, or the swap meet, I believe. Maybe Paul or somebody from the MDA is reading this and can give you better info than me.

 

...you can park with the other "show cars" ..or with the spectators, but NOT in the swapmeet area, that's for vendors,...unless you're selling your car and want to be in the swap area..

Once you pay your gate admission, the show area and swap areas are free..
The show car area is right up beside the swap area.

 

Been shopping for clutches…Wasn’t aware I was going to be selling a kidney so I could afford a decent clutch.
So far I’ve talked to Cale Aaronson at Black Magic and Rob Youngblood at Advanced. Prices are comparable….which is about exactly what my old man brain expects to pay for a complete, running engine.

 

Trust me Scot I know but buy the best one you can get if you want it to work I run a McLeod twin disc in my afx and with the amount of horsepower my mopar puts out nothing else would have stood up to it but then again you have a Walmart powered ford so a stock replacement should be just fine for you lmao

 

I tried to cross reference a part number for an ‘88 Miata, but the guy at O’Reilly’s was pretty sure I might have to modify the part, which would void my warrantee.lol
I’ll have to get the Cleveland headed motor into that fastback with a tube axle before I can talk any **** about your A/FX car, Jackson…..That thing is 100 different t kinds of wild!

 

Although I do recall your eyes getting REAL big when I gave the throttle a quick stab as we were driving back to the other side of the pits one time...

 

There's a lot of crickets around here....You guys must be busy in the garage instead of on here flapping your gums. I feel like I should be following that lead, but with no heat in the garage at the moment, I'm waiting on parts and warmer temperatures before I dive in. What are the rest of you guys working on...James and Jackson, I've never known either one of you to sit still for too long; you guys must be working on something fun. Let's see it!!!

 

Scott I’m workin on a 34 ford 5window fuel coupe and I’m not sitting still at all I have to have it ready to chop the top in about 3 weeks at the starbird car show in Tulsa ok just imagine the roughest 5window coupe in the world and that would be a better car than the pile I have in due time I’ll post a pic there is a build thread here on the hamb called my fuel coupe build but everything I’ve been doing is not show able in pics but I will be updating it soon so go check it out

 

The Shaker needs a starter but it is in cold storage now so I'm playing with my 37 Pontiac.
Started in the g***er direction but now entertaining going altered.

 

Let’s see, build plan, check, vehicle, check, engine, pending, rear axle, check, front axle, check, brakes, check, interior, pending, paint, it’ll buff out, hehe, wheels, pending, tires, check, mirrors, what mirrors?, badges? You don’ need no stinking badges. Carry on.

 

Except for draining the antifreeze and going from 4.56 gears to 5.14's, my 55 is ready to go. However, with high temps of around 5 - 10 degrees and no heat in the garage, those things will wait until spring.

So, right now I'm building an engine for my 34 Chevy coupe project. It's a 283 that will be bored out to 301. The pistons are basically new TRW forged that were made in the mid-1970's to mid 1980's. They are rated at 12 1/2 compression with 64 cc heads. It'll be using "Pink" Chevy rods. These are also basically new from the same time period.

The cam is a NOS Isky 550 Super LeGerra that I found in about 2016. The cam card is dated 1964. Ed Iskenderian kindly autographed the box for the NOS Isky lifters at either Meltdown #8 or #9. It'll have an Edelbrock dual quad intake from the mid-1960's.

 

I need to recover from Quad byp*** surgery I had last week. And get some new rear tires put on.

Gary

 

Hoping for a speedy recovery for you.

 

This is the kind of trash talk that's been missing since meltdown 9. I never got in on it, but always enjoyed reading it

 

hoping for a fast recovery for you Gary...

 

All 4 barrels done at once, huh Gar? That’s a bold move. Hope you’re feeling better soon, and definitely looking forward to saying hello at the track again!

 

Is efficient rpm operating range listed on back of card?
The newer cam cards usually list the range or give a duration @ .050 number that roughly gives you the range using this chart.

 

There is not any RPM range information, or the duration at .050.

The only info on the back is a warning that the cam is for compe***ion use only. "DO NOT IDLE" "STREET DRIVING WILL VOID WARRANTEE".

It seems like my brother Larry would shift the 59 Impala he raced in the 1960's at about 7500 and launch it at about 5500 RPM. He had a 301 Chevy with a Super LeGerra cam.

Of course, no one ever ran one of these cams on the street. Well... Larry did street drive it a little bit. LOL!

One thing that I am wondering about is the valve lash. Did most racers set the valves at .030, as shown on the cam card? Or did most set the valves a bit tighter?

My 55 has the Corvette 30 / 30 cam, (.030 set on both the intake and exhaust valves). However, I have always set them at .018 on both intake and exhaust valves.

 

Can't wait to hear this engine running

 

That is gonna be one nasty 301, isn’t it? Angry isn’t even gonna begin to describe that motor!

 

I love that you’re building that motor with a pile of N.O.S. parts you tracked down. The way you’re building it is so perfect; all the parts that determine the motor’s character are exactly what would have been available back in the day, so this thing is gonna be a running example of what a guy’s race Motor was like in the 60’s. And you included PLENTY of the 3 C’s: Cam, Carburation and Compression!
With all that compression it’s gonna make torque like a 396, not a 301!
I agree with James, I can’t wait to see this one run!

 

Here's a shot from 2014 of me reinventing clutch linkage right in the middle of the vendor's midway, while my Dad stresses out and Jonah tries to kick the jack out from under the car for the third time with me under it. lol
That was the year that my Wife brought the kids there for a day, while she was extremely pregnant with that guy in my avatar photo who would end up being known as Byron Donovan Archer.
I wish we could get all the kids back there with us this year, but it may just be my oldest boy Nick coming with us. Our Daughter is now grown up with a Family of her own, Byron may or may not be able to sit still for a full weekend at the track and Jonah, sadly, was taken from us April 15th 2024. I just found this photo this morning while I was looking for something else and thought it would be nice to throw it on here.

 

Sorry for your loss of Jonah, I'm sure he will be there riding with you, telling his old man to turn off the blinker

 

Thanks Norb. Him and I had our share of ups and downs, but he was a very interesting guy, as well as hilarious, and I miss him and think of him every day.
So what's the program with your 64 Chevelle? 327 car? My dad is going to lose his MIND when he sees that car! My uncle, who was a bit of a deadbeat ****bag at the time, borrowed money from my Grandfather to buy a ****ernut yellow with black interior, 327/4-spd 64 Chevelle that my Dad was a VERY big fan of. When it came up for sale, my Dad wanted it in the WORST way, but told my uncle he would hand the money over to my Grandfather, not him, as he had never repaid the debt.
As you have probably guessed, there has never been a 64 Chevelle in my Dad's driveway since.lol

 

1st car in 1970 was a 64 Chevelle 4 door, 283 power- glide, bought from my older sister for $400.00, by 1971 it had a three speed with a Mr. Gasket shifter on the floor, 4-barrel Holley, and had painted it Cougar Eliminator blue lol.
Drove it through high school, then after buying a 1969 Impala parted it out because it was a pretty rusty 4 door by then.
Always wanted another one, had other family priorities until finding this one as a roller 18 years ago.

Been trying to maintain and improve it a little every year since. Bought it as a roller, the engine I had on a stand was a Vortec head 4-bolt main 355, built in 1998 following the Junkyard Jewel build in Hot Rod magazine. They made 396 hp, it's been in 4 of my vehicles since 98 1st broke it in in a square body GMC pickup, it pulled my car trailer nicely , then it woke up my 78 Z-28 for a few years, pulled it to bracket race the 67 Chevelle drag car Tickety Boo for a few years, now its bolted in the 64 with a good 700r4 with a best of 13.29 at the hunnert car heads up in 2013, that was before slowed down a little changing from the Edelbrock super vortec to a lower dual plane to enable a stock air cleaner under the 64 hood. it now runs low 14s to high 13s depending on the weather, it doesn't use oil yet but I'm sure it's starting to get tired, the 700r4 with 3.73 gears makes it a joy to drive on the street/highways.

 

Got some different slicks to try to change this result with Torkwrench this year lol

 

Those are probably two of the cleanest cars I’ve ever seen running side by side.

 

There are lots of faster and clean cars running at the Melt Down Drags & Fall Out Drags, two of the best nostalgia drag events ever. They even let Fords run
Wait until you see Paul's Vette

 

I even fixed my rusty car with the welder I won at the Melt Down Drags.